Found this gem of an article on the Economist. I only put up the half that I found very interesting.
AMERICANS are still chuckling about the “pants suit”. A man—a judge, no less—sued his dry cleaners for $54m for allegedly losing his trousers. A sign at the shop promised “Satisfaction Guaranteed”. The plaintiff was not satisfied, so he cried fraud. He then used his highly trained legal brain to calculate the damages he was owed. He started with $1,500, a reasonable fine for consumer fraud. He multiplied it by 12, for the number of his complaints. Then by 1,200, for the number of days he was deprived of his trousers. And then by three, for the three owners of the dry-cleaning shop. After adding a bit more for mental anguish, the total came to $67m, but he kindly reduced it to $54m.
When the case was dismissed in 2007, many felt justice had prevailed. But the defendants had been put through purgatory and saddled with $100,000 in legal costs. They closed the shop and considered moving back to South Korea. The case illustrates “an important truth about human nature—that angry people can go nuts,” observes Philip Howard, a campaigner for legal reform. What was most shocking about the pants suit was not the idiotic claim, he says, “but that the case was allowed to go on for more than two years.” Some judges think even the nuttiest plaintiffs deserve their day in court. As the judge who let a woman sue McDonald’s for serving her the coffee with which she scalded herself put it: “Who am I to judge?”
Click here
The rule of law is a wonderful thing, as anyone who has visited countries ruled by the whims of the powerful can attest. But you can have too much of a wonderful thing. And America has far too much law, argues Mr Howard in a new book, “Life without Lawyers”. For nearly every problem, lawmakers and bureaucrats imagine that more detailed rules are the answer. But people need to exercise their common sense, too. Alas, the proliferation of rules is making that harder.
At a school in Florida, for example, a five-year-old girl decided to throw everyone’s books and pencils on the floor. Sent to the head teacher’s office, she continued to wreak havoc. Her teachers dared not restrain her physically. Instead, they summoned the police, who led her away in handcuffs, howling. The teachers acted as they did for fear of being sued. A teacher at a different school was sued for $20m for putting a hand on a rowdy child’s back to guide him out of the classroom. The school ended up settling for $90,000. Understandably, many schools ban teachers from touching pupils under any circumstances. In New York City, where more than 60 bureaucratic steps are required to suspend a pupil for more than five days, teachers are so frightened of violating pupils’ rights that they cannot keep order.
The relentless piling of law upon law—the federal register has 70,000 ever-changing pages—does not make for a more just society. When even the most trivial daily interactions are subject to detailed rules, individual judgment is stifled. When rule-makers seek to eliminate small risks, perverse consequences proliferate. Bureaucrats rip up climbing frames for fear that children may fall off and break a leg. So children stay indoors and get fat.
The direct costs of lawsuits are only one of the drawbacks of an over-legalistic society. Too many rules squeeze the joy out of life. Doctors who inflict dozens of unnecessary tests on patients to fend off lawsuits take less pride in their work. And although the legal system is supposed to be neutral, the scales are tilted in favour of whoever is in the wrong. Because the process is so expensive and juries are so unpredictable, blameless people often settle baseless claims to make them go away. The law is supposed to protect individuals from the state, but it often allows selfish individuals to harness the state’s power to settle private scores.
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, October 05, 2008
How a debate is viewed.
Obama is taking on McCain in what is likely to be the most important US election in recent memory, but strangely enough, a lot of the attention is centered around their running mates. And because I was bored and didn't want to study, I was reading a little on the debate that they had recently. I didn't watch the debate per se but the reactions to the debate are interestingly varied. Lets start with what is likely to be a clearly pro-McCain camp.
Dick Morris declared the debate a clear win for Palin. He was raving on and on about how in touch the Republican was with the people and how well she connected. I checked him out a little. Apparently he used to help Mr. Clinton, but later got disillusioned by both husband and wife. He even wrote a book to diss on Hilary's book. And while he makes a living from giving advice to politicians, his predictions on politics are famously off the mark. (According to him, we are supposed to be seeing Mrs Clinton take on Ms Rice in the 2008 presidential race. LOL) Plus, there is a youtube video of him insulting a co-anchor of a FOX program after the co-anchor started questioning his analysis of the debate.
