‘Marriage is still for man and woman only

“Gay marriage is absolutely something that I am in full support of and a big advocate of, and I think it's an important issue, but there's a reason that I don't talk about politics and why I'll never be in politics. I am not the person to ever do that.”

—Jamie-Lynn Sigler

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

POPE Francis stunned the Catholic world on December 18 by making a tweak to the Vatican policy concerning same-sex couples.

Catholic priests can now bless those couples if they request it. However, the Church stressed it is not changing its views on marriage and that it believes it is between one man and one woman.

The Rev. James Martin, a scholar, editor at large for the Jesuit magazine "America" and ABC News contributor, spoke with "Start Here" December 19 to discuss the new policy and how it changes the Catholic church's longtime stance against recognizing LGBTQ unions.

START HERE: What was this decision from the Vatican?

THE REV. JAMES MARTIN: It was a decision to allow priests and deacons and bishops to bless same-sex couples in certain situations. You couldn't make it seem like a marriage, of course, you couldn't kind of have it as a kind of liturgical rite.

But people who are in same-sex unions who have been married, legally, let's say they say, 'Come to the park and do a little blessing for us outside,' or, 'Come to our house in the backyard,' that's a big deal.

And look, I could not do that publicly before. I was not permitted to do that, and now I am. So it's a big shift. It's a big shift in the way the Church looks at same-sex couples.

START HERE: I'm curious what this means for the future of same-sex marriage in the Catholic church, because you just said like, obviously this wouldn't apply to marriage. But does this open a pathway to same-sex marriage among Catholics? Is that now part of the conversation?

 

-o0o-

MARTIN: Oh, meaning that the church says that a marriage is still for a man and a woman? So for people to be married in a church, or in a Catholic ceremony, you have to be a man and a woman. So that has not changed.

But before, you couldn't even bless same-sex couples. As I said, I would have a hard time showing up in a collar and, you know, at someone's garden party or barbecue or something even an informal blessing, that was a no-no.

So again, it's a big step forward.

And I've been hearing from LGBTQ Catholics all day yesterday and they were very excited. So the proof's in the pudding. They're very excited and really gratified by this, an early Christmas present for them.

START HERE: You're an American priest. Often when we have these conversations, some of the most critical voices of this Pope have been American bishops who think Pope Francis is too progressive, too out of line. Like this bishop- Joseph Strickland in Texas, on a podcast earlier this year called "Pints with Aquinas"...very openly critical of Francis before this guy was later forced out of the church.

JOESPH STRICKLAND, "PINTS WITH AQUINAS:" Living out the sexual relationship, it's a very narrow path. It's sort of the eye of the needle. It's for a man and a woman, only. Committed for life, open to children."

START HERE: So you've got this guy saying this pope is taking us down the wrong path. What is the response from American bishops? And will they just tell their priests, "You're not allowed to do this?"

 

-o0o-

 

MARTIN: I think it changes the conversation more around same-sex couples, and what does it mean. Before, just two years ago, when this question was posed to the Vatican, the response was, believe it or not, 'God cannot and does not bless sin.' So no, you may do this not at all, ever.

But in a declaration from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the kind of theological watchdog group, they set out a whole theology of what blessing was and said why we can do that.

And interestingly, the declaration did not say this depends on the local bishops' conferences. It said that it's up to the priests and ministers. There was a pretty muted response from the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, but really it opens the door for same-sex couples to go to their local priest and say, 'Would you mind coming by my house with my family and doing a blessing?' And now you can do it.

START HERE: Huh, so I mean, will you be planning on doing these blessings if someone asks you to bless their same-sex union, or would you take that on?

MARTIN: Absolutely. I mean, I've been waiting to do this for years. I couldn't do it and I; I think it's important to do these things with permission and not kind of step out of bounds too much, but the next couple that asks me, I'm happy to do it.

 

-o0o-

 

SHE'S NOT IMPRESSED. Tough guys don't wow women. A study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology shows that women find a man more appealing if he walks away from a jerk instead of responding aggressively.

