The Government, The Internet, and A Little Revolution...

This came via the Treespotter via the Hammer of Truth.

Has technology changed the face of revolution?

Obama, Indonesia, and Egypt...

I like Barack Obama. If I was an American I would have voted for the man. But, Mr. President, you are letting your 3 plus years in Indonesia go to your head and cloud your judgment. Indonesia is not a shining example that Egypt must follow as an example of how to transit from a dictatorship to democracy.

Perhaps you and your team need to revisit some of your perceptions of Indonesia. The reform process in Indonesia has been slow and very drawn out. There are still huge swathes of the population living on or below the poverty line. Religious fundamentalism and extremism continues to rear its ugly head. And, Mr. President, this is in spite of your claims back in November that Indonesia was a shining example of religious tolerance and pluralism in the Islamic world. Seriously Mr. President how do you think Indonesia's religious minorities such as the Ahmadis and the Christians are feeling about that in light of the recent violence that has been perpetrated against them?

Corruption is still rife in Indonesia. So rife, in fact, that it is almost an every other day occurrence. The scourge is pervasive and persistent. So much so that the president of Indonesia opts to stand idly by and claim professional distance while the primary platform of his mandate is eroded from around him by those who put him into power in the first place.

Nah, if the citizens of Egypt have the sense, and I am sure that they do, then they will not be looking towards the world's largest Muslim nation for any serious substantive pointers regarding a transition to democracy. Hopefully the Egyptian people will not suffer the same fate as Indonesia's long-suffering citizens.

On a final note, Indonesia has not successfully managed the aspirations of the people. In fact, the persistent pandering to special interests and Muslim fundamentalists has meant that extremism is on the rise. The military and police, and perhaps the whole law enforcement apparatus, are nervous. So, if success is gauged by the fact that Muslim groups are now openly canvassing the idea that it is time for the democratically elected president to resign and move out to pasture, then, yes, Mr. Obama, Indonesia is the shining example that Egypt needs to follow.

Then again, this might be why SBY is claiming responsibility for getting Hosni Mubarak to resign for the good of the Egyptian people...

SBY Taking Credit For Hosni Mubarak's Resignation?

Perhaps it is the cynic in me, but how desperate is SBY and the Democrat Party? Marzuki Alie of the Democrat Party, and Head of the House of Representatives, has stated unequivocally that SBY sent a personal letter to Mubarak suggesting that he step aside. The letter was delivered by hand by Special Envoy Hassan Wirajuda.

Apparently, the substance of the letter went along the lines of "Hey Hosni, better take on the Indonesian example and step aside and let the hand-picked Veep take over." "And, it is time to start stashing those billions in hard to find places so as to live your life out in peace and comfort. Take our boy Soeharto, we protected him all the way to his grave." "Final point mate, the sooner you do this stepping aside thing, the sooner I can start doing the rounds and claiming credit for myself as the instigator of your smooth resignation and the movement of Egypt to greater democracy". "Peace Out! Your main man in Indonesia, SBY! Salam!"

Funnily enough, SBY also suggested that Egypt establish an independent election authority to administer free and fair elections. I would be guessing though that Mubarak and his cronies, including his family, would not be giving the proverbial "rat's" about what happens after they squirrel away their billions and bugger off to Monaco or wherever.

But, the biggest chuckle was reserved for the statement that these initiatives at brokering Egyptian peace are enshrined in the 1945 Constitution, and as such Indonesia, and SBY, has an obligation to participate. This maybe so, but the reality Mr. President and Mr. Alie is that Indonesia has some serious constitutional problems at home. For example, the increasing persecution of religious minorities and a president that continually fails to fulfill the mandate granted to him twice. Maybe cleaning up one's own backyard may in fact be more beneficial to a greater majority of Indonesians than claiming credit for cleaning up Egypt's backyard.

I would reckon that the Egyptians got this far without SBY, then they are probably more than capable of going the distance on this one by themselves. In any event, what Mr. Alie and others fail to realise is that 1998 Jakarta and 2011 Cairo are two very different sets of circumstances. Perhaps, it should be Mubarak sending a personal letter to SBY about how to manage his own departure from Indonesian politics!