Then there is the BBC. They called it a draw, which is the safest thing to say. But their take on it was a little different. According to their correspondent, both the running mates have a tendency of screwing up in public, and the fact that they both gave solid performances is an achievement for them both.
Finally, there is the debating world. Some of the best adjudicators in the world came together and blogged about the debate using the world's debating format and scoring system. They gave the debate to Biden in a 6-1 split. 2 of them decided that Biden hammered Palin. They gave a 12 point margin. Let me put that into perspective. If an adjudication core saw such a margin in any round of a tournament, they will assume that there is a mistake and call up the adjudicator that gave that score to make sure that the debate really was that one sided. Its a proper trashing, the kind you see when University of Sydney takes on a bunch of stammering non-english speakers and are in a particularly unforgiving mood. The other 4 gave clear wins to Biden and the one dissenting fellow said that Palin nicked it by the breadth of an Alaskan snowflake. http://electiondebates.wordpress.com/ for more information.
So the world of debating thinks that Biden pwned Palin. But thats just the world of debating, a somewhat ideal place where facts and logic matter more than they usually do in the real world. And more often than not, elections are won by emotion and empty rethoric which the McCain camp has by the gas guzzling truckloads. They have the gun-toting rednecks on their side, the kind of people who believe foreign policy involves negotiating with Canada and Mexico because everyone else is just too far away to matter. The kind that will actually buy Palin's line of how Alaska's proximity to Russia makes her a more competent person in dealing with Putin and his trigger happy regime. As hard as I find it to believe, Obama's calm and level headed approach to the problems that the US is facing is being described as a disadvantage for him.
Thanks to two terms that will immortalize Bush as the worst president that the US has ever seen, people have called this election unlosable for the Democrats. I don't have anything against the Republicans as a general group, but seeing how they managed to pick a Bush clone as their nominee, I certainly hope, for the sake of humanity that those people are right.
Dick Morris declared the debate a clear win for Palin. He was raving on and on about how in touch the Republican was with the people and how well she connected. I checked him out a little. Apparently he used to help Mr. Clinton, but later got disillusioned by both husband and wife. He even wrote a book to diss on Hilary's book. And while he makes a living from giving advice to politicians, his predictions on politics are famously off the mark. (According to him, we are supposed to be seeing Mrs Clinton take on Ms Rice in the 2008 presidential race. LOL) Plus, there is a youtube video of him insulting a co-anchor of a FOX program after the co-anchor started questioning his analysis of the debate.
Then there is the BBC. They called it a draw, which is the safest thing to say. But their take on it was a little different. According to their correspondent, both the running mates have a tendency of screwing up in public, and the fact that they both gave solid performances is an achievement for them both.
Finally, there is the debating world. Some of the best adjudicators in the world came together and blogged about the debate using the world's debating format and scoring system. They gave the debate to Biden in a 6-1 split. 2 of them decided that Biden hammered Palin. They gave a 12 point margin. Let me put that into perspective. If an adjudication core saw such a margin in any round of a tournament, they will assume that there is a mistake and call up the adjudicator that gave that score to make sure that the debate really was that one sided. Its a proper trashing, the kind you see when University of Sydney takes on a bunch of stammering non-english speakers and are in a particularly unforgiving mood. The other 4 gave clear wins to Biden and the one dissenting fellow said that Palin nicked it by the breadth of an Alaskan snowflake. http://electiondebates.wordpress.com/ for more information.
So the world of debating thinks that Biden pwned Palin. But thats just the world of debating, a somewhat ideal place where facts and logic matter more than they usually do in the real world. And more often than not, elections are won by emotion and empty rethoric which the McCain camp has by the gas guzzling truckloads. They have the gun-toting rednecks on their side, the kind of people who believe foreign policy involves negotiating with Canada and Mexico because everyone else is just too far away to matter. The kind that will actually buy Palin's line of how Alaska's proximity to Russia makes her a more competent person in dealing with Putin and his trigger happy regime. As hard as I find it to believe, Obama's calm and level headed approach to the problems that the US is facing is being described as a disadvantage for him.