BODY WEIGHT AND SEXUAL SATISFACTION. In a study of over 400 undergraduates, researchers at Florida Atlantic University found strong correlations among the students' levels of sexual satisfaction, self-consciousness about their bodies, and satisfaction with their bodies. Muscular guys were the most sexually satisfied; body weight was key for women.

O CANADA. International cooperation has come to a grocer near us: Thanks to the new agreement between the USDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, products certified organic in Canada can be sold in the U.S. without undergoing additional review--and vice versa. So, when we see foods bearing Canada's organic logo, we can trust that they met U.S. standards.

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

Grieving families

 

“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

― Rumi

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHILE most people in the Christian world are enjoying the Christmas holiday, some local friends and families that lost their loved ones in most recent tragedies and in various heinous crimes are grieving. 

For these unhappy families, Christmas is meaningless.

Some of them were families and friends of those who perished in the recent conflagration that killed three people in Brgy. Zone 3 Habog-Habog Salvacion, Molo, Iloilo City and the tragedy in Hamtic, Antique when a Ceres Liner bus fell into an 18-meter-deep ravine that killed 19 passengers, bus driver, and three bus workers.

Some of this year’s victims of heinous crimes were suspects in illegal drugs trade in Iloilo and Negros decapitated and murdered like animals. Some of them have remained missing, and the matter of their disappearance had the signature of summary execution. 

  

-o0o-

 

Attitudes about same-sex marriage vary widely around the world, according to several Pew Research Center surveys fielded in 32 places in the last two years. 

Among the surveyed publics, support for legal same-sex marriage is highest in Sweden, where 92 percent of adults favor it, and lowest in Nigeria, where only 2 percent back it, according to Sneha Gubbala, Jacob Poushter and Christine Huang of Pew Research Center.

In the United States, where the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationally in 2015, 63 percent of adults support it and 34 percent oppose it. But views are highly fractured along political and demographic lines.

For example, Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party are nearly twice as likely as Republicans and Republican leaners to support same-sex marriage rights (82 percent vs. 44 percent). 

Similarly, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans under the age of 40 say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally – 16 percentage points higher than the share of Americans 40 and older who agree (57 percent).

 

-o0o-

 

SEVEN STEPS TO FORGIVENESS: 1. Allow ourselves to feel anger 2. Let's talk about it with a trusted friend 3. Let's calm ourselves when we start feeling upset 4. Let's empathize with the person who hurt us 5. Remind ourselves that forgiveness is a gift to ourselves. 6. Let's commit to forgiveness 7. Let's relish the release.  (Source: Ginny Graves)

NOT GUILTY. That's the verdict on fertility drugs and the possibility that they increase woman's chances of developing ovarian cancer. Doctors had long worried that there might be such a link. But now Danish researchers have analyzed records of 54,362 women and found, over an average 16-year follow up, that those who took fertility drugs faced no greater risk of cancer.

HER NOSE AND HIS NOSE: Men may hope their cologne will mask underarm odor, but women aren't fooled, research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia found. While 6 of 32 scents tested disguised the smell of male BO from other men, none of the fragrances worked for women. To the showers, guys! (And don't forget the deodorant.)

LET'S EAT FISH: In a recent Swedish study of nearly 5,000 boys ages 15 to 18, those who ate fish frequently scored higher on intelligence tests. How much higher? Eating fish once a week was enough to boost scores by an average of 6 percent. Eating fish more than that resulted in nearly an 11 percent increase. Dr. Maria Aberg recommends fatty fish, like salmon, 2 to 3 times weekly.

HOW TO FIGHT TOO MUCH TEXTING: 1. Establish text-free zone. Kids often open up at the dinner table and in the car, so be sure to protect those precious places. Agree that texting is not allowed during mealtime or on drives to and from school and activities. 2. Let phones rest at night. 3. Be a role model.

LET'S BE THE SOLUTION TO STORMWATER POLLUTION. Let's remember always that only rain in the storm drain and pollutants can include yard waste, trash, pet waste and hazardous waste.

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

Hope springs eternal for Iloilo Airport repair

“There’s something magic about airports it’s like standing in a room with a thousand doors.”

― Atticus Poetry, The Truth About Magic

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE proposed expansion and rehabilitation of the Iloilo International Airport or Iloilo Airport is an infrastructure project the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. should prioritize and expedite.

