Unprotected Sex and Hit Whores

First off, we are not hit whores, slotting in the word sex to get hits on this blog.

Now that we got that off our chest, let us get on with the business of business. It's World AIDS Day this December 1 - well we should actually remember it every day rather than just one day but what-the-heck - other days are crammed with other events anyway.

Was quite disturbed to get an email from the World Health Organisation warning that the HIV/AIDS situation will further worsen unless efforts are stepped up to stop the virus from spreading.

The email went further to say:-

"The number of people living with HIV continues to grow," warned Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. "High-risk behaviour, such as injecting drug use, unprotected paid sex and unprotected sex between men, is especially evident in the HIV epidemics in some regions, including Asia."

In 2006, an estimated 8.6 million people were living with HIV in Asia, 960 000 of whom were infected in the past year, WHO said. An estimated 650 000 people were living with HIV at the close of 2005. In Viet Nam, the number of people living with HIV has doubled since 2000 and reached an estimated260 000 people in 2005. In Papua New Guinea, the number of HIV/AIDS cases has dramatically increased, with HIV prevalence rates among the adult population in excess of 1% since 2003.

I remember the very first few AIDS patients who died in Malaysia. They were all sent to Ward 23 at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, as it was then called. So many precautions were taken to handle the patients before and after they died to prevent the virus from spreading.

Then, cases were few and far in between. That is no longer the situation now. As Charles Cham said in one of his famous t-shirts sold in his The Orangutan House in Malacca, Play Safe. Use Malaysian Rubber!

Well, enough said. Enjoy this public service announcement from the Siber Party of Malaysia (M).

The voice of our times

Surti and Tejo clearly illuminate the cries of a generation raised on the grain of MTV and the internet, fattenned on the wealth of their fathers and weaned off the economic prosperity and jobs they were promised. It's a generation which expects to get what it wants and will sulk and cry when this does not happen. They'll whine, they'll moan and they'll sure as hell tell the whole fucking world about it.



It does seem however that the whole world is fucking. When media watchdogs post smut, it won't be long before an ADUN does it. Sure, political points against the establishment need to be scored, but a negative of two folks cuddling is still smut when the insinuation of illicit humping is raised. A negative's a negative, and it doesn't take much to fire up the Photoshop (thank you, Uncle Ho !) to reverse the spin.



Are they the alleged parties ? Who cares, other than their respective spouses. We sure don't. But lots of people will be drawn to this. There's a hint of scandal, you see. And who knows, it may keep the momentum of that grand daddy of sex, scandal, politics and murder going for another week or two. We need something to talk about when we're having teh tarik now, don't we ? After all, we know Malaysians are bad conversationalists anyways.

Take a look at The Star Online's most read stories. A story about sex, rape or nudity is always in the top ten. Every. Single. Day. It's like the flip to the sex stories when no one's looking, or when they need a quick wank. Sure enough, this is followed by a hop over to BangBus, MILF Heaven or even Puppy Love.

People talk about sex, it's like they've all taken Salt 'N Pepa's words to effect.

Let's talk about sex for now
To the people at home or in the crowd
It keeps coming up anyhow
Don't decoy, avoid, or make void the topic
Cuz that ain't gonna stop it
Now we talk about sex on the radio and video shows
Many will know anything goes
Let's tell it how it is, and how it could be
How it was, and of course, how it should be
Those who think it's dirty have a choice
Pick up the needle, press pause, or turn the radio off
Will that stop us, Pep? I doubt it
All right then, come on, Spin

Everyone's talking about sex. Dek Mat talks about sex, and this post is about sex.

We do listen to our grassroots now, you know.

Let's talk about sex, baby
Let's talk about you and me
Let's talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let's talk about sex
Let's talk about sex
Let's talk about sex
Let's talk about sex

Sex, Smut and Spiritualism

Azan Isyak update: To JAIS here's a basic primer on pornography! And to those who wants to evade JAIS, snog in open, busy public places because JAIS officers only skulk in quiet areas... ;)

Even Jeff Ooi's has smut on his blog. Not once but twice!

