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Quran Burning Story: This Is How The Media Embarrass Themselves

SetyaPutra.Org — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:45:21 +0000

Yesterday afternoon, the leader of a microscopic cult of idiots who announced plans to stage an “international” day of Quran burning in Gainesville, Florida held a press conference, for a rapt media which decided that his moronic plans were the single most important thing going on in America. At that press conference, in front of “9/11 Truther” signs, this cult leader lied to everyone who was watching, telling them that he was going to call off his 9/11 book burning festival because he had successfully reached a deal with the people behind the Park51 community center in Lower Manhattan, in which they would move their facility away from the site of the World Trade Center.

Not a word of this was true, but it was amazing, all the same — at one fell swoop, we had finally knit up the strands of a season of irrationality into one big, shiny, synergized knot. This was supposed to be the end of Recovery Summer? More like Relapse Summer.

The story of how one lone idiot, pimping an 18th-century brand of community terrorism, held the media hostage and forced some of this nation’s most powerful people to their knees to fitfully beg an end to his wackdoodlery is an extraordinary one. It’s a modern media retelling of Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying”, in which a gang of Islamaphobes, cast in the role of Addie Bundren, bamboozle the media into carrying their coffin full of malevolence on a journey of pure debasement. Let’s begin at the beginning.

Earlier this year, an organization called the Cordoba Initiative were granted permission by the appropriate authorities in New York City to turn an old Burlington Coat Factory at 51 Park Place in lower Manhattan into a community center. The organization was headed by an Imam named Feisal Abdul Rauf, who has made it his life’s work to stand against radical cults like al Qaeda and teach young Muslims that America is a place where one can freely worship at the appointed times and then join other faith communities in America in the task of building a great nation. The proposed community center was to include a basketball court and space for different religious communities in New York City to have interfaith relations. It was also going to have a place for Muslims to pray, if they liked.

The news didn’t sit well with many people in New York, most notably people who didn’t live in Manhattan. This is because they were told by a gaggle of dumb Islamophobes that what was planned was a “Ground Zero mosque.” Of course, the planned community center was not, strictly speaking, a “mosque.” And it was most definitely not “at Ground Zero.” “Ground Zero” is the site of an interminable municipal construction project. There are no plans to build a mosque there. “Ground Zero” is also not the name of a recognized New York City neighborhood, like DUMBO or Murray Hill. But, here’s the thing: even if it was, the battle to stop the “Ground Zero mosque” was already lost, because there already is a mosque in that neighborhood.

This logic failed to sink in, because very few people outside of me and the good people over at Wonkette made any attempt to bring these facts to light. But it might not have mattered, because the fertile field of opposition to the Park51 community center was the raw wound of the September 11th attacks. Obviously, many people are still feeling the loss of that day. And that loss breeds many emotions, among them sadness and anger. And people definitely do have the right to express their sadness and their anger. But what people don’t have the right to expect is that the government will intervene to remedy claims that have no basis in law.

As soon as the media saw themselves a shiny shiny shining thing shining shinily in New York City, they pounced! How perfect! Something for us to talk about during the slow-news summer! I mean, we could talk about the nation’s unemployment crisis, but that would mean we’d have to talk to poor, jobless people, and there’s no currency in having access to a bunch of poors. Right away, they accepted the premise that this was a “Ground Zero mosque,” when it wasn’t. And so, by the power vested in the media, things that weren’t in fact true were accorded the privilege of being “one side of a great debate” and “an interesting point of view.”

Charlie Brooker, calling out the media for this bullshit, states what should have happened at this very moment:

New York being a densely populated city, there are lots of other buildings and businesses within two blocks of Ground Zero, including a McDonald’s and a Burger King, neither of which has yet been accused of serving milkshakes and fries on hallowed ground. Regardless, for the opponents of Cordoba House, two blocks is too close, period. Frustratingly, they haven’t produced a map pinpointing precisely how close is OK.
That’s literally all I’d ask them in an interview. I’d stand there pointing at a map of the city. Would it be offensive here? What about here? Or how about way over there? And when they finally picked a suitable spot, I’d ask them to draw it on the map, sketching out roughly how big it should be, and how many windows it’s allowed to have. Then I’d hand them a colour swatch and ask them to decide on a colour for the lobby carpet. And the conversation would continue in this vein until everyone in the room was in tears. Myself included.

That hasn’t happened. Instead, 70% of Americans are opposed to the “Ground Zero mosque”, doubtless in many cases because they’ve been led to believe it literally is a mosque at Ground Zero. And if not…well, it must be something significant. Otherwise why would all these pundits be so angry about it? And why would anyone in the media listen to them with a straight face?

