257

The Gallery is hosting the Yosemite Exhibition. More to come later after the exams are done for good.

Concerning my recent trip, St. Louis was colder than Ann Arbor but damn, St. Louis was way cooler than Ann Arbor. Plus, I've kicked the Arch and I've seen the Mark Twain's Mississippi. All I have to do now in order to complete the Tour of Great Rivers is to visit the Nile, the Amazon and the Yangtze River. Oh well.
The St. Louis Exhibition is scheduled after the current exhibition but in the meantime, enjoy the gallery.

p/s - Final score, Ajax 2 - 0 Feyenoord. And one bad news, the Netherlands is stucked with Germany and the Czech Republic in Group D for Euro 2004.

256

Today is Syawal the First, 1424 Anno Hegirae.

And Ohio still sucks.

255

I really have to stop planning my vacation on the spot. For the upcoming thanksgiving, I'll be in St. Louis, Missouri.
The last time I did an impromptu decision, I found myself in the Sierra Nevada, stuck without food and electricity.

p/s - currently planning to pay Pasadena a visit. OHIO STILL SUCKS! LOL!!!

254

Currently, I’m having a post-game blues due to over-hyping and pre-holiday laziness. So, I’m too lazy do anything even though I need to write a paper on the Kyoto Protocol.
I thought that in order for me to warm up, it’s good for me read all the whole news and wrap it up. Here goes.

Georgia – political instability. The opposition seized the Georgian Parliament and the President threatens to declare a state of emergency and let the military takes over. Thousands camp out of the Parliament’s compound and effectively helping out the almost coup de tat. Unfortunately for the President, despite the threat made, the military went out to the Parliament’s compound and guess what? The military hugged and kissed the campers. LOL!

Lithuania – rally against the President as corruption allegation gains momentum. The President is screwed.

Croatia – elections. The opposition is currently strong enough to wrestle the governmental seat from the incumbent.

Iraq – The US military is taking on the offensive for the first time in months after dozens of US personals were lost to guerilla (not terrorism. I shall not cave in to newspeak) attack. The latest news, three more US troops were killed – two of them got their throat silted.

Afghanistan – more attacks and Al-Qaeda is encouraging more attack. Not really a development.

Turkey – post-bombing trauma.

Saudi Arabia - post-bombing trauma though the magnitude has reduced.

US – another Enron styled case is developing up. Watch out for Freddie Mac though not as serious. The NYSE might suffer another dip before the Thanksgiving break.

EU – textile trade war with the US officially starts.

China – textile trade war with the US starts as the US imposed tariff earlier this week on China’s textile export to the US. Talk about the hypocrisy of free market. China and EU will probably team up and bash the US.

Japan – threatens to impose steel tariff on the US if the US refuses to remove the tariff imposed on Japan’s steel. Another trade war.

Asia Pacific – the stock exchange in various prominent Asian Pacific nations took dip as the NYSE went down three percent.

Malaysia – NSTP’s chief editor, the prominent Abdullah Ahmad was sacked by the government despite NSTP being a private press. He was sacked due to his criticism of Saudi Arabia. The pressure most probably came from the Royal House of Saud.

Vietnam – first US’ warship visit to Ho Chi Minh City after the Vietman War. It’s nice to see at least, some parts of the world are heading for flowers and pleasantries instead of AK-47 and M-16A.

Israel – Sharon offers more plans to dismantle Palestinian’s homes.

Uganda – the local Church severs their relation with the US’ Episcopal due to the Crunch tolerance of gays. Gays...

and of course, Michigan - ROSE BOWL BABY. LOL!!! OHIO STILL SUCKS.

253

Kill all Buckeyes on sight. Although I'm an environuts, this is an exception. Let's burn all buckeye trees and their lovers.
Burn, burn, burn, burn, kill, kill, kill, kill.