Not since the holding hands in klcc saga have we seen the invasion of couple's rights to show public display of affection (clothes not off of course).

Nor since the Zouk KL raid have we seen a controversial religious raid too!

It brings to mind that even if the religious authorities were to use video footages as evidence in court, isn't it necessary for the religious authorities to obtain a court order first?

But lately not only the authorities have gone mighty religious but we also have our fellow brothers and sisters in Muslim Consumer Association of Malaysia PPIM have gone nuts trying to enforce their dietary requirements onto the rest of the nation.

The complaint was about the cross that appears on the delicious Wall's ice cream buiscuit Moo. Despite the food product being certified halaal, apparently eating the cross-like design that appears on the biscuit can throw you off your faith or aqeedah because of some new tactic Christian mind warfare.

Maybe they think that the Christians have developed some new kind of nerve gas that is placed in the cross that will make you want to convert like Lina Joy.

Maybe not...

Speaking of coonversions I read in yesterday's Star about Kamariah Ali. This was the statement from the Judge Mohammad Abdullah:

“Based on the facts provided by officer Wan Mohamad Wan Yaakob, the court found that the accused was still a Muslim when she declared apostasy at Besut Lower Syariah Court on July 21, 2005”

Doh! How can the court find one is not an apostaste when one has made a court declaration that she is an apostate?

But I digress. Coming back to the diet-zealous Muslims, I have no problem if they don't want to buy the product for what ever reason, but don't force it on me please. Thank you.

I have also heard from the brother network that some people are trying to ban mathematics because of the addition symbol, send a protest note to the Queen of England because the St George's cross does not represent the Muslim population in England and making a complain to JKR that all crossroads to be turned into rounadbouts or be called 4-way junction.

I don't think they will stop there. I have already heard rumours about certain religious quarters wanting to ban the turkey from setting shores to Malaysia for Christmas and thus depriving many and myself included the merry festivities of eating and drinking associated with that holiday season.

Oh well. If you want to have all these headache-making-idiotic news not appear in Malaysia, vote for us!

With that we will leave you with more sex, flesh (the halaal kind too) and spiritualism! Enjoy the clip!

Freedom of Expression and Speech

Predictably, delegates attending the UMNO convention two weeks ago went on a rant and rave, rampaging with their Malay Agenda of furthering the NEP and waving the keris even as their president kept to the language of love and unity.

Predictably, Malaysians and opposition parties were outraged at such xenophobic talk and threats and asked for action to be taken against those who spoke on such subjects, unencumbered by the fact that all the action in the convention hall was telecast live throughout the nation.

Predictably, the solution is to stop the live telecast but maintain that all such talk is rhetoric and let's face it, the Malays are not really going to run amuck.

So, whatever happened to the freedom of expression and speech? Isn't what happened at the UMNO annual congress better for the nation in the long run? How long have we swept all this racist talk under the carpet?

It has been 49 years of accumulated rubbish under the mat and now we stumble and fall over the mound of racist dirt under the carpet that is Malaysia.

Let all of them wave their weapon of choice - be it the keris, the sword or the spear - and spout the racist rhetoric that is their hallmark. For they are blind to facts, deaf to reason but vociferous in their stupidity.

For those who believe in the freedom of expression and speech, curtailing such xenophobia is anathema to the cause and the principle of full freedom. Otherwise, you become the monster you hate.

This we have to learn, remember and think about when we all go to vote in the next polls.

After all, the one lesson we can draw from this entire episode - apart from the fact that it has been occuring for years but everyone has been napping through the annual congress - is that the Malaysian dream is the Malay nightmare.

And the choice after all this flap is really simple. Vote for the Siber Party of Malaysia (M).

Kulliyah Jumaat: Hal-Hal Murtad/Appropriating Apostasy Part One

Apparently murtad is the mot de jour.