Thanks to two terms that will immortalize Bush as the worst president that the US has ever seen, people have called this election unlosable for the Democrats. I don't have anything against the Republicans as a general group, but seeing how they managed to pick a Bush clone as their nominee, I certainly hope, for the sake of humanity that those people are right.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hahaha! RPK got blocked.
I used to think that the Badawi administration weren't afraid of a little royal pain in the ass (pun intended) called Raja Petra. Now I know that they really are shitting their pants.
They blocked his website. There was a directive to all local ISPs to do so. Of course, there will be the usual excuses about sedition and all, but seriously? Blatant censorship? I didn't think it would actually come to this.
I really, really had no idea that RPK was such an annoyance to the government. There is a line that you don't cross unless absolutely desperate. The backlashes from such a ban are obvious. I can almost see the BBC article now. And of course its going to affect our transparency rating. But like in Maslov's hierarchy of needs, survival always comes first. (Okay, I know food and sex comes before safety, but you get the idea). Upholding freedom of speech only makes sense if your ricebowl isn't threatened.
There are only two explanations to this.
1. The administration thinks its safety is threatened.
2. The painfully short sighted policies that have so far infested the lower levels of administration in this country have crept upwards and nested.
Yep, we have reached a new low. But hey, I don't even read RPK, so why do I care right? The government is just openly doing now what they have been sneakily doing since forever. Good on you Badawi! At least now you have the nuts to say, "Watch me do it! I am not ashamed or afraid!" Although following that up with, "What you going to do about it, punk?" might now be the best of ideas, given the current climate.
Bad move, guys. But who am I to say, eh? I'm just an apathetic and inconsistent blogger with a tiny readership and a very incomplete picture of the politics in this country.
They blocked his website. There was a directive to all local ISPs to do so. Of course, there will be the usual excuses about sedition and all, but seriously? Blatant censorship? I didn't think it would actually come to this.
I really, really had no idea that RPK was such an annoyance to the government. There is a line that you don't cross unless absolutely desperate. The backlashes from such a ban are obvious. I can almost see the BBC article now. And of course its going to affect our transparency rating. But like in Maslov's hierarchy of needs, survival always comes first. (Okay, I know food and sex comes before safety, but you get the idea). Upholding freedom of speech only makes sense if your ricebowl isn't threatened.
There are only two explanations to this.
1. The administration thinks its safety is threatened.
2. The painfully short sighted policies that have so far infested the lower levels of administration in this country have crept upwards and nested.
Yep, we have reached a new low. But hey, I don't even read RPK, so why do I care right? The government is just openly doing now what they have been sneakily doing since forever. Good on you Badawi! At least now you have the nuts to say, "Watch me do it! I am not ashamed or afraid!" Although following that up with, "What you going to do about it, punk?" might now be the best of ideas, given the current climate.
Bad move, guys. But who am I to say, eh? I'm just an apathetic and inconsistent blogger with a tiny readership and a very incomplete picture of the politics in this country.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Yes, a political debate happened in Malaysia. Guess what? I don't care.
Okay, so I have gotten a good number of people getting excited over the debate that happened between Anwar and the information minister, and they were all somewhat puzzled by my lack of interest. And because I don't really see a reason to be surprised at all, I'm writing this.
What happened in the recent election wasn't a political tsunami to me. Sure, I got all excited over the results, but that was because I didn't think that something like that would happen. Once reality set in, however, the outlook changed somewhat for me. I see Malaysia going back to the way it was eventually.
Personally, the change that everyone is talking about is overhyped. The reason I say this is because all the avenues that allowed for Mahathir to rule the way he did still exist. They were not exercised this election around, for one reason for another, but I really see no reason why the oppression of the past will not return in the near future. (In about 2 years if you believe our holy leader)
My personal sentiments are not particularly patriotic, and thats because I'm pretty cynical about this. The odds don't look good for the pro-'competent democracy' camp.
And yes, I am getting very tired of all the mudslinging that has been going on. The conspiracy theories are all very interesting, but there is only so much of slander and name calling that I can take.
I suppose the difference between me and the rest of the Malaysian blogsphere is that I never really paid much interest to all this to begin with, so I have very little interest to lose.