The idea that Indonesia has transited to democracy is a little premature. Let's face it money politics and corruption are still prevalent. Even more concerning is that the Ministry for Home Affairs is leading the way, with the agreement of a democratically elected president, in winding back the opportunities for Indonesians to elect their leaders at a local level in favour of having those leaders appointed by others.

The whole idea that SBY had any significant role in resolving events in Egypt reeks of desperation, it reeks of a president trying to map out a future tilt at some role on the international stage as a statesman of some repute.  To make it on the big stage might require some success on the domestic stage, and those successes are few and far between, and of late have been non-existent.

Mr. President, rather than getting your point men to claim success on your behalf in Egypt why don't you focus on securing minority rights for Indonesians at home? Why don't you focus on ensuring that those facilitating corruption are punished? Why don't you focus on ensuring that the people of Sidoarjo get fair and full compensation for their losses? The list probably can go on and on and on, but you get the point. Because if you don't then maybe the next letter you receive will be a letter of condolence from Hosni Mubarak commiserating on your unfortunate removal from office with more than half of your second term to go!

Happy Sunday to y'all!

"Reform Unplugged"

A shout out to Treespotter who has made a post already using this title. I have been toying with the idea of writing a piece on how the events in Egypt over the [almost] past three weeks is perhaps a lesson that Indonesians could heed, some Indonesians more than others. Conversely, the reform that Egyptians so overwhelmingly crave could do with a shot of reality, particularly regarding the pace of managed or guided reforms. A managed reformasi process is something that all Indonesians are all too familiar with. On that note, anyone looking for an interesting read on the similarities, head over to Jakartass.

The other reason for the 'unplugged' title is that I have been chilling out to a couple of unplugged albums; Bob Dylan and Neil Young. And, the lack of creativity that I have suggested that something 'unplugged' would make a good blog post.

Hosni Mubarak was a tyrant, a dictator, that has supposedly amassed a fortune somewhere in the vicinity of USD 40 to USD 70 billion over the course of almost 30 years of power. He has done this at the expense of his people. It is little wonder that critical mass was reached and protests began. I have always wondered why tyrants and dictators never come to realise that if they shared just a little they would always get a few more years at the helm. To be honest, all these people could have used a few pep sessions with Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew on how to properly stage manage democracy, or at least the semblances of it.

But, I digress.

The reality for most Egyptians, as it was for most Indonesians in 1998, is where to next? The King is dead, sort of. He will move, most probably out of Egypt and retire with his ill-gotten billions. Some will be returned as a small gesture. But, for those ordinary Egyptians struggling on, or below, the poverty line the cold, hard reality is that change or reform will be slow. If Egyptians want to get a good idea of what not to do, at least with respect to pace, then they should look to Indonesia. In the more than twelve years since Soeharto stepped aside after violent street protests and handing the reins of power to his deputy, much has changed and much has stayed the same.

The positives are that Indonesians enjoy greater freedoms of sorts, and except if you are an Ahmadi [minority rights, not!], including the freedoms of speech and expression. Indonesians have enjoyed an opening of the political process to a degree and experienced, by most accounts, a free and fair presidential election. Sadly, this has seen a succession of presidents elected who have been unable to deliver on the promise of the 1998 protest movement.

Gus Dur, despite his good and honourable intentions was a populist at heart who did not really have the heart to make the tough decisions. Megawati, well, "nuff" said. And, the incumbent, SBY. So much promise and so little progress. To Egypt, SBY shows how hard it is to remove entrenched special interests and how those interests continue to hold sway over how Indonesia's new-found democracy operates.

Unfortunately, the coming of democracy has  not seen a reduction in corruption levels or any significant improvement in the bureaucracy that channels that corruption. There is nothing like statistics to hide poverty or the careful manipulation of numbers to lower the threshold in order to hide those living on less than USD 2 per day. What Egypt has to look forward to is entrenched interests who pull their collective heads in in the after math of the killing of the king and biding their time.

For all the steps forward that Indonesia took in the post-1998 period with the establishment of a corruption eradication commission and the pursuit of those special interests it was only a matter of time before the special interests fought back. It appears a compliant [and complicit] president was the only trigger needed to convince those special interests that the ball was in their court.

