Weapons of war

 

“At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice.”

—Gore Vidal

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THERE is a need for all of us to continue the fight against misinformation and disinformation. 

Everyone should be involved, especially those with easy access to the Internet and other communication technology. 

They could be used as weapons of war. In fact, they are now being utilized to wreck diplomatic relationships, the economy, political alliances, in the climate change debate, the pandemic, and even family relationships.

When our leaders—those in power—make a mistake of sending false stories or half truths in their social media platforms, the damage will be catastrophic. 

The people believe what their leaders are saying or Twitting; they swallow hook, line, and sinker what they read in the social media posts of their leaders.

Thus there is a need for the public to be vigilant and to act as sentinels in order to cushion the impact if not totally stop the spread of misinformation and disinformation. 

 

-o0o-

 

Not only is misinformation incorrect or misleading information. It is differentiated from disinformation, which is deliberately deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn out to be either true or false.

“Misinformation & disinformation are increasingly used as weapons of war. Access to information is a human right. Credible, accurate, and human-centered communication is one of our best instruments to counter these threats,” Twitted United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Meanwhile, Guterres recently told the U.N. Security Council that the world in which peacekeepers operate “is more hazardous today than any time in recent memory,” with geopolitical tensions reverberating locally and conflicts “more complex and multi-layered.”

“Peacekeepers are facing terrorists, criminals, armed groups and their allies — many with access to powerful modern weapons, and many with a vested interest in perpetuating the chaos in which they thrive,” the U.N. chief said.

 

-o0o-

 

The Ilonggo community in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental has commemorated the 121st birthday of the great ring immortal Francisco Guilledo popularly known as “Pancho Villa.” 

Born August 1, 1901 in Sitio Ilog, Kabankalan, Guilledo won the world flyweight crown on June 18, 1921 with a seventh round knockout over defending champion, Welshman Jimmy Wilde, at the Polo Grounds in New York. 

He died 10 days after losing a non-title duel versus welterweight champion Jimmy McLarnin on July 4, 1923. 

Villa was a former stevedore in the Muelly Loney port here. He was married to Gliceria Concepcion. 

Iloilo boxing patron Frank Atas, Jr. said Villa’s son once managed a small boxing gym somewhere in Jaro district here. 

“He resembled his father and he also loved boxing only that the press did not recognize him,” said Atas, who also once owned a boxing gym. 

Touted as the greatest flyweight of the century by the Associated Press, Villa was also the first world champion from Asia. 

He was one of only four Asians enshrined into the New York-based International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994. He was also inducted to the World Boxing Hall of Fame. 

He began his boxing career by adopting the name Pancho Villa after a famous Mexican revolutionary. After his successful bids in the Philippines, he went to New York in pursuit of international bouts. 

Among his most memorable fights were his losses to former Olympic champion Frankie Genaro, who beat him on points two times in as many confrontations. 

They were penciled to meet for the third time but his untimely death dashed that dream match to pieces.

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

Too much to bear

"Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth."

—Henry David Thoreau 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE wave of scandals and man-made catastrophes we face everyday is too much for the human mind and heart to bear, thus we are “wounded.”

Shocking corruption stories involving high government officials, family tragedies, vendetta, wanton destruction of environment, heat wave, abject poverty, One-China policy tumult, domestic and international terrorism, gas prices hike, Monkeypox, an accidental senator who thinks the senate is an elementary school, broaddaylight sexual assaults and armed robberies, emotional blackmail, cybersex prostitution involving minors with some parents acting as pimps, slavery, bigotry and religious persecution, character assassination, grisly murders, illegal drug trafficking, to name only a few. 

We regularly read stories about large scale plunder and abuse of power, police brutality, heinous crimes and the rapid decline of our ecology due to human race’s irresponsible, immoral and illegal habits; yet, nobody gets prosecuted. 

No criminal and corrupt official has rotted in jail since democracy was restored in 1986 until the most recent Duterte administration.

Rogue elements and rapacious leaders continue to commit pillage at an alarming scale. 

We continue to suffer. We continue to lick our wounds.

