#mahathir mohamad

[tomorrowusa]

Having a president who isn’t exciting is underrated. The president is the chief executive of the United States; essentially that’s like a federal CEO. A dull Tim Cook has done far more for Apple than an exciting Elon Musk has done for Twitter.

Gerald Ford, though younger, was probably the closest GOP equivalent of Joe Biden. Like Biden, he spent decades on Capitol Hill before becoming VP and then president. Ford was the last truly moderate Republican president. Except for his pardon of Richard Nixon, his record doesn’t look terrible.

Ford appointed one of the best SCOTUS justices of the late 20th century – John Paul Stevens.

The inflation rate the year he took office (1974) was 11.03%. In 1976, Ford’s last full year in office, it was down to 5.75%.

Under Ford, the US negotiated and signed the Helsinki Accords which recognized the integrity of international boundaries in Europe. This treaty was the basis for peace between countries* in Europe for 47 years – until it was violated by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Like Ford, Biden restored calm and decorum to the presidency after succeeding an impeached wacko president. 

Joe Biden may personally be even less flashy than Gerald Ford. But he has brought the country back into scientific normalcy on climate change and has put the federal government firmly on the side of LGBTQ rights and reproductive freedom. And even before Russia’s illegal invasion, he placed the United States on the side of supporting the independence and freedom of pro-democracy Ukraine.

Dull but competent trumps exciting but catastrophic.

This is from a piece by Dylan Matthews published at Vox in March prior to Biden’s announcement.

Joe Biden is pretty good at being president. He should run again.

Biden deserves a lot of credit for that state of affairs — more than the credit or blame that presidents usually deserve for the state of the economy.

Learning from the overly tepid fiscal stimulus enacted by the Obama administration in response to the 2007-2009 recession, at the start of his term Biden ushered through a massive $1.9 trillion package, the American Rescue Plan, that kept progress on jobs and wages from stalling out as Trump-era measures faded.

The package overshot significantly; he made the opposite mistake that Obama made in 2009. But his was the better direction in which to err: the inflation that resulted, while painful, was less painful than the many years of excess unemployment and depressed demand that resulted after 2009. In the meantime, the measure plunged child poverty to a record low by expanding the child tax credit.

Much has been made of the ways in which moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) frustrated Biden’s grander ambitions. It’s certainly true that Sinema blocked his plans to tax high earners more heavily, and Manchin kept the child tax credit improvements from being made permanent.

But looking at what actually did pass during Biden’s first two years, one gets a different picture. Biden signed the largest investment in R&D and deployment of clean energy in US history into law; the head of the International Energy Agency termed it the world’s most important climate action since the Paris accords.

Separately, Biden signed into law hundreds of billions in new science funding, passed on a bipartisan basis as part of an effort to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing. After the Trump administration’s famous failure to pass an infrastructure bill, Biden did it.

Looking abroad, the administration’s handling of the Ukraine war has been outstanding. Choosing to release intelligence showing Russia’s invasion plans in the weeks leading up to the attack was a masterstroke, denying Russian President Vladimir Putin any ability to claim that Ukraine provoked him. Biden has kept his G7 counterparts aligned in imposing sanctions on Russia, denying it oil revenue, and supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The result is a war that is already vastly more costly than Putin bargained for, without US or NATO troops being dragged into the conflict, and backdoor progress on something US presidents had been fruitlessly pursuing for years: increased European military spending.

[ ... ]

Taking the good with the bad, Biden looks like a fairly successful president, overseeing an unusually good economy without US troops in danger. That’s not normally someone you want stepping aside.

As for age, I don’t care if Biden is 80 or 180. His mind is working fine and he has successfully coped with a stutter since childhood. Having thrived despite a disability is a sign of strength rather than weakness.

There have been a number of leaders who have done just fine in old age.

