Reference: Pushed too far, Soul Searching, Bangkok Post, September 30, 2007
The article argues that Islam gets bad press because militant and confrontational Islamic leaders have not been able to make their case in a credible manner in the world stage while the intellectual elite of the Muslim world, who could have made a difference, appear to have sold out to the West. It is possible that the reason things appear this way is that the educated elite have studied other traditions and have developed a more inclusive approach to other cultures, particularly to the dominant culture. Islamic fundamentalists who insist on Sharia law see the world only in terms of the Quran and therefore necessarily have a confrontational attitude toward other cultures. Their case is not credible and cannot be made so by waving magic wands. The intellectuals in the Islamic world are not guilty of being in the "pockets of the West", as the article claims. They are guilty only of being educated. The solution is not for the educated elite to become more confrontational but for the fundamentalists to become more educated and thereby to embrace the knowledge and positive values of other cultures instead of painting themselves into a corner.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Reference: Nine killed hundreds arrested, Bangkok Post, September 28, 2007
ASEAN is sitting on its hands while Burma is on fire. At the very least we should get the word out to the Burmese people and to the monks that we support them. We should also find a way to tell the Burmese soldiers that the guys they are fighting are not worth fighting for and that we do not support them. Let us call on the soldiers to abandon the fight and to join with the people and the monks. It's all over for the junta. If we stick with them now what kind of relationship can we muster with the next government?
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
ASEAN is sitting on its hands while Burma is on fire. At the very least we should get the word out to the Burmese people and to the monks that we support them. We should also find a way to tell the Burmese soldiers that the guys they are fighting are not worth fighting for and that we do not support them. Let us call on the soldiers to abandon the fight and to join with the people and the monks. It's all over for the junta. If we stick with them now what kind of relationship can we muster with the next government?
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Reference: Five hot spots named where languages are threatened, Bangkok Post, September 27, 2007
There are 7,000 known languages in the world. Their population distribution is severely skewed. The top 3,500 languages are spoken by 99.8% of the planet's peoples. The bottom 3,500 account for only 0.2% of the world's population. Many of these languages, some spoken by only a handful of old individuals, are considered to be endangered because their last speakers and the language itself are dying out. The reason for their demise is that the younger generations have decided that more widely spoken languages are more useful. Researchers have decided, however, that languages are not allowed to die out and that all of these languages must be preserved by cultivating a new generation of speakers. I would have to side with the new generation in this case. Nature works by death and renewal, not by preservation. It is important to study history but the instinct to preserve is misplaced. History must be recorded, not preserved.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
There are 7,000 known languages in the world. Their population distribution is severely skewed. The top 3,500 languages are spoken by 99.8% of the planet's peoples. The bottom 3,500 account for only 0.2% of the world's population. Many of these languages, some spoken by only a handful of old individuals, are considered to be endangered because their last speakers and the language itself are dying out. The reason for their demise is that the younger generations have decided that more widely spoken languages are more useful. Researchers have decided, however, that languages are not allowed to die out and that all of these languages must be preserved by cultivating a new generation of speakers. I would have to side with the new generation in this case. Nature works by death and renewal, not by preservation. It is important to study history but the instinct to preserve is misplaced. History must be recorded, not preserved.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Reference: Still time to avert the worst, Bangkok Post, September 27, 2007
Global warming scientists and scaremongers have apparently realized that they did too good job of scaring us with all that talk of tipping points and such (Still time to avert the worst, Bangkok Post, September 27, 2007). And so they now face the bleak prospect of diminished funding if people simply give up all hope. The marketing of Armageddon has therefore been revised. Yes, it's pretty bad, they are saying, but it is not beyond the tipping point quite yet. Scientists can still save humanity. All they need is your love, your trust, and your money. Lots of money. There is a lot at stake. Thank you very much.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Global warming scientists and scaremongers have apparently realized that they did too good job of scaring us with all that talk of tipping points and such (Still time to avert the worst, Bangkok Post, September 27, 2007). And so they now face the bleak prospect of diminished funding if people simply give up all hope. The marketing of Armageddon has therefore been revised. Yes, it's pretty bad, they are saying, but it is not beyond the tipping point quite yet. Scientists can still save humanity. All they need is your love, your trust, and your money. Lots of money. There is a lot at stake. Thank you very much.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Reference: The Hmong problem, Bangkok Post, September 25, 2007
The rationale given by Thai and Lao authorities to support their ill treatment of the Hmong in Thailand would have made some sense if they had been talking about cattle. If Lao cattle had strayed across the border and were found grazing on Thai pasture, then I suppose that Laos would have a legitimate claim on that cattle and Thailand would be expected to return the cattle to the rightful owners. The Hmong are not cattle, however. They are legitimate refugees. They are also Lao citizens and they are free to enter Thailand and to seek work here in accordance with a bilateral agreement between these nations. Yet, Thailand insists on treating these people like cattle for its own self interest with total disregard for international conventions on human rights and refugees as well as for basic Buddhist values. Thailand is paranoid to the point of mental illness that if the Hmong in Thailand are re-settled in the West it will encourage more Hmong to come to Thailand. There is also the matter of Thai investments in Laos and of future electricity imports from Lao hydro electricity projects. And so I suppose the Hmong must be sold down the river in this case just like so many cattle. History will not record this incident as one of which future Thai generations can be proud.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
