::Sunday, October 30, 2005::
"DISH"-ING THE BUSHES
.. Filipino American chef Ariel De Guzman, personal chef to former Pres. George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush tells about the culinary tastes of the Bush family in an appetizing book entitled "The Bush Family Cookbook."
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::Saturday, October 29, 2005::
TAINTED HOUSE
.. The indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby appears to be the first for a sitting White House official high up in rank in 100 years. This does not bode well for the remaining 3 years of President George W. Bush's 2nd term. Libby is presumed without guilt, of course, a hallmark of American jurisprudence pending a conviction. The public trial, which may start as early as December, will weigh down heavily on this White House like a dark cloud. It will be very tough to just move forward as if nothing happened. Bush needs a bevy of good news to rain on him to preserve his image of a consequential president.
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THE "RACE" EFFECT
.. The press has blown out proportion the role of two previously unknown White House aides in the ongoing investigation of Karl Rove to find out his role in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. They are painting a picture of the two aides being main characters in a possible cover-up. I find this to be highly unlikely. There are piles of examples in the history of the White House where well-intentioned aides have been unwittingly caught in the web of scandals spun by officials in their abuse of power. Ms. Ralston being a Filipino might not have helped in the press' portrayal of her as overly protective of her ex-bosses. Everybody knows how loyal to a fault Filipinos can be professionally. It does not serve her well here but I doubt if she was even involved closely in policy-making. Strategizing how to win the Asian vote for Bush is one thing, conniving to destroy his political opponents is another. However, what she might have inadvertently heard will put her in trouble if she chooses to lie about it under oath. That would be, in the words of Special Counsel Fitzgerald, a betrayal of the American public.
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THE GATEKEEPER
.. The New York Times published an online article today about Karl Rove, Pres. Bush's closest political adviser and the current focus of a political investigation in the White House regarding the outing of a CIA operative. The paper showed a picture of Rove with his assistant Susan B. Ralston, considered as currently the highest ranking Filipino-American official in the White House. Ms. Ralston is an intriguing figure at the moment, allegedly fiercely protective of her two controversial bosses. She was the former executive assistant to Jack Abramoff, a powerful Republican lobbyist, who was recently indicted on charges of financial fraud. She appears to have left the White House job presumably because of the stress it brings. She appeared before the grand jury on the CIA leak case because of her close association with Karl Rove, screening his phone calls and people going in and out of Rove's office.
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::Thursday, October 27, 2005::
WALMART'S MOMENT OF TRUTH
.. Independent studies about Walmart's effect on the economy paint a grim picture of the company. Though the study is far from conclusive, early indications show that the Walmart's business drives down "American living standards and depresses worker's wages."
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::Sunday, October 23, 2005::
SHOPPING IN ADVANCE
.. It's still a long way before the holidays arrive but apparently not too early to shop. Here are smart ways to shop online.
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iFUNNY
.. I didn't think at first that this was funny. With the way iPods are getting smaller and smaller, you might just have an iBrain in the future.
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::Sunday, October 16, 2005::
DAMN YANKEE
.. I would have to agree with Mark Starr on this one. The Yankee who is most responsible for the team's spiralling post-season performances is non other than George-Greedy Steinbrenner. He abandoned the formula that made the Yankees win three straight World Series - cultivating young homegrown talents and combining it with steely veterans who have the heart to win nevermind the individual accolades. The Boss' impatience made the Yankee organization unwieldy and brass, anointing themselves the right to win again and again and forgetting that you need to play the game smart. Except for the Yankees' loss to the Diamondbacks in 2001 amid the backdrop of 9/11 that took its toll emotionally not only of the city but also of its beloved team, the subsequent post-season losses culminating with this year's collapse to the Angels were all self-inflicted by top management that forgot team cohesion is the secret to winning.
What else can possibly account for the sacking of Contreras, Soriano, Delucci, Juan Rivera who have yet to mature and prove themselves to the team by further exposure? Now these players have anointed themselves official Yankee killers in their respective ballclubs, teams who have allowed them to confidently show their true talents. What could possibly explain giving up on reliable veterans Pettite, El Duque and Clemens who have demonstrated the ability to play with grace under pressure and still deliver a win but impatience and a misguided claim on baseball destiny?
