Friday, May 31, 2013

BEWARE OF GOSSIPERS

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. 
-- SPANISH PROVERB : 

Let us be wary of people with dirty tongue whose favorite activity is to badmouth others behind their back when they converse with us. Sooner or later, their sharp blades in the wrecking tongue will also cut us to pieces.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
He that fights and runs away, may live to fight another day. 
-- TRADITIONAL PROVERB : 

Not all those who stay away from trouble are cowards. They are just smart and are the ones who usually survive in fierce battles. Better to be tagged as "no balls" but alive than a dead "hero."
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
We sometimes imagine we hate flattery, but we only hate the way we are flattered. 
-- FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD : 

If the flattery is meant to massage our ego, we actually approve it without thinking. But if we feel uncomfortable with the choice of words, that's when we agitate to reject flattery.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. 
-- BERTRAND RUSSELL : 

When we doubt, we think and analyze; and emerge with the best idea and solution to a problem. Fanatics are irrational and like drooling mad dogs that must be avoided at all cost.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Learning is pleasurable but doing is the height of enjoyment.
-- NOVALIS  : 

When we fail to put into action or implement the worthy things what we have learned, it's like cooking the best dish in town, place it on the table and isn't able to taste it
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. 
-- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE :

Fears validate our doubts and paralyze our thinking. It's better to fall in the attempt than to be clobbered without putting up an effort to survive or excel.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own. 
-- ASEOP : 

It's OK to accommodate others some other time, but not most of the time and all the time. When we lower our guard, bantay salakays and scoundrels will have a field day exploiting our kindness.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
In the service of the Lord, it is not where but how you serve. 
-- J. REUBEN CLARK : 

I won't be a hypocrite to advertise my faith and service to the Lord, but even under the table and inside the cave, I will continue to profess my undying Christian faith and spiritual duties even if nobody is watching and listening (and reading in Facebook).
-- ALEX P. VIDAL

Thursday, May 30, 2013

KILLING OF MYLENE DE LEON-SCOTT

Killing of Mylene De Leon-Scott 


"Force always attracts men of low morality." ALBERT EINSTEIN 




By Alex P. Vidal 

We don't know what rules of engagement (if they are covered by the rules) did the American cops use when they responded to a commotion that resulted in the killing of Filipino-American Costco warehouse worker Mylene De Leon Scott on May 29 in Virginia, USA.
Either the life of the lawman who fired the shot or the lives of others present in crime scene were in danger that the situation warranted the use of excessive force, or the cops were unfit to deal with cases involving people with emotional and mental disability (Mrs. Scott had been suffering from nervous breakdown, according to a Canada-based relative).
Based on initial reports, it appears that the cop who shot and killed Scott may have panicked after efforts to calm her down with a taser failed. She was reportedly armed with a knife and scissor and was acting hysterically.
The question that boggles the minds of many people is this: if the cop failed to neutralize the 38-year-old Scott with a taser, was it necessary to fire a gun five times and fatally hit the woman amok? Rules of Engagement are rules or directives to military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which force, or actions which might be construed as provocative, may be applied.



'PROVOCATIVE'



If Scott's actions were "provocative" was it necessary to kill her in order to stop her from committing a violent act? Rules of Engagement supposedly do not normally dictate how a result is to be achieved but will indicate what measures may be unacceptable.
It is given that cops in the Unites States, or any other countries for that matter, are trained to overpower hostage takers or individuals who run berserk, with the use of lesser force like taser, bat, or physical contacts proportionate to violent acts. But not the capital punishment of death!
In the case of Scott, extra caution should have been observed since firstly, she was a woman; secondly, she wasn't carrying a high-powered gun; and thirdly, she was not known to be a hardened-criminal. Responding deputy sheriffs don't respond to a call for commotion alone. They arrive in crime scene as partners. They have back ups and armed with walkie-talkies, cuffs, bats and service firearms. A knife-wielding woman doesn't have a chance versus two male cops in any confrontation.


