"ARIGATO' from Japan earthquake victims

It was a devastating Tsunami.  Many died, others homeless or missing!

Many nations came and helped. 

Now Japan says a BIG Arigato. Thank you!

Everyone should see this.....

For the narrow-minded leaders in UMNO, UTUSAN, PERKASA, JAIS, MAIS, PERKIDA, and not forgetting Hasan Ali and that Mufti in Perak, 


1. Teacher, Taylor Anderson, was not there to proselytise to the Japanese children.
2. The Israelis were not there to spread Zionism.
3. The Canadians, Americans, Germans, New Zealanders were not there to spread Christianity.
4. The Chinese and Russians were not there to spread Communism.


But where was Malaysia?
They were there because it was a humane thing to do, something which our people will never understand - HUMANITY.

Eve, the Snake and the Apple

It is totally unbelievable.  Suddenly the forgotten people like the Chinese and the Indians are given so much of attention by UMNO and PERKASA.  Chinese schools are now getting allocations like never before, not in thousands, but in millions of ringgit and so are the Tamil schools.  Even MIC have been instructed by the PM to focus on improving the standards and well being of the Tamil schools. A hard core racist like Ibrahim Ali suddenly found affinity with the Chinese old folks.  "Ang Pow" gifts of RM500 via BR1M are handed out to qualified recipients.  Believe it or not, UMNO care for the Chinese and Indians after all.  The big question is, why only now when the GE is so close?  I can only take it as vote buying, and UMNO have cleverly packaged them in all type of forms without making it look all that obvious.


At the end of it all, the people have to take cognizance of such tactics.  Remember what happened to Adam and Eve.  The devil tempted Eve with an apple telling her she would be "like God, knowing good and evil" [Genesis 3:4-6].  One bite and that's it.  We, the human race, suffered as a consequent.  For Malaysians, the "apples" have already been given out.  The day when you cast your votes, i.e. bite the apple, will  see whether we have to suffer another five more years of sinful rule.  We need to exorcise the evil spirits from the body of this nation by voting out the BN.

White Christmas? No, it's white Chinese New Year

So, our Malay 'wira' has committed a gaffe by handing out white packets during a recent Chinese New Year gathering at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru, instead of the traditional red.  Wow, that certainly stirred up a hornet's nest from the Chinese community.  But then, the excuse given was, by PERKASA's deputy president, Abdul Rahman Bakar, that they ran out of red packets and had no choice but to resort to using the white ones.  I wonder how many of the guests did receive the red packets anyway.


Ibrahim Ali on his part pleaded ignorance and said that he was not aware of this Chinese taboo, i.e. white packets associated with funerals.  If one was to observe from the picture below, even the table cloth was white in colour.  Aha, was this intentional or what?

What was even more offending was that many of the guests were senior citizens [as can be seen from the above picture].  Giving them the white packet is like telling them, "Your end is near.  Good luck to you, and here is something to help you on the way."


Although MCA denied that they were involved in organising the gathering, but their man, Seputeh division committee member Collin Tiew, was there and should have sounded the alarm bell before Ibrahim Ali started his distribution of the white packets.  But he didn't, and he just stood there looking helpless, and at times, helping Ibrahim Ali in the distribution.


Since Ibrahim is a Malay, if he had ran out of red packets, he could have resorted to the use of the green packets, those distributed during the Hari Raya festivities.  It would still have not looked so bad.


This act of bad omen has even reached the shores of Sabah.  Read here.

Hello Ibrahim Ali. Now this is the proper way to do it.

While the Malay right wing group Perkasa has fallen into controversy for distributing ‘white ang pow’ in their open house programme, Islamic party PAS has won cheers among Facebook users for respecting Chinese culture during Chinese New Year celebrations.

A few photos of the opposition party’s Chinese New Year programmes have gone viral in Facebook, especially a photo which depicts a grassroots leader from Mersing, Johor, giving an ang pow to a pork seller.

Other photos which have gone viral include Selangor PAS exco member Iskandar Abdul Samad giving out ang pow in front of a pork stall and a “green lion” performance in an open house function held by Perlis PAS.

(Green is the symbolic colour for PAS.)

The Facebook users were comparing PAS with Perkasa, praising the opposition party for its open-mindedness and understanding of Chinese culture.