What happened in the recent election wasn't a political tsunami to me. Sure, I got all excited over the results, but that was because I didn't think that something like that would happen. Once reality set in, however, the outlook changed somewhat for me. I see Malaysia going back to the way it was eventually.
Personally, the change that everyone is talking about is overhyped. The reason I say this is because all the avenues that allowed for Mahathir to rule the way he did still exist. They were not exercised this election around, for one reason for another, but I really see no reason why the oppression of the past will not return in the near future. (In about 2 years if you believe our holy leader)
My personal sentiments are not particularly patriotic, and thats because I'm pretty cynical about this. The odds don't look good for the pro-'competent democracy' camp.
And yes, I am getting very tired of all the mudslinging that has been going on. The conspiracy theories are all very interesting, but there is only so much of slander and name calling that I can take.
I suppose the difference between me and the rest of the Malaysian blogsphere is that I never really paid much interest to all this to begin with, so I have very little interest to lose.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Whats with Lim Kit Siang?
I don't know the full details of what he actually says, but that man sound to me like a bloody loose cannon. He seems to oppose for the sake of opposing, even if there really are little grounds to pick a fight. Provoking the BN MPs seems to be some past time that he enjoys very much.
Apparently, he called somebody a goblok in Parliament the other day. His defense was that he meant 'go blog', meaning that he was telling that person to start blogging. I'm sure there are contexts in which that phrase can make sense, but I am very skeptical that Kit Siang wasn't out to cause trouble.
I've seen his antics in parliament as well, and they aren't what I would call civilized. I mean, the BN backbenchers are a bunch of uncouth monkeys, but that doesn't mean that the opposition lender needs to stoop to their level to engage with them. I actually pity the speaker of the parliament. He always seems helpless in those situations, his repeated pleas for everyone to sit down and calm down are always ignored. Its like he's scared of the MPs or something. How is a mediator supposed to do his job when he has no power?
Watching the way Kit Siang handle situations has substantially eroded the credibility that he has with me. It makes me question the questions that he raises and every allegation that he makes is greeted with a healthy dose mistrust. I actually wonder why he is still opposition leader because I seriously doubt DAP is that devoid of talent. Maybe its one of those 'old farts that refuse to let go' problems that seem to plague other political parties.
Apparently, he called somebody a goblok in Parliament the other day. His defense was that he meant 'go blog', meaning that he was telling that person to start blogging. I'm sure there are contexts in which that phrase can make sense, but I am very skeptical that Kit Siang wasn't out to cause trouble.
I've seen his antics in parliament as well, and they aren't what I would call civilized. I mean, the BN backbenchers are a bunch of uncouth monkeys, but that doesn't mean that the opposition lender needs to stoop to their level to engage with them. I actually pity the speaker of the parliament. He always seems helpless in those situations, his repeated pleas for everyone to sit down and calm down are always ignored. Its like he's scared of the MPs or something. How is a mediator supposed to do his job when he has no power?
Watching the way Kit Siang handle situations has substantially eroded the credibility that he has with me. It makes me question the questions that he raises and every allegation that he makes is greeted with a healthy dose mistrust. I actually wonder why he is still opposition leader because I seriously doubt DAP is that devoid of talent. Maybe its one of those 'old farts that refuse to let go' problems that seem to plague other political parties.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Emboldened Malaysians.
Wow. Another rally? That whole Bersih thing seems to have given Malaysians some serious balls. I must say, I found this rally to be really amusing. Asking the Queen of England for help to sue the British government is plainly ridiculous. But thats also missing the point of the petition. The aim of the rally was to make some noise, and it sure did. I had never even heard of Hindraf before this. As a publicity stunt, it was bloody brilliant.
But to me, it serves another purpose. It further shows the levels of intolerance that our government has for any opposition to their stand. The violent response shown will only make the international community who might have been skeptical about all the reports of Malaysia not really being democratic after all believe all the stories circulating around the internet.
Confirming the stories of your opponents is not very smart. But I can't even begin to imagine what the government is doing. Everything they do flies in the face of logic, and I can't honestly say that my evaluation and my game plan would work any better for them. Because I don't know what their agenda is. I can't call them dumb, because they might see things that I don't see....
Oh well...