Konrad Adenauer became chancellor of (then) West Germany at age 73 and remained in that position until age 87. Adenauer was one of the founders of the EU. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as prime minister of Malaysia in 2003 at age 78; BUT he later came out of retirement and served again as prime minister from 2018 to 2020 when he left office at age 94. Queen Elizabeth II was carrying out her constitutional duties to the very end. Just two days before her death at age 96 she met with Liz Truss to formally appoint her as prime minister.

People in their 80s and 90s may be a bit slower, but that makes them less impulsive too. Does being a sprightly 45 years old automatically make Ron DeSantis somebody we’d trust with his finger on the nuclear button?

________________________________ * The Balkan Wars of the 1990s were primarily internal.

#joe biden #biden administration #re-elect biden #unexciting is a virtue #lgbtq rights #reproductive freedom #gerald ford #konrad adenauer #mahathir mohamad #elizabeth ii #ageism #election 2024 #steve greenberg

[ukhty-nur]

#palestine #islam #allah #life #mahathir mohamad

[suara-rakyat-blog]

Annuar Musa & Shahidan Kassim adalah Pengkhianat UMNO

Malam ini akan ada banyak kenyataan yang dikeluarkan, termasuk kenyataan daripada Shahidan Kassim, Annuar Musa, dan rakan-rakan mereka. Kemarin kita membincangkan kenyataan dari Ketua Penerangan PAS, dan hari ini kita akan membincangkan kenyataan Annuar Musa dan beberapa pemimpin lainnya. Malam ini kita akan membuka peluang bagi kawan-kawan untuk menyumbangkan idea dan bertanya soalan dalam sesi Tanya-Jawab kita. Hari ini kita akan memberi ruang kepada semua orang untuk berkontribusi dan memberikan soalan berhubungan dengan isu-isu semasa. Insya-Allah.

Annuar Musa, sebagai bekas calon timbalan presiden UMNO, telah mengkritik presiden UMNO yang mendakwa Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi mengarahkan akar umbi UMNO untuk menyokong DAP. Walaupun Annuar Musa telah kalah dalam pemilihan dan digugurkan sebagai Setiausaha Agung UMNO, beliau kemudian dilantik sebagai Setiausaha Agung Barisan Nasional. Sebelumnya, Tengku Nan merupakan Setia Agung sebelum menukar peranan menjadi bendahari Barisan Nasional. Annuar Musa juga telah disiasat dalam kes rasuah di bawah Akta Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah, di mana beliau tidak dibenarkan untuk pergi ke luar negara. Contohnya, beliau tidak dapat merasmikan masjid yang dibinanya di selatan Thailand kerana dihalang di pintu keluar negara.

Annuar Musa mencari peluang untuk membolehkan dia keluar, tetapi terdapat sekatan yang tidak dapat diluluskan. Apabila dia memeriksa dengan pihak Imigresen, mereka memberitahu bahawa sekatan itu dilakukan oleh pihak SPRM. Hal ini menyebabkan Annuar Musa berubah.

Sebelum ini, Annuar Musa adalah setia kepada Presiden dan ramai menteri yang diangkat menjadi Menteri. Beliau adalah salah seorang yang terdapat dalam senarai presiden. Walaupun Muhyiddin banyak melantik individu di luar senarai yang dicadangkan oleh presiden, Annuar Musa, Samsul Anuar Nasarah, Ismail Sabri, dan Nuraini Ahmad adalah individu yang terdapat dalam senarai presiden.

Beliau terlibat dalam perhimpunan maruah Melayu di mana beliau membantu Tun Dr. Mahathir dan mewakili UMNO dalam perhimpunan tersebut bersama pemimpin PAS, Haji Hadi. Datuk Seri Zahid tidak terlibat. Setelah Annuar Musa membantu Tun Dr. Mahathir dalam perkara ini, beliau tiba-tiba dapat pergi ke luar negara dan membawa isterinya ke Eropah.

Annuar Musa memiliki reputasi sebagai seseorang yang setia kepada pihak yang berkuasa. Ketika menjadi menteri dalam kabinet Muhyiddin Yassin, beliau memberikan sokongan kepada Muhyiddin, dan setelah Ismail Sabri menjadi Perdana Menteri, beliau beralih menyokong Ismail Sabri. Kini, beliau mengkritik Presiden UMNO kerana UMNO terpaksa bekerjasama dengan DAP.

