PRESS FREEDOM SODOMIZED: FOR

[from friendster November 22, 2007]

Why was the NPC mural with the theme of ‘Press Freedom’ censored? Who stands to benefit from its defiling? I’m going to take time to analyze the edited parts of the mural.

1. The erasure of a big portion of the newspaper held by the central figure, containing the statement of the International Federation of Journalists regarding the perceived effects of the anti-terror law on press freedom, and replaced by a hideous bird-monster in a cage. 

If you’re wondering why anti-terror laws can have adverse effect of press freedom, take these as an example: it criminalizes the sowing and creation of “widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to the unlawful demand;” and it allows punishment for “conspiracy to commit terrorism.” In a country like ours where trumped-up drug charges are abundant as hooligans in the PNP, those two points in quotes can easily be used to curb dissenting speech. Even the editorial or an opinion article in a daily can warrant surveillance. Simply put, an idealistic journalist is branded a terrorist by powers-that-be.

They thought the bird in a cage replacement in the censored version may suffice as it may well imply “ibon man may layang lumipad.” It is their own wishful thinking that they can fly away with such a despicable edit. Since Erap’s downfall, most of those who think already know the caged truth of our
existence. In this case, it is just as disgusting as it should be very disgusting to see a caged bird instead of the statement of the IFJ.

PRESS FREEDOM SODOMIZED: V

It has been weeks since the National Press Club (NPC) mural was sodomized for the reason that there are many leftist elements inculcated in the mural by the Angono artists. I for one was shocked when I read the paper that day. I have been meaning to write a protest blog for that fiasco but due to previous engagements I decided to postpone it for a week or two, knowing all too well that due to the initial alarm that such attack on press freedom, a tsunami of protest and violent reactions would surely ensue and after a couple of weeks the public would then forget about the whole fiasco. You may call it a blessing in disguise or I may call it prolonging the public outrage over such a despicable assault on the freedom of the press. So, here, now, after weeks of silence, I am now sounding my indignation on why the NPC which stood by the motto of the freedom of the press is at the forefront of censoring it. However, I am saving my disgust for the disgusting alteration of the NPC mural for my next post. As a pre-cursor, I’ll be sharing with you the speech of V from the movie V for Vendetta and hope against hope that you find the parallels that I found.

THE MARK TWAIN REALITY

[from friendster October 14, 2007]

[This is in response for the Blog Action Day; October 15, 2007, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment
in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. Bloggers of the World unite!]

    I’ll be veering away from the political factor or any other factor of the environment issue and just  concentrate on one and the most important one—us. Not the political us or the greedy us for that matter but the ass that is us, to be exact, the psyche of us that is ass. I’ll be assuming that you’re familiar or very familiar with the award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth by the best president America never had—Al Gore. If not well, there you go being an ass of us. There’s also The 11^th Hour documentary which I haven’t seen yet, (Philippines release date is on Oct 10 but hey, we have Quiapo and Greenhills here.) now that makes the two of us—ass. When I say us doesn’t mean that I’m addressing it to the extremes meaning all of us rather it just simply means, most of us or the majority of us that is ass. But for now I’ll stop introducing asses and talk about us err the psyche of us. Rest assured I have no degree in psychology and there will be no scientific basis for my analysis rather my opinion and analysis only so there is no need to flame me.

SINGAPURA DIARIES 808

[from friendster June 12, 2007]

EZEKIEL

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers…

Date: June 12, 2007 (Philippine Independence Day)

Time: around four in the afternoon

Setting: Lucky Plaza

Cast of Characters:

DON

·         got duped by ‘singkit’ for 100SGD for a Nokia cellphone two months ago.

·         Has always been looking forward for revenge ever since.

·         Thought that he already had his revenge about a month ago when he duped a guy (he thought was singkit) that he was buying his PSP for 500SGD.

·         Figured in a shouting match at the PSG shout box about two hours earlier and was looking forward for their EB fight at Orchard.

·         Got disappointed in that shouting incident and supposed to be EB fight because the guy made excuses “na hindi talo” in other words, the other guy chickened out.

SINGAPURA DIARIES 707

[from friendster May 15, 2007]

INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

It has been a month of my existence here in Singapore and weeks since I last posted anything on my blogs. I even said to myself that I’ll post again after landing a job. Well this is one of those false alarms. I heard that so much has been going on back home. I don’t quite want to be really informed of all the parties and events going on, but news are just news and in this world that has grown so small because of advancements in communications and leaps in terms of connectivity. It’s like an information overload just waiting to explode, if you get my drift, plus the bullshit that G-8 has been peddling that globalization is the wave of the future, I can never really stay disconnected from information. Talk about globalization, well globalize my ass! Third world countries will eventually be at the losing end when everything else ends or when those in the third world choose not to realize the clear and present danger that globalization brings forth. So much about that, I’ll post in the near future why I am against and aghast to globalize.

I was informed that Kaskade went back to Manila during my first week here. Damn! My fave and I didn’t even get to party to his ‘Everything’ the second time around. (Immediately plays Everything on WMP: …I see it’s changing everything, don’t you know the way you move me, it’s so right, it’s better than anything) I also heard Puerto Galera is still teeming with henna and beach bums, well, that’s on account of what Ivan said, Bonnie Bailey also good-vibed and spread the love at Boracay and I’ve been constantly being ‘e-mail bombarded’ by this convergence party at Warehouse 135 sponsored by CTA happening sometime later this weekend.

Oh and the elections, still looking very Filipino with all the cheating and violence. We have GMA being duped and embracing in all her stupidity globalization yet she cannot and will not automate and computerize the elections. If jumping into the bandwagon of globalization is the future then why the hell can she not know that computerized elections is the wave of honesty decades ago. She knows, you know, I know, everyone knows! It just won’t be ‘dagdag-bawas-friendly’ to Team Unity. So no matter how primitive, they let it be, we let it be. Which brings me to share with you and let you ponder on what Mark Twain said and hope that we all agree and take action that we take no more crap from the present administration, it goes like “what gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know, it’s what we know for sure but just ain’t so”

SINGAPURA DIARIES 505

[from friendster April 26, 2007]

EXILED FROM PARADISE

(WMP playing Voices by Dario G… we sailed over seven seas, searching for that missing key, unlock a new world harmony… climb the highest mountain range, then we took the longest train, looking for our perfect refrain…)

Everything is almost like a routine for me now so I’m not that active in posting anymore. Nothing really significant has happened unlike my first few days of my stay here. Last Sunday I went to church but wasn’t able to make it to mass. Last mass at St. Joseph Church is set at 5:30pm. Blame it on me; I never thought it was already 6:30pm when I left, well, the sun shines here up to almost 7:30pm. So I just prayed outside the church.

Monday I got my hands on some ingredients for Nilagang Baboy, only thing is I didn’t find any fish sauce so I had to make do with the local salt. Good thing it still tasted good. I and John ate and feasted on it. And I would feast on it in the coming days. Andame ng kalahating kilo hehehe! I’m planning to cook Sinigang this coming Sunday; I just hope that I find some Kangkong and Tamarind Soup base at West Mall or BPP. I was told that I can buy all the ingredients for Pinoy dishes at LP but I don’t think that it’s a good idea to travel that far just to buy fish sauce or any ingredients for my cooking. Unless I’m going to buy a new cellphone again or if I get a sign from heaven that “singkit” is gonna be there.

