Categories
Society

[1408] Of Generation Q, yes, no?

Hohoho, Friedman said:

It’s for all these reasons that I’ve been calling them ”Generation Q” — the Quiet Americans, in the best sense of that term, quietly pursuing their idealism, at home and abroad.

But Generation Q may be too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country’s own good. When I think of the huge budget deficit, Social Security deficit and ecological deficit that our generation is leaving this generation, if they are not spitting mad, well, then they’re just not paying attention. And we’ll just keep piling it on them.

[…]

Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms. Activism can only be uploaded, the old-fashioned way — by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall. Virtual politics is just that — virtual.

Maybe that’s why what impressed me most on my brief college swing was actually a statue — the life-size statue of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi. Meredith was the first African-American to be admitted to Ole Miss in 1962. The Meredith bronze is posed as if he is striding toward a tall limestone archway, re-enacting his fateful step onto the then-segregated campus — defying a violent, angry mob and protected by the National Guard.

Above the archway, carved into the stone, is the word ”Courage.” That is what real activism looks like. There is no substitute. [Generation Q. Thomas L. Friedman. NYT. October 10 2007]

I suspect young guns in PKR would nod in agreement, at least in Malaysian context.

But folks at Facebook do not.

Categories
Economics Environment

[1407] Of Nobel Prize and climate change

OSLO (Reuters) – Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N. climate panel shared the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for work on global warming, and the award committee urged action “before climate change moves beyond man’s control.”Gore and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) won “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. [Gore shares Nobel win with U.N. climate panel. Reuters. October 12 2007]

If Al Gore is planning to run for the Presidency, he has a big capital in his bag.

Now, if Nordhaus wins the Prize in Economics…

Categories
Sports

[1406] Of Dida banned!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Celtic were relieved to avoid heavy punishment but AC Milan were left reeling after UEFA banned goalkeeper Dida for two matches for his theatrics in last week’s controversial Champions League match at Parkhead.

Celtic have been fined £25,000, half of which is suspended, for their part in the incident which saw a pitch-invading supporter approach the Brazilian goalkeeper after Scott McDonald scored the late winning goal.

[…]

Dida was found to have breached UEFA’s ‘principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship’.

And the 34-year-old, who writhed around in feigned agony in the goalmouth when he was barely tapped by the Celtic supporter, received no sympathy from the 10-man disciplinary body.

Stunned Milan have pledged to appeal against the punishment, which as it stands means Dida will miss the club’s Champions League games against Shakhtar Donetsk.

AC Milan lawyer Leandro Cantamessa blasted the decision to hit Dida with such a strong punishment, while only fining Celtic a small sum for the pitch invasion by the supporter. [Dida gets two match ban as Celtic escape with fine. ESPN Soccernet. October 12 2007]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

‘Everybody is laughing at the ‘keeper. The fan shouldn’t have gone on the park but he didn’t do anything.’ [Dida gets two match ban as Celtic escape with fine. ESPN Soccernet. October 12 2007]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Categories
Economics

[1405] Of Wal-Mart comes to bury you all with Snapple

Previously, talks on the street had it that Wal-Mart was interested in acquiring stakes in Makro. It did not happen and instead, it was TESCO that absorbed Makro. A year after that, news of Wal-Mart coming to Malaysia resurfaces.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal said yesterday that US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Germany’s Metro AG had applied to open stores in the country and that the Government was still vetting the applications. [Economist: More operators good for hypermarket sector. The Star. October 12 2007]

If the application is approved, two of the largest retailers in the world would have presence in this country. Number one is Wal-Mart of course; number two is Carrefour. But do not be misled by the 1-2 ranking: Wal-Mart is much larger than Carrefour. Even if four of the top five global retailers excluding Wal-Mart consolidate into an entity, Wal-Mart would still be the largest retailer in the world in terms of revenue.

Also, there were rumors that Wal-Mart wanted to acquire Carrefour. But heh, the French would never allow that!

This apparently is made possible by recent market liberalization:

The ban on new foreign hypermarkets establishing a presence in Malaysia was lifted in May, with the ministry issuing permits on a case-by-case basis.

[…]

In April 2002, former Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin banned the setting up of new foreign hypermarkets and imposed restrictions on store sizes, opening hours and locations for those already operating in Malaysia to protect local retailers. [Economist: More operators good for hypermarket sector. The Star. October 12 2007]

With the liberalization, I hope to get my daily supply of Snapple and Snapple caps! They must bring more Snapple into Malaysia!

Yup, yup. The application must only be approved on one condition: amply availability of Snapple! No Snapple, no license!

Categories
Kitchen sink Science & technology Society

[1404] Of intentional misinterpretation?

Compare this blog entry:

For those who have been screaming off their heads about the so-called “Islamization” imposition (I call it a resurgence) on the country in the last few decades, they certainly would not be able to deny that because of Islam, Malaysia has seen much scientific progress and currently as it stands, are among the top seven most scientifically productive Islamic nations in the world today, according to this blog post.

Fair use. Copyrights by Physics Today.

Granted that we still have a far way to go where science is concerned and I am not going to just sit back and be satisfied with what we have. But compared to the state the nation was in when secularism was thriving in the late 50s and 60s (also having failed this country time and time again but that is besides the point), the Islamic resurgence has given us the much need scientific progress that we have been striving for. To deny otherwise is to shut out evidence of the research that we see before our very eyes. Its too bad that those who advocate for the secularism project to remain alive are most certainly behind current times. [Malaysia among top scientifically productive Islamic nations. He That Shall Not Be Named. October 6 2007]

…with this article that the previous blog entry eventually refers to:

Religious fundamentalism is always bad news for science. But what explains its meteoric rise in Islam over the past half century? In the mid-1950s all Muslim leaders were secular, and secularism in Islam was growing. What changed? Here the West must accept its share of responsibility for reversing the trend. Iran under Mohammed Mossadeq, Indonesia under Ahmed Sukarno, and Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser are examples of secular but nationalist governments that wanted to protect their national wealth. Western imperial greed, however, subverted and overthrew them. At the same time, conservative oil-rich Arab states—such as Saudi Arabia—that exported extreme versions of Islam were US clients. The fundamentalist Hamas organization was helped by Israel in its fight against the secular Palestine Liberation Organization as part of a deliberate Israeli strategy in the 1980s. Perhaps most important, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the US Central Intelligence Agency armed the fiercest and most ideologically charged Islamic fighters and brought them from distant Muslim countries into Afghanistan, thus helping to create an extensive globalized jihad network. Today, as secularism continues to retreat, Islamic fundamentalism fills the vacuum. [Science and the Islamic world—The quest for rapprochement. Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy. Physics Today . August 2007]

Why does He That Shall Not Be Named draw different conclusion from the original article and gives the picture as if the article offers the same conclusion as his?

He That Shall Not Be Named should stop and think, and read before he speaks, lest he would make a fool out of himself, which he has so profoundly. Unless, it was his intention to mislead in the first place.

He probably just read the table (and made awful mistake of correlating and then committing the fallacy of correlation is causation) without reading the article.