The airport, located in Cabatuan, Iloilo, is a vital cog economically and politically.

The sooner it will be expanded and rehabilitated through the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, according to Department of Transportation (DOTr), the better for both the Ilonggos and the image of the Marcos administration. 

We are glad proponents of the expensive project decided to vigorously push for it even after the Iloilo Airport had been left out of the 2024 budget for DOTr’s infrastructure development based on the list released earlier this year by Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr., vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations.

The DOTr now sounds optimistic about the airport’s proposed expansion and rehabilitation. Hope, indeed, springs eternal. 

In 2028, when Mr. Marcos relinquishes the presidency due to constitutional limitation, he won’t find it hard to seek the help of the Ilonggos for the next president he wishes to support and endorse.

The Ilonggos, ever-a grateful people, would not forget that the 16-year-old Iloilo Airport underwent a major repair and improvement under the Marcos administration.

 

-o0o-

 

All the Marcos administration needed was a joint resolution from the Regional Development Council’s Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) and Economic Development Committee (EDC) urging DOTr and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to expedite the review of the unsolicited proposals (USP).

The Villar-led Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. (PAVI) has submitted a USPs in the amount of P6.89 billion and Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AIC) in the amount of P9.95 billion for the mammoth project.

They will now be up for evaluation by the Investment Coordination Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

 

-o0o-

 

IF WE'RE LOW ON SILVER POLISH, LET'S USE TOOTHPASTE: Plain, non-gel toothpaste (without additives like whiteners) can rid small silver pieces of light tarnish without damaging the surface. Moisten the silver piece; apply a bit of toothpaste to our finger. Rub gently and rinse, then buff with a soft cloth. (Source: Goodhousekeeping)

NO DISHWASHING LIQUID? Let's grab the laundry detergent. A teaspoonful of liquid laundry detergent in a basin of hot water will cut grease on dirty dishes equally well (though we may want to wear gloves, as detergent can be drying to hands).

SEXOMNIA is the term US scientists use for people who perform sexual activities unconsciously during sleep. The spectrum ranges from masturbation to sexual intercourse - in the event that that the sexsomnia patient comes across a partner. (Source: Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine).

NOT GUILTY. That's the verdict on fertility drugs and the possibility that they increase woman's chances of developing ovarian cancer. Doctors had long worried that there might be such a link. But now Danish researchers have analyzed records of 54,362 women and found, over an average 16-year follow up, that those who took fertility drugs faced no greater risk of cancer.

 

-o0o-

 

U.S. PASSPORT PROCESSING times have returned to pre-pandemic norm. As of December 18, 2023, passport applications will be processed within 6-8 weeks for routine service and 2-3 weeks for expedited service, which costs an additional $60. 

“With this update, we have fulfilled our commitment to return to benchmarks from March 2020,” reported the U.S. Department of State. “This reflects the work of dedicated employees working for the American people.”

In 1990, only five percent of Americans had a passport. Today, that number is 48 percent. More Americans can travel abroad now than at any time in our history. 

There are now over 160 million valid U.S. passports in circulation (nearly double the amount from 2007).

This past year, the Department experienced unprecedented demand for passports. 

Between October 2022 and September 2023 (the federal fiscal year), the Department of State issued over 24 million passport books and cards – the highest amount ever in our nation’s history.

“We have worked hard to modernize and improve the service we provide to the American people. We will continue to do so in 2024,” the US Department of State announced further.

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

 

Weak basic educational system produces weak, inept voters

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE weak basic educational system in the Philippines as shown in a 2022 global ranking of student performance in math, reading, and science, can be partly to blame why the country has a weak electorate, or voters who seemed hard-pressed to elect quality leaders during the elections.

“Our voters (in the Philippines) are slower in their capacity to choose the right or quality leaders,” observed Marlon Doronila, a US-based Ilonggo advocate of clean and efficient governance both in the Philippines and the United States.

Doronila, 67, who studied elementary school in Paco, Manila, said Filipino kids during his time were the No. 1 in Asia in terms of quality and substance in basic education because Engish was the medium of instruction then.