Buck the Fuckeyes______________________________



 OOOO SSSS U  U    SSSS  U  U CCCC K  K SSSS 
 O  O S    U  U    S     U  U C    K K  S    
 O  O SSSS U  U    SSSS  U  U C    KK   SSSS 
 O  O    S U  U       S  U  U C    K K     S 
 OOOO SSSS UUUU    SSSS  UUUU CCCC K  K SSSS 
_______________________________Ohio State Sucks

p/s - THE ROSE BOWL IS OURS!!! MICHIGAN WINS!!! OHIO SUCKS!!! FUCK THEM AND THE SPARTANS TOO. And, riot is expected in Columbus yet again. =)

MICHIGAN WOLVERINES___________________
  GGGG 0000    BBBB LL   U  U EEEE || 
  G    0  0    B  B LL   U  U E    || 
  G GG 0  0    BBB  LL   U  U EEEE || 
  G  G 0  0    B  B LL   U  U E       
 GGGG 0000    BBBB LLLL UUUU EEEE ||
_______________________ROSE BOWL 2003

252

The __earthinc's 5000th visitor is somebody from Europe.
Anyway, Michigan is celebrating 100 years of bucking the Buckeyes. The people from some pathetic place called Ohio however is singing "we don't give the whole state of Michigan a damn".
Tomorrow, is the game, the game dubbed by the Michigan Daily as the one game to rule them all.
Tomorrow, the biggest college rivalry will be played - bigger than USC - UCLA, bigger than anything in the realm of pac americana.

errata - it's we don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan. thanks to David. But, who cares? Ohio still sucks.

251

With all assignments almost done, I'm currently hyped on the upcoming Michigan versus Ohio State game.
It is sure going to be a blast. An optimist prediction, 28 against 3 in Michigan favor.
That, might be biased but you could never be too biased with Ohio State.

p/s - I'm currently reading Leggett's The Carbon War and so far, my favorite part is this:
"...Back in the negotiating hall, it was doing just that. The US delegation had spent an hour and a half trying to get the words 'climate change' replaced with the words 'global warming at the surface of the Earth'. There was little proof as yet, they said, that climate change would result from this warming.
The suggestion was met with barely suppressed annoyance, and, from Austria, ridicule. 'Maybe we should change the name of the panel,' they said, 'to the "Intergovernmental Panel on Global Warming at the Surface of the Earth".'
Wry laughter filled the hall."

pp/s - w00t! The Dutch is set for Portugal! Final aggregate is the Netherlands 6 and Scotland 1.

ppp/s - Ann Arbor is Overrated (AAIO), one of A²'s most famous blogs is planning a meet up. Wanna go? Mail me or leave me a msg and then we'll wear a paper bag on our head! At the meet up, we'll figure out how to make Annarbour (no, it's not a typo) less suckier.

pppp/s - A friend from Minnesota told me that Poen's father has just passed away. Be strong mate.

250

"...Greenpeace offered me the chance of moving from one of the most conservative universities in the world to one of the most radical environmental groups.
I jumped at it."

- Jeremy Leggett on his dilemma between teaching method of oil drilling and geology in general at the Royal School of Mines and his environmental conscience; The Carbon War.

249

Germany has started to phrase out all of their nuclear power plants. The process of eliminating nuclear power from the German’s energy equation is expected to be done by the year 2020. The Green Party in Germany meanwhile celebrates the victory.
Being a green, I can’t help but join in the celebration. However, I believe nuclear power will be useful for the movement against pollution. Of course the radioactive waste will be a sensitive issue to most greens as the half life of material used for fuel in nuclear power plant is anything but rapid. Yet, I believe the risk-reward relationship in nuclear power plant tends to sway to the reward area. Regardless of the risk of meltdown, nuclear provides a cleaner alternative to coal power plant. And by far, nuclear power plant is one of the most cost efficient options.
Chernobyl was a disaster but two decades later, the technology related to nuclear power plant safety and the standard of conduct have been improved. Also, safety precaution is better though admittedly a total guarantee against meltdown is nowhere to be seen. Still, there are thousands of such power plants in the world but the frequency of meltdown is low. The last accident was a leakage in Japan but it was successfully contained rather quickly.
Anyway, in any case, the greens are pushing towards renewable energy. The green energy is no doubt the best option in the long run. With almost unlimited fuel, we won’t have to worry about the diminishing resources anymore nor will we be worrying about fuel price fluctuation. Green energy promises a stable source of clean energy.
In spite of this, there seems to be some opposition to the growth of green energy, especially concerning wind energy. Wind energy is derived from giant wind turbine constructed in an open area (on land or over the water) where the wind velocity is sufficiently fast. And when I say giant, I really mean something as tall as the Big Ben in London; even my imagination is too limited to imagine the wingspan of the wind-motivated-motor’s fan.
This wind powered generator is commonly found in cluster called wind farms.
The main opponent to wind power is perhaps the preservationists, a subset of the greens. They argue that this wind farms are detrimental towards the general scene; it is unnatural to fill an open space with hundreds of wind turbines and it hinders tourism. Such case has emerged in the US’ east coast (Vermont, Massachusetts) and in the UK (especially Scotland).
I feel that particular argument is weak since it is better to fill up an unused open space with quiet turbines rather than having to suffer smog. Besides, like what the British Wind Energy Association said, these wind turbines are the modern counterpart of the old wind mills that are commonly found in the Netherlands – the existence of the turbines itself are tourist attraction.
On the other hand, based on Denmark's report on wind energy, these wind turbines are unreliable since electricity stop flowing when the wind stops. As a result, Denmark, which is highly dependent on wind energy, needs to import electricity when the wind god decides to rest.
Whatever it is, I’ll support the wind energy industry and in general, the renewable energy industry because of its unlimited fuel and unpolluted waste.