Even Rocky's Bru thought that it was worth his while to mention about Azhar Mansor.

So what if mansor has turned christian?

Let's assume that he did.

And he did it out of his own conviction.

He did not force anyone else to convert.

He did not proclaim to the world "Hey guys! look Islam is not for me, Christianity is". He did it quietly.

Are we going to deny him the right to live his life as how he chooses to be the right way?

And quietly too away from Islamic narrow mindedness that we have here in Malaysia?

And lastly, we think that we're doing everyone a favor by 'killing'/curing apostates.

If they are not ikhlas/sincere in their conviction then I don't know if it's worth the effort.

We're not God to decide who goes to heaven or hell.

It'd be really funny if in the end Mansor goes to heaven and we end up in hell and that too being decided by our own Islamic God.

The decision of death, heaven and hell belongs to God alone.

Of course this is assuming if he did convert to Christianity.

Senator, teh tarik satu !

Mydeen dengar dok member Mydeen kat Kimma nak Senator seekor. Depa kata industri Bolehwood dah ada seekor, Datuk Jins Shamsudin. Tapi, bebudak UMNO kata tak leh. Payah nak masuk BN, diaorang bilang. Dah-lah ada 14 parti politik, mamak takde tempat nak tunjuk terror buat teh tarik.

Mydeen syorkan jangan putus asa, try and try again, bak kata ong putih. Kan mamak tu dah mencapai turus tertinggi kerajaan ngan jawatan PM pun pernah dipegang. Taulah Mydeen, nak dapat permit pekerja asing tu susah sikit, kena pesan kat kementerian dan imigresen. Harapan nak jadi senator tu ada, kan budak tak tahu baca ong putih pun boleh jadi senator.

Relek lah beb, jom pi minum teh tarik.

Al-Fatihah to Khir Johari: Limerickal Tribute

This is our tribute to the man who made education better before his successors screwed it. Other people have their two cents but we have our three limericks

Khir Johari was a mate of Tunku
They talked but also did do
For the party and the country
For all and sundry
They were gentlemen true and through

Khir Johari was a man so brave
Never a kris did he wave
He just did what he had to do
He did it all through and true
And even had time for a rave

There was a man named Khir Johari
Who lived a life quite merry
He did all things well
Made all things swell
We salute his life with toasts of whisky

We welcome contributions of limericks to eulogise pak khir.... As long as it does not rhyme with akhir!

Malware in UMNO

This just in from the Help Desk!

Complaint: UMNO operating system corrupted with malware. System integrity maintained via introduction of subroutines that keep the malicious code in check to prevent system-wide chaos.

Despite upgrades in firmware and software, system continues to be plagued by malware that continue to cause problems including irrational wielding of wavy daggers, racist rhetoric and perverse xenophobia on an annual basis.

A system check showed error message: 0x800CCCD6 IMAP_BUFFER_OVERFLOW Buffer limit exceeded.

Ran diagnostics and and a series of restore points to default but malware is now part of the operating system and unable to return Malays to a race of cultured, polite, humble and rational people as per the Selangor Sultan List (SSL).

Diagnostics revealed that while core operating system remained rational, software upgrades over the years using a combination of freeware and java applets have corrupted the entire system leaving it blind to rational thought, deaf to advice but absolutely vociferous in spouting drivel - in line with freedom of speech as guaranteed under cyberspace laws.

However, other parts of the system cannot handle such freedoms and are now hankering for a previous operating system that shut down all ports and kept the entire system in a vacumm and isolated from any upgrades.

Solutions: Core system remains viable but malware is hard to eliminate as its code is intertwined with operating system. Other competing operating systems are not robust to run system-wide.

Lines of code from previous version of operating system continues to turn up as extensions of malware, putting strain to the system. However, routine system diagnostics is rooting out the malware. System needs extensive recoding to prevent system-wide chaos.

However, clients are not willing to make changes to the operating system. Which means we will continue to service the clients until we stop technical support for this operating system.