INVESTIGATION


We just hope Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman will leave no stone unturned in the investigation now that the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC has asked US probers to focus on concerns by Fil-Ams that "law enforcement officials may have responded with disproportionate force" when they shot dead Scott.
We just hope Chapman meant well when he said during the press conference that “It’s a very unfortunate situation for everybody. I just want to make sure our deputies are safe and everything gets investigated properly. Ultimately we’ve got to go through and interview all the witnesses … I don’t want to speculate on minuscule details at this time.”
Meanwhile, in a statement posted at the official website of the Embassy, Philippines Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. extended “deepest sympathy to the family of Mylene De Leon Scott . . . who was shot dead by police officers responding to a reported disturbance inside the Costco Wholesale Store in Sterling, Virginia, on Wednesday, 29 May 2013.”


ASSISTANCE


Cuisia added: “The Embassy stands ready to extend its assistance to the family of Ms. Scott. We will continue to coordinate with police authorities in Loudoun County to secure more information on this case.”
The embassy said it shared “the concerns expressed by Ms. Scott's family in the Philippines and the members of the Filipino-American Community that law enforcement officials may have responded with disproportionate force.”
The statement concluded: “We request authorities to conduct a thorough, impartial and expeditious investigation of the incident.”
The roads we take are more important than the goals we announce. Decisions determine destiny. 
-- FREDERICK SPEAKMAN : 

Goals can sometimes be reduced into mere empty bravado and plain and simple braggadocio if unplanned and unreachable. We must take the road less traveled with full determination and unflinching resolve.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire, and many things to fear. 
-- FRANCIS BACON :

It is fear of the unknown, the irrational fear, that chokes and puts a monkey wrench on our capacity to desire for splendid things in life.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia cop used excessive force to kill Pinay worker?

EXCLUSIVE

Virginia cop used excessive 
force to kill Pinay worker?

By Alex P. Vidal

A 38-year-old Fil-Am woman shot dead by a cop at the Costco in Sterling, Virginia, USA  on May 29 could be a victim of "excessive force."
This was the suspicion aired by the victim's female relative who requested for anonymity but wants a thorough investigation on the incident that happened at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon inside the big department store.
"She was not a violent person," bewailed the female relative, who is based in Surrey, British Columbia. "I talked to her yesterday (May 28) and she was okay and normal. I think there was no need to shoot and kill her. Excessive force was not necessary since she was a woman and was suffering from nervous breakdown."
The victim, Mhai De Leon-Scott, was shot dead during a confrontation with cops who responded to a commotion, it was reported.
The relative said Scott hailed from Angat, Bulacan and had two female children. Her husband is a military man assigned in Ohio. 
"She used to work at Victoria Secret and was giving food sample inside the Costco when the incident happened," she added.
Loudoun Times quoted Liz Mills, spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, who confirmed that Scott, 38, of Sterling, was shot by a deputy while wielding a knife while inside the store. 
The deputy who shot Scott fired multiple rounds during the incident, Mills said. 
Here's the original story from Loudon Times: 
With one woman dead and a deputy injured, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is now investigating the circumstances surrounding an incident at the Sterling Costco. 
At approximately 3 p.m. May 29, two deputies arrived at Price Cascades Plaza near the intersection of Route 7 and Cascades Parkway. Emergency services had received a call saying a woman, a Customer Services Demonstration provider, was creating a disturbance at the Costco. According to law enforcement, she had pulled a knife in the store and was acting erratically. 
When confronted by deputies, the unnamed woman began approaching them while still holding the knife. An attempt to restrain the woman using a taser was ineffective, possibly being caught in a pocket of clothing instead of making contact with her skin. One of the deputies opened fire after it became apparent that the taser didn't work. 
The woman with the knife was killed by police fire. 
"It’s a very unfortunate situation for everybody. I just want to make sure our deputies are safe and everything gets investigated properly," said Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman at a press conference following the shooting. "Ultimately we’ve got to go through and interview all the witnesses … I don’t want to speculate on minuscule details at this time." 
One of the deputies was injured in the leg during the shooting, possibly by a ricochet. This injury was not life threatening. 
Witnesses described at least five shots being fired. 
Robert Krause of Ashburn was at the front of the store when the conflict occurred, "This kind of thing doesn’t normally happen here. I didn’t want to be a hero so I got out of there. Half the store was running out too."

