People power rise to end a murderous regime

Photo credit: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi / AFP /Getty Images

Supporters of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed celebrate with tears of joy after his win on October 29, 2008.

This is a remarkable turn in history for the nation of Maldives, known to the world as the most popular honeymoon destination and tourist paradise.

Mohamed Nasheed,41, known to his supporters as Anni was imprisoned 13 times by the Gayoom regime. On one occasion Nasheed wassbeaten so badly that he now walks with a limp.

On October 29, Asia's longest serving leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has been toppled by his arch rival Mohamed Nasheed in the country's first-ever democratic election. This brings to an end the the thirty years of the Egypt-trained Maldivians who took over power from former president Ibrahim Nasir when he resigned in 1978. The fake imams failed to provide justice to the citizens and they created a situation to enrich the rich while impoverishing the poor. More than 70 percent of the Maldivians still live below the poverty line inspite of the fact Maldives has the highest GDP in the region.

The swansong of Mohamed Nasheed's election victory will be to bring those who are responsible for the systematic killings in prisons to justice. The fake imams will now have the opportunity to witness the functioning of a caring society. The Maldivian people will count on president-elect Nasheed to rise to the occasion.

Congratulations to president-elect Mohamed Nasheed.

Impose truth tests on our presidential candidates

Here is an excerpt from an article on NDTV.com .

"Forensic tools like polygraphs or lie-detection tests are not just for criminals and terror suspects. Many in the corporate world are opting for this technology for pre-recruitment screening and also post-employment, for integrity check and zeroing in on fraudsters.

These are no isolated cases. Several top corporates, including MNCs, are opting for this technology to keep out the bad eggs. "

India is the biggest democracy in the world and some of their top corporations will have financial strength greater than the entire reserves of our country Maldives.

There will be no harm done to us if we follow their steps of good governance.

After decades of dictatorship and political stagnation, now everyday is a new beginning that will decide the fate of Maldives and its people.

In order to weed out the evil characters before they capture the power on our national stage, the State must impose truth telling tests by the polygraph. Then we will know what kind of people our leaders are, where they stand on different issues and what matters to them most.

In the United States, where there are 47 million people without health insurance, read about a truth test in one state that wants to tackle their health care problems.

If leaders of corporations should be put to polygraph tests to determine their truthfulness, the same measure should be applied to national leaders of countries who carry greater responsibility. National leaders entrusted with the well being of people's lives should be held to a higher standard than corporate leaders.


In the case of Maldives, the two presidential run off candidates- DRP's leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and MDP's leader Mohamed Nasheed should be polygraphed to test their truthfulness.

Here are some pertinent questions on the issue of drugs- the biggest appalling problem in Maldives.

• Are there any Maldivian Government officials complicit in drug trafficking or in anyway involved in the drug supply chain?
• Do you have the political will of what it takes to stop drug trafficking in Maldives?
• Do you believe that during the last three decades abuse of drugs and drug addiction has reached epidemic levels among the young people in Maldives?
• Is it true that many people accuse the Government of failing to stop the inflow of drugs into Maldives?
• Do you agree that illegal drugs is the cause of so much of gang violence and increasing robbery in Maldives?
• Has drugs become a national security problem?
• As president would you keep the convicted drug traffickers incarcerated to serve out their full term without any early release?

President John F Kennedy warns of secret government in America

Hollywood's Drew Barrymore advocates it's time for change

Barrymore recently directed a documentary, “The Best Place To Start,” which advocates voter registration.

“Does anyone really want to hear from me?" she asks. "But I think people know I’m not just a party girl. I’m a producer, a director, an actor; I believe in philanthropy.”


Source: link

A remarkable transformation: Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam

More on Yusuf Islam and his charitable works. http://www.yusufislam.com/

A father deals with meth-addiction. "My Addicted Son"

Nick now claims that he was searching for methamphetamine for his entire life, and when he tried it for the first time, as he says, ''That was that.'' It would have been no easier to see him strung out on heroin or cocaine, but as every parent of a methamphetamine addict comes to learn, this drug has a unique, horrific quality. In an interview, Stephan Jenkins, the singer in the band Third Eye Blind, said that methamphetamine makes you feel ''bright and shiny.'' It also makes you paranoid, incoherent and both destructive and pathetically and relentlessly self-destructive. Then you will do unconscionable things in order to feel bright and shiny again. Nick had always been a sensitive, sagacious, joyful and exceptionally bright child, but on meth he became unrecognizable.


So writes David Sheff in a gut-wrenching article posted on The New York Times.


Through Nick's drug addiction, I learned that parents can bear almost anything. Every time we reach a point where we feel as if we can't bear any more, we do. Things had descended in a way that I never could have imagined, and I shocked myself with my ability to rationalize and tolerate things that were once unthinkable. He's just experimenting. Going through a stage. It's only marijuana. He gets high only on weekends. At least he's not using heroin. He would never resort to needles. At least he's alive.

A fortnight later, Nick wrote an e-mail message to his mother and asked for help. After they talked, he agreed to meet with a friend of our family who took him to her home in upstate New York, where he could detox. He slept for 20 or more hours a day for a week and began to work with a therapist who specialized in drug addiction. After six or so weeks, he seemed stronger and somewhat less desolate. His mother helped him move into an apartment in Brooklyn, and he got a job. When he finally called, he told me that he would never again use methamphetamine, though he made no such vows about marijuana and alcohol. With this news, I braced myself for the next disaster. A new U.C.L.A. study confirms that I had reason to expect one: recovering meth addicts who stay off alcohol and marijuana are significantly less likely to relapse.