Where's Open Source when you need it?

It goes down but not all around...

Mercs and Beamers
Originally uploaded by SiPM.

So it just ended.

Pak Lah's winding up speech was actually quite good but I doubt it if many listened as I see their faces slump into an afternoon siesta.

On Wednesday, Pak Lah said "Kerajaan ada wang" ie. the government has money.

But does the money get to where its most needed?

I got out of PWTC to take a breather and saw why it may not be necessarily so.

I found out that some UMNO members who get to sit inside the main hall are extremely wealthy with fancy and hot cars while the other members who are bussed from their villages have to make do with walls and carpets outside the main hall.

Just a quick count of the cost of the cars I mananged to take pictures of today were quick and dirty figure totalling to approximately RM5million.

Now that's enough to add 100 recipients/companies to the Cradle Invesment Program (CIP) grant.

Pak Ciks by the wall
Originally uploaded by SiPM.

Mak Ciks on the Floor
Originally uploaded by SiPM.

If I was a mak cik or pak cik from the kampungs I'd say for UMNO to contribute that much amount of money to help Bumi CIP applicants.

And not give it to some via hand-out projects whose money never go around.

The money mostly stays with these few selfish people,



You can catch the rest of the pictures here.

Land Ho !

MV Chidambaram is in port, and I was on it. I come to Malaysia to do business. My brother, Kadeer Aboo Backer, already here, and he start food shop, Woody Nasi Kandar. This was the first original Nasi Kandar shop in Penang. He's doing good business in the shop, and he's asked me to come here to help him open new show in Kuala Lumpur and start trading business on Masjid India street.

Now, 30 years later, I am successful businessman and lifelong member of Kimma. I got two buildings in Jalan Masjid India with my partner, K.A. Majeed Rowther. Our Woody Nasi Kandar shop already got many cawangan, so we concentrate on our fabric trading business and our cendol franchise.

But now my friends Dek Mat and Mat Merah, told me about SiPM and I was interested. Long time already I disillusioned with Kimma when they complain about that Danish fler's cartoon. So I join SiPM to memperjuangkan hak siber di Malaysia.

So, if you want good teh tarik and nice fish curry, come to our shop.

We promise we don't soak underwear inside. Mydeen only wears red G-strings.

U-Turn Malaysia National Organisation

Today begins the biggest convention in Melayu Barualand.

The Party represents roughly 3million members and Najib proclaimed that it also guards the hopes of some other 12million Malays who are not members.

I am not so sure now, Dato Seri...

True to form, the UMNO General Assembly has shown why the Party has turned, worryingly, increasingly xenophobic.

The Orchestration of Malay Sentiments of the be-all or end-all is the once a year circus that many Malaysian constantly lament before being forced to pull ranks for the sake of national unity.

This year, the circus called in several U-turns:

1. Bangsa Malaysia is not an accepted non racial philosophy. Johor MB Ghani Othman reminds us that Bangsa Malaysia "should be limited to the definition of the people of Malaysia with the Malays as the main race".
2. Meritocracy is bad. We should get rid of it especially in strategic courses in education. Yes, even if the students are stupid. What ever happened to improving the education system? The way we teach? Less number of students per class? Better syllabi? No. Apparently we prefer stupid people.
3. Bumiputera equity is not 36.6% as what was reported by Deputy Finance Minister Dr Awang Adek but Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Effendi Norwawi said it's 21.8%. So the NEP has really not meet its target. So we're gonna have keep on having it till we achieve national unity! Let's here it people let's discriminate some more and make all the other Malaysians happy so that we aalllll can be united like happy people!

But the best statement yet has to come from UMNO Youth today: UMNO Youth warns against racial politics.

Eh. I thought the practice of racial politics is the norm in this country?

It's like the Liberal Democrats saying do not practice liberal democray politics.

The U-turn circus is in town folks and it's here for week folks.

Enjoy the show!

The Penang Perverts

Yes, some people just have to open their mouths to prove their stupidity.

