Categories
Economics Politics & government

[335] Of outrageous gas prices

Maybe, we need to reprioritize our wants and needs.

taken from Speedbump.com. Fair use.

Well, back to econometrics. Wish me luck for the exam.p/s – a major skirmish between the Thai authority and Pattani rebel had just happened, resulting more than a hundred dead. The event occured quite close to the Malaysian border and as a result, Malaysia is beefing up its security up north as to prevent a conflict spillover.

Earlier, Thailand Prime Minister had accused Malaysia of harboring these rebels but that misunderstanding has been solved a few weeks ago amicablly.

But make no mistake (love that cliche), something is really brewing up too close to home.

To come to think of it, it seems that only Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei could be considered safe and stable in the Southeast Asian region. In stark contrast, Indonesia has its Aceh and recently the reemerging Maluku problem while the Philippines with Mindanao and Sulu.

Well, maybe Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar sound stable for the moment but, pardon me, I don’t consider these countries as Southeast Asian. Their politics and cultures seem too disconnect with their archipelagoes friends – I could be wrong though; you could say almost the same thing for France and Cyprus.

Categories
Environment

[334] Of celebrating the 34th Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. It is the 34th Earth Day to be precise and the tree that was planted in front of University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment in conjunction with the 1989 Earth Day is now 15 years old.

Since 1989, a lot of things happened. The Berlin Wall, the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, the Earth Summit, the Kyoto Protocol.

Sometimes, despite seeing how we are not doing enough to save the Earth, it is amazing to see how far we have gone. From the discovery of the ozone hole more or less two decades ago, the fight for a greener world has moved from confirming some of the most depressing environmental issues, from discussion among the top scientists to grassroots support and actually fighting it at the highest possible level.

In the US and probably in Europe, the politicians ignore the green lobbyists at their own peril. My only hope is for the same truth to be applicable in Malaysia. My dream is to see Malaysia  somehow transforms itself from a conservative society to a liberal one. Until that happened, environmentalism would probably face a hard time garnering grassroots support in my home country.

Other than that, there is really nothing I have to talk about.

I was thinking on writing how to live a sustainable life in celebration of Earth Day but Yahoo! has already done that. I see little benefit in doing a redundant work. I couldn’t agree more with Yahoo!’s 10 big things you can do to make a big different. Most of the things I wanted say is said there. I guess all greens think alike. But I must say, our association with Leonardo Di Caprio is a little bit, umph, unexpected, perhaps. :)

Google is also keeping up with its tradition of Earth Day celebration.

And Ann Arbor, being hotbed for the green movement in the Midwest region, will be celebrating the Earth Day this Sunday. I am planning to celebrate Mother Nature.

You should celebrate Earth Day too. Or at least, turn off the tap, switch off the light, recycle the paper, get out of the car and walk.

Happy Earth Day.

Categories
Liberty

[333] Of liberty on Earth Day’s eve

Yesterday, an unofficial Naked Mile was organized successfully, dodging the Ann Arbor police’s abuse of power. When I read the victory of these students and alumni – who ran naked for a mile in celebration of the final day of class – managed against the police and the University administration, I can’t help but smile.

Though I do think it is inappropriate for people to run naked in urban area, I strongly support the Naked Mile. For me, supporting the Naked Mile is supporting freedom and liberty. No matter how stupid it is, all of free loving human should cheer for this anarchism triumph.

To be involved in the Naked Mile, to run naked for a mile in the middle of Ann Arbor takes courage. The courage not only about running naked; it is also about having the courage, the guts, the nerves, the valor to go against tyranny, to go against oppression of freedom.

Supporting the Naked Mile is imperative because it is a tradition. And this tradition must be defended at any cost. Michigan has a proud tradition of civil disobedience and for better or for worse it is the Wolverines’ right to defend this right. If the police threatened to arrest us, fight. We must fight for our right and fighting and exercising our right is a right thing to do.

Today is the last day of class and every true Wolverine should know that today is the Naked Mile. Today is the day that we defend that tradition. Today, we fight!

Again! It’s ekologisch, sozial, basisdemokratisch, gewaltfrei!

It’s freewill! Support liberty! Support the Naked Mile!

Hell to the orthodox conservative!

No matter how hard you try, you can’t stop us now
– Renegade of Funk, Rage Against the Machine

p/s – development on religious issue in Michigan. I’m divided on this but it’s an interesting issue nonetheless.
pp/s – there are fliers going all around campus, announcing that the President will be hosting a semester end celebration. However, the President Office is fast to react. The mail reads:

Flyers and email are appearing around campus, announcing a celebration
of the end of classes at the President’s home on Thursday, April 22.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS A HOAX. There is no gathering planned.

We regret any confusion or inconvenience this may cause, and wish you
the best as the academic year comes to a close!

I hope nobody reads the email. LOL! The President is screwed!

Categories
Economics Environment Politics & government Science & technology

[332] Of Gmail, Climate Stewardship Act and a great satire

I have been invited to Gmail! w00t! 1 GB of space baby!
The layout seems to be very simple and I like it. Simplicity with a extraterrestrial free space is good. And just to show off, here is what Google sent me:

First off, welcome. And thanks for agreeing to help us test Gmail. By now you probably know the key ways in which Gmail differs from traditional webmail services. Searching instead of filing. A free gigabyte of storage. Messages displayed in context as conversations. So what else is new?