Wound healing or Woundology has been recommended for us by prominent social scientists, psychologists and even pranic healers.

 

-o0o-

  

I first heard the word Woundology from Dr. Josef De Ubaldo, who defined it as the "healing of wounds inhabiting a particular area in the human body."

It is as old as history premised on the Genesis of the first man and woman during their Fall that started the Woundology of homo sapiens on this planet, according to Ubaldo. 

"Because of this inevitable woundedness, comes a wounded fetus, wounded child, the wounded family, wounded race as in the case of the Blacks (now people of colors), wounded nations as in the case of war-ravaged countries without identity like the Philippines and to a larger extent the destruction of Planet Earth," Ubaldo explains.  

It was actually author Caroline Myss who coined the term “woundology” to describe how some people define themselves by their physical, emotional, or social wounds.

In her book, Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, Myss writes that many people hoping to heal “are striving to confront their wounds, valiantly working to bring meaning to terrible past experiences and traumas, and exercising compassionate understanding of others who share their wounds.” 

“But they are not healing,” she asserts. “They have redefined their lives around their wounds and the process of accepting them. They are not working to get beyond their wounds. In fact, they are stuck in their wounds.”

 

-o0o-

 

The Planet Earth, according to Ubaldo, is wounded by its wounded inhabitants which is being exemplified in forest destruction, oil spills on the ocean, and use of chemicals, air pollution, iatrogenic diseases, genetically engineered foods all wrought havoc to the lives of many people and to the natural habitat.  

"If we seriously attempt to account for the total inhabitants of this planet which runs to seven billion, imagine the magnitude, depth, breadth and ubiquitousness of wounding," says Ubaldo. "It chooses not to respect anyone, it maybe a king, national leaders down to the common 'tao'. We shall continue to be wounded until we desire to get healed."

He warned that Woundology does not remain static. "Its dynamism sometimes precludes our ability or desire to get healed. It is dynamic for it ends up in a definite healing process through one's quest and search for solutions that transcend beyond the physical plane in order to restore one's joy, pride and equilibrium-mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. The holistic guide to healing plays significantly for the individual's corporeal mind, emotion, body, and spirit. Symptomatic cures such as synthetic medicines do not last long for they served only as palliatives." 

Ubaldo added: "Being wounded presupposes pain, of ego-destruction to the point of losing one's self-esteem. Self-esteem is the most valued part of one's life and more often than not, it is greatly smashed by unsavory events he identified as verbal abuses in childhood and adolescence, physical infliction of pain (wounding) coupled by emotional wrath, emotional blackmails, undiscovered truths and realities sowed by others to perpetuate pain, history of colonization, clouding of minds and other forms of shackling one's personality to hinder growth, are just some of the more popular examples of woundedness." 

Myss, meanwhile, suggests that it takes courage to explore our suffering, to peel away layer after layer of beliefs, behaviors, and assumptions and rigorously hold ourselves accountable to life.

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

From Russia with hate

“The judicial system is the most expensive machine ever invented for finding out what happened and what to do about it.”

—Irving R. Kaufman

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF we stand on a neutral ground, either we will view the conviction of WNBA star Brittney Griner in a Russian court as “wrongful” or “correct.”

But if we are Americans and sports buffs at the same time, we will definitely condemn it.

My heart goes out to the six feet and nine inches tall Olympic gold medalist who has been in jail since February this year, but I can’t question the way Russia implements its own laws.

If a Russian lawbreaker will be convicted in our own land for violating our laws, the Russians might protest it, but they also have no right to question our own judicial system. 

If the nation is burning, it is fair to say that criminal justice systems everywhere in the world are a raging dumpster fire of injustice and those who implement them are the ones who lit the fuse.

Meanwhile, unable to secure an acquittal for the jailed basketball bird, some fellow Americans have developed hatred toward Russia’s judicial system after the 31-year-old basketball heartthrob, a lesbian, was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison, on charges of smuggling drugs into the country.