“This is a scene which MCA will not want to see, its Islamic state claims will be useless,” said Denise Yee on Facebook.

“Mersing PAS division chief (Rosalan Mamat) and Cempaka state assemblyperson (Iskandar Abdul Samad) is greeting happy Chinese New Year to a pork seller and distributing Chinese mandarin, they didn’t distribute ‘white ang pow’ to Chinese community,” he added.

No problem for Chinese to eat pork

When contacted by Malaysiakini, Rosalan Mamat seemed surprised to know that his photo was circulating on the internet, and he thanked the Facebook users for their praises.

The 51-year-old businessman said the photo was taken when he and other Pakatan leaders were distributing ang pow, Chinese mandarin and Chinese New Year cards to the public at the Mersing market on Jan 21, two days before Chinese New Year.

When asked why he didn’t evade the pork seller who is deemed not “halal” by certain Muslims, Roslan explained that this is because Islam never forbids non-Muslims from taking pork.

“There is no problem for Chinese to eat pork, only Muslims cannot eat pork. We must respect Chinese culture and this is their right.

“Only Umno and MCA people will twist the facts, claiming that when PAS grabs power, they will not allow Chinese to eat pork,” said Roslan.

He added that this was the first time for the Pakatan divisions to hold such programmes together. However, PAS leaders have been visiting and greeting the Chinese community during the last couple of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Green lion dance at state headquaters
Meanwhile, Perlis PAS chief Hashim Jasin said its was not the first time that the party had invited a ‘green lion’ to perform at their function.

He revealed that PAS had in fact featured lion dance performances at some of the party’s dinner functions in Arau and Sanglang in the last two or three years.

He, however, said that this was the first time (Jan 29) the party and its supporters held the Chinese New Year open house event and invited a ‘green lion’ to perform at the state headquarters.

It is understood that the ‘green lion’ was invited from a sports club in Kedah.

Asked why they wanted a lion dance performance, Hashim explained that they were following Kelantan PAS government’s footsteps, which always held multi-cultural performances.

“Not only Chinese, the Malays also like lion dance performances. It is very attractive,” he added.

Asked if the performances were held to gain the support of the Chinese community, he admitted that the people would be able to see how PAS interacts with different religions and races, contrary to the claims made by Umno that PAS will “chop Chinese hands and legs” when they grabbed power.

[Source: Mkini]

Lest we forget. Remember Perak!

There has been widespread rumours that Parliament will be dissolved anytime in February with Feb 6 being bandied about as one of the likely dates to pave the way for polling on March 11 (there seems to be a general consensus on this March date for the polls from various sources). This goes to explain the heightened political activity in Perak from late last year till the present.

The recent big activity in Perak is, of course, the National Chinese New Year Open House celebration hosted by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in Sitiawan on Jan 28. It is just too much of a coincidence that Perak is hosting this big event. Something is on the boil and yes, many are already saying that the continuous presence of Barisan Nasional bigwigs in Perak is an indicator that polls will be held very soon.

In the meantime, Perakians will be “celebrating” two dramatic anniversaries in February:

Feb 5 – the third anniversary of the fall of the Pakatan Rakyat state government; and

Feb 9 – the second anniversary of Umno’s Zambry Abdul Kadir being declared as the menteri besar by the Federal Court who upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision via a 5-0 verdict in favour of the Umno man.

A quick recap on how the Perak power-grab came about. Just before the Chinese Lunar New Year of 2009 (Year of the Ox) at around the third week of January, Umno’s state assemblyman for Bota, Nasarudin Hashim, jumped over to PKR and this triggered off a string of defections and dramatic events that would be instrumental in the downfall of Perak.

The main event was the disappearance of three Pakatan lawmakers who suddenly became incommunicado with their party leaders only to appear several days later at a press conference together with the then deputy prime minister Najib Tun Razak to declare that they were BN-friendly.

The names of the “Terrible Three” are Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (state assemblyman of Behrang, ex-PKR); Kapt (B) Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (state assemblyman of Changkat Jering, ex-PKR); and Hee Yit Foong (state assemblyman of Jelapang, ex-DAP).

This dastardly deed by Najib just before assuming the prime ministership on April 3, 2009, gives a clear indication of the sort of leader that he is – someone diabolical who has no scruples and is willing to achieve his goals by hook or by crook, with the latter being the usual means employed.

