The Chill of Silence.

The silence is chilling. The body count is rising. Militants and journalists are being killed one at a time.

From a post in another anti-Arroyo blog:


You know why there is no national, and popular outrage for this killings? Because we
couldn’t care less for these militants who have done nothing but incite the people to rebellion no matter who sits in Malacanang. It’s disturbing that I found out for myself that many people that I know supported the idea of systematic liquidation of militants. Bayan Muna and other legal fronts of the CPP-NPA has done nothing but abuse and squander the democratic space accorded to them. Nakakatawa pakinggan (It's funny) because these people are anything but democratic. I should know, having been UP-bred, they brainwash people with their romanticized versions of revolutions. Hindi nila alam (They dont know) that people die, families get broken. How dare them call for human rights abuses and remain silent on the use of child warriors of the CPP-NPA, the extortion rackets of companies, and the murders committed by their parties. SAGUTIN NGA NINYO TO?! BAT TAHIMIK ANG BAYAN MUNA, etc, SA MGA KASAMAAN NG NPA??? (Answer this?! Why is Bayan Muna silent about NPA's atrocities??)I never voted for Gloria, but suffering under Gloria is infinitely better than suffering under the cabal of Communists, Political Opportunists and a league of Media na walang alam sa Etika ng tamang pamamahayag (Media that doesnt know Journalistic Ethics). NAKAKAHIYA ANG MEDIA SA PILIPINAS. (Philippine Media is shameful) Sa tingin nyo, pinaniniwalaan pa rin ng tao ang mga Obispo ng Simbahang Katoliko, kagaya ng mga punyetang pari na yan na nakikisawsaw sa pulitika? (Do you think, people still believe the Catholic Bishops, like those stupid priests who meddle in politics?)NOT ANYMORE. Kaming middle-class ang parating kawawa sa mga kagaguhan ng mga napaka-insensitive na mga leftists na habang nagrarali sila sa Ayala, pinaglalakad kami ng malayo para makapunta sa mga opisina namin. (We, the middle class, bears the brunt of your insensitive demonstrations in Ayala Avenue, when we have to walk far just to get to our work.)Pag nagkagulo, kami ang kawawa, kasi karamihan sa amin, no work, no pay. (If there's trouble, it's us who suffer, because most of us dont get paid when there's no work.) Hindi kagaya ng mga rallyista na yan na bayaran ng mga international donor organizations.(Not unlike those rallyists who are well-funded by international donor organizations.) Oo, hindi perpekto si Gloria. (Gloria is not perfect.) Ilagay na rin nating nandaya siya. (Let's even say she cheated during the last elections.)Bakit? Ang Bayan Muna ba hindi nakikisosyo sa mga NPA para sa Permit To Campaign nung huling eleksyon? Bat hindi imbestigahan yan? (Why? Didnt Bayan Muna conspired with the NPA for the illegal Permits to Campaign during last elections? Why it wasnt being investigated?) Ngayon nasan ang Media? Nasan ang Human Rights? Nasan ang mga punyetang pari? Nasan si Escudero??? WALA! (Where is the Media? Where is the Human Rights? Where are the priests? Where is Cong. Escudero??? Nowhere!!)It’s really irritating to see Imee Marcos and Crispin Beltran together on TV. Pati ang NPA, bayaran din ang mga hayup na yan. Kung magaling sila, eh di sana pinatay na nila si Imelda nun pa! (Even the NPA are paid hacks. If they are so good, why cant they assassinate Imelda Marcos?) Eh makita ko nga si Marcos sa Greenbelt, sarap na itulak o saksakin eh. Puro kayo pahirap. (I even saw Marcos in Greenbelt and I wanted to shove or stab her. All of you are just the same).Dagdagan nyo pa ng media na walang kakwenta kwenta.(Add a useless media). Why cant Bayan Muna with its extensive network instead promote job and wealth generation among the communities they supposedly serve instead of fomenting class conflicts? Kasi po, nasa ideolohiya na yan ng mga makakaliwa (Because it's all rooted in their ideology)- Educate (Brainwash)- Agitate (Rally) - Revolutionize. Kaya takot ang mga leftist na yan sa National ID kasi malalaman kung sino ang mga masamang loob. Imbes maging isang huwarang mamamayan, itutumba na lang kung sino nasa pwesto.( That's why, leftists are scared of the National ID, because people will know who are enemies of the state and of the people. Instead of being responsible citizens, all they do is overthrow the sitting government.