 

-o0o-

 

In the final pre-Beatlemania months of 1963, Matt Monro was hired to sing the From Russia With Love title theme of a James Bond 007 film:

From Russia with love I fly to you

Much wiser since my goodbye to you

I've travelled the world to learn

I must return from Russia with love…

Now that Griner has been sentenced to nine years in prison, some fans hurt by the verdict might change the title of that song to From Russia With Hate.

Griner's lawyers described the verdict, just below the maximum sentence of 10 years, as "absolutely unreasonable" and said they will "certainly file an appeal."

A Russian judge read Griner, 31, her verdict August 4 about an hour after her lawyers and the prosecution presented their closing arguments, reported the PEOPLE. 

The Phoenix Mercury star had given an emotional speech, reiterating her stance that though she pled guilty to bringing less than 1 gram of cannabis oil into Russia, she did so "inadvertently" and asked the court for leniency.

 

-o0o-

 

According to CNN, Griner sobbed: "That's why I pled guilty to my charges. I understand everything that's been said against me, the charges that are against me and that is why I pled guilty but I had no intents to break any Russian laws.”

President Joe Biden has called the ruling as "unacceptable."

The President said: "Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney.”

He added: "It's unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates. My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible."

Russian prosecutors had asked the judge during closing arguments to sentence Griner to nine years and six months in prison, just below the maximum allowed sentence of 10 years. 

The prosecution also asked that Griner was fined 1 million rubles, roughly equivalent to $16,600, according to The New York Times.

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

 

 

 

Who pocketed Pinoy group’s missing $300,000 funds?

 

“When you don't take a stand against corruption you tacitly support it.”

—Kamal Haasan

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

SIXTEEN million and five hundred thousand pesos or P16,500,000 in equivalent to Philippine money based on the current exchange rate to $300,000, the funds of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) that reportedly went missing since 2017.

There has been no clear explanation what happened to the funds, where it went and how it disappeared.

The money could be used to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry children, build shelters for the poor, or buy medicines for the sick in the Philippines.

PIDCI is a New York City-based non-profit organization incorporated on February 14, 2002, known for the biggest Philippine Independence Day Parade outside the Philippines held first Sunday of June along Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan.

PIDCI has been in existence under the tutelage of the Philippine Consulate General New York. 

It is believed that without the Philippine Consulate General New York, the PIDCI is inutile. 

PIDCI has been able to raise funds through the endorsements of whoever was assigned as the consul general. 

In other words, the PIDCI and the Philippine Consulate General New York has been complimenting each other in the implementation mostly of cultural activities.

Their relationship can be likened to that of “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine” in as far as Philippine Independence parade and other cultural activities were concerned.

Kalotay likod. Hungitay kag intu-anay. Beso-beso and ballroom dancing. Sweethearts in many transactions and activities.

If the consul general was corrupt and tolerated any monkey business, “everybody would be happy.”

 

-o0o-

 

Years ago, I lost my respect for one consul general who hosted a lavish party for the who’s who of the community who were mostly dressed in white, some of whom PIDCI bigwigs and showbiz scalawags, while there was calamity in the Philippines and people lost their homes and loved ones. 

“Many in the community are angry. They want to see individuals held accountable (for the missing $300,000),” Cristina DC Pastor, a respected Filipino-American journalist, wrote in the New York-based FilAm, news partner of INQUIRER.net on September 29, 2017.  

“Former Treasurer Violeta Manarang McGough has resigned, citing health reasons. PIDCI President Prospero Lim accepted her resignation. An independent investigation is said to be in the works, but the results have yet to be released.”

According to Pastor, the “PIDCI has had a long and troubled history.” 

“It began in 1990 as an informal, ad hoc group, PIDC, assisting the Philippine Consulate in mounting the annual parade,” wrote Pastor.

“It became an incorporated organization, PIDCI, in 2001. It adopted a constitution and began to elect a set of officers, who enforce a set of bylaws. The consulate was reduced to an advisory role.”

