Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

Categories
Sports

[1031] Of earthquake saved me from Rose Bowl heartache

If it had not been for the earthquake, I had wanted to listen to the Rose Bowl online. Alas, the earthquake severed the the internet in this part of the world and thus, prevented me from listening to the game.

Perhaps, it was a blessing because Michigan lost to USC 32 – 18 in the Granddaddy of Them All:

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — There were no Heismans or national titles up for grabs in this one for Southern California. It was hard to tell, though, given the way Dwayne Jarrett, John David Booty and that suffocating USC defense played.

Jarrett, the sensational USC receiver, caught 11 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns to help the eighth-ranked Trojans finish their season with a statement Monday in a 32-18 Rose Bowl romp over Michigan.

When was the last time Michigan won a bowl game?

I cannot remember.

The NYT describes the Rose Bowl record of the Wolverines and the Trojans:

PASADENA, Jan. 1 — No game in college football’s postseason has more historical resonance than the Rose Bowl. Southern California’s 32-18 victory against Michigan on Monday maintained two long-standing hallmarks of this prestigious event.

No team has won this game more than the Trojans, who raised their Rose Bowl record to 22-9 since their first appearance in 1930. And no team has lost this game more than the Wolverines, who fell to 8-12 since their first trip here in 1902, the first time the game was played.

Bah! I just hope the Buckeyes would screw Florida through and through in the national championship.

Categories
Liberty

[1030] Of the state and spontaneous order

At the heart of libertarianism is liberty. From liberty arises spontaneous order.

Spontaneous order is an idea that says order will arise naturally amid chaos. The way I see it, spontaneous order really happens when a society organizes itself to confront an issue. The term society that I am using here comprises purely of civil society with not participation of the state.

In its purest sense, I strongly believe spontaneous order is part of anarchism.

Spontaneous order does not always work though. When spontaneous order does not work, it is a situation which I think could be described as market failure. Of all models, anarchism is the one most susceptible to market failure. This is the reason why the state of anarchism is unstable. While it may exist at one point in time, it will eventually succumb to some sort of stable order, be it autocratic or democratic, voluntarily or otherwise.

While I have that sorted out in my mind, I am currently trying to figure whether laws enacted by a state is part of spontaneous order. Could actions by a state or any authority with policing power be part of spontaneous order?

I believe it could, with a restriction. The establishment of the state, at least the democratic ones, is spontaneous order.

Emergence of a democratic state is a result of cooperation between free individuals to establish order. For a democratic state, all decisions by state originate from the individual citizens that form the state. Therefore, transitively, any decision by the state resulting from cooperation of free individuals is spontaneous order.

The legitimacy of the reasoning however depends on the democratic nature of the state. The democratic aspect is also one of the factors that legitimize the state’s existence. Any violation of any democratic process invalidates the legitimacy of the reasoning as a whole. That invalidation in turn makes any state’s decision after the violation as non-spontaneous order.

Categories
Science & technology

[1029] Of ghosts and the electrical brain

I do not believe supernaturals and superstitions ever since I embarked on a silent journey towards liberalism. In the NYT today, a person writes about an article in Nature on how “phantom effects” could be induced by stimulating the human brain with electrical current:

THE human brain is, in surprising part, an appliance powered by electricity. It constantly generates about 12 watts of energy, enough to keep a flashlight glowing. It works by sending out electrical impulses — bursts of power running along the cellular wires of the nervous system — to stimulate muscles into motion or thought into being. We’re mostly aware of this when the machine falters, when it short-circuits into epilepsy or frays into the tremors of Parkinson’s disease.

So when scientists wrote in a recent issue of the journal Nature that they could induce phantom effects — the sensation of being haunted by a shadowy figure — by stimulating the brain with electricity, it made perfect neurological sense. One could even argue that the existence of such sensations explains away the so-called supernatural. In fact, as The Times reported, the researchers promptly concluded that ghosts are mere “bodily delusions,” electrical misfirings and nothing more.

It seems that we are coming closer to explaining ghosts; ghosts are merely beings inside our mind and unreal.

Categories
Environment

[1028] Of 2006 top Malaysian environmental issues

With a little over 24 hours before 2006 comes to a close, let us revisit all the green issues mentioned in two other entries — entry [775] and [879]:

  1. Smelly tap water in the Klang Valley in February. Not just smelly, it smelled like shit. The smell was caused by ammonia released from several improperly managed landfills. The landfills later were shut down, at least, according to reports. See [756].
  2. The tabling of the Water Services Industry Bill in April. Proposed death penalty to polluters. See [765].
  3. With the shut down of landfills, a related problem ensued: shortage of landfills in April too. See [775].
  4. Big flood in the northern states early in the year. See [775].
  5. Flash flood in Shah Alam. Local residents were positively angry. See [775].
  6. Deforestation in various states. TV3 played an active role in informing the public. See [709] and [720].
  7. The Malaysian Nature Society’s Save Belum-Temengor campaign. See [885]
  8. The drive towards biofuel. See [775].
  9. Proposed mega palm oil estate by Indonesia on Borneo. It affects Malaysia because, well, it would be on the border. See [775].
  10. Proposed nuclear energy for Malaysia. See [775].
  11. Bird flu. See [775].
  12. Landslide at Genting Highlands. See [775].
  13. Damage to Sipadan coral reef in May. The accident forced the Sabah state government to halt construction of a huge facility at Sipadan after coming under attack from the public. See [791].
  14. Metal smelter in Bakun. See [879].
  15. Cancellation of Broga incinerator. See [879].
  16. Haze. And yeah, I told you so. See [879].
  17. In practical terms, the extinction of leatherback turtle in Malaysia. See [855].
  18. Sustainable forestry program. See [853].
  19. Congestion tax in Kuala Lumpur in August. It came back in December after the Kuala Lumpur mayor made a comment on it. This is a progressive policy but the public transportation system must be improved first. See [854].
  20. Growing rhinoceros population in Borneo. See [879].

That is a compilation of issues that started between January and some time in September 2006, inclusively. But of course, a year does not end in September and so, the complication continues.

  1. El Niño is officially back in September. See [883] and [886].
  2. The hunt for a killer crocodile in October. The act of revenge turn for the worse and became a merciless culling of crocodiles. The effort was criticized by greens and the culling immediately stopped in October. See [896].
  3. Temporary ban lift on commercial usage of paraquat. Something smell fishy. See [897].
  4. Legalization of turtle eggs collection by Terengganu state government in October. See [912].
  5. 300MV coal power plant in Sabah, as reported in November. See [975].
  6. New Orleans of Malaysia. See [1018].
  7. And perhaps, finally, after all these years, climate change. See [1017].

Will 2007 be a better year? Will the haze return?

Stay alive and find out next year.

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[1027] Of turning a dictator into a martyr

Scattered sources according to CNN on TV have reported that Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been executed, according to two Arabic language media outlets.

Hussein was hanged before dawn on Saturday in Iraq, at about 6 a.m. (10 p.m. Friday ET), the U.S.-backed Al-Hurra television reported.

Al-Arabiya reported that Barzan Hassan, Hussein’s half-brother, and Awad Bandar, former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were hanged after Hussein. All three were convicted of killings in the Iraqi town of Dujail nearly 25 years ago.

The odd thing about the execution is that, it turns a tyrant into a hero.

A lesson: without a fair trial, or at the very least the perception of a fair trial, any judgment passed by a court is invalid.

Regardless, I personally believe that mercy would have been a better example.

And how does the execution affect the situation in Iraq?

Given the circumstances, I doubt it is for the better.