Rules at Yuga‘s blog.
Tag Archives: Out-of-Cycle
5
Dec
Another weird dream, 7
I had another dream, and part of it means I have to forget politics for a while.
In that dream, there was a massive flood, and I was riding a rubber boat with some Magdalo soldiers. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just knew they were Magdalo soldiers. Then we were in front of a building, thankfully not flooded. It was a long dream, but I forgot the most of the details. Boy, am I getting old.
Then, I was involved in chasing down a murderer. I was called in because (1) I chased the murderer before and (2) it was a bus chase, which again I was involved in. Sort of like the Speed movies, only this time the 2nd one was another bus chase instead in a yacht. Anyway, the bus that the murderer commandeered was cornered by he got away. The last we saw him, he entered a house.
I got inside that house, and I saw a former student (for those who doesn’t know, I taught for almost 3 years at a local tech-voc school). Unfortunately for him, some witnesses who came with us pointed to him, which was surprising. This student has three very distinguishable birth marks on his face, and the murderer does not have them.
Upon searching the house, we found a set of disguises, and one of them matched that of the murderer. Case closed.
3
Dec
Annoyance of the Week: Preferred whatever
Whoever says that social classes are things of the past needs to get their illusions shattered.
Just go to a nearest BPI branch, and one counter is clearly labeled “Preferred banking clients.” Yes, if you are not rich enough, you are not a preferred banking client, and you cannot line up in that counter.
I am no communist, but I just want to disillusion people about this Enchanted Kingdom.
PS: I paid my BPI bill at this BPI branch, and took me an hour just to pay a five-hundred peso credit card bill.
“We’ll take you farther.” Eh. It should be “We’ll waste your time.” More appropos, I guess.
1
Dec
“Dissent without action is consent”
“Dissent without action is consent.”
Discuss in the comments below. Remove the personalities and stick with the statement.
29
Nov
Trillanes, Lim at Makati: Another coup?
Something’s happening at Makati right now. It seems that Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV together with Gen. Danilo Lim have walked out of the coup hearing at Makati RTC. They are now walking along Ayala Avenue.
I dunno, but I think the soldiers guarding them have switched to Magdalo, too.
Will the people go there when called? It is up to you, I guess, but think of the risks first.
It seems that this is carefully planned: look here:
SENATOR ANTONIO TRILLANES, BRIG. GEN. DANILO LIM, MAGDALO SOLDIERS, THEIR GUARDS AND THE PEOPLE ARE NOW IN MANILA PENINSULA.
THE PEOPLE ARE CALLED UPON TO CONVERGE IN MAKATI TRIANGLE, AYALA AND MAKATI AVENUE NOW TO BRING FORTH A NEW GOVERNMENT!
For those who hate Trillanes et al so much, it is time to take that illogical rage into action. It is time to stop yakking and it is time to start walking the talk. Here’s my humble suggestion. Create placards that says “Trillanes shut up”, “Die, Trillanes!” or whatever, then go to Makati. Gloria Arroyo will be very delighted.
NEWS UPDATES:
ABS-CBN News: Trillanes, Lim call for Arroyo’s removal
GMA News: Trillanes, Lim walk out of court, call for ouster of Arroyo
29
Nov
Disaster (un)preparedness
Last Tuesday’s earthquake had shown that the emergency evacuation measures we have are inadequate. Heck, our reaction (or should I say, inaction) was even nonchalant, as if nothing happened. This is a terrible character flaw on our part; when we act, it is almost too late.
It is a damned-if-you-do situation: you do preemptive action, and when nothing happens, you get blamed. When you do nothing and disaster happens, you get blamed. The entry of typhoons Lando and Mina are instructive. Lando managed to ravage the country, though it steered clear of Bicol. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) predicted that Mina may pass by Bicol, so emergency evacs were made. When Mina steered away from Bicol, PAGASA was blamed for faulty prediction.
No wonder government officials would rather react than act. But this should not be the case. As the tired quote says, it is better to err on the side of caution.
The typhoons and the earthquake highlighted some facets of the Filipino culture. Basically, our nonchalance, our passiveness about disaster prevention are manifestation of the so-called bahala na syndrome. We are very prone to it.
It will take another major disaster before we wake up from this stupor. By then, it will be too late. Again.
(The worst Philippine disaster in recent memory were brought about by typhoons – in Leyte and in Bicol.)
—
I have heard a lot of anecdotes from friends about last Tuesday, all of them troubling. They did not bother evacuating. “Mahina lang naman eh,” most of them said. That is not the point. The possibility of aftershocks are there. The possibility of stronger aftershocks are there. That is why emergency evacuations are always made. But we always want to learn the hard way, right?
If you work in a tall building, do you know what to do in case of earthquake or fire? Do you know where the emergency exits are? Does your company have emergency, evac, and restoration measures in place?
For the record, we did an evac, though much remains to be desired.
27
Nov
A tale of two losers
Such losers.
—-
After Sen. Manuel Roxas II’s election as president of the Liberal Party, here comes the Arroyo saboteur Lito Atienza crying his heart out. He even has this to say:
Congratulations, Sen. Roxas, at your installation as president of the Liberal Party faction led by Frank Drilon and his merry cabal of destabilizers. We were hoping we would be congratulating Mar as our president, the head of a newly-united Liberal Party, but it seems the worst fears of our group became reality after all.
He then ranted on about LP being finally divided, etc.
Mr. Atienza: who caused the division of the party? Who went on to have a rump, unofficial, illegal party elections? Who tried to sabotage the party by subverting it to Gloria Arroyo’s regime?
Sure, go ahead and sue. Let’s see who the true losers are. (Yeah, the fact that you have the environment portfolio speaks for itself.)
—
Let’s have a wimp for another poor loser.
Speaker Jose de Venecia is in the hot seat for the past two months. His troubles began when his son, Jose de Venecia III, began his exposes against the National Broadband Network project (in the process, Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. was forced to resign, faced with imminent impeachment). To test his loyalty, de Venecia faced two crucial questions.
First, Atty. Roel “Palyado” Pulido filed an ethics case against de Venecia, at the height of the younger de Venecia’s exposes. Then, he filed a three-page impeachment complaint against Gloria Arroyo. It seems that the gameplay was simple: have the impeachment complaint dismissed or else.
JDV tried to be cute for all when he asked Representative Raul del Mar to transmit the complaint to the House Justice committee, in a way giving the Fortress by the Pasig a scare. Well, the dogs were compliant: committee killed the complaint. Then, the plenary buried it.
JDV should be in the clear now, right? Wrong. That’s how vindictive this regime is.
Not only is the ethics complaint festering at his back, the Office of the Solicitor General is reviewing a compromise agreement made by a company owned by JDV and the Presidential Commission on Good Goverment in 1988. Of course, the Solicitor General immediately claimed that this is not politically motivated. The deal was made in 1988. Great timing, madam solicitor.
(I am not even dealing with the Northrail project.)
And de Venecia? Ever the martyr, cries foul, says that the Supreme Court has already ruled on the case with finality. His lawyer, Singaw ng Bayan sycophant Raul Lambino branded the move as political harassment.
My grandmother used to say: do not deal with the devil. (To counterbalance that for atheists: do not deal with cheats.) So there.
—
Who’s the loser from all of this? All of us. At the end of the day, it is us who are screwed.
22
Nov
Black Friday
I used to remember that there was a group of people who advocated for the Philippines to be part of the American Union. They are opposed to the group who were advocating for independence. I think that was more than 50 years ago.
Fast forward to today. To be honest, I’d be glad to be an American on Black Fridays. For those who are not familiar, Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving (usually 4th Thursday of November). I’ll give way to Wikipedia:
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th day of November. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employers give the day off, allowing consumers to get a head start on their Christmas shopping. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open very early (typically 5 A.M.) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term “Black Friday” has been traced back only to the 1970s. “Black Friday” was originally so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit).
Ok. Browse these sites to see what I mean.
Gizmodo’s Ultimate Black Friday Guide
Joystiq Holidaze: best of Black Friday
Black Friday deals
BlackFriday.info
Black Friday Ads
Join me and weep.
21
Nov
LTO Web site hacked
The Web site of the Land Transportation Office of the Philippines has been hacked. Here is a screen shot of the hacked site:
(Click on image to view full size.)
The page also displays YOUR IP address.
Based on the page, the defacement was done by a Turkish hacker.
(Thanks, Shari, for the tip!)