Buffalo grieves

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”

—C. S. Lewis

By Alex P. Vidal

I HAD fond memories of Buffalo more than a decade ago.

I first arrived in this rain-drenched upstate community known as the City of Good Neighbors at 2 o’clock in the morning in a lung-busting land trip from Chicago via Greyhound bus. 

I learned from the bus terminal staff that Buffalo’s nightlife doesn’t call it quits until 4 o’clock in the morning, rather than 2 o’clock in the morning like most other cities in the U.S. I thought I fell in love with Buffalo—both at first sight and land.

My final destination was Toronto, Canada.

I always encouraged my friends from the Philippines who are in the United States for a short vacation and intending to visit Canada to take the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge crossings from the City of Buffalo in New York to Ontario, an east-central Canadian province.

This is my favorite route when I travel to Canada by land. 

Buffalo is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Southern Ontario.

We always assumed that the No. 1 target of visitors from the United States in going to Ontario would be the Niagara Falls.

Most of those who have been to the U.S. east coast know that Niagara Falls, a city on the Niagara River, is in New York State. It’s the Falls’ official address.

Only a few think Niagara Falls is officially in Ontario, Canada because the Falls is known for the vast Niagara Falls, which straddle the Canadian border. 

In Niagara Falls State Park, the Observation Tower, at Prospect Point, juts out over Niagara Gorge for a view of all 3 waterfalls.

-o0o-

I am writing about Buffalo and its connection to Ontario because my memories of this second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Erie County, have been desecrated by the killing of 10 people and wounding of three others in a shooting rampage in a supermarket on Saturday (May 14) afternoon.

Of the 13 victims, 11 were Black. Police and prosecutors said the shooting had a racial motive, a claim that ignited a criticism from CNN anchors for being “too soon” (to determine that it was racially motivated).

"It was, straight up, a racially motivated hate crime," Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said at a late afternoon news conference.

The gunman, Payton S. Gendron, 18, of Conklin, in Broome County, was arraigned Saturday evening before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig Hannah on a first-degree murder charge.

According to initial reports, four Tops (name of supermarket on Jefferson Avenue) employees were among those killed, including a recently retired Buffalo police officer who was working as security at the store. 

As of this writing, the Buffalo News withheld the retired officer’s identity because it could not be determined whether his family had been notified.

According to the Buffalo News, as many as five bodies were found in the parking lot, an onsite police official said.

"Bullets and blood are everywhere," the source said.

Shonnell Harris, an operation manager at the Tops, said she heard gun shots and ran frantically through the store, falling several times before exiting out the back. 

She saw the shooter, whom she described as a white man wearing camouflage. "He looked like he was in the Army." Harris thought she heard 70 shots.

-o0o-

There are actually three United States to Canada border crossings in the Niagara Falls area, all within 28 miles (45 kilometers) of Buffalo, New York. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge crossings I mentioned earlier are among the busiest of all Canadian border crossings. 

Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and Rainbow Bridge can move much faster, as Whirlpool Rapids Bridge is reserved for NEXUS pass holders and Rainbow Bridge is void of commercial traffic. 

All bridges offer convenient passage into southern Ontario and Toronto and are used by those traveling to Niagara Falls, Canada or the Niagara wine country. 

But which one to take at the time of our journey should depend on factors like preferred route, wait times, and duty-free shopping opportunities.  

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

No evidence, no case

“Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.”

—George Eliot

 

By Alex P. Vidal

I TRULY care for my country, but I have nothing concrete to say yet as regards the controversial outcome of the May 9 presidential election unless there are pieces of evidence that will surface.

If none, everything will remain as speculation. Even in a court litigation, the most important element of surprise is the testimonial and/or documentary evidence. Without  any evidence, the case will falter.

Like many political observers, unsatisfied voters and curious analysts, I also have misgivings with certain figures that came out in the Comelec Transparency Server. 

It’s so unbelievable that Vice President Leni Robredo got only 14 million votes (almost the same number of votes she got in 2016 against the same rival in the vice presidential contest) and the presumptive winner, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., got a whopping 31 million votes. 

The wide margin is so incredible and mysterious, to say the least. It has never happened in the history of Philippine elections even when the counting of votes was still done manually. 

The automated canvassing of ballots is really something that needs a total review and thorough investigation.  

But I can’t conclude yet with absolute certainty that a fraud of horrific magnitude attended the recent presidential election in the absence of any solid evidence.

As Archimedes had famously said, "Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I'll move the world."

Give me pieces of evidence and I will make a loud voice. 