She added: “PIDCI began to raise funds to ‘organize, produce, execute, manage, direct and present’ the annual celebration of Philippine Independence in New York City. They hold the following fundraising events: the Independence Day Parade; Street Fair and Cultural Festival; Mrs. Kalayaan and Diwa Ng Kalayaan Pageants; PIDCI Grand Marshal Gala; and the Philippine Independence Ball.

“Many in the community have called for oversight of PIDCI’s financial reporting,” Pastor further wrote. “Greater transparency and the missing money, estimated to be in the amount of $300,000, are the big issues in this year’s (2017) election.”

 

-o0o-

 

“There’s a lot of rumor going on about some hundreds of dollars missing and the public should know about it before another election. I am afraid that the issue will be buried under six feet of documents again because those who are running are friends of friends of the top echelon of PIDCI. Please insist on the reporting of finances before the election, otherwise it will be the same problem again,” Pastor had quoted Lim as complaining.

Madamu nga kababalaghan ang naga kalatabu sa mga organizations in the Filipino community in New York City. One of them is the PIDCI. And the Philippine Consulate General New York has been reportedly aware of this. 

It’s not clear why the Philippne Consulate General New York has not sanctioned or severed ties with this controversial group despite the alleged anomalies attached to the group’s name.

I have a suggestion for the Philippine Consulate General New York: Why not require the PIDCI to submit a clean bill of financial health (meaning, it must first show it can police its own ranks) and severe ties with this controversial group if they can’t account for the alleged missing funds?

We don’t want the public to suspect there’s an “unholy” alliance if the love affair isn’t “regulated.” 

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

 

Confusing New York ‘hate crime’ videos about Pinoys

“Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion.”

—Francis Bacon

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

LET’S not be confused by the videos circulating in the social media that purportedly report about “Asian hate” incidents involving Filipinos particularly in New York—unless they have been officially reported as such and properly verified and documented by authorities.

I recently spotted at least two uploaded by the “ABS-CBN News.” They all went viral.

Because the “attacker” was a black person “who punched someone” didn’t mean it’s already an “Asian hate” crime-related violence.  

The recent video showing a “Filipino MMA expert” pinning down an “attacker” (an African-American) or “tumulong para mahuli ang attacker” has led to a plethora of confusion: the attacker was an “Asian hater” for randomly punching two people, “including a 17-year-old.”

Any yahoo can punch an innocent bystander without being racist or hater of Asians. 

The 17-year-old mentioned in that video could be the same “18-year-old Filipino tourist” referred to by Philippine Consul General Elmer Cato of the Philippine Consulate General New York in his tweet in July, which was massively reported in the Philippine media as a case of “Asian hate.”

It created panic, fear and ripples among worried family members in the Philippines who have loved ones in New York and other U.S. states.

 

-o0o-

 

We are 100 percent certain the good consul general never met that “18-year-old Filipino tourist” or the “17-year-old” mentioned in the video if he really existed.

No official documentation, no CCTV video of the actual attack, no testimonies (backed by concrete evidence not rhetorics) from credible witnesses, no actual or taped interviews with the New York Police Department (NYPD) investigators to confirm Asians were deliberately targeted in the attack, means there was no Asian hate-related bullying.  

No identification means half truth. No accuracy means its authenticity can be challenged. 

Other than extolling the heroism of the Good Samaritan and the “Filipino MMA expert” who helped arrest that American-African assailant, the video was inconclusive.

Check the video again. It’s about the “heroism” of a Good Samaritan,  the “Filipino MMA expert” who reportedly helped arrest the “attacker.” It’s not about a Filipino victimized by haters targeting Asians. Let’s make this clear: Filipino the hero, not Filipino the Asian hate victim. 

Every now and then, random street rumbles involving gangs occurred in New York City and other major cities with large population in the United States. 

“Asian hate crime” has nothing to do with the violent street fistfights involving gangs, drug dealers, insane and homeless thugs who ran berserk.

So as not to be victimized by what we call in Philippines journalism as “kuryente” or (false news from a false source) we exhort Philippine Consulate authorities to double check the facts and all the information being dumped in their office by “concerned” individuals or sometimes erratic informers before twitting the stories or reporting them as “related to Asian hate crime.”