The rationale given by Thai and Lao authorities to support their ill treatment of the Hmong in Thailand would have made some sense if they had been talking about cattle. If Lao cattle had strayed across the border and were found grazing on Thai pasture, then I suppose that Laos would have a legitimate claim on that cattle and Thailand would be expected to return the cattle to the rightful owners. The Hmong are not cattle, however. They are legitimate refugees. They are also Lao citizens and they are free to enter Thailand and to seek work here in accordance with a bilateral agreement between these nations. Yet, Thailand insists on treating these people like cattle for its own self interest with total disregard for international conventions on human rights and refugees as well as for basic Buddhist values. Thailand is paranoid to the point of mental illness that if the Hmong in Thailand are re-settled in the West it will encourage more Hmong to come to Thailand. There is also the matter of Thai investments in Laos and of future electricity imports from Lao hydro electricity projects. And so I suppose the Hmong must be sold down the river in this case just like so many cattle. History will not record this incident as one of which future Thai generations can be proud.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Reference: You exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator
Ahmedi Nejad, the President of Iran, is an elected member of a complex governmental structure that serves under the guidance of the clergy with Ayatollah Khamenei as supreme leader. Even a cursory study of Iranian politics will show that it is not possible for the President's office to exercise dictatorial powers. It was shocking hear Lee Bollinger of Columbia University make the incredibly stupid remark in which he called President Nejad a dictator. A possible explanation is the tendency in America to use stereotypes and to pigeon-hole nations and cultures as either good guys and bad guys. Once they decide that you are a bad guy, then all the bad words apply. The tedium of details is conveniently avoided.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Ahmedi Nejad, the President of Iran, is an elected member of a complex governmental structure that serves under the guidance of the clergy with Ayatollah Khamenei as supreme leader. Even a cursory study of Iranian politics will show that it is not possible for the President's office to exercise dictatorial powers. It was shocking hear Lee Bollinger of Columbia University make the incredibly stupid remark in which he called President Nejad a dictator. A possible explanation is the tendency in America to use stereotypes and to pigeon-hole nations and cultures as either good guys and bad guys. Once they decide that you are a bad guy, then all the bad words apply. The tedium of details is conveniently avoided.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Reference: Eccentric pianist left behind a mystery, Bangkok Post, September 25, 2007
The line between genius and insanity is a thin one. Glen Gould, the great Canadian pianist, was not only agoraphobic but a hypochondriac and unable to form personal relationships or express emotion except in music. Another famous agoraphobic was Charles Darwin whose panic disorders left him a socially crippled recluse and it was in fact this particular condition that made it possible for the origin of species to become his all consuming passion. Sir Isaac Newton was also a paranoid anti-social recluse who spent most of his 35 years at Trinity College alone in his study even refusing to have dinner in the great hall. It was in that study that Principia Mathematica sat and collected dust for 20 years until Sir Edmund Halley caused it to be published. Famous author Charles Dodgson, a gaunt and pale loner watched from his window as his neighbor's 10-year-old daughter Alice Liddell played in her garden and became obsessed with her. The timeless work now known as "Alice in Wonderland" is his ode to the object of his obsession. What geniuses and the insane have in common is that they are not normal. What the rest of us have in common is that we are.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
The line between genius and insanity is a thin one. Glen Gould, the great Canadian pianist, was not only agoraphobic but a hypochondriac and unable to form personal relationships or express emotion except in music. Another famous agoraphobic was Charles Darwin whose panic disorders left him a socially crippled recluse and it was in fact this particular condition that made it possible for the origin of species to become his all consuming passion. Sir Isaac Newton was also a paranoid anti-social recluse who spent most of his 35 years at Trinity College alone in his study even refusing to have dinner in the great hall. It was in that study that Principia Mathematica sat and collected dust for 20 years until Sir Edmund Halley caused it to be published. Famous author Charles Dodgson, a gaunt and pale loner watched from his window as his neighbor's 10-year-old daughter Alice Liddell played in her garden and became obsessed with her. The timeless work now known as "Alice in Wonderland" is his ode to the object of his obsession. What geniuses and the insane have in common is that they are not normal. What the rest of us have in common is that we are.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Reference: Islamic enlightenment in Iran, Bangkok Post, September 2, 2007
Iranians have an intensely philosophical nature and deep philosophical traditions going back to the Middle Ages and the Persian Empire. Throughout their history, Iranian philosophers, including the great Ibn Sina, have made great efforts to study literature and philosophy from other lands and to synthesize Greek, European, Chinese, Indian, Hebrew, and Arabic schools of thought. This character of Iran is not as new or surprising as the article implies. Neither is the depth of Iran's cultural heritage in literature, poetry, music, the culinary arts, and architecture. Hundreds of years after describing the rest of humanity as pagans, Europeans still use a broad brush to paint other cultures in simplistic stereotypes. That is why they are surprised to find highly evolved cultures outside Europe when the look a little deeper.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Iranians have an intensely philosophical nature and deep philosophical traditions going back to the Middle Ages and the Persian Empire. Throughout their history, Iranian philosophers, including the great Ibn Sina, have made great efforts to study literature and philosophy from other lands and to synthesize Greek, European, Chinese, Indian, Hebrew, and Arabic schools of thought. This character of Iran is not as new or surprising as the article implies. Neither is the depth of Iran's cultural heritage in literature, poetry, music, the culinary arts, and architecture. Hundreds of years after describing the rest of humanity as pagans, Europeans still use a broad brush to paint other cultures in simplistic stereotypes. That is why they are surprised to find highly evolved cultures outside Europe when the look a little deeper.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Monday, September 24, 2007
Reference: Historic deal will protect ozone layer, Bangkok Post, September 24, 2007
