"The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience." - Camus

Henry David Thoreau (1817 1862) the transcendentalist and who was therefore also a pacifist, was once jailed for refusing to pay taxes to the Federal Government which was then waging wars against the Spaniards and Native Americans.

His friend Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 1882) who was also a votary of that philosophy went to visit him in prison and seemed surprised when informed of the reason for his imprisonment.

But Thoreau challenged Emerson to share in his confinement if he really believed in the values they both professed....Only just laws can be binding on the conscience.

This country is managed by less than honourable men and they are also iron-fisted, ready to deprive us even of the little democratic space we have left.

When former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos was cutting his teeth in politics he was bothered by a rival politician. He sought the advice of his wife Imelda who allegedly sent a hit man to finish off the rival.

Razak Baginda too was bothered by a woman, to wit Altantuya the pregnant Mongolian translator who had flown into Malaysia to demand her share of the multi-million ringgit kickbacks from the stinking Scorpene submarine deal but hit men allegedly ordered by a fatty, murdered the poor translator in cold blood.

Razak now lives affluently in England after being acquitted of the murder.

In the Bible we read of King Ahaz being bothered by an intransigent smallholder. Jezebel his queen did the hatchet work, ridding the king of the nuisance.

The ghost of Jezebel must surely have been the prompter for both Imelda and the fatty.

Posterity will never forgive us If we let the harsh Peaceful Assembly Bill become law.

In a photo depicting a scene from the Arab Spring a little girl is seen joining adults to topple a callous and corrupt dictator.

The picture is available on the internet. If the kid can do it what excuse have we for continuing to acquiesce in in the kleptocracy and gerrymandering of the BN.