-o0o-

THERE are predictions that after his failed presidential bid, Senator Manny Pacquiao might next attempt to erase the world record established by Bernard Hopkins: to become the oldest world boxing champion.  

Pacquiao, 42, was the only presidential candidate in the recent Philippine election who supposedly spent his own money during the entire campaign period and did not solicit any financial help from private donors.

If he wants to quickly recover the millions of pesos he spent during the electoral process, where he garnered 3,629,666 votes and was running for third in the Comelec Transparency Server as of this writing, he will need to step on the ring once more.

Now retired from boxing and is not anymore active in election campaign, he might decide to stage a comeback if he is still physically fit, according to many observers.

Even if he is now past his prime, Pacquiao continued to be a household name in the world of prizefighting, having been considered during his active years as the best boxer pound-for-pound.

He could still bankroll a huge prize if he will fight for a cause, or to seek to establish a certain record.

-o0o-

In his last fight before hanging up his gloves on August 21, 2021, he lost by a 12-round unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas. 

The oldest boxer to win a world title is Bernard Hopkins, who at age 46 on May 21, 2011, took the World Boxing Council's light-heavyweight title from Canada's Jean Pascal in a 12-round unanimous decision at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

He actually erased the record established on November 5, 1994 by George Foreman, who became boxing’s oldest heavyweight champion at 45 when he defeated 26-year-old Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their WBA fight in Las Vegas. More than 12,000 spectators at the MGM Grand Hotel watched Foreman dethrone Moorer, who went into the fight with a 35-0 record. 

Foreman had dedicated his upset win to “all my buddies in the nursing home and all the guys in jail.”

Pacquiao’s only obstacle is that he has to wait until he turns 46 and several days and win the fight that would make him the new titleholder of the oldest world boxing champion. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

  

Beware of politics

 

“In politics stupidity is not a handicap.”

—Napoleon Bonaparte

By Alex P. Vidal

THOSE who make politics as main livelihood will always end up in grief and anxiety if they can’t sustain the momentum that brought them in that “profession.”

In order to “survive” in life they must win in every election; victory is a must. No room for failure. 

A defeat means losing their livelihood; it may not be the end of the world for them, but losing an election is tantamount to losing a major source of regular income, aside from losing their self-esteem. 

We know a lot of politicians who ended up like beggars after failing to secure a reelection victory. One of them was a popular broadcaster who died a pauper after failing to win a reelection bid for a position in the local legislature.

If they join politics purely with a passion to serve, losing in the election isn’t a major event. It can neither shake their spirit nor diminish their self worth.

Either they will try their luck next time, or stay away from politics for good if they feel it’s not their forte. No big deal. No excuses.

They can survive without politics because they have been financially independent even before they attempted and failed to join and stay in politics.  

So let’s beware of politics. It can either make us rich and famous if we are lucky to always stay in the winning column every election, or make us poorer financially, dash our hopes for a glamorous life to pieces, and destroy our life.

-o0o-

Congratulations to the newly elected Sangguniang Panlungsod members in Iloilo City: Sedfrey Cabaluna, Miguel Trenas, Alan Zaldivar, Francis Grace Parcon, Nick Baronda, Rodulph Ganzon, Rex Sarabia, Candice Tupas, Johny Young, Romel Duron, Ely Estante Jr., Plaridel Nava.

There are new faces and familiar family names but only one opposition councilor: Nava.

Nava’s return and presence in the administration-dominated local legislature will ensure that the city council won’t be an outright stamping pad.

Reelected Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Trenas may still get what he wants from his solid line-up, but Nava, as a lone opposition voice, may be ready anew to stand in the way if he thinks something is amiss in as far as public interest is concerned.

There are those who still don’t like Atty. Nava’s brand of politics, but if they discard personal biases and look at the situation from the perspectives of check and balance, I can say that Atty. Nava’s presence in the lion’s den is good for democracy as a whole.

-o0o-

It’s been 10 years since I interviewed Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the media center of the MGM Gand in Las Vegas while I was covering the fights of defeated presidential candidate, Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Then ranked as among the richest in the world, according to Forbes, Cuban had failed to acquire the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers and my brief interview with him had something to do with his plan to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“When I become owner of Dodgers,” Cuban explained, “fans will never again have to worry about the Dodgers having enough money to sign the best players.”

Cuban continued: “I will spend so much money. Bud will consider fining me. As you know I’ve racked up something like $1.665 million in NBA fines, so if that’s what it takes to have the best team in Los Angeles, bring it on, Buddy Boy. I matched every dollar that I was fined and donated it to charity. I do believe in community, and have the check stubs to prove it.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

We were created by God to be wise

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” 

– KaluKalu

By Alex P. Vidal 

FIVE years before Martin Luther was to begin to shake the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church, the great Renaissance painter and humanist Michelangelo had just finished decorating one of its ceilings in October 1521.

