Malaysia's Opposition Still Aspire to Topple Government

On the Malaysian political scene, the opposition are still harboring aspirations of taking down Anwar Ibrahim's unity government.

 

Bersatu sec-gen Hamzah Zainuddin (left) yesterday maintained that the government haven't got a majority, and so, they can be toppled. 

 

[Note: This is, in spite of four opposition MPs, i.e. Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan) and Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar ) – all from Bersatu – had pledged their support for the current government]. 

 

And to drive home his point, Hamzah claimed that the present government only have a 36.1% approval rating, whereas Perikatan Nasional, of which Bersatu are a member, had 49.3% when they were in power. 

 

Derek Chauvin (left), the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted in the 2020 murder of George Floyd, was stabbed Friday in a US federal prison in Tucson, Arizona.

 

The office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison which prosecuted Chauvin in the Floyd case, said early Saturday they were notified of the assault and was told Chauvin is in stable condition. 

 

“I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence”, Ellison said, according to the statement provided to CNN. “He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence”. 

 

Chauvin, who is white, is serving multiple sentences for the black man's death, which triggered massive protests against police brutality and racism.

Sanctions Don't Ruin Russia; They Impoverish Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russia has faced massive and unprecedented economic sanctions from the West over the Ukraine conflict since last year, pushing the economy into a 2.1% contraction as of the end of 2022, as per RT News on November 24. 

 

However, the Russian Finance Ministry and the European Commission have both predicted positive GDP trends for Russia for this year, forecasting growth rates of 3% and 2% respectively.

 

Even The Guardian reported on Thursday that Russia's economic growth is now projected to outpace that of the Eurozone, citing investment firm Amundi. According to the company’s forecast, Russia’s gross domestic product will grow by 1.5% in 2024; in contrast, the Eurozone economy is set to expand by a mere 0.5% next year. 

 

Amundi CIO Vincent Mortier highlighted that after losing access to Western markets, Russia successfully reoriented most of its trade to its BRICS partners and countries such as Türkiye and Kazakhstan, which have greatly benefited from the boost in trade with the sanctioned country.

 

French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Thierry Mariani had even pointed out on November 18 that the sanctions against Russia had been intended to “ruin” its economy, but “on the contrary, they impoverish us”. As geopolitical dynamics continue to evolve, his perspective adds a nuanced layer to the ongoing discourse on the efficacy and consequences of sanctions against Russia.

 

The West forget that Russia is just too big to fail!

 

People, please let [V]ladimir [Z]elensky know that the West are getting fed-up with his unceasing demands for money and arms! He doesn't seem to get the message that they are abandoning him!

 

He must know the West already know that Ukraine is finished!

German Court Brand Letzte Generation a Criminal Organization

 

"Letzte Generation" (Last Generation), a climate activist group have been designated as a “criminal organization” by Germany's Munich Regional Court, which announced the ruling on Thursday after considering ten complaints from the climate activists over searches and seizures. 

 

The court dismissed the complaints, ruling that the Last Generation meet the requirements to be considered an organized crime group – arguing that committing crimes does not necessarily need to be the only purpose of a group to be designated as such.

 

The court said the group’s activities, including disrupting traffic and damaging property, constitute a significant threat to public safety and order. 

 

The Last Generation emerged in August 2021. Their first major action was a hunger strike by seven activists, demanding a public conversation on climate with the then-candidates for the country’s elections to succeed Angela Merkel as Chancellor. Weeks into the campaign, Olaf Scholz, the current Chancellor, agreed to a sit-down, though the activists were far from satisfied with his climate plan.

 

These days, the group have organized marches and rallies demanding the country eliminate all human-caused emissions by 2030, two decades earlier than the 2050 goal that underpins most international climate negotiations. They’re also known for gluing themselves to roadways to block traffic, throwing paint on public monuments, and, most memorably, hurtling mashed potatoes on a painting by Claude Monet at Museum Barberini in Potsdam (the painting wasn’t damaged). 

