Nope folks, those are real dead people. This is not a scene from a Rambo Movie
Filipinos are used to seeing brains splattered across the pavement during election time. Election period is every gun smuggler’s, hit man’s and corrupt politician’s candyland; for guns, goons and gold are very much in circulation this time of the year. Thus a politician receiving a bullet through the head or getting whacked by an ax is not really something to whine about. An election period without election related violence in the 7,107 islands is like October fest without the booze.
But the recent Ampatuan massacre that claimed 57 lives (including 30 journalists and 20 plus women who were also reported to be raped and shot in the genitals) deserves no less than two dirty fingers and the perpetrators should be, by popular demand, hanged through their tonsils and left to rot under the sun. It is a vicious and tasteless attack that adds another entry to our country in the Guinness book of world records (Damn! I thought we were aiming for the biggest apple pie in the world?).
So to the citizens of beautiful planet earth, you now have been introduced to how things are done in this country, watch an episode of the Sopranos and it perfectly details how our politicians behave. Our mayors-turned-warlords or vice versa makes Rambo look like a sissy girl when it comes to the number of body bags they are able to produce. The “say hello to my lil’ friend” scene of Scarface, with a machine gun wielding Al Pacino would look like a love scene when compared to the onslaught our corrupt local heads could inflict to anyone who dares stand against them. Yes our political landscape looks similar to Grand Theft Auto 4 in the hands of a ten year old boy killing civilians in the most creative ways possible. Mad Max ain’t got nothing on our homeboys (by homeboys I mean overfed political clans) who act like kings and execute like the Bloods and Crips to defend their home turf.
Warlordism is the name of the game in our country; we just call it democracy to avoid international fuss. So until anything is done to stop this backward practice, mind as well bring your shotgun the next time you try to run for public office.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signing the Coral Triangle Initiative Summit in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Friday, May 15, 2009. Coral Triangle Initiative is a grouping of six Asian countries comprising one of the world’s richest marine areas.
MANILA, Philippines – Global investment bank Goldman Sachs said the Philippines performed better than most of the next 11 emerging economies (N-11) during the global crisis.
“Within the N-11, Indonesia and the Philippines have positively surprised,” Goldman Sachs said in its latest Global Economics Paper.
The N-11 and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are 2 terms coined by Goldman Sachs several years ago. The investment bank considers the BRIC as the fastest-growing developing economies, and the N-11 as the ones “worth keeping an eye on” outside of the BRIC.
After the Irish “yes” to Lisbon Treaty, European capitals were swept with speculations as to who would get the top job that Lisbon would create. Think Tanks across the Union worked double time to put forward necessary policy proposals aiming to strengthen the Union. At first ears around the world perked up to hear who would possibly get what is perceived as President of Europe post as the name Tony Blair was uttered across the world’s capitals. Pundits and commentators gave their takes, usually having strong positions (whether pro or con) regarding Blair and his European credentials.
On May 30 in New York, Blair formally unveiled The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which, among other things, is dedicated to proving that collaboration among those of different religious faiths can help address some of the world’s most pressing social problems.
The riddle of man’s relation with God (or a creator) — or even absence of — has found many different expressions. It has evoked many brilliant answers and how we feel about them is largely dependent on our private belief as to just which answer our own peculiar spiritual needs. There was a point in our shared histories when religion — and faith — was openly criticized, a point in time when everything was open for debate and discussion. That period saw the birth of progress at a rate previously unknown. It also lead to the market mechanism and capitalism, the scientific method, religious tolerance, and the organization of states into self-governing republics through democratic means. One by one, these products of that period seem to be failing but it does not mean that they are failing for what they are. Back in Davos Tony Blair was quite right in saying that “[w]e’ve been taught a very old lesson, which is that values matter.” We have forgotten the values that gave birth to these: freedom and a contractual basis of rights.
Paul Larudee (right) of the International Solidarity Movement and his fellow anti-Israel activists announcing that they were going to repeat their attempt to sail a ship from Cyprus to Gaza during wartime. Gaza War Protest and Anti-Israel Rally. San Francisco, January 10, 2009
If you put aside the United States, the Czech Presidency of the European Union – which expressed the view on Saturday, January 3 that the Israeli operation was ‘defensive’ and not ‘offensive’ – as well as several politicians and media who are isolated and not in tune with the rest, Israel has been again, for the past dozen days or so, subjected to rapid fire criticisms, each more virulent than the others.
Whoever steps into Europe’s new top job as President of the European Council will set the mold. If it is someone of worldwide renown, the presidency will immediately be established as a post of global importance. But if its first occupant is not a household name, the presidency will be doomed as just another of the European Union’s confusing plethora of worthy senior positions that are neither valued nor understood outside Brussels.
The key point here is that Europe won’t be able to upgrade the job later. If the presidency goes to a politician who lacks fame and charisma, its place will forever be low down in the international pecking order.
In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or eduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.” But who cares about the past? After all, what can the dead do?
On this one, I’d like to try Niel the Satirical’s approach. Yes, I am resorting to dark humor and mockery. It’s that bad.
I believe in the Nobel Peace Prize. I believe that the time is near when we will have a world free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. I believe that we will much sooner be living in prosperity in Pluto.
I am happy that Barack Obama won the Neville Appease Prize — er, I meant Nobel Peace Prize. Ecstatic even. This has enhanced my belief that the Nobel Peace Prize is an award of huge significance, awarded after only the deepest reflection, and won only by demi-Gods.
After the Irish’s resounding yes to the Lisbon Treaty, all eyes are now on Europe. Once the Treaty is fully ratified, the Leaders of EU’s 27 States will sit down for a vote that would define the future of the union — and even possibly the international political arena — for at least the next decade. The first president will set a precedent not only in terms of how the job would be defined but also on how the world will view the an EU Council President, a position whose importance (if nothing else) is having the ears of the leaders (and even possibly influence over) 27 member states of the union. And seen as the President of Europe around the world, it could be so much more.
So are you telling me we have to reprint all these shirts???
We Filipinos are very sentimental people. We see to it that we lessen our garbage production by attaching a lot of emotions to our meager possessions. We keep shirts which are too small to fit because it was given to us by someone special, we don’t use that antique china collection our grandmother has because it bears the history of our own kindred and we go way extreme when we refuse to shred receipts from expensive dinners just to remind us of that very special day which we skipped a lot of meals for (talk about a million pesos for a night out which we are not even invited to). So it is safe to say that when one of our national icons would be altered, Juan dela Cruz would take out his bolo and march angrily to the streets making sure that heads will roll before they touch our sacred symbols.
Protest at Tehran University on December 9, 2007. Photo by ISNA.
TEHRAN. Iran is set to Islamize humanities studies in universities after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei charged that Western teachings make students question religion, state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.
“The Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies was tasked by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council to revise the human sciences curriculum,” the agency said.
“In our country a large part of the syllabus… is not in line with our Iranian-Islamic culture. This calls for a revision,” said institute head Hamid Reza Ayatollahi.
He said the body would revise the syllabus “based on the supreme leader’s recommendations.”
November 13, 2009 • 6:20 pm 4
[Commentary] EU: We want a President; World: Oh, were you talking to us?
by Caela
After the Irish “yes” to Lisbon Treaty, European capitals were swept with speculations as to who would get the top job that Lisbon would create. Think Tanks across the Union worked double time to put forward necessary policy proposals aiming to strengthen the Union. At first ears around the world perked up to hear who would possibly get what is perceived as President of Europe post as the name Tony Blair was uttered across the world’s capitals. Pundits and commentators gave their takes, usually having strong positions (whether pro or con) regarding Blair and his European credentials.
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Filed under: Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Politics , Chinese President Hu Jintao, Commentary, European Union, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of the European Council, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, US President Barack Obama