Categories
Politics & government

[1305] Of Jeff Ooi officially joins DAP?

For the past couple of months, rumor has been running around that Jeff Ooi might join DAP. An article in The Star today provides the clearest indication of such move:

PETALING JAYA: Prominent blogger Jeff Ooi is set to join the DAP and contest in the general election.

The DAP is planning a “welcoming ceremony” on Tuesday to announce his crossover from blogosphere to party politics. Top party leaders as well as some of Ooi’s blogger friends will attend the ceremony.

Ooi, in his 50s, is an e-business consultant but is better known for his blog which focuses on current issues with an emphasis on politics. He is also an expert of sorts on the new media. [Blogger Ooi to join DAP and contest in polls. The Star. July 29 2007]

Let us see what will happen on Tuesday.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s — tea anybody?

From MageP’s Lab:

This morning, while I was having breakfast, I received an invitation SMS from blogger Tony Pua.

You’re cordially invited to join the a tea party at Food Foundry, Jln 17/13, Petaling Jaya on Tuesday (July 29) at 10.30am

Good news? Announcement? [A tea party. MageP’s Lab. July 29 2007]

Kasihan Gerakan.

Categories
Personal Photography

[1304] Of climbing up on Solsbury Hill

Exactly a week ago, I found myself on top of one of the hills that make up the Klang Gates Ridge.

Some rights reserved. By Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams.

While I was up there, there were a few songs that kept playing in my mine. One of them was Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill. Somehow, it was the right song for the right place at the right time.

Anyway, I think I have found a new hobby: solo climbing. So far in my life, there is no hobby that expresses my individualism as much as solo climbing. Somehow, solo climbing has strong connotation to obstacles to individualist effort to achieve greater height, literally. More importantly, I have found its philosophical attachment as extremely attractive. That, in turn, in one way or another, reminds me of Ayn Rand.

Categories
Liberty

[1303] Of is it censorship or abnormal traffic?

The wind over the Malaysian blogosphere has it that Malaysia Today is being censored in one way or the other.

I however am unsure what is going on because I failed to access MT directly and by proxy at one time or the other. I must also admit that when I could access MT, it would be easier to access it through a proxy server.

Screenshot by Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Public domain.

In the end, it might be just a case of abnormal traffic and limited bandwidth. So, I think it is wise to sit out and observe how this episode will develop in the next few hours instead of jumping on gun shouting fire.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s — on the next morning, Saturday, at around 0700 hours, just before I am getting ready for a day hike, I am able to access MT just fine.

Screenshot by Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Public domain.

Maybe we all should stop taking that dose of sensationalism (sensationalism is okay, as long as it is true) for a little bit (by “that”, meaning, this). It could be that it was just TMNet offering bad service. It was Friday’s evening after all when traffic is likely to spike compared to weekday.

Masquerading speculation as truth is just not right.

Categories
Economics Politics & government

[1302] Of hail trade! Hail the NYT!

Hail to the NYT for staying with rationality, instead of populism.

Trade has been getting an unfair beating from Democrats. Party leaders backpedaled from their agreement with the White House to approve free trade pacts with Peru and Panama and are opposing the agreement with South Korea. They also refused to extend so-called fast track authority, which guarantees a simple up or down vote on trade deals. And Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — playing to the campaign crowds — are backing legislation that would punish China for manipulating its currency and, not incidentally, could trigger an ugly trade war.

Yet for all their concern about globalization’s impact on American workers, Democrats are going after the wrong targets. It is true that wages for most workers are going nowhere. Many fear for their jobs. But, as many centrist Democrats have argued for years, throttling trade would end up hurting a lot more people than it helped. [The Case for Trade. NYT. July 27 2007]

I however am not quite certain what is implied with this statement:

Research suggests that trade inspires less protectionist feelings in countries with bigger governments and bigger social safety nets. Promoting trade and helping America’s workers are two ideas that Democrats should get behind. [The Case for Trade. NYT. July 27 2007]

Categories
Environment Science & technology

[1301] Of bees, pollination and haze

One of the less emphasized environmental crises within the public sphere is the decline of bee population. The United States for some unknown reason is seeing a fall in bee population. The same story is being played out in Europe and after attending a public talk at the Zoo Negara last week, I found out that the same trend is applicable in Malaysia. The annual haze might contribute to the decline in a big way. Bees are natural pollinators and thus, they are precious to the agricultural industry. Any significant drop of population is expected to adversely affect production.

During the talk, a professor from a local public university showed how honey is traditionally harvested in Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. It is quite amazing how the simple act of smoking a bee hive will chase the bees away and thus, making honey harvesting a less painful act. The professor continued to say that smoke disrupts communication between bees and disorients the insects.

If simple smoking could do that, imagine what weeks-long haze would do to the whole bee population found in Malaysia and other places that typical suffer from the haze originating from Indonesia annually?

The gravity of the matter is even more pronounced considering the fact the tropical trees only bloom once every 10 to 15 years. As mentioned earlier, bees play a large role in spreading pollens naturally. With haze happening on almost yearly basis, it is possible that the bees might fail to aid a pollination process and thus, disrupting a reproduction cycle.

The haze that several Southeast Asian countries experience almost every year has been going on for about a decade now. It is quite possible that a pollination process had occurred during that period.

If there is any disruption, the effect would not be visible immediately. There is a lag in the relevant causal relationship and therefore, we might need to wait a whole cycle to complete before we could observe how the haze is affecting reproduction process of floras.

If we are unlucky, it might be too late before we could do anything to rectify the matter.