“When (the late former) President (Ferdinand Sr.) Marcos changed the medium of instruction to Tagalog, the quality of students in the basic education started to decline,” added Doronila.

UNESCO considers that “providing education in a child’s mother tongue is indeed a critical issue”. 

In Philippines, the learner’s first language should be the primary medium of instruction at least until grade three. In the secondary education, Filipino and English are primary medium of instruction, wrote Aldin Faith Portillas.

 

-o0o-

 

The Thomasites is a group of about five hundred pioneer American teachers sent by the U.S. government to the Philippines in August 1901.

The Thomasites arrived in the Philippines on August 12, 1901 to establish a new public school system, to teach basic education and to train Filipino teachers with English as the medium of instruction. However, the Thomasites expanded and improved the public school system, and switched to English as the medium of instruction.

According to a poll, which interviewed 1,200 Filipino adults last September commissioned by the Philippine Senate Basic Education Committee chaired by Win Gatchalian, only 4 in 10 or 38 percent of Filipinos claimed they prefer the use of local language as medium of instruction for Grades 1 to 3.

The survey reportedly found 88 percent agreed to use only Filipino or Tagalog in teaching, while 71 percent choose English.

Across major island groups and the National Capital Region (NCR), the Filipino language received the highest percentage in NCR at 97 percent, followed by 89 percent in Visayas, 87 percent in Mindanao, at 84 percent in Luzon.

Based on the respondents’ social class, the groups ABC (88 percent), D (90 percent), and E (70 percent) all preferred Filipino.

 

-o0o-

 

Learning begins with teachers, and empowered teachers and school heads are at the heart of genuine education reform. 

“It is not enough that our teachers just go along for the ride in our drive toward quality education. They must lead the way in preparing our children and young people for lifelong learning. But what are the medium of instruction that teacher must use in the teaching process?” Asked Portillas.

There is constant debate over which language should be use in educating Filipinos: English, Tagalog, or local dialects. 

The use of English for teaching math and science as well as English language and literature subjects has endured for many years; however, they said that Using English in public schools is a violation of the Philippine constitution. It also deteriorates the education system in the Philippines and puts the poorer students at a disadvantage. 

Requiring its use, schools ironically determine the students’ abilities to learn the language. 

 

-o0o-

 

The use of English alienates students from their cultural heritage, impairs their emotional security and self-worth, and results in inferiority complex among lower-class children who are stigmatized for using the native tongue. 

Despite a number of studies confirming that learning is faster using the native language, government officials are still pushing for the adoption of English as a medium on instruction (MOI) in Philippine schools.

The country’s weak basic education would eventually lead to a weak workforce and affect economic growth and global competitiveness, according to an advocacy group founded by the country’s top business leaders.

“The weaknesses in our basic education system will eventually translate into the weakness of our workforce, affecting the productivity and key source of our economic growth and competitiveness,” the Philippine Business for Education (PBED) said in a statement following the country’s poor showing in the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which the higher and basic education agencies plan to address by improving teacher training, among others.

Filipino students were still among the world’s weakest in math, reading, and science, according to the global assessment, with the country ranking 77th out of 81 countries and performing worse than the global average in all categories, according to a report by Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza of BusinessWorld.

 

-o0o-

 

I received an email from our bank, Capital One, warning me of these four new scams:

GRANDPARENTS SCAM. You receive a call or text message from someone impersonating a grandchild or loved one asking for money to help with an emergency and providing instructions on where to send the money.

These callers “spoof” the caller ID to make an incoming call appear to be coming from a trusted source.

Scammers can now use artificial intelligence technology to mimic the voices of loved ones and attempt to convince you they’re in distress.

CAPITAL ONE IMPERSONATION. You’re contacted by someone claiming to be from Capital One, or any other financial institution, regarding fraudulent activity on your account and asking you to transfer money or send a payment somewhere else. When in doubt, end all communication with the scammer and call the number listed on the back of your debit or credit card.

BUSINESS EMAIL COMPROMISE SCAM. You receive an email from a vendor requesting you to send money to a different account. The email looks legitimate, but it could be from a fraudster who got access to your vendor’s network.