Beliau disalahkan kerana didakwa memberikan nasihat negatif kepada Ismail Sabri untuk menangguhkan pilihan raya, yang mengakibatkan UMNO mengalami kekalahan yang teruk. Beliau juga dituduh terlibat dalam sabotaj terhadap calon UMNO. Pada pilihan raya terdahulu, beliau sepatutnya bertanding atas tiket PAS di Ketereh, tetapi akhirnya calon dari parti BERSATU dipilih sebagai calon PAS di Ketereh.

Annuar Musa didakwa mengguna pakai Muafakat Nasional untuk kepentingan peribadinya, dengan harapan dapat menarik penyokong UMNO untuk menyertai parti yang beliau pilih pada masa depan, sama ada PAS atau BERSATU.

Annuar Musa diingatkan bahawa tindakan dan pengkhianatan beliau tidak akan luput daripada tindakan undang-undang. Walaupun mungkin ada orang yang melindunginya pada masa ini, tetapi pada masa depan, situasi boleh berubah dan dia mungkin dihadapkan dengan tindakan mahkamah. Beliau sepatutnya tidak memperlihatkan kesombongan yang berlebihan.

Tindakan pengkhianatan yang dilakukan oleh Annuar Musa dan Shahidan Kasim telah membawa UMNO ke dalam situasi yang mencabar, di mana UMNO hanya memenangi dua puluh enam kerusi dalam pilihan raya. Jika bukan kerana mereka, keadaan tidak akan menjadi sebegitu teruk seperti sekarang.

Kedudukan parti kita saat ini sangat teruk, dengan hanya memenangi dua puluh enam kerusi, dan BN hanya memenangi tiga kerusi. Orang-orang yang tidak jujur dan mementingkan kepentingan peribadi serta keinginan berkuasa telah menyebabkan situasi ini. Mereka lupa bahawa faktor pertumbuhan adalah penting dalam membuat keputusan dan mengadakan pilihan raya.

#umno #presiden UMNO #Annuar Musa #Shahidan Kassim #lokman adam #Barisan Nasional #Ahmad Zahid Hamidi #Zahid Hamidi #kerajaan perpaduan #kerajaan madani #kes rasuah #sprm #mahathir mohamad #tun m #noh omar

[indizombie]

Adani’s trajectory instead seems to follow the kind of capitalism that prevailed under Marcos, Suharto, and Mahathir. In these cases, the ruling strongmen had extremely close ties with select businesses. Marcos had Antonio Floirendo, the banana king, and Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, the coconut king. Suharto had Liem Sioe Liong, Mohamad “Bob” Hasan, and other tycoons who formed business relationships with his children, making the partnerships mutually beneficial. Mahathir had Tajudin Ramli. These businessmen prospered while the going was good and supported the long political reign of their patrons. As a result of their closeness to the ruling governments of the time, these Southeast Asian tycoons often received contracts that created monopolies through patronage.

Salil Tripathi, ‘Gautam Adani and the New Indian Capitalism’, Foreign Policy

#Foreign Policy #Salil Tripathi #Gautam Adani #India #Ferdinand Marcos #Antonio Floirendo #Eduardo Cojuangco #Suharto #Liem Sioe Liong #Mohamad Hasan #Mahathir Mohamad #Tajudin Ramli #Southeast Asian tycoons

[pemburugacor]

Mahathir Kepulauan Riau, Ahli Klaim: Tidak Perlu Ditanggapi

Mahathir Kepulauan Riau, Ahli Klaim: Tidak Perlu Ditanggapi

JAKARTA, – Pakar hukum internasional Hekmahanto Guana mengatakan mantan Perdana Menteri Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad seharusnya tidak menganggap serius klaim Riau. Saat dihubungi pada Rabu (22 Juni 2022), Hekmahanto mengatakan: slot gacor deposit via dana Menurut Hakamhanto, Mahathir saat ini bukan pejabat pemerintah Malaysia, jadi pendapatnya subjektif. “Jadi pandangannya sama sekali tidak…

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#Kementerian Luar Negeri #Kepulauan Riau (Kepri) #kontroversi mahathir mohamad #mahathir #mahathir mohamad #mahathir mohamad klaim riau #Malaysia

[kazifatagar]

Tun Mahathir to join Muafakat Nasional?