VICE GANDA AND SEX VALUES

Vice Ganda and sex values

"Love between man and man is impossible because there must not be sexual intercourse and friendship between man and woman is impossible because there must be sexual intercourse." JAMES JOYCE



By Alex P. Vidal 

The recent rape joke contrived by TV comedian Vice Ganda on respected journalist Jessica Soho was utterly malicious and done in bad taste. It showed that the gay host was bereft of sex values and orientation that weighed down his qualification to handle sensitive issues in public on pretext of fun and entertainment.
We are trying to correct and educate Vice Ganda here not because he is gay, but because of his cheap obloquy and disrespect for victims of rape, not to mention being tactless and his propensity to pander on highly sensitive matters for public gawking. 
Vice Ganda's portrayal of Soho as a gang rape victim and her taking potshots at Soho's weight was a brutal calumny and direct insult to women with weight issues and victims of rape in general. 
Some twenty years ago the word "homosexual" conjured up images of sad, neurotic deviants. Vice Ganda should be thankful to the open spirit of the last decades which helped improve our knowledge, and a clear picture of homosexuals today would show a great many men and women who live by their own values and whose emotional expressions are not limited by traditional sex roles. Far from being sick, gays like Vice Ganda often function better than nongays.

VIEW

Mark Freedman, founder of the Association of Gay Psychologists and a former staff psychologist at the Northeast Community Mental Health Center in San Francisco, California, has said that "traditionally, psychiatrists have based their view of homosexuality either on armchair speculation or on the analysis of homosexuals who enter therapy--a highly unrepresentative sample." 
It wasn't until 1957, in fact, that psychologist Evelyn Hooker of UCLA published the first really sound research on the personal adjustment of gay men. Hooker compared homosexuals and heterosexuals who were not in therapy after dividing them up into pairs of comparable age, intelligence and schooling and then giving them a battery of personality tests. Experienced clincial psychologists then rated each person's test results without knowing the man's sexual orientation.
Hooker drew several tentative conclusions from her study. First, the clinical entity of "disease" called homosexuality does not exist. The forms of homosexual experience are as varied as the forms of heterosexual experience. Second, homosexuality may well be a deviation that is within the normal range of human behavior. And third, particular forms of sexual desires and expression may play a less important role in personality structure than many psychiatrists assume. 

GOSSIP

Vice Ganda, whatever his educational attainment and training and whether he is into showbiz or business of gossip, should learn about sexuality education, a lifelong process of acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs, and values about identity, relationships, and intimacy.
Sexuality education is more than teaching people about anatomy and the physiology of reproduction. It includes an understanding of sexuality in the broadest context--sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection and intimacy, body image, and sex and gender roles.
We parents are the primary sexuality educators of our children. Infants and toddlers receive this education when parents talk to them, dress them, show affection, play with them, and teach them the names of the parts of their bodies. As children grow, they continue to receive messages about appropriate behaviors and values as they develop relationships within their family and the social environment.
Children learn about sexuality through their observations and relationships with parents, friends, teachers, and neighbors; television, music, books, advertisements, and toys teach them about sexual issues.

PROCESS

It is important, however, that the process of sexual learning within the family be supplemented by planned learning opportunities in churches and synagogues, community and youth agencies, and schools.
Vice Ganda may not be the only person who needs sexual values. As with most human values, sexual values have passed through periods of crests (times of liberalization) and troughs (times of conservatism or extreme reaction). According to experts David L. Bender and Bruno Leone, sexual values underwent significant change throughout most of the Western world in the sixties and seventies.
"Rigid sexual standards of the 1950s were replaced by what many viewed as unbridled permissiveness. As recently as forty years ago, certain values were given: sex should be confined to marriage, prostitution was unquestionably a crime, pornography was a moral blight and homosexuality, a depravity," they wrote. "However, studies revealed that during the sixties and seventies many people were defecting from these traditional values."
The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within - strength, courage, dignity.
-- RUBY DEE :

