[ ALERT ] Cyberthugs on the Loose, Again.

[ UPDATE ] 071002 . 2240

Malaysia Today is online again.

[ ALERT ] 071002 . 2000

Suspicious activity in the Malaysian blogosphere last night is now confirmed to be Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) ‘spam’ attacks on and attempted hacking of at least one and probably two civil society blogs.

• Jeff Ooi’s ‘Screenshots‘ blog was down and has just come back online. Jeff has confirmed that there was an abnormal surge in activity last night and also an attempted hacking of his server.
• Raja Petra Kamarudin’s Malaysia Today is still down at this time, and has been since last night; no word on MT yet but it looks overwhelmingly like a coordinated DDoS attack as well.
• Malaysiakini was exceptionally slow last night at around the same time; no word from them on that but it may also be indicative of an abnormal spike in web traffic.

Screenshots is still not at full capacity and access is difficult at the moment; notice from Jeff below:

So far we have a confirmed web attack on Screenshots, a ‘highly probable’ on MT and a ‘possible’ attack on Malaysiakini.

The common thread linking Screenshots, Malaysia Today and Malaysiakini is that all three specialise in exposing scandals and wrongdoing, particularly those committed by those in the BN government and their cronies.

Too much of a coincidence.

SOLIDARITY: Burma (4); Free Burma Campaign 4th Oct

[ UPDATED ] 071003 . 1730

3,200 bloggers are supporting the Free Burma campaign as of this time.

[ URGENT ] 071002 . 1800

Thursday 4th Oct 2007 has been designated Free Burma International Bloggers Day in support of the Burmese people who have courageously risen in peaceful protest against their violent and oppressive military government.

In addition to the ongoing demonstrations against the violent crackdown, international bloggers will be posting in unity and solidarity with the Burmese people against the violent and oppressive Burmese junta. Approximately 1,800 bloggers from all over the world have signed on to this initiative at the time of this post.

Please go to the Free Burma website for details: http://www.free-burma.org

Please help to publicise this campaign and rally support for the Burmese people. Their sacrifice must not be in vain.

(Just seen from Malik Imtiaz Sarwar’s blog ‘Disquiet‘)

NEW! Naval-Grade Scandal-Whitening Toothpaste from PAC

[ Another Dodgy(TM) PACkaged* product, proudly brought to you by Ghostline Industries Tidak Berhad ]

(*thanks to reader ‘Xylogue’ for the term)

Fresh from whitewashing the RM4.6 bil Port Klang Free Zone scandal (previous post HERE), the energetic Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has moved on to its next job: removing the stubborn stains left by the RM 6.75 bil Navy OPV (offshore patrol boat) procurement scandal.

Again, after making a good show of ‘investigating’, PAC Chair Shahrir ‘Peroxide’ Abdul Samad has announced that a number of crucial financial records pertaining to the procurement of several offshore patrol vessels (OPV’s) for the Royal Malaysian Navy are not available because the records ‘have been destroyed’. No files = no case? ‘Case closed’ then, I presume?

How… convenient.

Procurement documents have been ‘destroyed’? No problem, Shahrir, follow the money — there is always a paper trail somewhere. Bank statements — records of transactions, accounts of the principals and wives/mistresses, unusual company/ministry expenditures; while you’re at it, go squeeze PSC Naval Dockyards’ (now Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd) Amin Shah Omar Shah’s balls till he squeals.

See Shahrir, your job really isn’t that hard. Unless, of course… you’ve been instructed not to find anything after all the sandiwara, which I rather suspect is the case.

Problem is, we ain’t buying it.

(Antares first alerted me to the defence procurements scandal embroiling DPM Najib Tun Razak – just before it broke in the media several days ago – but have been unable to post about it until now due to breaking events, particularly the violent crackdown in Burma.)

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Article on the OPV procurement scandal, and DAP’s pointed remarks to the PAC. Extracted from Malaysiakini, below: (highlights added by me)

PETITION : Return The Judiciary to the Rakyat! Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (2)

CALLING FOR SUPPORT: The People’s Parliament is preparing a petition to the Agong calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to properly investigate the judicial corruption scandal exposed by the ‘Lingam tape’.

Please help to publicise and support this petition.

We need to demonstrate that we the rakyat are dead serious in demanding accountability for the judicial scandal (and all other scandals) perpetrated by the government.

Please go to The People’s Parliament for details and support the PETITION by signing it.

The English text of the petition is reproduced below; you can also sign the petition by sending an email to savethejudiciary@gmail.com ; the signatures will be collated and appended to the petition. Unlike the Election Commission, we don’t have ‘phantom voters’, so please submit your real name and IC no when signing the petition. Your details will be handled with the utmost care and responsibility.

Thank you.