The article says that an agreement reached in Montreal in September 2007 among 200 nations to eliminate the production of HCFC refrigerants will help to arrest the growth of the expanding ozone hole and the thinning of the ozone layer that might otherwise have exposed mankind to skin cancer and other hazards. When the Montreal Protocol was first signed in 1987, the ozone hole over the south pole was indeed expanding and it was thought at that time that the expansion was man made and caused by HCFC refrigerants. Since then the ozone hole has been shrinking and this phenomenon is now considered to be a natural cycle caused by shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere. It would seem that the 200 nations gathered in Montreal in 2007 should be suing the scientists whose false alarm has caused hundreds of billions in economic losses instead of signing even more agreements based on a theory that has been proven to be wrong.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
The article says that an agreement reached in Montreal in September 2007 among 200 nations to eliminate the production of HCFC refrigerants will help to arrest the growth of the expanding ozone hole and the thinning of the ozone layer that might otherwise have exposed mankind to skin cancer and other hazards. When the Montreal Protocol was first signed in 1987, the ozone hole over the south pole was indeed expanding and it was thought at that time that the expansion was man made and caused by HCFC refrigerants. Since then the ozone hole has been shrinking and this phenomenon is now considered to be a natural cycle caused by shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere. It would seem that the 200 nations gathered in Montreal in 2007 should be suing the scientists whose false alarm has caused hundreds of billions in economic losses instead of signing even more agreements based on a theory that has been proven to be wrong.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Reference: China's Africa policy, Bangkok Post, September 23, 2007
China stands accused of using their support for infrastructure projects in Africa to buy into new sources of raw materials and energy to sustain their industrial and economic growth. It is further alleged that China hides behind a self-imposed principle of sovereignty and non-interference to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses and to support reprehensible regimes in Africa and elsewhere in order to serve its economic needs. In other words, China is guilty of emulating the West a little to closely although, it must be admitted that it still has a long way to go to catch up with things like geopolitical ambitions and colonialism.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
China stands accused of using their support for infrastructure projects in Africa to buy into new sources of raw materials and energy to sustain their industrial and economic growth. It is further alleged that China hides behind a self-imposed principle of sovereignty and non-interference to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses and to support reprehensible regimes in Africa and elsewhere in order to serve its economic needs. In other words, China is guilty of emulating the West a little to closely although, it must be admitted that it still has a long way to go to catch up with things like geopolitical ambitions and colonialism.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Reference: Major firms more upbeat despite crisis, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2007
It is reported that the Bank of Japan's Tankan index of business confidence in Japan has gone up. It was measured at 6.2 in September against -0.9 in June of 2007. The Tankan index represents a small difference between two large and uncertain numbers. The degree of uncertainty in differences of this nature is so large that it is virtually impossible to interpret them particularly when measuring trends or differences. For example, whereas the BOJ's September survey shows that the Tankan has gone up, a similar survey by Reuters shows that it has gone down. The Tankan is a flawed measure and its interpretation can only lead to confusion.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
It is reported that the Bank of Japan's Tankan index of business confidence in Japan has gone up. It was measured at 6.2 in September against -0.9 in June of 2007. The Tankan index represents a small difference between two large and uncertain numbers. The degree of uncertainty in differences of this nature is so large that it is virtually impossible to interpret them particularly when measuring trends or differences. For example, whereas the BOJ's September survey shows that the Tankan has gone up, a similar survey by Reuters shows that it has gone down. The Tankan is a flawed measure and its interpretation can only lead to confusion.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Friday, September 21, 2007
Reference: Aree, Oranuj face calls to resign, Bangkok Post, September 22, 2007
Although Interim Prime Miinister Surayud Chulanont has repeatedly appealed to the rule of law in major policy speeches, recent political events indicate that the concept of the rule of law is not well understood in Thailand where subjective opinions or social values often supersede the law. For example, criminal charges against the adult son and daughter of the former prime minister stalled after a hue and cry from certain prominent individuals that persecution of "the children" was not right and would not be tolerated by "the father". Conversely, we now have a hue and cry from prominent individuals that cabinet ministers who have acted transparently within the letter and the spirit of the law should resign because their share holdings, though legal, are not deemed moral. Subjective evaluation and interpretation at the point of enforcement are contrary to the rule of law. The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are the foundations on which democracy stands. If a law is not moral it may be changed through proper channels but until then it must be applied exactly and equally to all citizens without fear or favor. Fear, favor, or selective enforcement corrupts the rule of law. Thailand's cultural insensitivity to this issue is the Achilles heel in its democratic aspirations and also in its desire to rid itself of corruption.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Although Interim Prime Miinister Surayud Chulanont has repeatedly appealed to the rule of law in major policy speeches, recent political events indicate that the concept of the rule of law is not well understood in Thailand where subjective opinions or social values often supersede the law. For example, criminal charges against the adult son and daughter of the former prime minister stalled after a hue and cry from certain prominent individuals that persecution of "the children" was not right and would not be tolerated by "the father". Conversely, we now have a hue and cry from prominent individuals that cabinet ministers who have acted transparently within the letter and the spirit of the law should resign because their share holdings, though legal, are not deemed moral. Subjective evaluation and interpretation at the point of enforcement are contrary to the rule of law. The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are the foundations on which democracy stands. If a law is not moral it may be changed through proper channels but until then it must be applied exactly and equally to all citizens without fear or favor. Fear, favor, or selective enforcement corrupts the rule of law. Thailand's cultural insensitivity to this issue is the Achilles heel in its democratic aspirations and also in its desire to rid itself of corruption.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Reference: Importance of Ramadan, Perspective, Bangkok Post, September 16, 2007