This beauty becomes easy-to-get if we believe that it is easy-to-implement and easy-to-share. The pursuit of inner beauty doesn't require hard rules. 
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
The reason we love our parents is because they loved us first. Every single company should take this advice.
-- GARY VAYNERCHUK :

Some of us can afford to hate our parents after a minor chagrin, but no parent can even think of turning a simple irritation into hate no matter how incorrigible we are. 
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body without soul.
-- MAHATMA GANDHI :

When two individuals become soulmates, their relationship is boundless and infinite. Spiritual "beauty" is eternal and imperishable, while physical "beauty" is mundane and temporal.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Confidence comes with maturity, being more accepting of yourself.
-- NICOLE SCHERZINGER :

We shouldn't allow immaturity to stifle our freedom and capacity to build a room for self improvement. The cure for immaturity is self realization, self restoration, and self confidence.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
No one is happy all his life long.
-- EURIPIDES :

In our journey in life from young age to old age, we will come face to face with merchants of sorrow and agony. Some of them will knock on our doors or will even become our partners in life. It is imperative that we remain as vanguards of our moral life and gatekeepers of our own happiness.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
When you are happy you can forgive a great deal.
-- PRINCESS DIANA :

Sometimes we find it hard to forgive because we build an airport of sorrow and hatred instead of bridge of goodwill and humility inside our hearts.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Ai Ai, Nancy, Jinky, Grace, Kris next contenders for president?

Ai Ai, Nancy, Jinky, Grace, Kris 
next contenders for president?

"Clever and attractive women do not want to vote; they are willing to let men govern as long as they govern men." George Bernard Shaw 


By Alex P. Vidal

Comedian Ai Ai delas Alas would have dislodged Grace Poe from the No. 1 spot had she ran in the senate and her marital troubles started to go viral in Youtube before the May 13 midterm elections. 
It's easy to capture the people's--or the electorate's-- imagination in a country where soap opera is part and parcel of daily existence. Showbiz characters--villains, comedians, or lead actresses and actors--are shoo-ins in any elections owing to their edge in name recall and popularity in an electoral system beset by loopholes and glitches (that's why it's imperative that there should be a charter change to correct these defects).
When Ai Ai shed tears before national TV, the bakya crowd that constitutes the majority in any electoral exercise, cried with her. A damsel in distress; a "dedicated" wife who lost a husband after a short-lived honeymoon; a popular and award-winning actress who became instant underdog after a break-up, after a much-ballyhooed albeit brief liaison with a non-showbiz partner ended in tailspin. 
A crying lady in the Philippines always generates instant sympathy and empathy regardless of the cause of her misery. Tears are the most effective weapon to ensnare emotional support and collect widespread attention. 

MELODRAMA

The night Ai Ai unloaded her marital woes in a melodramatic fashion, her popularity as well as the rating of the TV network that televised her predicament reportedly soared in Metro Manila alone. 
A groundswell of support poured for the "baba ng bayan" or "national chin." Those support could translate into votes if Ai Ai was running for any public office and the episode occurred weeks before the elections.
Ai Ai's partner, Kris Aquino, could be our next vice president or even president! The possibility of Senators-elect Nancy Binay, Grace Poe and Jinky Pacquiao, who is now vice governor, shooting for the higher positions in 2016 up isn't far-fetched. The fact that they are now in the big league after securing their mandates already makes them strong contenders in a would-be battle of women celebrities in as far as future national elections are concerned.
It's not hard to describe a woman, her desires and motives. In his poem, Robert A. Johnson, author of" She: Understanding Feminine Psychology," describes her in her most vulnerable and strongest positions: 

SHE

She wants with whole heart to escape from the fear. Her hands hide her face, but can't hide the tears. On the outside she's sure that no one else knows. Inside, her heart is in conflict with her soul.
She could call out for help, but what will she say? That he's under a lot of pressure and he relieves it this way? He apologized again, but that's rather cliche'. Her bruises will heal, but there are more on the way. She tries to comprehend, there's no way she could know. Something inside says she deserves every blow.
'He's just misunderstood' is what she persists. She sees good in him that doesn't exist. And try as she may, she just cant understand. Why she loves so hard with her heart, and he, with his hands. Looking back, she cant recall ever feeling so sad.
The days when the good times outweighed the bad. Now there are cuts over the scars that cover bruises in layers. And scuffs on her knees.....but those are from prayers. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists.
-- JOSE MOURINHO :