Like the Penang Perverts, from Penang Municipal Council president Abu Bakar Hassan who claimed over the weekend that a technician would not have focussed a council meeting room closed-circuit-television camera (CCTV) on a journalist if her attire was not sexy to the said technician who claimed the camera could not point any other way.

And as part of his immediate solution, a dress code would be drawn up for media personnel who have assignments at the council offices.

This came about after New Straits Times journalist Melissa Darlyne Chow, 23, alleged that the CCTV operator in the control room had outraged her modesty by focussing the camera on her thighs during a council meeting on November 10.

That these perverts should apologise and action taken against them is already obvious.

That they are not even considering this is sickening and disgusting.

And a sad reflection on the mindset and mentality of those in the civil service, underlining how uncivilised and prurient they actually are.

And to think that the government actually banned the Weekend Mail for just writing about sex.

Will the sense of outrage lead to anything? One can only wonder! Or take action in the next general elections to vote in those who can promise local council elections!

Why? Because if unelected officials - who apparently are qualified to run local councils - can think in such prurient and sexist ways, why not elect unqualified people who can at least be booted out if they screw up.

At least we know that our taxpayers' money is better used than funding private entertainment for perverts wanking over what they see on screen and to pay the salaries of those who think the problem is an unclear dress code rather than a dirty mind.

Also, why is the council meeting room equipped with CCTV? Is it to monitor possible crimes or to relay the meetings to the world wide web?



What is the channel - is it like the one above? Will we get to view the next meeting or will we just get to something that will only be described to us inadequately and unimaginably by the Weekend Mail.

"We have to obey the doctors’ order"

Yesterday Pak Lah assures us that he will not run away and that he wants to stay for more than just one term.

Dr Mahathir has always had other ideas.

In a newspaper report yesterday Dr Mahathir reminded us that we have to obey doctor's orders.

It was another golden quote from our former PM and Pak Lah must be wondering whether to follow the good ol' doctor's prescription to the letter.

The Malay Agenda

That UMNO will discuss the Malay Agenda is stating the obvious.

What else can it discuss, seriously? UMNO stands for the United Malays National Organisation and to discuss any other issues than the Malay Agenda would be quite misleading and rather unusual.

So there it is again, for the umpteenth time, the party will again discuss the Malay Agenda at its annual talk-fest.

Outside the cavernous hall filled to the brim with those togged up in the various red-and-white combination of baju melayu and baju kurung - with pink variants for the puteris - a nod to party colours, other will discuss the daily conspiracy of the day.

That would either be the tussle between the predecessor and the successor and the role of the wannabe-successors to their role-playing as pundits on the fate of the pundit-in-the-news.

But we too want to discuss the idea of the Malay Agenda - relating to education, economy and equitable distribution of wealth - the main planks that have been the raison d'etre for UMNO since the 1970s.

We won't repeat what others say in relation to the New Economic Policy - the main vehicle of the Malay Agenda. We just want to say the Malay Agenda has enriched at least a few people with knowledge, money and power.

It could have enriched a lot more, the sons of the soil toiling away in the land of the plenty but nope, the money went down but it did not go around. So where did it go down to but stopped there?

Yes, we are talking about all of the 192 UMNO division leaders - current and some in the past.

How many examples do we need to cite? One, two or more? Heck, we will just name one from the recent past, Zakaria @ Zainal Bin Deros.

And that is why UMNO is still talking about the Malay Agenda. Especially those who will come in their swanky limousines to Putra World Trade Centre from today until Friday, dripping with suasa rings set with giant gems or necklaces and bangles as the gender may suit.

They will talk about urban and rural poverty, the need to address the imbalances, the need to pour more money - which some will keep to fund their opulent lifestyles and break local government rules as the case may be - the need to educate people only in Bahasa Melayu, because if they know English, they will read the Weekend Mail and know the doggie-style - which is haram for Muslims.

Yes, the Malay Agenda! Let's talk about it. This year, next year and the years to come.