Tun Mahathir to join Muafakat Nasional?

After making a series of mistakes, the biggest one is going in the GE15 on his own against all coalitions and losing his deposit in Langkawi (sic), Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has left Pejuang and is probably going to join the Muafakat Nasional of Annuar Musa. He met with Annuar in Kuala Lumpur during the week and said: “Tun is the father of our country, no matter what happens, no one can deny that…

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#Annuar Musa and Tun Mahathir #Muafakat Nasional and Malays #Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muafakat Nasional

[satiricaily]

The West, the US and its lapdog ally the United Kingdom, lie and misled their people into supporting their wars. The lie about the weapons of mass destruction is testimony to the extent of their deception and propaganda to justify their aggression and the result were the murders of millions of innocent Iraqis. Without remorse of shame, new leaders who had taken over the rule of these belligerent nations now support Israel's genocide of Palestinians and inevitably, Israel's efforts to take over whatever is left of the Palestinian land. (...) I have been asked, surely the leaders of US and UK, leading nations of democracy and human rights, could not be that evil in their considerations. I cannot fathom their inner thoughts but I can assess what they do and I do believe that they are only concerned with democracy and human rights if and when it serves their interest.

Speech by He Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad for Global Solidarity and Rally for Free Palestine on November 4th, 2023

(full video here)

#his politics were questionable at some point during his time as PM in malaysia but #he spoke nothing but the truth in this 8 min video i had to share it #calling out the west with no hesitation!!! #hes doing more on that than the arab leaders which is fucking crazy already #palestine #free palestine #israel #gaza

[nismunc-ipc]

FEATURED ARTICLE: The Question of Free Speech on Social Media in the Dewan Rakyat 

by Cheong Chenxi of Kyodo News

Pictured above: Malaysian MPs discuss free speech in the era of hate speech and misinformation

DEWAN RAKYAT: In today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting, YB Pagoh of the opposition stated that putting pressure on Social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook to remove offensive posts is necessary and that lack of compliance from said Social media platforms will result in a ban from being used in Malaysia. 

A special chamber was subsequently held during which this topic was discussed further. 

During the special chamber, YB Gombak mentioned that “Former and current members of parliament should be held accountable for speech that may disrupt the racial and religious harmony”. He presents the case of former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, who has stated his opinion that non-Malays do not belong in Malaysia, yet received no punishment for expressing said sentiments. 

YB Bintulu has also brought up a case of the dangers of Social media, citing that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation spread on Social media about the legitimacy of SINOVAC vaccines has influenced the decision of the Malaysian government to import Pfizer and other vaccines from the west, but not the SINOVAC vaccines from China, which he claims to be equally as safe. 

Meanwhile, YB Marang of PAS states that harmful western agendas, such as that of LGBT, should be banned in Malaysia. However, the spreading of Islam in Malaysia should not be banned nor hailed as extremist. 

This matter continues to be discussed after the special chamber and a bill has yet to be passed to address said issue.

[stele3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/northern-ireland-elect-first-irish-nationalist-first-minister-2024-02-03/

#destiel daily digest

[daloy-politsey]

Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah succinctly explained Neo-colonialism in 1965:

The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside. The methods and form of this direction can take various shapes. (Most) often, neo-colonialist control is exercised through economic or monetary means. Control over government policy in the neo-colonial State may be secured by payments towards the cost of running the State, by the provision of civil servants in positions where they can dictate policy, and by monetary control over foreign exchange through the imposition of a banking system controlled by the imperial power.