Sadly too, Malaysians have no say on the choice of prime minister as the post is handed over from one Umno president to the next Umno president. The solution then would be to boot out Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) entirely by voting them out in the coming 13th general election.

As the polls are to be called very soon, BN leaders have stepped up their campaign in Perak. Long lines of the RM500 cash aid recipients are shown in the mainstream papers and banners have been put up by BN in the rural areas and small towns in Perak to tell all and sundry that the cash aid comes from the BN political coalition. The BN federal government is thus deceiving the rakyat as this cash aid is from the taxpayers’ money.

‘Homestay projects’

Besides the cash aid, Umno members are having “homestay” projects in 135 villages in Larut, Parit Buntar, Bagan Serai, Bukit Gantang, Taiping, Padang Rengas (parliamentary seat of Nazri Aziz), Beruas and Lumut wherein Umno members will stay with the village folk to show their so-called care and concern for the rakyat and, at the same time, bad-mouth the opposition while singing praises of Umno.

This project is carried out in areas that Umno thinks are not to easy to win over. The parliamentary seats of Parit Buntar, Bukit Gantang, Taiping and Beruas belonging to Pakatan are very “black areas”, according to Umno.

Going by the results of the previous general election, there are 16 state seats in Perak which can swing either way due to small winning margins of less than 1,000 votes. Here are the results from the previous polls in March 2008:

1. Selama – BN won by a margin of 355 votes.

2. Kubu Gajah – BN won by a margin of 66 votes.

3. Kuala Kurau – PKR won by a margin of 467 votes.

4. Alor Pongsu – BN won by a margin of 95 votes.

5. Selinsing – PAS won by a margin of 547 votes.

6. Kuala Sapetang – PKR won by a margin of 564 votes.

7. Trong – BN won by a margin of 916 votes.

8. Kamunting – BN won by margin of 555 votes.

9. Pokok Assam – DAP won by a margin of 865 votes.

10. Lubok Merbau – PAS won by a margin of 72 votes.

11. Manjoi – BN won by margin of 348 votes.

12. Kepayang – DAP won by a margin of 490 votes.

13. Manong – BN won by a margin of 749 votes.

14. Pengkalan Baharu – BN won by margin of 14 votes.

15. Sungai Rapat – BN won by a margin of 636 votes.

16. Teja – PKR won by a margin of 175 votes.

Besides the above swing seats, there has been a shifting of voting streams (polling centres) done by the Election Commission and an increase in the names of at least 40,000 dubious voters and postal voters. Below is a sample:

1. Kamunting – an increase of 1,102 voters.

2. Temenggor – an increase 690 voters.

3. Pengkalan Hulu – an increase of 506 voters.

4. Chenderiang – an increase of 255 voters (the sole MCA seat belonging to Dr Mah Hang Soon).

5. Sungai Rapat – an increase of 248 voters.

6. Pangkor – an increase of 5,669 postal voters (Zambry’s seat).

The increased political activity in Perak had started last year. Activities included Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s visit to the state to distribute a large allocation of funds to religious schools and MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek’s forays into Perak rural villages to drum into the rural Chinese that hudud law is a certainty if Pakatan wins control of the federal government.

Power tussle in Perak Umno

Even in Perak Umno itself it is a hotbed of political activity. There are three camps in Umno tussling for power: Zambry’s camp; Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s camp; and

Sungai Rapat state assemblyperson Hamidah Osman’s camp.

Ahmad Husni is Najib’s man while Zambry is still known as the Court MB trying to get into Najib’s good books.

The blogger who made an accusation against Nga Kor Ming (DAP’s Taiping MP) pertaining to a tailoring contract even went to see Zambry first before making the accusation.

This is called “The Saiful Tactic” (as Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan went to see the prime minister for a scholarship before accusing Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy).

Zambry also lacks leadership qualities due to his flip-flopping. He has made a statement that only winnable candidates are to be fielded in the coming polls and those who lost in the previous general election will be dropped only to backtrack later by saying that recycled candidates will be fielded.

There is much goings-on in the Umno camps as each one is fighting for power for himself.

In the meantime, to woo over the Malay voters, Umno leaders are still using the same old line of “(Former Pakatan MB) Nizar (Jamaluddin) derhaka” and “Nizar is DAP’s puppet”. Whether this will work or not is still left to be seen.

