people with no other options

hmmmmmm……...

It’s Monday again. So, let’s start out with something good. I came across this entry on MM’s blog. I’m not very fond of motivational writings nor am I a fan of new age affirmation, but maybe some of you would find it inspirational. And I’m putting it up because the guys on the team thought it was pretty impressive for a single straight guy to be able to recognize a certain designer’s name in a song. But to my defense, I’ve never seen any of his shoes nor have I stepped in into any of his boutiques including the online ones, and heck, the guy was born in Penang!!!!!... So, like any other Malaysians, of course I’ve heard about him from somewhere. Btw, the nice entry dedicated specially to the Monday-haters out there was written by Jimmy Choo’s son.

Enough with Monday, let’s move on to something much more thrilling…. like the economy. News has it that the unemployment rate in the US could go above a staggering 9% by year’s end. And I’m assuming that as people are losing jobs and all, green issues have lost its appeal. And heck, even Rupert Murdoch has been said to be losing his magic touch, which explains why the media has more important things to focus on.

Anyways, let’s leave that to the pros to elaborate. Let’s talk materials economy. Well, maybe you should just click on the link and just watch and listen to Annie Leonard’s cool presentation on The Story of Stuff. This project has been around for quite some time I guess. To those who haven’t seen it yet, enjoy, and to those who have, sorry I got nothing to crap about; I have my own linear system on a finite planet to worry about.

And just what on earth is going on with the country?



Just my 2 cents, I think this guy has a point. Well, my dad used to tell me a couple dozen of times on how they should’ve stopped Khir Johari (if I’m not mistaken) from pulling out jawi from the system. And whatever the resolution might be, let’s just hope that it will be in the favor of the country, the rakyat and the generations to come.

And one more thing, let’s not make ‘taking it to the streets’ a trend; because you pull up the same trick too many times, the opponent wouldn’t have to rely too much on his reflexes to make the tackle anymore, not to mention it loses its WOW factor. Mannn, we are one twisted nation. Mr./Mrs. Politicians, you can start cleaning the mess up by pulling your heads out of your arses.

And after some long depressing hours of Youtube-ing, trying to reestablish a connection to home which I haven’t been back to for quite a while, jumbled in the middle of the long list of videos of FRUs and tear gas shots, new legendary tree stories, samseng-like raids in the parliament compound, and some local soccer talk, I found this.

So, have a great week everyone……

March Madness is coming…..

leg breaking

So, I was facing this big dilemma. I don’t like to choose, especially when it comes down to choosing people. If it were a staffing decision, then, a simple linear model would suffice, but this one is way beyond complicated.

But a man has to do what a man got to do. And Dawes’ and Ben Franklin’s long explanation on prudential algebra brought me down to this decision which cost me $20. I chose a Polish-born Nobel Prize winner over my favorite scientist, who also happens to be one of the coolest physicist, science idol and writer ever; Rotblat over Feynman.

And after reading one of the best composed and sincere writings by a scientist or a philosopher I’ve ever came across, I signed the pledge.

And then paid the $20 membership fee, and got my cool t-shirt and other ‘free’ stuff.

Anyways, the Student Pugwash is all about engaging students to promote the socially responsible use of science and technology, and in order to create effective social change, students must first understand the issues at stake, and then contemplate their ethical and moral responsibility to themselves and to society as a whole.

And as I can’t really get a consistent 10 hours of sleep a day and not that much soccer or football or sweat anymore this semester because of schoolwork and all, I decided to take the passenger’s seat for this particular intention, by the door in the backseat. Well, I didn’t get myself all messy with the administration stuff, but I’ve learnt some pretty cool and great new stuff from the very people who are pioneers and the crème de la crème in their respective already cool fields.
Seriously, after the short an hour or so lecture, you’ll get out feeling a little bit more intelligent, which is good to feed the deflated ego after having to do too much schoolwork and projects that make you feel dumber than a 12 year old giraffe. And some of the lectures even helped me change my stand on certain issues. Anyway, the most important lesson I’ve got so far is that, information, small or little goes a very long way. For $20 (actually the lecture series can be attended for free), now I’m a big advocate of nuclear energy, I have a pretty good idea on what to feed my wife during and even before pregnancy, how calico cats and women are the same, a new dimension on the black gold, corn and the energy issue, and I get to meet some new cool geeks.

