Category: Politics & government

Categories
Photography Politics & government

[431] Of Noam Chomsky and Illegal but Legitimate lecture

I went to see and hear Noam Chomsky in person today.

His lecture, entitled “Illegal But Legitimate”, was held at the Law School, which was a mere five-minute walk from my place. Hence, I left my place approximately six or five minutes earlier before the lecture started. For those of you who need an introduction on him, the excellent Wikipedia provides more than sufficient details of him. Support Wikipedia. Bookmark it.

Heaven forbids but I thought I was early. When I first got through the Law School’s doors, I was surprised to witness an extremely large mass trying to take a peek into the auditorium where the lecture was held. When Ralph Nader came the other day, there was a big turnout but it was nowhere as large as Professor Chomsky’s lecture.

The auditorium has three doors and the doorways were packed. In fact, even the windows were packed. Many, having not the chance of getting into the auditorium, heard the lecture from outside and inside the windows.

Didn’t your mother tell you to stop biting your nails? Ooo, shiny head…
I was rather discouraged upon seeing the state of the moment until I saw a few uncivilized folks standing on a sturdy wooden table located just outside auditorium, in front of one of the doorways. Badly wanting to hear what the professor had to say, I decided to join the uncivilized. Who cares about being civilized when one has the chance of being enlightened eh?I saw the podium through a doorway, from the top of the table. Alas, I couldn’t hear anything. It was as if the auditorium was completely designed to prevent any sound originating from the podium from traversing outside of the auditorium. By this time, Professor Chomsky hadn’t given his lecture yet. Instead, some unknown person, probably some faculty member from Michigan, was probably giving a much unneeded introduction to the much celebrated professor. I didn’t know for certain what that person was saying since I simply couldn’t hear anything.

So instead, I had a conversation with a girl who was standing on the table right beside me until unfortunately, a lady came and shooed us off the table. Moments later, she and a few others removed the table to somewhere else. Sigh…

With the table out of the picture, I forced myself into the doorway. I got nowhere far since the doorway was packed. Despite my effort, I still heard naught though I managed to position myself in a way that the podium was in my field of view.

Worse, a f-guy was pushing me from behind! And I swear his dick was on my ass! And I am not sure whether he was interested in the lecture or me!

Uncomfortable with his intimacy, I intentionally elbowed the person. He was gone within minutes to my luck. Come to think of it, it would be ugly if there were a confrontation. But the end justifies the mean; he was gone and I was happily struggling to listen to the lecture.

Noam Chomsky later came up and a loud applause followed. In fact, the professor received a standing ovation even before he said anything. By this moment, I managed to get closer into the auditorium but I was still somewhere at the doorway.

For a good fifteen minutes, I was standing, watching the professor without hearing anything. It was a sad situation but I managed to take a few pictures from the doorway. Here is one.

I’m hearing Noam Chomsky! I think I’m in heaven!

There was probably a war of attrition happening among the pack of people but my resilience paid off. A few gave up and hence instantly allowing me to forward farther into the hall. More importantly, the resilience gave me a chance to hear the lecture.

When I got thus far, Professor Chomsky was talking about Nicaragua and how the US government manipulated the situation there via illegal means toward their advantages. I don’t remember the progression of the lecture properly but he also talked about the situation in Vietnam, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The conquest of Florida by the US was also mentioned. Somewhere along the line, he mentioned how and why the US refuses to submit itself under the International Court of Justice. The situations given in his lecture were to reflect the title of his lecture – illegal but legitimate. He argued that the current US administration truly believes in this “illegal but legitimate” ideology. This sounds like Bismark’s realpolitik in a different light to me.

The lecture most likely went for an hour and 15 minutes with a questions and answer session lasting for about half an hour. One of the questions that were asked concerned Clinton’s impeachment.

The question roughly went: Why Clinton was impeached because of lying about his sexual misconduct but Bush isn’t being tried despite the latter lied to the public about the situation in Iraq?

The professor, whether it was by wit or by accident, replied by saying, roughly, lying to the public is not the supreme sin. The hall burst into laughter upon hearing that. You will need to watch the lecture to understand the joke because the supreme sin (or something like that) was somewhat defined in the lecture.

Once the Q&A ended, the crowd quickly dispersed but I stayed around to get closer to the professor. Apparently, there were a number of people thinking of what I was thinking – most wanted to get his autograph. Some merely want to shake hand. I merely wanted to take a picture of him.

The professor up close.

If you are interested in hearing the lecture, there is supposed to be a recording on the University’s server. However, when I visited the site, the link was bad. I don’t know when it will be up.

And tomorrow, the former Prime Minister of Norway, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, will be giving a lecture on sustainability. With all midterms done for the moment, I intend to give myself a treat.

p/s – this is what I meant by inside the windows.

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government

[430] Of logging rights as a tool against logging

The decision to join a group with a common interest may provide an individual with fascinating ideas. Some of the ideas are out of this world but yet, sound incredibly effective in reaching a common cause. I am currently with one of the local environmental groups and have been attending their meetings for a couple of weeks now. While there, one of the ideas presented with the goal of preventing excessive logging is the purchase of an acre of land somewhere in the jungle along with its logging rights. When I first heard the idea at the meeting, I was simply astounded by the effectiveness of the strategy.

Imagine there is patch of 3 by 3 acres of land somewhere in the Brazilian Amazon, Indonesian Borneo (or Malaysian Borneo for that matter) or the Russian Far East, with an acre square is considered as one unit with an acre square is the smallest available unit for sale. By simple arithmetic, there should be 9 unit of land plots. If you disagree, convince yourself for goodness’ sake!

Logging activities, especially with the devastating clearcutting method, usually cover a lot of ground. With the 3 by 3 plots under consideration, with say A to C and 1 to 3 marked on each axis to make up a Cartesian coordinate system, moving in some line continuously (e.g. say A1 to A3 or A1 to C1) or continuously harvesting neighboring plot (e.g. A1 to A2 to B2 to C2, etc) would probably provide the least operation cost for the logger rather than cutting one plot and then travel from one plot to some other plot that is unconnected (say A1 and to then C3) to first plot. As a caveat, I am making an assumption on this though I believe it is rather reasonable. I am convinced moving jumping from one plot to some other unconnected plot has some cost to it – fuel for the machines to be transported is an instance.

As a result, a logger would probably try to obtain logging rights to the plots that border each other. Therefore, say if the logger needs four plots, he would buy 1 by 4 or 2 by 2.

Now, say there is a green group that wants to stop the logging, or at least makes logging harder. There are a few ways to do that. The most common technique is ecotage (a form of sabotage or monkey-wrenching) through tree spiking or a direct sabotage on the logging machines. Another way is through tree sitting. But such approach is dangerous and worse, it is against the law in most cases. Therefore, buying the logging rights might be the best way to counter legal logging. Illegal logging unfortunately can’t be stop through this method. The only way to stop illegal logging is the strong enforcement of a strong environmental law framework (of which, I’ll certainly have a wet dream if Malaysia is ever going to have this in the near future, really. It is more frustrating when corrupt officials are up there).

Nevertheless, assuming there is no such thing as illegal logging (however silly that might be), with 9 by 9 plot, along with all the relevant assumptions, the green group needs only to purchase 3 plots, in particular with a diagonal manner – A1, B2 and C3 – to effectively increase the cost of the logger.

Let’s loosen up the assumption and say the logger needs merely 2 plots for his operation. In this case, the green group could buy four plots, A2, B1, B3 and C2 (notice the order) in order to greatly, if I may, screw the logger. With this, the logger will be forced to move to a plot away from the first harvested plot and thus, increase the cost of logging.

Indeed, the latter tactic, in general, buying odd or even horizontal or vertical coordinate in all vertical or horizontal plot or vice versa depending on the total size of the patch of land probably dominates all the other tactics, disregarding the cost of buying such rights.

With all these, there are probably a few scenarios worth mentioning if cost of purchasing such rights is considered in but I really lack the time to explore it given that I should be working with my international economics courses now rather than writing this entry. Another reason is definitely my inability to further explain such scenarios in a clear and concise manner.

However, there might be one or two problems with this. Financing such project in most possibilities will be costly since the only return to this effort is the satisfaction of knowing the existence of a guarantee of a few no-logging plots. Of course, unless we could have some influence on some legislators, assuming there is no corruption, another problem is illegal logging. With illegal logging, any private property in the middle of nowhere won’t be respected. I myself, if I found a binocular somewhere high up in the Sierra Nevada, I won’t sweat myself in returning it (this is a true story if you are wondering. Check this out if you are interested with my lame misadventure).

I wonder how much does it cost to buy a plot of land in the Amazon – it should be clearer in the future meeting I presume. I myself will probably be willing to help the group with its funding effort. Probably that is an understatement. I will be excited to assist the good work.

p/s – Today, the United Nations, probably the greatest symbol of our cooperation, created in the aftermath of our greatest conflict, celebrates its 59th anniversary. To eternity of peace, friends!