At the end of the day, the Perak power-grab executed by BN via undemocratic, unprincipled and unethical means is clearly illegal but as usual this is Malaysia Boleh and anything goes.

Before Malaysia really becomes the world’s laughing stock, it is up to all Malaysians and not just Perakians to boot out BN so that Perak and Malaysia can shine again in the world’s political stage. Already there is talk on the ground that dubious voters and phantom voters can win the day for BN.

Therefore, the rallying cry for Pakatan should be “Remember Perak”, similar to the American battlecry for courage “Remember the Alamo”.

[Source: FMT]

A quote from Tan Sri Datuk Robert Phang

Let us remind ourselves that Teoh Beng Hock died over allegations of a mere RM 2,400-00. Ahmad Sarbaini died because of similar minor allegations which until today have just gone silent. Yet, when the riches of the powerful are involved, the MACC either drag its feet or behave like eunuchs emasculated of all their powers. I ask the MACC – why the discrimination?


[Tan Sri Datuk Robert Phang is a prominent citizen, an ex-member of the MACC advisory panel.]

What!!!! Even golf memberships are priced according to race??

A photograph of a membership price list for one of the country’s most prestigious golf clubs that apparently charged by race triggered an outcry on Facebook, with many condemning the different rates for the different races.

This comes after a race controversy erupted over the ownership of bread companies Gardenia and Massimo, reflecting the dire state of affairs in Malaysia where race remains a smouldering issue that permeates many facets of life.

A picture purportedly of Subang National Golf Club (Kelab Golf Negara Subang — KGNS) membership prices surfaced on Facebook yesterday, showing rates of RM35,000-RM65,000 for Malays, RM45,000-RM80,000 for Chinese, RM60,000-RM80,000 for Indians and RM40,000-RM50,000 for “Others”.

Reactions to the photo, which was posted on Facebook community page “Malaysia”, ranged from disgust to defensive.

“Apa nie??? Racist nye! (What is this? How racist!),” said Wan Hairina Ayin.

“In Singapore, I am a Malaysian. In US, I am a Malaysian. In Australia, I am in Malaysian. But in Malaysia, I am belong to the group OTHERS...” said one Frisca Freddy.

“Malaysia and Spore is the only country that allow companies to advertise ....preferably chinese, or malay or indian...so am not surprised of this la...,” said Julian Maria Intachat.

Some respondents, who appeared possibly to be foreigners, chose to respond with humour.

“So many forms in Malaysia ask ‘Race?’ I simply write ‘human’ no one has ever questioned this” said Chris Frankland.

When contacted, KGNS president Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas said the notice in the picture was put out by a finance company and had nothing to do with the club.

He said that while KGNS had long practised racial quotas to ensure a good mix of races in its membership, it had never mandated the prices at which memberships could be sold.

Megat Najmuddin said that due to the race quotas, a member can only sell his or her membership to a person of the same race but at any price they wished and the rates in the notice could be reflective of supply and demand among the different racial groups.

He stressed however that the prices that appeared in the notice were just “indicative” and that the club’s philosophy of imposing race quotas was a noble one and not sinister.

“We are the most multi-racial club in Malaysia,” he told The Malaysian Insider. “If you go to other clubs you see it dominated by one race or the other.”

Megat Najmuddin, who also sits on the Umno disciplinary committee, said it was sad that in Malaysia it was getting rare to find the different races mixing together.

“In KGNS, you have all the races mixing together,” he said.

Megat Najmuddin said KGNS is ‘the most multi-racial club in Malaysia.’

The KGNS president said there have been no cases of members being unable to find a buyer for membership from his or her own race.

“This race quota policy has been a cornerstone of the club and no member has ever asked for it to be removed,” he said.

KGNS, the only club in Malaysia incorporated by an Act of Parliament, limits Malays to 45 per cent of its membership, Chinese to 35 per cent and Indians and others to 20 per cent.

When contacted, “Zainah”, one of the names listed on the notice, immediately started denying having anything to do with the notice.

Calls to the rest of the numbers listed on the notice were not picked up or returned.

Megat Najmuddin said he did not know the finance company behind the notice but criticised the photo as “mischievous” for making it look like it was the club that had issued it.

