Plans for a R1,4-billion rail link between Cape Town International Airport and the centre of the city have been unveiled by the South African Rail Commuter Corporation.

The Corporation has completed a feasibility study and is now looking for a partner in the private sector.

Hishaam Emeran, senior manager of Strategic Network Planning for the Corporation, said: "A project of this nature lends itself to private sector involvement and we are exploring this option."

The rail link is unlikely to be built before the first phase of the high-speed Gautrain in Gauteng, which will link South Africa's busiest airport, OR Tambo International, to Sandton around 2011.

The state-owned Commuter Corporation operates the passenger company, Metrorail.

Emeran said they had already worked out the route of the Cape Town rail link. A total of 4km would be elevated, and the line extension would link to the existing Bellville-Sarepta railway line near Lavistown station. The preferred rail route lies mainly between Modderdam and Borcherd's Quarry roads before entering the airport precinct.

A station would have to be built at the airport, and a second might be built along Modderdam Road.

The train might also stop at Mutual station in Pinelands, which would facilitate the transfer to and from other key rail corridors in the region.

Emeran said the planning was fully integrated with the Airports Company South Africa's master plan.

The upgrade of Cape Town station would also include facilities for the airport service.

Officials from the city and the province took part in the technical feasibility study, and they are still liaising.

Some of the benefits include improved access to the airport, reduced road congestion, less parking congestion at the airport, lower vehicle emissions and pollution, and increased development potential at the airport and surrounds.

The feasibility study showed the airport was the second busiest in South Africa with passenger numbers of more than eight million a year.

The passenger-growth rate had exceeded the economic growth rate continually and for the past five years averaged almost 10 percent a year.

The main reasons for this high growth were considered to be economic growth, the attractiveness of Cape Town as a tourist destination and the introduction of low-cost airlines.

Activities in connection with the 2010 soccer World Cup, and the event itself, would contribute to sustained high growth of air travel from and to Cape Town in the short to medium term.

The report said the challenge was to upgrade the rail facilities and to provide services to meet the requirements of both air travellers and commuters.

You might remember that when I landed in Auckland that gas was 150.9/L.

This is me mailing in a post because I spent the weekend working and tonight packing.  I'm going to be idle for a few days while I'm getting back to Canada, but I will definitely keep blogging about New Zealand until the end of July.  Then I need to figure out what to do next...

As recently as 10 years ago, outsourcing was mainly seen as a cost-cutting opportunity, says Venkatesh Roddam, chief executive officer of Satyam BPO, based in India. "For many, there was a pure focus on being cheap. But that wasn't a long-term sustainable proposition."

Now outsourcing is evolving, and it doesn't necessarily mean moving to one location from another.

Indeed, as the world becomes smaller, companies are no longer considering moving offshore as the most cost-effective and efficient way to outsource, but instead are asking: what does the business demand? This transformation means outsourcing is seen as less of a crutch for the technically deficient or work-force challenged company, and more of a strategic tool.

"It is becoming a matter of looking at the world as a marketplace of skills and products and deciding what gets done where the best," says Mr. Roddam, of Satyam, which was the top-ranked business-process outsourcing company in a recent survey of outsourcing satisfaction, by Clearwater, Fla., based Brown-Wilson Group.

Brown-Wilson Group's annual Black Book of Outsourcing survey aims to identify the 50 best-managed global outsourcing vendors and identify industry trends based on responses to an Internet survey of satisfaction with outsourcing suppliers. The 2008 survey, conducted January through April, ranked vendors according to responses from about 24,000 executives and others involved in outsourcing decision-making.

One trend indicated by this year's Black Book survey, says co-author Doug Brown, is the growth of U.S. based offices for Indian outsourcing firms that can "provide closer proximity and to enable the outsourcing firm to draw from the local talent pools."

Rising wages in India along with the U.S. dollar's decreases against the rupee, are making it more expensive for some Indian companies to maintain operations solely in India.

It's a key illustration of why outsourcing models based on cheap labor and markets are hard to sustain, says Satyam's Mr. Roddam.

"Now we understand that we need to be present where the client is," he adds. "[And] we have to ask; what can we do in terms of increasing quality and productivity standards."

This recent movement out of India, is now starting to lead back to U.S. shores. In fact, the Black Book survey indicates a growing re-appreciation for U.S.-centric firms as the top five rankings went to U.S. companies; Hewlett-Packard was the top ranked outsourcing vendor overall, and Perot Systems was second.