Egypt does not want reform. Egypt needs complete and fundamental changes to the way the business of democracy is done. Ordinary Egyptians do not want to leave this important business to those schooled in the ways of the old master, Mubarak. Let Indonesians tell you how that turns out. The reality that Indonesians now understand is that letting those schooled in the ways of the previous master means that the practices remain entrenched and the mechanisms and skills required are absent for real change to occur. Skip a generation, the protests were led by the youth let the young leaders of the movement assume control over its ultimate destiny.

Maybe, there is a lesson for SBY in the protests that have rocked Egypt to its core. Listen to your people, listen to their aspirations, after all they are the ones that elected you and they are the ones that you work for. A presidency of unrealised promise might be just the right trigger for a renewed push to "reformasi -- part two".

I guess the reason reform works so slowly, or not at all, is that there is no clear separation from the past. Perhaps the French realised this and that is why the opted for a revolution.

Yes, it is a messy post. But, it is really just a rambling rant ;)

Image courtesy of Dave Granlund.

A Two-Headed Calf and God...

A farmer in Egypt has declared that the birth of a two-headed calf was a divine miracle. The vet has said that the calf is likely to survive. However, it is being reported that the two heads are a little heavy, in fact too heavy for the calf to stand up at the moment. So, the calf is being hand-reared.

The farmer is apparently going to keep the calf as a reminder that "God is able to do anything".

Personally, I would reckon there are other things that God could be doing to convince the non-believers among us that s/he is real rather than producing two-headed calves.

Michael Jackson and an Egyptian Statue...

This is kind of cool.

When you first look at the statue after you know what you are looking for, then you find yourself doing a double take and going, "yeah, it does a bit, doesn't it?"

The statue is on display at the Field Museum in Chicago. It has been on display since 1988. The statue depicts an unidentified woman and dates to about 1500 BC. Perhaps this is a sign that Michael Jackson has been reincarnated. After all he did make a music video with a very definite Egyptian theme.

The statue's nose looks like it could do with some work.

Teenage Suicide

I must have lead a charmed existence as a youngster because as I sit here typing this I cannot recall one time when I thought that I had had enough and it was time to end it all. That is not to say that I was not aware of suicide. One of my team mates on my U-17 rugby team committed suicide. The strange thing was that no one saw it coming! Everyone in the post match wash up seemed to think all was well. Even his mum thought things were good.

This brings me to the tragic story of Shane Riley from Sydney. Shane was just 16 years old and by all accounts a happy enough kid. He had been missing since last Friday when he left home headed to work at the local KFC. Apparently, his ancient history class had decided that they were going to take a trip to Egypt and the KFC job was a means to that end.

Shane never appeared for his shift. His parents stated that this was out of character for the kid and that this had never happened before. When kids go missing and their disappearance is out of character then the concern level is quickly ratcheted up.

The only clue to the disappearance was a mobile phone call Shane made to a friend. This call has only increased the concern levels as police have described the call of having a "degree of finality" to it.

Sadly, the lifeless body of Shane Riley was pulled from the water of Lurline Bay at 4.30pm yesterday afternoon. According to police the death appears to have been a suicide. The post mortem will probably confirm this.

My condolences go out to those that are left behind in this tragedy, particularly the family and those close to Shane. They must be scratching their collective heads right now and wondering what did we miss, were there signs, how did this happen, and the like.

Hopefully, Shane Riley finds the peace in the next life he could not find in this one.

Those with depression issues or he fear loved ones or friends might be in trouble then the following two numbers will be of value to you.

Lifeline: 131 114

Beyondblue: 1300 224 636

Fallacies

Ninjas, historically, didn't wear black. For nighttime operations, they wore dark blues, dark grays, and browns.

Although most people believe Napoleon was short, he was actually five feet six inches tall, an average height for a Frenchman in those days.

The idea that it is dangerous to wake a sleepwalker is a myth.

Non-alcoholic beer isn't. Most brands of non-alcoholic beer contain about 0.5% alcohol.