So, yup, Feynman is still the favorite and the coolest scientist ever, but Rotblat, Einstein and a couple of their scientist friends made the better choice. Well, consistent to what Erick Erikson suggested, people in between their teen years, up to their early 20’s usually have this Identity vs. Role confusion. So, choosing what’s cool and what you’re supposed to be and do is pretty confusing at this age.

And talking about another favorite writer, I had a chance to hear a lecture and get my book signed by Mr. Tom Friedman some one month ago, the same night I saw Frank Duong at the Union, the night before he scored a touchdown out of an interception. He talked about his book which I yet to get a chance to read beyond page 34, and a couple of his personal experience which was great. And with this entire APEX thing going on, maybe the particular university back home should really look into this energy engineering technology thing, which according to Freidman, is the new ‘it’ thing, the new big tomorrow. And as I was 12th in line out of the nearly packed 6,025 capacity Elliot Hall of Music audience during the book signing, I get to have a little chat with him, but I forgot to ask him to sign his other book I brought along.
Ohh, again, if you somehow managed to find this humble blog, thanks for the book……

We went to see my classmate take the basketball court during the halloween night exhibition game last night. We were pretty good. The future is bright.

And for one last time, let's go slay some wolverine for lunch.

-the best indoor kicks yet--

-The tired, deflated, stressed, and in need of a pair of new kicks, a new graphic card and to break some legs-

sodomy 2.0

This is just awesome, first the SD, now the sodomy thing, what next?



Anyways, the host is effing funny. Maybe the time has come for Malaysia to replace AF with a new reality TV show to find Malaysia’s Wolf Blitzer. And maybe only then the guests will come prepared, and of course something that’s supposed to be serious wont look so stupidly funny.

Anyways, that’s the talk around the poor green globe; the hiking price of the black gold. The last time we stopped by at a gas station, before going fishing yesterday, the price was at $4.02/gallon and across the street at $4.10/gallon.

First of all, let’s look at the fundamental stuff, from some 101 and high school courses. First of all, I think it might be from Sains tingakatan 3 or Geography, where we learned that crude oil is a non-renewable form of energy. Secondly, the supply and demand and the ceteris paribus thing from kemahiran hidup and economics, as supply goes down, and demand goes up, the price goes up (exponentially ke?) . And it may be a good idea to read something on the Hubbert Peak Theory. Anyways, in summary, the supply is going down, while at the same time, we’re in need of it even more than ever. And believe it or not, for the first time in history, we will be going from a good fuel to one that is not so good (Kaufman).
So, like it or not, the price is still going to go up.

Anyways, back to the issue in Malaysia. Without much arguing, the people have the right to get all frustrated and lompat parti. But maybe we’re just not hitting on the right bush. Marahkan nyamuk kelambu dibakar (betul ke)? And probably, the way the government is handling the issue is making things worse.

You can read all about it in the articles, from the blogs, the newspapers, and the chain emails which I assume that you might already have. Anyways, IMHO, I’m going have to agree that the move to cut down subsidy is good for the long run as suggested by some economists. And we’re not alone in this as countries around the world, including Indonesia and Taiwan, are bashing the subsidy. However, maybe the timing and the drastic shift are making the people angry. The policies and all should’ve been planned beforehand, and not after something has been implemented. And with the right policies and the right method and the correct timing, I think the people won’t be hitting the streets again, assuming that they’re being angry at the right thing.

And I’ve been receiving quite a few chain emails on boycotting Petronas and a few others from the other side of the story. And I think, there’s no point in boycotting the corporation, because in Malaysia, the government is the one responsible with the pricing of the fuel. And as it is a company, they have to comply with rules and regulations of the Securities Commission, GAAP (Malaysia punye name ape?) and all. And because it’s a business, of course ‘the goal’ (sila baca the goal by Goldratt) is to get money. I don’t know much about Petronas or their numbers, but it’s fair to say, that they shouldn’t be the scapegoat of this glocal issue. And another thing, by simple economy, we should use the cheaper one, and sell the pricier one for something else better like education etc. And please stop making personal attacks on groups of people you might not even know, because that’s stupid, and it’s not in any way helping.

And what’s funnier is the way the people in office are handling it. Ubah cara hidup? Really, it’s not of much help. I don’t know, but as a rakyat biasa, I would’ve expected more from my leaders, something of more concrete value, not just some mere layman talk. Anyways, thank you for the emails and blog entries from you who suggested the same; ‘kita perlu sedar’ and ‘ubah attitude’ and all, it was nice reading, but I have to say that it's kind of annoying to have your inbox full of nothing. Btw, you got to read this from Dr.Azmi Sharom, and Florida oranges aren’t that good.

