Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Fr. Gerry Orbos

The media likes him. He gets interviewed often for anything Catholic-related.

In other words, I don't like him. He's one of those priests trying to be hip and relevant. He actually declares that if the Church becomes stricter, especially when it comes to attire, then Catholics will leave the Church. I for one, wouldn't mind it. This fear among Catholics that implementing a little discipline within the Church would force membership to deflate is diabolic.

Hmmmm...

Regarding the issue of the alleged "extortion" in the Commission of Appointments, Cong. Herminio Teves alleged that a member of the said Commission asked if Sec. Teves and himself for money. Cong. Teves reportedly said that the congressman said "ikaw may pera". I dunno. The statment Teves reported is very vague. In one sense it could be viewed as extortion. On the other hand, perhaps the congressman was simply being stingy and asked for Teves to pay his part for their meal at Libanan's restaurant. Then again, it's just me.

Manila Archdioces issues guideline for church attire

The Manila clergy should set the example for the lay faithful. How can one feel obliged to wear decent clothing to church when they see priests presiding at the Liturgy wearing, how should I put this, "uninspiring vestments" of questionable quality and letting silly things takes place at Mass. If the priests are already in such sorry state, the "lay ministers" tend to be just as bad. If they follow the new guidelines, the lay faithful of Manila will undoubtedly feel overdressed in the hootenanny.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Them again.




Mark Shea is right to call them Bronze Age Thugs.

They haven't discovered Iron[y] yet.






Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs

Ang Nimfa Ravelo, bow

Back in primary school, we were taught in Filipino class that the article used for names of people are Si (for singular) and Sina (for pluar). The article Ang was to be used for improper nouns and names of things/objects. There is however a DZBB reporter who, I've noticed, consistently used "ang" for names of people. Her name is Nimfa Ravelo. I dunno if this is one of those idiosyncracies found in some Tagalog-speaking towns or provinces. Heck, I dunno where she comes from. Anyway, "Ang" Ravelo should be fined for murdering the language and giving a bad example to children listening her reports and program. And in some way, "Ang" Nimfa Ravelo's use of "Ang" for people's names instead of "Si/Sina" sounds a bit disrespectful and contemptous. I wonder if someone else noticed this.

For Mel's benefit

Friday, June 22, 2007

Korina Sanchez doesn't mind humiliating people she hates on TV or radio

but she takes exception when the Bureau of Internal Revenue targets celebrities like her and humiliate them in public for failing to pay their taxes properly.

Hhhmmm...

Someone from the BIR should audit her.

I'm still alive

Work is an impediment to blogging. Will be back as soon as the PR issues are over.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Gashwin posts on the new 10 Commandments of Driving

Where's the no-picking-up-of-prostitutes part? I distinctly remember hearing it from a news report from DZMM. Is it possible that they made it up? Hhmmm... Time to check the audio files...

Lefties and their theatrics again



These boobs have violated my human rights!



Photo credit: PDI

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Creative launches budget MP3 player

oooooooohh... 1 gigabyte. aggressive.

Trillanes the "Reformer"



The reformer is always right about what is wrong. He is generally wrong about what is right. -- GK Chesterton

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Karen Davila should find a room

and do Trillanes there. Ewww...

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

So a Pinoy's beheaded in Saudi...

for defending himself...

from a Muslim Pakistani who intended to rape and sodomize him...

Justice done, Islamic style.


Update:

Roy Seneres says it's PGMA's fault. Of course!

Calumny

The unjust damaging of the good name of another by imputing to him a crime or fault of which he is not guilty. The sin thus committed is in a general sense mortal, just as is detraction. It is hardly necessary, however, to observe that as in other breaches of the law the sin may be venial, either because of the trivial character of the subject-matter involved or because of insufficient deliberation in the making of the accusation. Objectively, a calumny is a mortal sin when it is calculated to do serious harm to the person so traduced. Just as in the instance of wrongful damage to person or estate, so the calumniator is bound to adequate reparation for the injury perpetrated by the blackening of another's good name.


It's a sin against the Eighth Commandment.

"Filipinos are not free as long as they are poor"

Tell that to the Franciscans.

It's PGMA's fault!

Let's blame her for Fr. Giancarlo Bossi's kidnapping because she did nothing to prevent it.

And for the "extrajudicial killings" because she did nothing to prevent them.

We might as well blame her if the Pope is hurt when he visits the country, because Archbishop Cruz is certain that she'll be behind it. We all know that the most Catholic country in Southeast Asia is more hostile to the Pope than Turkey ever was.

And don't forget the hike in tuition fees this year. Blame her for that too.

In fact, if you're late for work, blame the President. She wasn't at the intersection directing traffic.

