Category: Politics & government

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Economics Environment Liberty Politics & government

[539] Of suspension news and an idiotic messenger that refuses to get to the goddamned freaking point

I was rather furious upon learning that Malaysian Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk S. Sothinathan is being suspended from his post because he questioned the Malaysian government’s position on issue regarding de-recognition of an Ukrainian university.

Quoting The Star:

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said Sothinathan “broke ranks with the front bench” when he stood up in the Dewan Rakyat to question Dr Latiff over the CSMU issue.

Following the ruckus, Nazri said he had informed Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is the Barisan Whip, of the incident.

“I provided the tape and Hansard of the proceedings to Datuk Seri Najib for him to have a look at it so that he can inform the Prime Minister,” he told a press conference at the parliament lobby.

It seems that when one joins the government, one doesn’t have the leisure to have diverging views, much less question any of the government’s policy. So much for a democratic society.

After reading The Star’s article concerning the issue however, I’m not sure whether I should be more mad at the government or The Star. No thanks to the The Star’s article, I had to read eight goddamned paragraphs in order to learn why Datuk S. Sothinathan is being suspended.

Eight! Reuters on contrary needs just a paragraph to answer the goddamned why. And Jeff Ooi, which is a blogger, does a better job at reporting the issue than The Star, which is a national newspaper.

Point to The Star – get to the goddamned freaking point, punk! What the hell the editors at The Star are doing anyway?

p/s – just a few days ago, I found out that the relationship between pollution and environment is described in Kuznets curve. I talked about relationship between development and environment at length in two posts (here and here) only to find out that somebody had proposed it years earlier. It could easily have been Hafiz curve or something. Sigh…

LOL!

Categories
Photography Politics & government

[538] Of Philip A. Cooney and Exxon

He resigned from the White House. And then, he is hired by Exxon.

Charming. More at NYT (reg. req.).

p/s – another photo from my walk last week.

There is really nothing about the photo but somehow, I like it.Well, actually, when I was at that particular spot, there was this ethereal feeling. It was dark there in the woods despite the brilliance of the sun. A few beams of light penetrated the woods’ canopy with dandelion (could be just dust) everywhere.

Maybe, like Elfland or something which later, reminded me of Neverwinter Nights, and then later, Ashenvale and ultimately, World of Warcraft.

pp/s – Help. I’m addicted to Warcraft. Anyway, Catacomb Crusaders! (You will need to play WoW in order to appreciate the humor, not humour)

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Politics & government

[537] Of Philip A. Cooney

Several days ago, the New York Times revealed that reports concerning climate change published by the White House had been repeatedly distorted by a former oil industry’s lobbyist. According to an article by the NYT (reg. req):

A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.

The revelation continues to prove that the Bush administration is not serious in fighting climate change, claiming uncertainties in science as an excuse. But this development goes beyond uncertainties and downright pure manipulation of scientific report. Understandably, a lot of people are very unhappy upon this finding.

About three hours ago, Philip Cooney resigned from the White House.

WASHINGTON – A former oil industry lobbyist who changed government reports on global warming has resigned in a long-planned departure, the White House said Saturday.

White House however is still defending the former oil industry’s lobbyist after such fiasco. Well, I’d suppose that is to be expected. I mean, clear lies are the basis of invasion of Iraq and the administration is still looking for some kind of weapons made by leprechauns.

I must admit however, finding a leprechaun is hard.

Categories
Environment Photography Politics & government Travels

[531] Of oui versus non

The European Union is in such a mess right now. One would believe that the main pillars of the Union would strongly support the roof. Apparently, that is not so.

Right now, the French are having a referendum to ratify a new EU Constitution that would bring EU members closer. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on which side one stands, according to the April 30th issue of The Economist, 20 polls revealed that France is set to reject the European Constitution. Add in the error, result could go either way. Wikipedia as usual provides a fine explanation of the drafted Constitution.

The final result will be as close as 2000 US presidential election. Whatever the result maybe, I do hope it will be an oui.

I do think the formation of the EU and the subsequent activities to strengthen a central government takes away the autonomy each member enjoys. I prefer a decentralized system while idea of a super state scares me. Somehow however, charms free-flow of capital and labor is too great to resist. Of course, in the EU, free-flow of labor does not quite exist yet given that the newcomers are currently being barred from the Schengen zone. Still, sooner or later, it will be a reality and hence reestablishing the great free trade era prior to the 1930s.

The reason why I support a stronger European Union is that I would like to see a counterweight to Pax Americana; I admire the US as much as I admire any other great civilizations in the past. Fact is however, a unipolar world will never be safe.

Another main reason why I support the EU is because of ASEAN. If Europe one day is united under one banner, perhaps ASEAN should pursue almost the same path as the EU is taking right now.

From purely economic point of view, the use of a single currency will lead to an explosion of trade between members of a single-monetary zone. Of course, setting a uniform interest rate will be hard but unification could be done stage by stage. For instance, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand could be the first to use a single currency. These three countries have about the same rate currently and they’re neighbors. And then, if situation improved in the Philippines and Indonesia, then they could be included in the zone. And when others progressed (which is going to take a very long time), they could be invited to use a single currency.

Later, with a population size similar to Europe, perhaps ASEAN would have a bigger role to play on the world stage. And then, we all could play World of Warcraft and kill Onyxia together, including all fractions of the horde too.

p/s – My favorite city is now San Francisco. New York falls to the second rung.

Captured the city skyline from Municipal Pier. The Transamerica Pyramid is clearly visible while the Russian Hill to the left. (or right-side of the photo. I’m still confused about which side is the right/left on a picture.)And I can’t believe that I walked all the way from a Caltrain station south of San Francisco to the Marina Boulevard up in north San Francisco.

pp/s – Star Wars, I love. Go to the cinema, you must! Watch all the episodes again, I will!

ppp/s – I learnt that the UN World Environment Day will be celebrated in San Francisco from the 1st till the 5th of June.

Banners seen in the photos are almost omnipresent in San Francisco. Too bad I didn’t have the time to hang around the city longer. Else, I would certainly want to check it out.

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government Pop culture Sci-fi

[524] Of The Economist and oil

Exactly a year ago, Paul Krugman wrote an article entitled The Oil Cunch. He started off with:

Before the start of the Iraq war his media empire did so much to promote, Rupert Murdoch explained the payoff: “The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil.” Crude oil prices in New York rose to almost $40 a barrel yesterday, a 13-year high.

Rose almost to $40 per barrel; about a year later, it is hovering more or less above the $50 per barrel benchmark. There was a time when lots of people thought $50 per barrel has too much fantasy in it. Now, nobody dare to question the $60 level too much.

The Economist latest edition has oil has its main focus. From one of its articles, it is clear than the team at The Economist doesn’t approve the plan to drill ANWR. The magazine bills such action as “This is mad”, or was it “This is madness”.

I agree so much that this is madness. Drilling the nature reserve in Alaska won’t alleviate the current crisis. The drilling return on investment won’t come immediately and by the time the extraction hit full speed, given the increasing global demand and little sign of slowing demand in the near future, oil from ANWR won’t be able to make a noticeable impact. It won’t make a lasting impact at all.

Believing the act of opening ANWR would relax the oil price is similar to believing one is Superman; able to stop a speeding bullet train by standing in the middle of the track, head to head.

The only solution is renewable energy. Or nuclear. We need to act now. Oil won’t last forever; renewable will.

p/s – I’ve come to a conclusion that The Economist is environmentally-friendly.

pp/s – can you feel it?

Because I do.