Unisys, which climbed from 47th place in 2006 to place fourth overall and third among IT outsourcing providers in this year's Black Book survey, saw much of that turnaround after it began a big investment in large-scale globalization, says president of global outsourcing and information services Tony Doye.

While that's helped the company gain the expertise it needs to seal big deals overseas, he says, "some of our U.S. clients are now insisting that work is done on-shore." Much of this he believes is due to dissatisfaction with outsourcing services, as rates escalate in India and there's a battle for talent there. In addition, he's observed a higher comfort level of doing business in the U.S.

According to the Black Book Survey, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe suppliers saw the highest growth in their outsourcing industries, along with a rise in client satisfaction. But the UK and Western Europe are viewing the U.S. as its third most popular destination for offshore outsourcing after India and China, the survey found.

Companies are looking for outsourcing suppliers who demonstrate experience or expertise, that's closely aligned with their business model.

"Health-care industry buyers want their vendors to have healthcare experience and consultants just as logistics companies are showing greater satisfaction and customer experience by vendors who understand their distribution systems" Mr. Brown wrote in a summary of the Black Book survey.

But Mr. Doye attributes a large part of Unisys's outsourcing success over the last couple of years to the line: "small enough to care and big enough to deliver."

"What's important," he says, "is balancing the fine line between providing smaller services and being efficient on a large scale."

Write to Beckey Bright at beckey.bright@wsj.com

I didn't raise this in my original post (OP), at the risk of being provocative or inflammatory, but seriously: what the hell is with the number of 'Pagans' (in inverted comments because I seriously question these people's devotion) who actively seek out cases of "persecution"?! As someone pointed out in the comments on the OP, Gifford has previously insulted numerous religious groups and other minorities. Yes, she's a bigot. But she's also clearly, as I assessed previously, a total moron. Seriously, it's ignorance, not "hate crimes" (and I really dislike the inappropriate use of the term "hate crimes", which belittles the extreme prejudice felt by so many minorities; it seems to be most commonly used by the same people who espouse the "9 million Wiccans burned at the stake in Medieval Europe - Never Again the Burning Times(TM)!!!!!!"). There are plenty of instances of actual discrimination against Wiccans/NeoPagans out there already: see here, here, here, etc. And that's not including actual hate crimes against supposed "witches" (most of whom are innocent and frequently Christian) in Africa, Indonesia, India, the Middle East, etc.

It was asked why I wrote a blog against the "outcry" of certain NeoPagans against Gifford, when I "could" have used my time (more efficiently? Debatable.) to write a letter, sign a petition, etc. against her actions. As I stated in my OP, I devote my time to letter-writing, petition-signing, etc., in real "battles". You know, the issues that allow for the legal suppression of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, legalised oppression and discrimination. Not the moronic, ill-informed wafflings of some half-wit American. Furthermore, yes "pagan children" could have seen the show: in which case I wonder why they're watching such tripe in the first place, and why the parents can't then explain why that woman is wrong. And I don't doubt that a lot of people that watch a show hosted by such a moron probably share her sentiments anyway, otherwise why would they watch it? Except to try and find something to be "outraged" over. As for her pretense of an apology? Just adds to the already significant evidence that the woman isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

I also found it rather sad, but highly poignant, that one commenter then felt the need to attack Christianity, and Christians as a whole, based on the stupidity of one pseudo-Christian. As another poster pointed out, NeoPagans don't like being painted as "bad and nasty", so don't then tar all Christians with the same brush simply because of the stupidity of a few. And I refer to Gifford as a "pseudo-Christian" in the same sense that I refer to people so insecure and anti-Christian (for no reason other than the need to feel superior [and, contradictorily, persecuted]) as pseudo-Pagans: they have no understanding of what it means to really live your faith and work as a priest/ess and holy representative of their God(s).

It's always been my stance that if you feel that your faith is threatened by stupid off-hand remarks by stupid people, well, then it's not really much of a faith, is it? Or are we all just so desperate to "prove" how "persecuted" we are that we want to allow ourselves to become "outraged" at blatant stupidity? But then again, is it really representative of the NeoPagan community to say that we are bothered by this moron's comments? I know that most of the intelligent, devoted NeoPagans with real faith out there aren't particularly phased: like me, they're worried more by increasing legitimisation of persecution and oppression of rights (and in general, not simply as they apply to NeoPagans).

CALATAGAN, Batangas – Hundreds of farmer-beneficiaries in the villages of Baha and Talibayog here have started building fences over a 507-hectare contested property, a move which they said would protect their farmlands from a mining firm.