Fair use according to Wikipedia.org

And due to my high regard of the United Nations (fetishism rather), I think I want to meet some people related to the local International Affairs Society because Model United Nations is going to be held in February next year! I’ve already contacted the society and we’ll see what’s going to happen from there.This might be hot air but its worth the try. Wish me luck!

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government

[429] Of Kyoto Protocol in the Duma

The Duma has ratified Kyoto with 334 ayes against 73 nays. All we need now is Putin’s signature to signal approval of the Protocol. This for certain will happen soon thanks to Putin’s explicit promise.

After the signature, 90 days later, the Kyoto Protocol, the dream that first gained momentum at the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro, will be a reality.

And an excerpt from the article:

Washington said the pact was too costly and unfairly exempted large rapidly industrialising countries such as China and India.

But EU Commission President Romano Prodi said Russia’s backing would put additional pressure on the United States to reconsider its position.

“The Kyoto Protocol may not be perfect but it is the only effective tool that is available to the international community,” he said in a statement.

“The United States should not abstain from the one fight that is crucial for the future of mankind.”

Bush asserts that war on terrorism requires global effort. How is he going to expect international cooperation while he himself refuses to work with the world is beyond me.

p/s – I somehow managed to mess up with my website template. I will not be able to repair it until next week at the very least.

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government Sports

[427] Of Louis van Gaal and Ajax

van Gaal has just resigned as Ajax Techical Director amidst Ajax’s victory in a Champions’ League match. The reason for the resignation is unclear at the moment but I must say, I am glad van Gaal is out.

Inasmuch he was the one that brought Ajax to its 1990’s European glory, I have the impression that van Gaal’s presence in Amsterdam is not helpful for most of the times, especially when it comes to the surprise sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Juventus a few weeks ago. In my opinion, the sale was done is a very disappointing way. Not only the timing of the transfer was unbelievable – leaving Ajax a mere 3-day cushion to find an extra striker – the amount of money recieved was way below expectation.

Nevertheless, rumor has it that van Gaal is resigning in order to get a shot at Koeman’s job. I hope that is not the case and sincerely I hope he is gone for good. Even when he arrived, I didn’t celebrate it as much. When Barcelona hates him to certain degree, you have to wonder why.

No more van Gaal. All I want is a rejuvenated Ajax and a revenge against Bayern Munich.

With the vacancy, I would very much like Johan Cruyff to be Ajax’s new Technical Director. He was considered along with van Gaal for the post earlier this year.

In any case, Ajax reported a respectable level of profit for this fiscal year. Therefore, they are expected to buy new players to strengthen their offensive capability in the near future. I hope we will find a good player because with the miserable Sonck up front and Ibrahimovic gone, Ajax doesn’t have any notable striker.

Regardless of that, a few exciting young players from the famous Ajax’s youth academy are making waves. It should be interesting to see another van der Vaart or Wesley Sneijder or, if it is not too much, another van Basten.

p/s – something is on the roll in Myanmar. I’ll just be an a-hole and say the military junta sucks.

pp/s – Unbelievable.

Newmont lawyer Luthfi Yazid told Reuters news agency that the study’s verdict “strengthens our stance that our client did not damage nor pollute the environment” around Buyat Bay.

I rather believe the locals than a lawyer that represents a multinational mining firm. The trees won’t sway if there is no wind blowing. Here, the trees were uprooted and they asserted the wind is not blowing.

I am compelled to allege that a few strings had been pulled off.

Categories
Kitchen sink Politics & government

[422] Of Screenshots and a conspiracy theory

Some time last week, Jeff Ooi, one of Malaysia’s foremost blogger, got into trouble. He was not the source of the turmoil but rather, the source was an unsavory comment left on one of Screenshots’ entry, Jeff Ooi’s blog that, as some would say, degraded Islam.

A pro-government national paper caught up the news and sent a pretty calm crowd to indulge in a massive session of duckspeak. Shortly afterward, somebody in Ministry of Internal Security said that the Internal Security Act (ISA), an act that essentially allows detention without trial, could be utilized against the author of Screenshots for instigating racial harmony. While this happened, support for Screenshots was mounting from the blogosphere. Some of the support came as far as the other end of the planet. The famed Slashdot posted something on this too. Reason is, if ISA were used, the freedom of speech is being threatened yet for another day. More importantly, if a blogger is going to be arrested under ISA, it would be an unprecedented move in suppression of free speech. Well, not unprecedented. China has done that.