But to me, it serves another purpose. It further shows the levels of intolerance that our government has for any opposition to their stand. The violent response shown will only make the international community who might have been skeptical about all the reports of Malaysia not really being democratic after all believe all the stories circulating around the internet.
Confirming the stories of your opponents is not very smart. But I can't even begin to imagine what the government is doing. Everything they do flies in the face of logic, and I can't honestly say that my evaluation and my game plan would work any better for them. Because I don't know what their agenda is. I can't call them dumb, because they might see things that I don't see....
Oh well...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
I'm getting really annoyed.
Its 1 a.m. and I don't normally blog at this time, not unless I'm super emo or something. But I've spent a good portion of tonight reading about the bersih rallies, and I'm getting really pissed off.
I'm not pro-opposition, just anti-stupidity. Someone sent me a link to our information minister's telephone interview with Al-jazzera. I thought Syed Hamid Albar was rubbish on Hardtalk. That was enough to make me rant and rave for a good 15 minutes. Zainuddin's performance on the other hand makes me contemplate denying being a Malaysian when people ask where I'm from. The simple mindedness and the utter childishness of the accusations that he hurled at the news network is something I would expect from a name-calling match between 12 year olds.
I really wonder if he realizes how stupid he actually sounded. He probably doesn't, seeing how he probably gets away with that kind of rethoric on home ground where the press is held at gun point and the people are fed government or anti-opposition propaganda on a daily basis. But Al-jazzera is an international news network. What you say is going to be broadcasted to millions all over the world. If it was me, I'd be shit nervous. I would really hate to say the wrong thing.
But even if you did ambush me, an engineering student who has never really played politics, and has no experience dealing with the press, I don't think I would have cocked up that badly. He is the information minister. How the hell did such incompetence find its way up the ranks of our government?
And how is this for scare tactics? RTM 1's report on the rally ended with footage from other violent protests from other countries and the message "Demonstrasi selalu berakhir dengan keganasan". All reports in the local newspapers were similarly biased. The way that this is being handled either shows complete idiocy on the part of the government or a severe underestimation of human intelligence. Seriously, if this is the best the can come up with, then they are morons. If they can't be bothered to do better because they know that they are going to get away with all this, then they are insulting my intelligence. And I'm tired of it. Everytime this happens, all I see is this patronizing old man patting me on the head like I'm a 5 year old child and telling me to behave myself and to listen to him because he has 'eaten more salt than I have rice'. Well, I have read more books than you have words, so there.
Disillusionment really is reaching its tipping point.
I'm not pro-opposition, just anti-stupidity. Someone sent me a link to our information minister's telephone interview with Al-jazzera. I thought Syed Hamid Albar was rubbish on Hardtalk. That was enough to make me rant and rave for a good 15 minutes. Zainuddin's performance on the other hand makes me contemplate denying being a Malaysian when people ask where I'm from. The simple mindedness and the utter childishness of the accusations that he hurled at the news network is something I would expect from a name-calling match between 12 year olds.
I really wonder if he realizes how stupid he actually sounded. He probably doesn't, seeing how he probably gets away with that kind of rethoric on home ground where the press is held at gun point and the people are fed government or anti-opposition propaganda on a daily basis. But Al-jazzera is an international news network. What you say is going to be broadcasted to millions all over the world. If it was me, I'd be shit nervous. I would really hate to say the wrong thing.
But even if you did ambush me, an engineering student who has never really played politics, and has no experience dealing with the press, I don't think I would have cocked up that badly. He is the information minister. How the hell did such incompetence find its way up the ranks of our government?
And how is this for scare tactics? RTM 1's report on the rally ended with footage from other violent protests from other countries and the message "Demonstrasi selalu berakhir dengan keganasan". All reports in the local newspapers were similarly biased. The way that this is being handled either shows complete idiocy on the part of the government or a severe underestimation of human intelligence. Seriously, if this is the best the can come up with, then they are morons. If they can't be bothered to do better because they know that they are going to get away with all this, then they are insulting my intelligence. And I'm tired of it. Everytime this happens, all I see is this patronizing old man patting me on the head like I'm a 5 year old child and telling me to behave myself and to listen to him because he has 'eaten more salt than I have rice'. Well, I have read more books than you have words, so there.
Disillusionment really is reaching its tipping point.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Whoever knew?