"We are fencing our lands to remind them that this is ours and to thwart all future attempts of Asturias (Chemical Industries) to convert an agricultural land into a mining site," Virginita Malaluan, spokesperson of farmers, told GMANews.TV in an interview.

The fencing project, which was launched Saturday, would initially cover a 9.7-hectare farmland designated by Asturias Chemical Industries as its relocation site for the farmers that will be displaced once the firm starts its mining activities in the area.

Armed with hammers and head hats, the farmers began fencing the area at about 11 a.m. using cut bamboo trees and barbwires.

"We will not give up our property. These farmlands are legally and rightfully ours. They would be unlawfully entering private lands should they insist on installing their equipment in our farmlands," Malaluan said.

Joining the farmers were representatives from the church, agrarian reform, non-government organizations, and students from De La Salle University and Ateneo De Manila University.

"I think it is not only the schools but also the parishes and churches that must unite since perhaps this is the only way by which we can achieve long-term changes in our society," said Bro. Joemari Manzano, a Jesuit seminarian, in a separate interview.

Last June 28, workers of Asturias allegedly tried to bring in several trucks with mining equipment to begin their project in the area, but the farmers stopped them by barricading the streets and demanding for legal documents authorizing their entry.

Three days later, the farmers received reports that the mining firm would once again try to enter the community after its trucks were sighted at the nearby Balayan town.

They said these things happened despite an April 29 order by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to temporarily suspend the mineral exploration permit of Asturias in Baha and Talibayog in order "to prevent untoward incidents in the area."

The series of events, Malauan said, likewise prompted the farmers to fence their respective lands.

GMANews.TV tried to get in touch with Gary Sevilla, Asturias community project officer, but his cellphone was turned off. He was also not responding to our text messages.

In an early emailed statement sent by Asturias legal counsel Micaela Rosales, she said that based on the Bureau of Mines Geological investigation in 1965, the land being claimed by the farmers "has always been classified not as agricultural but mineral land."

She also claimed that the 507-hectare disputed property was acquired by Asturias "with the court's consent" and not grabbed as alleged by the farmers.

The land in Baha and Talibayog, originally owned by the late Ceferino Ascue, was distributed to by the national government to 312 farmer beneficiaries in 1989 under Presidential Decree No. 27 and Operation Land Transfer.

Most of the farmers have fully paid their amortization on the Land Bank of the Philippines and have been issued emancipation patents (EPs).

In 1994, however, the heirs of Ascue, using the original certificate of title, sold the whole 800-hectare property, including the 507-hectare land owned by the farmers, to Asturias Chemical Industries.

The firm plans to build a cement plant complex and industrial park in the area.

Asturias later protested before the Department of Agrarian Reform that the land should not have been distributed to the farmers since it contained minerals, which the DAR agreed.

On July 28, 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the DAR decision that the property is a "mineral land."

Asturias has a 25-year mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) with the DENR, covering 2,336 hectares of land in the villages of Baha, Talibayog, Punta and Hukay in Calatagan. - GMANews.TV

The evidence suggests that the growth in sales in this sector is more from the rural areas now. This has been noticed for the first time and should be very seriously taken in to account while looking in to future growth in FMCG and generally for the entire economy. It seems that the road development stressed up on by the Bajpai govt and workd initiated are now bearing fruit. This only is responcible for solving the distribution related problems in the rural areas . While the awareness about the products was already there due to TV penetration over the last two decades, the potential demand is being met by better distribution in a cost effective manner. Rural households now have decent incomes and the youth is willing to spend too. So , as an investor we should have increased exposure to this sector. I would be able to tell about specific companies after the first quarter results . While the Nifty companies would be covered for all without any obligation to pay but for the companies out side it, a payment of Rs 200 per scrip will be payable and you may send your requests for recommendation under 'panch-tattva'about companies of your interest to me well in advance of result announcements.

HariOm,
KrsnaKhandelwal

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may trigger a parliamentary brawl in the Senate late in July if he goes through with his threat to bundle some 100 spending bills being blocked by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn into one "Coburn omnibus."

Coburn has held up the bills to stop the practice of passing legislation without amendments or debates. If Reid uses the same tactics on the combined bill, Coburn is threatening to tie up the Senate with parliamentary tactics. "I'd welcome the opportunity to spend weeks debating wasteful Washington spending and Congress' misplaced priorities," said Coburn.

How much Coburn can do depends on whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican colleagues support him to prevent Reid from getting 60 votes needed to close debate on the "Coburn omnibus."

More information on this bill can be found in one of our posts from last month, linked here.

