While PSV struggled against NAC, Ajax struck 3 goals against SC Heracles. Because of that, Ajax is now only three points behind PSV. Three points!
I have some animated photos and would like to post it. However, I’ll wait for Youtube.
In the meantime, I would just love to savor the moment. It ain’t over yet but we don’t have to worry about that for the next six days.
Upon news of the devastation of Lojing broke out, UMNO Kelantan immediately seizes the opportunity to grab a couple of brownie points by appointing itself as the guardian of the environment:
KOTA BAHARU, March 31 (Bernama) — Kelantan Umno has set up an action committee to check the ecological damage due to excessive logging at Lojing Highlands, which is said to be worse than anticipated and rather complex in nature.
Chairman of the State Umno Liaison Committee Datuk Seri Annuar Musa said Saturday non-governmental organisations were invited to join the committee which would compile data on the damage with information from various agencies. [Umno Forms Committee To Check Damage At Lojing Highlands. Bernama. March 31 2007]
PAS meanwhile declares that the party is “pushing for total conservation of the environment“, despite what is happening in Lojing:
KOTA BARU: Kelantan PAS plans to use a helicopter to conduct aerial inspection of hilly areas in other states to check for environmental damage.
Its secretary, Takiyuddin Hassan, said the party would hire a consultant who would be accompanied by knowledgeable government officials to inspect the development of hilly terrain in other states.
“We are pushing for total conservation of the environment. We are aiming for it in Kelantan, but can other states follow suit?” he said in an interview. [Look at damage in other states first, says Kelantan. The Star. April 1 2007]
Methinks:
There is a template in economics that deals with tragedy of the commons: permits.
And this is how it looks like when applied to replenishable commodity like fishes, graphically:
This is exactly the case in the rationale behind the proposed legalization of turtle eggs collection.
I myself learned about the model at Michigan to solve scarcity issue faced by the fishing industry in northwestern US; the Pacific. In fact, the graph is a reproduction of the original diagram I learned during a cold fall day in Ann Arbor.
For water scarcity faced by the states along the Colorado River, the same idea of introducing tradable permits to combat tragedy of the commons is used. In the NYT a few days ago, the fishery model was cited as a solution to combat another tragedy of the commons; the climate:
Later today, Mr. Festa is going to release a fascinating study about the fishing business that on its face has nothing to do with global warming, and yet has everything to do with a solution. At dozens of the nation’s fisheries, the fish population is in danger because fishermen have no incentive not to take everything out of the water that they can. But 10 fisheries, stretching from the halibut fishery off Alaska to the surf clam industry in New England, have tried a different route. [Earth’s Climate Needs the Help of Incentives. NYT. March 28 2007.]
Tradable carbon credits, which is essentially tradable permits, is part of the Kyoto Protocol.
With one more day to catch the window granted to the US Trade Promotion Authority by the US Congress to fast track trade negotiations, it becomes increasingly clear that both the Malaysian and the US negotiators are going to miss it. As stated earlier, with the Democrats in control of the Congress, it would be hard to carve out a free trade agreement between the two countries without the TPA. The same scenario is applicable to the South Korea-US FTA:
SEOUL, South Korea — As the deadline looms for the potentially historic free-trade talks between the U.S. and South Korea, the biggest obstacles are turning out to involve the same thing as in most trade discussions: food.
The two countries aim to finish a comprehensive trade agreement Friday, the biggest such deal ever for Korea and since 1993 for the U.S., and one that is being closely watched by other countries. They still need to reach major compromises in areas such as automotive trade and investment protections, according to people close to the discussions.
But those aren’t areas that might cause the deal to fall apart, these people say. Instead, it is two commodities that are closer to the hearts of both sides-beef for the U.S. and rice for South Korea. [Food is biggest obstacle in Seoul-U.S. trade talks. WSJ Asia. March 30 2007]
Also, observe how the interest of many is held hostage by the few:
South Korean is afraid that boosting imports of beef and rice will hurt business for its farmers, though it would reduce food prices for a far greater number of its consumers. [Food is biggest obstacle in Seoul-U.S. trade talks. WSJ Asia. March 30 2007]
The same event is being played out in Malaysia, as in many other country, at the expense of many, in the name of the few.
p/s — One last try by the South Korean and the American:
March 31 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and South Korea agreed to extend talks toward a free-trade agreement by 48 hours, said Kim Jong Hoon, the chief South Korean negotiator for the agreement.
“Both sides formed a consensus that additional negotiations would be helpful and necessary, and therefore the U.S. delegation discussed this closely with its government and the Congress overnight, and decided to extend the talks by 48 hours, to April 2, 1 a.m. Korea time,” Kim said. [U.S., South Korea Extend Their Free-Trade Talks. Bloomberg. March 31 2007.
For Malaysia, the deadline has officially passed, because we as Malaysians are too afraid to grasp for prosperity, in spite of our rich history as trading civilizations.
pp/s — It is 1 A.M. in Seoul and no news has come out yet. I am assuming that the negotiation has officially failed.
ppp/s — Wow. These people are serious. The deadline for the negotiation has been extended yet again:
SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) — Top-level officials from South Korea and the United States struggled Monday to come up with major compromises in their final stage of negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement (FTA), with the deadline for the talks extended for the second time in two days. [South Korea-U.S. FTA talks go past extended deadline to salvage deal. Yonhap News. April 2 2007]
Damn. I wish that was Malaysia.
ppp/s — The second deadlines has come to pass but optimism is running high:
SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) — Top South Korean and U.S. negotiators worked through the night past a second deadline on Monday to try to forge a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) amid growing indications that a deal was imminent.
A South Korean government official close to the talks said his government was waiting for a rely from the United States after delivering its final proposal for the terms of an agreement.
“The ball is now in the U.S. court,” the official said, asking that he not be identified. [Deal imminent in South Korea-U.S. FTA talks: sources. Yonhap News. April 2 2007]
The government of the United States of America has put up a bounty of USD5 million on a Malaysian:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States added Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian suspected of bomb attacks in the Philippines, to its most-wanted list on Tuesday and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. [U.S. Adds Malaysian Suspect to Most – Wanted List. Reuters. March 27 2007.
Would the Malaysian government just sit and watch?
Anyway, I have a suggestion. Let us start by investigating PAS…