And because the media couldn’t do their job, a group of hack politicians, like Rick Lazio and Newt Gingrich, desperate to get a little famewhore attention for their quixotic political career goals, saw an opportunity to horn in on the “discussion.” They started telling all the sad and angry people that they actually did have the right to expect someone to provide a remedy to their claims. Their case was primarily based on the idea that nobody has the rights of religious freedom, no one has property rights and that the government has the right — nay, the duty! — to intrude.

Right away, they should have been entirely ridiculed, because the people pimping this bilge were primarily right-wing types who would ordinarily say that church and state should not be separated, that property rights are sacrosanct, and that government should be small and unobtrusive. Someone really should have said to Newt Gingrich, “Is this seriously the stand you want to take? Because if it is, we shall never allow you to claim to be a supporter of small government or a ‘Constitutional constructionist’ ever again. And if you try to assert that claim, we will drop on you like a ton of bricks. We will cause you real, public pain.”

But of course, that’s not what happened. The media has too much invested in flattering people like Newt Gingrich, and whoever writes Sarah Palin’s tweets. And so, these inherent contradictions simply became “one side of a great debate” and “an interesting point of view.”

And from there, some idiot news producer said, “Hey, I bet we can shoehorn this into our election narrative somehow!” And so the Park51 community center became an election issue. Imagine that, in a world with a nine year-long, going nowhere war and a massive unemployment crisis! Imagine how many times you would have to hit yourself in the head with a ball peen hammer before you would ask a politician from California how they stood on a local zoning issue in Manhattan.

But ask they did, all the way to the White House. And that’s when Democrats like Harry Reid stepped forward to publicly cover themselves in cowardice. This turned the frenzy up several notches for the media, because suddenly, they had obtained a very precious thing — the right to say “both sides do this.” The matter had become a folie a deux — a madness made for two! — but the media focused all their attention on the “two” and none on the “madness.”

And in that climate, a pastor named Terry Jones saw an opportunity to make himself famous. Jones heads up a heretofore unknown and uncared-about gang of Florida morons known as the Dove Outreach Church — minor bit players in the field of antagonizing American Muslims. This idiot announced that he was going to burn some Qurans on September 11th, and was anyone interested in giving this nonsense a whole lot of media attention?

And boy howdy, lots of people took him up on the offer! And you know why they did that? Because of the shame. Because deep down, your media all-stars knew that they had aided and abetted something that closely resembled an intellectual atrocity, and now it was time to atone by finding the lowest-hanging fruit available and make themselves feel better by beating on them repeatedly for being assholes — something they should have already been doing for months!

And this gave an opportunity for some of those who had opposed the Park51 community center — who deserved the treatment being meted out to Terry Jones — to do the same. They joined their friends in the media in this demonstration of game-show absolution, saying, “This level of bigotry is unacceptable! It’s so declasse in comparison to our own bigotry, which is a refined, ‘Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte’ form of despicableness.”

A few people, like John Boehner and whoever writes Sarah Palin’s tweets went so far as to say, “See, this is exactly the same thing we were decrying with the Ground Zero mosque.” Except it wasn’t, because the Ground Zero mosque was a thing they had made up!

None of this bothered Terry Jones at all! Why should it? In the long history of fringe religious figures saying and doing stupid things, it is exceedingly rare for the media to provide much attention to them. Pat Robertson has been telling America that gay people cause hurricanes for years, and it never amounts to much in the way of coverage beyond a periodic reminder that Pat Robertson is a complete fool. Terry Jones, however, had been given something very precious: he was now “one side of a great debate” who possessed “an interesting point of view.”

And the media worked very hard to push the case that Jones was part of a debate. Now, Quran burning was an election-year issue, for which every candidate had to answer. And they even went so far as to ask Jones repeatedly, “What if President Obama told you not to do this? What if former President George W. Bush told you not to do this?” They were literally brokering negotiations between an idiot cult leader and some of the most powerful and important people in the world!

By now, things were terribly out of control. President Obama had to publicly state that Quran burning is a stupid thing to do. Imagine how out of touch you have to be that you need to go all the way to the White House to find that answer! Other important people were compelled to interject at this point. General David Petraeus had to come forward and state the plainly obvious: that all the public attention being given to this Quran burning would undermine the ability of U.S. forces to conduct their counterinsurgency operations, which depend heavily on winning the “hearts and minds” of Afghans. I think a lot of people read this as Petraeus speaking out against the attention-seeker, Terry Jones. But I think he was speaking more directly to the attention-givers. And everything that Justin Elliot reports here, I believe, lends credence to my contention.

Eventually, Robert Gates — the Secretary of Defense, who is running two wars! — had to call Jones up and try to convince him not to do this. “Which is crazy,” says Alex Pareene, accurately, because when, exactly, did the Pentagon start negotiating with two-bit terrorists?

All of this finally culminated with yesterday’s press conference, where Terry Jones lied and said that the Park51 community center was going to move, thanks to him. You see where this is headed now, don’t you? Now the people behind Park51 are on the hook for stopping this Quran burning, and all of the negative external impact it may have. Now, all of the refined hate-merchants from early in the story can say that if the “Ground Zero mosque” isn’t moved, immediately, American troops could die!

