U.S. base on remote island of Diego Garcia, has become another Guantánamo

" Stealing a Nation, a Special Report by John Pilger - 55 min - Sep 29, 2006 "

On this small, remote island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean halfway between Africa and Indonesia, the United States has one of the most secretive military bases in the world. From its position almost 10,000 miles closer to the Persian Gulf than the east coast of the United States, this huge U.S. air and naval base has been a major, if little known, launch pad for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the past year, the Bush administration has made improvements that point toward its use in a possible attack on Iran. The administration recently admitted what it had long denied and what journalists, human rights investigators, and others had long suspected: The island has also been part of the CIA’s secret “rendition” program for captured terrorist suspects.

While few know about the base on Diego Garcia – it has long been off-limits to all non-military personnel — even fewer know how it came into being. To create the base, the United States, with the help of Great Britain, exiled all the indigenous people of Diego Garcia and the surrounding Chagos Archipelago. Between 1968 and 1973, U.S. and U.K. officials forcibly removed around 2,000 people, called Chagossians, 1,200 miles away to islands in the western Indian Ocean. Left on the docks of Mauritius and the Seychelles with no resettlement assistance, the Chagossians, whose ancestry in Chagos dated to the 18th century, have grown deeply impoverished in exile.

Diego Garcia has become another Guantánamo in more ways than one: The product of years of deception and lies, a far more secretive detention facility than the Cuban prison, the cause of immense suffering and pain for an entire people...

Does going to Mecca to perform the Hajj make Muslims more moderate?

" Muslim pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca "

"So does the Hajj open minds, or does it expose Muslims to radical views that unite them against the non-Islamic world? To find out, researchers David Clingingsmith, Asim Khwaja, and Michael Kremer surveyed more than 1,600 Pakistanis, about half of whom went on the Hajj in 2006. In a recent, as yet unpublished study, they report that those who went to Mecca came back with more moderate views on a range of issues, both religious and nonreligious, suggesting that the Hajj may be helpful in curbing the spread of extremism in the Islamic world. " (Slate.Com by Ray Fisman)

This is a fascinating study. One aspect of a Hajj is you pretty much meet with everybody from all around the world and that, in some respect, will open minds.

Micky Mouse to have a home in Johor Iskander Development project

Mickey Mouse will be coming down to Johor Iskander Development project. Information, sources from Khazanah National was reported in the setting up of Disney World here.

Khazanah Nasional said some 2,200 acres of land have been set aside for theme park use. Development at the Johor special economic zone is well on track. It has attracted some 33 billion ringgit (S$14 billion) of investments so far - that's 70% of its target by 2010.

Singapore companies are among the top three investors in Johor. Khazanah said the Jurong Town Investment Corporation is also understood to have invested in UEM Land's Southern Industrial and Logistics Centre.

The companies involved in the development of Iskandar Malaysia have also set up a liaison office at UOB Plaza in Singapore. It will be manned by five people to manage marketing activities as well as conduct surveys on Singaporeans' interests.

Some 1.3 million ringgit (S$556,900) was spent to promote the Iskandar development at the Cityscape Asia exhibition. The exhibits are expected to make its way to Dubai at the end of the year.

Another development by Malaysia's Landmarks is hoping to set up Indonesia's first legalized casino on Bintan Island — details of which were revealed by chief operating officer Lim Boon Soon in a Bloomberg report yesterday. The US$3.1-billion ($4.2-billion) resort aims to compete with the one at Marina Bay, Singapore.

Before Singapore's first Integrated Resort (IR) at Marina Bay and Universal Studios at Resorts World at Sentosa are due to open, this competition by Malysia are already brewing and will be interesting to watch, Malaysia Boleh.