p/s - another reason why you shouldn't publicly make a diary online. Do it the traditional way - offline.

pp/s - The __earthinc has been upgraded. Just a minor upgrade as I am trying to comply to the standard XHTML 1.0 and proper CSS. So I guess I could only say it is at version 2.1.1. Also, this is site is now licensed. I haven't read the full impact yet (bad) but yeah, it's properly licensed. I could really sue you if you steal anything.

248

hook me up a new revolution
cuz this one is a lie
we sat around laughin and watched the last one die

p/s - an excerpt from The Star:
"PAS and Parti Keadilan Nasional Youth handed over a 19-point memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urging him, among others, to reinstate government aid to the people’s religious school and to reserve admission only for bumiputras to bumiputra institutions like the Mara junior science colleges, Mara skills institute and Giatmara centres."
I take back my words about "Keadilan oddly enough fights for some of my ideal" in my immediate previous post.

247

Life goes on. Everything seems to be as usual, at least for me despite the loss of two friends. The weather however doesn't help a lot. It's gloomy outside early in the morning. And right now, Ann Arbor is very foggy and visibility is estimated merely 100 meters. I could barely make out State St. from C-House.
I shouldn't be affected by this tragedy but somehow, it's depressing to acknowledge the fact that you've lost two persons that you know.
The Michigan students on the other hand are gearing up for the upcoming election. And it's too early for me to make up my mind on which should receive my vote. The criteria meanwhile is set.

p/s - PAS has finally unveiled its plan for the establishment of an Islamic Federation of Malaysia after more than five years of saying it will do so. Strategically, PAS can say goodbye to the upcoming Malaysia's general election though quite possibly they will retain Kelantan and Terengganu, at a reduced majority.

246

What is this pain that I feel?
Why must I suffer what I feel?
For it is not me who bleeds,
It's not me who should be healed.

245

The Umich Malaysian Students' Association is overwhelmed with attention but unfortunately and sadly, it is for the wrong reason.
As the dust starts to settle down, details are coming in. One of them is at Kirah's. Sorry, it's in hybrid Malay but it is still readable for most parts.
The earliest reports were reported by the Michigan Daily and by the Ann Arbor News.

244

Two fellow Malaysians in Michigan have just died from a traffic accident. A source said they were trying to cross the street.
I can't remember when the last time I said hi to them but I hope they are rested in peace.

