::Tuesday, May 31, 2005::
PINOY CINEMA PRESENTS
.. In celebration of Philippine Independence Day on June 12, imaginasian presents the New York Filipino Film Festival with a week-long celebration of cinematic classics in Philippine cinema. This is a one time only treat that should not be missed.
Link
Link
YOU'RE FIRED!
.. Anyone insensitive to the needs of the Filipino people during these trying times should be given the pink slip. As the representative of the government and the refuge of the people's needs abroad, consulates and their diplomats should take the lead in embodying the noble ideals of the country. Profligacy and excess are not part of these values and so the Filipino people have all the right to be outraged.
Link
Link
::Saturday, May 28, 2005::
EVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES
.. What to make of the recent booming trend of white couples adopting Chinese babies? Improvement of the American species? You see it predominantly on the Upper East side of New York City and even as far as Forest Hills. I'm not privy to their reasons but an offspring of Chinese, Jewish and American descent can make a potent combination for intellectual, cultural and economic reasons.
Link
Link
::Sunday, May 22, 2005::
LUCK IN CHENEY-S
.. Bob Woodward, the distinguished journalist who broke out the Watergate scandal sending Nixon out of office boldly predicts in the Chris Matthews show that Vice Pres. Dick Cheney will be nominated by the Republican party for the 2008 presidential elections. Woodward reasons that the Republican elite has a fondness for nominating the old warhorses - Nixon, Reagan even Bush Sr. and a propensity for choosing vice presidents. Cheney as a darkhorse in 2008 will certainly elate the neocons who have dominated Bush 43's foreign policy and will also be welcome news to the Republican right. I don't think this comes even close to George W. Bush's view of his presidential legacy and his plans to make sure he will be remembered correctly. No matter how he may look like he is an honorary neocon, Bush is a pragmatist in the league of his recent buddy Bill Clinton. Evidence is clear that the president is distancing himself away from the discredited neocons whose strategy in Iraq has been the wrong prescription judging from way the State Dept. has wrested control of American policy in Iraq this soon. The Bush clan can deny it to death but they are certainly laying the groundwork for Jeb Bush's plan as president for 2012 or even closer - as vice presidential candidate in 2008.
Where does the veep stand in all this? It would be a mistake to assume Cheney has put all these grand plans close to his heart. I can just imagine how the vice president grits his teeth everyday with the political charade now going on in Bush's second term making him an early lameduck president. I'm guessing the Bushes will let the whole thing play out and hope for a Bill Frist - Condoleeza Rice showdown. Either candidate needs the Bush's blessing to win, hence enter Jeb as VP. Either way the wind blows works for them. It remains to be seen where Karl Rove positions himself into and whether he has the same loyalty to Jeb the way he has with his pal Dubya. Moderate republicans and independents can forget a McCain or Guiliani presidency. Both candidates will never pass the religious test of the Republican right. A breakthrough moment in American politics would be if both men can broker a deal between both of them to run a third way - both as independent pres. and vice-pres. candidates. The race is on!
Where does the veep stand in all this? It would be a mistake to assume Cheney has put all these grand plans close to his heart. I can just imagine how the vice president grits his teeth everyday with the political charade now going on in Bush's second term making him an early lameduck president. I'm guessing the Bushes will let the whole thing play out and hope for a Bill Frist - Condoleeza Rice showdown. Either candidate needs the Bush's blessing to win, hence enter Jeb as VP. Either way the wind blows works for them. It remains to be seen where Karl Rove positions himself into and whether he has the same loyalty to Jeb the way he has with his pal Dubya. Moderate republicans and independents can forget a McCain or Guiliani presidency. Both candidates will never pass the religious test of the Republican right. A breakthrough moment in American politics would be if both men can broker a deal between both of them to run a third way - both as independent pres. and vice-pres. candidates. The race is on!
BACK FROM A WEEK'S HIATUS
.. I had a hard time recovering from my trip away from New York that it took me more than a week to begin blogging again. The beautiful weather in Florida just makes me wonder what the @#$&! I am doing here in still cold nyc in the middle of May when I should be galivanting in Jones beach by now.
::Tuesday, May 10, 2005::
THE SHOE MUST GO ON
.. PBS featured the story of Imelda Marcos with never before seen interviews and footages of friends and enemies alike. Equally tragic to the corruption and human rights abuses Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos heaped upon the Filipino people for 18 years in their thirst for power and glory is the fantasy world that Mrs. Marcos continues to cocoon herself and her remaining family into. Her bloodshot eyes cannot hide her greed and ambition painted by beautiful words and self-proclaimed delusions of beauty and grandeur.