(WMP playing Breathe by Michelle Branch…if I just breathe, let it fill the space in between, I’ll know everything is all right…breathe, every little piece of me, you’ll see, everything is alright, if I just breathe…)

SINGAPURA DIARIES 404

[from friendster April 23, 2007]

SUPERSIZE ME

Wah! Another McDonald’s breakfast! I noticed that McDonalds here at Bukit Batok MRT is somewhat the hub of teenagers.  Well, that’s bad news for me because almost half of the teenage patrons are also availing of their Wi-Fi and that translates to an almost dial-up connection. Arrgh! Mobik Wi-Fi isn’t redirecting me to its login page. Almost half of my battery is gone and I still can’t fucking connect. I told the manager of my predicament. I’m getting impatient and regretful that I paid a 7SGD meal just because of the free Wi-Fi and here I am with no Wi-Fi. Bad morning or maybe it’s because of this lousy hangover having downed almost 12 Heinekens last night. The manager isn’t helpful and doesn’t even have the necessary knowledge about modems and Wi-Fi, well, that is from my point of view. So in the most tranquil manner I told her that since i’m not being redirected and everyone else seems to be connected besides me, what she could do is reset the connection by restarting the router because sometimes when there’s too much traffic in the network, connection errors like what I’m having happens. She complied and tadah! I’m connected. Being grateful, I ordered another large fries.

I always make it to a point that this laptop drains its battery so as to maximize my limited battery capacity plus to get the worth of any McDonalds meal that is supersizing me as I Wi-Fi away. Drained! Next stop is the “singkit” at Unlucky Plaza. It was past 3:00pm when I arrived at Orchard. I hurriedly made my way to “singkit’s” stall. Unsurprisingly, he still was nowhere to be found. He had three colleagues there so I asked them where I could find the guy who sold me my massively overpriced cellphone. Maybe they knew that I was overpriced by their sorry excuse for a colleague so they came in his defence. I told them what I know and they reasoned out another very sorry and lame excuse for a reason. Now my temper has almost reached its breaching point and I wasn’t paying any attention to any excuse that is coming out of their mouths, well, as if, I understand what they are saying anyway, another sorry excuse for speaking in English, well fluent English is a gift by my book, what i’m hearing from those guys is more of like shrieking from the stupid idiot taxi driver I almost had a brush the other day.

SINGAPURA DIARIES 303

[from friendster April 22, 2007]

BARRIO FIESTA – A TASTE OF HOME

Now it’s imperative that I buy a cellphone here with a kababayan sim to communicate. Che and Coy was more than willing enough to accompany me. I’ll be forever thankful to them they made my stay here seem like I never left home. Coy is one cool guy and very friendly at that. He reminds me of my friends back home, so easy to get along with. I actually find him and my cousin a perfect match. First time we had dinner at Bukit Panjang Plaza I was even asking Che if I get to hear wedding bells soon.

We took a cab to a place called Orchard. We went straight to Lucky Plaza. We found one but I forgot the model no. for 100+SGD. We then proceeded to the upper floors and I found myself in a place called Barrio Fiesta. This is not the Barrio Fiesta that you see at the Philippines. It’s one stall pretty much like what you see at the food courts. But don’t let looks deceive you. I ordered Papaitan and Dinuguan. Ang galing! Meron pala pinoy cooking dito! Nice! I can’t express to you in English how the food tastes so to all those who knows how I talk, I’ll describe it in Tagalog so you’ll have an idea how it tastes, here goes: ANAK NG PUTA! ANG SARAP! THE BEST YUNG PAPAITAN AT DINUGUAN! GRABE!

After that sumptuous dinner we headed back home by train. They taught me how to transfer trains; which route is the fastest; and what bus to ride so I don’t have to waste all my money on taxis. Che even gave me an EZ Link card which is like credit card which you ‘tap’ on terminals of buses and trains. Hell! You could even use it to buy at McDonalds. You just have to load credits on it and you don’t even have to bring cash when travelling around Singapore. We arrived home in less than an hour. I arranged my contacts and texted everyone my cellphone number; blogged and blogged until my eyes grew weary and sleepy.

SINGAPURA DIARIES 202

[from friendster April 20, 2007]

WI-FI MORNING

It was around 9:00am when I woke up. Honestly, I thought I was just dreaming that I’m here. Though I had a great time since I landed here there is really nothing more depressing than a sober morning in a new country. It took me a quick trip to 7-11 for iced coffee and tuna sandwich to overcome that unhappy morning rise. So I then went on my usual morning rituals like praying and thanking God for a safe trip while having coffee but this time in front of the TV, I usually say my prayers on our front yard waiting for the day’s paper while having hot coffee, well, what the heck a little change in my morning rituals won’t really change anything being in a new country after all.

As we were discussing last night, my new found friends told me that instead of going to Starbucks or McDonalds for free Wi-Fi access, I should just try first if I can detect and connect to any unsecured networks here at home. I did just that and what do you know? Well, they’ve all learned how to secure their networks, that is the wireless networks whose reception are good, all the other that are of low strength signals, well, they’re still unsecure but being poor in reception, they couldn’t serve my purpose anyway.

SINGAPURA DIARIES 101

[from friendster April 20, 2007]

I’M ON MY WAY

As I sat by the window, I saw the buildings and houses getting smaller; next was the islands until my vision of my country literally morphed to that of a bird. There were butterflies constantly fluttering in my stomach to say the least. Now I know how my family felt when they left for the United States. Here I am, bound to a destination, three hours away while my family endures 12-14 hours of skies. The only difference is when they land they have almost all of my paternal side of the family with them. Where I’m going, I have but one of my maternal side of the family waiting for me.

Have you ever known how it feels like when you’re going to another country and not knowing when you’re coming back? It feels like hell! Hell! Worst than hell! I thought of every one I’m leaving behind and I began to really think of going back once we land. It was sunny skies all the way with some turbulence that some passengers really mind which for me was nothing compared to the sadness that had suddenly wrapped all over me. And this is coming from someone who had always loved adventures; exploring the unknown; experimenting with what mix feels and hits good. I guess the very quote that I tell everyone has boomeranged on me–"there’s always a first time.”

The majestic view above the clouds and the movie starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz (I forgot the title) has both lost their value to entertain me. The feeling is far worse than the greatest “crashing” I’ve gone through in my entire life. Sad, it was all that all the way—sad.

CHANGI AIRPORT

It was 6:15 pm when we landed. I contemplated of my plan to go back and decided that I should give it a shot to try it here. If I lasted three hours of sadness along the way maybe I could last a day and if I last a day maybe I could last a week and so on.

BLOGPOSTS IN A BLOGPOST

[from friendster March 26, 2007]

I’ve been very busy and there were many times I tried to post but time is always an inconvenience hence most of my blogposts remains unfinished so I thought of just posting them as is, in parts and not elaborated.

LIE-CENSE

Ever since it was confirmed that there was a leakage in the 2006 Nursing Licensure Examinations I have argued that there should be a retake of the said exams. Oftentimes I would receive a barrage of negative reactions particularly from those who took the said exams. As I have said before to them and to my friends who took the exams, it is but a bitter pill to swallow for the greater good not just for their batch but for the batches after them.

I also argued that just like in the CAT or COCC, when one in your group commits a mistake either that one admits to it or the whole group is punished for that mistake. My stand does not stem that those who took the exams be treated in a military way of punishment instead they understand that as a group who took the exams they are all responsible collectively of discipline. There is a reason why in the COCC they are issuing collective punishments—to curb anyone from covering up the mistake of others or conniving or just turning a blind eye. For who would just turn a blind eye to cheating if they know that all of them would be punished, well, in the recent exams, be made to take the exams all over again?

    It took the CGNFS to wake them up to reality that only in the Philippines where a fake president still reigns where cheating has become the number one in GMRC will they be able to get away with it. Do not mistake me for being insensitive to the plight of our local nurses I have many friends in that batch.
It’s just that I knew in the first place that the United States of A, the sole reason why nursing schools are making a killing would not tolerate such behavior. (Makes me wonder why GW Bush is still around) If batch 2006 do not retake the exams the reputation of Philippine nurses would be tarnished forever. A simple choice between the red and the blue pill wouldn’t you agree?

deJA vu

[from friendster January 31, 2007]

 Have we met before? Shit! Nangyare na to eh! Well it has been quite a while since I’ve “blogged”. And what a coincidence or is it destiny that I’m “blogging” again right after the night when I said to JA that I would be quoting her response of my response that “right is right…” as “morbidly poetic.” Or maybe it’s just the movie or perhaps déjà vu then again maybe it’s the sum of all that.

