schadenfreude

Last night, a talk show guested Tessa Prieto-Valdez, all was trashy bourgeoisie stuff but she was right on one thing though, WE ARE ALL JUST A TINY SPECK IN THIS WORLD. Generalization: people should ought to stop thinking (or talking) about emselves. Ironically, twas weird hearing it from someone who dresses unconventionally just to be talked about (or i don't know, maybe its just her fashion style. well, if that's the case, she should really get a stylist. don't worry Tessa, you're not alone).

I finished reading the evuuur controversial blog of Brian Gorrell, if you have no idea, read the papers. haha OOOOR click on this.

Well, he is definitely hitting on something BIG, the Lopezes, Tim Yap, Tinio, etc. Average ugly (Haha) people, only, with lots of money who cant function really well without cocaine and some booze. What can you expect from the high society of a Third World Country.

But, the bigger issues are still afloat. Address them, i will. Act on them, we will.

I believe that the Filipino masses are the real strength and soul of the country, but that tiny, corrupt, soft and decadent ruling elite had usurped all our rights and monopolized resources.

But if one fights right up to the ball, one can win in impossible situations. And one losses only when one gives up. Failure, i found, was sometimes more useful than success - provided you made a careful diagnosis of your defeat and then worked hard to eliminate your flaws. Losing is a disaster only if you let it demoralize you. The more one challenge one self and took risks, the stronger and better one became.

I realized that an independent judiciary was integral in protecting the weak from the powerful, the poor from the elite, and ushering genuine democracy and prosperity in my homeland. The system in the Philippines had evolved into the point where criminals and crooks would enter politics by whatever means necessary, since winning office afforded them virtual immunity from prosecution. Nepotism (as well) disgust me like a rotten apple in the hands of Eve.

Majority should belong to an anti-status quo party. We should struggle for judicial independence and social and economic justice. In a country where there are vast disparities in income and wealth and where millions, like us, live in poverty, the privilege (people with access to proper education and the opportunities it brings) should start changing things. Being privileged imposes an obligation as well, an obligation to a cause larger than one self. And that is what they should spend their latter years trying to fulfill instead of plotting how to harness more money, money, money.

Now, if we tolerate more people (like the Gucci Gang), where the hell are we heading to then? We are feeding the addiction of others, and killing the lives of children. My niece don't know what corruption is, but she is paying for it. Schadenfreude; simultaneously delicious and horrible, perhaps like eating chocolate-covered-cockroaches.

CONFUSE pt.1

I have been reading Greek myths again for the past few days, which i think is only a moral beat or two away from being the most all-encompassing minds/stories i have ever encountered.

And then a realization: MAYBE HE'S A MISTAKE. I'm thinking of myself as a magnificent twelve-by-twelve foot oriental rug spread across a palace floor, displayed for all to admire and enjoy. Now, I'm thinking of Jeff as a twelve-by-twelve inch finely hewn box sitting over on the nearby table... What we (i) do -- is madly try to stuff my 12x12 foot dimensions into his 12x12 inch dimensions. It wont fit. Maybe Jeff and I don't fit, at all. It doesn't mean one is better than the other, maybe were just intrinsically different. A MISMATCH!

I dunno. I'm challenging myself to consider my needs as a hindrance to my otherwise limitless journey -- my quest for the mundane. This'll just pass, I HOPE :D

the power and stupidity of the mob

People power is a reminder of how momentous people can start a revolutionary act when they withdraw consent to the existing government. And it will always remain a mark on peoples heart how strong people can be when united.

Recalling at the infamous people power I, it was the assassination of Benigno Aquino that lit the fire that eventually consume Marcos regime. Of course, they experience election fraud, manipulation of public opinion, martial law, limited civil rights and federal threat whom go against the government. Arrest and assassinations kept the public living in fear. Murders was widespread. Students, activist, rebels, politicians - no one was spared and many was killed in rallies.

And now, this. After 23 years (since i never really considered Edsa II as a people power but euphoric when Estrada was ousted), the opposition plans to hold a big rally, where it aims to get a million people in the streets to push President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo out of Malacañang, reminiscent of the EDSA People Power I and II uprisings.

The politics of hatred is nowhere more apparent than in the Senate. For instance, Sen. Jamby Madrigal threatened at the Senate hearings to divulge all the unsavory things she knew about Commission on Higher Education Chair Romy Neri if he refused to testify. That is blackmail. While Madrigal bears a name fabled for its wealth, her manners are worse than those of the least educated jeepney driver.

Equally sad is that Cory Aquino now likens star witness Jun Lozada to Ninoy Aquino and Bishop Teodoro Bacani compares him to Jesus Christ. As Pascual noted, thanks to adoring media, every utterance of this witness, whose stewardship at government-controlled Philippine Forest Corp. was marked by graft and nepotism, is swallowed by the public as gospel truth, even though he has not presented a shred of evidence. To paraphrase Shakespeare, many have lost their reason. We must all pause and pray until it comes back to our society.

For every idiocy of Filipinos, (to quote Newton, for every action, there's equal but opposite reaction) I vote NO to oust Gloria. BETTER HER THAN A MILITARY JUNTA, since they are also calling for the ouster of De Castro. And Jun Lozada is no hero, every citizen, every public official has the duty to serve the people with all honesty. He did the right thing, but did not deserve the celebrity treatment for he, as well, stole from us. He is no God. And for once, the CBCP did the right decision to abandon the mob, call for truth and spared Gloria. She is corrupt, but what can we do? We have no choice, politicians alike are all the same. Worse, Estrada is trying to bend the constitution and publicizing the possibility of running for presidency - AGAIN! oh boy. And did we not put GMA in the her position anyway with our People Power II? Yes they are all puppets, they are all greedy. And we are a hopeless case unless someone with a big hammerhead change the system.

But okay, lets give this issue the benefit of the doubt, lets assume People power III will happen and some Trapo (traditional politician) will assume the presidency. After violent revolutions, and never ending rallies, there will always be scores to settle, grudges to satisfy, revenge to extract and the cycle of violence will continue.

While in the past the Philippine revolution deposed a powerful dictator and a corrupt leader, it left much of the old centralized power structure unchanged. The new President was from a wealthy family. The poor were still poor, and the rich was still in charge. Capitalism emerged stronger than ever. And so, the question lies, WHEN WILL FILIPINOS EVER LEARN? Change, systematically and diplomatically, will not come in this country, THERE IS NO HOPE.