 

-o0o-

 

When the United States moved to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and de-recognize the Republic of China (ROC) in 1979, the United States stated that the government of the People’s Republic of China was “the sole legal Government of China.” 

Sole, meaning the PRC was and is the only China, with no consideration of the ROC as a separate sovereign entity.

Michael Green of the Center for Strategic & International Studies, wrote that the United States did not, however, give in to Chinese demands that it recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan (which is the name preferred by the United States since it opted to de-recognize the ROC). 

Instead, Washington acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan was part of China. For geopolitical reasons, both the United States and the PRC were willing to go forward with diplomatic recognition despite their differences on this matter. 

When China attempted to change the Chinese text from the original acknowledge to recognize, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher told a Senate hearing questioner, “(W)e regard the English text as being the binding text. We regard the word ‘acknowledge’ as being the word that is determinative for the U.S.” In the August 17, 1982, U.S.-China Communique, the United States went one step further, stating that it had no intention of pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”

To this day, the U.S. “one China” position stands: the United States recognizes the PRC as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China. Thus, the United States maintains formal relations with the PRC and has unofficial relations with Taiwan. The “one China” policy has subsequently been reaffirmed by every new incoming U.S. administration. 

The existence of this understanding has enabled the preservation of stability in the Taiwan Strait, allowing both Taiwan and mainland China to pursue their extraordinary political and socioeconomic transitions in relative peace.

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

 

 

 

 

I stand by my article: 2 ‘Asian hate’ reports by RP Consulate New York dubious

“People know accuracy when they read it; they can feel it.”

—Alan Furst

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I AM sad that instead of directly answering the very valid issues I raised in an article on the two recent suspicious stories of alleged “Asian Hate” crime-related incidents involving two Filipinos, Philippine Consulate New York Consul General Elmer Cato chose to keep quiet and instead allowed those who have nothing to do with the issue—the sip-sips and the barking dogs in the Filipino community—to hit me.

In an effort to divert the issue, the sip-sips and the barking dogs were the ones who attacked me while Consul General Cato maintained his silence and has refused to answer and explain the valid issues I raised. 

I have a bad news for all of them: I stand by my article and their personal attacks will not stop me from seeking the truth in the name of public interest.

On July 19, 2022, I wrote an article entitled, “Another suspicious crime story from RP Consulate New York” where I questioned the veracity of the two stories in May and July about the two alleged cases of so-called “Asian Hate” crimes supposedly committed against 1. A Filipino health worker and 2. An “18-year-old tourist.”

 

-o0o-

 

The two stories created ripples in the Philippine media after reporters picked them from the Twitter account of the very popular Philippine Consulate General New York Consul General Elmer Cato.

In the first alleged incident Cato twitted in May, he claimed that a Filipino health worker “punched” an “attacker” for wiping her saliva on the Filipino while they were both riding on the same train.

In New York when you touched someone in an intimidating manner, you would be arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD). In this case, the Filipino health worker got away with murder? No police report. No name of both the Filipino worker and the alleged saliva wiper? No news from any media outlet in New York or anywhere in the United States. No nothing—except in Cato’s tweet. 

In the good consul general’s second tweet in July, he alleged that an “18-year-old tourist” was mauled by an “Asian hater” while walking in Manhattan. Again, he didn’t identify the “victim” and there was no story in the New York press.

A video from ABS-CBN that went viral showed a Tagalog-speaking man claiming he “rescued” the supposed 18-year-old victim and they all gave chase to the alleged assailant “and the suspect was arrested by the NYPD.”

 

-o0o-

 

If we review that ABS-CBN video again (I’m sure it is still there in the social media), no NYPD cop was interviewed in relation to the alleged mauling and the suspect’s alleged “arrest”.

I suspect, Consul General Cato picked what he had Twitted about the incident from that incomplete ABS-CBN story.

I maintain that there have been no credible sources or pieces of evidence that will support the alleged mauling incident involving that “18-year-old tourist” in Manhattan as claimed by that Tagalog-speaking Good Samaritan in the ABS-CBN video and by Consul General Cato himself in his tweet.

