Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[583] Of the terrorists have won this battle

Terrorism has struck its target once again; free speech is being violated. Worse, free speech is being assaulted not by terrorism itself. Instead, the assault is being carried out by the very body that’s supposed to protect freedom.

A new law that bans thoughts and speeches that might incite extremism has been introduced in the UK. Under the new rule, if a non-British citizen is convicted, then he or she will be subjected to deportation.

The new law has been out and about for a few weeks now. However, part of the detail pertaining the new deportation law has only been made known to the public as late as a few hours ago.

It must be stressed that the British authority is threading on a dangerous ground. There’s a fine line between freedom and security and they’re negotiating the two components at the expense of free speech.

Whenever free speech is sacrificed in the name of security, terrorism at large has won. There’s no need for any terrorist to set up another bomb in another major city to threaten free civil society. They need not to do anything anymore to shake the foundations of free civil society. The guardian has done that for the terrorists.

It’s a harrowing feeling to find out that a bastion of liberty is bowing to those that despise freedom. Britain doesn’t have to stoop as low as those religious fanatics that are intolerant of freedom. Britain doesn’t have to erode civil liberty in order to secure itself. But yet she does and ironically, Britain is limiting free speech so she might fight those that seek to vanquish freedom.

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four mentions of thought police. The deportation law might be an attempt to criminalize thought of which is no different from Orwell’s dystopia. For this very reason, freedom lovers should be wary of the new restriction, Brit or no Brit.

p/s – where one fails, others will rise up. Nine states in New England (reg. req.) are taking the next step to cut power plant emissions while the federal government has yet to concretely act on climate change.

pp/s – Ajax has qualified for the Champions League by beating Brøndby 3 – 1 in the second leg in Amsterdam. The aggregate is 5 – 3 in Ajax’s favor. It was almost a bad game – Ajax was in terrible shape in the first half but luckily, things changed for the better later with new wonder kid Babel scoring 1 and (super) substitute Sneijder scoring another two.

Enough talking. I’m going to watch the video at www.ajaxfans.de.

Categories
Environment Photography

[581] Of Kuala Lumpur is pedestrian-unfriendly

I haven’t explored as much as I would want to yet despite already being in the city for nearly two months now. I’m excited to rediscover the city all over again. Unfortunately, there are some whispers in the wind, telling me that Kuala Lumpur hates pedestrians with a capital h.

Generalizing is bad and I might be generalizing. Yet, in the several times that I had taken a walk in the city, I found that busy intersections, like the one nearest to the Indonesian embassy on Jalan Tun Razak, have no crosswalk light for pedestrians at all. Even the paint that mark the crosswalk on the street has somewhat faded. Worse, at some junctions, there is no crosswalk at all. Motorcycles and other vehicles that stop on existing ones instead of behind it don’t make the situation any better.

On the same stretch of road, only closer to the national library, there are crosswalk lights and the crossings are clearly marked. However, most of them don’t work or simply broken. And you don’t have to talk about ergonomic design. I have this one picture to demonstrate that common sense is not so common:

Why does the button face the fence instead of its possible users is beyond me. The button up close and personal:

And this is how people adhere to traffic rule. Observe the crosswalk, the position of the car and the position of the motorcycle on the far right:

And do you see the light for the crosswalk?

It doesn’t work. I waited for nearly 15 minutes, which is enough for the traffic system there to complete maybe two or even three cycles, but it never turned green. And I swear I did press the button several times. Note too that the button that I need to request for a crossing is the one button that faces the fence.

And the person on the other side of the road simply ignored the light when he found out that it doesn’t work.

Beautiful, isn’t it? A nonsensically placed button for a nonworkable crosswalk light is definitely an invention worthy of mention millennia to come. Who could have thought of it, I ask you?

As if it is not enough our rivers look like sewers:

Yes, that is actually a river.

Bah! I’m mad. And rawr! I want to be a cat.

Here pussy, pussy, pussy…

Categories
Sports

[580] Of damn you Drogba and your sloppy goal

When I found out that the fixture between Chelsea and Arsenal was going to be aired on ESPN, I said to myself, hey, this should be a great matchup. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a dull match. Worse, Chelsea won with a very unexciting goal.

The first ten or fifteen minutes were entertaining though. Both teams were tactically aggressive and the game was almost as fast as ice hockey. It could have easily been one all if luck were on both side.

After Ljungberg was replaced with van Persie, my god, I thought golf was much more arousing than Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi. In the match, van Persie seemed to be a liability. To me, it does seem pointless to have that former Feyenoord player on the grass. However, I can’t say that without being biased since I’m love Ajax so much, anything related to Feyenoord is bad.

On the other hand, Arjen Robben was effective. He played very well though his did far better during the Netherlands – Germany game that he played days earlier.

Crespo – yuck. I don’t know why Mourinho bought him from Inter Milan in the first place. Every time he received a ball, the ball somehow magically ran to Lehman with much problem. I’m sure Mourinho was thinking of the same thing when he substituted the Italian with Didier Drogba.

However boring it was, for the most parts, Arsenal did control the game. I don’t know what the final metrics look like but if it wasn’t for Drogba, it would’ve been an Arsenal game – a draw probably still but an Arsenal game nonetheless.

And as I said, the game was boring. The same statement applies throughout the first part of the second half. Specifically, until I said, god, this is boring. Please give something to light up the game.