“And what a ceiling it was!” exclaims Portland-based Ronald B. Allen, professor of Old Testament and Exegesis in The Majesty of Man. 

The Sistine Chapel in Rome, named for Pope Sixtus IV who had begun its construction in 1473, has a ceiling that measures approximately 133 feet by 43 feet, with the crown of the vault some 70 feet above the pavement.

In conditions of terrible discomfort, Allen points out, the great artist Michelangelo spent nearly four years painting in the fresh plaster on the ceiling. 

“He lay on hard scaffolding board, breathing intolerable air and having eyes and skin constantly inflamed with plaster dust. All the while, the impatient Pope Julius II would periodically climb the scaffolding and threaten to toss the master to the ground if he did not finish his work more quickly,” narrates Allen.

The formal unveiling took place on October 31, 1512. What an event in the history of man this unveiling was—one of the finest artistic achievements of the Renaissance. 

Here Christian theology and humanism learned to hold hands. 

-o0o-

In his recital of the significance of this event, Charles H. Morgan says “Michelangelo had joined two powerful philosophies, the Christian ethic and the perfect human, at the moment of their most sympathetic coexistence.”

This blending of the Christian and the human strains was perhaps nowhere more evidence than in Michelangelo’s portrayal of the Creation of Man. 

One of the most famous panels of the masterpiece is the scene of Adam reclining inertly on a brown field, his left arms stretched out languidly over his upraised left knee. 

Rushing toward him is God, surrounded by storm and cloud, attended by cherubim, and stretching out his hand in a dynamic gesture to the extended finger of Adam. 

Our attention is drawn to the rushing power of the finger of God and the small space left between God’s finger and that of man.

“In this painting,” suggests Allen, “we are there a microsecond before the giving of life!”

What are we to make of this imagery? Morgan sees in it the notion that the church had given nourishment to humanism, and that in this painting they both meet on an equal scale. 

Despite the tranquility of the scene, Morgan senses the irony in the painting, for a struggle was about to burst out between the church and humanism in which the power of God would be challenged by man whom heaven had empowered.

Allen says another view of the significance of the Creation of Man fresco is presented by the renowned American biblical theologian Samuel Terrien of Union Seminary, New York.

-o0o-

“Dr. Terrien, in a meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Francisco several years ago, observed that there is another figure in the painting in addition to God, Adam, and the cherubim,” Allen observes. “This other figure is a beautiful woman whose head is nestled in the left arm of God, and who looks with anxious interest on man whom God was enlivening.”

We almost miss this woman because of our interest in the latent energy in the space between the finger of Adam and the finger of God. 

“But there she is!” Allan stresses. “And her presence causes us to ask, Who is she? Is she the as yet unformed Eve, awaiting the awakening of need for her in her mate?” Is she, as some Catholics have imagined, the Blessed Virgin Mary, anticipating a significant day long in the future when God would have a ministry of mystery for her? 

Terrien brushes away these and other conceptions with his great discovery: This woman is wisdom. It was with his arm around wisdom that God created man, his finest creature.”

Allen observes further: “I suspect that Morgan’s point of view more accurately represents art history. But I am convinced that the viewpoint of Terrien is the one who need in order to understand theology rightly. For this painting points us to one of the most significant elements in our understanding of what it means to be truly human: We were created by God to be wise.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

This time Goliath topples David

“Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath.”

—Wilt Chamberlain

By Alex P. Vidal

WE have always heard of an abundance of ancient and modern stories about Goliath taking a terrible beating from diminutive David in any competition that glorifies the spirit of the underdog, or highlights the success of a palooka over a physically superior foe.

This time, the situation has been reversed: it’s Goliath making a mincemeat of David in every sense of the word.

We’re referring to Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol, a tall Russian professional boxer from Kyrgyzstan and the reigning WBA light heavyweight champion, who proved to all and sundry that not all Goliaths will forever be the subordinates of the over-sensationalized David. 

On May 7 while the Filipinos were busy preparing for the May 9 Philippine presidential election where a female David (Leni Robredo) was pitted against a male Goliath (Bongbong Marcos Jr), Bivol finally ended Canelo Alvarez’s Cinderella-like story in professional boxing. 

Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) retained his title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a clear-cut unanimous decision (115-113, 115-113, 115-113) win over Mexico’s Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs).