We have three qualities that can't be measured by our physical appearances: courage, character and intelligence. Sometimes the "ugliest" person around is the worthiest and the "most beautiful" is the most despicable.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.
-- VICTOR HUGO : 

We can play chess and debate with Lucifer and his minions in intelligent hell. In stupid paradise, our best achievement there would be to play tic tac toe and engage in brutish bacchanalia.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL

PAVLOVIAN RESPONSE

PAVLOVIAN RESPONSE

"BETWEEN stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Viktor E. Frankl

By Alex P. Vidal

The name Pavlov may make us want to cry "Dogs!" We would call this a Pavlovian response, but that would be oversimplifying the point made by the phrase's namesake, the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), stressed Dr. Michael Macrone, author of Eureka!
Chiefly to blame is the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, which in coining "Pavlovian response" in 1974 (phrases such as "Pavlovian conditioning" and "Pavlovian system" are older), used it merely as the equivalent of "predictable reaction."
Macrone said Pavlov himself was actually more interested in unexpected or counterinstinctive behavior than in the predictable. He first made his mark--and won a Nobel Prize in 1994--with some glamourless but crucial work on the secretion of gastric juices.
Pavlov discovered that while, predictably, the pancreas goes to work whenever we start chowing down a hamburger, it can also be set off just by thinking about a hamburger, or even by seeing a plastic model. He identified these curious latter instances as cases of "psychic secretion," laying the groundwork for his more famous later theories.

EXPERIMENTS

In a series of experiments that would appall contemporary animal-rights activists, Pavlov rigged up a few dogs to measure their secretion of saliva in response to various stimuli. Predictably enough (as per Pavlov's earlier research), the sight of raw burger set their mouths a-water, confirmed Macrone.
Pavlov then discovered that the dogs could also be made to salivate in response to any arbitrary stimulus—say a sound or a kick—that they came to associate with the imminent introduction of dog chow. He called such arbitrary stimuli "conditioned" and the dogs' reaction a "conditioned reflex"—that is, artificially induced by training or habit (The term first appeared in English in 1906 in the journal Nature, according to Macrone).
Not knowing when to leave well enough alone, Pavlov went on to extrapolate from these and other, more complicated observations a sort of grand psychological theory, attempting to explain almost all behavior, normal and deviant, in terms of acquired reflexes and their various interactions.

OVERBOARD

After a brief vogue in the West, Macrone explained further, many of Pavlov's more grandiose claims were tossed overboard, but they were warmly embraced by the Soviets. Though not a Marxist himself, Pavlov's theories were virtually tailor-made to suit the Marxist view that human behavior arises out of the material conditions and patterns of life.
"If people are habituated to servitude by oppression, they can be molded anew once liberate," wrote Macrone. "In other words, the Soviets system could condition a Soviet citizen. The results of this theory can be found in your newspaper."

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

INTELLIGENT PINOYS AND INSECURE COLONIZERS


INTELLIGENT PINOYS AND 
INSECURE COLONIZERS

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." BERTRAND RUSSELL


By Alex P. Vidal

Søren Kierkegaard 
was right when he cautioned that we must understand life backward and live it forward.
Before we die, we must be able to to know the truth and understand the roots of our sufferings, what precipitated our ignorance and why many of us are ashamed of our culture and why we are wallowing in insecurity and lack of pride as a nation. 
The murder of Ferdinand Magellan by Lapu-Lapu sealed our fate.
Although Magellan's death delayed the Spanish colonization of the Philippines by more than 40 years, what happened next became a horror which had unleashed irreparable damage and wrought unimaginable havoc on our psyche until today in the computer age.
Desperate to enslave the Filipinos after efforts to conquer them by force had failed, the Spaniards shifted to Plan B: they instituted an organization which would disable the development of our critical thinking, an IQ reducation program aimed at making the natives dumb. 
And they succeeded!