MAGISING NA KAYO! Hindi kami nagbabayad ng buwis para ialsa ang kilikili ng Bayan Muna, etc. (Wake Up!, We don't pay taxes to see the armpits of Bayan Muna).YOU ARE PAID TO LEGISLATE!Patuloy pa ring dadanak ang dugo at wag na kayong magtaka na wala pa ring pakialam sa inyo. Magalit na ang magalit sa post na to. Pero sana buksan nyo ang makikitid na kaisipan. Kung totoo kayo sa pagbabago at pag-unlad ng ating bansa, makinig kayo sa katahimikan ng totoong mayorya. Maawa kayo sa mga anak nyo at magiging apo nyo. (Blood will continue to spill, and dont even wonder why the people are apathetic to your cause. I don't care who gets angry with this post. Open your minds. If you want true and positive change and national progress, listen to the deafening silence of the real maority. Have mercy on your kids and your kids' kids.)

Love is Gonna Get You.

I have been trying to look for the video of this song, but apparently there isn't. It's the opening theme for Alicia Silverstone's new show "Miss Match". Sung by Macy Gray, ("I Try") , in her trademark oozing with honey vocals, and an upbeat and catchy tracking. According to the grapevine, Macy didn't release this song as part of any of her albums, and she recorded this solely for the show. I think the lyrics are pretty
sweet and almost very up to date with the current cosmopolitan, urban lifestyle that most of us lead. I'll post a video as soon as I get to be able to locate one. Cheers!


"Love Is Gonna Get You"
Macy Gray


I want too much to be with you
But I'm working night and day
I came all this way to see you
And you tell me you need space
Everyone I know is compatible with somebody I know
I can never get it right
And I don't know where to go
Stay away from me don't you ever leave me alone, NO

Love is gonna get you baby
Someday, one day, it will be
A good love that gets me
Love is gonna get ya baby
Someday, one day, I will find
Somebody for me

I have talked to all the experts,
all the psychics...I've loved
I have prayed for all the answers
To the game of love above
They all say it's unanimous
There's somebody for me
But none of them will tell me
When it is, where he might be
I want to be with you, I just won't to be alone.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah!

Love is gonna get you baby
Someday, one day, it will be
A good love that gets me
Love is gonna get ya baby
Someday, one day, I will find
Somebody for me

I believe in destiny
I believe it sets me free
Come and save me with your kiss
Been on my best behavior
Friends say I'm looking greater
Won't you, won't you, just save me with your kiss
Save me with your kiss
Won't you just save me with your kiss?

Love is gonna get you baby
Someday, one day, it will be
A good love that gets me
Love is gonna get you baby
Someday, one day, it will be
A good love that gets me
Love is gonna get ya baby
Someday, one day, I will find
Somebody for me

Running Low On Gas.

Last weekend almost reminded me that I'm getting older. Not that it's not too obvious, I look younger for my age. But the feeling of having done everything there is to be done but yet still is unaccomplished of anything. Friday kicked off like a sudden surge of adrenaline and a weird serotonin rush. I have at least successfully gathered 10 of my fellow partyphiles and closest friends and finally meeting the American model-actor for the first time (a bestfriend's date). We dawdled in Greenbelt for a few hours while people are trickling in one at a time like drops of sweat on my back this usual humid night of late May. Garage music ripped from Limewire played in the background while sipping our cocktails outside Masas. Checking out Temple Bar, with its throbbing pubescent, baller crowds. Not so our thing. After finishing the drinks, we headed off to chic M Cafe, but was a little frustrated with the too relaxed atmosphere. Not our place either. We needed our slam bang hard dance fix. So while Embassy is getting too "jologs" or in better word- campy for our taste, no one plays trance, hard dance and house tracks continuously in an airconditioned, chi-chi setting. So we stayed on the down low and chilled out at Cuisine instead and stayed until around 4 in the morning.

I promised myself to stay put on Saturday night. I don't even care if I miss the Chicane concert. I just wanted to curl in my bed, watch TV and hear the thunder in the distance and the steady rain pelting the corrugated iron sheets that serve as the defacto replacements for traditional nipa huts. But then again, my bestfriend wanted me to join her and her model-actor date in a dinner in our favorite Mediterranean restaurant. The dinner was a little stressed. To my fault, I should never brought up politics. He being a Republican (Is there anything worse than that?) with a very insular, isolationist, Rudyard Kipling-like view of the general world outside the United States, I was immediately underwhelmed (not to mention the dead fish handshake). He thought, most people in the Philippines still live in grass huts. The last time I checked, urban Filipinos outnumber their rural brethren, and very few now lived in grass huts. He pointed out the lack of technology (which is true in some cases but not generally). I was pretty disappointed and I was trying to steer him away from the now bad conversation, but he continued babbling about things. Oh well. It's both our faults really. Anyway, I respect my friend for her choices, she is old enough to handle it on her own. After dinner, 2 straight friends picked me up and went to Ortigas for a social but at the last minute, they changed the venue to Antipolo City so we headed there afterwards and almost got lost (having hit two dead ends while low on gas on an early morning) on our way back.

Sunday was better for me. Stayed home all day. And missed the sunday afternoon chill out with friends at M Cafe in Greenbelt. Oh well. I think it's time to limit my parties at one per week. Do you think I can handle it? Your answer is as good as mine. But I'll try.

Bush, Blair Says Sorry for Iraq War

Bush, Blair make Iraq war mea culpas

First posted 01:15pm (Mla time) May 26, 2006


WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair bluntly acknowledged that the Iraq war had been marked by "mistakes" and "missteps" but insisted that the world must support the new Baghdad government.
During an extraordinary 50-minute White House press conference Thursday, the political brothers-in-arms expressed distress at many aspects of the campaign which brought down Saddam Hussein but also undermined their own popularity.

Bush expressed regret for the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and some of his tough-talking comments.

Blair said the "de-Baathification" of Iraq -- the clearing out of Saddam followers -- had been badly handled.

There was none of the determined bravado that marked earlier press conferences after their regular meetings over the past three years.

"No question that the Iraq war has created a sense of consternation here in America," said Bush. "I mean, when you turn on your TV screens and see innocent people die day in and day out, it affects the mentality of our country."

"Not everythingsince liberation has turned out as the way we had expected or hoped. We've learned from our mistakes, adjusted our methods and have built on our successes," said the US president.

Bush said he should not have made gung-ho comments such as "bring 'em on" when referring to the insurgents in July 2003 as the attacks on US troops and Iraqi civilians mounted.

"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner," Bush declared.

Both Bush and Blair have seen their public standings collapse over the past year, in large part because of the war, but both insist they were right to order the March, 2003 invasion.

"The decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power was controversial. We did not find the weapons of mass destruction that we all believed were there, and that's raised questions about whether the sacrifice in Iraq has been worth it," Bush said.

"Despite setbacks and missteps, I strongly believe we did and are doing the right thing," he added.

Bush refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of the 135,000 US troops in Iraq, insisting "we will keep the force level there necessary to win."

With a majority of US public opinion now against the war, Bush said: "It's important for the American people to know that politics isn't going to make the decision as to the size of our force level."

The president said the world could not abandon Iraq. "Make no mistake about it: What you're seeing in Iraq could happen all over the world if we don't stand fast and achieve the objective."

Blair spoke of his optimism after a visit to Baghdad on Monday to meet the new Prime Minister Nur al-Maliki. He said he believed it would be possible for Iraqi forces to take over nearly all security duties by the end of 2007.

"I came away thinking that the challenge is still immense, but I also came away more certain than ever that we should rise to it," said Blair.

Blair also acknowledged errors, but insisted there should be no regrets. "I think it's easy to go back over mistakes that we may have made. But the biggest reason why Iraq has been difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us. And I don't think we should be surprised at that."

"I know the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was deeply divisive for the international community," said the prime minister, "and there's no point in rehearsing those arguments over and over again."

"I think that probably in retrospect, though at the time it was very difficult to argue this, we could have done de-Baathification in a more differentiated way than we did," said Blair.

Many analysts have said the wholesale exclusion of members of Saddam's Baath Party from leadership roles during the post-invasion occupation fuelled the insurgency.

Blair said there was too much of a tendency to see "every piece of ghastly carnage on our television screens, every tragic loss of our own forces" as "a setback and as a failure."

The international community should see it as a warning "for us to rise to the challenge of defeating these people who are committing this carnage," he declared.



So is that it? Just sorry because we bombed your poor country? Thank you and good day to the thousands of young soldiers who all died in vain? Sorry for raising the world's oil prices? Goodbye to all hostages killed in Iraq?

So You Had A Bad Day.

Daniel PowterBad Day

Bad Day

Where is the moment when we need it the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue sky's faded to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carrying on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carrying on

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carrying on

You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Sometimes the system goes on the blink and the whole thing it turns out
Wrong
You might not make it back and you know that you could be well oh that
Strong
Well I'm not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You see what you like
And how does it feel, one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

What Ever Happened to ULTRA Stampede?

February 4, 2006. The day more than 70 dreams were literally crushed outside a stadium in Pasig City, The Philippines, ten days before Valentines' Day, hearts wept. That morning I came back home with my mom, and our maid told us that there were people dead in Ultra, and initially we thought there was a bomb explosion. There was a power interruption that time and news was coming in sporadically from all directions. I sent a message to a Singaporean diplomat friend and confirmed the reports and that was the time we knew that a stampede occured at the ABS-CBN's Wowowee game show anniversary and there were heavy casualties, mostly elderly women who were crushed to death by the surge of humanity trying to get in the venue to earn a raffle ticket and maybe get the coveted prizes.

The recent stampede in Ultra is an indictment of our society - Firstly, a government who instead of providing employment and economic opportunities to Filipinos being engaged in economically injurious political strife and bickering. This divisiveness is lamentable when we can actually move on as one country and as one team to achieve these economic gains. An equally frustrating opposition that doesnt provide options and solutions but engage in political fishing expeditions that sought to polarize more a divided Filipino society. A heavily politicized military with an immense messiahnic complex. Secondly, ABS-CBN for encouraging a culture of mendicancy and promoting shows that encourage the excessive display of "charity". Good manners teach that you need not show the world your generosity. And of course, they are equally to blame for the poor crowd control at the event itself. 2-3 days before that, they already knew beforehand the swell of people coming, they should have sounded the alarm and stationed more security people at Ultra. Ultra's guards cant be faulted, his job is only to protect the premises not the participants which is a job of ABS-CBN. As a person who have done similar events before, I know. Sadly, the ABS-CBN through its news channels washes their hands off of the blame. Interestingly, I was at the Wowowee premier telecast last year as a guest of Willie. My friends were producing his comeback concert at the Metro Bar that time. And thirdly, the public. The Pinoy. They all wanted an easy buck, easy cash, easy way out. they dont care that they are actually walking over dead bodies, all they want is easy money. It is not poverty. It is indolence (katamaran) and lack of activating leadership and entrepreneurship. Lucio Tan, Gokongwei, Sy all started dirt poor and they clawed out of their way through hardwork. Nakakahiya. (Shameful). Even BBC and CNN noticed how thick-skinned our kababayans are with their lack of respect for the dead. After all, they said, the show must go on. Even after more than 70 people including a 4 year old kid was among the dead. That kid wanted to see Willie and become an artista. Tsk! Tsk!

Several months has passed, and like a TV show that fades from public memory, the local media has long forgotten the tragedy. Why, there are a lot more to cover - Charter Change, The Estrada Case, Aborted Non-coups, the Leyte Mudslides, and the Snake Journalism. And the silence is even more deafening from ABS-CBN. Wowowee went back to air, same formula- make some sob story, shed copious tears, and then people in the audience starts doling out money again. Like the more than 70 souls who perished, another tragedy has befallen the victims once again, it seems that justice has been forgotten and has lost the ratings game.

Archival Videos of Rumsfeld meeting with Saddam Hussein, and more Iraq Lies.

Archival footage of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein





Donald Rumsfeld caught lying by 27 year CIA veteran

Bush Flubs His Immigration Speech on Global TV

CNN prematurely aired President Bush false-starting his speech just before he was actually supposed to go live in his address to the nation on immigration.
CNN has issued a statement saying:
"The pool network mistakenly cued the President early. As the President began his remarks, CNN began carrying them. When the President was alerted to the miscue, he stopped speaking and CNN returned briefly to The Situation Room."
(Aired: 05-15-06).

So what's new. Everything was wrong with this administration. He dragged the US to war when he himself didnt go to Vietnam as well as fellow dodgee Donald Rumsfeld. They never both seen combat, so they never know the horrors of war. He tried to appoint to the Supreme Court a lady with no judicial background and trusted Vladimir Putin just by looking at the Russian leader's eye. What a doofus.

Sense and Sensibility.

On the day I was born, Guinee-Bissau Premier Vieira fires his President Luis Cabral, a Guamanian was crowned the 30th Miss World, and United States still in Cold War, performs nuclear testing at Nevada Test Site. Another One Bites the Dust by Queen and Rock with You by Michael Jackson are radio staples. A Democrat is the sitting US President and Robert de Niro won the Oscar's nod for his sterling performance as a boxer (move over Cinderalla Man) in Raging Bull and Charlie's Angels were on TV kicking butts.

Maybe I was born with drama. Older sister died on a mysterious plague killing infants in the small, 5th class municipality. Martial Law was still not yet lifted and people continue to talk in whispers. I grew up on staples of conversations about a recent NPA raid or a dead body was found in some places. I saw my first real-live gunfight on the street right across our apartment, with men chasing men, and for all the wrong reasons.

I would read and read and read, because I never had any real serious playmates, there was no cable TV yet, and most of the time I am locked up the apartment with my nanny. (And on one occasion, I almost slept with her at my tender age of around 5ish while my parents were away, the same nanny who once slapped me when I was being too rowdy.)I guess maybe that was one of the factors that made me averse to vaginas. It started a series of traumatic and unfortunate events.

Weekends are a breathe of fresh air for everyone. We would go to my grandparents' house by the beach, and my parents would leave me there overnight. Water, the rain, the beaches, and the pounding surf always have been a cure for me. It makes my mind calmer and more peaceful while I enjoy the sweetness of my solitude. They would find me usually alone sitting on the seawall, looking out to the ocean and take in the salty ocean air. Years later, I would return to the very same spot, this time with my ex, his head laying down on my lap, while looking at a perfectly moonlit sky, and its silvery shimmer on the placid sea below.

Here's Where I Stand.

This is a beautiful song from the movie-musical Camp.


Here's Where I Stand lyrics

[Tiffany Taylor]:(Cast)

Here in the Dark
I stand before you
This is my chance to show you my heart
This is the start, this is the start.

I have so much to say and I'm hoping
That your Arms are open
Don't turn away, don't you need me?
But you have to hear me.

Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
Love me, but don't tell me who I have to be
Here's who I am,
I'm what you see.

You said I had to change and I was trying
But my heart was lying
I'm not a child any longer
I am stroooongerrrr

Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
Help me, to move on but please don't tell me how
I'm on my way, I'm moving out


In this life we've come so far
but we're only who we are (who we are)
Courage of love (Courage of Love)
will show us the way (Show us the way)
Unlock the power
To stand up and saaaaa--aaaaayyy (Stand upppp)

(Up and say!)
Herreeeee's where I stand
Here's who I am
(Stand Up) I'll be counting, counting on you
If you're with me, we'll make it through

Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
Love me, Love me, Love me, and we'll make it through

Here's where I stand,
Baby, Baby, Baby, I'm counting on you

Here's where I stand
Love me, Love me, Love me, and we'll make it through

I'm counting, Oooh,
I'm counting,
I'm counting, I'm counting onn....
Yooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Tiffany adlibs throughout this part]

(Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
I'm counting on you)

(Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
We'll make it through)

(Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
I'm counting on you)

(Here's where I stand,
Here's who I am
We'll make it through)

(Repeat till fade)

Turbulence.

The plane taxied on the tarmac of Manila Domestic Airport, and as I peered outside the window to an overcast sky that seems to give off a feeling of dread, I have a feeling in my gut that I should have not come back. As the passengers came filing inside the terminal and headed to the only working conveyor belt to wait and pick up their luggages, I felt like a lost cattle in the huge, unfamiliar crowd. The flight was delayed for an hour and the humidity was suffocating.

I heaved off my huge backpack into my cousin's van and proceeded to perfunctorily greet everyone in a semi-daze. Manila is the city of our frustrations, and this day is not any day different amongst all the others-its festering slums and shantytowns our postmodern monument to our national angst and hopelessness.

I always loved to travel and I try to get away from it all every chance I can get. Filipino folk beliefs say that a mole on the sole of one's feet meant that that person will go places. I wonder what a mole on the tip of one's genitalia do.

Call me escapist, I call myself human. I refused to be a serf enslaved to a mindless monotonous tyranny of everyday living. I guess we are all travellers, because change is the most natural thing in the world. It is always nice to get away from it all, to meet new people, see new places, make new acquaintances and create temporary attachments, because for all we know this will be gone in the wink of an eye. A look at my childhood photos is always an emotional moment for me. These are the moments that I can never bring back. Some faces die, some fades away. Some places gone, some places crumble. To the extreme (in my point of view), one friend is fascinated with airports and travelling. I once received an SMS from him while he is aboard a train snaking its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa from Nairobi and while I didn't know that he was abroad, I called to invite him to a major sports event. And to his weirdest phone call ever, he was riding at the back of a truck barreling its way in the middle of a desert in Yemen. Today he was at the southernmost province of the Philippines- the Tawi-tawi archipelago.

I guess we are wayfarers all. We are all travellers, sometimes we get to our destinations, sometimes we dont. Others travel in a more blistering pace while others dawdled. And in the journeys we take makes the unbearable weight of our memories even heavier. And with that nagging, blunt pain, we simply trudge on, even when we are lost, we move blindly forward. Because these cursed emotions of hope give us the strength and the faith that everything, somehow, will turn out just fine.

World's Ten Most Corrupt Leaders

You gotta love the internet..makes our job faster! Check out Erap Estrada and his fellow crook Ferdinand Marcos.


Name Position Funds embezzled
1. Mohamed Suharto President of Indonesia (1967–1998) $15–35 billion
2. Ferdinand Marcos President of the Philippines (1972–1986) 5–10 billion
3. Mobutu Sese Seko President of Zaire (1965–1997) 5 billion
4. Sani Abacha President of Nigeria (1993–1998) 2–5 billion
5. Slobodan Milosevic President of Serbia/Yugoslavia (1989–2000) 1 billion
6. Jean-Claude Duvalier President of Haiti (1971–1986) 300–800 million
7. Alberto Fujimori President of Peru (1990–2000) 600 million
8. Pavlo Lazarenko Prime Minister of Ukraine (1996–1997) 114–200 million
9. Arnoldo Alemán President of Nicaragua (1997–2002) 100 million
10. Joseph Estrada President of the Philippines (1998–2001) 78–80 million

World's Ten Most Corrupt Leaders-
1. Defined as former political leaders who have been accused of embezzling the most funds from their countries over the past two decades.
2. All sums are estimates of alleged embezzlement and appear in U.S. dollars.

World's Worst Dictators, 2005

Name Country In Power Since
1. Omar al-Bashir Sudan 1989
2. Kim Jong Il North Korea 1994
3. Than Shwe Myanmar 1992
4. Hu Jintao China 2003
5. King Abdullah Saudi Arabia 2005
6. Muammar al-Qaddafi Libya 1969
7. Pervez Musharraf Pakistan 2001
8. Saparmurat Niyazov Turkmenistan 1990
9. Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe 1980
10. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Equatorial Guinea 1979

Prepared by David Wallechinsky for Parade after consultation with Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Reporters without Borders.

Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2004.

Freedom in the World, 2005

Since 1978, Freedom House has published Freedom in the World, an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world. Widely used by policy makers, journalists, and scholars, the 600-page survey is considered the definitive report on freedom around the globe. The 2005 ratings reflect global events from Dec. 1, 2003, through Nov. 30, 2004.

According to the survey, 89 countries are free. Their 2.8 billion inhabitants (44% of the world's population) enjoy a broad range of rights. Fifty-four countries representing 1.2 billion people (19%) are considered partly free. Political rights and civil liberties are more limited in these countries, in which corruption, dominant ruling parties, or, in some cases, ethnic or religious strife is often the norm. The survey finds that 49 countries are not free. The 2.4 billion inhabitants (37%) of these countries, nearly three-fifths of whom live in China, are denied most basic political rights and civil liberties. In 2004, Russia was the only country to register a negative category change, moving from partly free to not free.

The list below features only independent countries. Freedom House's separate listing of territories reveals that four territories received the lowest possible political rights rating: Chechnya (Russia), Kashmir (Pakistan), Tibet (China), and Western Sahara (Morocco); of those, Chechnya and Tibet also received the lowest possible civil liberties ratings.
FREE
* Ranking: 1
* Andorra
* Australia
* Austria
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belgium
* Canada
* Cape Verde
* Chile
* Costa Rica
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Dominica
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Italy
* Kiribati
* Liechtenstein
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Marshall Islands
* Mauritius
* Micronesia
* Nauru
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Palau
* Poland
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Tuvalu
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Uruguay
* Ranking: 1.5
* Belize
* Bulgaria
* Greece
* Grenada
* Japan
* Latvia
* Monaco
* Panama
* St. Kitts and Nevis
* St. Lucia
* St. Vincent and Grenadines
* South Africa
* South Korea
* Suriname
* Taiwan
* Ranking: 2
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Benin
* Botswana
* Croatia
* Dominican Republic
* Ghana
* Guyana
* Israel
* Lithuania
* Mali
* Mexico
* Mongolia
* Samoa
* Sao Tome and Principe
* Vanuatu
* Ranking: 2.5
* Brazil
* El Salvador
* India
* Jamaica
* Lesotho
* Namibia
* Peru
* Philippines
* Romania
* Senegal
* Serbia and Montenegro
* Thailand