Muslims who fast during Ramadan actually gain weight because they compensate for fasting during the day by feasting during the night. The last meal before sunrise is particularly unhealthy because the faithful devour food to excess and show a preference for greasy fried food and fatty meat because they stick to the ribs. There is no evidence that Muslims eat frugally and become healthier during Ramadan. If they do, the prescribed diet regimen should not be limited to only one month out of the year. We should also note that the practice of measuring time intervals according to sunrise and sunset goes awry in the extreme latitudes because the Muslim calendar is not synchronized with the seasons. For example, the duration of the fast could be anywhere from six to eighteen hours in parts of Canada depending on the season on which Ramadan falls. For Muslims in space, the meaning of sunrise and sunset loses its validity altogether. Religion is a flawed institution because it is based on ancient texts that are not consistent with the information set available to modern man.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Muslims who fast during Ramadan actually gain weight because they compensate for fasting during the day by feasting during the night. The last meal before sunrise is particularly unhealthy because the faithful devour food to excess and show a preference for greasy fried food and fatty meat because they stick to the ribs. There is no evidence that Muslims eat frugally and become healthier during Ramadan. If they do, the prescribed diet regimen should not be limited to only one month out of the year. We should also note that the practice of measuring time intervals according to sunrise and sunset goes awry in the extreme latitudes because the Muslim calendar is not synchronized with the seasons. For example, the duration of the fast could be anywhere from six to eighteen hours in parts of Canada depending on the season on which Ramadan falls. For Muslims in space, the meaning of sunrise and sunset loses its validity altogether. Religion is a flawed institution because it is based on ancient texts that are not consistent with the information set available to modern man.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Reference: Greenspan's lament, Bangkok Post, September 18, 2007
Americans are now crying foul that Alan Greenspan, their high priest of Finance, had led them astray by supporting the Bush tax cuts while serving as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, because they now realize that those tax cuts for wealthy Americans were the seeds of fiscal disaster. Yet, the American system of government and its intricate mechanism of checks and balances, do not include a high priest of Finance; and as Chairman of the Fed, Greenspan had no official role to play in fiscal policy. The real question is not why Greenspan was so wrong on this issue but why he was even being consulted on this issue and why America needed to invent a financial version of the Wizard of Oz. Superstition takes many forms. We have fortune tellers and Jatukarm good luck pendants. They have high priests of Finance.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Americans are now crying foul that Alan Greenspan, their high priest of Finance, had led them astray by supporting the Bush tax cuts while serving as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, because they now realize that those tax cuts for wealthy Americans were the seeds of fiscal disaster. Yet, the American system of government and its intricate mechanism of checks and balances, do not include a high priest of Finance; and as Chairman of the Fed, Greenspan had no official role to play in fiscal policy. The real question is not why Greenspan was so wrong on this issue but why he was even being consulted on this issue and why America needed to invent a financial version of the Wizard of Oz. Superstition takes many forms. We have fortune tellers and Jatukarm good luck pendants. They have high priests of Finance.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Reference: Not amused by Guru, Postbag, Bangkok Post, September 14, 2007
There appears to be rule among expat Indians everywhere that it is permissable for Indian men to "pick up" or date local women but not permissable for local men to behave in like manner with Indian women and so I suppose that expat Indians would find even a reference to such behavior in Guru magazine to be offensive, demeaning, and even racist although one may wonder where the real racism lies in this situation.
Cha-am Jamal
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Reference: The plight of Thailand's women workers, Bangkok Post, September 13, 2007
The Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) and its quota system for garment export were ended in 2005. Since then there has been a gradual but dramatic change in this industry in which exporters have traditionally competed only on the basis of low labor cost and a depressed currency. After the quotas were lifted, China emerged as the winner. Unhindered by quotas, the Chinese juggernaut is squeezing the small and incompetent competitors. The Chinese enjoy not only a seemingly limitless supply of cheap labor, but a great deal of investment capital and a degree of vertical integration that is impossible for poor countries to duplicate. They make not only garments but the cloth, the sewing machines, and the entire industrial infrastructure to support their garment sector. The small competitors who are in the business of selling their poverty by simply providing cheap labor are slowly losing out in the garment business. Garment factory closures are not unique to Thailand but endemic to this entire sector outside of China and India. The explanation for layoffs in the garment industry in Thailand does not lie in factors that are unique to Thailand. The column's thesis that these layoffs may be explained in terms of either the rising value of the Thai Baht or discrimination against women in Thai society or both is superficial and incomplete.
Cha-am Jamal
The Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) and its quota system for garment export were ended in 2005. Since then there has been a gradual but dramatic change in this industry in which exporters have traditionally competed only on the basis of low labor cost and a depressed currency. After the quotas were lifted, China emerged as the winner. Unhindered by quotas, the Chinese juggernaut is squeezing the small and incompetent competitors. The Chinese enjoy not only a seemingly limitless supply of cheap labor, but a great deal of investment capital and a degree of vertical integration that is impossible for poor countries to duplicate. They make not only garments but the cloth, the sewing machines, and the entire industrial infrastructure to support their garment sector. The small competitors who are in the business of selling their poverty by simply providing cheap labor are slowly losing out in the garment business. Garment factory closures are not unique to Thailand but endemic to this entire sector outside of China and India. The explanation for layoffs in the garment industry in Thailand does not lie in factors that are unique to Thailand. The column's thesis that these layoffs may be explained in terms of either the rising value of the Thai Baht or discrimination against women in Thai society or both is superficial and incomplete.