If you're wondering why Senator Coburn would hold up so many pieces of legislation, the video below might give you a little insight into his reasoning.  It's a little dated and its focus is on earmark spending, but it does show how his hatred toward frivolous spending has frustrated members of both parties.

Kerry says McCain lacks judgment to be president

WASHINGTON — John Kerry says Republican John McCain doesn't have the judgment to be president.

If that's the case, then it's probably a good thing McCain rejected overtures from Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, to form a bipartisan ticket and run with Kerry as his candidate for vice president.

Kerry had no kind words for his Senate colleague Sunday, accusing McCain of poor decision-making on everything from backing tax cuts for the wealthy to making support for continuing the U.S. military presence in Iraq the centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

"John McCain ... has proven that he has been wrong about every judgment he's made about the war. Wrong about the Iraqis paying for the reconstruction, wrong about whether or not the oil would pay for it, wrong about Sunni and Shia violence through the years, wrong about the willingness of the Iraqis to stand up for themselves," Kerry, who supports Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

The rest of the news piece is here.

Out of all the people in the USA to be saying John McCain lacks judgement, John Kerry is the last one to be saying this. This is from an internet response to a woman defending Jane Fonda, on the website created by John Dennison, himself a Nam Vet. He is explaining to her why Fonda is a communist and traitor to the United States and he also mentions John Kerry's role in the "Winter Soldier" hearings where he lied and betrayed every man who served in Viet Nam!

"Ion Mihai Pacepa, a Romania's spy chief and general, stated Kerry repeated almost word for word our planted propaganda on the Vietnam War that they had spread in Europe in his U.S. Congressional hearing (before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee).

Pacepa, further stated "KGB chairman Yuri Andropov managed our anti-Vietnam War operation. He often bragged about having damaged the U.S. foreign-policy consensus, poisoned domestic debate in the U.S., and built a credibility gap between America and European public opinion through our disinformation operations. Vietnam was, he once told me, "our most significant success." "

Ion Mihai Pacepa wrote "The KGB campaign to assault the U.S. and Europe by means of disinformation was more than just a few Cold War dirty tricks." (National Review online - Kerry’s Soviet Rhetoric - By Ion Mihai Pacepa)

Jane Fonda lived in France in the mid to late 60's. This is where I suspect she first heard and read this disinformation on the Vietnam War that was spread by the KGB. Upon her return to the United States she continued to spread this disinformation. Jane Fonda, John Kerry and the V.V.A.W. worked on the Winter Soldier project in Detroit. Some of those people who testified before this hearing were not the persons they projected themselves to be, but were planted to spout the communist disinformation (propaganda). Kerry would use the information gathered at the Winter Soldier project for his Congressional testimony before the Unites States Senate Foreign Relations Committee."

The entire letter on the website can be read here.

He ends the letter giving what Kerry and Fonda's actions cost those who, without question, rose to the challenge of defending our country and answered the call.

"It is quite apparent to me that Jane Fonda, an admitted Socialist, was working on the behalf of North Vietnam. In my opinion, she was a traitor to the United States.

John Kerry's actions after returning home from Vietnam tarnished and diminished anything positive that he may have done in the Vietnam War. I believe that John Kerry betrayed the American Soldiers in Vietnam and used their blood for his own political advancement. American soldiers have been betrayed before by other war heroes in the past. One such betrayer was Benedict Arnold."

John Kerry, were you using good judgement when you dared to imply that John McCain "lacks judgment"????? What a major idiot!  I am not a big fan of John McCain, but I have zero respect for John Kerry and what he did to his fellow Vets with his lies.

Learn more about John Kerry's "disservice to his country" at Swift Vets and POWs for Truth and learn what a big liar and traitor to his country and service this man is.

http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/edsa20/view.php?db=1&article=20070227-51791

[Edited]

Last Sunday, Feb. 25, Cecile Alvarez and I reminisced about Edsa People Power on dzRH with Butz Aquino and Joey Lina, and we noted how all the details remained so vivid in our minds after 21 years. More importantly, as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo noted at the Edsa People Power celebration, many fruits of the compassion and sharing that it aroused in us Filipinos are now flowering, like Gawad Kalinga and Pondong Pinoy. Another is the Alay sa Kawal Foundation that a group of us professionals launched in August 1987, as a direct response to the reconciliation at Edsa between civilians and the reformed military. Recently there’s also the project launched by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, McDonald’s Charities Foundation and IBM Philippines, “Share Mo, Time Mo,” which is making a registry of volunteers on disaster risk management and response.