GIFT CARD SCAM. A scammer tells you to buy a gift card, like a Google Play™ or Apple® Gift Card, and give them the numbers off the back of the card. No matter what they say, this is a scam.

No real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them.

“If you think you may have given a gift card to a scammer—no matter how long ago the scam happened—report it to the gift card company,” advised the Capital One.

The bank also gave me the following tips:

—Neither Capital One, nor any other financial institution, will ever ask you to make peer-to-peer payments for correcting any fraud activity.

—Never send money to anyone who claims your account is compromised or threatens to cut off your services.

When in doubt, end the call and connect with Capital One via legitimate sources using the numbers listed on the back of your debit or credit cards.

—Don’t use search engines to access the Capital One website. Always use capitalone.com or the Capital One Mobile app to sign into your accounts.

— Report any suspicious activity immediately.

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

Twitter and Graciano Lopez-Jaena

 

“You have to go where the story is to report on it. As a journalist, you're essentially running to things that other people are running away from.”

—Lester Holt

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

TWITTER more than any other social media platform shapes the stories that dominate our lives. In particular, one very powerful group of Twitter users is responsible for this—journalists.

That’s according to Michael Tauberg of Medium, who quoted X (formerly Twitter) boss Elon Musk as saying, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” 

News writers and other media figures were among the first to widely adopt the platform and they are the ones who take twitter information wars to the masses, according to Tauber. 

As renowned tech analyst Ben Thompson put it: “Most people don’t get their news off of Twitter; the places they get their news, though, are driven by Twitter”.

Had Graciano Lopez Jaena lived in this generation, he and many other post-colonial journalism heroes surely would have adopted the platforms of many contemporary journalists in the age of the social media. 

It would be a delight to “follow” a regular Lopez-Jaena tweet lambasting government graft and corruption, inefficiencies and incompetence, exposing the dolts in the military and police ranks, and blasting China’s misadventures in the West Philippine Sea.

But the son of Jaro, Iloilo City belonged in a different epoch where patriotism and the vow of poverty while performing a public service towered over subservience to colonial rule and material gains.    

 

-o0o-

 

More than a hundred years after his death of tuberculosis, many contemporary journalists lived a privileged life and in affluence, opposite to his sacrifices and heroism in a foreign land, where he wallowed in poverty before his 40th birthday.

Born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896, Lopez Jaena was not only an outstanding journalist, but was also an orator at par with the country’s and even Asia’s best.

As the first Ilustrado to arrive in Spain where he started the Propaganda Movement against our Spanish colonizers, Lopez Jaena became revolutionary when he formed a triumvirate with Dr. Jose Rizal and Marcel H. del Pilar.

But he became well known for his newspaper, La Solidarid.

Before he became an icon in the propaganda movement, Lopez Jaena was first sent by his parents to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor-General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.

In the seminary, he served as a secretary to Claudio Lopez, his uncle who was the honorary vice-consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

But he had ambition to become a physician. Lopez Jaena convinced his parents that he needed to enroll in a university in Manila.

He was denied admission at the University of Santo Tomas because he did not have a Bachelor of Arts degree when he was at the seminary in Jaro.

 

-o0o-

 

Lopez Jaena was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. He eventually dropped out due to financial difficulties and returned to Iloilo.

His assimilation with the poor ignited his feelings about the injustices common in that era. 

Lopez Jaena’s potentials as a reformer and writer became apparent at the age of 18 when he wrote the satirical story “Fray Botod” which depicted a fat and lecherous priest. Lopez Jaena ribbed Fray Botod’s false piety which “always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts were.”

The story was not published, but a copy circulated widely in Iloilo. The infuriated friars could not prove that Lopez Jaena was the author, thus he came off the hook, so to speak, temporarily.

The son of Jaro refused to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan town, thus he was pilloried.

He continued to agitate for justice. When he received threats on his life, he sailed to Spain in 1879, where he pursued the Propaganda Movement.

 

-o0o-

 

In the land of our colonizers, Lopez Jaena became a leading writer, propagandist, and speaker for reform of the homeland.

He finally pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish, thus incurring the ire of Rizal.

