Reference: Worrisome cracks in ice, Bangkok Post, October 1, 2008

A scientist in Ohio looking through satellite pictures found a crack in the Petermann glacier in Greenland. He said that it could speed up sea level rise because huge chunks of ice the size of Manhattan were hemorrhaging off. He raised a global warming alarm based on these observations (Worrisome cracks in ice, Bangkok Post, October 1, 2008). The concerned, worrisome, and alarming nature of the article is completely undone, however, by the last paragraph. It quotes a scientist who has been travelling to Greenland for years to study glaciers. He said that the crack in the glacier is not different from other cracks he had seen in the 1990s, that such cracks are normal, and that the new crack observed is not alarming. As a footnote, earlier this summer it was predicted that the Arctic basin would become ice free this summer from a record summer melt due to the effects of global warming. This prediction has proven to be false. The data show that the annual sea ice melt in the Arctic Basin has bottomed out. Arctic ice is now increasing in area. At its lowest point there was more sea ice this year than last and the Arctic Basin did not become ice free. 

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: How green can you get, Bangkok Post, September 30, 2008

It is proposed that we should reduce our carbon footprint by using renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels as a way of mitigating climate change (How green can you get, Bangkok Post, September 30, 2008). It should be recognized in this context that promoting the carbon footprint as the overarching environmental issue does more harm than good because it trivializes more important pollution issues and also because some measures taken to reduce the carbon footprint create more environmental problems than they solve (Beyond carbon, Bangkok Post, September 30, 2008). For example, the use of fertilizer to grow renewable energy crops is causing an extreme form of water pollution by nitrogen compounds called eutrophication. The carbon people have run afoul of the nitrogen people. Environmentalism has gone awry.

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: And then there were none, Bangkok Post, September 28, 2008

Contrary to what is reported in the Bangkok Post (And then there were none, Bangkok Post, September 28, 2008) there was no radical overhaul of the city of London in 1986 called the Big Bang. That event refers to new rules implemented by the government of the UK to deregulate and modernize the London Stock Exchange. On October 27, 1986, the Exchange opened for trading with a new set of regulations, a new market microstructure, and full conversion to electronic screen based trading. The event was named in anticipation of a dramatic increase in trading activity. 

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: Hit me, Brunch Magazine, Bangkok Post, September 28, 2008

I read the article on CMS collision avoidance technology for cars in Brunch Magazine (Hit me, Brunch Magazine, Bangkok Post, September 28, 2008) and I found the language more suitable for junior high school kids than for adult consumers of automotive technology. Overall, I think the idea of having something like a Brunch Magazine is good but I would urge you to find adult wrtiers. I gather from the content of the articles that you are targeting an adult readership.

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: The emissions issue, Bangkok Post, September 26, 2008

An article in the Bangkok Post says. with respect to motoring, that "The ever increasing amount of CO2 being released is significantly increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. As a consequence the earth is getting hotter due to the greenhouse effect." (The emissions issue, Bangkok Post, September 26, 2008). These sentences summarize what has become the global warming religion preached by Al Gore and followed like sheep by the media. While it is true that the annual mean atmospheric CO2 measured at Mauna Loa has risen from 315 ppm in 1960 to 383 ppm in 2007, no theory or experiment has shown that a change in CO2 levels in this range can have a measurable effect on temperature. In actual greenhouses where they grow vegetables during winter, they inject carbon dioxide to maintain CO2 levels at 1000 to 1500 ppm during daylight to feed carbon to the plants, and that is why we call CO2 a greenhouse gas, but there is no evidence of a temperature effect of CO2 even at these high levels. The correlation between temperature and CO2 presented by Al Gore is derived from historical data and it implies neither causality nor the direction thereof. Further, the idea that the increase in atmospheric CO2 is caused by our use of fossil fuels is pure speculation and without a scientific basis.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: A lighter skin color, Bangkok Post, September 25, 2008

As journalist Nikki Assavathorn has articulated so well, the marketing of skin whitening products to Asians promotes what she calls "skin racism" because their sales depend on developing low self esteem for women with darker skin (A lighter skin color, Bangkok Post, September 25, 2008). The same may be said of the thriving cosmtic surgery business in Asia that promises to make Asian eyes and noses more Aryan looking. However, this nature of the cosmetic business is not restricted to Asia and is possibly more intrusive in the West than it is here. All of their marketing and sales, whether there or here, depend on low self esteem or what Ms Nikki calls self-loathing. Decades ago the "does she or doesn't she" ad campaign caused millions of American women to dye their hair blonde to be more beautiful. More recently the push has been for breast enlargment worldwide and for skin whitening in the Asian market. These people make a living by selling low self esteem to women. I congratulate Ms Nikki for speaking out for women and I wish that all women both in Asia and in the West would heed her call and say no to extreme cosmetics. 