243

All of us need to have an ideal. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it is something because ideal is an objective for our life. Life is like a mission and a mission needs an objective. Without it, a mission is useless and so does life.
I respect a person with ideal. I see an idealist as someone that believes in something rather than wandering pointlessly while doing nothing other than life’s mediocre chores. A person without an ideal is a person without a goal.
An ideal is something that pushes us towards a particular direction. May it for better or for worse, sooner or later and even if we fail to reach the goal, deep in our soul, we could, later in life rest comfortably knowing that at least we did something. Again, for those without one, I can only wonder what do they really care other than the typical and trivial matter of life.
To believe in an ideal is to try to bring the ideal to life. It is true that believing and practicing are two totally different stories but yet, we need to try as hard as we could to practice it. In practicing it, in few times, we will need to go against our ideal. This is acceptable because sometimes, an ideal is simply an ideal; parts of the ideal are impractical. This is one of the dilemmas the Greens are facing. The Greens prefer a world without pollution. In spite of this, they realize the fact that development cannot be stopped. In order to solve the dilemma, they made a compromise with their own ideal and took a middle path - sustainable growth.
An idealist should be broad-minded and willing to listen to others. The worst kind of idealist is a fanatic and this breed is no better than an idealess person. This species of extremists pulls the curtain and close their window to the world outside, refusing to see what others have in store. At the same time, they force the world to bow to their will. It is hopeless when someone tries to influence other while he or she is bigoted to a view. Worse than an idealess, a bigot is a selfish closed-minded rodent.
Stooping as low as a bigot, a rebel without a cause is another miserable being. There is nothing bad about being a rebel but in being one, ideal must closely follows behind. Without it, a rebel is simply a worthless but dangerous anarchist. This is the main reason why I hated the so-called reformasi movement back in Malaysia. Their goal was simply to free Anwar Ibrahim and no more; their reformation fell short of that, lacking substance and all. At the same time, many reformasi supporters called for a change but never giving out an alternative to the current system. For this, they deserve no attention.
Fortunately for the movement, somebody with a sane mind gave life to it and subsequently, after a period of maturity, the post-reformasi movement has changed their goal from merely freeing the former Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister to creating a freer society. If it were not for the idealist, the reformasi movement would surely be dead by now.

p/s - It's sad to see even Saudi Arabia can no longer be considered safe. A few hours ago, Riyadh suffered a second bombing in less than twelve months. I just wish somebody would nuke the whole Mideast. Half of the world problem would then be solved easily.

242

What's the difference between having four heads in six trials and four consecutive heads in six trials?
Ans: Twelve desperate points.
Somehow, I misread the my exam question and interpreted it as a geometric distribution problem instead of Pascal distribution problem. I can't believe that I did

P(X=6) = [(1-p)^(3)]*(p) with p=(0.5)^4
because we need four successive successes,
instead of
P(X=6) = (5C3)*(p^4)*[(1-p)^2]
But then, even the way I interpreted it into geometric is wrong. Heck, what am I talking about? When you choose your distribution wrongly, there is no way to do it the right way in the wrong way!
To Prof. Inoue, please apply normal distribution into the grading. I know everyone got at least a B+ for the first midterm but the second midterm is a disaster for the whole support. There is no way anyone in the class will get an A- with the current 95-for-A cut off. I dare bet, letting X is the set of discrete grades (X = {A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, E, F}) and P(X=x) is a probability with X=x,

P(X>A-) = 0 and thus
P(X<=B+) = 1 - P(X>A-)
Sigh...

241

Voyager I is now located more than 90 AU from the Sun.
And closer to home, Sri Lanka's government collapsed after its PM suspended the Parliament. On a more interesting note (Sri Lanka always has problems. So, it's not so interesting anymore to hear Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka again every year. What will be interesting is when a peace treaty between the government and the rebel is actually signed), Monaco trashed Deportivo La Coruña 8 - 3.
What an embarrassmentt for the Spaniard!

240

Ajax lost to Celta in Spain with Galasek given a red card. With Ajax's loss and Milan's win, CL Group H is once again opened up with Milan on top (7 points), Ajax on second (6 points), Celta (5 points) and Club Brugge (4 points).
Despite the loss, it was a good game with neither side dominated the game; each side showed a good footballing.
And Chelsea seems to perform greatly. They won against Lazio with four goals against none.

p/s - scientists have discovered that computer games are addictive. We gamers have known that since Pong. Scientists sure think slow.

pp/s - Quote of the day:

"At the risk of understatement, The Matrix Revolutions sucks" - Rolling Stone.
Considering The Matrix: Reloaded sucks, maybe RS' statement holds water. Therefore, I will not risk ten bucks for a sucky movie. Oh well.

239

w00t! It's local politics. People of Ann Arbor, vote for Proposal B!
Reject Proposal A!
Say yes to parks!
Say no to overdevelopment!