Also, the place where the alleged mauling incident occurred was surrounded by CCTV. It’s impossible for the alleged mauling incident not to be captured by the CCTV.  

The twin stories lacked accuracy and the most important details—the what, when, where, who, why, how—were also missing.

In my first article about the controversy, I appealed to the good Consul General to clarify these issues. Was he a victim of what we call in journalism as “kuryente?” 

Did somebody feed him with fake news or half truth? The public want to know. In the name of transparency, Consul General Cato should enlighten us.

Instead, what I got were insults, intimidation, and other forms of verbal and written abuses from characters in the Philippine community who have nothing to do whatsoever with the job of the consul general and who are not even connected with the Philippine Consulate.

Gusto lang mag palapad papel ang mga hurong nga ini. And they thought they could silence me.

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

 

 

 

 

‘Patay’ Railways?

“Implementation of promises is as important as making them.”

—Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

PARDON us for being so skeptical, but we doubt if the “Patay Railways” will ever be revived under the Marcos Jr. administration. 

Not in six years, perhaps; not even under the administration of the next president—or when Mr. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has bowed out from the presidency in 2028.  

Not everything the President has announced in his recent State of the Nation Address (Sona) will turn into gold.

Sometimes those that weren’t openly mentioned are the ones on the priority list; those that were constantly mentioned aren’t even in the radar and are, therefore, not taken seriously.   

Proposals and suggestions, yes. Plans and “priorities,” maybe. Implementation and demonstration, dream on!

We even doubt if the storied but “dead” railway system will be able to rise again like Lazarus post Marcos Jr. administration thereafter. Since its engines “conked out” or were silenced in 1983, efforts to bring it back to life proved futile.  

We always have serious misgivings each time the government announces the construction or rehabilitation of mega-million worth of public works projects ahead of securing the funds needed to start the engine.

It’s like pushing the cart ahead of the horse. There’s no joyride in the locomotive.

Let’s take a cue from the recent announcement from the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which unceremoniously doused a cold water to the railways’ proposed revival: 1.“There are no funds yet…” and 2. “Its revival is not a priority of the agency.” Loud and clear.

 

-o0o-

 

It’s always been the grand plans, the big dreams, the excitement and shockwaves attributed to the grand plans and big dreams, but not the implementation—especially if funds are scarce and may not be immediately available. 

Mega-projects of such magnitude may need billions of pesos for immediate implementation and the limited public funds might not be able to sustain their grandeur unless the government can secure fresh loans from foreign sources and hack out a partnership with the private developers without prejudice to the interest of the government. 

Like what happened to the Iloilo-Guimaras bridge project which was prematurely announced to romp off during the Duterte administration under the ambitious and expensive “build, build, build” program even without the sufficient budget and logistical preparations.

The proposed revival of the 117-kilometer “Patay Railways” might remain as cold skeletons in the cemetery unless the cash-anemic government can set aside or look for the funds and prioritize it over the other “more urgent” infrastructure projects in Luzon and Mindanao.

Through the combined forces of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Budget, and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), anything can still be possible, but probably not in the timeline of the present administration. 

 

-o0o-

 

“He knows too much!” We often hear this in debates and public fora. 

President Marcos Jr. "knew too much," his fans cheered when he recently delivered his Sona.

Many politicians and sales executives are impressive because "they know too much."

But nobody knows too much. Nobody ever yet knew enough. We cannot have too much knowledge, any more than we can have too much health.

What we really mean when we say a person knows too much is that he knows too little, and is too positive about it.

An ignorant man’s mind is just as full of ideas as a wise man’s mind. But his ideas are wrong. 

There are just as many plants growing in his garden as in the wise man’s garden, but they are weeds.

Enemies to knowledge are egotism, sensitiveness and pride. These things keep us from being teachable. They build a wall around us, so that knowledge cannot get in.

The surest way to get knowledge is not to advertise that we have it. About the wisest man that ever lived was Socrates, and he was fond of saying of himself that he knew nothing at all.

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