[Edited]

http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=39841

[Edited]

While that event was filled with pure Christmas joy, last Wednesday was excruciating for me because of something I and the board of Alay sa Kawal (ASK) Foundation, headed by Ramon Pedrosa, had to undergo. At the ASK office in Camp Aguinaldo, we turned over checks to 14 widows or parents of soldiers killed in action and to nine soldiers permanently discharged due to serious injuries sustained in recent combat with the New People's Army in various areas. An AFP official read the circumstances of the soldier's death or injury while trustee Llita Logarta read the circumstances of his family. We noted that many of the widows were in their early or late 20s and with just a high school education or two years in college. Many of them had several young children, and now the burden of rearing them would be entirely theirs. They wept as they came forward to receive their checks.

* * *

ASK was founded by a group of professionals 20 years ago as a response to President Corazon Aquino's challenge to foster closer ties between the civilians and the reformed military after Edsa I. Established in August 1987, ASK is the oldest NGO assisting widows and orphans of slain ordinary soldiers. Over the last 19 years, it has given financial assistance to almost 4,000 widows, amounting to almost P28 million, and to 290 soldiers permanently discharged due to injuries, amounting to P1.3 million.

* * *

ASK raises funds mainly from the private sector, although the government has helped in various ways. For instance, President Macapagal-Arroyo authorized a seed money of P5 million for ASK's "Doktor para sa Kawal," a brainchild of Dr. Roberta Carreon-Romero, on of its trustees. In this program, ASK funds the studies of medical students who, after graduation, are pledged to enlist as doctors in the service of the AFP. First Gentleman Mike Arroyo also donated in the past to ASK.

With the high casualties in recent years, however, ASK's funds have been severely drained, and it has become evident to the board that either we seek help or we fold up. Affected soldiers' families have asked us to continue, as the P30,000 we give them helps tide them over while their meager pensions are being processed. With this thought and in the spirit of Christmas, we at ASK would like to appeal for donations. Send your tax-exempt donations to Alay sa Kawal Foundation Inc., Account No. 324-414-2479, MetroBank Farmers' Plaza branch.

[Edited]

GOOD is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good. We are a company and community for the people, businesses, and NGOs moving the world forward. GOOD's mission is to provide content, experiences, and utilities to serve this community.

That paragraph opens the way to a broad range of activities for the Good staff. There's not much one can do that doesn't fit somewhere in that purpose statement.

I bought the July/August 2008 issue and read many of the articles. It's an eclectic piece of work that concentrates on feature stories. There is one about a halfway house in LA that attempts to bring teenage prostitutes back into mainstream society. Another is about the purchasing power of $500 in a Paraguayan black market. Need your own AK-47? Another is about secret societies, including Yale's Order of Skull and Bones whose membership includes President Bush and other famous people. The magazine assesses the power of each of several of these organizations without explaining how they calculated their ratings. Accepting their conclusions requires an act of faith by the reader. Some editorial rigor seems to be missing here.

It's not obvious to me how the articles on secret societies and black markets relate to "good", and therein lies the puzzle of this magazine as far as I'm concerned.The magazine asks some interesting questions. In an article titled Train in Vain they ask why the American passenger railroad system is so awful. They don't quite live up to their promise of providing the reasons and instead concentrate on more obvious findings such as the discomfort of a transcontinental ride aboard AMTRAK. I did learn from the article that AMTRAK employs nearly 10 people for each car in its fleet. No wonder it can't make money and has to survive on federal subsidies. I was interested to learn that trains are twice as fuel efficient per passenger as airplanes.

The magazine is just coming up on its second birthday. My take on it is that it is still finding its way editorially. Given the open-ended purpose statement, editors and writers could argue in favor of just about any topic, and I suspect that's how the issue I read came together. Things may tighten up as time goes on, and my thanks to Richard for putting it on my radar screen.

In any case, I wish them well. We can use a magazine that concentrates on good things and on asking tough, unexpected questions about things that we often accept without question.

This initiative was the brainchild of Mr. Felix Henderson, a popular radio personality here in Dominica. Together with "Uncle Pawol" Alex Bruno and the rest of the DBS Team, this core of dedicated individuals has put together a unique event that is sure to be repeated next year. With sponsors both locally and internationally, the reading competition seemed to take on a life of its own, gathering momentum with each subsequent Round of Reading.

The Competition began on June 2nd, as children nine years of age competed through a series of Rounds. Schools sent their best readers to regional competitions at the Parish level, where in each Round the children read a narrative, followed by a shorter news segment. A panel of judges then graded the students on criteria such as accuracy, smoothness, confidence ad expression. The round continued through Quarter-Final and Semi-Final copetitions, until 10 finalists remained from a group of more than 60 children

The Grand Finals were held at the Arawak House of Culture on Friday, July4th 2008. The children read to a packed house. Dignitaries such as the Honourable Prime Minister of Dominica Mr. Rooselvelt Skerrit, Acting President His Excellency Conrad McIntyre, Minister of Education Hon. Vince Hendereson as well as other memebrs of cabinet. Performances by Calypsonians, Hunter, the Observer, and Daryl Bob, as well as a News Reading Segment in braille were highlights of the evening's event.

The ten finalists all won personal computers for their achievement (left to right):

• Nicole Jno. Lewis - Salisbury Primary
• Kareen George - St. Martin's Primary
• Gaiel Jno. Baptiste - Roseau S.D.A. Primary
• Tiarra Georges - Atkinson Primary
• Kadie Robinson - Wesley Primar
• Taj Brumant - Convent Prep
• Diane Robinson - Marigot Jr.
• Rhillah Benjamin - Berean Christian Academy
• Andrew Walsh - Pioneer Prep
• Darren Brumant - Soufriere Primar

A big congratulations to all ten finalists!

And the winners are...

• 1st place - Rhillah Benjamin, Berean Christian Academy
• 2nd Place - Taj Brumant, Convent Prep
• 3rd Place - Andrew Walsh, Pioneer Prep

Congratulations to all the Participants, Organisers anad Sponsors for putting on a fantastic, positive event for Dominica's youth and the entire nation.

Sunday July 6, 2008

MB expects ‘serious agenda’ during meeting with Sultan

SHAH ALAM: It has been a practice for the Selangor Mentri Besar to have an audience with the Sultan every Wednesday, but next week’s agenda is expected to be “more serious,” said Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.   

This follows a memorandum submitted on Thursday by a number of non-governmental organisations to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah alleging weaknesses in Khalid’s administration in Islamic affairs.

“Sure, I have heard (about) the protest and the Sultan has informed me that he will study the contents. His Highness surely wants to give his views on the matter,” Khalid said after the Conference of Selangor Local Councillors 2008/09 here yesterday.

He said the memorandum was a political ploy by Umno to make sure its members remain in mosque committees.

“We want mosques to carry out more activities for the Muslims. Unfortunately, Umno only wants to put its men in the administration of mosques. This is absurd,” he said.

Khalid said the state government’s move to replace mosque committees was to reduce political interference.

“We must remember, the Sultan of Selangor in his every speech has stressed against using mosques for political purposes and His Highness has been consistent in stating his views,” he said. – Bernama

I absolutely agree with Tan Sri Khalid and I will be more than happy to step forward to share with everyone how the mosque I go to (and I suspect it is similar with many other mosques) has been absolutely mismanaged to the point of financial breech of trust especially in regards to funds collected - by the UMNO boy who sit on the committee.

I am more than willing to share that despite having a very robust Operating and Financial Enactment by Majlis Agama Islam Selangor, the mosque I go to has got no financial records, have never submitted their accounts to MAIS every six months as required under the enactment , no payment vouchers or receipts, no meeting minutes or records since the official inception of the mosque in  24th October 2003 (first friday prayers were held).

A feeble attempt at convening   the 1st AGM was done on 17th November 2007 and I am more than prepared to share how a very specific JAIS officer who attended the meeting insulted all of the attendees by telling them to not question the accounts and financials of the mosque. That the attendees should accept the accounts as true on good faith that  JAIS has audited the accounts and it was in good order.

Dear readers - the mosque was incepted in Oct 2003, the first AGM is convened in Oct 2007 and they had the cheek to present the accounts only  from January 2007 to June 2007 wheres section 26-2(e) of the enakmen pentabiran masjid clearly states that the accounts presented should be that of the preceding year. So this is a feeble attempt by the JAIS office to cover up for the UMNO boys who were running the mosque. Better still the accounts presented were not even signed by the "pemeriksa kira kira" nor any auditor.

Worst still, the JAIS guy confirmed that the accounts were correct - and it stated from the month Jan - June 2007 a total of RM12,500 was paid to TNB for electricity. A quick check with TNB revealed only RM 9,000 was paid in that period, payment as follows RM500 and RM4500 on 13/2/07 and RM 4,000 on RM 18/6/2007.  So what happend to  the remaining RM3,500?