PARTLY FREE
* Ranking: 3
* Albania
* Bolivia
* East Timor
* Ecuador
* Honduras
* Kenya
* Macedonia
* Madagascar
* Nicaragua
* Niger
* Papua New Guinea
* Paraguay
* Seychelles
* Solomon Islands
* Sri Lanka
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Turkey
* Ranking: 3.5
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Fiji
* Georgia
* Indonesia
* Moldova
* Mozambique
* Sierra Leone
* Tanzania
* Ukraine
* Venezuela
* Ranking: 4
* Bangladesh
* Colombia
* Comoros
* The Gambia
* Guatemala
* Guinea-Bissau
* Malawi
* Malaysia
* Nigeria
* Tonga
* Zambia
* Ranking: 4.5
* Armenia
* Burkina Faso
* Congo, Rep. of
* Gabon
* Jordan
* Kuwait
* Liberia
* Morocco
* Singapore
* Uganda
* Ranking: 5
* Bahrain
* Burundi
* Djibouti
* Ethiopia
* Nepal
* Yemen

NOT FREE
* Ranking: 5.5
* Afghanistan
* Algeria
* Angola
* Azerbaijan
* Bhutan
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Egypt
* Guinea
* Kazakhstan
* Lebanon
* Maldives
* Mauritania
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Qatar
* Russia
* Rwanda
* Tajikistan
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Ranking: 6
* Cameroon
* Congo, Dem. Rep. of
* Cote d'Ivoire
* Iran
* Iraq
* Swaziland
* United Arab Emirates
* Ranking: 6.5
* Belarus
* China
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Haiti
* Laos
* Somalia
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam
* Zimbabwe
* Ranking: 7
* Cuba
* Libya
* Myanmar (Burma)
* North Korea
* Saudi Arabia
* Sudan
* Syria
* Turkmenistan

1. Countries are ranked according to political rights and civil liberties on a scale from 1.0 (most free) to 7.0 (least free). Source: Freedom in the World, 2005, published by Freedom House. www.freedomhouse.org/research/survey2005.htm .

Global Trends in Freedom

Year Free Partly Free Free
1974 41 (27%) 48 (32%) 63 (41%)
1984 53 (32%) 59 (35%) 55 (33%)
1994 76 (40%) 61 (32%) 54 (28%)
2004 89 (46%) 54 (28%) 49 (26%)
Source: Freedom in the World, an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world, published by Freedom House. www.freedomhouse.org/research/survey2005.htm .

Information Please® Database, © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.


The Failed States Index

FOREIGN POLICY and the Fund for Peace have ranked troubled countries that are in danger of collapse. The countries are ranked according to twelve social, economic, political, and military indicators, including economic decline and inequality, demographic pressures, war, and corruption. A failed state is defined as “one in which the government does not have effective control of its territory, is not perceived as legitimate by a significant portion of its population, does not provide domestic security or basic public services to its citizens, and lacks a monopoly on the use of force.” The indexes countries at risk, not countries that have already failed. Below are the top 20 most vulnerable countries.

* 1. Sudan ( Darfur/ Janjaweed Issues/ State Sponsored Terrorism)
* 2. Dem. Rep. of the Congo
* 3. Côte D'Ivoire
* 4. Iraq (Under US Occupation)
* 5. Zimbabwe
* 6. Chad
* 7. Somalia
* 8. Haiti
* 9. Pakistan (Under military dictatorship sponsored by the US)
* 10. Afghanistan (Under US control)
* 11. Guinea
* 12. Liberia (Recently elected the First Woman President in Africa)
* 13. Central African Rep.
* 14. North Korea
* 15. Burundi
* 16. Yemen
* 17. Sierra Leone
* 18. Myanmar (Aung San Suu Kyi, still in house arrest, passed over ASEAN chairmanship due to pressure from other members, EU and the US)
* 19. Bangladesh
* 20. Nepal (Under civil unrest, King Gyanendra still effectively control the state, Maoist attacks and figure prominently in recent protests)

Source: The Fund for Peace www.fundforpeace.org , 2006.