Cha-am Jamal
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Reference: Energy: in need of alternatives, Bangkok Post, September 12, 2007
Energy policy does not aspire to a single best source of energy but to build a viable and diversified portfolio of energy sources because that at once protects the country from changing technology, price, and availability and also affords it a call option to expand any one of the technologies in which it has already invested. Those who argue for or against a single energy source, be it nuclear, solar, hydro-power, coal, natural gas, oil, or conservation, do not take the portfolio effect into account and end up presenting a false lemma. The answer may not lie solely in nuclear or coal nor solely in conservation, but quite possibly in all of the above.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Energy policy does not aspire to a single best source of energy but to build a viable and diversified portfolio of energy sources because that at once protects the country from changing technology, price, and availability and also affords it a call option to expand any one of the technologies in which it has already invested. Those who argue for or against a single energy source, be it nuclear, solar, hydro-power, coal, natural gas, oil, or conservation, do not take the portfolio effect into account and end up presenting a false lemma. The answer may not lie solely in nuclear or coal nor solely in conservation, but quite possibly in all of the above.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Monday, September 10, 2007
Reference: Arctic ice at all time low, Bangkok Post, September 10, 2007
The article says that Arctic sea ice has shrunk to 5 million square kilometers and that such a low level of ice in the Arctic is unprecedented. This statement is false. The Arctic was completely ice-free about 6,000 years ago.
Cha-am Jamal
The article says that Arctic sea ice has shrunk to 5 million square kilometers and that such a low level of ice in the Arctic is unprecedented. This statement is false. The Arctic was completely ice-free about 6,000 years ago.
Cha-am Jamal
Reference: Polar bears tipped to melt away, Bangkok Post, September 9, 2007
Reference: Arctic ice at all-time low, Bangkok Post, September 10, 2007
There is a computer model of the world's climate that was put together by IPCC climate scientists. It is used to predict the effect of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels on the planet's climate. This model predicted, that if CO2 from greenhouse gases were causing the earth to become warmer, then the Arctic Ocean would be free of ice by 2070. However, the data now show that the melting of Arctic ice is much faster and that if current trends continue, the Arctic will be free of ice in 2030, forty years sooner than the time predicted by the greenhouse gas theory of global warming. These data are being presented as evidence that the IPCC greenhouse gas model is correct, in fact, even more correct that previously thought. However, an objective evaluation of the same data will show that the IPCC climate model is NOT correct. Had the IPCC been correct that the melting of Arctic ice is caused by the use of fossil fuels, Arctic ice would have persisted until 2070. Since it is now acknowledged by climate scientists that the ice will be gone by 2030, we can only conclude that the melting of Arctic ice is not caused by fossil fuels but by something else that works faster than fossil fuels.
Cha-am Jamal
September 2007
Reference: Arctic ice at all-time low, Bangkok Post, September 10, 2007
There is a computer model of the world's climate that was put together by IPCC climate scientists. It is used to predict the effect of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels on the planet's climate. This model predicted, that if CO2 from greenhouse gases were causing the earth to become warmer, then the Arctic Ocean would be free of ice by 2070. However, the data now show that the melting of Arctic ice is much faster and that if current trends continue, the Arctic will be free of ice in 2030, forty years sooner than the time predicted by the greenhouse gas theory of global warming. These data are being presented as evidence that the IPCC greenhouse gas model is correct, in fact, even more correct that previously thought. However, an objective evaluation of the same data will show that the IPCC climate model is NOT correct. Had the IPCC been correct that the melting of Arctic ice is caused by the use of fossil fuels, Arctic ice would have persisted until 2070. Since it is now acknowledged by climate scientists that the ice will be gone by 2030, we can only conclude that the melting of Arctic ice is not caused by fossil fuels but by something else that works faster than fossil fuels.
Cha-am Jamal
September 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Reference: EU's misplaced sense of political humor, Bangkok Post, September 6, 2007
The article states that Thailand does not need the EU to supervise and legitimize its democracy because it is not a failed state and because it is more evolved politically than countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh that do accept EU election observers. This argument contains a flaw. The leverage that the EU enjoys over Cambodia and Bangladesh derives not from the political immaturity of these nations nor from their need for European expertise to govern their own countries but from their poverty. Both of these countries are dependent on foreign aid and this dependency plays into the hands of the Paris Club and other donor oligopolies. These donors enjoy a sense of omnipotence in the relationship because they are able to set pre-conditions to further aid disbursements. The so called "conditionality" of foreign aid gives the donors a great deal of leverage over poor countries and the opportunity to use this leverage to push a European agenda upon them. It was possibly in that momentum that the EU mistakenly doled out the same kind of treatment to Thailand possibly having forgotten that Thailand is not one of their clients.
Cha-am Jamal
The article states that Thailand does not need the EU to supervise and legitimize its democracy because it is not a failed state and because it is more evolved politically than countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh that do accept EU election observers. This argument contains a flaw. The leverage that the EU enjoys over Cambodia and Bangladesh derives not from the political immaturity of these nations nor from their need for European expertise to govern their own countries but from their poverty. Both of these countries are dependent on foreign aid and this dependency plays into the hands of the Paris Club and other donor oligopolies. These donors enjoy a sense of omnipotence in the relationship because they are able to set pre-conditions to further aid disbursements. The so called "conditionality" of foreign aid gives the donors a great deal of leverage over poor countries and the opportunity to use this leverage to push a European agenda upon them. It was possibly in that momentum that the EU mistakenly doled out the same kind of treatment to Thailand possibly having forgotten that Thailand is not one of their clients.