Also the accounts showed a total income for the mosque from Jan - jun 2007 of RM45,716.75 and of that  payments made  to "Elaun Pegawai dan AJK" was a whopping RM11,500.00 or 25% of collection, a "fictitious" RM12,500 to TNB or 27% of expenses, another RM6,870 to "Perbelanjaan Pengurusan/Bank Charge/Repair"  None of these payments  are supported by invoices or receipts.

Likewise we hardly saw the faces of the "Pegawai dan AJK" masjid at the mosque. Not even the IMAM during  prayer time.  I will attest to the night I arrived late for prayers and saw the IMAM sitting outside his quarters as prayers were going on. I will attest to how after the call to prayers are made, people are all standing around waiting and hoping an Imam will show up.  Bear in mind, both IMAMS and Billal's are provided free housing no more that 20 meters from the mosque and are paid an allowance by JAIS. Talk about gaji buta.

On the issue of penceramah or speakers - I can vouch that we had a string of half dead, half baked ustaz coming in giving all sorts of fatwa. The most amazing I heard was that "if you only had 1 small bottle of water left and you had a bad/sinner person dying of thirst come up to you for water, it is haram to give him the water and better to let him die."  Is this what Islam teaches? Now these were the sorts of "UMNO" approved ustaz that we had coming by.

I can see over the last few months there has been a huge shake up in penceramahs, quality has gone up and more importantly attendance has gone up.  And yes the ceramah's do cross political lines but line is drawn at understanding the islamic political system in the context of malaysia.

Yes we had a very free an open discussion on SODOMY and how ISLAM views it, how would the issues of statutorybe viewed under the shariah and we also have very free and open discussions on  corruption, of how leaders should behave, we contrast the true leaders in Islam e.g Khalifah Umar Abd Aziz and that the our current Malay leaders. It is all very educational and enlightening and  certainly does put many  UMNO leadership traits in a negative light.   
 

I guess where the UMNO guys are hurting is that a lot of penceramah's now have no qualms about differentiating MELAYU from ISLAM and keep reminding people that we look for Islamic values in our leaders not MALAY values. And that Islam is not synonymous with MALAY although UMNO tries to make it so "To be Malay you must be Muslim."

The great thing is that my area which was always under an UMNO tyco fell to a Chinese female PKR assemble person at the recent GE. I guess she must have portrayed much better Islamic values like - helping the rakyaat, being humble, not going around in a convoy of heavily tinted expensive cars as compared to the what UMNO folks used to do.

My dear readers - the mosques are indeed a huge gravy train to disburse money and represent a key component in the election mechanism. Awards of contracts to build mosque, land, maintenance, you name it. And becasue it is the MOSQUE - who dares question?

Come elections, the mosque is able to conjure up all sorts to events that essentially puts food in peoples tummies and money in their pockets - a real feel good event.  Well I think that the time is over as mosques were created by GOD for GOD for the purpose of worshiping him, dissemination of information, education, discourse and social development.  

If anything the UMNO boys have a problem because the people who do come to the mosque are now seeing things become much better and improved and if this continues, Selangor under PKR will trulty earn the respect and support of the rakyaat.

So Tan Sri Khalid, don't sweat it, stay the course and I am sure HRH Sultan is very aware of what is happening.

BTW I actually wrote a post on this even before the elections and you can read it here.

this is Lisa Anderson's article in the Chicago Tribune:

NEW YORK—Who hasn't snickered at "Jaywalking," a "Tonight Show" segment in which host Jay Leno flummoxes unsuspecting young people on the street with such tricky questions as: In what country is Paris located?

Or cringed to see Miss America 2007 humiliated by a brainy bunch of 10-year-olds—who just happened to know the sun is the heavenly body with the greatest mass in our solar system—on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" Or witnessed the consternation of a cashier presented with a $20 bill and two quarters for a $12.50 tab?

Some consider such deficits in knowledge and ability no laughing matter, citing it as evidence of the "dumbing down" of Americans, particularly young adults. Others believe any decline in book smarts simply reflects the evolution of new ways of learning and "knowing," forged in a fast-paced wireless world where the data of the ages are downloaded in a nanosecond at the touch of a keyboard.

So, which is it? No one really knows. But the topic clearly is percolating through the popular culture: Read the less-than-reassuring poll of "What Do Americans Know" in Newsweek's July 7-14 Global Literacy 2008 issue. Or the cover story in The Atlantic magazine's July/August issue: "Is Google Making Us Stoopid? What the Internet is doing to our brains." Or the just-published "DISTRACTED: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age," by Maggie Jackson.

Dumbest generation?

The question is hotly debated in academic circles, where Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein further turned up the temperature with his recent book, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future." Its subtitle: "Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30."