-o0o-

Alvarez, whose other defeat was inflicted by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2013, was aiming to become a champion at 175 pounds again.

I will vote to pick Bivol’s big win over the very popular Alvarez, a good friend of defeated Philippine presidential candidate and former world champion Manny Pacquiao, as one of the biggest upsets in professional boxing in 2022.

Bivol (our Goliath in this episode) snapped Alvarez’s (our David in this episode) eight-fight winning streak since bowing to the granite-chinned Mayweather my majority decision for the WBC/WBA super welterweight tiaras nine years ago.

The taller Bivol, 31, controlled much of the action with a precise jab, deftly mixing in damaging combinations as his confidence and Canelo’s frustration grew. 

Afterwards, Bivol was asked about how validated he felt having toppled the man considered by many to be the best best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

“I proved myself today, I’m the best in my division and I keep this belt,” Bivol said, quoted by MMA Fighting. “Sorry I broke your plans with Gennady Golovkin, maybe. Thank you Canelo, he’s a great champion, I respect him.”

-o0o-

The Russian Goliath also exhibited outstanding defense throughout the fight. While Canelo, 31, did well closing the distance to get in range for his power punches, the majority of them were dulled by Bivol’s tight guard. 

Canelo had his best success going to the body, but even then his body shots were frequently answered by straight punches from Bivol that forced him to back off.

Regarding the toll that Canelo’s power took on him, Bivol said, “Yeah, he hurt my arm.”

Though the final scores had the judges giving Bivol the win by a differential of just two rounds, several more could arguably have gone in Bivol’s favor as Canelo just never seemed to be able to get his offense going. 

The outcome was a disappointing one for the majority of the crowd, who seemed desperate to ring in Cinco de Mayo with yet another win for the Mexican star.

Canelo was gracious in defeat.

“You have to accept it, it’s boxing,” Canelo said in Spanish via a translator. “He’s a great champion. You can’t make any excuses, today I lost and he won.”

The four-division champion then stated that he would exercise his rematch clause, a challenge that Bivol welcomed. We can’t wait to watch the rematch which might be held before the 2022 ends.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

Dante’s Inferno for would-be thieves

“There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals.”

--Herman Melville

By Alex P. Vidal

SOME Filipino politicians will prevail in the May 9 Philippine election not because of their competence and excellent track records.

It’s because of their popularity and notoriety; they will be elected by the benighted voters even if most of them aren’t prepared for a job in public office.

Since our electoral system is not something we can be proud of in as far as qualifications of those seeking for the higher offices is concerned, many of those will be elected are characters from the social media, showbiz misfits, long-established political dynasty, returning traditional politicians, retired military or police officials who made a name for being tough, media scalawags packaged as “defenders of the poor and victims of injustice”, etcetera.

We’re not impressed and will never be impressed. 

Once elected, many of them will again only enrich themselves, abuse their power, acquire mistresses left and right, go on unlimited junket, appoint their relatives and cronies in key government offices that don’t require civil service qualifications.    

This has happened in the previous administrations of the past presidents from Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Cory Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, Erap Estrada, Gloria Arroyo, Noynoy Aquino, and Digong Duterte.

Because we don’t have a hell literally on earth, the destinations of these would-be thieves and rascals should be in Dante’s Inferno.

-o0o-

Hell is the state of the soul after death, but it is also the state of the world as seen by an exile whose experience has taught him no longer to trust the world’s values.

Dante’s Inferno is a vision of the City of Man in the afterlife, which is why it contains no glimmer of forgiveness.

At the same time, it may also be thought of a radical representation of the world in which we live, stripped of all temporizing and all hope.

There is no sign of Christian forgiveness for thieves in Dante’s Inferno.

The dominant theme is not mercy but justice, dispensed with severity of the ancient law of retribution.

Every reader was amazed by Dante’s Inferno, by the frights, the obscenities, the filth and effluvia of a vision in which execration was often the central act of perception, and suffering the central spectacle of desire.

The sinners--the lustful, gluttonous, treacherous--are caught forever.

In the passage set in the Eight Circle, serpents surround and tear at thieves, who catch fire, burn, and are then reconstituted, like the phoenix. 

But when they are reborn out of their own ashes, they only suffer again.

-o0o-

In Robert Pinsky’s bilingual edition, The Inferno of Dante’s new verse translation, this was how the thieves are punished in Canto XXIV, 91-120:

Among this cruel and depressing swarm,

ran people who were naked, terrified,

with no hope of a hole or heliotrope.

Their hands were tied behind by serpents; these had thrust their head and tail right through the loins,

And then were knotted on the other side.