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: Corruption is humanitarian disaster, Bangkok Post, September 24, 2008

Singapore, a country that has been taken over through state capture by an elite few is considered less corrupt than open, democratic, and transparent societies in Europe by the TI corruption perception index (Corruption is humanitarian disaster, Bangkok Post, September 24, 2008). This upside down ranking tells us more about the instrument than about corruption. I am guessing that the TI instrument is good at measuring corruption in the small, not very good at measuring corruption in the large, and completely unable to detect state capture.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Weather history at house offers insight into global warming, Bangkok Post, September 24, 2008

It is reported that temperature data taken very diligently at Mohonk, NY since 1896 show a temperature increase of 16 Centigrade degrees over 112 years, equivalent to 0.14285 Centigrade degrees per year (Weather history at house offers insight into global warming, Bangkok Post, September 24, 2008). It is likely that this report contains a typographical error. Temperature data from all weather stations in the United States are available from the USHCN (United States Historical Climatology Network) and they show that over the same period the temperature at the Mohonk weather station increased by 0.0133 Centigrade degrees per year, not 0.1428 Centigrade degrees per year as reported in the Bangkok Post. Over the same period, on average, the temperature at Rochester, NY increased 0.0056 degrees/year, at Albany, NY it decreased 0.00167 degrees/year,and at Maryland, NY it decreased 0.0074 degrees/year. Clearly it is not possible to use data from a single weather station to draw conclusions about temperature trends even in just the state of New York, much less the entire world, no matter how diligently the data were taken.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Foreign invasions unacceptable, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008

In his address to parliament, Pakistan's newly elected president said that he would not tolerate intrusions into Pakistani territory by US forces and that the independence of the judiciary and all the judges fired by Musharraf should be restored (Foreign invasions unacceptable, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008). Both of these statements are hollow. There is not much that Pakistan can do against cross border attacks by the Americans because they have allowed themselves to become financially dependent of American military aid. As for the judiciary, there is a danger that independent minded judges may find that the deal between Musharraf and Ms Bhutto that gives the new president amnesty from corruption charges, is illegal and unconstitutional. It is therefore unlikely that the new president will take any action to establish an independent judiciary.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: US criticizes Asian governments on religious freedom, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008

It is certainly a good thing that the US promotes genuine religious freedom in Asia (US criticizes Asian governments on religious freedom, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008). In the US itself the first amendment to the constitution requires that "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and thereby guarantees genuine religious freedoms to all its citizens. A problem arises however, when you try to define religion. For a religion to be a religion it has to meet certain requirements and if it fails to meet those requirements it may be deemed a cult and denied religious freedoms in the same way or in more severe ways than we do out here in Asia.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Rabies still deadly, Bangkok Post, September 23, 2008

Apparently 300,000 people seek rabies vaccinations in Thailand annually (Rabies still deadly, Bangkok Post, September 23, 2008). Each vaccination episode requires a series of five shots over a thirty-day period and costs over 1,500 baht. The cost for 300,000 such vaccinations is at least 450 million baht not counting indirect costs. Dogs are the most common hosts of rabies and dog bites are the usual reason for these vaccinations. The country is populated by a large number of feral dogs with no apparent owner or organized management. They run free on the roadways and byways as well as in forested areas. At night and in the early morning, they run in packs and often attack pedestrians and bicyclists. This state of affairs has been relegated to the mai-pen-rai department and is apparently not considered to be a social or public health issue by the authorities.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: PM moves into office at Don Mueang, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008

The government of Thailand has been evicted from their offices at Government House by protestors and has chosen to set up shop in the old mostly abandoned airport at Don Mueang (PM moves into office at Don Mueang, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008). They may have chosen the wrong airport. Suvarnabhumi Airport offers better connections to London and it is apparently from there that Thailand's government officials take their marching orders (Thaksin gives nod for key positions, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008).

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: Accountability key to gender gap, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008

It is said that the best way to defend yourself is to go on the offensive and so the United Nations Development Fund for Women has chosen to describe their failure to stay on track with respect to their development goals as an "accountability crisis" because sovereign nations have not done what they had promised the Fund they would do. The blame is thus neatly and righteously deflected. Nobody plays the blame game better than the bureaucrats at the United Nations.