To go back to Charlie Brooker, let’s remember that after sizing up the incompetence that pervaded the Park51 coverage, he warned that the “media” should just “give up” before they “[made] things worse.” Pretty prophetic, isn’t it? They got played, and played badly, by a dude with 14th-century religious beliefs, 19th-century facial hair and ultra-modern media savvy. Terry Jones has essentially blackmailed some of the most important people in America, with the assistance of the media.

Let’s remember that all of this paralysis was caused by 50 people who wanted to burn a book that’s available for free, on the Internet!

There were many, many moments where someone could have simply said, “No, we should really not be doing this. These Islamophobes are objectively wrong, objectively stupid, objectively contradictory, objectively harmful, and by God, as someone with a functioning brain and a devotion to the pursuit of reason above all else, I am going to stand here and say no to all of this.” But as it turns out, it wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that someone finally had the guts to say maybe we cannot really believe a word this man is saying.

Well, they should have thought of that before they decided to point a bunch of teevee cameras at him, I guess

(This interested article from : Huffingtonpost)

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Earth Hour 2010 at 8.30PM on March 27, Turn out your light

SetyaPutra.Org — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:26 +0000

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour. In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future. Whether you are an individual, a business, a school or a city, you can show your support for Earth Hour by turning off your lights at 8.30PM on March 27 wherever you are on the planet. It’s Showtime! Show what can be done. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to Asia to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.

Earth Hour is organized by WWF. With almost 5 million supporters and a global network in over 100 countries, it’s one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth’s natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

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Bing will go to the next level after Microsoft Marries Yahoo

SetyaPutra.Org — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:14:38 +0000

This year, Yahoo give us a lot of shocking news. After last year Microsoft offer turn down by Yahoo, and 2nd quarter of this year Yahoo announce to close Geocities, and now Microsoft has announced that it has partnered with Yahoo in order to create a stronger no. 2 on the search engine market to go against Google. Through the marriage, after over a year and a half of off-again on-again speculation and failed negotiations, Microsoft and Yahoo have combined their search engine and online advertising businesses in order to close the gap separating both companies from Google. Under the agreement, Microsoft’s Bing search engine will power Yahoo search on all Yahoo sites. At the same time, Yahoo will take on the role of exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for itself and for Microsoft, and will deal directly with both of the companies’ premium search advertisers.

CEO Carol Bartz stated earlier this year that it would take Microsoft boatloads of money to get Yahoo. While there is no money upfront, according to the financial terms of the agreement disclosed, Bartz still managed to get her wish. The Yahoo CEO indicates that the partnership with Microsoft brings to the table “boatloads of value” for Yahoo, for its users, and for the industry. As far as Yahoo is concerned, the company is expecting its annual operating income to get a boost of approximately $500 million. Current estimates reveal that Yahoo expects expenditure savings of about $200 million, with a forecasted $275 million extra to annual operating cash flow.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo!, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” revealed Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive officer. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale. With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

Microsoft and Yahoo promised that the deal was designed to offer an evolved web search experience to benefit not only end users but also advertisers. At the same time, the Redmond company noted that the partnership would ensure sustained innovation to the industry. Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo have made it a secret that they would flex their combined search engine muscles to go against Google.

The Source : – Softpedia

Human Birth Control can reduce Poverty

SetyaPutra.Org — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:28:47 +0000

Human Birth Control

According to emedicinehealth.com birth control is preventing pregnancy.

Today, the voluntary control of fertility is of paramount importance to modern society. For centuries, humans have relied upon their imagination to avoid pregnancy.

Egyptian ancient writings dating back to 1850 BC refer to techniques using a device placed in a woman’s vagina made of crocodile dung and fermented dough, which most likely created a hostile environment for sperm. Other items placed in the vagina included plugs of gum, honey, and acacia.
During the early second century in Rome, a highly acidic concoction of fruits, nuts, and wool was placed on the cervix as a type of spermicidal barrier.

From a global perspective, countries currently face the crisis of rapid growth of the human population that has begun to threaten human survival. According to the Population Reference Bureau’s 2003 World Population Data Sheet, the world’s current growth rate is 1.3%. Based on this growth rate, the population would double in 53.8 years. The less developed world’s natural increase rate (births minus deaths, without migration) is 1.6%; therefore, population in these countries would double in 43.8 years.

Poverty

Poverty is the deprivation of common necessities such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens (source : wikipedia.org).

According to World Bank, Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.

Relationship

There are several keywords that comes up :

Birth, rapid growth of the human birth would double in less than 40 years. So you can imagine that if in one country have more people than availability of the land they can life in it, a lot of problem will be rise and this country threaten by chaos from its people that hunger for food, place or money that not enough for all people.