Lopez Jaena defended why he did not finish his medical studies by saying, “On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor’s cape.”

“The shoulders do not honor the doctor’s cape, but the doctor’s cape honors the shoulders,” Rizal intoned.

The national hero died of tuberculosis in poverty on January 20, 1896, 11 months short of his 40th birthday.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona the following day.

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s death followed on July 4. Rizal was killed on December 30 by firing squad in Bagumbayan.

Their deaths ended the great triumvirate of Filipino propagandists, but their works contributed to the liberation of their compatriots from the Spanish colony.

Lopez Jaena’s remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

We commemorate Lopez Jaena’s 167th anniversary on December 18, 2023, an official holiday in the entire island of Panay.

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

 

 

Netizes as watchdogs versus corrupt, abusers

 

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” 

—Che Guevara

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

ONE of our favorite philosophers, Ayn Rand, would have been amazed by the force and effectiveness of today’s netizens to influence and shape public opinion.

In this generation, many of them constitute the social media’s New Intellectuals, the most vigilant vanguards of the nation’s social, cultural, and political spectrum via the Internet.

No act of brutality, arrogance, malfeasance and demagoguery in the civilized society can escape the radar of amazing digital world.

A hailstorm of public censure and condemnation awaits those who possess the delusions of putting the law into their hands; those who think they are above the law and reason, owing to their power and influence, pelf and privileges for belonging in society’s higher social and political strata.

Gone were the days when publicly performed criminal acts and other forms of civil disobedience can be kept under wraps and the culprits getting away with impunity.

There’s always a big brother and sister watching: CCTVs and mobile phone cameras.

 

-o0o-

 

Meanwhile, objectivist Rand held that abstract ideas are man’s basic means of dealing with practical life.

She stressed that abstract ideas enable man to understand concrete issues, to evaluate them, and to act successfully to deal with them.

Rand further held that the problem with Western civilization was not that it was too intellectual, but that too many of its intellectuals accepted and propagated fundamentally wrong ideas.

Rand believed that what the world needs urgently are New Intellectuals.

As civilization marks this year the official end of the French Revolution on December 15, 1799, we begin the era of fighting graft and corruption, abuse of authority in military and government through a new wave: the social media.

We cannot afford today to give life to a modern Napoleon Bonaparte, the dictator who wanted to overrun Europe had it not been for his Waterloo defeat.

Politicians who want to overrun our treasury via pork barrel and other thinly veiled acts of plunder and graft and corruption, are the smaller versions of Napoleon.

The specter of graft and corruption in government today is the rallying point of public anger and disgust that transformed into a bloody revolt; the tipping point that brought down the monarchy and cut off King Louis XVI’s and Marie Antoinette’s heads in the revolutionary scaffolds.

 

-o0o-

 

Under the mantra of “Liberte, egalite, fraternity” (liberty, equality, fraternity), French society itself underwent a transformation as feudal, aristocratic, and religious privileges disappeared and old ideas about tradition and hierarchy were abruptly overthrown.

Even the President, after more than a year in office, has failed to send fears in the hearts of plunderers and curb the age-old graft and corruption.

The rich became richer; the poor became poorer.

Marie Antoinette wanted to give the French people with empty stomachs cake; our government has been giving us empty promises and empty treasury.

The wealth of the nation has been wasted.

Our leaders have abandoned the spirit that ignited the “Cry of Balintawak” or “Pugad Lawin” of the Katipuneros, and the “Cry of Sta. Barbara (Iloilo)”.

We give them our votes and confidence; they gave us shame and scandal via plunder and graft and corruption.

 

-o0o-

 

WHY WOMEN CRY MORE THAN MEN. According to Frey's research, girls don't start out as bawling champs--boy and girl babies cry equivalent amounts--but by the first or second grade, boys are beginning to cry less, probably in response to social pressure. Being called a crybaby is more likely to happen to a boy.

WHY WE CRY: Animals, like humans, may cry in pain, but we're apparently the only creatures who shed emotional tears--probably because they give us an evolutionary advantage, scientists say. They're an unmistakable SOS, asking the people around us to provide comfort and assistance. (Source: Goodhealth)

WHAT WOULD WE DO? It's late afternoon, and we need a pick-me up. Is it safe to microwave the cold coffee that's been sitting in the pot since we grabbed a cup at breakfast? 

