Marvelous in my opinion. I was tearing my voicebox at the 12th row in the Big House. My throat was in pain for almost a week but I got a sexy voice for a return. =)
Down on the ground, Michigan was kicking Miami Ohio’s sorry ass 43 to 10. This of course, happened almost two weeks ago. So sad to see a week later, Notre Dame screwed us to kingdom come. To come to think of it, I think our goddamn offense screwed our own team. Sigh…
This week, San Diego. The Wolverines are hungry.
Ralph Nader was Ann Arbor today and I skipped a class to attend it. And apparently, I was not the only one that skipped class. Ralph Nader’s speech was okay though the content is unique when compared to what Kerry or Bush would say.
The event was held in the Ballroom in the Michigan Union at 1300 hours. Out of the ballroom, there were some people. Some were some random people handing out some random fliers. Some where Nader supporters. Some were democrats trying to dissuade people from voting for Nader.
The room was full with a number people standing at the back. I sat in the second row. Yup, it was up front but too bad it was too much to the left that I had to twist my neck a little.
Nader talked about a few things.
One concerned how American political scene is becoming a duopoly and how the democrats are trying to prevent Nader from the ballot and how the republicans refused to hold a debate with him. I share his opinion on this. It is just too bad for such thing to happen. Dilemma – face four more years of Bush or face a duopoly well into the future. I do not know which one is the worst.
He also described how the US is different from Western Europe, where welfare level of the people there are higher than the US. Though maybe it is true that social security does not seem to work while the European’s works better, I believe Europe has a much higher unemployment rate. I am not sure if it is better to be in the US or Europe with these two things happening but in my opinion, there is a certainly a trade off between being a welfare state and not being a welfare state.
The crux of his speech is probably about corporate powers. He talked about why it is important to remove corporate powers from Washington D.C. The one phrase that might sums up all of his points on corporate powers is something like this: corporations are not people; they do not vote and they should not be in D.C.; they should not influent the policies drafted in D.C. While at it, he took a swipe at Kerry for being a face for corporations. Bush also received the criticism. Halliburton was mentioned explicitly though it was in a passing style.
Later, he encouraged the students to get involve in civil discussion and stand for democracy. Among Nader, Kerry and Bush, Nader is the one that deserves to tell people to stand for democracy from my point of view. Kerry and even less with Bush, do not seem to stand for grassroot democracy as much as Ralph Nader does.
Somewhere, he criticized the notion of anyone but Bush. His exact words were “Anyone but Bush. Leave Kerry alone. Ask no question” or something like that. He said this is the right formula for defeat and why Kerry is mostly leading marginally instead of firmly. I however cannot remember why that is so but Nader did make the idea of anyone but Bush sounds hypocritical to me.
He touched a few other things but I do not remember.
After he spoke, a Q&A session was held. I, in fact, most of the students left right after Nader wrapped up his speech. I do not know the reason why the others left but I guess the reason is the same as mine – class.
And quote of the day,
Students at Michigan are blessed, except last Saturday.
– Ralph Nader with reference to the ugly game at Notre Dame
p/s – Today, officially, Bush lets the 10-year assault rifle ban to lapse. Now, it is legal to own AK-47 or any assault rifle in America. This will be a perfect natural experiment to see whether freedom to bare arm, especially when it involves assault rifle, affects crime rate. I bet it somebody will conduct a research on this and I bet the effect on crime rate will be positive.
An explosion along with a mushroom cloud has been reported in the news. Things are unclear for the moment but I pray it has nothing to do with North Korea’s current nuclear aspiration.
I found about it while I was browsing Wikipedia and it happened two days ago according to Associated Press.
p/s – Report by Reuters, US Says N.Korea Blast Unlikely to Have Been Nuclear.
I have a feeling that the Malaysian government does not give a damn for the environment. The last time, it was the incinerator in Broga. Despite opposition from the locals and various environmental organizations, the project went through. Now, it concerns the Tioman Island, probably one of the famous diving scuba sites in the world with a beautiful coral reef system.
Here is the situation. The government plans to build a new marina somewhere off the island for the sake of tourism. In their mind probably, they would be able to boost tourism by providing the relevant infrastructure; in this case, a marina. They have argued that the marina will help develop Tioman further and at the same time, help the locals to move up the social ladder.
This is my opinion. People from all over the world come to the island mainly to enjoy the reef system and the tropical weather. Part of the attraction will no doubt be devastated during the planned construction of the marina and thus, what good is a marina to tourism when the marina itself will threaten the main reason behind Tioman’s tourism industry?
Tioman does not need a marina. What Tioman needs is to be left alone from a certain type of policymakers.
I, as you would probably guess, disagree with the project. The marina construction comes at the expense of the system. I think it is utterly stupid to destroy the main attraction of the island in order to build a marina. Years ago, similar things happened at Tioman. The government built an airport on a reclaimed land off Tioman and in the process, damaged part of the ecosystem. In my opinion, an alternative to an airport is the usage of floatplane, or seaplane. However, there is no use crying over split milk.
Conversely, the construction of the marina has not even started and any damage to the coral reef system can be avoided by preventing this project.
The Malaysian Department of the Environment (DOE) has recorded its opposition towards the marina project but from what I have read, the DOE has no power comparable to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prevent this. To prove this, three barges associated with the project contractor have already reached Tioman even though the DOE has yet to approve the contractor’s environmental management plan.
At the same time, I am never going to trust the DOE again. Even the fast eroding EPA earns more respect from any green’s eye. What good is the DOE when the report environmental impact assessment (EIA) is approved even while the environment is at a terrible loss? How could such body, supposedly to take care of the environment, gave a green light even as the coral reef system is being threatened unnecessarily?
The same thing happened to Broga. The EIA allowed the construction of the incinerator despite the knowledge that the incinerator site is in a proven water catchments area.
Perhaps the libertarian’s common belief is entirely true; one cannot trust the government.
I am not sure what I am going to do other than rant. It seems hopeless. It seems, I have more power in the US than in my home country. Nevertheless, I have just joined Environmental Justice, a campus wide environmental group. Through this organization, I hope I could somehow forward the trouble in Tioman.
p/s – This coming Monday, Nader, yes, Ralph Nader is coming to Michigan. I will be skipping class to attend that.
Netherlands 2 – 0 Czech Republic in a World Cup qualifying match. Thanks to van Hooijdonk for both goals.
Regarding Ajax however, I am saddened to see Ibrahimovic leaving Ajax for Juventus. Though this happened about ten days ago, most Ajacieds are still outraged at the amount of transfer Ajax received, a mere 16 million Euros instead of the expected 45 million Euros.
God damns all Italian teams. From now on, all Italian teams are a micron away from being my most hated club(s) ever. Manchester United is still number one for the time being.
And now, if only Ajax could lose Trabelsi.