Human population, with big human population on country like Indonesia would reduce oppurtunity to have job, to have enough income to meet their basic needs, to have decent health services, etc.

Poverty, some nations deals the poverty even they only have less human population. But a lot of nations deals with poverty because they have a lot of people is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. This situation is because more people living in one little space or land than job’s supply. Unemployment rate would rise and poverty will be all over these countries.

Birth Control, this method would reduce growth rate of human population in a country and hope that people have enough food, place or money to fulfill their basic needs. Less human population would supplied more job to fulfill in this country and would reduce poverty.

Some people or expert would say that it’s not true that birth control alone will reduce poverty because poverty have a lot of aspects to look for. Yes, I agree with you completely. But at least birth control will be one giant step to stop poverty because a lot of country that have big population growth also have big poverty problem.

For example, Indonesia. When Orde Baru regim rules, they have birth control program known as Keluarga Berencana with the slogan “Dua Anak Cukup“. With this program or slogan, Orde Baru regim can reduce poverty rate that rise when Orde Lama regim rules this country. A lot of people can have a job and food price reachable by the people’s income.

Now, after Orde Baru falls, the birth control program still exist and supervised by goverment bureau called BKKBN. But this bureau still can not control human population because Indonesia government bussy to defend themself from impeachment threaten by parlement’s member so this program is not top priority so BKKBN not have enough resources to control human population in Indonesia. Because of that, human population in Indonesia rise about 20 millions people in just 10 years. With about 200 millions people live in Indonesia now, definitely would rise poverty rate.

Solution

If Indonesia government want to reduce poverty rate, they have to activate again Keluarga Berencana program and stimulate this program with grant or compliment from government for their people if they do this program in their family. Yes, this is only one solution to reduce poverty beside a lot of solutions like rise GDP, lower food price, and give people job’s oppurtunity, but this one solution is almost 60% will reduce poverty rate because birth control have multiple effect to poverty causes.

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Shoe attack on Bush Farewell War Zone Tour in Iraq

SetyaPutra.Org — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:42:02 +0000

The unique moment at the end of year 2008 is happen in Iraq when Muntazer al-Zaidi, Iraqi TV news reporter, expressing the frustration of a nation and the world, throws both of his shoes at President George W. Bush. , who had been giving a joint press statement with Nuri Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, ducked behind a podium as the shoes narrowly missed his head.

ABC News said that “President Bush made his final swing as president through two war zones Monday, visiting with troops that he sent to Iraq and Afghanistan and will soon turn over to a new commander in chief. Surely the most unexpected point in the carefully scripted, two-day presidential trip came when a reporter threw his shoes at the president during a press conference in Baghdad, both of which Bush artfully dodged from behind the podium.”

MSN News reported : “Muntazer al-Zaidi jumped up as Bush held a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, shouted “It is the farewell kiss, you dog” and threw his footwear. The president lowered his head and the first shoe hit the American and Iraqi flags behind the two leaders. The second was off target. Zaidi, a reporter with the Al-Baghdadia channel which broadcasts from Cairo, was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched from the room.

Al Jazeera made an interesting article about this : “In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. The incident will serve as a vivid reminder of the widespread opposition to the US-led invasion of, and subsequent war in, Iraq - the conflict which has come to define Bush’s presidency. Bush shrugged off the incident and quipped: All I can report is that it’s a size 10. Adil Shamoo, an Iraqi analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC, told Al Jazeera: “I think we should go beyond the shoe and think about the fact that the US should respect Iraq’s sovereignty in order to regain respect of the Iraqi people and the Arab world”.

So what do you say about this incident ?

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Sistem Devisa Bebas vs Sistem Devisa Terkendali

SetyaPutra.Org — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:25:28 +0000

Beberapa hari lalu, ada pertanyaan mahasiswa saya yang tertarik mengenai apa itu sistem devisa bebas dan terkendali dan apa saja kelebihan dan kekurangannya. Karena bidang keahlian saya di akuntansi dan sistem informasi, saya bukan ahli moneter maupun ekonomi makro maka saya mencoba melakukan “sedikit” riset mengenai hal ini. Dan inilah pemahaman yang saya dapatkan selama saya adakan riset kecil. Jika ada yang salah atau tidak sepaham, tolong berikan pencerahan di area komentar.

Sistem Devisa Bebas
Sistem ini merupakan sistem devisa yang dianut oleh Indonesia (a.k.a Bank Indonesia dan Pemerintah) sebagaimana diatur dalam UU 24/1999 tentang Lalu Lintas Devisa. Sistem devisa bebas adalah suatu sistem lalu lintas devisa dimana siapapun bisa memiliki dan bebas menggunakan devisa. Dengan demikian maka terjadilah fungsi permintaan dan penawaran pasar. Nilai tukar mata uang asing akan dipengaruhi oleh banyaknya permintaan dan penawaran di pasar, meskipun ada juga pengaruh dari suku bungan bank sentral, tingkat inflasi, maupun kebijakan fiskal pemerintah. Tetapi pada dasarnya lebih tergantung dari jumlah permintaan dan penawaran di pasar.