Cha-am Jamal
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Reference: Hidden trade barriers cost APEC billions, Bangkok Post, September 4, 2007
It is proposed that bribes paid to customs agents to ease import-export transactions in poor Asian countries are a form of non-tariff trade barrier that increases the cost of doing business and therefore reduces trade among APEC countries. The analysis is incomplete and therefore the conclusion is not valid. Bribes are paid to customs agents to receive better than fair treatment in terms of rapid clearance, low duties, or in trading contraband. In most of these cases, it is the government and not the trader that loses. In countries with corrupt governments that may misuse the taxes anyway, it is not obvious that such a redirection of revenues is a bad thing. Moreover, corrupt governments in poor Asian countries tend to be funded mostly by excise taxes and so these rates are set according to budgetary requirements more than economic policy. Also these countries are well known for protectionism. Therefore a lot of the foreign trade of these nations does not show up in the data either because they are not recorded properly by bribed agents or because they are simply smuggled outright. For example, Indian versions of Viagra are readily available in Burma in any quantity you want and at incredibly low prices although there is no record in the books for World Bank economists to see that any of these pills were ever imported from India or exported to Thailand. The gray and black economies in poor Asian countries are very large relative the formal economy. The recorded and available trade data do not always tell us the truth. In many cases, what they do tell us is an outright lie. In most corrupt Asian nations, bribery in the customs department is actually and exit strategy for traders and not a barrier to trade.
Cha-am Jamal
It is proposed that bribes paid to customs agents to ease import-export transactions in poor Asian countries are a form of non-tariff trade barrier that increases the cost of doing business and therefore reduces trade among APEC countries. The analysis is incomplete and therefore the conclusion is not valid. Bribes are paid to customs agents to receive better than fair treatment in terms of rapid clearance, low duties, or in trading contraband. In most of these cases, it is the government and not the trader that loses. In countries with corrupt governments that may misuse the taxes anyway, it is not obvious that such a redirection of revenues is a bad thing. Moreover, corrupt governments in poor Asian countries tend to be funded mostly by excise taxes and so these rates are set according to budgetary requirements more than economic policy. Also these countries are well known for protectionism. Therefore a lot of the foreign trade of these nations does not show up in the data either because they are not recorded properly by bribed agents or because they are simply smuggled outright. For example, Indian versions of Viagra are readily available in Burma in any quantity you want and at incredibly low prices although there is no record in the books for World Bank economists to see that any of these pills were ever imported from India or exported to Thailand. The gray and black economies in poor Asian countries are very large relative the formal economy. The recorded and available trade data do not always tell us the truth. In many cases, what they do tell us is an outright lie. In most corrupt Asian nations, bribery in the customs department is actually and exit strategy for traders and not a barrier to trade.
Cha-am Jamal
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Reference: Indian tea industry brews new strategy, Bangkok Post, September 4, 2007
The article states that a problem faced by the Indian tea industry is that it has to compete with cheap and inferior products from newcomers to the tea industry like Bangladesh. This view is incompatible with history as we know it. The British began tea cultivation in northeastern British India in the 1850s. There was no Bangladesh then. Some of these tea estates were developed in the parts that became Bangladesh and some in parts that became India. In the partition of 1947 some of these tea estates went to Pakistan and subsequently to Bangladesh after the civil war of 1971. The Bangladeshis are not newcomers to the tea industry and they are not different from the Indians in that regard since both of these countries inherited their tea gardens from the British. They grow the same kind of tea, speak the same language, eat the same kind of food, and listen to the same music because they are really the same people and they are cultivating the same tea. They are separated only by an arbitrary and artificial political line that does not in any way affect the quality of tea.
Cha-am Jamal
The article states that a problem faced by the Indian tea industry is that it has to compete with cheap and inferior products from newcomers to the tea industry like Bangladesh. This view is incompatible with history as we know it. The British began tea cultivation in northeastern British India in the 1850s. There was no Bangladesh then. Some of these tea estates were developed in the parts that became Bangladesh and some in parts that became India. In the partition of 1947 some of these tea estates went to Pakistan and subsequently to Bangladesh after the civil war of 1971. The Bangladeshis are not newcomers to the tea industry and they are not different from the Indians in that regard since both of these countries inherited their tea gardens from the British. They grow the same kind of tea, speak the same language, eat the same kind of food, and listen to the same music because they are really the same people and they are cultivating the same tea. They are separated only by an arbitrary and artificial political line that does not in any way affect the quality of tea.
Cha-am Jamal
Reference: Jomtien tourist killer sentenced to death, Bangkok Post, September 4, 2007
Earlier this year it was reported that two young Russian women, who were sitting on beach chairs on Jomtien Beach early one morning, were shot in the back of the head at very close range and killed. The primary concern of Thai authorities at that time was that the murders would adversely affect Thailand's image and the tourism business. Apparently that is still the case. In the grand Asian tradition of scapegoatism, they found a suitable suspect who confessed to the crime. He said that he had wanted to rob the victims and when they raised a hue and cry he became scared and shot them instead. He was tried and sentenced to death. In his sentencing, he apologized to the city of Jomtien for the harm that he may have caused to their tourism business there. No apology to the relatives of the victims was deemed necessary, nor an explanation of how the execution style killings were carried out during a hue and cry. The important thing is that an ugly matter has been put to rest in an acceptable manner and the damage to the tourism business has been controlled. Image over substance is the Asian way. Truth for truth's sake has little value out here in the land of smiles where money can buy you love and a whole lot more.