If you lost your cellfone, blame the President for her failure to remind you about it.

If you have a cold or flu, blame her because she didn't come to your bedside and give you your medicine.

Remeber, if you have a problem, it's her fault.

Renato Puno

is he perhaps one of the first Sophomoric Lefty activist on the bench? The former Chief Justice Davide was almost invisible in the eyes of the media. Puno's current exposure in the media will be bad for his career I think, exposing much of his idiotic ideas like the ones I'm puking over at the moment.

Damn if you, damn if you don't.

Last year, the group Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines demanded that the President replace the Customs Commissioner as head of an Anti-Smuggling Task Force citing conflict of interest.

This month, the President, though delayed, not only gave what they demanded, but replaced the task force with an entirely new entity, the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group to be headed by a certain Anthony Villar.

And the media's response [read Failon and Sanchez] is to berate the President. They're repeating the "criticisms" made by Senator Jinggoy Estrada yesterday while apparently forgetting the calls made by the aforementioned agri group for exactly what the President did.

And I'm not surprised.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The current Chief Justice strikes me as very talkative

News here and here.

I feel lucky today

Correlation does not imply causality.

That's a statistical principle I learned back in college.

And the principle should certainly be applied here

Education as snake-oil cure all

Via the Western Confucian:

A bio of Thomas Huxley who
"was born on May 4, 1825, in Ealing, near London, the seventh of eight children in a family that was none too affluent. Huxley's only childhood education was two years at Ealing school, where his father taught mathematics; this ended in 1835 when the family moved to Coventry. Despite his lack of formal education, young Huxley read voraciously in science, history, and philosophy, and taught himself German. At the age of 15, Huxley began a medical apprenticeship; soon he won a scholarship to study at Charing Cross Hospital. At 21, Huxley signed on as assistant surgeon on the H.M.S. Rattlesnake, a Royal Navy frigate assigned to chart the seas around Australia and New Guinea."


In those days, the lack of formal education, it seems, posed no obstacle to pursue a noble profession. Definitely wakes up one from the fantasy that formal education, rather than personal initiative, will rid the nation of poverty, if that's even possible at all.

Big fire in Paranaque

Quite close to our place actually. Traffic was at a standstill last night because of the fire. I'm just thankful it wasn't us.

Archbishop Cruz dissuades Pope from coming to RP

He sounds like one of those crazy, sectarian preachers when he does things like this, all because he hates PGMA.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Hehehe...



This must be one of the nastiest persons around

Rape, estafa, theft, carnapping... and he did it by take advantage of people's trust.

Here we go again

An Italian priest was kidnapped in Payao town in Zamboanga Sibugay province Sunday morning by armed men believed by police to be members of a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.


Oh, Jihadis. What a surprise.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Give Jihad the finger

Remember the Chaldeans.





Remember Fr. Ragheed.

What crap is this?

The new school year has started and Don Bosco Makati's website has yet to be updated. So much for being a technical institute. The worse part is that Don Bosco Mandaluyong has a better and updated website. Now that's unacceptable!

Another observation

The prevailing thought in public, especially nurtured by the witty cogitations of our brave and impartial journalists, is one where politicians, especially career public servants, are seen to run for public office for the sole purpose of self-enrichment.

Not that such politicans do not exist, but such tough generalization serves to make a wholly narrow perception and appreciation of the motivations individuals have for public office, whether elected, appointed or career. There are of course those who seek the office for reasons other than money. They may have had enough of money, so power and influence, won't be too bad.

Then there's legacy and getting one's name into the history books. Doing good and being a hero for the people are only means to get there. Ultimately, the good ones simply wanna see their grandchildren proud of them.

I've known some good politicos in person. And including these people in the journalistico's common perception is a stain against their good person and a disservice towards democracy.

Cheap housing



The concept of using container vans for off-site offices and houses isn't new. The house pictured above is built from 6 used container vans. Although a bit bigger than what I had in mind, it's a good example of the concept being implemented in an attractive manner.

Here's another:



Photo credit


I've often wondered how why this concept hasn't been taken advantage given it's low cost and transportability. One architect I talked to cited the undesirable environment inside these container vans when the temprerature outside rises and their steely external appearance as some of the factors of their less than eager attitude towards these vans. But both these issues can be addressed cheaply, so again the question stands.

Anyway, should anyone be interested to found a monastery, rural hospital, rural school, barangay office, etc, stacked container vans, tastefully decorated and customized of course, could be a solution.

I'm trying out what I think is innovative way to "stack" them. This would be done using a shelf-like structure composed of heavy steel I-beams bored to the ground. Once this basic shelf is finished, the container vans will simply be inserted into their proper locations with cranes, like a 3-d jigsaw puzzle or ship-building.