    Let’s define déjà vu. In psychology it is the illusion of having already experienced something actually being experienced for the first time or an impression of having seen or experienced something before.

    John Scaksteder’s summary of the movie Déjà Vu is as follows: After an explosion on a ferry that kills over 500 people including a large group of party-going sailors, an ATF agent (Denzel Washington) investigates the crime. AN FBI agent (Val Kilmer) also joins the investigation. Impressed with the ATF agent’s skills, the FBI agent invites him to join a new team that has a new program that uses satellite technology to look backwards in time for 4-1/2 days to try to capture the terrorist (Jim Cavieziel). Meanwhile a young woman (Paula Patton) who was burned washes up on shore. Meant to look like part of the explosion, the body arrives at its location too soon, which leads the agents to believe her death is related to the explosion. As they use the new technology to study the woman, the ATF agent determines that this is not satellite imagery but somehow is using a time warp. From this point in the film, the movie moves from a crime film to a sci-fi time paradox film. Nonetheless, the action is non-stop and always captivating. The end of the film may be confusing to some people, but it is all laid out if one cares to look carefully.

DECIPHERING CHRISTMAS SONGS

[from friendster December 23, 2006]

I got this from some website about a year
ago. Think of this as an electronic Christmas greeting card. Trivia anyone?

 The Twelve Days of Christmas Song

 No one seems to know who wrote what seems to be a nonsensical song, but legend has it as being written during the period of time when Roman Catholics in England were not allowed to practice their faith without punishment (which would explain why no one credits themselves for penning it), the song was to help children to remember the tenets of their faith. Many consider this another urban legend though, mainly because everything in the song goes along with both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church doctrine. And that it seems to have a French origin, not English.

EAT SHIT

[from friendster November 11, 2006]

 Cha-cha’s first step, which is the People’s Initiative was just shot down by the Supreme Court declaring it as an “elaborate deceit scheme” however trust [fake]President GMA and her minions to find a way to get around it. And with all those sugar and sweets coating the need for “cha-cha” as [fake]President GMA and her cohorts are peddling, trust its content to be nothing short of bitter, sour and icky pretty much what I picture the taste of the Pasig’s murky waters near Malacañan Palace would taste like if you ever be persuaded in drinking it, like how the signatories of that damned “People’s Initiative thought that charter change would actually be beneficial to them was persuaded in signing. Or maybe there were really only a handful of those who really signed it and we were only duped to see six million signatories where in reality there were only 600 signatories (well who knows, if Garci can come up with a million votes and he is only one person, imagine how many votes a whole Lower House could produce)

    Back to “cha-cha,” as I’ve said earlier, the proponents of “cha-cha” is claiming that a shift in government will be good or actually is the best for this country since the election is no longer in the hands of us voters, (our only chance to vote is when we vote for our representatives which is at present—the congressmen) but in the hands of congressmen, who in a parliamentary form of government, will elect among themselves who becomes prime minister hence the chance of having another ERAP for president is reduced to null. But then again that’s all a lot of bull. Who in his right mind would not know the fact that a parliamentary shift will only pave way for three things?

COSTUME PARTY

[from friendster October 31, 2006]

Think of this as a Halloween greeting card.

A couple was invited to a swanky masked Halloween Party. She got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the party alone. He, being a devoted husband, protested, but she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and go to bed, and there was no need of his good time being spoiled by not going. So he took his costume and away he went.

The wife, after sleeping soundly for one hour, awakened without pain, and as it was still early, she decided to go to the party. In as much as her husband did not know what her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by watching her husband to see how he acted when she was not with him.

She joined the party and soon spotted her husband cavorting around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice chick he could, and copping a little feel here and a little kiss there. His wife sidled up to him and being a rather seductive babe herself, he left his partner high and dry and devoted his time to the new stuff that had just arrived.

She let him go as far as he wished; naturally, since he was her husband. Finally he whispered a little proposition in her ear and she agreed, so off they went to one of the cars and had a little bang.

Just before unmasking at midnight, she slipped away and went home and put the costume away and got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would make for his behavior.

She was sitting up reading when he came in and asked what kind of a time he had. He said, "Oh, the same old thing. You know I never have a good time when you’re not there."

Then she asked, "Did you dance much?"

He replied, "I’ll tell you, I never even danced one dance. When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other guys, so we went into the den and played poker all evening. But I’ll tell you… the guy I loaned my costume to sure had a real good time!"

Hehehehe!

Happy Halloween!

Quarter-life Crisis

[from friendster October 24, 2006]

A childhood friend of mine finally forwarded this article, We’ve been exhaustively discussing this over cases of SM Light. It helps, a lot.

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis"

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you could be doing or maybe you are
looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and you’re scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren’t so great after all.

WHEN YOU DIVORCE ME, CARRY ME OUT IN YOUR ARMS

[from friendster October 5, 2006]

I just got hold of this so it’s sharing time. Here goes…

On my wedding day, I carried my wife in my arms. The bridal car stopped in front of our one-room flat. My buddies insisted that I carry her out of the car in my arms. So I carried her into our home. She was then plump and shy. I was a strong and happy bridegroom.

This was the scene ten years ago.

The following days were as simple as a cup of pure water: we had a kid; I went into business and tried to make more money. When the assets were steadily increasing, the affection between us seemed to ebb. She was a civil servant. Every morning we left home together and got home almost at the same time. Our kid was studying in a boarding school.

Our marriage life seemed to be enviably happy. But the calm life was more likely to be affected by unpredictable changes.

Dew came into my life.

It was a sunny day. I stood on a spacious balcony. Dew hugged me from behind. My heart once again was immersed in her stream of love. This was the apartment I bought for her.

Dew said you are the kind of man who best draws girls’ eyeballs. Her words suddenly reminded me of my wife. When we were just married, my wife said, Men like you, once successful, will be very attractive to girls.

ANNULHATE PAPERS

[from friendster September 24, 2006]


You have really got to hate those annulment papers. Everything is way too biased. Well, that really is how it should be, you know legality goobledygook. I’m not contesting, I just want some sentences stricken out. Everything cited in those papers are all exagerrated hate and hits way below the belt. It’s a low blow…a very low blow.

CLICK THE GODFATHER

[from friendster August 14, 2006]

Regrets, I had collected a whole library of them and I’m going to sure regret watching Click in the pirated DVD version instead in THX. Blame it on Sandler’s previous movies with the exception of The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates which has all surpassed my expectations, the rest of his films revolve around humor of the toilet kind. Well I thought Click was not a movie experience for the “surround-sound” cinema kind. Add the fact that this movie was getting reviews of a “seen that” kind of ending. Damn! I was wrong! Dead wrong!

Ten minutes has passed after I clicked “X” on the Microsoft Windows Media Player but I have to admit I am still suspended in disbelief. That’s how movies are supposed to be right? Suspend your disbelief, immense the viewer in a different dimension. I have to give Sandler credit for this latest film of his. It goes on my top movie list. By the way this is in no way a movie review, just my insights.

I’ll be assuming you’ve watched it already but if you haven’t, I strongly suggest you go watch it. It’s a good film. There’s a good twist, not in the story err there’s a twist in the story but a predictable one, it truly has a “seen that” ending and a “known that” mysterious character. The real twist and I don’t know if the writer Steve O Keefe really wanted it is that Click is a comedy film with very, very serious undertones that we most likely take for granted. Well for me the undertones are really that serious. Click is a serious comedy to be precise. Usually when you saw the trailer of most movies you could actually say you’ve seen the good scenes, however, Click’s trailer is just the quarter of the film you have to watch it to really appreciate it. Also, after you’re finished, let 10 to 20 minutes pass, after that, it will all sink in.