Race often remains a source of tension when it comes to official matters, although Malaysians of various ethnicities get along well in their daily interactions with much visible racial harmony.

Thanks to affirmative action policies, Malays and other Bumiputeras are given privileges such as easier access to government contracts, funding, licences, scholarships, educational institutions and housing in an effort to narrow economic disparities between the racial groups.

Proponents of this approach, such as former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, maintain that without such aggressive affirmative action the country would descend into chaos.

Critics of the country’s race-based policies however say that it has been hijacked and abused by an elite minority and was also damaging the country’s competitiveness, with most recently University of Malaya Vice-Chancellor Tan Sri Dr Ghauth Jasmon being quoted in the Malay Mail as saying that race quotas should end for the sake of education standards.

The Najib administration has apparently begun to address some of the weakness in the race-based approach, admitting that some of the past practices were too “blunt” to be effective.

The prime minister also introduced his hallmark 1 Malaysia campaign to unite the country although many maintain that the country is united by default and political parties are the source of problems.

“The more valid question is what happened to 1 Malaysia. Looks like 4 Malaysia to me,” said Chong Kok Shyong in response to the photo which was also posted on the Facebook page “1,000,000 Chinese dont want MCA to represent the Chinese”.

[Source: The MI]


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I wonder why they have to price the fees for the Indians so high.  Common sense will tell you that this will certainly deter the Indians from joining the Club, or is there something sinister at work. The Club management must have an allergy for Indians.  Oh, I forgot.  This Club has something to do with UMNO, read Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas.

Monday Humour

THE MAGIC ELEVATOR

A fifteen year old Amish boy and his father were in a mall. They were
amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny,
silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again.

The boy asked, 'What is this Father?'
The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, 'Son, I have
never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is.'


While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, a fat old
lady in a wheel chair moved up to the moving walls and pressed a
button. The walls opened, and the lady rolled between them into a
small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched the
small numbers above the walls light up sequentially.

They continued to watch until it reached the last number . . . and
then the numbers began to light in the reverse order.

Finally the walls opened up again and a gorgeous 24-year-old blond stepped out.


The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his son.....

 'Go get your Mother!'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


YOU WANT TO KNOW  HOW THE THE BRAZIL FEMALE FANS REACT WHEN THEIR NATIONAL TEAM SCORE A GOAL?

"Come on, come on ..... " [The fans watching in high anticipation]

GOAL!

.... and off with the T-shirts

Let's samba!

Can any of you help me please  to find the location of this coffee shop where ever it is???

----------------------------------------------------------

Drunk Driver True story from Australia
Drunk Driving....THIS is absolutely brilliant! Only an Aussie could pull this one off!

A true story from Mount Isa in Queensland ..

Recently a routine Police patrol car parked outside a local neighbourhood pub late in the evening. The officer noticed a man (Luke Sandery) leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk.

The man stumbled around the car park for a few minutes, with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five vehicles. The man managed to find his car, which he fell into. He was there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a fine dry night). Then flicked the indicators on, then off, tooted the horn and then switched on the lights.

He moved the vehicle forward a few metres, reversed a little and then remained stationary for a few more minutes as some more vehicles left. At last he pulled out of the car park and started to drive slowly down the road. The Police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up the patrol car, put on the flashing lights, promptly pulled the man over and carried out a random breathalyser test.

To his amazement the breathalyser indicated no evidence of the man's intoxication.

The Police officer said "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the Police station - this breathalyser equipment must be broken."

"I doubt it," said the man, "tonight I'm the designated decoy".. 

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 ANSWERS FROM A STUDENT WHO OBTAINED 0% FOR HIS MARKS

--- On Q1. In which battle did Napoleon die? > >> > * his last battle Q2. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?> >> > * at the bottom of the page Q3. River Ravi flows in which state?> >> > * liquid Q4. What is the main reason for divorce?> >> > * marriage Q5. What is the main reason for failure?> >> > * exams Q6. What can you never eat for breakfast?> >> > * Lunch & dinner Q7. What looks like half an apple?> >> > * The other half Q8. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?> >> > * it will simply become wet Q9. How can a man go eight days without sleeping??> >> > * No problem, he sleeps at night. Q10. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?> >> > * You will never find an elephant that has only one hand Q11. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in other hand, what would you have?> >> > * Very large hands Q12. If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it> > take four men to build it?> >> > * No time at all, the wall is already built. Q13. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?> >> > * Concrete floors are very hard to crack. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a test to determine if you are an alcoholic..... If you saw the bar sign, you are definitely an alcoholic.