And voila!

Drogba scored – rather sloppily I must add. I was dissatisfied with that goal but a goal is a goal. And god, if you are listening, I think we misunderstood each other. When I said light up, I really meant a goal for the men in maroon, not in blue. Bah!

After Drogba’s lucky strike, the game did get a bit more interesting as Arsenal tried to step up. The game also got a tad more physical. I mean, c’mon, Makalele was so excited to show van Persie some brotherly love that the Frenchman hugged the Dutchman at one time. The referee had to give Makalele a card to make him stop.

Near the end, Drogba had a chance to increase the lead. It would have been a beautiful goal but Lehman was in the way.

On the 93rd minute, the ref blew the whistle. Blurgh…

Anyway, Ajax will be up against Brøndby again on this 24th in Amsterdam for the Champions League qualifier. Current aggregate stands at two all. Ajax should have won the away game but an own goal made a hell out of that match. Regardless, I’m confident that Ajax will make it.

Categories
Sports

[579] Of it’s great, to be, a Michigan Wolverine, 2005

Ah, I can already smell the artificial tuft of the Big House. I can feel excitement in the air. I can hear roars from everywhere and see hot chicks with no bras. I crave for blood, especially Buckeyes’.

If you haven’t gotten a clue yet, it will be the football season all over again baby! Just two more weeks! Another season to abuse one’s voice box.

(Greatest apology to soccer. I love soccer but after four years at Michigan, I fell for this no good American game. So, if you have to wives, you’ll need to differentiate it. So, soccer is soccer and football is football, unless it’s football)

First on Michigan’s list is Northern Illinois on September 3. This one should be easy, especially when it’s at home. Michigan should be able to apply excessive firepower against a minor team. A walk in the park.

Then, it’s the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame. Notre Dame has always been a pain in the ass for Michigan. You’ll never know what they are up to. However, this time around Notre Dame will be fighting in Ann Arbor. It’s time for revenge and Notre Dame, and any other teams including Michigan for that matter, seems to have trouble playing away game. So, I bet Michigan will win this one. A bit of struggle but a win nonetheless.

Third game, Eastern Michigan. A big win. ‘Nuff said.

After an easy match, the next game will be Michigan’s first away game and it’s against the Badgers. Last year, Wisconsin was a really scary shit. This rodent kicked what was then a steamrolling Purdue and was up there trying to wrestle the Big Ten championship all by itself. Hell, this team raped Ohio State! They were a real contender, until they met Michigan State and Iowa. However, report has it that Wisconsin is a demoralized team. However, knowing how bad Michigan could be in an away game, this might get ugly. In any way however, I think Michigan will be alright, though not unscathed.

Having a week to recuperate, then, it’s Minnesota. I don’t know about you but after two years in a row of excessively sweeter than sweet about-to-lose-but-somehow-we-made-it-in-the-fourth-quarter’s, I’m looking at another about-to-lose-but-somehow-we-made-it-in-the-fourth-quarter game. If not, the golden gophers will be ravaged mercilessly.

After Minnesota, it will be the Nittany Lion. It’s terrible to see Paterno in a really bad shape. But seeing Paterno in a really bad shape is what will keep Michigan rolling on with much effort. I know, a person like Paterno deserves more respect than I’m apparently showing here but c’mon. Give it a break. No. In fact, take a hike. Please.

Two whipping boys are fun to play with. But happy time is over because Iowa is anything but easy. Iowa shared the Big Ten throne last year with Michigan and this time, they will definitely want to take the crown as their own. There is no reason to think that Iowa will not be able to go for the kill. Even more when this battle will be fought in the Hawkeyes’ nest. Verdict? Our first loss.

But worry not. Northwestern – the only school in the Big Ten that can say “N U” after being given an “F U” with an innocent face (really. I was there when it happened last year. It was hilarious) – should give the Wolverines something to forget Iowa. Definitely another win for Michigan.

With Northwestern done, it will be Indiana. By this time, it should be 9 – 1. This Indiana game should be a booster before the mother of all games.

At the end, it will be the biggest rivalry in college football. It’s Ohio State versus Michigan. It’s the mother of all games year after year after year. After year. I don’t know what will happen here and I don’t dare predict the score. Regardless, Michigan will be playing in Ann Arbor instead at some smelly place. Nevertheless, I dare say one thing – there will be a riot in Columbus.

Categories
Environment

[578] Of Guthrie, Malaysia, Indonesia and haze

Have any of you read the New Straits Times yesterday? And did you flip into a section dedicated to Indonesian national day?

Well, if you haven’t, there is a page sponsored by a Malaysian company. I’ve scanned it and it’s here for your consumption. The page doesn’t entirely fit into my scanner so I splitted it into two halves.

The first part:

What’s you first impression of the picture above? To me, it’s innocent and truly celebrate our neighbor achievement. Semangat kejiranan. Maybe even ASEAN spirit. But, wait till you see the second part and find out who actually sponsored the page:

What’s the matter Guthrie? Is your guilt hunting you?

The sky is no doubt much clearer after several days of heavy rain here in Kuala Lumpur. However, the current development is kind of hazy. Indonesia has pinpointed a couple of Malaysian companies as the culprits behind the open burning in Sumatra. Those companies on the other hand have denied such allegation. The best thing is, the Malaysian government believes these firms.

Hmm. I wonder who is lying?