This description of neo-colonialism still rings true today, with indigenous cultures all over the world experiencing what Nkrumah described in its various forms. Most recently, Chinese neo-colonialists have flowed into indigenous lands, promising to lift us up with their wealth. Their investors, bankers, traders, lenders, developers and charities all promise to improve our lives for the better.

African countries are especially incurring massive debt to Beijing, offering up their land, oil, gas, minerals and other resources as collatoral for every new billion-dollar loan they take out. When they inevitably default on these unsustainable loans, China will seize the collatoral and strip the continent of its natural wealth. Malaysia recently realized the dangers of this debt trap and pulled out of Chinese development deals. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned the world, “there is a new version of Colonialism happening.”

ziq, Indigenous Anarchy & The Need for a Rejection of the Colonizer’s “Civilization”

#neocolonialism #china #africa

[zvaigzdelasas]

[SCMP is HK Media]

Of the various appointments, Ahmad Zahid being handed the deputy prime ministership was the most expected among political commentators, even though sceptics warned it would taint Anwar’s administration from the outset.

Ahmad Zahid is widely seen as a close ally of Najib Razak, the ex-leader defeated in 2018 polls and now in jail following a conviction linking him to the 1MDB financial scandal. Ahmad Zahid himself is facing corruption charges of his own for alleged money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

Along with Najib, Ahmad Zahid was among a slew of BN officials slapped with corruption charges following the 2018 vote, which Anwar’s PH won under the leadership of elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad.

The PH government collapsed in 2020, following an internal coup backed by Najib, Zahid and other BN heavyweights.

The conservative Malay-Muslim Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin opted not to join the unity government, claiming it would be dominated by the Chinese-centric DAP.

2 Dec 22

#malaysia

[suara-rakyat-blog]

Najib In Jail For Seizing Mahathir's Crony IPP Project

During the era of Tun Doctor Mahathir, the Independent Power Producer (IPP) was controlled by several companies such as Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar, YTL, Genting Sanyen, and Tan Seri Ananda Krishnan, which is the Tanjong Energy Holding. Therefore, 1MDB was instructed to purchase two Tanjong Energy Holding companies that agreed to be sold. Genting Sanyen agreed to sell and when 1MDB through its subsidiary, Edra Energy, took over these two electric power generation plants, they controlled fourteen percent of the country's electricity generation.

Although Syed Mokhtar still holds twenty-five percent and YTL holds half of the power generation, TNB still generates the other half. However, when 1MDB or Edra Energy holds fourteen percent, during tender, their price is nine cents cheaper than Tun Mahathir's four cents and one cent cheaper than TNB itself.

Therefore, the benefit eventually reaches the people, because in 2015, for the first time in history, we successfully reduced electricity tariffs. Imagine if Datuk Najib had the intention to hold fifty percent of the country's electricity production at that time.

1MDB took over all IPP, so subsidies were no longer given. Many people did not know that Tan Sri Ani Arope was actually angry not because Tun Doctor Mahathir gave them four cents to supply electricity to TNB, but because the eight cents was more expensive than TNB. In addition, they enjoyed gas subsidies. This gas subsidy is worth one hundred and fifty-five billion ringgit for twenty-one years.

Actually, the concept of 1MDB is good. However, confusion occurred when Jho Low conspired with Zeti Akta Aziz, Nor Mumamad Yakob, Nik Faisal, and two people detained today at KLIA who were involved in embezzlement.

#lokman adam #kerajaan madani #kerajaan perpaduan #Najib Razak #mahathir mohamad #!mdb #umno #Barisan Nasional

[trshltna-blog]

Social Media, Memes and….*sighs*, Malaysian Politics

Before I begin, I’d like to address that I am not particularly fond of Malaysian politics, but will try to explain this week’s topic through the mind of someone who regularly uses Social Media, just not for politics.

