Are RPK’s accusers afraid that during the course of his trial in court, RPK will present evidence which is damaging to them?

If ISA continues to be abused on RPK and other dissenting voices in the present manner, we may never know.

SHUT UP AND GET SOMETHING DONE LAH.

WHERE IS DSAI????

MISSING IN ACTION?

The application of ISA in Malaysia is totally unacceptable in the eye of a democratic nation more so in the eye of GOD!

You speak as though RPK is a criminal when he is not even being charged in an open court.

If one is to judge what he writes or speaks then I want to pass a judgment that you are biased and blinded by your own understanding of your faith.

Oh, the Federalist papers are available online. It is in google.

Thanks for your speedy reply again.

Actually, in political science terms, Malaysia is a “union” and the United States is a “federation.” The names of our countries are misnomers.

Put simply, in a “union,” the centre is strong and the component states are weak while in a “federation” the states are strong and the centre is weak.

Look at the US again. The counties have their own police officers. Of course, the centre has its own FBI (internal) and CIA (external).
The states employ their own staff. They have a right to hire and fire. Of course, the centre can send federal officers to check on the states.

The Federalists actually wanted the power at the centre limited just to play its role as a central voice. The Republicans or Unionists wanted a “strong” centre.

It is all about where power should be centred. In the American model, power is used to check power, just like the Chinese saying that we use poison to fight poison or the English saying that we use fire to fight fire.

All this has to do with Acton’s view about power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely.

I wish I brought the Federalist papers back to Malaysia.

Jeffrey, anyway, thanks for the discussion. It is appreciated.

And let us go to the candle light vigil. Last week, in Penang, we had about 300 to 400 people in attendance. The crowd was somewhat smaller becauseof theongoing Freedom Film Festival.

Also in part its attributable to inherent ambiguity and open-endedness of words – what they mean in Constitution is as what Humpty Dumpty tells Alice in Wonderland, whether the one interprets the word is the “master”.

The arbiter of powers and interpreter is Supreme Court whose Justices, you’d recall, are appointed by Executive, the President). If federal government’s appointees are final judge of its own powers then what can one expect?

It not always the case and public sentiments play role in this dynamic process in these vacillations. At times of widespread disaffection with excessive centralization of power and abuses sentiments may shift the other way influencing Supreme Court.

In 1995 United States v. Lopez, the S Court unexpectedly held that the national government had exceeded its constitutional authority by enacting a law prohibiting the possession of hand guns near public school buildings….

Importance of Federal Funding of course plays a part in this tilt ito greater Federal Powers.

In our case our Federal Constitution also bifurcates Federal Lists and State lists. Since PR controls 5 states, I suppose the issues raised here are relevant.

Hope it answers some parts if not all of what you’re interested.

However, as time passes it does not mean Federal govt plays less and less role (decentralisation): the opposite may be truer.

Whenever dispute on distribution of powers, it will fall on Supreme Court (SC) to decide. I may be wrong but assume the likelier case, SC justices (appointed by President, though aproved by Congress) would tilt towards expanding Federal Power.

This is not necesarily bad intentioned. Sometimes as civilization progresses, and national life more complicated, it is to common weal of all Americans, that on key areas, there is uniformity or else why called it a nation or the united states when they are not united?

There is the need to respond to challenges of the time. For Eg 1930s Depression right through World war II, there was great debate of Capitalism versus Communism, in US there’s need to extol the former’s virtues (ala Adam Smith style) and mitigate bad effects (ala Karl Marx’s version) so there’s need for more welfare policies and programs to be implemented via expanded federal powers during time of Roosevelt’s New Deal & Lyndon B. Johnson Great Society programs.

In 1960s, the national government under Democrats promoted and defended civil rights and liberties. When Memphis University barred Brown (black) from registering, would AG Robert Kennedy send state troopers to the state to escort Brown to register to uphold constitution if Federal law enforcement did not encroach to then state’s?

Don’t know much about what you asked except in very general/broad sketches. American civil war of the 1800s was itself caused by this issue when Southern States wanted chattel slavery that Abraham Lincoln’s Northern states opposed.

What happens after?

Like our case, US federalism divides power between a central government and 50 states.

How powers would be distributed between center and states – what you call debate between the Federalists and the Republicans – are not, in practical terms fixed but a dynamic, multi-dimensional process revolving around a few cornerstones: the role of constitution, the Supreme Court, the exigencies of the times and challenges of governance as they unfold over the years after the Civil War.

Express yourself at votingmalaysia.blogspot.com

since the isa detainees ask so much, i wonder if the warden will give oreo, dutch lady milk and some cadbury chocolate for desert, you know wat i mean….

===========
ya ya … how about pizza too huh? tainted cheese found in pizza hut taiwan. then oso, Costco removed Golden Kestrel sandwich crackers from shelves …. melamine tainted oso. but hah, this sandwich biscuit MADE IN MALAYSIA leh!

Taiwan found Melamine-tainted product MADE-IN-MALAYSIA. But our MOH cannot find! Instead, newspapers all blackout this news!

Syed Botak is right to protect Raja Botak by ISA-ing him. Raja Botak safe from all these Melamine-tainted products while the rest of us are exposed to DANGER!

HELP! I want ISA protection too! I don’t want to bet my kidneys eating stuffs contaminated with Melamine.

I enjoyed your exposition on the trinity of rights – the Magna Carta of 1213, The Petititon of Rights of 1628 and the Bill of Rights of 1689.

Indeed, the English have waded a sea of blood to reach their isle of liberty, so to speak.

After the American civil war of the 1800s, there was a great debate on how power should be distributed between the centre and the component states in the American union.

It was a debate between the Federalists and the Republicans.

Can you enlighten us on that? Thanks, Jeffrey.