Titillatin' T-Shirt Quotes for the UMNO General Assembly

As Mat Merah and I sat down eating some mean Sup Tulang with mini nasi lemaks in remote Bangi he came up with a very entrepreneurial idea to sell T-Shirts with quotes for the up and coming UMNO General Assembly.

Funny what new source of news and information can make you think of. What's this source? SMS of course!

These are the top 10 for the MongolGate edition:

1. Warning! Sex with a Malaysian can be a blast (this is copyrighted to a certain JQ)
2. I'm a Malaysian VIP, fuck with care
3. If you see the Malaysian VIP bodyguard in your bedroom, call the bomb squad
4. VIP nak main puki, jangan banyak cakap, nanti mulut meletup
5. 3 good things you can do when you see a VIP with his mistress: a) shut-up b) forget c) get out of the country
6. 3 bad things you can do when you see a VIP with his mistress: a) tell people b) take photos c) ask for money
7. Warning! This VIP Mistresses Complex in filled with landmines. Do not enter or leave
8. Job Vacancy: Bodyguard for VIP needed. Old one in jail. Must be familiar with explosives
   
9. Saya VIP. Saya mengorat awek cun sahaja. Awek cun luar negeri diterima.
   
10. Are you a beautiful woman? Lonely? Dial 1-300-888-VIP for a blast of a time... for life.

Update 12/11/2006: Some readers have emailed in their quotes but wished to remain anonymous. They just want to share their joys of creativity. Guys, thanks for the contribution, don't worry, it's still a RM5 per shirt commission! ;)

11. Warning: loving a malaysian can be an explosive affair
12. Blow me or i'll blow you up

We now accept orders of RM30 per T-shirt. Just leave a comment to order your size, colour and quote of choice.

RM5 from each T-Shirt will be donated to the Mongolian Orphanages Trust Fund.

If you have a quote you would like to sell to us, please also leave it the comment. We will pay you RM5 for every t-shirt sold with your quote.

Next Stock: Titillatin' T-Shirt Quotes KlangGate Edition!

*All t-shirt quotes unless stated are copyrighted to SiPM

A Game of Hearts and Minds

It was the storm before the calm.

The rains drenched Kuala Lumpur just as they - the predecessor and successor - nearly met again for the second time in three weeks.

That meeting between Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Mahathir Mohamad was supposed to be next week but the successor went to visit the ailing predecessor at the National Heart Institute today.

Does it matter?

Yes it does to those who peruse tea-leaves to figure out what will happen in next week's annual UMNO talk-fest and the implications of what was expected to happen before Mahathir suffered a mild heart attack early today.

Except that one of the pundits is locked up at the moment for matters of the heart and unable to give us a piece of his mind.

Away from that story that still percolates through circles that think they matter, the UMNO talk-fest looks less likely to blow up and instead end up in a love-fest of sorts with get-well messages for Mahathir and professions of loyalty to Abdullah.

Nothing in it for the rest of us out of the tangled spaghetti that is the UMNO network.

And so continues the game of hearts and minds between the predecessor and the successor for the soul of the party, race, religion and the nation.

Except, its the economy, Mat! that they should be most concerned about.

Not the economy of the UMNOputras still dependent on government contracts to fund their opulent lifestyle while the rest are kept at society's margins - falling into the cracks of the economy like the leakages that keep the rich richer.

We are talking about the economy of the rest of us - the bigger group marginalised into the field of little in a land of plenty.

Purchasing power is down no thanks to fuel and water rates going up.

We pay so much for the piddle that they call broadband.

We get paid so little for the labour that they call work.

Instead, the annual UMNO talk-fest will focus on the economy, education, culture and what else that ails the Malay society - something they have been gabbing about for so long that it no longer matters to the sons of the soil.

They just want a slice of the pie already cut up among the elite and not be the pawns in the eternal game of hearts and minds between warlords and wizards from all sides of the aisle.