Something of interest for die-hard vinyl record collectors, like me

NEW YORK, January 28, 2012 (AFP) - In today's brave new world of MP3 players, compact discs are dying, cassettes are Stone Age, and old-fashioned vinyl records... they're back!

It might seem that nothing short of a wind-up gramophone could be more out of place today than the nostalgia-laden, crackly-sounding 33 and 45 RPM disc.

Yet in his Brooklyn, New York, factory, 40-year-old Thomas Bernich churns them out by the tens of thousands, feeding a vinyl revival that has record decks -- and cash tills -- spinning.

"It's my baby," Bernich said in his spartan office at Brooklynphono. "It's growing."

The small plant in a blue collar neighborhood hums with the sound of machines and spaghetti-like rows of pipes delivering ground-up vinyl to presses where the material reemerges as shiny albums etched with near-invisible, music-filled spirals.

Bernich started on a shoestring 10 years ago. Now he has four full-time employees and two part-time, manufacturing a quarter of a million discs a year, with plans to double capacity.

In an age of near-instant music downloads and entire libraries stored in gizmos the size of a cigarette lighter, the arcane process of making records defies convention.

But the market is vibrant.

Alan Bayer, who runs the online record store vinylrevinyl.com, said records refuse to go the way of the crumbling cassette tape or passe CD.

"The only music stores that have managed to stay in business in my area are ones that devote an important percentage of their stores to vinyl records," he said in an email from California.

Purists swear that music sounds better from records than from compressed digital files. Collectors love the hunt for rare, scratch-free recordings, not to mention the art-filled sleeves.

Young DJs, or turntablists, turn their parents' fusty old technology into the hippest of night-club tools, while bands looking to make a name for themselves commission records so that they can stand out in the sea of YouTube videos and downloads.

-- Labels take them seriously --

"We give the band a record, they make 300 records, then drive around the country for the summer playing and the records all get sold out of the back of the van," Bernich said. Other than helping to create a fan base, fresh bands with a shiny record often find the labels "take them very seriously."

Scott Neuman, president of ForeverVinyl.com, an appraisal service and dealer, said sales of newly minted records were for the first time overtaking those of pre-existing records.

Meanwhile, the pre-owned market, he said, "is being flooded" by people emptying out their basements in search of a quick buck.

Retailers will pay about 25 cents for a single, ordinary record or sleeve, then resell for between $1-$5, he said. But more sought-after editions quickly go for $100 or far more.

Neuman said he'd got $10,000 for a rare sleeve to the Rolling Stones' album "Street Fighting Man". The cover, depicting a policeman beating a man, had been withdrawn soon after release because of complaints. Although thousands were made, only a handful survive.

"You have people who mine for gold and if they get an ounce of gold after digging in dirt for days and days they're happy," he said. "It's like that."

Vinyl fans say there's also something in the physical attractiveness of the record and the ritual of using turntables that the MP3, like the CD, cannot match.

"It's personal. You get to spend more time with the music," said Jeff Ogiba, who opened Black Gold, a Brooklyn records store and coffee shop, 18 months ago.

"The last decade and a half has been an information age, so there are a lot of things that are intangible. People want to go out and have physically tangible things because now you press a button and a package comes to your door," Ogiba said.

Bernich says making records is not all fun. "It's very over-worked and underpaid," he said.

And he likens the manufacturing process, dependent on variables such as air temperature and inconsistent chemical components in the vinyl, to "a moving target, a shot in the dark".

But there is magic, too.

At Brooklynphono all of last year's production was made from recycled records -- mountains of Neil Young discs and their ilk pulled from musty old cupboards and shelves, then smashed, melted, and reborn as the very latest releases.

When there are sound quality problems, Bernich will exchange the great, heaving machines of his shop floor for a microscope through which he can examine the music-filled grooves for flaws.

A lifelong mechanic with the heart of an artist, Bernich says record-making makes his world go round.

"I'm in a passionate state of mind," he said.