Cha-am Jamal
Earlier this year it was reported that two young Russian women, who were sitting on beach chairs on Jomtien Beach early one morning, were shot in the back of the head at very close range and killed. The primary concern of Thai authorities at that time was that the murders would adversely affect Thailand's image and the tourism business. Apparently that is still the case. In the grand Asian tradition of scapegoatism, they found a suitable suspect who confessed to the crime. He said that he had wanted to rob the victims and when they raised a hue and cry he became scared and shot them instead. He was tried and sentenced to death. In his sentencing, he apologized to the city of Jomtien for the harm that he may have caused to their tourism business there. No apology to the relatives of the victims was deemed necessary, nor an explanation of how the execution style killings were carried out during a hue and cry. The important thing is that an ugly matter has been put to rest in an acceptable manner and the damage to the tourism business has been controlled. Image over substance is the Asian way. Truth for truth's sake has little value out here in the land of smiles where money can buy you love and a whole lot more.
Cha-am Jamal
Monday, September 03, 2007
Reference: Paddy field methane emissions could be cut, Bangkok Post, September 3, 2007
I was astonished to read that ASEAN has allowed itself to be bamboozled by the West into culpability for producing methane gas in rice fields and thereby endangering the planet. Methane production is a natural thing. A dead tree rotting in the wilderness produces methane as does farting by humans and all other animals. Rice production worldwide produces less than 1% of the methane. If the ASEAN wants to do something meaningful it might wish to stick with its supposed Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and see if it can convince us that it really is an agreement.
Cha-am Jamal
I was astonished to read that ASEAN has allowed itself to be bamboozled by the West into culpability for producing methane gas in rice fields and thereby endangering the planet. Methane production is a natural thing. A dead tree rotting in the wilderness produces methane as does farting by humans and all other animals. Rice production worldwide produces less than 1% of the methane. If the ASEAN wants to do something meaningful it might wish to stick with its supposed Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and see if it can convince us that it really is an agreement.
Cha-am Jamal
Reference: Courage needed to save planet, Bangkok Post, September 3, 2007
Apparently the pope has stepped into the global warming cauldron and has called on the faithful to have courage and to save the planet. More than just courage will be needed. We will also need a big dose of megalomania so that we may imagine that mankind has the capability to kill a living planet or to save a dying one. We are not God. The planet is not at our mercy. It's the other way around. We are at the planet's mercy. That is why we have religion.
Cha-am Jamal
Apparently the pope has stepped into the global warming cauldron and has called on the faithful to have courage and to save the planet. More than just courage will be needed. We will also need a big dose of megalomania so that we may imagine that mankind has the capability to kill a living planet or to save a dying one. We are not God. The planet is not at our mercy. It's the other way around. We are at the planet's mercy. That is why we have religion.
Cha-am Jamal
Reference: Falangs fed up with Thailand, Postbag, Bangkok Post
Over the years there have been hundreds of letters in the Postbag section of the Bangkok Post stating that a certain law, regulation, or rule, that is deemed unfavorable to falangs with respect to things like immigration, investment, finance, and marriage will certainly cause falangs to look for greener pastures and that in turn will cause a mass exodus of falangs and an economic calamity for Thailand. So far we have had neither exodus nor calamity. To the contrary, anecdotal evidence in Cha-am suggests that what we are dealing with is invasion not exodus. It is unlikely that there are greener pastures around here in the same cost of living to infrastructure ratio unless one wants to count Malaysia, a country that offers the religious police and sharia courts to make sure that you don't commit crimes like "close proximity". Every country has its own unique form of weirdness. None is perfect. Thailand is as good as it gets.
Cha-am Jamal
Over the years there have been hundreds of letters in the Postbag section of the Bangkok Post stating that a certain law, regulation, or rule, that is deemed unfavorable to falangs with respect to things like immigration, investment, finance, and marriage will certainly cause falangs to look for greener pastures and that in turn will cause a mass exodus of falangs and an economic calamity for Thailand. So far we have had neither exodus nor calamity. To the contrary, anecdotal evidence in Cha-am suggests that what we are dealing with is invasion not exodus. It is unlikely that there are greener pastures around here in the same cost of living to infrastructure ratio unless one wants to count Malaysia, a country that offers the religious police and sharia courts to make sure that you don't commit crimes like "close proximity". Every country has its own unique form of weirdness. None is perfect. Thailand is as good as it gets.
Cha-am Jamal
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Re: Malaysian way of justice, The Daily Star, September 2, 2007
The Rohingya Muslims of Burma were driven from their land in the Arakan by the Burmese junta whereupon they sought refuge in Bangladesh where eventually they were treated even worse by their Muslim brethren and that is why they became international refugees again and fled to Thailand and Malaysia where they are being persecuted yet again. And so it is bitter irony to find crocodile tears in a Bangladeshi newspaper about the way that Malaysia is treating the people who went to Malaysia to flee Bangladeshi persecution.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
The Rohingya Muslims of Burma were driven from their land in the Arakan by the Burmese junta whereupon they sought refuge in Bangladesh where eventually they were treated even worse by their Muslim brethren and that is why they became international refugees again and fled to Thailand and Malaysia where they are being persecuted yet again. And so it is bitter irony to find crocodile tears in a Bangladeshi newspaper about the way that Malaysia is treating the people who went to Malaysia to flee Bangladeshi persecution.