Even though you might think so, America is not the world's top producer of feature films. That honor goes to India.

The "v" in the name of a court case does not stand for "versus," but for "and" (in civil proceedings) or "against" (in criminal proceedings).

White paws on cats are commonly called "boots" when, in fact, they are actually referred to as "gloves."

Chastity belts were not originally imposed to keep people from having sex. They were intended to keep youngsters, of both sexes, from masturbating.

Contrary to popular belief, gladiators were lousy fighters in real combat. They were trained solely for arena fighting. On the actual battlefield, their skills were mediocre.

Potatoes weren't originally grown as food. They were grown for use as ornamental decorations.

Shoemakers are commonly called "cobblers," but correctly speaking, a cobbler is a shoe repairman. A shoemaker is a "cordwainer."

Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders didn't ride, ever, during the Spanish-American War. In fact, they weren't Teddy's. He was second in command.

Despite what you might think, just 20% of the Sahara is covered with sand. The rest is rocky.

The nose isn't the only thing that the Sphinx is missing. It once had a royal beard, a cobra emblem, and other pieces of masonry. Bits of what is left of the beard are in the British Museum.

Ducks are never male. The males of the species are called drakes.

The first umbrellas weren't intended to protect people from the rain. They were invented by the ancient Egyptians to shield them from the sun.

The list can be found here.

Jimmy Carter and Hamas

The former US President is intending to meet up with Hamas leaders as well as leaders from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. He will also be meeting up with representatives of Fatah which is Hamas' main rival in the Palestinian territory.

Hamas is listed on a US list of terrorist organizations. So, in some ways it is an interesting turn of events that a former President of the US is going to pay a courtesy call to a group that the country he formerly led characterizes as a bunch of terrorists. Nevertheless, perhaps his point is valid; that if there is to be true peace with justice in the region then the views of Hamas need to be known and worked into the equation with all the other divergent views raging within the Palestinian debate, including those of Israel.

Despite Ahmadinejad's warnings of wiping Israel of the face of the map the likelihood of that happening is about as likely as Israel wiping Iran of the face of the map! They might go to war and kill most of each others citizens but the land will not disappear and neither will the idea that Israel exists. The arguments about nation building, success or failure, as it relates to Israel is not this argument and not for this blog entry.

However, the current US position is that Hamas is an impediment to peace and that nothing constructive can come from any meeting between Carter and Khalid Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas.

We need a world at peace to focus on those matters that we must address in order to sustain us!

On a side note the presumptive nominee from the Democratic Party in the US, Barack Obama, has come out and said that he would not meet with Hamas which is kind of strange considering he has previously said that his foreign policy would be based on active engagement of rogue leaders and States (at least as the US sees them) such as Raul Castro (Fidel before him) in Cuba and Ahmadinejad in Iran. So, why not Hamas? A different blog entry I suppose!

Egypt - One Step Forward and Two Steps Backwards

A news piece out of Cairo. The Supreme Administrative Court in Egypt has recognized the right of Muslims to convert to Christianity. Well, maybe not that far-reaching as the ruling only applies to Christians who converted to Islam and after consideration and reflection want to change back to their original Christian faith.

This is interesting for a number of reasons. First, Egypt had always applied an interpretation where once someone had converted to Islam there was no route of return no matter what your previous religious faith may have been. This concurs with many traditional interpretations of the Koran which considers apostasy to be a grave sin. Nevertheless, the Koran itself (at least my understanding) deos not proscribe a specific punishment for this sin.

However, I guess if we were to look at it from a legal point and try and decipher what the punishment might be we could look at the response of the Prophet and his followers to see how apostasy was dealt with back in the time of the formation of Islam.

It seems pretty clear that the punishment for apostasy was severe, it was death. So, it is fair to say that the decision in this case is a departure from those very traditional views and teachings. However, it is not all peaches and cream for those wanting to revert to their former religious beliefs as their respective identity cards must note that they are formers converts to Islam who have since converted back to a previous faith.

This condition is problematic as it seems to provide a perfect opening for authorities to discriminate against and victimize individuals converting back to their original beliefs. Hence, one step forward and two steps back!