COMMISSION

According to Dr. Carlos Alfonso Santos, this program was called the National IQ Reduction Commission (NIQRC) founded in 1521 "by a bunch of starving Spanish conquistadores in Limasawa."
"The conquest was not doing well," wrote Santos. "They were hopelessly lost (they were really looking for Malacca) and Lapu-Lapu had just killed Magellan. The Spaniards realized that if they wanted to claim the land, they would have to make the natives dumber. So they began a number of IQ reduction programs, all coordinated by the NIQRC."
The most successful initiative at the time, according to Santos, was taken by the Catholic Church. "The fraile (Spanish word for "horny cretin") pretended to preach the Gospel, but actually aimed to impose blind obedience and servitude."
"Every Sunday, homilies throughout the archipelago essentially revolved around one theme: You are dirty, uneducated, learning impaired idiots who need white men to manage your affairs."
Santos revealed that when the Americans bought the Philippines three centuries later, they asked the Spaniards what the secret was to holding on to a colony for so long. A former governor general reportedly answered: "It's simple: keep them stupid."
"The Americans took this advice to heart and did their utmost in keeping our IQs low. Instead of using the Church, however, they established the public school system," Santos narrated.

EDUCATION

"Practically every government ministry was eventually turned over to a Filipino--except the Department of Education. With a condescending smile and a great deal of false charm, the Americans taught English and Math and the Boogie, but left critical thinking out on purpose."
The Americans reportedly were afraid that if anyone actually started thinking, "we would realize that it was just a little bit weird that the United States, itself a former colony that had to wage a bloody revolution to win its freedom, was now taking the rights to self-determination away from another people."      
After World War II, the Americans left when they reportedly realized it was too expensive to fix a war-torn country and kept Guam for posterity sake.
In the history of Western thought, according to Dr. Mortimer Adler, freedom has a number of distinct meanings: 
A man is said to be free when external circumstances permit him to act as he wishes for his own good. 
A man is said to be free when he has acquired enough virtue or wisdom to be able willingly to do as he ought, to comply with the moral law, or to live in accordance with an ideal befitting human nature.
All men are said to be free because they are endowed by nature with power of free choice--the power to decide for themselves what they shall do or become.

'INVISIBLE FORCE'

Meanwhile, Santos said the Philippines' new leaders retained the NIQRC and is now "a major albeit invisible force."
"They had to find another way of keeping us stupid though. Sunday Mass was no longer effective since no one went to church anymore and those who did invariably fell asleep after the entrance hymn.
"The public school system, on the other hand, was too expensive. If the government had to build schools, pay teachers and buy books, there would be hardly enough funds to set aside for graft and corruption which eats up 50 percent of the budget.
"So under the auspices of the elected officials of the newly independent Philippine Republic, the folks over at the NIQRC received a new mandate: set up a cost-effective IQ reduction program. They, of course, outdid themselves and cooked up the best scheme yet: the soap opera."
Santos said, "it is a scientifically proven fact that soap opera decrease an average human's IQ by half a point per episode. The characters and story lines are so flat and utterly lacking in depth that the viewer's IQ almost invariably drops."
It's never too late actually to unshackle our minds from the bondage of this age-old system. We all watch TV and today's sophisticated cable network offers a smorgasbord of programs. The choice is ours. 

The defects of the mind, like those of the face, grow worse with age.
-- FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD :

It's better to have a defective face as we grow older than to have a defective character. A deteriorating mind is not a big issue in old age. Bad character is.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Your body hears everything your mind says.
-- NAOMI JUDD :

Even in whisper, the body gets the message immediately and accurately. When mind says it's time to have lunch, the body prepares the food. When mind says it's time to take a bath, the body goes to shower room. River of intelligence connects the body and mind.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.
-- JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE :

If we wish to know the melody of his heart, listen to his music.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL

EX-GMA TV-6 TALENT PROTESTS ARREST


'My family has suffered so much'

By Alex P. Vidal

A former GMA TV-6 talent and disc jockey has appealed to police authorities to "please tell the truth and nothing but the truth" saying his family "has suffered so much" from the negative publicity generated by his arrest last month on alleged possession of marijuana at a checkpoint outside a posh subdivision in La Paz district.
Berdie Vargas, 47, of Brgy. Taft North, Mandurriao district, who was arrested in a checkpoint mounted by the Iloilo City Public Safety at around 12 midnight in the morning while riding on motorcycle, insisted he was innocent and was only a victim of frame-up.
"I was a victim of frame up," he protested. "The marijuana was either planted by the police or any other unscrupulous personalities so that the rival of mayoralty candidate Rommel Ynion can come up with an issue and tarnish his image in the electorate."