Two or so months later, the phone rang at 5 on a Sunday morning. Every parent of a drug-addicted child recoils at a ringing telephone at that hour. I was informed that Nick was in a hospital emergency room in Brooklyn after an overdose. He was in critical condition and on life support.

After two hours, the doctor called to tell me that his vital signs had leveled off. Still later, he called to say that Nick was no longer on the critical list. From his hospital bed, when he was coherent enough to talk, Nick sounded desperate. He asked to go into another program, said it was his only chance.

So without reluctance this time, Nick returned to rehab. After six or so months, he moved to Santa Monica near his mother. He lived in a sober-living home, attended meetings regularly and began working with a sponsor. He had several jobs, including one at a drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation program in Malibu. Last April, after celebrating his second year sober, he relapsed again, disappearing for two weeks. His sponsor, who had become a close friend of Nick's, assured me: ''Nick won't stay out long. He's not having any fun.'' Of course I hoped that he was right, but I was no less worried than I was other times he had disappeared -- worried that he could overdose or otherwise cause irreparable damage.

But he didn't. He returned and withdrew on his own, helped by his sponsor and other friends. He was ashamed -- mortified -- that he slipped. He redoubled his efforts. Ten months later, of course, I am relieved (once again) and hopeful (once again). Nick is working and writing a children's book and articles and movie reviews for an online magazine. He is biking and swimming. He seems emphatically committed to his sobriety, but I have learned to check my optimism.

Democracy is a tough business

In an interview with TV Maldives on the night of the first multi-party contested election for the presidency, the Deputy President of Maldives Human Rights Commission, (MHRC) Mohamed Zahid has said the people have shown a remarkable example of democracy and change in Wednesday's presidential election. He said the peaceful and smooth manner in which the election was held and results were received by the people is also an excellent example of the respect of the people to the ideals of democracy.

All these years we had a system that is rigged to bring to power people who are already in power. Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) a likely future president has been imprisoned by this autocratic Government for being a reform activist and advocate for democracy. Now he has the freedom to contest and unseat the incumbent president who has held power for thirty years.

It appears Maldives is following the Middle East path to democracy. For decades there have been less than democratic elections in the Middle East, where ruling parties control candidates’ and voters’ access to the ballot and also control the vote counting.

Egypt's long serving President Husni Mubarak and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad have tried ruthless tactics to keep them in power through the referendum on a single candidate that Maldives followed up to now. The general feeling among democracy advocates in the Middle East is that elections have increasingly become a tool used by authoritarian leaders to claim legitimacy. Thus, elections are being used as a technique to mislead the people. What is missing in these countries are the independent institutions and democratic values that underpin the democratic process and good governance.

The democracy experiment by the Americans in Iraq has shown mixed results. The Americans invaded Iraq captured a brutal dictator and hanged him. They held elections and put in a puppet regime yet the country's problems remain unsolved. In fact, violence has increased between sectarian groups and Iraq has become a haven for terrorists to conduct their operations.

From this we know that democracy is not the answer to a society's all the problems. A country does need good elected leaders dedicated to public good and committed to solve a country's problems.

This is just the beginning of democracy and freedom in Maldives. Hence now is not the time to celebrate anything. The old leaders have failed our people and a new set of leaders will have to come and make their mark in history. Only time will tell their performance and the electorate should always remain ready to petition or strike with work stoppages as done by the teachers and tourist resort workers recently claiming higher compensation and demanding their rights.

Democracy is a messy and unpleasant business when leaders are corrupt and insincere.

The Maldivian people have lived in a state of depression for so long that they have lost trust in their elected leaders who up to now appeared at their doorstep once in five years to buy their vote and forgot about their promises once they turned their back. The new political leaders will have to walk their talk to regain the lost trust.

Immoral Politicians

For the last three decades, the Egypt-trained politicians who came into power and wore Islam up their sleeves have turned Maldives into a country without morals. They are shrewd, narcissistic and hopelessly addicted to seeking vain glory. They thrived on empty pride. They violated the principle of justice and failed to deliver equitable distribution of wealth which they preached from the pulpits.

In this fledgling multi-party democracy, we have now entered the era of boastful challenges and provoking one another. The arrogance and incompetency of the present Government has created many difficult problems. By some estimates half of the country's young people are abusing drugs. Drug addiction has reached epidemic proportions in this tranquil country and yet the Gayoom Government claims it has not failed in its responsibility to stop the influx of drugs into Maldives. This Government lacks the leadership and sincerity to provide the necessary medical treatment and rehabilitation for the addicts. What is happening in Maldives on the explosive growth of the drug trade is a crime against humanity and those responsible must be held accountable as advocated by Umar Naseer in his presidential election manifesto. It is the Singapore theory. "If you addict my child, I will execute you."

At a time when there is a global financial crisis, difficult times lie ahead for us in the short term. The internal house cleaning process brought by the thirty-year autocratic regime has begun to take its bite.

In the first independent auditor general report, AG Ibrahim Naeem said the President’s Office is currently owed Rf 47.7 million (US $3.7 million) in outstanding loans to highly-placed government officials. Naeem also blamed Gayoom’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) for “misuse of state funds”, as party business was conducted on official trips.

It now appears even before the curtains close on the Gayoom regime, the finger pointing and the blame game has begun with the same ferocity and venom that the current administration started against former president Ibrahim Nasir after he resigned and handed over power peacefully.

The repressed feelings of the last three decades has brought us back full circle. The barbaric behavior this government unleashed against former president Ibrahim Nasir has turned on its head after thirty years.