Categories
Economics Environment Gaming Photography

[455] Of my friend the Sun

I had an economic class yesterday and we discussed about the economic of global warming. In the middle of lecture, the fire alarm went off and all of us had to go out, standing in the cold.

I hate to be literally left in the cold. Meanwhile the sun was shining brilliantly. Thus, it was only logical for me to be where the heat was.

It’s already December and seeing the sun is a privilege at this time of the year.One weird thing about this photo is the way the red spots are being aligned matrix-like. It’s been awhile since I troubled myself with electromagnetic wave so I don’t really know why the photo is the way it is. Might be diffraction since the Sun got through an opening between two buildings. But again, I don’t see how that produces spots instead of lines.

And yeah, Ajax manages to scrap through the ravages of Champions’ League. Instead of being kicked out, Ajax is now in the UEFA Cup competition.

p/s – I’m a Rosalesist. Rosales is certainly Ajax’s best purchase this season, yet.

pp/s – In Utopian server of World of Legend, currently, things are getting very interesting. A relatively small problem between two smaller groups of players has swollen to a major war between a coalition of alliances against a group of coalition of players.

The conflict started when a few people were left unsatisfied being bottom-fed by a group of players of whom have mutual assistance pact declared on each other. These groups of people called themselves LiVE. The disgruntled players then announced their intention of stopping bottom-feeding and they started to recruit people and kingdoms into their cause. The recruitment was a success and they formed a group known as DiE. It is no brainer that the name DiE was made in jest to LiVE.

Eh. Kids.

Everything was relatively okay because at first, with all the exchanges of words and actions were only done in between them. Then, DiE targeted a kingdom named Ss enTA LiVE which is a part of LiVE and a member of Taure ‘n Arvandor (TA). Ss enTA LiVE has received more than 100 attacks per day, something I have never heard of before in Utopia. TA then stepped in to help their member. Furthermore, Ss enTA LiVE is TA‘s flagship.

The first thing TA did was to send a few diplomats to resolve the problem. Unfortunately, the diplomats were threatened and in some cases, were assaulted. From here, everything went astray. Alliances normally perceive an attack on a diplomat as the most dishonorable action one can commit in a conflict.

While all of these happened, TA has mutual assistance pact (MAP) with The Black Horde (TBH) , Nation of Hope (NH) , UC, DT (Divine Titan) and the United Angels (UA). TA has invoked its mutual assistance pact with all of its allies. I am a member of UA.

TBN, NH and UA are alliances sitting on the upper echelon of Utopia. As in right now, NH and UA have declared to commit themselves to their MAP with TA. And thus, the biggest coalition ever gathered is formed against DiE.

I am only thankful that I am with the larger side. It would suck to be with DiE.

More on the issue is in a Utopia Temple‘s forum thread of “DiE vs. LiVE, and all the friends inbetween“.

p/s – I’ll miss this place. I wish I don’t have to graduate.

Categories
Personal Photography

[454] Of the return of the photoblog

I’m quite busy at the moment but surely nobody cares. So, I’ll do what I had promised to myself to do weeks ago – post a photo once in two days!

A typical student housing around the heart of the town of Annarbour. I stayed in one of those during the year’s summer. And goddamn, I should have forget about the environment and start thinking about myself – my room was as hot as hell back in the summer.But nevertheless, I love it. I had a small balcony outside and frequently entertained a couple of opossums with bread. They are cute. Or were. Probably are.

p/s – Nicholas Kristof (reg. req.) is hilarious.

pp/s – I’ve just realized that just over a week ago, it has been three years since I started this project. Three years baby!

Categories
Pop culture

[453] Of Georg Friedrich Handel

A tribute to the Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Handel and his Water Music suite.

Alrighty. Back to trying not to mess up this semester.

p/s – arson. The same thing happened near Ann Arbor not so long ago. I bet it’s ELF.

pp/s – omg. Her Reverie is a good Malaysian band. I love their song called Beautiful.

Categories
Environment

[452] Of Bhopal 20 years on

One of the world’s worst environmental disasters happened 20 years ago in Bhopal, India. A large quantity of toxic was accidentally released, killing more than 50 000 people with many more facing health problems. At the same time, Greenpeace was one of the few organizations that actively brought this case forward to the public.

Every time around this part of the semester, this issue is brought forward to the University’s masses. I first learnt about Bhopal when I was a freshman here at Michigan. That was four years ago.

Union Carbide which was the owner of the leaked plant had never admitted its mistake. Instead of accepting the responsibility of the accident, it claimed that the leak in Bhopal was caused by industrial sabotage. Various litigations were made against the company in both the US and in India but progressed still lagged after 2 decades has passed. A website by Union Carbide explains why the company refused to be held accountable.

Union Carbine is now owned by Dow Chemical Company, a firm based in Michigan. Dow too refused to accept the responsibility of the accident. It asserts that Union Carbide had fulfilled their responsibility. Groups from the other side of the fence however insist that when Dow brought Carbide Union, Dow should also inherit the liability. I too believe Dow should accept the responsibility.

Categories
Economics Environment

[451] Of Indonesian litigation against Newmont

While oil — with Brent currently at $45.75 per barrel — seems to have a high volatility and heading upward, another commodity is currently having an upward tread. Instead of black gold, this commodity is known just as gold.

Gold is currently priced at $457 per ounce, a 16-year high. One of the factors that contribute to this record price is the environmental issue concerning the Newmont Mining Corp. Newmont is the world’s largest gold harvesting firm. It is based in Denver, Colorado.

Newmont earlier in spring this year has been charged by the locals of Sulawesi, Indonesia for polluting the Buyat Bay with arsenic and mercury based compound. The locals claim that Newmont’s activities are affecting their lives – cases of health problems and apparent decline in the fish stock have occurred there. The mining corporation however has flatly denied this by citing its own studies on the matter.

As the episode developed, five high ranking officers from Newmont were arrested by the Indonesian police under the charge of polluting. This action however has been criticized by the firm and the US government as inappropriate. In spite of mounting evidence of against the firm, the arrest is indeed irregular. The Newmont personnel, of who were detained for roughly a month, were later released.

A few weeks after the arrest, an independent report initiated by the Indonesian government confirms that the firm has polluted the environment. As a result, the Indonesian government is filling a lawsuit against the corporation.

Despite report of the level of mercury in the affected area is ten times higher than the allowed in the US, Newmont might be able to get away with this if the mining firm can prove that it has broken no environmental law. Regretfully, this is possible since in most cases, Newmont has not broken any Indonesian law. In fact, the contamination level itself is still within international standard. This shows how Indonesian environmental law is frustratingly weak. Nevertheless, the lawsuit itself is enough to hurt Newmont.

Unfortunately, the litigation is a two-edge knife. If the litigation is successful, there are concerns that foreign investment in Indonesia may decrease. Yet, it is encouraging to see the new Indonesian government is pursuing what is right instead of bending under the pressure of a multinational firm.