Kelebihan dari sistem devisa bebas ini, menurut pemahaman saya, akan menunjukkan sisi kekuatan fundamental ekonomi nasional secara nyata karena nilai investasi yang masuk serta capital yang dibawa keluar Indonesia akan memiliki nilai ekonomis yang nyata dengan fundamental ekonomi dunia. Kalau diingat krisis moneter di akhir era tahun 90 an (sekitar tahun 96 s/d 99), nilai dolar yang awalnya bernilai 2 ribu – 3 ribuan melonjak sampai 16 ribuan. Ini karena nilai pasar sesungguhnya nilai rupiah adalah diatas 10 ribuan per dolar Amerika. Sehingga dengan sistem devisa bebas ini maka nilai tukar rupiah terhadap dolar diharapkan merupakan nilai sesungguhnya. Selain itu bisa memberikan kepastian bagi investor untuk membuat keputusan investasi di Indonesia, apakah harus membawa capital ke Indonesia atau menempatkan di negara lain.

Kelemahannya adalah, ini masih menurut saya, cadangan devisa Indonesia bisa semakin lama semakin tergerus apabila nilai rupiah terus berfluktuasi diatas nilai psikologis (nilai yang dianggap nyata bagi rupiah dan dolar) karena adanya faktor spekulasi dari para spekulan. Menurut Gubernur BI, Boediono, posisi cadangan devisa pada akhir Oktober 2008 sekitar US$ 50,4 miliar. Angka tersebut melorot jauh dari posisi pada akhir September sekitar 57 miliar dolar AS yang disebabkan intervensi yang dilakukan BI untuk menjaga nilai tukar rupiah. Padahal banyak ekonom menyebutkan nilai minimal cadangan devisa adalah diantara US$ 30-36 miliar. Jadi bisa dibayangkan apabila BI selalu melakukan intervensi ke pasar terus menerus apabila nilai rupiah terus anjlok sampai tahun depan, maka bisa dipastikan akan mengurangi jumlah cadangan devisa. Sudah menjadi rahasia umum bahwa sejak Indonesia menganut sistem devisa bebas maka banyak orang berlomba-lomba menjadi spekulan untuk memperoleh gain antara harga beli dolar saat dia beli dengan harga jual dolar saat ini jika mengalami kenaikan. Jika selisih besar maka nilai rupiah akan semakin terpuruk karena banyak spekulan yang memilih membeli dolar. Meskipun faktor hutang LN yang jatuh tempo juga bisa menjadi faktornya tetapi menurut BI kebanyakan adalah karena faktor spekulan. Oleh karena itu baru-baru ini BI mengeluarkan aturan underlying transactions (aturan dengan meminta pelaku transaksi menyertakan NPWP serta alasan yang jelas penggunaan valas) untuk pembelian valas minimal ekuivalen 100.000 dolar AS.

Sistem Devisa Terkendali
Sistem ini merupakan sistem devisa yang mengendalikan lalu lintas devisa dengan mengenakan batasan waktu bagi dana asing yang baru masuk, sehingga bisa parkir di dalam negeri dalam jangka waktu tertentu, misalnya enam bulan sampai satu tahun. Dengan demikian, pemerintah dan BI memiliki kendali atas dana asing yang bersifat spekulatif, yang tidak jelas tujuan masuknya ke pasar domestik. Selain itu bisa saja pemerintah dan BI melakukan pengendalian dengan cara menetapkan nilai tukar rupiah terhadap mata uang asing secara berkala, seperti dulu jaman Soeharto.

Kelebihannya, menurut pemahaman saya, memberikan peluang bagi sektor riil yang menggunakan bahan baku atau peralatan dari luar negeri untuk merencanakan aktivitas usaha dengan baik. Selain itu bisa mencegah eksportir untuk memarkir dananya di luar negeri dan tetap menaham dananya di dalam negeri. Dan yang penting adalah bisa menekan faktor spekulatif para spekulan karena bila selisih nilai tukar antara jual dan beli ditentukan berkisar antara 100-300 poin maka aktivitas spekulatif bisa ditekan/dihindari karena tidak menarik lagi dalam sisi pengambilan gain.

Kelemahannya, menurut saya, adalah sesuai dengan pengalaman krisis moneter 10 tahun lalu, nilai tukar tidak mencerminkan nilai riil dari mata uang rupiah sehingga saat Indonesia terkena krisis moneter maka mata uang kita akan terjun bebas. Kalau sudah begini semua sektor akan terkena imbasnya, mulai sektor keuangan sampai sektor riil dan akan butuh waktu lama untuk sembuh.