It would be sad if this special will not be shown in the Philippines where ordinary people need to see it now more than ever. So many young people were not even born when Benigno Aquino Jr. was killed that triggered the demonstrations culminating in People power in EDSA much less when Marcos declared Martial Law in September 21, 1972. The Filipino people must never forget this dark period in their history. Imelda and almost 3,000 pairs of her shoes will make them not to.
Link
It would be sad if this special will not be shown in the Philippines where ordinary people need to see it now more than ever. So many young people were not even born when Benigno Aquino Jr. was killed that triggered the demonstrations culminating in People power in EDSA much less when Marcos declared Martial Law in September 21, 1972. The Filipino people must never forget this dark period in their history. Imelda and almost 3,000 pairs of her shoes will make them not to.
Link
ABOVE THE BELT
.. Is there fat accumulation in men other than around the belly? Haven't seen one.. In any case, one cannot be too careful these days. Stroke is a serious killer even among young men below 35, even for those who exercise regularly and think they are healthy than most. It still boils down to what you eat and how much.
Link
Link
::Sunday, May 08, 2005::
GLOVES ARE OFF!
.. Rev. Thomas Reese, an American Jesuit and editor of Catholic magazine America was ordered forced out by the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith which was then headed by Cardinal Ratzinger last March before the latter became Benedict XVI. This is the opening salvo of the so called "purification of the church" to be instituted by Benedict XVI's ambition to purify the church of what he calls misfits and evildoers - Jesuit and liberals all, homosexuals, feminists and ordinary Catholics in general who refuse to follow the Church's Magisterium or teaching office. This is in line with Cardinal Ratzinger's ambition to renew the church and make it more holy, a second 1000 years transformation that will be led by religious zealots and messianic conservatives like Opus Dei who believe that the Second Vatican Council went too far in its mandate to reform the Church to address the issues of the modern world.
This is a sign that Benedict XVI will not tolerate dissent in the Catholic Church and won't mind people who are disloyal to leave. Then Cardinal Ratzinger favored a smaller church, a "creative minority" that will stand as a witness to Christ's revelation against the forces of modernity. Benedict XVI and majority of the conservative cardinals who voted him to office believe that the Holy Spirit whispered to them that liberals are anti-Christ and white Catholic Europe can still be saved and restored to its manifest destiny even as the Church grows in the fringes of black Africa and brown Asia.
In a time when the Catholic church competes head to head with the growing influence of militant Islam and fundamentalist Protestantism for souls, Benedict XVI and his cohort of modern day "Pharisees" seek to deny cafeteria Catholics communion and believe Grace and Revelation are only for the purified few - celibates and doctrinally pure Catholics who see sexual purity of mind and body more important than millions of people in Asia and Africa dying of AIDS. This is the Catholic Church's version of Stalin's infamous motto "The death of an individual is tragic, the death of a million is merely a statistic." The purity of the Catholic church must be down to the last individual, the rest of humanity condemned to hell for tolerating the cardinal sins of selfishness - masturbation, premarital and extramarital sex, homosexual acts and homosexual marriage and women who seek to be equal in temporal church power with Bishops who are in direct lineage to St. Peter and who the hierarchy believe are the only custodians of the Truth as specially revealed to them by the Holy Spirit in their time of prayer and conversations with God. Never mind greed, self-righteousness, intellectual pride and absolute temporal power over a billion souls as long as one is doing God's holy whispered words.
It is the beginning of the modern Dark Ages of the Catholic Church and liberals are the new Protestants who may give to give birth to the modern Church of the catacombs, or like the Eastern Orthodox Church, inflict permanent self-excommunication. Christ may have to rush his second coming to correct this usurpation of His heavenly power by the almighty Cardinals led by Heil Benedict.
God bless us !
Link
This is a sign that Benedict XVI will not tolerate dissent in the Catholic Church and won't mind people who are disloyal to leave. Then Cardinal Ratzinger favored a smaller church, a "creative minority" that will stand as a witness to Christ's revelation against the forces of modernity. Benedict XVI and majority of the conservative cardinals who voted him to office believe that the Holy Spirit whispered to them that liberals are anti-Christ and white Catholic Europe can still be saved and restored to its manifest destiny even as the Church grows in the fringes of black Africa and brown Asia.