AFP to use refurbished Hueys to defeat communist terrorists by 2010

Personally, I prefer having the PAF acquire more S211A Jet Trainers from Italy. Although trainers, they could be fitted with rocket launchers and bombs. For internal defense purposes, I think they would be reasonably sufficient and would be a more cost-effective measure in dissuading insurgents especially when they hear the roar of a jet fighter. I saw one, presumably on a training mission, darting across the beach in Puerto Galera 2 weeks ago. For my companion, a neophyte unfamiliar with fighter planes, the fighter's roar was a very convincing warning to get the hell out of the place.

Caption contest:




Oops, excuse me Mrs. President. I had too many beans for lunch.

Help introduce the man's case for sainthood

and give Jihad the finger

Friday, June 08, 2007

Karma

If memory serves me, English Protestants, during the Deformation, invented and spread the anti-Catholic myths and histories that were inherited by the engineers of the Enlightenment and Secularism who used them as basis to marginalize the Catholic Church and then other Christians up to the modern era. Convicted with the anti-Catholic bias, both Secularists and self-hating Protestants, who have been trained to hate Christianity as the great persecutors of peoples, gladly welcomed and embraced Muslims into their country, making all the accomodations for them. Now, while the same Secularists and their brothers the liberal Protestants are marginzaling the Church, the Muslims are taking over England taking advantage of the accomodations willingly extended to them by Secularists and Protestant but denied to Catholics.

I am the Life of life

Something trivial, perhaps:

Several years ago, I saw a documentary about the resistance of some Egyptians against moves to have their conventional bread fortified with iron. I'm no longer sure about the details of the program but I was struck by the Egyptians' comment that in their language, the word of bread is the same for life. Life is bread and bread is life.

If you juxtaposed this with Christ's "I am the Bread of Life", He might as well have been saying "I am the Life of life". This could be a good apologetic proof for the divinity of Christ.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

I meant to post this last year



The liturgical nerd in me was disturbed when I first saw the episcopal ordination of His Excellency Broderick Pabillo, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila. But the picture below somehow mitigated that.




It's PGMA's fault!

The incident yesterday of a German man trying to jump on the Pope's jeep came after a few days after President Arroyo's visit to the Vatican. Connect the dots people, connect them!

Time to send in the reinforcements

A hundred Swiss Guards alone can't be enough for this Pope.

The number of hours of work of the (Swiss) Guards has increased with the election of Benedict XVI… According to our statistics each Guard assumes about 10 hours of extraordinary duty each month, for a total of about 185 hours.

Perhaps another hundred will suffice? I don't there are any caps for the number of guards. I say the more the better. Or better yet, the revival of the Palatine Guard?

Satirical Political Party

I got this idea from Mark Shea a few months ago.

So why not? Here's a couple I wouldn't mind founding and their maginalized constituencies:

  • Ano BaYan? -- mentally-challenged Filipinos
  • Bayaan Mo Na -- mediocre and forgetful Filipinos
  • Amoy Pawis -- laborers and deodorant-challenged Filipinos
  • Gabby ni Reyla -- night-shift workers especially call center agents
  • Partido ng Nagsasawa -- multisectoral representation
  • Kilusang Mayo at Toyo -- Mayonaise lovers and mentally challenged Filipinos
  • Al-Hadhad -- victims of fungal infections and doctors specializing in them
  • Very Green Party of Pinas -- pervs for perpetual soirees in both Houses of Congress
  • Labhan ng Demokratikong Pilipino -- to represent marginalized labanderas and laundry businesses




Burgos, who?

I keep on hearing on the radio stuff about the supposed disappearances of supposed "critics" of the government and among them, supposedly, was Jonas Burgos. Strangely, I have not heard anything about the person apart from the canonical proclamations made by the media. The strange thing for me is why, if we dare say that the government itself was indeed responsible for the abduction and if the man's past declared by the media was accurate, would the government bother with a person who's basically a nobody? I mean, if I were really a blood-thirsty President, as the media is trying to portray the GMA, I would be gunning for the hard hitters like Korina Sanchez [like who doesn't want her out?], Ted Failon, and all those guys and not some nobody in the barrios who can only influence a couple of other nobodys. It doesn't make sense. It's time and resources misspent. And if I were really out to take down my "critics", I'll arrange efficient means of permanent elimination, i.e, having a sniper blow their head and brains and everything else off with a 50 cal. rifle from 300 meters. Of course, this might be too obvious and fingers will naturally point to me, so a planned "accident" would be the next best option, like the train "accident" in Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie Eraser.