So, what should we do? I don’t know. But maybe we could start producing the Proton version of FCX Clarity, or at least decrease the prices of the more fuel efficient or hybrid imported cars that we have yet to be able to produce ourselves. Or, why not get the subsidy back in action by cutting spending on white elephant projects, and start shaving it off again gradually. Anyways, the crisis is a global issue, and it’s a long term thing. The petroleum age is coming to an end. And lastly, it’s OK to be angry, but let’s curve the bullet so that it hits the right target. Wanted was kinda cool btw.

So, in conclusion, we should all move to Venezuela . Or we could get Chavez to come over and let him run office.

And the better team took home the trophy in Vienna today. It was a nice game. And FAM should consider hiring Gus Hiddink as the new national head coach.

*pinjam tajuk bro

jam bumi

the gold-booted mr.100

so, i got tagged by PunD and his Gundam .

1. Pilih 5 atau 50 pautan kegemaran.
2. Tag balik 5 orang.
3. Pautan haruslah suci.
4. Maklumkan orang yang ditag.
5. Sebut nama orang yang tag kamu

lets bend the rules a little shall we? lets list them under groups; instead of listing 5 pautans,lets fit them under 5 different categories. human brains work better that way. we generalize and put labels on things we want to.

1. http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en
- this site deserves its own entry in the dictionary.
- on my personalized homepage: the weather, hangman, pacman, espn, news, how-to-of-the-day.
- i overheard some geeks talking about the stock's points hiking up yesterday...???

2. encyclopedias, journals, dictionaries
*freakonomics - its more of a blog actually, but....
* scienceline - the science version of freakonomics... i think.. anyhow, its still one of the coolest..
* thefreeonlinedictionary.com ; first of all, because its free, and not everyone writes like Hemingway, or maybe doesn't have the ability to write like him.
*urbandictionary.com ; time to turn on some youtube people, time to be current. and it helps me figure out the crude jokes the professors and the guys tell me.
*wikipedia.org - a better textbook, and because no one wants to look dumb, and stupid, and...

3.Youtube.com
- so that i can look up some new skills to show off in the friday night showdown games.
-for some laughs
-infotainment?
-music, movie trailers..
-studying.. try searching for mutually exclusive vs. independent..

4. sports
*soccernet.com, footytube.com
*espn.com
*bigtennetwork.com
*rebong- merapu

5. blogs
*you people's blogs
- because i have a life, but my life is boring. so, keep on writing people... HELP ME..
* political/propaganda blogs


-PunD and his Gundam tagged me.

-And as usual, you,you,you,you, and you just got tagged.

-earth hour babe.. tutup lampu, pergi main bola, go run some miles, JANGAN pergi lab, save some green..

*2 exams, 2 projects, a book review, 4 homeworks... ronaldo main tipu!!!

how lembu explains the world

(utusan malaysia)

this one is from Tengku Farith's blog. Ideologies explained.

SOCIALISM:
You have 2 cows, so you
give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM:
You have 2 cows. The State
takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM:
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

MALAYSIAN BUMIPUTRAISM:
You have two cows, the State takes one and gives it to your bumiputra neighbour. From the milk you sell from the remaining cow you buy a bull and mulitply your herd. The State take 30% of your herd as it grows and give them to your bumiputra neigbour. Your bumiputra neighbour has a kenduri each time they receive a cow.

UMNOPUTRAISM :
The State takes 30% of your herd and parks them in Switzerland in the name of some UMNO official or close relatives, friends and sons-in-law.

MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT LINKED OR
BUMIPUTRA CORPORATION :
You have two cows. You employ mainly bumiputras to milk them. But both cows have been sent to the kenduri, so the State gives you more cows and write off the losses of the first two. After several kenduris later, you invite an American or German Corporation to turnaround the losses. The Japanese have however already taken their two original cows back home to Japan .

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM:
You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again
and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows because you're sobering up and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION:
You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them. A

CHINA CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows. You worship them

A BRITISH CORPORATION:
You have two cows. Both are mad.

IRAQI CORPORATION:
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy...


so, i've uploaded a new profile photo; u can start approving my comments now, dear miss Minerva.. haha

cheers~