I certainly never expected it to happen. But Malaysians finally are starting to show a bit of spine. They are demanding fair elections in a peaceful rally that had to be dispersed with water cannons. Apparently, the gathering was illegal because the permit for it was never issued. I tried looking for justification for denying these people the permit and I could find none. I shouldn't be surprised. In a rather anti-climatic twist, here is a potentially controversial article.
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/11/find-the-patter.html
Read the link that leads to the freakonomics column.
Steven Levitt is saying that voting is pointless if you want to make a difference, and as much as it defies everything that I have ever learned, I have to say that he is right. The first thing that I thought of when reading the article was "what if everyone thought like you? then there would be no democracy". Then I realized that the scenario would be impossible because we don't vote to protect our self interests anymore. We have come to accept that our vote does nothing to change the outcome of policy. What it does do, however, is massage our egos and give us the idea that we are good citizens.
Will I vote? I guess.. Just to stick it to the big man, I will. Its my way of picking a side.
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/11/find-the-patter.html
Read the link that leads to the freakonomics column.
Steven Levitt is saying that voting is pointless if you want to make a difference, and as much as it defies everything that I have ever learned, I have to say that he is right. The first thing that I thought of when reading the article was "what if everyone thought like you? then there would be no democracy". Then I realized that the scenario would be impossible because we don't vote to protect our self interests anymore. We have come to accept that our vote does nothing to change the outcome of policy. What it does do, however, is massage our egos and give us the idea that we are good citizens.
Will I vote? I guess.. Just to stick it to the big man, I will. Its my way of picking a side.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Nasty Politics.
Bladewing was always going on and on about racial politics. Justice was important to him, and so he saw it fit to scream and kick when he saw an imbalance. Admittedly, his view of the situation was decidedly narrow. He eventually decided that imbalances happen all over the world, and just ranting in frustration isn't going to significantly change anything. (Yes, I know it sounds defeatist, but I decided that there are more mature ways of dealing with his frustrations.)
This blog has been largely devoid of political content. I just didn't feel that it was worth it putting what I thought into this space. All the racist comments that get published in the local dailies were noted, quietly insulted and allowed to pass. Sometimes I talked about it over lunch, but thats as far as I went.
But now I actually find myself being threatened. Racist comments from the recent political gathering has been defended as harmless rethoric. I quote "Reaksi orang Melayu panas tapi terkawal. Panas tak terbakar, Marah tak berkelahi".
Oh really? So all that kissing of the keris and the expectation to use the curved dagger is all harmless pomp as well? Somehow I am skeptical. The party in mention has always been portraying itself as the champion of the moderate Malay. So far, it seems like all they want to do is to gut everyone else who question their "constitutionally enshrined special rights". I feel vulnerable and insecure. Can I be blamed for feeling that way?
When threatened, there are two things that people do. Fight or flight. As of now, the latter seems like the better idea. And its happening already. As this prime minister gives way, as he eventually will, the edoxus will accelerate, and the Malaysia as I love will cease to exist.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Time will tell, but to be honest, I think I'm going to get ready while I wait.
This blog has been largely devoid of political content. I just didn't feel that it was worth it putting what I thought into this space. All the racist comments that get published in the local dailies were noted, quietly insulted and allowed to pass. Sometimes I talked about it over lunch, but thats as far as I went.
But now I actually find myself being threatened. Racist comments from the recent political gathering has been defended as harmless rethoric. I quote "Reaksi orang Melayu panas tapi terkawal. Panas tak terbakar, Marah tak berkelahi".
Oh really? So all that kissing of the keris and the expectation to use the curved dagger is all harmless pomp as well? Somehow I am skeptical. The party in mention has always been portraying itself as the champion of the moderate Malay. So far, it seems like all they want to do is to gut everyone else who question their "constitutionally enshrined special rights". I feel vulnerable and insecure. Can I be blamed for feeling that way?
When threatened, there are two things that people do. Fight or flight. As of now, the latter seems like the better idea. And its happening already. As this prime minister gives way, as he eventually will, the edoxus will accelerate, and the Malaysia as I love will cease to exist.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Time will tell, but to be honest, I think I'm going to get ready while I wait.
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