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[ ORIGINAL POST ]

SOLIDARITY: Burma (3); Day of Action 29 Sept

[ UPDATED ] 070930 . 1315

Petition has 235,000 signatures at the time of this update. Please support the petition HERE.

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[ UPDATED ] 070929 . 1400

In support of the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Burma, who even now are suffering as the Burmese military junta executes a violent crackdown on the unarmed civilians and monks: an NGO has organised a worldwide petition in solidarity with the Burmese people.

The petition is targeted at and will be submitted to the UN Security Council and especially Chinese President Hu Jin Tao (as China is the Burmese junta’s main ally and source of support) and will be circulated to international media networks.

The petition has garnered 211,000 signatures as of the time of this post and will be sent out as soon as it reaches 250,000 signatures.

Please support the Burmese people’s struggle for democracy and sign the petition here.

———————–

[ ORIGINAL POST ]

SOLIDARITY: Burma (2); Petronas Money Helps Buy Burmese Bullets

[ UPDATED ] 070928 . 1745

Latest reports: 13 confirmed dead, hundreds injured, hundreds arrested and missing. Casualty figures likely to be higher than official accounts.

[ all photos below sourced from Reuters ]

above : unarmed protestors flee as police and troops open fire and baton-charge them.

above : Burmese troops firing tear gas at the demonstrators.

above : Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai, 50, of APF News Tokyo continues filming even as he lies wounded after being shot by troops. Nagai died shortly after.

2 photos above : 2,000 Burmese protestors demonstrated outside the Burmese Embassy in Jalan Ampang, KL this morning.

[ All photos above from Reuters News Agency, article here ]

9 confirmed dead, hundreds injured, hundreds arrested and missing in the ongoing violent crackdown by the Burmese military junta. But the Burmese people are resisting.

BBC videos of the ongoing violence in Burma/Myanmar: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7017496.stm

Photos and latest reports at the Democratic Voice of Burma website: http://english.dvb.no/

———————–

[ ORIGINAL POST ]

Latest reports from Burma/Myanmar indicate that at least 9 persons have been killed, dozens injured and hundreds summarily arrested in the ongoing bloody crackdown by the Burmese military junta on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators and Buddhist monks. Latest coverage from the BBC.

ASEAN has predictably remained (elegantly) silent over the bloody crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators and monks in Burma/Myanmar… and Malaysia has been even friendlier than most, with Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar going so far as to reassure the Burmese military junta that it was “business as usual”.

Well surprise, surprise.

But of course the UMNO-BN government sees nothing wrong with the Burmese junta shooting and beating unarmed pro-democracy protestors; we just shot two of our own a couple of weeks ago in Batu Burok! Biasalah. The people are so troublesome, always demanding their rights and marching and protesting and making us leaders look bad. Let’s shoot a few and scare them all. Show them who is boss. Tembak satu dua, yang lain tu kita tembak gas pemedih mata, belasah sikit, ha, barulah mereka faham keadaan.

Besides, there’s all that business to worry about. Industry experts estimated that in 2005, just two foreign oil-and-gas firms (France’s Total and PETRONAS) alone generated about USD 1 bil in revenues (link) for the Burmese military junta. Petronas is a major presence in the Burmese oil industry and works closely with the state run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise for exploration and extraction of oil and gas resources, providing a major source of foreign currency revenue for the cash-strapped military junta which presides over a failed state and economy. In short, Petronas is among a number of companies whose revenues are helping to prop up the regime.

I am sorely tempted to break decorum to spit on ASEAN, possibly one of the most useless and irrelevant regional groups in history. ASEAN’s ‘Non-interventionist policy’ is just a euphemism for “I’ll cover your ass, and you cover mine.” As I mentioned in an earlier reply to a comment, the problem with ASEAN is that almost every single member nation has skeletons in its own closet, and to criticise Myanmar would be to invite unwelcome scrutiny of its own questionable policies and actions.

Dare Malaysia condemn the violence in Myanmar, having just fired on our own unarmed citizens? Dare the Thai military regime — still fresh from their latest coup d’etat and now busily slapping ‘lese majeste’ charges on every dissident in sight — speak harsh words to Myanmar? Even squeaky-clean Singapore has just avoided the problem by simply regulating civil society space virtually out of existence.

The blood of the Burmese people is on ASEAN hands… and Malaysia’s.

Shame on ASEAN. Shame on Malaysia.

———————————————

Excerpt from Malaysiakini: (red highlights mine)

“Crisis? What Crisis?”

[ excellent poster by mob1900 ]

Ah, Malaysia’s favourite Nazi and denial artiste is back in top form.

Still got faith in the ‘independent’ inquiry panel? The half-cooked PR effort by the govt to stave off the Royal Commission has been hamstrung even before it starts by its ‘terms of reference’, which is “…to investigate if the Lingam tape is authentic”. No mention on what happens if the tape is (Heaven forbid) found to be genuine.