BAIL

Vargas, who posted a P150,000 bail for his temporary freedom, helped campaign for Ynion, who was badly clobbered by reelectionist Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog by a margin of about 70,000 in the recent elections. 
"I want to clear my good name and that of my family," Vargas appealed.
He produced copies of dug test conducted by the police during the incident where they yielded negative results.
Cops flagged him down for not wearing a motorcycle helmet and failure to present his drivers’ license and registration papers.  
Reports said the cop who inspected Vargas’ motorcycle spotted an item taped under the body cover of the motorcycle. Closer scrutiny of the item led to the discovery of alleged dried marijuana leaves weighing 3.8 grams.

USER

"I am not a drug user," insisted Vargas. "The 3.8 grams the police alleged to have recovered from the motorbike was duct taped on the front hood of the motorcycle. In plain view, who in his right mind would tape a dangerous drug of such a small quantity on the hood of the bike, and pass through a check point?"
Vargas said he became associated with Ynion after he was hired as marketing manager of the politician's newspaper.
"I'm always happy when I see people succeed. It has always been my attitude in life. I have my ups and downs but I never resorted to anything illegal. I have a clean record with the companies that I worked before. I was not terminated from GMA as some of my detractors were trying to insinuate," he concluded.
Police denied they planted the marijuana found in Vargas' possession. 

Monday, May 20, 2013

LIBERAL PARTY VICTORY OF CANDIDATES


Drilon has nothing to do with 
victory of local candidates

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." RONALD REAGAN 

By Alex P. Vidal

Even without Senator Frank Drilon, Iloilo bets under the Liberal Party (LP) who won in the recent midterm elections would still win. 
Gov. Arthur Defensor, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, the congressmen in the city and five congressional districts, and their respective candidates in the provincial board, municipal mayors, city and municipal councilors won because of their own merits and resources, not because Drilon showed up in their campaign rallies. Not because Drilon raised their hands.
Even in the second district of Iloilo, known Drilon lackey Arcadio Gorriceta won as congressman because people there were already fed up with the Syjucos, not because of Drilon's charisma as what his drumbeaters in media were trying to emphasize.
Drilon had also backed some candidates in the past versus Augusto Syjuco and his wife, Judy, and they were all massacred one after the other. It so happened that Gorriceta is Drilon's ally from way back during the post EDSA revolution.  And Syjuco appeared to have lost his magic touch to people of the second district because of his alleged arrogance and involvement in massive irregularities.  

FIGURE

Although he is a key figure in the administration party, Drilon's presence in the stage during the Iloilo campaign sorties was incidental, nay necessary. He was obliged by the ruling party to help buttress the chances of local bets being an Ilonggo. As a high-ranking LP bigwig, his attendance in the rally was mandatory, not voluntary.     
Drilon has no magic to brag about. He doesn't have the Cory Magic or Noynoy Magic. In fact, his endorsement all by his lonesome self-- without any connection from any political party--could be a kiss of death. If not for Pres. Noynoy and the LP, many local bets would detest being seen with Drilon during the campaign period.
Drilon was never an inspiration to most local candidates. As a leader of national stature, he is known more to Ilonggos as somebody who runs from a good fight. A few years back when his term as senator expired and he was rumored to be eyeing the mayoral post of Iloilo City, he chickened out when survey results showed he had no chance against then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. who dared him to a one-on-one slugfest for city hall's top post.