And--there!--a serpent sprang with force at one who stood upon our shore, transfixing him just where the neck and shoulders form a knot.

No o or i has ever been transcribed

So quickly as that soul caught fire and burned

and, as he fell, completely turned to ashes;

and when he lay, undone, upon the ground,

the dust of him collected by itself

and instantly returned to what it was:

just so, it is asserted by great sages,

that, when it reaches its five-hundredth year,

the phoenix dies and is reborn again;

lifelong it never feeds on grass or grain,

only on drops of incense or amomum;

its final winding sheets are nard and myrrh.

And just as he who falls, and knows not how--

by demon’s force that drags him to the ground

or by some other hindrance that binds man--

who, when he rises, stares about him, all

bewildered by the heavy anguish he

has suffered, sighing as he looks around;

so did this sinner stare when he arose.

Oh, how severe it is, the power of God

that, as its vengeance, showers down such blows! 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

Presidency a gift for Atty. Leni Robredo?

“Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.”

—James A. Garfield

By Alex P. Vidal

THERE were two sets of father-son Presidents in the United States: John Adams (1797-1801)-John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) and George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)-George W. Bush (2001-2009).

In the Philippines, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., namesake of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., will attempt to win the presidency on May 9 and catapult the Marcoses to the record books as the first father-son Filipino Presidents. Amazing!

Unfortunately, I don’t see this happening soon; no, this might not happen yet, or it may never happen at all.

Bongbong Marcos Jr and his running-mate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, have been endorsed by the bloc-voting religious sect, Iglesia ni Cristo (Inc) six days before the election, apart from consistently topping the surveys conducted by Pulse Asia, Social Weather Station, Laylo Research and Publicus Asia, where the son Marcos pulled away by a commanding 53 percent over his closest pursuer, Vice President Leni Robredo, who got 23 percent.

These were the solid basis for the claim of a successful campaign by supporters of Marcos Jr. and, perhaps, by Marcos Jr. himself and Duterte-Carpio, daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte. 

And why not? What “concrete signs” do we need to know more to be convinced that this presidential race would be a lopsided win for Marcos Jr.?  

Were these overwhelming indications or probability of a “sure” Marcos Jr. victory not enough? 

They’re more than enough, yes; and that’s enough.

-o0o-

The presidency may not necessarily be an inheritance; it’s more of a “rendezvous with destiny.”

It’s not a regular title that can just be bestowed upon anyone who wishes to get it by hook or by crook. It’s a gift.

If Marcos Jr. is destined to become president, he will bring it home even without leading in the pre-election surveys; and without the much ballyhooed endorsement from any religious empire.

Ditto with his arch-rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, the real dark horse in this race. 

Between Marcos Jr. and Atty. Robredo, however, we see two different worlds apart.

We feel the vice president is the one deserving the gift of the presidency by virtue of her sterling background in public service, her humble stint in the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), her low-key lifestyle, her moral ascendancy as a single parent, her character and demeanor as a woman, her intelligence, and as a widow who never compromised the values of her modest family.    

The quality of people who admire Atty. Robredo’s brand of leadership and politics pales in comparison with those who regularly mounted brutal disinformation campaign and canard against her person and family. They simply wanted to malign her based on the lies and derogatory issues being spread in the social media. Many if not most of them were unfounded and baseless and meant only to sabotage her public image as a presidential wanna-be.

If she wins on May 9–which we feel, based on the passionate reactions of her supporters, she will—Atty. Robredo will redeem the nation from being tagged as the biggest cemetery in Southeast Asia owing to the mishandled bloody campaign against illegal drugs and from a leadership that has institutionalized the use of cuss words in public speaking and the most familiar “p_tang ina” or SOB. 

-o0o-

    

The phrase "rendezvous with destiny" has been used by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during World War II and Ronald Reagan in his successful bid for the presidency in 1980, according to writer Ross Sloan. 

It would be hard to argue that the election of Donald Trump in 2016 would not also rank in that same category. 

Very few persons of note thought Mr. Trump would defeat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The liberal left even assured everyone that Trump's election absolutely could not happen, Sloan added. 

Even former President Barack Obama smugly told the Americans that Trump would never be president. How many anti-Robredo TikTokers have said that Robredo has no chance?

Time and again, elections have been proven to be the most unpredictable if not latently mysterious societal human undertaking since the right to suffrage was established. 

The candidates are presented in public for the voters to choose; they campaign for our votes; and we cast our votes based on what we know about the candidates—or based on their qualifications.     

And there are several factors why the strongest and more popular candidates penciled to win sometimes end up eating the dust

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)