 

Those are similar to the tactics being employed by other new, radical climate activist groups in the UK (e.g. Just Stop Oil) and across Europe. Members of the Letzte Generation say those actions are necessary to draw attention to the urgency of the climate crisis (though there are other climate groups that disagree). 

 

The methods have divided, and in some cases infuriated, the German public. Motorists trapped behind blockades have assaulted demonstrators. In July, in Stralsund in northern Germany, a truck driver reportedly attempted to run them over.

 

Still, I reckon branding this climate activist faction a criminal organization is not going to deter or cow them. They're already seeing it as a state effort to quell peaceful protest to oppose what they frame as a suicidal lack of government climate action.

The Diamond's New Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, we’ve sold 1,003 books todate and we’re now down to 497 copies of “The Diamond in Your Speech” – given that we have piles of books from our third print that we will want to finish off. 

 

There's no rush because we're not in a race. We're just gonna take it at our own pace. Forward is forward.

 

FYI, most of our book sales are from within Malaysia – but we're happy too that we have made some sales in overseas markets that included Singapore, Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Australia, Papua New Guinea, India, China and UK. And we're pretty sure the list of countries will expand.

Ahmad Fakhri & Victor Ong's 1000-book Milestone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE DIAMOND IN YOUR SPEECH HAS SOLD ONE THOUSAND COPIES! Yabba-dabba-doo! 

We reached this meaningful milestone in 620 days. Well done, Ahmad Fakhri and Victor Ong! You should give each other a big pat on the back! 

And yes, a big thank you to everyone because the truth is, you made it possible!

 

 

More Americans Own Guns Than Ever Before

Gun ownership has reached a record high among US voters, according to an NBC poll published Tuesday. 

 

More than half of respondents (52%) reported that they or someone in their household owned a gun. That percentage is the highest since NBC began asking the question in 1999. 

 

Gun ownership rates have risen rapidly over the past decade, the poll suggests, with just 42% of those surveyed in 2013 claiming they or another household member possessed a firearm. That number was up to 49% by 2019. 

 

Attitudes were split about gun control, with 47% stating they believed the government would go too far in restricting Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms, while 48% said they feared the government would do too little to regulate firearms. 

 

With personal safety topping the list of reasons Americans give for owning a gun, surging violent crime rates across the nation are believed to have contributed to the increase in firearm ownership. A 2021 Gallup poll found 88% of respondents said they owned a gun “for protection against crime”, a significant increase over the 67% who answered similarly when the question was asked in 2005. 

 

The US has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world and is the only nation known to have more guns than people, according to Swiss research project the Small Arms Survey. It also has the highest rate of gun homicides.

 

It is a sad fact that guns are deeply ingrained in American society. Therefore, expect gun deaths and more gun deaths.

 

Shoot-'em-up Walmart

Gun violence in the United States is, of course, very common. But I am realizing that Walmart is becoming a veritable shoot-'em-up. 

 

A shooter, identified by police as 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones, on Monday, opened fire at a Walmart in Beavercreek, a town of about 50,000 in the Dayton metropolitan area in Ohio and wounded four people before killing himself. Three of the victims are in critical condition, while the fourth person sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to CNN. 

 

This came one day after 29-year-old Saina Fa’atoafe fatally shot a Walmart woman employee in the parking lot outside the store in south Anchorage, Alaska before taking his own life.

 

Out of curiosity, I combed local US news on the Internet and found these headlines:

• "Woman charged after man shot in Prattville Walmart parking lot", WSFA 12 News, October 23, 2023.
  
• "Deadly Florida City Walmart shooting, three men charged", CBS News Miami, July 20, 2023. 
  
• "No suspect in custody after shooting at Lenoir City Walmart, no injuries reported", WBIR, June 20, 2023.
  