The fans have been deluded into thinking by top management pronouncements that the Yankees exist to win. Baseball is like life. There is no guarantee that you will succeed everytime but you have to persevere. You have to show some heart. Unfortunately, Yankee management has forgotten to play and applied simple bandage to what appears to be a gaping wound in strategy.
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What else can possibly account for the sacking of Contreras, Soriano, Delucci, Juan Rivera who have yet to mature and prove themselves to the team by further exposure? Now these players have anointed themselves official Yankee killers in their respective ballclubs, teams who have allowed them to confidently show their true talents. What could possibly explain giving up on reliable veterans Pettite, El Duque and Clemens who have demonstrated the ability to play with grace under pressure and still deliver a win but impatience and a misguided claim on baseball destiny?
The fans have been deluded into thinking by top management pronouncements that the Yankees exist to win. Baseball is like life. There is no guarantee that you will succeed everytime but you have to persevere. You have to show some heart. Unfortunately, Yankee management has forgotten to play and applied simple bandage to what appears to be a gaping wound in strategy.
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GAMES THAT WOMEN PLAY
.. Women may have gotten the short end of the deal in terms of the gaming industry - until now. Look for games that appeal to women intellectually and emotionally to come to the fore this coming year. Why alienate virtually half of the world's population with violent games that appeal only to men? It doesn't make sense especially from an advertiser's point of view. Gaming for women is an idea whose time has finally come.
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DO DRINK THE WATER
.. Water, water everywhere but not everybody is drinking. The truth about your tap water and what you should do with it.
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::Thursday, October 13, 2005::
SAVING THE ARCTIC
.. I'm publishing actor Robert Redford's appeal to save the Arctic Refuge, a worthwhile effort. I believe it's an honest quest for the truth, notwithstanding the rise in gas prices and the future US Energy insecurity.
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::Sunday, October 09, 2005::
DELL FELL
.. Is the vilification of Dell's customer service justified? I'm not sure about it because I've not had the opportunity to call them. My 3-yr. old iBook works just fine now that I've reformatted the drive to accomodate OS Tiger. Having dealt with different aspects of customer service in my previous jobs, I wouldn't say all experiences are the same and they never are. There are myriads of factors involve in one customer call ranging from the severity of the problem, the time of call, availability of agents etc. I personally don't buy the +2.9% customer service rating improvement on HP. I called on three occasions regarding my work laptop and each time I got the same result - the 3 different agents spent more time asking for personal information and warranties rather than solving the problem. Each time they asked for the same info and you would think they are logging everything in their system. What's going on?
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THE GREATEST AMERICAN CONTROVERSY
::Saturday, October 08, 2005::
SHOW ME THE MONEY
.. Well if you have the money it would be good to know what to do with it..
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::Friday, October 07, 2005::
THE SLIGHTLY BIG FISH
.. New Yorkers will wake up to find the landscape changed when the Fulton Fish Market move to the Bronx. The market was distinctly New York in sight and smell . This is another variation to gentrification which continues to change the face of the city for the better or for worse. You decide.
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FALL FOR NEW YORK
THE U2 SHOW
.. As I'm writing this, U2 are guests for the whole show in the Late Show with Conan O'Brien. I don't think I've ever seen the band take over an entire show so Conan is the man!
::Thursday, October 06, 2005::
SPY GAMES
.. Filipino-American spy Leandro Aragoncillo was charged with stealing classified documents at Fort Monmouth and apprently also at the White House. This is a big blow in terms of media relations to the Philippine government at a time when the White House faces an unprecedented torrent of bad luck.
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::Tuesday, October 04, 2005::
GO WEST YOUNG MAN
.. The top three fastest growing Metro areas in the United States today are in the West Coast, according to figures by the Census Bureau. This is no surprise as traditional megacities in the Eastern front struggle to attract and keep their creative people from leaving. All indications point to a change in traditional migration patterns as new Hispanic immigrants mostly shun the East and move to non-traditional states such as North Carolina and Iowa.
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WAGES OF WAR
.. What compels a person to risk one's life by working in dangerous Iraq? An opportunity to work, mostly absent in one's native country, to put food on the table so the family can eat three times a day. This is an inescapable fact that third country nationals (TCN's), mostly low wage laborers from poor impoverished countries like the Philippines, Pakistan and Sri Lanka face. The simple but powerful dream of saving a house and providing for one's family lure these workers to work for U.S. contract companies where they earn $200 to $1,000 a month. A meager sum by Western standards but manna from heaven in the third world. Their story of danger, abuse and exploitation must be heard.
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::Monday, October 03, 2005::
CARD GAMES
.. It's about time somebody stands up to the big credit card companies. Not only do they engage in questionable practices that don't protect the consumer, allegations now surface that they might have engaged in collusion. It is the poor and the middle class who have the most to lose regarding the use of credit cards. With one of the lowest personal savings rate in the nation's history, card companies are taking advantage by targeting the vulnerable like college students and people who are deep in debt already through relentless and deceptive marketing. It pays to always read the fine print or risk falling into the trap.
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UN-INTELLIGENT DESIGN
.. Weighing in on the hot-button issue that is intelligent design, it's much ado about nothing. The How question is pretty much taken care of by science but not the Why. Why did God create the world? Science cannot answer that but religion can offer some insight and there are many. The issue regarding Intelligent Design belies the fact that the argument they are making is not about HOW but the WHY. Therefore, Intelligent Design is bordering on religion and it does not present any falsifiable proof about its own argument. In other words, it cannot be tested like the way we test hypotheses in the high school lab. Reasonable people of faith can believe in both without any problem because they answer two different questions. The issue is whether Intelligent Design must be taught in schools and the correct answer should be no because it's not science and because of the separation of church and state. It belongs in Sunday schools and churches but not in the classrooms.
::Sunday, October 02, 2005::
MISGUIDED
.. In a recent interview on CNN, a certain black Pastor named J. Nelson Brown surmised that Katrina happened to New Orleans because God wants to punish New Orleans because of its sins of indecency and righteousness. He further theorizes that hurricanes past were unheeded warnings to New Orleans to turn away from its mistakes.This is an example of misguided righteousness and plain stupidity. I don't know with the good pastor but a God who is vengeful and inflicts pain on His creation is not the God of Christianity I know. The reason New Orleans gets hit by hurricanes is because it lies directly on the cyclone path from Africa to the Carribean.
Why can't God, if He's loving, prevent such a disaster? Nature has its own logic and natural laws cannot be suspended without causing chaos. Imagine a world where laws of physics are not consistent, when shooting a basketball through the hoop sometimes veers away into another direction. How are you going to explain that to your kids? How are you going to make them happy if everything they do has no pattern or consistent expectation? Natural laws are both "inviolate and non-selective". No one is exempted regardless of creed, race, time and space etc.. Everyone must obey them or suffer the consequences. Furthermore, not all natural calamities are harmful. Rain was not meant to create flood but to bring nourishment to plant and animal life.
To insinuate that the people of New Orleans deserve the calamity is in itself an illogical argument. Two other states and more cities were also affected. What other sins can the pastor think of now?
Why can't God, if He's loving, prevent such a disaster? Nature has its own logic and natural laws cannot be suspended without causing chaos. Imagine a world where laws of physics are not consistent, when shooting a basketball through the hoop sometimes veers away into another direction. How are you going to explain that to your kids? How are you going to make them happy if everything they do has no pattern or consistent expectation? Natural laws are both "inviolate and non-selective". No one is exempted regardless of creed, race, time and space etc.. Everyone must obey them or suffer the consequences. Furthermore, not all natural calamities are harmful. Rain was not meant to create flood but to bring nourishment to plant and animal life.
To insinuate that the people of New Orleans deserve the calamity is in itself an illogical argument. Two other states and more cities were also affected. What other sins can the pastor think of now?
ORDER IN THE YANKS
::Saturday, October 01, 2005::
YANKEE KILLERS
.. The Yankees need to dig deep into their past for some inspiration in order to beat Boston. In fact, they only need to look back at last year's disastrous performance when Boston came back from a 4-0 deficit to win the American League and subsequently the World Series. They need to have some pride. Today's game is a do or die win. Even the Moose tomorrow won't be able resurrect their fate hanging in the balance right now.
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