Sumber :
* Tempo Interaktif
* Antara
* Suara Pembaharuan
* Beberapa sumber bebas lainnya diinternet

Makanan dan Susu Mengandung Melamin

SetyaPutra.Org — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:14:49 +0000

Courtesy of MetroTV

Meskipun sudah agak basi, ini saya coba informasikan mengenai kasus makanan dan susu yang mengandung melamin produk Cina. Setelah produk Cina yang mengandung bahan pengawet mayat (formalin) serta mainan Cina yang menggunakan plastik limbah kimia beredar di Indonesia, kini dihebohkan lagi dengan produk susu (yang notabene pemiliknya juga bagian dari produsen susu New Zealand) yang mengandung melamin. Melamin ini digunakan sebagai cara untuk mengelabui kadar protein saat diuji. Berikut Informasi mengenai produk yang mengandung susu dari Cina tersebut, saya ambil dari Metro TV, BPPOM dan Departemen Kesehatan RI :

Badan POM RI menindaklanjuti pengamanan produk susu yang berasal dari China dengan menyurati Asosiasi Peritel Indonesia tertanggal 23 September 2008, meminta agar melakukan pengamanan terhadap produk-produk susu serta produk-produk yang mengandung susu dari China. Dilakukan dengan cara menariknya dari peredaran, menyegel dan melaporkan hasilnya kepada Badan POM RI.

Produk-produk yang diminta ditarik dari peredaran meliputi 28 item yaitu: Jinwel Yougoo susu fermentasi rasa jeruk, Jinwel Yougoo aneka buah, Jinwel Yougoo tanpa rasa, Guozhen susu bubuk fullcream, Meiji Indoeskrim Gold Monas rasa coklat, Meiji Indoeskrim Gold Monas rasa vanila, Oreo Stick Wafer, Oreo Stick Wafer, Oreo Coklat Sandwich Cookies, M&M’s kembang gula coklat susu, M&M’s coklat susu, Snicker’s (Biskuit-Nougat lapis coklat), Dove Choc kembang gula coklat, Dove Choc, Dove Choc, Natural Choice yogurt Flavoured Ice Bar, Yili Bean Club matcha Red Bean ice bar, Yili Bean Club red bean ice bar, Yili Prestige Chocliz, Yili Chestnut Ice Bar, Nestle Dairy Farm UHT pure milk, Yili High Calcium low fat Milk Beverage, Yili High Calcium Milk Beverage, Yili pure milk 205 ml, Yili Pure Milk 1 L, Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured milk, White Rabbit creamy candy, dan Yili Choice Dairy Frozen yoghurt bar (kembang gula).

Hal ini dikuatkan dengan surat edaran Menteri Kesehatan RI yang bisa dibaca disini.

Kita harus arif dan bijak menangani hal ini, mulai dari pemerintah, LSM dan masyarakat harus bisa bijak dan jernih melihat hal ini sehingga tidak merugikan konsumen terutama anak-anak generasi penerus bangsa. Tidak mungkin semuanya ditimpakan pada pemerintah, berapa sih personel pemerintah seluruh Indonesia dan berapa jumlah penduduk sekarang ? Jadi diharapkan sebenarnya lembaga LSM seperti YLKI lebih berperan aktif membantu pemerintah dengan memberikan informasi yang merugikan konsumen ini selain ke pihak pemerintah (termasuk kepolisian kalau perlu), juga ke pihak masyarakat.

Saya mendukung kalau YLKI juga membuat press release mengenai produk-produk apa yang berbahaya bagi konsumen, tidak hanya menimpakan ini kesalahan dan tanggung-jawab pemerintah seperti yang terdengar dari perkataan staf peneliti YLKI (perempuan saya lupa namanya) di televisi yang menyebutkan ini salah pemerintah saja. Sangat menyejukkan ketika Ketua YLKI di televisi menyebutkan bahwa ini memang membutuhkan peran serta semua masyarakat karena berapa sih pegawai pemerintah dibandingkan jumlah penduduk Indonesia.

Harapan saya, semoga bangsa ini segera keluar dari krisis kepercayaan karena kita sekarang sulit percaya satu sama lain sehingga sulit bekerjasama.

Salam Damai!

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Pengumuman Penerimaan CPNS di Kopertis 7 Jatim

SetyaPutra.Org — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:30:07 +0000

Baru mampir ke website kopertis 7 dan ada pengumuman penerimaan CPNS di lingkungan Kopertis Wilayah VII Jatim sebagai berikut :

Pendidikan Akademik Formasi :

S-1 Adm.Negara 1
S-1 Akuntansi 1
S-1 Teknik Informatika 1

Waktu Pendaftaran :

Penerimaan pendaftaran, seleksi administrasi, pengisian biodata, dan pengambilan Nomor Tanda Peserta Ujian oleh yang bersangkutan mulai tanggal 13 sampai dengan 27 September 2008 di Kopertis Wilayah VII Jatim, Jalan Kertajaya Indah Timur No. 55 (setiap hari kerja).