• “Man injured after shooting outside Columbia Walmart”, WACHFox, March 06, 2023.
• “Police looking for a man accused of assault at Chandler Walmart”, AZ Family, March 05, 2023.
• “Police: Man arrested for terrorizing after pulling gun out in Walker Walmart, sending shoppers into panic”, WBRX, March 05, 2023.
• “East Memphis Walmart shooting: Gunshots fired inside store, suspect fled, police say”, Fox News, February 25, 2023.
• "Man who killed 23 at El Paso Walmart pleads guilty to hate crimes", El Paso Matters, February 08, 2023. [Add info: Twenty-four-year-old Patrick Crusius killed 23 people and injured 22 others in the August 03, 2019 mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Seeking to kill Hispanic people, he drove more than 650 miles from the Dallas area to carry out the massacre in a city near the US-Mexico border].
• "Ex-employee opens fire at Indiana Walmart, injuring at least 1, police say; suspect killed", USA Today, January 20, 2023.
• "6 victims shot and killed in a Virginia Walmart include a 16-year-old boy, authorities say", CNN, November 23, 2022.
  

I know that Walmart stores are in almost every city and town in the United States, therefore, it's not surprising the popular, 24-hour discount stores have seen their share of violent crime, including shootings. 

Anyway, in 2023, there has been 36 mass killings from guns as of November 20, according to data collected by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. [Note: There is no one definition for a mass shooting. The database sourced here totals mass killings, involving any weapon, in which four or more people are killed, not including the perpetrator]. 

From the shootings this year, 189 people have been killed – more people so far than every year prior. 

2022 counted 186 people killed from these mass shootings. Now, 2023 has surpassed that record when on November 18, a man in Memphis killed four women. Shortly before that on October 25, a man in Lewiston, Maine, killed 18 people and injured 13 more in a bar and bowling alley. 

I'm pretty sure there will be more mass shootings before the year comes to a close. I'm expecting a blood-stained 2023!

Green Iguanas Roam Wild in Thailand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The importation of all species of iguana into Thailand has been banned, effective last Friday, after many green iguanas (Scientific name: Iguana iguana) have been sighted roaming free in the countryside, raiding farms and damaging the local environment.

 

Atthaphon Charoenchansa, director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, signed the edict last Friday. 

 

The edict states that many iguanas have been seen in the wild, especially in Phatthana Nikhom district of Lopburi province. and their numbers have increased rapidly, which may threaten the environment, the ecological system and farmland. No permits will be granted for the import of any iguanas, to control the population in the country, until there is a change in the situation, according to the edict. 

 

Environmental concerns have been raised over the activities of the herbivorous lacertilians, which are thought to be pets that have either escaped or been deliberately released into the wild.

 

Last week, the public who have iguanas in their possession were told to notify the department. So far, 244 owners of green iguanas with a total of 3,419 animals have been reported, with the province of Chonburi having the highest number with 982 animals.

 

It was said on Tuesday that 134 iguanas had been captured in Pattana Nikom district, Lopburi, around 160 kilometres north of Bangkok. A further six were discovered in Udon Thani, in the country’s northeast, and 23 more elsewhere in Thailand.

 

However, specialists claim that Thailand possesses native lizards with green skin that resembles the green iguana. It is known as the “Takong” or Chinese water dragon (Scientific name: Physignathus cocincinus).

 

According to Dr. Jessada Denduangboriphan, lecturer at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, this may lead to the misunderstanding that “Takong” is a “green iguana” and so capture or injure it.  In Thailand, Chinese water dragons are protected wild animals that are on the verge of extinction, but iguanas are controlled animals. As a result, people should be cautious and thoroughly check.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written Reprimand for K9 Officer

A written reprimand was purportedly issued to Officer Zoro. I was alerted only today about this case – a November 11 posting on the Facebook page of the Wadsworth Police Department in Medina County, Ohio in the United States.

 

Methinks, the doggo has been treated unjustly. 

 

And so, I would like to file a grievance on behalf of Officer Zoro. 

 

He was only doing his job. It was the skunk (Family: Mephitidae) who assaulted Officer Zoro in the first place!