And lets not forget the rest of us Malaysians too, whether online or offline.

The UMNO talk-fest will ignore all that.

And we will all be that much poorer, literally and figuratively.

Bush-whacked, First Female Speaker, First Muslim Congressman and a possible lame duck Senate

Maybe not yet.

In the corner of the world where its strongest superpower is located, the race for power that probably affects all on earth are watched closely to see how much of a lame duck will President Dubya Bush will be at the end of the vote count.

The whole day today America is all about Midterm election results and the initial prediction of my SiPM colleague, Mat Merah, is the Democrats have as much chance to win the Senate as the DAP breaking the two-thirds majority of Barisan Nasional.

The initial predictions via CNN is "Democrats appear poised to win control of the House and possibly the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections amid a national clamor for change after four years of war in Iraq."

And true to their predictions the Dems are back in control in the House after 12 years, comfortably holding 52% of the house eventhough 13 key races are still undecided.

But who would have guessed that the race for control of the Senate to be nail biting.

With most of the votes counted the race for the control of the Senate now hangs on hair line margin wins in the states of Montana and Virginia where the Dems are poised to hold on for the photo finish.

However the catch is this: the Dems need to win both seats to secure the majority in the 100 seat Senate. But the GOPs only one more seat to pinkie-wrestle the control away from the Democrats.

And the GOPs can only do this by ordering a recount of the Virginia results where by law "the apparent loser can request a recount after the votes have been certified if the margin is less than 1 percent of the total votes cast. If that happens, the result may not be clear for weeks."

Even in Montana the law is the similar although more stringent: "In Montana, a recount can be requested by the loser if the margin of votes between two candidates is less than one-quarter of 1 percent.

If the margin is between one-half of 1 percent and one-quarter of 1 percent, the loser can petition for a recount if the candidate is willing to pay for it."

And if the winnings are split between the GOP and Dems a 50-50 seat tie will result in the GOPS having the upper hand as Vice President Dick Cheney's constitutional authority to break tie votes as President of the Senate.

For the uninitiated the US Congress is separated into two houses: The Upper House ie. The Senate and the Lower House ie. The House of Representatives.

A good way to compare them would be with Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara. Sort off...

The Senate has 100 seats while the House has 435 seats.

And of the Midterm Elections, this is from the wiki:

"Midterm elections are elections in the United States in which members of Congress, state legislatures, and some state governors are elected, but not the President.

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even-numbered year, elections are held for all 435 members of the United States House of Representatives and 33 or 34 of the 100 members of the United States Senate. However, Presidential elections occur only every four years. Those elections for Congress that do not coincide with Presidential races are called midterm elections, because they occur about midway through a Presidential term.

34 of the 50 U.S. states elect their governors to four-year terms during midterm elections, while Vermont and New Hampshire elect governors to two-year terms in midterm and presidential elections. Thus, 36 governors are elected during midterm elections. States also elect officers to their state legislatures and county offices every two years, occuring with both mid-terms and presidential years,"

and GOP stands for the Grand Old Party to which the Republicans are also known as. Why? Read here and here for context.

Congratulations! You now know more of American politics than the majority of Americans. :)

Even though it does not really affect us Malaysians that much I am going to post the election results: the Dems shaved away 6 of the GOP controlled states making making them control 28 out of 50 states with still 2 states undecided.

Besides the tough race, the Midterms are braced for the record books with the installation of the first ever female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

And for the Islamists, we have now the first ever Muslim Congressman in Keith Ellison.


So how does this US Midterm Election results affect us?

CNN and many other international news agencies reported that a slim majority of the voters are disagreable with how the Bush administration is handling Iraq and is generally concerned with bringing the troops home early.

Christmas is after all around the corner.

And the Dems are likely to bring up civil liberty issues that is brought about by the Patriot Act.

However, there is so much the Dems can do within the House as the President still have veto powers and in today's communication both the President and Pelosi reiterated the need for bipartisanship to solve the problems together.