Informasi selengkapnya, silahkan mampir ke website Kopertis Wilayah VII Jatim.

Selamat mencoba!

Perlunya sertifikasi bagi panitia penerimaan CPNS (2)

Isu BHP dan Komersialisasi Pendidikan

SetyaPutra.Org — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:17:34 +0000

Menurut RUU BHP, “BHP adalah badan hukum bagi penyelenggaraan dan/atau satuan pendidikan formal, yang berfungsi memberikan pelayanan pendidikan kepada peserta didik, berprinsip nirlaba, dan dapat mengelola dana secara mandiri untuk memajukan satuan pendidikan”. Akhir-akhir ini kalau kita melihat berita di TV hampir selalu ada berita mengenai demo mahasiswa menolak RUU BHP dan menolak komersialisasi pendidikan. Dengan adanya BHP maka pendidikan akan semakin mahal. Secara kasat mata memang kita pasti manggut-manggut dan setuju pada aksi demo ini. Tetapi sebagai insan berakal dan berbudaya, kita diberi oleh Tuhan kemampuan berpikir dan kemampuan ini harus dilakukan dengan jernih.

Bukan maksud saya untuk menolak demo itu, hanya esensinya yang harus dicermati, yaitu harus cermat dulu akan 2 hal :

Siapa yang melakukan komersialisasi pendidikan ?
Dan siapa saja penyelenggara pendidikan (terutama formal) itu?

Yang melakukan komersialisasi pendidikan adalah penyelenggara pendidikan yang mementingkan keuntungan semata dalam menjalankannya serta tidak menggunakan keuntungan tersebut untuk kepentingan kemajuan pendidikan yang dilaksanakannya, misalnya untuk membangun fasilitas atau meningkatkan SDM.

Penyelenggara pendidikan adalah badan/organisasi yang mendirikan satuan pendidikan dan melakukan pendidikan bagi masyarakat umum. Ada 2 tipe badan/organisasi yang berkembang di Indonesia menurut pendirinya, yaitu pemerintah baik pusat maupun daerah (negeri) dan masyarakat (swasta).

Sekarang kita gabung kembali mengenai isu BHP dan komersialisasi pendidikan. Dalam UU Sisdiknas menegaskan bahwa BHP berprinsip nirlaba yang berarti semua sisa lebih dari kegiatan yang dilakukan BHP, harus dikembalikan untuk kepentingan pengelolaan satuan pendidikan di dalam BHP. Dari prinsip ini maka sebenarnya konsep komersialisasi pendidikan tidak ada.

Yang menjadi masalah adalah pendidikan yang diselenggarakan pemerintah terutama perguruan tinggi, dengan konsep BHP ini maka PTN dikuatirkan akan menjadi ladang komersialisasi pendidikan. Nah ini baru ada kesinambungannya. Kalau di PTS, dari dulu PTS sudah otonom dalam segala hal apalagi biaya/dananya. Bahkan banyak PTS yang selalu merugi (kalau dikaitkan dengan kondisi Laporan Keuangan) tetapi masih tetap bisa bertahan bahkan bisa meningkatkan jumlah kapasistas penerimaan mahasiswanya. Dengan adanya BHP ini sebenarnya PTS sudah tidak asing lagi.

Oke, sekarang kita tarik benang merah dalam pros and cons :

Komersialisasi pendidikan akan terjadi di PTN

Nah, ini makanya yang demo kebanyakan mahasiswa dari PTN. Karena dengan adanya BHP dikuatirkan penyelenggara PTN ini akan menggunakan dalih otonom demi menaikkan biaya pendidikan dengan alasan untuk pengembangan kampus, menaikkan honor dosen, dll. Selain itu dengan otonom ini maka PTN akan dengan mudah membuat unit bisnis bagi menambah pundi-pundi keuangannya, seperti membuka hotel di kampus, membuka unit konsultan, menyewakan peralatan kampus, membuka kelas ekstensi tanpa batas, dll. Padahal mereka menggunakan fasilitas negara bahkan dosennya PNS dan digaji negara, semestinya tidak perlu melakukan efek otonomi sedrastis ini. Bagaimana dengan PTS ? Saya yakin bahwa hampir 99% tidak melakukan komersialisasi pendidikan karena sejak dulu sudah otonom dan dibiayai sendiri.

Kalau begitu mengapa ada juga PTS yang protes adanya BHP ?