238

Nothing feels as good as waking up early in the morning on a weekend, without the intrusive alarm clock going off. Wedged comfortably under a warm blanket in a cold morning, I smiled once my I came out of a dream and found that Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun was playing on my computer. Very appropriate.
I stayed in bed, eyes still shut but my senses were coming around. After a moment of peace, I decided to wake up properly. Once the eyes were stimulated by the soft light, I found that my room was still rather dark. Yet, there was enough lighting for me to toddle around without me stepping on any book that I left on the floor just before I went to sleep yesterday. I checked one of my clocks - the digit seven was highlighted along with a two other numbers but I ignored it. In the back of my mind, I said who cares. It’s Sunday morning.
How pleasant it is to be able to say that with a near jovial attitude. No homework dues, no deadline to adhere – simply no worries.
Along I stood in my room, trying to stretch like how my almost fat yellow pussy cat does every time she tries to move around after a meal. I stretched but I was left unsatisfied simply because of the plasters and bandages that are covering my left arm, supposedly to give my body a chance to repair the damaged ligament. Trying to start the day on a high note, I gave up a sigh and tried to smile on it.
The ambience was slumber oriented, cool but not so cold, dimmed but not too dark. I looked back at the inviting bed and toyed with the idea of getting back to it. However, I refused and turned my head to the windows, taking my first peek at the outside real world for the day.
The Sun was barely up. Just enough radiance was available for me to differentiate the colors of the trees during the fall season. Fall, admitted offers the better side of the Earth. Spring is welcomed as always with all the birds and mammals running around celebrating the warmth of the Sun and the green of the trees. Fall however presents something less cheerful but more colorful. It offers both happiness and sadness, a balance for this world.
The sight is lovely from my perspective. A huge tree with a yellowish leaves stands quietly directly ahead with a few other smaller complements completing the view. Yellow was the main theme but a certain patch of greens endure, refusing to bow against the wind.
I opened up the windows and found out that it was raining lightly - a typical unpredictable Michigan weather in a typical unpredictable fall. One day it would rain, one day the Sun would shine as it had never shone before, the other, flurry attacks the unprepared. And before soon, snow overwhelms the little arbor town.
The smell of the rain was refreshing, cooling and scentless, free of any damned smoke or artificial perfume. It was simply lovingly natural. However, being close to the town center, I couldn’t help but hear engines roared in competition with soft dropping of the rain. The engines of course and unfortunately, won the competition even before it started. Nevertheless, the smell of the rain was still refreshing.
Among the leaves, I saw a bird sitting alone on a small branch. I wonder how does it feels to be the, having to suffer the cold rain. Sometimes, life is cruel. I am thankful that I am in a comfortable room.
I left the bird alone and sat in front of my computer, getting my daily dose of news.
The first thing that I checked was the forest fire in California. With delight the weather is giving the firefighters a helping hand. All is good until the latest development on war was read. Fifteen more soldiers died after a Chinook crashed down to earth due to hostile fire. I am generally against the war but the soldiers were humans, just like you and me. Maybe we haven't gone far in being a civilized being at all.
Saturated with news, I noticed workings that I’d done yesterday on the floor. Homework, assignment and all started to repopulate my mind. And the omnipresent vehicle engines started to roar annoyingly even harder.

237

Today is a very intense sporting Saturday. First of all, although Michigan won against Michigan State, Michigan somehow gave up two unbelievable touchdowns and the final 66 seconds was crazily heart thumping. The next opponent, Northwestern should be easy on those with heart problems.

Ajax on the other hand was down 1 - 2 at halftime and it took a penalty by Tomas Galasek to help Ajax not share the crown with AZ Alkmaar anymore. Gasalek penalty made the Arena turned wild beyond description. At the same time, PSV won with a blast against NAC Breda and thus, capitalizing on AZ unfortunate loss to Ajax.
Later this week, Ajax will once again be up against Celta Vigo. That will be a very tough match up. Also, I will be praying for some Belgian magic in the Club Brugge - AC Milan game.

p/s - It feels weird. Whenever the press talks about Malaysia's Prime Minister, I always thought it was Dr. Mahathir but in reality, it's Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. I guess, I need some time to get use to it.