Cha-am Jamal
Thailand
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Reference: The 2007 protests in Burma
The small, scattered, unorganized, but widespread protests in Burma in response to a sudden rise in fuel prices is being likened to the 1988 protests that erupted along the same lines in response to the sudden rise in the price of rice. The 1988 protests were brutally suppressed and it failed to dislodge the junta. However, the 2007 protests are different from the 1988 protests in one very important way and that difference bodes ill for the junta this time around. There was no YouTube in 1988. In 2007, this little Internet miracle is giving even the smallest protests a global presence and the old and disconnected junta are probably unable to comprehend the implication of this important detail.
Cha-am Jamal
The small, scattered, unorganized, but widespread protests in Burma in response to a sudden rise in fuel prices is being likened to the 1988 protests that erupted along the same lines in response to the sudden rise in the price of rice. The 1988 protests were brutally suppressed and it failed to dislodge the junta. However, the 2007 protests are different from the 1988 protests in one very important way and that difference bodes ill for the junta this time around. There was no YouTube in 1988. In 2007, this little Internet miracle is giving even the smallest protests a global presence and the old and disconnected junta are probably unable to comprehend the implication of this important detail.
Cha-am Jamal
Reference: UNAIDS under fire for distortion, Bangkok Post, August 31, 2007
The structure, function, mission, and funding of organizations such as the UNAIDS, the UNDP, the WHO, the IPCC, and the World Bank offer perverse incentives. These organizations exist to defend humanity from specific threats. They are funded not according to their performance, but according to the degree of the threat. Therefore, it is not in their interest to actually achieve their goal. In fact, it is in their interest to exaggerate the degree of the threat and to claim that they are losing the war and that the degree of the threat is increasing and not decreasing over time. The money is in the losing. Victory is unthinkable for it would mean self annihilation since the reason for their existence would have been eliminated.
For example, the UNDP and the World Bank, organizations that have been fighting poverty for decades, report each year that they are failing, that the poverty problem has worsened, and that poverty is a bigger threat to humanity than previously thought. These assessments are used to justify continued and increased funding. If they actually achieved their stated goal of eradicating poverty they would have to dissolve themselves and voluntarily give up their very generous paychecks, perks, benefits, expense accounts, pension plans, and most of all their huge development budgets and incredible power over poor nations.
Yet another perverse incentive is that it is safer for these organizations to overestimate than to underestimate when making their projections for the future state of a threat to humanity. If the threat turns out to be bigger than the forecast, the organization may be accused of incompetence, malfeasance, or failure and heads may roll; but if it turns out to be less than forecast, there will be a general sense of relief and the exaggeration will be considered benign and soon forgotten. In fact, the organization may even step in and take some credit for saving mankind from the harsher than real forecast.
For example, the WHO's forecast of SARS and bird flu pandemics and the IPCC's forecast of a killer hurricane season for 2006 never materialized but these miscues have been mostly overlooked and even forgotten. Thus emboldened, the WHO is now forecasting that mankind will soon be set upon by heretofore unknown emerging diseases like Ebola just because we have gone long enough without one and so it is overdue. Likewise, the IPCC, with the 2006 hurricane season behind it, is now putting its chips on a killer hurricane season for 2007. If it happens they will win big. If it does not happen they won't lose. That's a pretty good deal for forecasters of doom.
Cha-am Jamal
The structure, function, mission, and funding of organizations such as the UNAIDS, the UNDP, the WHO, the IPCC, and the World Bank offer perverse incentives. These organizations exist to defend humanity from specific threats. They are funded not according to their performance, but according to the degree of the threat. Therefore, it is not in their interest to actually achieve their goal. In fact, it is in their interest to exaggerate the degree of the threat and to claim that they are losing the war and that the degree of the threat is increasing and not decreasing over time. The money is in the losing. Victory is unthinkable for it would mean self annihilation since the reason for their existence would have been eliminated.
For example, the UNDP and the World Bank, organizations that have been fighting poverty for decades, report each year that they are failing, that the poverty problem has worsened, and that poverty is a bigger threat to humanity than previously thought. These assessments are used to justify continued and increased funding. If they actually achieved their stated goal of eradicating poverty they would have to dissolve themselves and voluntarily give up their very generous paychecks, perks, benefits, expense accounts, pension plans, and most of all their huge development budgets and incredible power over poor nations.
Yet another perverse incentive is that it is safer for these organizations to overestimate than to underestimate when making their projections for the future state of a threat to humanity. If the threat turns out to be bigger than the forecast, the organization may be accused of incompetence, malfeasance, or failure and heads may roll; but if it turns out to be less than forecast, there will be a general sense of relief and the exaggeration will be considered benign and soon forgotten. In fact, the organization may even step in and take some credit for saving mankind from the harsher than real forecast.
For example, the WHO's forecast of SARS and bird flu pandemics and the IPCC's forecast of a killer hurricane season for 2006 never materialized but these miscues have been mostly overlooked and even forgotten. Thus emboldened, the WHO is now forecasting that mankind will soon be set upon by heretofore unknown emerging diseases like Ebola just because we have gone long enough without one and so it is overdue. Likewise, the IPCC, with the 2006 hurricane season behind it, is now putting its chips on a killer hurricane season for 2007. If it happens they will win big. If it does not happen they won't lose. That's a pretty good deal for forecasters of doom.
Cha-am Jamal
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