In a time when the Catholic church competes head to head with the growing influence of militant Islam and fundamentalist Protestantism for souls, Benedict XVI and his cohort of modern day "Pharisees" seek to deny cafeteria Catholics communion and believe Grace and Revelation are only for the purified few - celibates and doctrinally pure Catholics who see sexual purity of mind and body more important than millions of people in Asia and Africa dying of AIDS. This is the Catholic Church's version of Stalin's infamous motto "The death of an individual is tragic, the death of a million is merely a statistic." The purity of the Catholic church must be down to the last individual, the rest of humanity condemned to hell for tolerating the cardinal sins of selfishness - masturbation, premarital and extramarital sex, homosexual acts and homosexual marriage and women who seek to be equal in temporal church power with Bishops who are in direct lineage to St. Peter and who the hierarchy believe are the only custodians of the Truth as specially revealed to them by the Holy Spirit in their time of prayer and conversations with God. Never mind greed, self-righteousness, intellectual pride and absolute temporal power over a billion souls as long as one is doing God's holy whispered words.
It is the beginning of the modern Dark Ages of the Catholic Church and liberals are the new Protestants who may give to give birth to the modern Church of the catacombs, or like the Eastern Orthodox Church, inflict permanent self-excommunication. Christ may have to rush his second coming to correct this usurpation of His heavenly power by the almighty Cardinals led by Heil Benedict.
God bless us !
Link
::Thursday, May 05, 2005::
COLLEGE SURVIVAL KIT
::Wednesday, May 04, 2005::
A FACE ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE, OR SO WE THOUGHT
.. Parents have a lot of explaining to do with this one. They will certainly deny it but parents may be unwittingly practicing discrimination at home.
Link
Link
BEAUTY AND BREAKS
.. What to make of a theory that correlates being good-looking, sexy and tall to a corresponding higher pay and prestige in the corporate ladder than ordinary looking folks? This is the conclusion arrived at by the Federal Bank of St. Louis in a study done by two economists based on survey data. Though there are loopholes to the study foremost among them how to agree on a definition of beauty, one doesn't need to be a scientist to figure out that popular people whether due to personality or physical beauty more often than not receive extra privileges whether bestowed on them consciously or not. It is but human nature. Another study suggests that human beings are wired even as babies to recognize beauty by responding favorably to stimulus from attractive people based on facial symmetry. Life is indeed unfair.
Link
Link
::Tuesday, May 03, 2005::
BISHOPS WRATH
.. Some Bishops in the Philippines are playing a dangerous game fomenting instability by telling the Arroyo administration to shape up or ship out. Pres. Arroyo won in a legitimate election whether you like her political views or not. This is a critical reason why chaos exists in the Philippine political landscape - the total lack of respect for the law and the functioning systems and processes of government. Only leaders duly elected by the people within the confines of a legitimate election can change policy or enact laws. To argue that she has no legitimate power is moot since that view is not shared by the Supreme Court who has rejected claims of illegitimacy by her detractors. People need to take their concerns to the ballot box and not through extra-judicial means. This is too much meddling by the Bishops that is undermining the separation of church and state. The Bishops are legitimizing people's misplaced anger and fear risking social and political unrest that seem to be endless in this banana republic.
Link
Link
DON'T DROP THAT PAPER
.. Who has the time to read a newspaper these days when there is so much competition for viewer's and reader's attention? I find it awfully hard flipping a newspaper from page to page in a rather cramped subway ride that I have totally given up buying one. Oops, I neglected to say buying a newspaper everyday is equivalent to paying a month's worth of broadband Internet connection. Is the choice not obvious yet? Besides, I can get a Metro or AM paper for free in the subway station personally handed to me by a hired hand. Saves precious time going over to the deli stand and reaching for pocket change as I hear the words "Stand clear of the closing doors please!"
Link
Link
::Monday, May 02, 2005::
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
.. This is one inevitable consequence of the acceleration of techonology adoption. Everyone at one time or another has experienced "computer rage" and it will only get worse now that we are flooded with more and more gadgets that we really don't need. The only remedy is to hold off on buying or using technology that is really not necessary and will not necessarily make one productive. This is easier said than done. I sometimes rationalize buying a gadget even if I don't really need it. It's very hard to figure out a passing fad when your emotions tell you otherwise. Companies spend billions figuring out how to tap into your core emotion. Common sense trumps all as always.
Link
Link
::Sunday, May 01, 2005::
MOM'S MIGHT DOESN'T MAKE RIGHT
.. Want to earn a six-figure living? Be a stay-at-home mom. Problem is, they don't even come close. A study shows mom would be earning an average of $131,471 if she were given a paycheck with all the household chores, driving and taking care of the children. Living in a man's world, I guess I'd just have to say to mom better luck next time.
Link
Link
EDUCATING ONLINE EDUCATION
.. More people avail of distance learning and online education these days. However, it's not as simple as a click of the mouse. Here's how to protect yourself from scams.
Link
Link