That last phrase, a play on the hippie counterculture mantra "Don't Trust Anyone Over 30," underscores that many of yesterday's hippies are today's Baby Boomers. Confronting criticism of the younger generation's perceived shortcomings by the older generation, one might be tempted to ask: Wasn't it always thus?

"Kids have always been weak on history, weak on civics. The point about 'the dumbest generation' is probably a provocation more than an accurate description of simple comparisons," said Bauerlein, 49, who doesn't question the intelligence of young Americans but their intellectual health.

The difference he sees between the current generation and those of the past: "No generation in American history has enjoyed so much access to knowledge."

Yet, often, "when they give the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, more than half the 12th graders score 'below basic,' which is roughly a D and an F," said Bauerlein, referring to a federal assessment program, mainly in reading and math, that is dubbed the "Nation's Report Card."

Bauerlein attributes this to a number of things, including lack of reading and new habits of mind geared to absorb information by the byte-size, warp-speed, quick-hit and visually eye-popping standards of the Internet.

Ironically, Web sites demand that people read, but their information often is more to be accessed than retained, more to be consumed than assessed and more to be gulped than savored, unlike with a book, a poem or a lengthy article. "The material isn't lodging in their minds. There is not enough internalization of knowledge," Bauerlein said.

He recalled assigning a class to memorize a 20-line poem, and a student asked him why. "The idea of memorizing a poem doesn't make sense [to kids] because in a digital world, they can always call it up."

Information overload

To memorize, "they have to think, visualize, get the rhythm of the language. It's slow, slow reading, and this works against all their screen habits, which are ever faster," Bauerlein said.

Americans may have more access to information but "think also of the unprecedented overload," said Gerald Graff, president of the Modern Language Association and professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"The more accessible knowledge becomes, the more things there are to be ignorant about. Knowledge has increased, but the human capacity for knowledge hasn't increased that much," he said.

In fact, in its "What Americans Know: 1989-2007" survey, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found public knowledge of national and international affairs had changed little in 20 years, despite the emergence of 24-hour news channels and the Internet and dramatic increases in education levels; half of those surveyed would earn an F.

The least informed were those age 18 to 29, part of the same group that least follows the news, in any medium, according to David Mindich, a journalism professor at Vermont's St. Michael's College and author of the book "Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News." He is concerned about the potential effect of this on democracy because "the only way to hold leaders accountable is if you're really focusing on what they're doing."

In the workplace, there is a discernible difference between this generation and the Boomers, said Mary Ann Downey, an executive with the Seattle-based Institute for Corporate Productivity, a membership organization focused on improving workforce productivity.

Another generation gap

"I don't believe the younger workers coming in have the critical thinking skills and the creative thinking skills that are required," she said.

Downey added that employers also complain that young employees, unlike their parents, often have no patience for learning the ropes and tend to quit when frustrated.

Older generations have always found empty-headedness among the young, said UIC's Graff, quoting from the inaugural address of a former Modern Language Association president: "You are all aware of how dangerous it is to assume, on the part of our college classes, any definite knowledge of any subject." The speaker: Harvard professor Charles Hall Grandgent. The year: 1911.

This is Lisa Anderson's article in the Chicago Tribune on 7/5/08.  www.chicagotribune.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

Trooper Notices Large Bulge In Man's Pants

But there you have it. The bulge was cocaine, of course, not some anatomical wonder. The old "routine traffic stop" again.

[...] McCain has said he wants to push for a Bush Administration proposal to allow faith-based organizations to make employment decisions based on religion even when using federal funding.

TIME In Partnership With CNN

On the one hand, Christian Conservatives want to deny Federal funding to organizations like Planned Parenthood or have the government forbid them to perform perfectly legal procedures if they receive Federal funding, simply because said procedures violate their religious principles. In other words, because they don't like what Planned Parenthood does.

On the other hand, Christian Conservatives want the government to allow faith-based organizations to violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of l964 by practicing religious discrimination, even when said organizations also receive Federal funding. You know, because they like what these folks do.

We all pay Federal taxes, so we all contribute to anything that is Federally funded. That's precisely why these wingnuts don't want places like Planned Parenthood to receive any Federal funding - they don't want their tax dollars being used to support something that violates their principles. But they're perfectly fine with using my tax dollars to support something that violates my principles.

Talk about wanting to eat your cake and have it. Good grief! It seems "inconsistency" is the watchword of the modern American right.

These people want to rule the world with their Bibles. And they don't even have the good sense to know they ought to be ashamed of that.