Generally, social media has been a primary source for politics in terms of sharing information and announcing unexpected political happenings. In Malaysia, it is known that most politicians are on social media applications such as Twitter and Instagram. With the platform presented to them, they’re able to advocate for their standing party and have the freedom to say what they want to say. Comparing traditional media and the media we consume now, it is certain how much social media has a one up the game for politics. News gets spread faster, and not only politicians are involved, but generally the people of the country who voted. Even those who didn’t vote, get the participate.

All thanks to the freedom of social media, and yes, this is where memes come in.

Let’s go back in time shall we? To the year 2020…

When everything Covid-19 related happened around the world and in Malaysia, Malaysia was also going through a political crisis where there was a sudden switch in the cabinet. There was an immediate meeting of leaders that was held on the 23rd February 2020, about 3 weeks before national lockdown. Crazy, right? Everything else was happening and these people decided to make even more controversies within the country. Then again, I was only 18, an avid user on Twitter whilst scrolling thru my feed of constant tweets about the changes happening. Leaders from several factions of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) were called to Sheraton Hotel, Petaling Jaya, which somehow, lead to Tun Mahathir Mohamad resigning as the Prime Minister, and then forming a whole new government under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Zainuddin 2020). This whole situation was then known as the “Sheraton Move”, where they planned to topple the PH government. To sum all that up, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin ended up being the Prime Minister, with the 3rd ever government we have in Malaysia (IISS 2020)…

…only to step down the following year on the 16th of August 2021 becoming the caretaker Prime Minister, with Ismail Sabri Yakoob replacing him as our Prime Minister, for now.

Okay, I’m going to stop here, it’s getting confusing, but you get the gist. Malaysian politics are a full on mess.

While I have to admit I only knew the full story today because of this week’s topic blog, memes have helped me somewhat understood the situation and honestly made the whole thing lighter and more engaging. Personally, I do think memes are this generation’s way of coping with almost anything, considering the fact that we’ve been told that we’re unserious and unaware. But, I don’t think that’s the case. With social media, the birth of memes were born. What better way to convey the slight snooze-fest of politics with none other than.. fun loving memes? Relating to last week’s post, our generation loves visuals, and memes just sums up all that. A whole situation or message being conveyed in 1 fulfilling meme. Quite entertaining if I do say so myself.

With that, I do believe that memes and politics somehow do go hand in hand together, especially in this decade. Jokes aside and all, considering memes are joke-filled, memes grab the attention of most social media users. People like me who aren’t really aware, get attracted to these memes posted only to be curious about the context behind it. For me, that works, and I’m sure it works for other people as well. One can put it in a way as if memes are a head start before a plane takes off, thus the plane being any types of news. In this case, political news.

Take this meme below, for example. I saw this about a year ago circulating on Twitter and was really confused at first on what was going on. From there I made the initiative to search up what all this was about, and it seemed like it was just Dr. Mahathir and his tricks, as usual.

Okay enough of that, it’s in the past now.

As I’m typing this out, GE15 candidates have been announced so do vote if you can! For the betterment of Malaysia and many more political memes to come 🇲🇾

#mda20009 #week5 #politicalengagement

References :

[sentosagirl]

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Wants Pulau Batu Putih To Be Belong to Malaysia

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Wants Pulau Batu Putih To Be Belong to Malaysia

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that Singapore was once owned by Johor and the state of Johor should claim that Singapore be returned to it and to Malaysia. We should demand not just that Pedra Branca, or Pulau Batu Puteh, be given back to us, we should also demand Singapore as well as the Riau Islands, as they are Tanah Melayu (Malay land),” he added to applause from…

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[kazifatagar]

DAP winning in KKB: Mahathir. Is the elderly statesman being SARCASTIC now?

Ex-PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says many things, just like he said PAS and PN will win most states in the state elections last year. He also predicted a win for PH in Penang and thought Selangor would be a tough fight. Now he is saying DAP or PH have already won the KKB by-elections. Is he being serious or being sarcastic? Social Media Links Follow us…

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#DAP is winning he says #Mahathir predicts KKB election #Malays are divided