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: Why Wall Street is melting down, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008

The simple answer is that Wall Street is not melting down (Why Wall Street is melting down, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008). A "financial meltdown" is a unique reference and cannot be described as something "melting down". The English language is often as slippery as the finance of derivatives.

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand

Reference: Storm surge, Brunch Magazine, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008

There has been much speculation in the Thai media recently as to the surge effects on the low-lying coastal mudflats of Samut Prakarn should a storm like Cyclone Nargis form in the Gulf of Thailand. The attempt by the Bangkok Post to inject global warming and rising sea levels into the debate confounds an already complicated and contentious scenario (Storm surge, Brunch Magazine, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008). Yet, those with a global warming agenda tend to see the storm surge forecast as being somehow related to carbon emissions. Their argument is baseless and false. It is said that if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like nails.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Is Google making us stupid, Sunday Brunch, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008

It has been proposed that the Internet is a little too efficient for its own good because it is now preferred to books as a source of information. As a consequence, we are not reading books as much as we used to and that implies that we are becoming stupid.. (Is Google making us stupid, Sunday Brunch, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008). Ironically, the printing press itself was also similarly derided because it made calligraphy redundant. Throughout history we have stupidly misrepresented the tools of knowledge as knowledge itself and tried to cling to them even after they had worn out their usefulness. Printed books are tools. just like calculators. Just as mathematics did not go down the drain with the death of the abacus and the slide rule so we are not becoming stupid by using a new tool more than we do the product of the printing press. It's been a while since Gutenberg changed the world; and we are in for a few more changes before we are done. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Extreme machines, Brunch Magazine, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008

The Rhino Runner is an armored bus built to survive roadside bombs. It looks like a very ugly motor home and bears no resemblance to the other-planetary land vehicle shown in the photo in the Bangkok Post (Extreme machines, Brunch Magazine, Bangkok Post, September 21, 2008). While the price of the Sunday Bangkok Post has gone from 25 Baht to 40 Baht, its quality appears to have gone in the other direction.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Chavez moves to strengthen Russian ties, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008

In the old days, before the Chunnel, there used to be a joke in England that once, when the English Channel was too foggy for shipping, English newspaper headlines said "Channel fogged in, Europe isolated". Jokes often mimic reality, for now we find that the U.S. government's official response to Russia's growing influence in Latin America is that it serves only to further isolate Russia (Chavez moves to strengthen Russian ties, Bangkok Post, September 20, 2008). Monroe Doctrine fogged in, Russia isolated.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Tapping into the sun, Bangkok Post, September 17, 2008

It is claimed that there is a surging interest in solar energy among retailers in the USA because they normally have large roofs that can be covered with solar panels (Tapping into the sun, Bangkok Post, September 17, 2008). Wal-Mart is cited as an example noting that 17 Wal-Mart stores have already been solarized and that in these stores solar energy provides 10% to 40% of the store's electricity needs. The simple average of this range is 25%. There are about 2,500 Wal-Mart stores in America and so we find that 25% of the electricity needs of 17 of these stores represents 0.17% of Wal-Mart's electricity consumption. Even this paltry percentage could not have been achieved without taxpayer funded subsidies to overcome the economic disadvantage of solar energy. Solar power costs five times as much as electricity generated from coal. The article appears at first blush to imply that solar power is making significant inroads into the retail industry in America but if you read it carefully it unwittingly delivers the entirely different message that solar power is not economically feasible and that its adoption by the retail industry in America is insignificant.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand

Reference: Pretty Palin is not ready to be vice president, Bangkok Post, September 16, 2008

When Obama was surging in the polls, desperate Republicans compared his popularity with that of Paris Hilton implying that he was pretty but clueless. Now that McCain and Palin are surging in the polls, desperate Democrats are comparing Sarah Palin's popularity with that of the American Idol competition on television saying that she is pretty but clueless (Pretty Palin is not ready to be vice president, Bangkok Post, September 16, 2008). It is partisanship at its worst. The author of the column writes that the real issues facing America are that "The economy is in a tailspin. The financial sector is lurching about on rubbery legs. We're mired in self defeating energy policies. We're at war. And we're still vulnerable to the very real threat of international terrorism.". Yet, it tells us nothing about Palin's views on these topics being itself mired in a weird definition game with respect to whether or not Sarah Palin knows the meaning of a an arbitrary phrase invented by the authors of the book "The Bush Doctrine" and concludes that Palin is a clueless bimbo. If Palin is clueless, so are the American voters. Since she joined McCain, his stock on intrade,com has jumped from under $4 to over $5 while that of Obama has dropped from over $6 to under $5. Clueless liberal columnists are crying in their soup.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand