pnoy ako, pnoy tayo org poster (in support of noynoy aquino's presidential bid in 2010)
Preaching to the choir
They say people who blog (bloggers), a tremendous percentage of which are well-educated, well-informed, "well-off" and well-"everything", are the ones running the "online show" -- and this assumption is not without basis. Go ahead and search the net for familiar terms and you'll most likely see the same blog over and over again. Another case of the "bourgeois" lording over the masa crowd looking for vital information online? Maybe.
An unwitting, unconnected, un-influential, regular Joe searching for "best presidentiable" being diverted by Google to so and so's PR9 blog and being lectured and enjoined to vote for "change" -- the good old "good vs. evil" sort of mentality -- putting personalities in a box or grooming a personality to fit in a customized box. Continue reading →
There is no greater honor for a blogger like me than be dedicated an entire post as response to one article I've written, specially if it's from no less than one of those bloggers I have great respect for. It doesn't even matter if that blogger disagrees with me or not.
True to his blog's tagline, @cocoy is indeed "conservative in what he says, liberal in what he accepts". If you are a reader who disagrees with most of what I write, please do yourself a favor by reading his response -- he will give you a crash course in "Disagreeing with Grace 101" and "The Art of Subtle Yet Effective Persuasion". Very nice article, @cocoy. I enjoyed reading it.
And now, to return the favor... :)
I actually wanted to leave a comment there but it turned out longer than his post so in the interest of unwritten net propriety I had to do it here. I apologize in advance for this lengthy post. I do not have the time to edit and make it shorter.
The question, I think is not whether Noynoy is too good to be true but rather more on whether he can deliver results as he promises. It is not whether his character is "without reproach" but more on whether his character is strong enough to weather the storms (political and natural) that is sure to continually hit us. It is not whether he is experienced or not. The question is whether experience will "make him" or "break him".
Perhaps, more than the assertion that Noynoy Aquino is inexperienced, this is something he must overcome. RJ has a point. And she isn't alone. It isn't merely, Noynoy Aquino but more than twenty years of failure by our leaders to lift our people out of poverty. It is like a woman breaking your heart, over and over again. How then do you trust?
Okay, never mind the cheesy analogy there :), @Cocoy drives the point and he drives it hard. I am both thankful and relieved that there are people who "get" my post for what it is "as a whole" and not for parts of it. See, the problem with other people is they either get your thoughts out of context or they don't read everything or they choose which ones to quote and build on that incomplete thought. It's the classic "The Six Blind Men and the Elephant" analogy. (I first read that story when I was in second grade and I've never forgotten it since then.) Continue reading →
I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the numbing, heart-sinking news by now. And I hope mainstream media finally caught up after last night’s unnerving development on House Resolution (HR) 1109, otherwise known as the choo choo train to #conass. Apparently, that term no longer applies because as of last night, the train mutated to a speeding bullet train — proof of how much destruction can happen overnight when we lose vigilance for a moment and choose to be indifferent. Well, what do you know..the revered house can fast-track a bill after all, if they so wanted. While others sleep soundly, those sneaky bastards who sold their soul for a few silver coins are now selling the entire country to the highest bidder (money, position, and everything else). You wake up one morning and boom! You’ve been sold! The height of treachery!
This resolution filed last November 2008 by Congressman Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sure, who happens to be a kababayan (both of my parents hail from Camarines Sur, Bicol) which was not intended for any other purpose but to ask the Supreme Court on voting procedures by the Senate and the House (how to vote — separately or collectively?) is now being fashioned in a way that may serve the purpose of a select few and not the benefit of the whole Filipino nation. As of this time, he has declared withdrawal of support to the resolution he himself authored and consequently withdrew from the party as well so he’s now independent, so to speak. Are we seeing moro-moro style tactics here? Continue reading →
Amidst this economic crisis we are faced with, news articles still have room for politics and 2010 elections-related articles. That's not surprising -- considering how grossly-invested we are in our politics.
I've read a few hundred news feeds today (most of those I merely "scanned" and skimmed-through) as I don't exactly have all day to read all, you know. Well, I've read the usual -- the Obama frenzy, the doomsday economic prophecies, the life sentence given to Rizal Day LRT bombers, etc. But this one article written by Mark Ubalde of GMANews.tv was interesting enough to me that I read the entire article. Continue reading →
"There is nothing easier than lopping off heads and nothing harder than developing ideas." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of their way and let them have it."
"Wars are seldom caused by spontaneous hatreds between people, for peoples in general are too ignorant of one another to have grievances and too indifferent to what goes on beyond their borders to plan conquests. They must be urged to the slaughter by politicians who know how to alarm them." Henry Mencken
"There is no such thing as a good war and there is no such thing as a bad peace." Benjamin Franklin
"Short-circuiting the long-established principles of patient negotiation leads to war, not peace." Jimmy Carter
I miss the good old days -- when things weren't as complicated as they are now. It seemed rather peaceful then (or so I thought). Fact is, the world in general has not been truly peaceful at any time. Wars are as constant as change. And this world has seen one too many wars. There will always be small wars fought in certain parts of the world for all sorts of reason. I think humankind has a penchant for wars -- probably part of what makes us human -- to be hostile at times when certain boundaries are crossed. Continue reading →
The reality of poverty, for most of our brothers and sisters follow them to their death -- as is the case with Mang Pandoy -- the man showcased in the SONA(State of the Nation Address) by then President Fidel V. Ramos as a representative of the poor whose lives he aims to improve. Many years after that, the man born poor died poor. If you find it too harsh a word, I'm pretty sure there's a more politically-correct term for that. Underprivileged? Less fortunate? Economically-challenged? Gah. Does it matter how we call it? Apparently, it does not. For if we examine closely, "terms" don't change a reality. Is there anything more glaring than the reality of your family's incapacity to even give you a proper burial? My friends, Mang Pandoy lies "clad in a faded violet shirt, laid in an ordinary wooden coffin". His death is no poorer than the life he lived. The man clearly died "waiting on the world to change" -- waiting on his economic status to at least change from bad to fair. He died waiting for a chance at a better life. Continue reading →
RJ is a web/technology and politics enthusiast. She doesn't blog or comment anonymously and her opinions are not for sale. Know more about her and this blog.
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March is Women’s Month
Phenomenal Woman by: Maya Angelou
Many people wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
When I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
The flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
The joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Men themselves have wondered
what they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Now you understand
just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palms of my hands,
the need for my care.
Because I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's my mother and all your mothers
And my grandmothers and your grandmothers
And my great grandmothers and your greats
And my great greats
And yours
And all you women
And Me!