RESCUE

Drilon also never lifted a finger to rescue his embattled political supporter, then Gov. Niel D. Tupas Sr., who was nearly ousted in a Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) blitzkrieg that transformed capitol into a police garrison when the Gloria administration sent battalions of assault cops to force Tupas out of office in 2007.
Drilon also dismayed a lot of Ilonggos when he intentionally boycotted the June 13, 2007 inauguration of the Iloilo international airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo because he did not want to meet eyeball-to-eyeball Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Justice Gonzalez, among other prominent characters in the administration. The event was graced by no less than Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamaza, among other luminaries.
Earlier, Drilon said he missed the important affair because he was "busy building up and strengthening the Liberal Party all over the country."
But, mea culpa, in a press conference a week after the event, he made a lapsus linguae when he hissed in a press conference that he was absent in the inauguration because he "didn't want to put people in uncomfortable situation."

Sunday, May 19, 2013

GLOBAL BALITA; Danger of 'honeymoon'

https://globalbalita.com/2013/05/18/danger-of-honeymoon/?fb_action_ids=4830533204090&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%224830533204090%22%3A450721588353409%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224830533204090%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Remember that it is not where you come from, or not even where you are; it is where you are going that matters most.
-- BO BENNETT :

It's better to be poor with an economy class ticket to heaven, than to be rich with a business class ticket to hell. What matters most is our final destination's port of entry, not how much we possess during the voyage.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.
-- H. JACKSON BROWN JR. :

When we give more, we see a lot of happy faces. When we get more, we only see one happy face in the mirror. Happiness is addition, not isolation.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.
-- MOLIERE :

Many people are not afraid to sin in secret for they find "secret sins" to be more pleasurable, enjoyable, unforgettable. Games people play in the middle of the night!
-- ALEX P. VIDAL

Mixcloud All-Female Hits

http://www.mixcloud.com/alex-p-vidal/melody-of-our-hearts-all-female-love-hits-part-3/

Friday, May 17, 2013

THEORY OF SEPARATION OF POWERS


Danger of 'honeymoon'

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 

By Alex P. Vidal

We always maintain that it is not healthy for democracy if the government's executive and legislative branches are always in honeymoon stage. 
More danger lurks if they end up as lovers.
Rubber stamp legislatures have been used to circumvent the law and tolerate excesses and abuses committed by heads of executive branch. Presidents, governors, mayors, village chiefs (
barangay kapitanes) already wield awesome power. If the legislative branch is under their beck and call, democracy will agonize; check and balance will go down in skid row.
It's not healthy for democracy if some newly elected senators will proclaim to high heavens that they owe their victory to President Noynoy Aquino, who feverishly campaigned for the ruling Liberal Party bets before the May 13 midterm elections.
City, provincial and municipal councilors who attribute their victory heavily on the backing of their standard bearers for governor and mayor are also guilty of waltzing with the executive branch at the expense of the principle of inter-independence.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Baron De Montesquieu, a central figure during the Age of Enlightenment, had warned that when the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, "there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner."
There is no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers. "Were it joined with the legislature, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator," warned the French social commentator and political thinker. "Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor."
The advocate of the theory of separation of powers had warned further that "there would be an end of everything were the same man or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting the laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and that of judging the crimes or differences of individuals."
Most kingdoms of Europe enjoy a moderate government because the prince who is invested with the two first powers leaves the third to his subjects. In Turkey, where these three powers are united in the sultan's person, the subjects groan under the weight of the most frightful oppression, Montesquieu said. In the republics of Italy, where these three powers are united, there is less liberty than in our monarchies. "Hence," he added, "their government is obliged to have recourse to as violent methods for its support as even that of the Turks; witness the state inquisitors, and the lion's mouth into which every informer may at all hours throw his written accusations."

SUBJECTS

"What a situation must the poor subjects be in, under those republics!" thundered Montesquieu. "The same body of magistrates are possessed, as executors of the laws, of the whole power they have given themselves in quality of legislators. They may plunder the state by their general determination, and they have likewise the judiciary power in their hands, every private citizen may be ruined by their particular decisions."
He warned that "the whole power is here united in one body; and though there is no external pomp that indicates a despotic sway, yet the people feel the effects of it every moment."
"Hence it is that many of the princes of Europe, whose aim has been leveled at arbitrary power, have constantly set out uniting in their own persons all the branches of magistracy, and all the great offices of the state."