Please find Madeleine 3

Update : This is the last photo of Madeleine before she was kidnapped. Taken by her mum. If you have any information of her whereabouts, please contact via the website (see previous post) dedicated to find her. Thanks.

Please Find Madeleine 2

The following is a poster prepared by her family. Please disseminate it as widely as possible. You can provide information by ringing the number. Alternatively, go to www.findmadeleine.com.

You've Been Blogged...errr...Blocked!

Internet censorship grows worldwide: study

AFP - Friday, May 18 06:50 pm

LONDON (AFP) - Internet censorship is growing worldwide, with 26 out of 40 countries blocking or filtering political or social content, a study reported Friday.

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The survey carried out by experts at four leading universities found that people in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa were often denied access to information about politics, sexuality, culture or religion.

Conducting the first of what is planned to become an annual survey, the experts at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Toronto found that the approach varied according to the country.

For example, South Korea heavily censored only one topic, North Korea, while Iran, China and Saudi Arabia blocked both a wide range of topics and a great deal of content related to those topics.

The experts with the OpenNet Initiative, who carried out their research last year, listed six countries as "pervasive" filterers of political information: Myanmar, China, Iran, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam.

They categorized seven countries, all of them Muslim, as "pervasive" social filterers: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Topics blocked are those considered antithetical to social norms, such as pornography, gay and lesbian content, and gambling.

Social filtering also was carried out by countries like France and Germany, where websites that deny the Holocaust or promote Nazism are blocked.

The survey found that Myanmar, China, Iran, Pakistan and South Korea have the "most encompassing national security filtering," targeting the websites of insurgents, extremists, and terrorists.

"The survey shows us that online censorship is growing around the world," said John Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School.

"Some regulation is to be expected as the medium matures, but filtering and surveillance can seriously erode civil liberties and privacy and stifle global communications," he added in a statement.

However, the survey found that a handful of countries where Internet filtering might be expected -- such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe -- were found not to filter.

The survey said that Internet filtering techniques have evolved with the growing complexity of content.

"Instead of just blocking static Web sites, such as pages online that show pornographic pictures or information about human rights, online censors are blocking entire applications, such as YouTube," it added.

Other applications that are often targeted are internet telephony service Skype and Google Maps. Still others are blogs, political parties and local non-government organisations.

"In the case of blogs, a number of countries, including Pakistan and Ethiopia, have blocked entire blogging domains," it said.

The survey said the United States and European countries did not come in for testing, as the filtering practices were better understood than in other parts of the world.

The survey marked "the first step towards a comprehensive global assessment of Internet filtering practices," said Oxford University professor Jonathan Zittrain,who expects to find more countries that filter the Internet as testing is expanded.

Just thought that this article might be of some interest to all bloggers, in view of the interesting discussion in Susan Loone's blog about the formation of All-Blogs, a National Alliance of Bloggers in Malaysia. It seems surprising that Malaysia, a country known for its tendency to control the media, is one of the few countries that does not filter its internet traffic. There has been talk of forming a register of bloggers by the government, presumably a move to control the topics discussed by the bloggers. Is that a possible task? Can a blog registered with a domain outside the country be easily blocked?

Does anyone think that internet censorship in Malaysia is imminent, and it is only when and not if? What can Malaysian bloggers do to convince the government not to do so, or are we powerless? Would it be a retrograde step or is it necessary for the security of the country?

Please find Madeleine

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal (AFP) - The family of the missing four-year-old British girl announced Thursday they would step up the search for her as Portuguese police said they still lacked enough information to make any arrests.

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Posters bearing the face of Madeleine McCann, will soon appear across Europe, Michael Wright, a relative of the girl's parents told a news conference.

The posters have already become a common sight in Portugal, since she vanished from a hotel bedroom at a resort in Praia da Luz in the Algarve region on May 3.

"If Madeleine is not in Portugal, we want to make sure people have an image of her across Europe. This can only help," Wright told reporters.

He was speaking outside the whitewashed hotel from where Madeleine disappeared as several police stood guard nearby in bright sunshine.

"Our target is to reach the saturation that we know has been achieved in the UK and certainly in the Algarve," he added.

