Neil Armstrong dies at 82

Associated Press/NASA - Neil Armstrong (AP Photo/NASA)

By Virginia Heffernan, Yahoo! News

"A lot of people couldn't figure out Armstrong."

With those words Tom Wolfe introduced Neil Armstrong, the astronaut hero of his nonfiction masterpiece, "The Right Stuff." Armstrong, of course, was a masterpiece himself: the commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission and the first man ever to walk on the moon. Armstrong died Saturday from complications relating to heart surgery. He was 82.

All these decades, Armstrong, the lunar Adam, has represented a code his admirers knew better than to try to crack. Not that, early on, great literary minds—besotted by the baby-faced genius—didn't try.

Is Musa on his way out?

Source 

Rumours are rife that Najib Tun Razak will soon give
the nod for Musa Aman to be replaced by an interim CM.

KOTA KINABALU: Increasingly embattled Umno may be forced to do a rescue reshuffle of the party hierarchy in Sabah in the hope of retaining its political hold on the state.

Reliable party insiders here said the reshuffle would involve no less than the top posts in Sabah Umno and the state government – both currently held by Musa Aman.

Musa’s leadership is being openly challenged by his own colleagues.

Villagers cried foul over land

KOTA KINABALU: Instead of enjoying the wealth of toiling on the soil in Kampung Serudong Laut, Tawau, the villagers there are instead faced with a dilemma after discovering that they are not the owners of the land.

What saddens the villagers most was that the land they worked so hard on to eke out a meagre living are supposed to be theirs based on Native Customary Right (NCR).

They brought their plight to the attention of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Vice President cum Tawau Member of Parliament Datuk Chua Soon Bui who assured them of her assistance to get to the bottom of the matter.

So you think you know the voters

Source

About 61 percent of Malays considered themselves Muslims first, with only 28 percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians. When asked whether they rely upon their religion when making major life decisions, 92 percent of Malays and 85 percent of Indians answered affirmatively, while only 37 percent of Chinese agreed.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In October 2006, the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur sent the report below to Washington. This was, of course, six years ago and a year before the first Bersih rally of November 2007 and about 17 months before the 12th General Election in March 2008.

STAR: Golden Opportunity for Sabah/Sarawak to Demand New Oil Deal

Sabah STAR's chairman, Dr Jeffrey Kitingan

“The Sabah government should take this golden opportunity to demand and sign a new and better oil agreement with Petronas and the federal government” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, Chairman of STAR Sabah in response to the statement given by the Chief Minister that the State’s 5% petroleum royalty review issue is open for amicable discussions with the federal government.

“If the Chief Minister is truly a Sabahan at heart, this is the most opportune time to not only seek a review but to demand and negotiate a new deal for Sabah’s oil and gas resources for the benefit of Sabah and its future.  It cannot be denied that any increase in the oil revenue including the offer of 20% by Pakatan Rakyat is definitely for the benefit of Sabah and Sabahans” added Dr. Jeffrey.

Theold oil agreement is nearly 4 decades old and a new oil deal is certainly needed for the future of Sabah.   The so-called review will also test the sincerity of the federal government and the Sabah leaders as well as the extent of the federal-state relationship.