Luckily, the hoo-ha died out but, I notice something else.

Take note that, all the while this all happened, Screenshots was and still is rallying for a fundraising effort. In particular, observe at the figure of the fund. The fund was first officially announced by Screenshots on September 27th this year. The intention was probably first brought up on September 21st or earlier. Now, bear with me while I puke out the boring details.

Around the same day that the comment that caused the uproar was made, which was September 30 — of which I believe the water was still as calm as Lake Tahoe — the fund stood at RM818.68. A day later, the fund grew almost 100%; to be precise it was at RM1570.96.

Screenshots usually receives a lot of visitors per day by some standard. I would say the average, discounting the absolute maximum was around 3500 visitors. This rough estimate could be easily obtained from Screenshots.

Two days later, the fund stood RM0.69 short of RM2000.00. On the same day, the number of visitors was significantly different from the Screenshots’ average of visitors for about 30 days. It was approximately 9000 visitors though I don’t know whether that 9000 represents 9000 unique people. From my experience, the counter that Screenshots is using doesn’t differentiate the same IP after some period of time. However, assuming that the 9000 visitors are indeed unique and on average, there are 3500 unique visitors, with the difference from the average and the actual visitor on each of those 30 days is less than 1000, 9000 is absolutely big and unusual. Screenshots refers to that 9000 as abnormal traffic. More data here.

On October 2nd, Screenshots was brought to national attention. With this, it is sensible for anybody to expect a spike in the number of visitors and this definitely explains, as a statistician would say, the error in the statistical model, if a statistical model were to be constructed. On the normal curve, that abnormal traffic figure will be at the very end of one tail (well, not really at the end of the tail for the mathematics junkies but you get the idea. The t-test is huge.).

Then the fund lingered at RM4181.61, another 100% increase. Looking back in time, that is a 400% increase from September 30.

According to Screenshots on September 5th, the number of visitors was greater on September 5th than the day before. As of today, the fund grew by about 50% to RM6779.37.

Now, there is a relationship with the number of visitors and the number of fund though my professor always asserts correlation is not causation. But if a statistical model were to be constructed, I strongly believe there will be a strong positive correlation between the two variables. More importantly, I don’t think anybody needs any lesson in econometrics to realize good marketing brings large customers and large customers translate to large sale. In this case, large contribution.

Now, consider a conspiracy theory.

Let’s say Jeff Ooi knows this. Also, let’s say Jeff Ooi has a friend at Jalan Riong (the location where the national paper resides in the real world. You see that something outside the window? That’s the real world. And no, not MS Windows you bastard, the window!), of which I am sure he does; a little bird at the very least.

Now, let’s think. Does it make sense for a national paper to care so much for the blog that, that particular national paper ran an article concerning that blog on the front page?

Rayden would say, I don’t think so. Well, it is possible for a blog to get onto a national paper, as proven by Instapundit. Instapundit got onto the New York Times but it was hardly in the front page. I mean c’mon, front page? Don’t you have any other f-news? If Harakah did it, it’s understandable but Berita Harian? Dude, you need to uphold some of your reputation! (I’m not saying that Berian Harian has a lot of reputation to start with.)

A part of my want to say, some little bird at Jalan Riong wants to help Screenshots’ fundraising effort. So, a little publicity doesn’t hurt, especially when the firm at Jalan Riong is one of the most influential (despite being excessively biased) media in Malaysia.

Either that or the people at Jalan Riong hate Screenshots so much that they really are trying hard to pin Jeff Ooi down to the ground, which seems to be apparently true and would probably explains the front page. Pure hatred is strong enough a reason to verify the front page.

If latter is true, then the plan is backfiring. Instead of pinning Screenshots to the ground, it only helped the fundraising effort by at most 720% increase from RM818.68.

Oh, well, met my academic advisor yesterday. She asked me whether I have anything after graduation or not. I said not yet. She then said, if you want, you could take a class in the B-School next semester. Sounds like a good plan for me. Maybe I could even convince my parents to sponsor me into B-School. But in any case, if I still can’t find anything, I’ll stay in school for one more semester. Graduating in December is boring anyway. It’s too cold and too early to graduate.

And yeah, the last time Minnesota met Michigan, Minnesota faced a rheumatic arrest after seeing Michigan rallying from a loss to a win in the fourth quarter. Tomorrow, Minnesota (ranked #13, one rung above Michigan) will get a heart attack immediately in the first quarter.

Go Blue baby!

p/s – I meant cardiac arrest, not rheumatic arrest.