America is always about protecting their self-interest first and if they were to pull their troops earlier, the situation in Iraq will not improve one bit.

The War in Iraq also contributes to global war on terrorism. And with that coupled with the discouraging news in Palestine the whole thing looks like another lame duck situation, much like the President if the Senate goes to the Dems.

So we're pretty much screwed there.

So the results does not change the status quo: the Iraqis and Palestinians are still fucked and there has not been any clearer indication that the Dem will 'bring change' on those fronts.

The Middle East and the fight on Terror is definitely a complicated mix with the rest of American politics to have a Muslim agenda.

It's like trying to stir a barrel of petrol with a unclipped grenade. Stir too fast and KABOOMM.

A popular Islamic Middle East Agenda would entail the withdrawal of troops in Iraq and achieve peace (errr any clues on this?) plus the solving of the Israel-Palestinian Issue.

If anyone can solve the latter without calling to arms I'd eat 20 whole roast chickens in one sitting.

Even with the signs showing that Americans are open to a Muslim Congressman in Keith Ellison his views on the Middle East is not consistent with the rest of the pseudo fanatical ummah:

• Ellison on Hamas and Terrorism: "… Hamas represents the greatest obstacle to [peace between Israel and in the Middle East], and… [U]ntil Hamas denounces terrorism, recognizes the absolute right of Israel to exist peacefully and honors past agreements, it cannot be considered legitimate partners in this process… Terrorism is the greatest impediment to peace. At this point the Palestinian Authority (PA) has yet to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank. The United States cannot support any government that condones or embraces terrorism." (http://www.keithellison.org/issues-israel.htm)
• Ellison on Iran: "The other serious threat to the security of the region is Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. This must be stopped. A nuclear-armed Iran would upset the strategic balance in the region and pose a clear threat to world peace. Iran's sponsorship of international terrorism as well as financial aid to terrorist organizations endangers peace around the globe." (http://www.keithellison.org/issues-israel.htm)
• Ellison on Peace in the Middle East: "The United States should encourage dialogue with peaceful Palestinian leaders that recognize Israel, condemn terrorism, and honor past accords… Only with a democratic Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel can the safety of the entire region be assured." (http://www.keithellison.org/issues-israel.htm)

On the plus side we can already see some changes in American politics which we must welcome:

1. Rumsfeld has resigned. Even the Army wanted him to go.
   
2. The President can't go all crazy with the defence budget which amount to USD$3billion per week with the war in Iraq.
   

But Not All Hope is Lost There Things We Can Learn Though

Jeff Ooi gives us a good backgrounder on why the Dems won and it serves to give us some inspiration for our own country:

1. From CBS: "When one political party controls all the levers of government power, it also carries the burden of responsibility for the state of the nation in voters’ minds." Does this sound familiar? I guess not, we like to give the a specific component party 92% of the parliamentary seats and then complain about why everything does not work for us.
2. Also from CBS "Democrats argued that Republicans in Congress represented a “culture of corruption.” This theme appears to have resonated among voters." So don't go and vote for corrupt candidates in the next elections ok?
3. Vote on issues. The Americans have shown us that issues do matter and for them it was the troops in Iraq and how the war on terror has affected their safety, it was about the economy how high petrol prices have a affected them and the Dems taking advantage of this by promoting initiatives of alternative energy, immigration and like Malaysia too Moral Issues. Things like single sex marriages, abortion and stem cell research played a big role in swinging votes.
4. Don't just vote on empty issues. The Dems highlighted the problems and offered a solution. So vote for people who have solutions that you can work with.

By the time I am at this point of the article reports are trickling in that today's canvassing are showing that the Dems are going to control the Senate.

But it's important to be clear on this. This means the tightly contested seats in Montana and Virginia will have their recount proceedings take place sooner than we could say 'recount'.

And these proceedings will take us well into post Christmas holidays.

The President may look like the lame duck towards the end of his term but it is the Senate who is looking more like the lame duck for the next 2 months or so.