A fund and accompanying website, which the family launched on Wednesday to gather donations and other forms of help in the search for the little girl, has been flooded with offers, he said.

The help, from individuals, small firms and multinationals had made the European-wide campaign possible, he added.

The fund's website www.findmadeleine.com received over five million hits on Thursday, Wright said.

British television channel Sky News said an airline and a major restaurant chain were among the multinational firms that had offered to put up posters of the missing girl at their premises across the continent.

Police meanwhile said they were still gathering evidence but did not yet have enough information to make any arrests.

"The investigation is going on. Until this moment there is not enough evidence to arrest anyone," said Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, who is heading the probe. He was speaking to reporters in the southern city of Portimao.

Ok....................I am getting pissed off. Why, you say? Because after almost 2 weeks, there is still no clue where Madeleine is. How come? Are Portuguese police that useless? Surely, all these super clever people from the intelligence community from Interpol, MI6, MI5, CIA, Mossad, KGB etc, etc should have some clue leading to her whereabouts. No, I am not pissed off...................I am super pissed off!!!!!!

So, I decided that I am not going to do nothing at all. I am appealing to all you good people who read my blog.................yes, the number may be small..........thou shall not mock...................,to write something about Madeleine and encourage all readers of your own blog to do likewise. Please paste her pictures on all your blogs and replicate it as often as possible. Let's increase the publicity in blogosphere. A very remarkable identifiable mark of Madeleine is her RIGHT EYE. If you look closely, you will see that there is a deficient IRIS mark at about 7 o'clock.

If any of you out there has any information leading to her, please don't keep it to yourselves. Inform the authorities! Have some compassion! Supply information in their official website- mentioned above . Do it for the love of the child. If not..........for Pete's sake....do it for the money! There is a large reward available.

DON'T MAKE ME ANGRY........................YOU DON'T LIKE ME WHEN I AM ANGRY!!!!

Rough Justice

Only Malays can buy reserve land

By : V. Anbalagan

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PUTRAJAYA: Non-Malays who inherited Malay reserve land can only sell the property to Malays.

The Federal Court has ruled that any such transaction involving a non-Malay is illegal.

However, the non-Malay owner can transfer his inheritance to his beneficiaries.

The court made these pronouncements in allowing an appeal by the legal representatives of Lee Keng Liat to recover about RM620,000 in compensation when the Malacca government acquired eight acres (2.6ha) of such land in Mukim Klebang Besar to build houses about 25 years ago.

Keng Liat had acquired the land at the turn of the 20th century after he received a certificate from the governor-in-council that entitled him to hold the customary land.
Under the Malacca Lands Customary Rights Ordinance, only a Malay living in the state or a person holding such certificate from the council was entitled to inherit such property.

On Keng Liat’s death, the property was transferred to a son, Chim Giang, who in 1935, sold the land to Tan Tai Lip.

In 1982, the authorities were ready to pay about RM1 million in compensation to Tan’s heirs. A total of RM420,000 was paid for loss of property and livelihood.

In 1986, Keng Liat’s personal representatives filed a suit at the Malacca High Court, claiming that the compensation for the loss of land was rightfully theirs.

Judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad said Tan should not have been allowed to purchase the land as he did not have a certificate from the council.

He said the transaction was illegal due to non-compliance of the ordinance.

He said he could not validate the original sale of land "as this would completely defeat the purpose of the creation of the Malacca customary land and Malay reserve land".

Sitting with Hamid were Datuk Arifin Zakaria and Datuk S. Augustine Paul.

Hamid said Malay reserve land came into existence after laws were enacted in the Malay states and the Straits Settlements to protect the land rights of the Malays.

He said the British saw it necessary to do so.

"If at all, it is for the legislature to repeal or amend the laws, not this court," he said of the unanimous ruling delivered on Friday.

Hamid, who wrote the 27-page judgment, said the court gave serious thought to the issue because of "what was happening on the ground".

"Customary land and Malay reserve land may be no more than a beautiful but empty package while the contents are enjoyed by people who are prohibited by law to own it," he said.