And the circumstances surrounding his supposed disapperance have left me skeptical as well: A public abduction in a crowded restaurant with an abominable script [who does that?], a "brave witness" who surfaces, a vehicle traced to a military camp although no real proof that the vehicle itself was there only the testimony regarding a plate number where both testimony or plate would've been easily falsified.

Contrast...

Last month, an Army Lieutenant and 6 others killed in an NPA ambush in Abra. Meanwhile, a Leftist labor bloc was key to Trillanes' win in several provinces. Something's wrong with the picture.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

GMA must order intel chief to show up in CHR hearings, says Pangilinan

It seems to me that many Filipinos have, as their default mindset, suspicion against the military and police establishment. Must be a result of Left-leaning thinking in the media, academe and, unfortunately, even in the Church.

Saner folks think that Military Intelligence is an oxymoron but it appears to me that the Commission on Human Rights thinks that Military Intelligence is none other than divince omniscience.

So far the CHR has left me with the impression that they're a bunch of Lefties working on behalf of the enemies of the state.

By the way

If there's anyone out there calling for the abolishment of the University of the Philippines, I'll support you. Of course that would mean that another would take its place. That, I hope, would be free of the Left-leaning administration, faculty and student organizations.

On that note, I'll support any attempt to kick out the De La Salle Brothers from the country and give their assets and schools to the Salesians. I'm an alumnus of DLSU-Manila, by the way, so hush!

And the Ateneo schools of the Jesuits and their assets given to Opus Dei.

And all St. Paul schools committed to ashes and in their places, crematoriums.

When all these have been accomplished, world, or at least the Philippines, would then be a better and safer place.

Muslims ready to die to protect mosque, homes in Pasay

I should really get pictures of the place to give a better perspective of the issue.

Anyway, first off, they don't own the land. Secondly, the shanty town established by these people is, plainly put, an eyesore, especially if you consider the development taking place around them. Thirdly, the issue here only illustrates how there would never be a halt in the low-intensity war in Mindanao. The location is different, but the same players are playing the same game.

The proper and appropriate response for the following picture



is

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!



Photo credit: Philippine Daily Inquirer

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Here's a Solar-powered Phone

I was trying to build a clip-on solar-panel thingy for existing cellphone units last year. I bought some of the necessary materials to build a prototype but none of it worked. Voltage and current were such that the Nokia phones failed to charge. Transistors were first proposed to increase voltage but nothing came of the project since my friend the engineer was too busy with his day job. Right now, I'm thinking of using a capacitor linked to photovoltaic cell to charge a cellphone. Now, if I could only drag my butt off to work on it.

The caption for this picture



reads

Bishop James Harvey (L) sits under an umbrella...

Sits? Can't these people tell the difference between sitting and kneeling?


Source: Yahoo!

Recto also concedes poll defeat

and in his place, Coup plotter Trillanes is within reach of a seat in the Senate.

These merely confirms my observation that Filipino voters have the knack of getting the worst people in the most sensitive positions in the government. First it was Erap Estrada, now it's Trillanes. Right, reward Robin Hoods and we'll all have a good government.

Monday, June 04, 2007

It won't happen

Much publicity has been given to the government's drive to have lending institutions do microfinance lending with the intent to encourage Filipinos to do business thereby stimulating the economy in the grassroots level. This would have been a blessing to so many Filipinos who would be more inclined to do business rather than doing the regular thing like finding a job in the corporate world. The funny thing is that many if not most of these "microfinance conduits" or lending institutions don't entertain borrowers with the intent to start a business. Among their usual requirements for a loan would be the business' past two-year financial statements or income tax returns. If such is the case, how on earth would anyone be encouraged to begin a business, even if it has a good future. So what's the point with microfinance then? I understand the concept of risk, I took Finance in college, but these lending institutions' over-cautious stance is no help to Filipinos. They need cheap loans and need them quick. If microfinance institutions can't do that, grassroots growth will be an unreachable dream indeed.

The Knights of Malta

should resurrect their military arm. Their main aim should be the protection and care of Christians in the Middle East, whether pilgrim or resident. I mean if the Muslims have their al Qaeda, Hizbullah, Hamas, or whatever crazy Jihadist organization, then Christians, at least in the Middle East, should have an organization to defend them. And who would be the best candidate but the one organization that has struck fear and consternation among the Muslims from several centuries that have passed?

Oh, and they should be equipped with aircraft carriers, main battle tanks, and those sweet stealth bombers. They're a sovereign organization after all.

Some Genius...

either from the PNCC or Paranaque City government, decided to start repair works on a segment of the Sucat Interchange:

ON A MONDAY,

ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SCHOOLYEAR


when traffic jams are traditional and regular. Someone should hang that genius.