Gmail has many other special features that will become apparent as you use your account. You’ll find answers to most of your questions in our searchable help section, which includes a Getting Started guide. You’ll find information there on such topics as:

How to use address auto-complete
Setting up filters for incoming mail
Using advanced search options

You may also have noticed some text ads or related links to the right of this message. They’re placed there in the same way that ads are placed alongside Google search results and, through our AdSense program, on content pages across the web. The matching of ads to content in your Gmail messages is performed entirely by computers; never by people. Because the ads and links are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you’ll find them relevant and useful.

You’re one of the very first people to use Gmail. Your input will help determine how it evolves, so we encourage you to send your feedback, suggestions and questions to us. But mostly, we hope you’ll enjoy experimenting with Google’s approach to email.

Speedy Delivery,

The Gmail Team

Of course, there is a talk that Gmail violates privacy by scanning the private mail in order to display ads. But for the time being, the opportunity cost is low for me. I am willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy for one of my favorite firms. It’s Google for God’s sake. Who hates Google?

Maybe Yahoo! and MSN but hey, almost all of us hate MSN, don’t we?

And Earth Day is two more days. Do your bit for Mother Earth by reading the mail below!

Dear Mohd Hafiz, This Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day, and I have some great
news! Thanks to the incredible support from more than 850 online
donors, we have set a one-week online fundraising record for
Environmental Defense. We are now over $150,000 toward our June
1 goal of $725,000.

This is tremendous first week, and we thank everyone who joined
the 51 Club. Your commitment to Environmental Defense Action
Fund and our work to pass the McCain-Lieberman global warming
bill has gotten our campaign off to a terrific start!

If you have not yet joined the 51 Club with a minimum donation
of $51, don’t wait any longer! If you have already joined,
please consider a second or a third gift now —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/

Your support is critical if we are to win the 51 votes necessary
to pass the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act in the
Senate.

The odds are against us. Passing the most comprehensive and
practical global warming proposal ever offered in Congress will
be tough. Frankly, the opposition from special interest
lobbyists remains strong. It is precisely because
McCain-Lieberman takes such an important step toward reducing
pollution that the big polluters and many oil, energy and auto
companies are spending millions to stop it.

ExxonMobil is one such company. The extent of ExxonMobil’s
cynical public relations campaign came to light in a recent PBS
report on NOW with Bill Moyers, which reported that the company
has funneled millions of dollars to organizations that raise
doubts about global warming. Their basic strategy was laid out
in a confidential memo that blatantly spelled out their
disinformation tactics. The memo, titled “A Global Climate
Science Communications Action Plan,” reads: “Victory will be
achieved when uncertainties in climate science become part of
the conventional wisdom.”

Let us be clear: any type of “victory” ExxonMobil will claim in
pulling the wool over the public’s eyes will be short-lived.
There is scientific consensus about the dangers of global
warming, and corporate interests should not sway you from this
fact. We are up against some mighty foes, and the stakes are too
high to back down. This is why we are asking for your help
again.

So, this Earth Week, act now and join the 51 Club today with a
minimum donation of $51. Together, we can counter the special
interests and win this critical vote —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/

Sincerely,

Ben Smith
Manager of Online Activism
Environmental Defense Action Fund

PS: Thanks to the over 260,000 people who have signed our online
Emissions Petition supporting the McCain-Lieberman bill. Thanks
also to the hundreds of people who have mailed and faxed in
print petitions, which continue flooding into our mailroom every
day.

Fifty one bucks?
What can I say? Die Grunen: ekologisch, sozial, basisdemokratisch, gewaltfrei.
Anything for a noble cause.

One more thing, today in the Michigan Daily, Jess Piskor has written one of the best pieces the paper has ever published this semester:

The leaders of this worldwide revolutionary message are without doubt Electronic Arts, Chevrolet and Nike. Their slogans, taken together clearly spell out what needs to happen: “Challenge everything.” “Start a Revolution” – “Just do it.”

Kudos. Finally, after a lot of crap, somebody actually tries to reinstitute glory to the Daily editorial board.

p/s – Monaco is on fire.

Categories
Politics & government

[331] Of Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal and MTB for 2004

Last week, Bush unbelievably endorsed Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal plan from some of the occupied territories.

If one reads merely the surface – of which I did for the first few hours before I actually read up the whole plan a few hours later last week – one would certainly say, wow, that’s an improvement towards peace.
Yet, the world is far for being perfect. Utopia is still a utopia.

Upon delving further into Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal, the plan, like what was said in the NYT dead-tree edition last Friday, the plan is anything but a sincere unilateral withdrawal. It is more about exchanging partial Israeli withdrawal for part of the lands without the Palestinian consent.

The best thing is, Sharon negotiated the plan with himself, forcing the Palestinian, the supposed to be the other participant of any Israel-Palestinian – using nowadays cliche – out of the loop.

Seriously, Sharon discussed the plan, of all persons, with himself. A joke?

No. Sharon was explicitly quoted saying, “I discussed this between me and myself and came up with a new initiative”.

Puzzled? Me too.

Though there might be some truth to Bush’s statement that it is unrealistic for Israel to mobilize a full departure from the occupied lands, it is more unrealistic believe that the Arab and especially the Palestinian would accept Sharon’s proposal.

It is already hard to convince the Arab and the Muslim as a whole to accept the existence of an Israeli state. To convince them to swallow the possibility that Israel might keep some of the annexed territories will probably be too great a task.

Bush is unrealistic. The cool My Teddy Bear for USA!p/s – Just found out that Ann Arbor plans to hold an Earth Day celebration this Sunday at the historic farmer market. w00t! Also, the Naked Mile, I believe, is this week. Hopes to see some girls. :)