Don't you think that it is unfair? After all, Lee Keng Liat had acquired the land legally. He had a certificate from the governor-in-council to authenticate his purchase of the land. Why overturn the legality of the document after about 100 years? OK, one may need to sell it back to the Malays, but can a fair market price be gotten for it? Isn't it time that this ruling be reviewed and changed? After all, we are now in the 21st century? Should the term "bumiputera" be redefined to all that is born in Malaysia, instead of just to the Malay race? For the country to mature and come to adulthood, perhaps it is time that we should shed our xenophobic inheritance and have a real debate about integration in the country. If practices like the current Maybank fiasco where a law firm must have a 50% bumiputera ownership before it is able to do business with the bank persist, then all the interfaith dialogues (as promoted by the government) in the world will not achieve what it sets out to do.

Doctors are Liars

Deception flowchart

Case study: the unhopeful anaesthetist
A patient with a ruptured aortic aneurysm is rushed to the operating theatre. The anaesthetist knows the patient's chances of survival are poor. Just as preoxygenation is about to begin, the distressed patient asks "I am going to be all right, aren't I, doctor?" Can the unhopeful anaesthetist justifiably deceive the patient?

Brief flowchart analysis
The strongest reasons for deception here are to prevent great psychological harm and compassionate (humane) deception. As the patient will be conscious for only a short time, the deception is likely to succeed. A truthful alternative needs quick thinking and careful phrasing and therefore runs a higher risk of distressing the patient. As non-lying forms of deception (such as the evasive "we'll do our very best") might arouse suspicion, and as the likelihood of eventual discovery is minimal, lying is preferable for reducing such harm.

The main objections to deception are violation of the duty to be truthful, respect for patient autonomy, and the "right to know." Given the anticipated intensity of the distress, however short lived; the lack of realistic alternative clinical options; the negative impact of delay on an already poor prognosis; and the improbability in the remaining seconds of the patient coming to terms with the grim truth, the balance might justifiably be judged to fall on the side of deception. In light of the reasoning above, I would be willing to justify my decision to colleagues and the General Medical Council and believe many reasonable people might want to be deceived in such circumstances. I conclude that the proposed deception is morally acceptable.

Article published in BMJ on 12 May, 2007


It's official. Doctors do lie! Is it ever ethical to lie to the patients? Do you want your doctor to lie to you? Is there a therapeutic benefit in lying to the patients? Will the truth kill off the patients earlier?

You would be very angry if your banker lies to you, right? Or for that matter anyone else. So, why is it ok ( or not?) if its your doctors, especially if your life is in their hands? The Casual Philosopher is in a dilemma....

Hypocrisy

Overseas doctors with NHS experience are being refused visas on the grounds their medical degrees are not equal to those in the UK.

The BMA international committee has been contacted by members whose application for a HSMP (highly skilled migrant programme) visa was turned down because their degree was deemed equivalent only to a UK HND (higher national diploma).

HSMP visas are awarded on a points basis and qualifications must be evaluated by NARIC (the UK National Recognition Information Centre). However, NARIC is giving no points for some overseas medical degrees despite applicants being registered with the GMC and having UK medical experience. HND-holders would not be awarded points towards the total needed to gain an HSMP visa.

BMA council chair James Johnson and IC chair Edwin Borman have both written to higher education minister Bill Rammell asking him to review NARIC's methods.

If you have been refused an HSMP on these grounds, contact the international department at internationalinfo@bma. org.uk


The above is yet another example of hypocrisy of the British government's policy. These doctors have already worked in UK for a number of years, been given registration with the GMC, and have been treating patients here for a number of years. All of a sudden, their qualification is inferior, and therefore would not be granted the HSMP. Blatant discrimination!! I am not surprised at all by this. About a decade or so ago, I had also had the dubious "privilege" of experiencing this. I had gained my qualification from Ireland. While my Irish classmate, and fellow housemen was granted Full Registration, I was only granted Limited Registration with the GMC. My qualification and housemanship experience was deemed inferior to his. I had to jumped through hoops for the next couple of years before being granted the Full Registration status. Later, I heard that any non-EEA graduates from Irish Universities who applied to work in the UK had to sit an English exam, before being accepted for registration. How do they think lectures in Irish medical school were delivered....Urdu??

I have no problem that jobs in the country should be given to the locals in the first instance. But to discriminate based on qualifications when it is convenient to do so is just baseless and stupid.