ORGIES were originally religious events, being offerings to the gods. (Source: Apple News)

DIAPHRAGM. Cleopatra invented her own diaphragm from camel poop.

TOO MUCH TEXTING? In case we didn't get the message, texting has been the new talking. In fact, the average teen sends and receives about 2,900 texts per month in a 2009 data, according to the Nielsen Company. That's almost 100 messages a day. Some psychologists worry that over-texting may cause anxiety and sleep problems.

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

A Christmas propaganda

“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.” 

—George Carlin

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE apparent Christmas propaganda looks so effortless but has been swallowed by innocent children for centuries hook, line, and sinker.

It’s about “a fantasy peddled by generations of Christmas cards to divert attention away from what is, undoubtedly, the most spectacular research and development outfit this planet has ever seen,” Roger Highfield writes in the Physics of Christmas.

Apart from the occasional slip up with drunken reindeer, narrow chimneys, and blizzards, Santa manages to deliver millions of gifts on Christmas Eve, maintaining his smile and composure all the while, observes Highfield.

Santa’s support team: a few reindeer and a handful of diligent elves.

“I have good reason to believe that Santa has drawn on the benefits of centuries of inventions and insights generated by a scientific effort that would make the likes of Albert Einstein weep with admiration,” Highfield asserts.

Somewhere in the North Pole, or perhaps buried in a vast complex under Gemiler Island, original home of Saint Nicholas, the author theorizes “there must be an army of scientists experimenting with the latest in high-temperature materials, genetic computing technologies, and warped space-time geometries, all united by a single purpose: making millions of children happy each and every Christmas.”

 

-o0o-

 

“Put yourself in Santa’s boots,” Highfield suggests: “How does he know where children live and what gifts they want? How can he fly in any weather, circle the globe overnight, carry millions of pounds of cargo, and make silent rooftop landings with pinpoint accuracy?”

Some years ago, Spy magazine examined these issues in an article that has since proliferated across the Internet.

The piece concluded that Santa required 214,200 reindeer and, with his huge mass of presents, encountered “enormous air resistance, heating the reindeer up in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.”

In short, the article concluded, the reindeer “will burst into flame almost instantaneously, creating deafening sonic booms in their wake.”

The article continued: “The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity…If Santa ever did deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he’s dead now.”

The point is that Santa is now dead.

He delivers presents every Christmas Eve, as reliably as Rudolf’s nose is red.

And he overcomes the kinds of problems outlined above with the aid of out-of-this-world technology.

 

-o0o-

 

WHAT WOULD WE DO? We forgot and left the cooked rice on the counter after lunch. Is it OK to reheat it and serve it for dinner? 

WHAT WOULD WE DO? The milk in our refrigerator has a "sell by" date that passed three days ago. It smells OK; should we drink it?

BRIEF PRAYER. I haven't gone to church for a long time and so I offer this brief prayer today: "Light of the sun, splendor of fire, swiftness of wind, depth of the sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock. I rise today through the strength of heaven. Amen."

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. The founder of Syracuse, New York-based Blackworld has revealed on CNN that Tiger Woods was a victim of domestic violence. His Swedish wife allegedly once chased him in the middle of the night with a deadly weapon believe it or not.

‘NECKLACE.’ In Tasmania, widows are required to wear their dead husband's penis around their neck for a period of time after his death. A similar law is enforced in Gippsland, Australia. (Apple News)

DANGEROUS TOYS. Amazon, Walmart and Target have stopped selling water beads marketed toward children due to numerous safety concerns, CNN has reported. Water beads are tiny balls made out of extremely absorbent polymer material that can expand up to 100 times their size when exposed to liquid. Because they can grow inside the body once ingested, the beads can cause intestinal blockages and life-threatening injuries, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says. More than 145,000 emergency department-treated injuries last year were associated with toys for children 12 years and younger, according to a CPSC report. Scooters, balls, balloons and toys with small parts were involved in the majority of incidents.  

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