Extracted from Lim Kit Siang’s blog: (bold highlights mine)

“…In restricting the panel to the question of the authenticity of the Lingam Tape instead of allowing full investigations into all aspects of the allegations of perversion of the course of justice and the compromising of judicial independence, impartiality and integrity raised by the video clip, the government is avoiding the imperative issue of the long-standing rot in the judiciary and the urgent need to restore national and international confidence in the system of justice with a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape would have first to address the issue of the authenticity of the video clip and there is no reason why an independent panel should be formed with the very narrow and restricted focus of deciding whether the video clip is authentic or otherwise, without the further powers of proceeding to further conduct comprehensive investigations into all the allegations of perversion of the course of justice and the compromising with judicial independence, impartiality and integrity.

In short, the government is trying to focus public attention on the technical question about the authenticity of the Lingam Tape and distract and disregard it from the urgent, imperative and substantive issue of the long-standing rot in the system of justice which must be identified and stopped…“

Extracted from Malaysiakini, below: (red highlights mine)

SOLIDARITY: People of Burma

In solidarity with the people of Burma, who even now are braving bullets, tear gas and police batons to peacefully demand democratic change in one of the most oppressive countries in Asia.Latest reports indicate that several unarmed monks and citizens have been killed by gunfire from government troops as the Burmese military junta moves to crack down on the peaceful but growing civil protests led by the Buddhist monks in Yangon and Sittwe.

Except for the degree of violence, does any of this sound familiar?

___________________

Extracted from the BBC: (highlights added)

 

Burma protesters defy crackdown

A monk flees as security forces fire warning shots and tear gas Enlarge Image

Up to 10,000 Burmese Buddhist monks and civilians have defied police tear gas and live bullets on the ninth day of protests against the military rulers. At least one monk was killed, hospital sources in the main city of Rangoon said. The government has confirmed one death, without giving details.

Witnesses described monks with blood on their shaved heads as police charged at the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon.

Meanwhile, the UN said it was sending a special adviser on Burma to the region.

The BBC’s James Robbins says Ibrahim Gambari’s mission – if he is allowed into Burma – will be to urge the regime to stop using force and to start moving towards full democracy.

PETITION: Return The Judiciary to The Rakyat! Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

IMPORTANT:

In a parallel effort, Haris Ibrahim of The People’s Parliament — a prominent lawyer and one of the leading lights of the civil society and human rights movement in Malaysia — has drafted a petition to the Agong to call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the judicial corruption that has been rudely brought to light by the ‘Lingam tape’.

If, like me, you think that the government’s half-cooked ‘independent’ inquiry panel is just another whitewash rubberstamp panel and have absolutely no confidence that the Badawi administration intends to take any meaningful action to properly investigate and prosecute the wrongdoers behind the ‘Lingamgate’ judicial scandal and the unbroken string of scandals before this, then:

Please go to The People’s Parliament for details and support the petition by signing it. Haris will be submitting the royal petition, but we must demonstrate meaningful support for that to happen.

Do we want change for the better? Then let’s keep the pressure on, people.

____________________________

[ ORIGINAL POST ]

SOLIDARITY: MARCH OF THE LAWYERS

[ video courtesy of Malaysiakini ]

Bravo to the Bar Council, for proposing and leading this march; and

Bravo, also, to the brave civil society activists, opposition members and concerned citizens who showed up in force today at Putrajaya, and despite the inclement weather, a heavy police/FRU presence and early police interference (preventing the marchers’ buses from approaching), they cheerfully and peacefully marched on Putrajaya to submit the memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Port Klang Brand Premium Whitewash, from PAC

[ poster by GhL ]

Assalamualaikum Pak Blah! I’m back from an outstation assignment, and I brought a little present for you: premium-quality whitewash, guaranteed to to turn the blackest scandal whiter than white.

Got an image problem lately?

You and your minions just blew/embezzled billions of ringgit and don’t quite know how to explain yourselves?

Too many scandals breaking in quick succession and the pesky opposition and public just won’t leave you alone?

Don’t worry! The Public Accounts Committee is here to save your toasted arse!

While you and your minions hurriedly fly lintang-pukang overseas for a well-deserved holiday/medical leave/state visit/defence procurement contract discusssion, we at the PAC will put up an entertaining song-and-dance routine (we locals like to call it sandiwara) and we’ll make a good show of investigating the scandal, then lo-and-behold, in a couple of weeks, your record will be snow-white and your arse will smell like roses again, just in time for the sycophants to start kissing it all over again. Puteh berseri-seri!

Satisfaction guaranteed; we at the Public Accounts Committee aim to please (our UMNO-BN masters). ArrRf.

___________________________

Once again, straight from Malaysiakini: