Supersize MeKatrina has done more than rip levees and lives apart, it has exposed the rift between poverty and a government choked with so much bureaucracy that has cut taxes for the well-off and funding that could have prevented the hurricane's wrath from worsening.
You Dumb People of the Truth
The long gray line is not about the uniform of West Point. It is about the long history of our flirtation with the lesser evil, with white lies. That is the problem with compromise. It starts so innocently, so quietly. It hardly does anyone any harm, a little half-truth here, a just-this-once exception there. Evil takes on a lesser form, and a lie becomes white.
Curious to note that in these postmodern times, your "gray line" is what Aristotle would describe as the "Golden Mean." Or, is it perhaps your interpretation of white lies and black Filipino hair, which when combined together in a Tupperware bowl reveals the so-called "gray area?" I don't know, but I'm responding to your rambling with some of my own.
Anyway, the state of affairs in the Philippines has triggered a surge for the truth, even from those who hardly know how to spell it.
Way to put down those little unimportant illiterate people they call the "majority voting bloc." And, were you chewing on kakanin when you said "surge" when you actually meant "search?"
Even better is the sudden inclusion of integrity together with the truth as now the demands of the times from politicians towards other politicians.
I don't get this sentence. I hate it, it makes me feel stupid.
But:
In other words, our love of country comes only after our love for our own interests. And if there is a conflict of interest, then personal interests come first. To paraphrase it, a Filipino says to the Philippines, "It is not that I love you less, but I love me more."
...probably makes *you* feel stupid! So, quits lang tayo! You have "In other words," and *then* you have "To paraphrase it." We got it the first time, okay?
The easy manner by which even our moral leaders have been able to live with the lesser evil is indication enough [that] the return of truth and integrity as dominant values in Philippine society will not come without a hard struggle.
Here's something I agree with you on. How can we be the most Christian country in Asia, with a priest-to-parokyano ratio of 1:24 (I made that one up, by the way), and have such questionable scruples? I think it's time that somebody who has a public voice (like you, Jose) to speak up and say that the so-called moral bastion that is the Roman Catholic church is dated. Threatening people with Hell no longer works. We have to punish them in this life.
The long gray line must be cut. It is so much easier to be simply truthful, to know the difference between black and white, and to choose right over wrong.
Well, there you go, contradicting your thesis again. First, you give the impression that this "long gray line" (LGL) was born like the bastard son of Satan. Then, LGL is "long, indeed." Then it's agonizingly personal. Then, you say LGL "will not be easy to break." Now, you go and say it is "so much easier to be simply truthful." Like how it's so much more simple to go and fire an arrow that hits you right in the eye! You offer no solution, no hope, just a soft, twisted, choppy, ditty (with an anonymous anecdote) where you continue to show that you have no business writing (but you're good blog fodder!).
Katrina's Wake: Brown Resigns, Bush Ratings Low, Coulter Spins
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the White House did not seek Brown's resignation."This was Mike Brown's decision and we respect his decision," McClellan said.
McClellan praised Brown's work but conspicuously left out any reference to his contribution to the Katrina efforts.
"The president appreciates Mike Brown's service," he said. "Mike has done a lot of great work on a number of hurricanes."
Meanwhile, Bush "ducked questions" on Brown's resignation:
The president ducked questions about Brown's resignation. "Maybe you know something I don't know. I've been working," the president said to reporters on an inspection tour of damage in Gulfport, Miss. Bush said he planned to talk with Brown's boss, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, from Air Force One on the flight back to Washington.
Bush's job ratings are lowest ever:
In Katrina’s wake, the president’s popularity and job-approval ratings have dropped across the board. Only 38 percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is doing his job overall, a record-low for this president in the NEWSWEEK poll.A majority of Americans (57 percent) say “government’s slow response to what happened in New Orleans” has made them lose confidence in government’s ability to deal with another major natural disaster.
It hasn't been this low since Abu Ghraib. Meanwhile, Karl Rove's high-gear girl (aka Ann Coulter) had these twisted statements in defense of Bush:
When co-host Alan Colmes cited President Bush's claim, made during a September 1 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, that he "didn't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," Coulter interjected: "That's manifestly true." But after Colmes objected to her assertion, Coulter admitted she actually did not know "what the details are about this."
Video here.
Ahahaha, Ahahahaha
U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's visit to the Reliant Park this offered him a glimpse of what it's like to be living in shelter.While on the tour of a shelter with top administration officials from Washington, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, DeLay stopped to chat with three young boys resting on cots.
The congressman likened their stay to being at camp and asked, ``Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?''
They nodded yes, but looked perplexed.
He learned his crassness from the best.
By the Way Bushie, You're Doing One Heckuva JobSure, you can play politics at a time like this. Bush's ratings are at its lowest ever; and, if you're Trent Lott from Mississippi:
One Republican welcomed Brown's ouster with unusually sharp language. "Something needed to happen. Michael Brown has been acting like a private instead of a general," said Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, whose state was hard-hit by the storm.
Brown, who is a moron, had this to say when he left:
"I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife and, maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims."
And, this time, the White House (not Bush directly) refuses to acknowledge Brown's performance as a helluva job:
Less than an hour before Brown's removal came to light, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Brown had not resigned and the president had not asked for his resignation. McClellan did not directly answer a question about whether the president had full confidence in Brown. "We appreciate all those who are working round the clock, and that's the way I would answer it," he said.
Brown's ResumeOther discrepancies include whether he was a professor or a student at, er, Central State University.
Regardless, it seems that Brownie has no business running FEMA, what with paper thin emergency response experience. Heckofa job!
Read here.
W and Poor PeopleGeorge W. seemed like he didn't give a rat's ass about New Orleans, and we find out why:
Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out."Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.
It's amusing to know that rich people can care.
FEMA's Brown To BlameBut that's not all there is. Michael Brown, FEMA director, was an idiot horseshow floor manager before getting a FEMA job, a product of cronyism. And, FEMA was chopped up and absorbed by, you guessed it, the DHS.
Hence, FEMA, needing all the help it could get, denied Amtrak's help in evacuation, turned away experienced firefighters, bars morticians from entering NO, and, god forbid, stops Wal-Mart's supply trucks.
This is what happens when the President takes too many vacations.
Manila Hotel Buys Manila AirportThe Manila Hotel management, which has done an excellent job at making a pisscan out of one of the most beautiful hotels in Asia, now has new gem to screw up: they've just bought the new airport.
These people knew nothing about hotel management when they took over the Manila Hotel (he's a publisher!) and it shows: The last time I was at the hotel the toilets at the Shell at SLEX were cleaner.
Nothing like good old-fashioned cronyism with a dollop of national patrimony to ge things done!
Lacking Judgment
Majority of the judges also indicated that they lacked the legal publications needed to help them decideon pending cases.Less than half or 43 percent said their offices kept volumes of the Supreme Court Reports Annotated, the compilation of SC decisions. Only 19 percent said they had the earlier legal tome, the Philippine Reports.
Talk about wheels turning slowly.
Rape of the PhilippinesI was having this conversation, I forget with who, about how wretched things are in the Philippines. How things seem so doomed. And a lot of that has been said, written and declared by columnists, bloggers and politicians.
I zeroed in on a word I often come across: rape. The grisly act of rape is often used to encapsulate the systematic plunder, destruction and mistrust that has led to the country's horrible state. Rape seethes to the bone, corrupting the morality with a dark evil, and leaving victims twisted with rare sight of full recovery.
Now, that's a bit of a misnomer. Rape -- or the sense of it being most alluded to -- is an often violent and traumatizing non-consensual act, usually involving a struggle and a weapon to subdue the victim. It is not isolated to strangers, as what evil might be lurking in the dark would suggest, rather it is sometimes perpetuated by a known assailant. A friend, an ex-lover, or even a spouse.
Extrapolating this definition to "the rape of the Philippines" is , however, incomplete. I believe it really should be "the date rape of the Philippines." Yes, what starts out as romance ends as one gruesome night to remember.
First, with date rape, there's a drug involved: it could be jueteng, a basketball court, a new city hall, or grease money for a vote. These are not complicated chemical substances; they are in fact, the simplest forms of flattery, or the vaguest yet sweetest-sounding campaign promise, or the glisten in the candidate's eye, or even the unforgettable "Spaghetti" number.
Now, before I get ahead of myself, it should be said that date rape happens 100% of the time between two people who know each other (or have at least met), and trust, or at least a modicum of it, has already been exchanged, to the point of taking a sip of the lined beverage. That is indeed a fit metaphor for how those who "rape the Philippines" are often those we thought we could initially trust.
This metaphor becomes more apt when we struggle with trying to determine, in a collective sigh of national consciousness, how the f*ck do we keep getting screwed this way; it's the drug, dammit.
There's an even bigger issue. With date rape, victims often wake up not remembering anything, but knowing something bad happened (see torn clothes, painful abdomen). There's yet another perfect analogy: the country wakes up with this overwhelming feeling that we know we got screwed, we just don't know who.
To be fair, the last two dates, well, we got 'em. It's as clear as a DNA test and hefty doses of Luminol. Erap, that monster, is in jail. Gloria, however, is still in office. We're still dating her, sorta. And that makes me sick.
What scares me more is the fact that we seem to not care, as if we're getting numb from all the abuse. Students, who used to be the vanguard of fairness, justice and democracy, have retreated to their computer games and their cellphones. Young, promising politicians sellout as soon as they smell the money. Vast numbers are leaving the country.
Rape is a such a solitary offense, one where the victim is so desperately isolated it paralyzes their courage to come forward and seek justice. Some might say we're so thick-skulled to have been victimized again. Nevertheless, as the date rape of the Philippines continues, there is only one who can deliver the country from its oppressor: the country itself.
GMA KomiksAnd, so I did. I had fun making it. I could use some comments, like a title, and some ideas for the next one. (Click on the image to launch this edition.)
Dear GloriaYou weren't as sly as you thought. Yes, making the phone calls yourself was an exceptionally poor lack of judgment (it really was stupid), but the worst mistake you made was marrying that slob you have for a husband. And then, you let your in-laws run for government too. You should have stopped them in the last family reunion.
Clearly, you should find consolation in the fact that they helped bring you down -- no, this wasn't all your fault. But since you flip-flopped between running the last time, you can indeed blame yourself for this mess.
So, in the haze of all this agonizing self-realization that you've completely screwed up, here's my suggestion on how you can go out in style: plead insanity:
Start drawing pictograms and sending them to the press, talking about how Adam and Eve is connected to Apple computers. Start building a house in your home province that looks exactly like Malacanang, for fear of missing it. As your final Executive Order, rename NAIA back into MIA and sign it quick. Then, dissolve the Department of Interior and Local Government and instead reinstutute the PNP as the sole policing body in the country. Also, make the native Texas panabong the national bird thereby making sabong unconstitutional. Finally, as a rider on the next congressional bill, move to erase all records and memory of Robert Jaworski's senatorship.
Then, after seeking psychiatric and spiritual help for your drinking and gambling problems, suddenly develop bad knees for which you are to receive treatment from a U.S-based doctor that can only operate on you in another country. Let your children and relatives continue to run for government and allow them to suffer the humiliation of your warped mind. Then, claim that you know who really killed Ninoy Aquino *and* Nida Blanca. Never mind if it's real, we just want names.
Finally, in your dying wishes speak to Mikey (Cojuanco, not your son) and tell her that she *can* be the next president if she wants to, and make her believe it. Make sure she gets a spiritual adviser early on, like now. Then, ask that your dead body be refrigerated for, like, ever, until you are allowed to be buried right underneath Malacanang, where you believe you belong in a final act of contrition and atonement for all you've done -- and let every single person coming through those halls step on your marker, which shall read: Here Lies Gloria. Likes Making Her Own Calls.
Erap Forgives SinIncorrigible womanizer, gambler and all-purpose thug Erap (also, former President) has forgiven Cardinal Sin for his role in getting the former fired from his previous job.
He says he's "forgiven everybody" -- yes, including you and me -- and that he includes Sin in his prayers everyday.
Erap: May Gad, plis porgib them. All op dem. Pati na rin ako. Plis lang.
My, he's beginning to sound a lot like Imelda.
Pentagon to Gather Data on StudentsI would suspect that they've been doing this for quite a while now, but the twist here is that the Pentagon is going to do the snooping with a private marketing firm. And, they're capturing data on high school students as well.
No, it's not under the Patriot Act. Worse: it's for recruitment.
The program is provoking a furor among privacy advocates. The new database will include an array of personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are studying.
Text Official
Opposition Sen. Serge Osmeña remains convinced that the President is culpable of the charges against her and should have the decency to resign.Osmeña called Mrs. Arroyo a "cheat."
"It is not only her close relatives who are cheats, she should include the person in her mirror," Osmeña said in a text message.
Delikado ang text. Daming naloloko sa text. Tama lang na i-tax nila para mag hinay-hinay ang mga tao. In the meantime, ang mga blog lang talaga ang maaasahan.
GloriagateSweet Moses, there's supposedly a tape going around of Gloria conniving with the Comelec (run by an even bigger joke, Ben Abalos) to rig the elections. Just in time for the nationwide premiere of "Deep Throat's Secret Identity Revealed."
Then you have First Boy Mikey's jueteng problems, and First Old Man's unwillingness to answer questions, and you have yourself a Marcos legacy in the making. I'm titillated (how I love that word).
Even more interesting is how more tapes are coming out from the cracks, including some from the opposition. Shall we wait to see a Jinggoy Scandal -- a secret celebrity home video that absolutely no one could bear to watch? This is so much more fun that trying to figure out why Paris and Nicole aren't talking to each other.
More Glimpses from Mr. MMr. Montelibano, who I will now call "Mr. M" for brevity, has a new installment whose first paragraph made me weak in the knees:
IT WAS an affair whose preparations were deliberately kept muted from undue public attention. There was nothing illegal about it, or anything that could not be exposed to the light of day. If anything, it was clearly the opposite. Once in a while, a beautiful event graces a troubled land. The possibility that jealousy or malice would rear their ugly heads to abort or disturb the beautiful unfolding of a miracle dictated that prudence would define the collective conduct.
"Deliberately kept muted from undue public attention," connotes a "due public attention." You can remove the last dependent clause and simply say "deliberately kept from public attention." These "fillers" stall your writing and keep you from getting to the point -- or, as I have pointed out before, helps disguise the fact that there isn't one. But, that's plain mean of me to say.
"The possibility that jealousy or malice would rear their ugly heads to abort or disturb the beautiful unfolding of a miracle dictated that prudence would define the collective conduct." Have you tried reading outside Tolkien lately? What the hell does "collective conduct" mean? George Orwell points to meaningless words, I point to empty ones: jealousy, malice, ugly, miracle, prudence, beautiful -- all these subjective ornery words that are not only clunky, they mean very little when lacking context. How you managed to roll them all into one sentence is beyond any English degree.
More surprisingly, it seems Mr. M does tell an interesting story: Christians and Muslims building homes together. That's all really nice and peachy. That anecdote about a General eating lechon is quite nice too. And your conclusion, although peppered with the naive sense that all this was heroic and patriotic (all right, some of it was), was nice and concise too. See! You can write well after all, if you just stuck to the turkey and left the stuffing out.
April 23 and 24 will always be historic days, the first unified effort by civilians to take destiny in their own hands and paint it rainbow colors, the colors of hope.
Ahh, "rainbow colors, the colors of hope." That's a buzzkiller right there. And you didn't explain the whole "jealousy or malice" thing, although I can kinda figure that one out. (What scares me more is that it's entirely possible that I'm the only one reading your work.)
Room With A GlimpseAs usual, finding a thesis to his writing is like pulling teeth from a cow. I suspect, as I read his article, Americans in Mindanao is simply tangential to his point, wherever that may be. Instead, I relish his material simply for the exercise of teasing out the lack of lucidity and underscoring his poor grasp of all things obvious. For example:
Do not our officials see how Filipinos are being made to line up outside the US embassy when applying for a visa while Americans do not do the same outside of our Department of Foreign Affairs?
Hmm, gagu ka ba? There are hundreds of Filipinos visiting the embassy everyday, and only a dozen or so Americans at the DFA. The latter's building can comfortably sit all visitors (including the Americans, yes!), while the U.S. embassy, even though they have built a nice pavillion for those waiting in line, simply cannot hold a soiree for all those in line.
Lining up means our people want to either get out of the Philippines despite the humiliation they have to go through or are simply accepting of the truth about inequality. Either way, our government should take heed and do something drastic about both anomalies.
Okay, sobrang taas na nang ihi mo. If you haven't noticed yet, there are too many damn Filipinos. You go to an ATM, pila. You buy at the grocery store, pila. You pay at Meralco, pila. You apply for a U.S. Visa, pila!! If you find lining up so humiliating as to call on the government for help (calling it "anomalies"), well, wala, wala akong masabi talaga. Maybe you've had too much TV.
Hmm, the next three paragraphs are so disjointed that I can't even pull a punchline out of them. I don't know whether he's flip flopping over his own sentiments, or the lack of direction is his trademark and that's why they print this garbage. Still, Motelibano delivers a coup de grace:
It would be nice if Philippine officialdom resents the present setup with America and wants to dismantle it. Personally, I do not believe they have either the guts or the means to fight America, but they will gain respect for simply trying. And when they do, the Filipino people just might support tem instead of making a beeline for the US embassy. Courage is infectious, but so is cowardice.
First, "officialdom" is a word usually associated with a religious organization, such as the Catholic church. I would urge you to simply use "government" instead. Second, "nice" isn't a word you want to use in a column, unless you want to be laughed at. "Nice" is neutered sarcasm. It means nothing, no conviction, and certainly a lack of eloquence.
Thirdly, I don't get your point about Filipinos presumably supporting a Philippine government that wants to "dismantle" its relationship with the U.S. government, and in doing so, you believe Filipinos will support this new anti-U.S. government instead of leaving for the U.S. itself. It's bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Let me see if I get this right: so you believe Filipinos are leaving for the U.S. because they don't like the fact that their government has a pro-U.S. stand? (Leave the country for the country you believe our country should pick a fight with?) And, if this government shows some resentment for being a "third class" citizen to the U.S. and holds it's head up high and thumbs a nose at Uncle Sam it will keep it's people from leaving for Daly City? You're nuts.
Ah, but the zarzuela (your reference) yields an even greater gem:
We are third class because our leaders are third class. In fact, because we tolerate third class leaders, we might even be a fourth class people.
We are "fourth class" (dang, that's low!) because we have people who can't deal with falling in line and who publish spit like this and pass it on as good gospel.
More Verbal DiarrheaIt would be nice if you had sage advice, or even interesting observations (Are you still in college? Could this be an essay for your Pol Sci 10 class?). But gleaning the news and augmenting your piece with GRE words doesn't make you a pundit.
I hope I'm the only one reading your work. Your editor sure doesn't care much.
Con-gress the Opposite of Pro-gress?I have no problems with VAT per se. Excise taxes, in the global economy, is both equitable and useful. The exemptions are in place for the "poorest of the poor". What is important to note here is that Congress, calling it a Bitter Pill Tax, did so to arrest the convulsions stemming from the huge budget deficit (which their fiscal mismanagement caused) and the low tax returns reported by the BIR (probably the most corrupt government agency). To generate 30 or 40 billion, in other words, they will simply tax you more, particularly you, the educated middle class.
Senate Hearings on Film Industry, Part 2
All matters relating to domestic and foreign trade and private corporations; patents, copyrights, trade names and trademarks; standards, weights, measures and designs; quality control; control and stabilization of prices of commodities; consumer protection; handicraft and cottage industries; and marketing of commodities.
Shall we then argue that the local film industry is a "handicraft and cottage industry" alongside farming oyster and shiitake mushrooms? Or are they a better fit within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, which deals with, among others, "the preservation, enrichment and evolution of Filipino arts and culture." I must be reading this the wrong way.
Read more on the Senate here.
Senate Hearings on the State of Philippine CinemaI'd like to know for one what, with the exception of the independent few, these folk have done for their country that they deserve a senate resolution, if not just for a few more actors begging to mingle with the political limelight, hoping for some rub-off for a possible run. Yes, everyone's having a hard time, but it really pays to have friends in the big house, does it?
Indeed, how many people are employed directly and indirectly by the local film industry? No more, I believe, than all those uninsured garbage collectors, who pick up our garbage everyday. Or, those journalists, writers and reporters -- true to their mandate of helping the republic government itself by watching over their elected officials -- whose numbers are being decimated by death threats or gunfire from baby armalites.
Even more infuriating is how our senate has come to create a committee on "trade and commerce, cinema affairs" (what's in a name anyway when you have a senate committee on "ethics and privileges," another on "ways and means" and another on "rules"). I guess it's a sub-committee, since T&C is a permanent committee on it's own. Still, how important is the local cinema industry anyway? Do they bring in much needed dollars, as much as, say, our mango industry whose state and importance certainly deserves senate attention? Are they so important that if they shrink to a less impressive number, the price of longganisa will rise?
My lack of sympathy is not meant to take away from Joel Lamangan's mission:
The film industry has been on a slump for several years now. Film production has declined steadily from an average of 130 full-length features films about seven years ago to only 80 in 2003 and to no more than 50 movies as of the end of November 2004.
But, let's face it. The local movie industry did it to itself, and Hollywood movies sell better than the sophomoric attempts they put out with very little pride. They poisoned their own well with brainless nude flicks, unintelligent teen bombs, rip-offs and low-budget cops and robbers productions, and actors who seem to think they can run for office, sing and dance at the same time. Their best-paying customer base, the middle class, is now far more enlightened possibly beyond the grasps of their pens and cameras. They must surely think that aging Enteng Kabisote is not Harry Potter. And if anyone out there can afford a movie at the mall, you might as well grab the bootleg and watch at home.
So now they need government protection and tax incentives, possibly more, to survive. They certainly don't need senatorial oversight, much more senator's precious speechtimes. No one batted for the local jeepney manufacturers when their industry grounded to a halt because of cheaper vehicles manufactured by multinational corporations.
Certainly, none of this really matters to the electorate, of course. They're too busy going gaga with images of Richard Gomez in the senate. That should certainly help him get a good script.
Out or Getting Out?
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday declared that the country has wriggled out of fiscal crisis barely three months after admitting that her government was in dire financial straits to coerce Filipinos in accepting painful reforms such as high taxes, higher power rates and spartan expenses.
Now, here's a quote from the same story, barely a line down:
In a brief talk at the headquarters of GMA Broadcasting Corp. in Quezon City, Ms Arroyo said: "We are now getting out of that (fiscal) crisis and I told my Cabinet members, let's not talk crisis anymore. We rang the alarm bell and the people and the institutions (responded)."
"We are now getting out" is significantly different from "we are now out", as the headline reads. Meanwhile, GMA demonstrates the kind of papertrail bureaucracy she wants:
"Just today, I got some coins from some children in Tiaong (town in Quezon province) amounting to P700. I asked my finance officer to write a receipt and thank you letter for their contribution in solving the crisis. If that is our attitude, then we are out of the crisis," the President said.
Dang, Php 700 goes a long way for column inches huh? ( Bet that Finance Officer would looove to write that thank you letter.)
Boycotting my BlogThe world take note: there are Americans out there, lots of them, who think that this man deserves a second term. Obviously to them, the economy, human rights, environmental rights, women's rights, the advancement of medicine, the future of the supreme court, healthcare and the war on terrorism is not important. Or they simply got it horribly wrong.
Two for Bush
1. Bush is a Christian. Kerry's "Pro-Choice" -- he doesn't mind killing babies.2. I voted for Bush. I'd much rather have someone who never served in a war, than someone who did and turned his back on it like Kerry did.
God, if you're out there, bless America.
The One-Finger Victory Salute
The Nation: 100 FactsHere, however, is a more thought-provoking collection of the Bush administrations missteps, gaffes, and outright misgivings, everything from Iraq, to cronyism, the economy, national security, healthcare and the environment. A hundred indisputable facts and a better, more unbiased (less subject to editings-out-of-context), less subjective and shorter survey.
NYer Breaks 80 Year Trad: Endorses Kerry for Pres
Kerry has insisted that this election ought to be decided on the urgent issues of our moment, the issues that will define American life for the coming half century. That insistence is a measure of his character. He is plainly the better choice. As observers, reporters, and commentators we will hold him to the highest standards of honesty and performance. For now, as citizens, we hope for his victory.
Quite lucid and direct here:
But the challenger has more to offer tha the fact that he is not George W. Bush. In ever crucial area of concern to Americans (th economy, health care, the environment, Socia Security, the judiciary, national security foreign policy, the war in Iraq, the fight agains terrorism), Kerry offers a clear, correctiv alternative to Bush’s curious blend o smugness, radicalism, and demagoguery
Read it.
NYTimes: Kerry for Pres
We look back on the past four years with hearts nearly breaking, both for the lives unnecessarily lost and for the opportunities so casually wasted. Time and again, history invited George W. Bush to play a heroic role, and time and again he chose the wrong course. We believe that with John Kerry as president, the nation will do better.
True, a lot of voters are voting ABBA (Anybody But Bush Again), but to be fair to both candidates, they're both lacking in character and record for what these times need. Record deficits, alliances in shambles, a war America didn't need, Bin Laden still a fugitive, the Supreme Court, women's rights, gay rights, healthcare and the environment at stake, and Big Business and the Far Right in charge.
What America needs is someone who can rally the people with charisma and firmness, charm her friends back, and know when to apologize for bad behavior. What America needs is someone who has unquestionable leadership qualities, true gumption and an economic acumen that can reign in the largest economy in the world. Someone who cares for the environment, the middle class and can lower crime. Someone who can stand up for stem cell research, gay marriage rights and the rights of women to choose. Someone who understands the law, can work with a partisan congress and understands that one's ability to bend under pressure is just as important as not cracking beneath it. Someone who won't put Rummy, Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft anywhere near government. Someone who won't flip-flop on key issues and weaken his position. Someone who can speak up a storm, never stutter and never have embarassing underarm wetness.
Re-elect Bill Clinton for President. And get Madeline Albright her old job.
ElectionThat, and a new phase (teaching Page Layout) plus weekends trailriding. So I give the reader some of the most poignant images I've come across while reading about the debates, the campaigning and the upcoming U.S. elections.
An Open Letter to The Filipino YouthCBS Apologizes over Guard Memos
"We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry," Rather said. "It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism."
True, what was an honest mistake became a hairball because CBS defended the report despite the overwhelming evidence mounting against it. I hope Kerry won't take the larger blow.
E-Learning User Error?
According to Darwin Santos, a senior science research specialist in DOST and one of the three test phase beneficiaries of AVIST, the system basically depends on basic Internet connection, though it has problems passing through the firewalls of the DOST’s network though the enrollment interface was readily accessible.Tell me why on earth would you go on a major daily newspaper representing the project you are working on only to complain about it? A complaint which, at face, seems utterly simple to remedy: go to your firewall setup, dummy, and fix it. It obviously works for direct connections to the internet! Since you're the "senior science specialist" maybe you could do something about it rather than be a dummy and complain.Santos said that after enrolling, he was unable to connect to the AVIST training modules since their network firewall, filters and antivirus applications were blocking connection. He said that if any of these were to be disabled, the whole DOST network would become vulnerable to attacks.
The only way he was able to access AVIST was from his home PC with a prepaid Internet card. Even then, the connection was unstable.
“I wasn’t able to connect to the video files through RealPlayer, though I was sure my connection was very fast,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything even after several tries.”
Santos said that the other AVIST recipient, Meraida Reyes, also a research scientist of DOST, had the same problem.
“We already reported the problem to Felix Librero of the UP Open University and he promised to address the problem,” Santos said.
On the other hand, it seems the DOST needs a systems administrator to manage their intranet. Santos may be good at signing people up, but saying he tried several times and exclaiming that he was "sure (his) connection was very fast" doesn't sound like a tech guy to me at all.
Which begs the question: doesn't the DOST have a PR department who can step in and edit or replace this guy? At least put someone in there with some spin ("The system is currently being tested now and some technical parameters are being worked out." instead of passing the blame (yes, the blame) on to the Open University?)
Make me put my foot in my mouth and explain this all to me please. Grrr. Nakakainis.
Lifestyle Check
The Ombudsman’s investigation disclosed that Domingo started as a senior clerk in the bureau in 1988 and was promoted to her present position.In the same year that she was hired, the Ombudsman said, Domingo was able to buy two cars for P366,000, when her annual income was only P29,676.
In 1996 she was able to buy a house and lot in Biñan, Laguna, worth P100,500 when her annual income was only P63,864.
Then in 1998 Domingo was able to buy a car worth P640,000 when her annual income was just P83,028.
Domingo and her husband were also able to acquire a Starex van, Pajero, Toyota Revo and an Elantra Sedan, all worth P2.378 million, which were not reflected in her 2002 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.
Orbeta, meanwhile, was hired as a messenger in 1992, a position which he held up to the present.
Although Orbeta’s annual salary was only P71,592, he managed to buy a Honda Civic worth P395,000.
I had to check that there were no typos: P29,676 a year? That's our minimum wage is it? About P2,500 a month? Kawawa naman Pilipino. Makes you believe that if they had decent salaries, they'd probably stay straight. Or, maybe not.
My Two Bits on The RNC
Here are the numbers, a sober and powerful counter-argument to any declaration that the recession is long over and good times are back for everyone. Poverty is up in the United States for the third consecutive year, the Census Bureau says, with 40 million people now afflicted. Median household income is stagnant at a little more than $43,000 a year. That, after three years of decline and still lower than it was in 1999. And the number of Americans without medical insurance is up, too, as it has been each year since 2001, to 45 million.
The President will tell people this:
"Because we acted, our economy since last summer has grown at a rate as fast as any in nearly 20 years," Mr. Bush said Thursday. "Since last August, we've added approximately 1.5 million new jobs."
What he won't say is that there are fewer jobs since he took office, the surplus he inherited is now a gargantuan deficit, and his lack of environmental and fiscal discipline has created problems that will take a generation to undo. And, btw, what's wrong with legalizing marriage between same-sex partners?
Jay Leno on RP Pullout
"A new world record has been set in the 100 meter dash,” Leno said on his television show Wednesday. “It was set by Filipino troops fleeing Iraq.”
The other night Leno made fun of the fact that the Philippines only had 51 soldiers:
“Fifty-one? P Diddy has a bigger posse than that. ‘Come on, everybody in the Humvee. We’re leaving,’ “Okay by me. We had no business to be in Bush's War in the first place.
OFW E-CardsLifestyles of the Rich and Guilty1. He amassed and failed to declare about P16.6 million in wealth and assets.
2. Property and businesses (grocery store, computer shop, etc) under his family's ownership, and no corresponding tax returns.
3. His family allegedly took trips abroad costing roughly P3.7 million. (Did you like the Disney cruise?)
On the downside, this is most likely small fry. Pleyto, all too ready to admit he got caught, claims in his defense that the lifestyle checkers "selectively applied" their witchhunt. Crab mentality, as they say, even in defeat.
"There are others in the Cabinet who are really corrupt," but the graft complaints and charges filed against them are being ignored by the Lifestyle Check Coalition, he said in a phone interview.
Sure, but right now, you're it. And, you're scum.
Asphalt or Cement?As with any public works project in Manila, there are several layers of wrong here:
1. How can you have an existing budget without it's creators having specified such a crucial parameter as cement or asphalt? Wouldn't that dictate the budget in the first place?
The administration's answer:
"There has not been any Cabinet decision on the cancellation, although there was a consensus reached among the DENR Secretary, NEDA Secretary, MMDA Chairman, and DPWH to 'recommend' its cancellation," said director Julian D. Amador of the Environment and Management Bureau in a memorandum for Environment Secretary Elisea G. Gozun.
Honey, it's a consensus only if it means that you can act based on it. I guess this whole double-presidency thing has got you thinking twice about "majority opinions". A case of too much democracy and twiddle-your-thumbscracy.
2. Because it's such a big pie, there are four executive departments involved, whose decisions are of equal weight. No wonder nothing gets done in Manila.
3. The project is actually part of the Metro Manila Air Quality Improvement program of the ADB. Hmmm... rehabilitating the roads to improve air quality. This could be the only reason why the DENR, who should be ought protecting our forests, instead gets its director to weigh in on road projects in Manila. Someone explain this to me.
4. The last layer of wrong is, again, the curse of the elections: nothing gets done until after the casino parties and the "destabilization efforts" have faded away. In the meantime, we live with the bad roads, the traffic delays, and console ourselves with the fact that somewhere out there, some government official's relative has the purchase order of his life.
GMA Gets Second TermOf course the sore losers will continue to "destabilize" the government, because that's just the Filipino thing to do, you know, civil disobedience and that People Power thing. At least the government has someone to blame -- others -- if they can't get things going this time around. Better than scattering spikes on EDSA.
Death and Stupidity (and Taxes)Now, the BIR is set on taxing the internet. This is something worth lobbying against. They want to slap on VAT, although exactly how is unclear. It will kill any hopes for local industries looking to expand their market by selling on the internet.
Maraming Salamat, Ping LacsonThank you Ping Lacson! Keep them coming!
