Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Jokes and bullets: A deadly concoction for GE15 By R Nadeswaran
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Malaysiakini : The cabinet was bloated with the appointment of special envoys
duplicating (more of over-shadowing) the efforts of our diplomats. The
new slogan was “everyone can travel at government expense”.
The
junkets were there for the taking – no questions asked. Although there
has been nothing to show, they shamelessly lapped every bit of it. Their
hangers-on gauged the excesses that came with the office.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang
Abdul
Hadi Awang, the PAS supremo having embraced Umno as a partner and
comrade-in-arms suddenly appeared to see the light, three years too
late.
Last week, he fired the first salvo - his party finds it burdensome to accept Umno, which he deemed to be a “murky” party.
“We
(PAS) are not with BN because there it is still murky… the confusion is
that there are still bribe takers. And there are those who are greedy
and wish to govern again,” he was quoted as saying.
Really, Hadi?
Where were you all these years when the plunder and pillorying were
taking place? On another planet or the Middle East on official duties?
But
the retort came fast and furious. Umno supreme council member Mohd
Razlan Rafii was quick off the block saying that in the past, several
PAS leaders had to be given government positions even if they were not
qualified.
Pointing the finger at Hadi, he said: "Can you imagine a party president who cannot work for his country and yet (the prime minister) had to give him a position?”
Did Razlan too do a Rip Van Winkle and jolted to the current situation?
Foes again?
The one-time abang-adik
(brotherhood) has now descended into hatred and contempt – going for
each other’s throats. It seems all were just oblivious to the
incompetence, ineffectiveness and ineptitude of the leaders.
But
for the sake of their own images and ego, their show had to go on
without Oscars for outstanding performances. The governments led by
Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob were like driverless trains
heading nowhere while the people suffered.
To say they were abject
failures would be the truth but these days expressing such views may
attract attention from the authorities.
Former attorney-general
Tommy Thomas has just found that the authorities now view the expression
of one’s opinion as an affront to their personal ambitions.
He is now the fall guy – the conduit for anti-opposition rhetoric. No more Cina DAP or Anwar Ibrahim or Pakatan Harapan. Go after Thomas is the current battle cry.
It
did not come as a surprise that the police now want to record yet
another statement and spend useful resources to go after the right to
free speech than apprehend criminals who steal from the public.
Former attorney general Tommy Thomas
Did Ismail Sabri declassify the report on Thomas in the public interest? In a shameless confession of sorts, he explained it was done to be used as political “bullets” to attack Harapan.
“I
have given you bullets. In the Thomas case, we exposed (the report) by
the special task force. I have given lots of bullets here. I asked the de facto law minister to publish it on their website, to detail what was done and what mistakes Thomas made,” he was quoted as saying.
But then, Ismail Sabri could be auditioning for stand-up comedy. Three days ago, he said he could have sacked 12 members of the cabinet for writing to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong not to allow the dissolution of Parliament.
When challenged, all the caretaker prime minister could say was that he was joking.
Is he following the trend set by MCA president Wee Ka Siong and MIC
president SA Vigneswaran who claimed Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s
remarks that they too were on the list?
This joke thing is contagious indeed, especially with politicians who stick their boots into their mouths.
Fellow
Malaysians, welcome to our elections. The plan is so predictable. Over
the next few days, the media will report the exodus of opposition
parties’ members, switching sides and extending allegiance to the ruling
party.
Old enemies with arms around each other will pose for TV cameras and declare that they are uniting for the sake of the people.
The rent-a-crowd mob decked in party T-shirts will applaud, have a meal and then collect their ang pow. They sing for their supper and are overly rewarded.
