Domino Effect for Falling Concrete Beams?

This reason for the flyover collapse that could have killed many motorists seems highly unlikely unless the beams had been placed in position directly above each other; ie eight beams in a vertical pile.

If you study the photo (thanks to New Straits Times) you can see that the beams appear to be all on the same level and if a "Domino Effect" was the actual cause, some broken parts should have fallen on top of each other unless we are supposed to believe that the "Domino" forces had been acting horizontally.

Having observed the massive Causeway "improvement" project in JB, in most cases the beams are placed on the same level at different positions across the span so that the roads can be built over the beams to create the dual carriageway.

Many fingers are being pointed at the contractor about short cuts etc and perhaps they had a role in this near tragedy.

Perhaps they installed the concrete beams too soon after the beams were delivered. If I were to investigate this serious incident, I would obtain samples and also production/quality records of the firm supplying the beams as concrete has a curing rate that can affect the beam strength.

I would also check how the beams had been loaded on the transport vehicle and what type of vehicle had been used and also how the crane operators had hoisted the beams just before the mishap.

As you can see, many factors could have affected the beams' integrity.
"Domino Effect?" Naah....only if you believe in Cinderella.

Disappointed with this Story from malaysiakini

This is a little light-hearted so please don't click the link at the end if you are not in the same mood.

As we all know malaysiakini has been at the leading edge of free journalism in Malaysia and even people from the New Straits Times are assigned to peek at what they do.

But this story was a trite disappointing. I studied the article carefully but could not find any names in the article. I was hoping that perhaps some of those unruly and uncouth leaders and politicians would have been included on the assignment.

Don't Just Depend on the Lawyers or malaysiakini to Defend our Liberty

The nation's lawyers have taken a bold step to highlight problems perceived in the Judiciary but in truth they need the support of all Malaysians.

This post is copied from a table of quotes from this site.
I chose the most succinct ones and added a little information about the person who said the words. However, sometimes it is not really certain who was the first person to say the words as people do use other people's ideas.

Some of these quotes are quite relevant to Malaysians as most of us are really still too complacent or ignorant or resigned about the state of affairs.

Freedom and control of government is not a new concept.

"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." -- Pericles, 430 B.C. (a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age)

"The secret of happiness is freedom. And the secret of freedom is courage." – Thucydides (an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War)

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." -- Tacitus, Roman senator and historian (A.D. c.56-c.115)(a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire)

The USA independence movement produced many interesting quotes on freedom.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
(an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commonsand supported the US freedom fighters)
"Those who have been once intoxicated with power and have derived any kind of emolument from it can never willingly abandon it." -- Edmund Burke

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." -- Wendell Phillips, (1811-1884), (abolitionist, and columnist for The Liberator and described as most dramatic orator in the American antislavery movement)

"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes." -- Thomas Paine
(Born in Great Britain, he lived in America, having migrated to the American colonies just in time to take part in the American Revolution, mainly as the author of the powerful, widely read pamphlet, Common Sense (1776))

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." -- Thomas Jefferson(the writer of the first US Constitution)
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."-- Thomas Jefferson

Writers also contribute to the debate on liberty:

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." -- Somerset Maugham

"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." -- Mark Twain

"The government is merely a servant -- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them..." -- Mark Twain

And finally the words of people in high office.

"The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people." – US Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
"Man is not free unless government is limited." -- Ronald Reagan: Farewell Speech, 1988
"Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." -- Milton Friedman

Perhaps you can reflect on these quotes and pick the one that strikes you most and then act on it.

What to do? Get involved soon in the local political party(doesn't matter which really) and help to make this country a better place for all. If you can read this message you are capable of helping this nation survive.













Graphics: Thanks to malaysiakini

No One Likes Change but it is INEVITABLE

So far DENIAL has been the order of the day with the authorities quickly denying the setting up of any inquiry when the "judge-fixing" tape was first disclosed; then the lawyers were barred from entering Putrajaya by bus and then press freedom was denied when the main newspaper editors were ordered not to highlight the March for Justice.
Now we have an incredible minister denying that there is a scandal or any crisis in the Judiciary.
As a picture paints a thousand words, here is my suggestion of how a crooked judge will probably operate. It is not related to any video but shows what happens when a officer of the law becomes corrupt.


(please double-click cartoon to enlarge)

Take the MalaysiaWatch Poll 30

You can read many articles on the "Judges Scandal" at malaysiakini and Malaysia Today and also the march of the lawyers to Putrajaya.

So please spend a minute and take this poll which poses the question,
"What is Your Reaction to the Video on the Judges Scandal?"

Make comments if you prefer a different answer.

Is This Not a Smoking Gun?

Did you watch the famous 8-minute tape?
If not, you are missing out on history in the making.

The video can be viewed on malaysiakini.tv and the details are really astounding.
Unless the "independent" panel appointed by the government can prove that the tape is an "April Fool's" joke in September, it suggests that some government leaders have been manipulated by a lawyer and businessmen. Or is it the other way around and some government leaders have been able to manipulate judges?

It really casts a major blot on the whole judiciary when the government interferes with the appointment of judges.

For those who have not seen the video, it show a rather rotund person with a foreground of bottles (expensive wine perhaps?) and talking on the phone. The audio is very clear and the names mentioned are distinct.

So how should the panel proceed?
I guess a voice analysis would be the starting point to make a positive identification of the speaker.

Once that is done, the details of the phone call can also be verified based on the telco's records.

After that it depends on the political will of the government and if it can subdue the aspirations of the Malaysian public.

Like it or not, we really cannot allow the Judiciary to be subject to such possible manipulations without jeopardising the future of our nation.
As Japan's leadership has shown, changing national leaders on a regular basis should be tolerable but we cannot afford a tainted judiciary.

Graphics: Thanks to http://www.numilogebooks.com/package/couvertures/mobi_images/SmokingGunThe.jpg

An Acid Test for Malaysia's Newspapers

Remember the Watergate story?
President Nixon tried to deny the tapes scandal until the independent Justice department and the press obtained enough information and evidence to force the President to resign or face impeachement.

Over here we have a slightly different scenario.
The public have little confidence in the major players being made fully accountable as recent cases have proved "unsolvable" with no culprits being brought to justice as in the cases of BMF, Perwaja and you can add probably a dozen more.

Apart from malaysiakini the mainstream press carries the usual subdued comments and the usual denials.

I guess if one is really involved in any fixing schemes, the usual and automatic response would be a strong denial and the Minister should not be upset if most readers feel that his remarks appear like merely an empty vessel.

So where do we go from here?
All the vital organs of the body of Malaysia appear to have a terminal cancer and we desperately need the equivalent of a brain and heart transplants to ensure our survival.

The brain represents the political leadership to ensure good policies for peace, progress and justice.

The heart represents the police and judiciary so that laws are properly enforced and all Malaysians will enjoy equal protection under the law.

The good news is that we are still fortunate to enjoy the freedom to vote in elections but the bad news is that many Malaysians still do not realise that we are being cheated of our freedom and rights.