Ada kalimat dalam konsep nirlaba seperti ini : “Nirlaba, yaitu prinsip kegiatan yang tujuan utamanya bukan mencari sisa lebih, sehingga apabila timbul sisa lebih hasil usaha dari kegiatan BHP, maka seluruh sisa lebih hasil kegiatan tersebut harus ditanamkan kembali ke dalam BHP untuk meningkatkan kapasitas dan/atau mutu layanan pendidikan”. Kalimat apabila timbul sisa lebih hasil usaha harus ditanamkan kembali inilah yang “kemungkinan” menjadi pemicunya. Kalau dipikir-pikir, PTS melakukan otonom sejak lama dan tentunya sesekali jika ada sisa lebih semestinya boleh dimanfaatkan untuk pengembangan ke arah lain, misalnya membangun hotel atau unit bisnis lainnya yang tentunya nanti bisa menopang PTS itu sendiri. Jadi seperti tidak ada keadilan antara PTN dan PTS, ini yang kemungkinan dirasakan. Padahal kalau pemerintah mau melihat dengan lebih jernih, pendidikan yang diselenggarakan masyarakat lebih banyak daripada diselenggarakan pemerintah. Kalau mau berhitung, jumlah mahasiswa PTS dan PTN lebih banyak PTS di seluruh Indonesia. Jadi prinsip keadilan sebenarnya yang diminta oleh PTS.

Dari “persepsi” yang saya tulis diatas, maka dikotomi PTS dan PTN tetap ada meskipun menurut UU Sisdiknas semua disamakan. Seharusnya istilah PTN dan PTS dihilangkan dan perlakuan disamakan. Demo mahasiswa tetap penting, tetapi lebih penting lagi kalau budaya PTN ini yang patut dicarikan solusinya. Bagaimana mungkin hampir semua biaya PTN ditanggung pemerintah tapi biaya kuliahnya masih lebih mahal daripada kuliah di PTS ? Jadi menurut “persepsi” saya yang mungkin masih sempit, model BHP sepertinya tidak masalah, yang menjadi masalah bagaimana PTN menyikapi BHP ini sebagai cambuk atau sebagai jalan menuju komersialisasi pendidikan.

Asalkan pelaksanaan BHP ada yang terus mengawasi dan setiap kontra atas BHP ini segera diluruskan pemerintah tanpa memandang apakah itu PTN dan PTS, saya yakin pendidikan di Indonesia akan semakin maju. Dan saya yakin mahasiswa berada di belakang pemerintah dalam hal BHP ini jika BHP bisa membuat biaya pendidikan murah.

Patut direnungkan!

Microsoft masih ingin mengakuisisi Yahoo!

SetyaPutra.Org — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:42:45 +0000

Penolakan Yahoo! terhadap proposal akuisisi Microsoft ternyata tidak membuat Steve A. Ballmer, CEO Microsoft, untuk mundur. Ballmer bahkan menyatakan pihaknya akan terus berupaya “menyadarkan” pemegang saham dari perusahaan yang didirikan Jerry Yang itu bahwa penawaran dari Microsoft merupakan penawaran paling realistis dan sesuai dengan nilai Yahoo! saat ini. Dalam Press Release – nya, Microsoft sangat menyayangkan atas penolakan ini.

“It is unfortunate that Yahoo! has not embraced our full and fair proposal to combine our companies,” the statement begins. “Based on conversations with stakeholders of both companies, we are confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction is in the best interests of all parties.”

Menurut analisa pasar, Ballmer kemungkinan akan menaikkan tawarannya. Tetapi ada analisa yang agak ekstrim juga bahwa kemungkinan malah Ballmer akan menurunkan tawarannya untuk memberikan “pelajaran”. Bayangkan, saat Microsoft melakukan penawaran ke Yahoo! dengan nilai yang fantastis sebesar $44,6 milyar – padahal menurut perhitungan nilai Yahoo! saat ini masih berkisar antara $33-$36 milyar, saham Yahoo! naik 17%. Bagaimana terjadinya jika Microsoft merangsang pasar saham dengan memberikan penawaran yang lebih rendah ?

Saat ini, pasar search engine dan iklan di internet dipegang oleh Google (60% pangsa pasar), sedangkan Yahoo! diperkirakan hanya memegang dibawah 30% pangsa pasar. Dengan akuisisi ini, Microsoft sebenarnya memberikan jalan bagi Yahoo! untuk menaikkan pangsa pasarnya sampai 30% keatas. Tetapi dengan kondisi banyaknya “musuh” Microsoft, sepertinya banyak yang memprediksikan Yahoo! akan semakin hancur karena banyak pengguna iklan dan search engine adalah kalangan personal dan institusi yang tidak menyenangi sepak terjang Microsoft.

Kita tunggu saja tekad dari Ballmer apakah bisa terwujud membuat Microhoo! sebagai kesatuan dan ikon search engine dan iklan di internet, karena saya dan banyak orang juga mengakui, kemampuan Microsoft dalam mengembangkan bisnis serta menaikkan pangsa pasar perusahaan yang diakuisisinya cukup jempolan.