Blame Canada!

Oh my...

Filipino table etiquette punished at local school
Lunch monitor tells student his eating habits are ‘disgusting’

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD



The Chronicle



A Roxboro woman has filed a formal complaint with a local school board after her son was disciplined by a lunch program monitor at Ecole Lalande for eating in what she says is a customary Filipino manner.



Luc Cagadoc’s table behaviour is traditionally Filipino; he fills his spoon by pushing the food on his plate with a fork, his mother, Maria Theresa Gallardo, says.



But after being punished by his school’s lunch program monitor more than 10 times this year for his mealtime conduct — including his technique — the seven-year-old told Gallardo said last week that he was too embarrassed to eat his dinner.



“Mommy, I don’t want to eat anymore,” Gallardo says Luc told her at the kitchen table April 11. “My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting.”



When he eats with both a spoon and fork, instead of only one utensil, the Grade 2



student said the lunch monitor moves him to a table to sit by himself.



Upset over Luc’s story, Gallardo confronted the lunchtime caregiver the next day and on April 13, she telephoned the school’s principal, Normand Bergeron. His reaction brought her to tears, she says. “His response was shocking to me,” Gallardo, who moved to Montreal from the Philippines in 1999, told The Chronicle. “He said, ‘Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.’



“I find it very prejudiced and it’s racist. He’s supposed to be acting like a professional. This is supposed to be a free country with free expressions of culture and religion. This is how we eat; we eat with a fork and spoon.”



Luc’s father, Aldrin Cagadoc, was also surprised by the comment. “I can’t believe even the principal would say that,” he said. “A person of that calibre, I wouldn’t expect him to say that.”



Gallardo, who operates a day care out of her Roxboro home and is close to completing her studies in early childhood education, wrote a letter last week and lodged a formal complaint to the Commission scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys (CSMB) yesterday.



She disagrees with the lunch monitor’s approach to teaching children how to eat and says it is emotionally abusive to Luc. When she questioned Bergeron about punishing students for their table habits, she says he replied that, “If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time.”



But Bergeron says it was Luc’s eating technique combined with his behaviour at the table that was inappropriate that day, which is why he was moved. “Luc can be turbulent,” he said yesterday. “Like other children, he is frequently in situations where we have to intervene. It’s normal, he’s a child. He is in a period of learning.”



The principal of the 387-student Roxboro school said he explained his position on using two utensils to Gallardo during their telephone conversation. “I said, ‘Here, this is not the manner in which we eat.’



“I don’t necessarily want students to eat with one hand or with only one instrument, I want them to eat intelligently at the table,” he said. “I want them to eat correctly with respect for others who are eating with them. That’s all I ask. Personally, I don’t have any problems with it, but it is not the way you see people eat every day. I have never seen somebody eat with a spoon and a fork at the same time.”



CSMB spokesman Brigitte Gauvreau says the board will not comment — due to confidentiality procedures — until Gallardo’s complaint is filed and she makes a public statement.
---------------------


From West Island Chronicle:
http://www.westislandchronicle.com/pages/article.php?noArticle=6063

The Politics of No and the Deodorant Commercial Models

(Images: 1) The deodorant models. Imagine Imee Marcos whose Daddy waged a nasty war against the communist at the backing of the United States raising fists alonsgide with her mortal enemy, Satur Ocampo. It is so sick. 2)One of the cash coupons found in Ayala Avenue, Makati City during an Anti-Arroyo rally staged by the opposition. This confirms the systematic and well-funded effort to destablize the government. 300 Pesos are paid each person to crowds usually gathered from the slums of Makati.)

Finally, the Batasan 5 left the protective custody of the Philippine Congress after rebellion charges were dropped by the Makati RTC. Strangely, for a militant leader, the five was too cowardly to face arrest and jail time; instead they hid under the skirt of democracy, the very same space that these flimsy-veiled Communists always wanted to overthrow in the history of their so-called ‘struggle’. Give us a break, these political parties – Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela and other militant groups who you can always count on to scream “NO to (fill in the blanks)” and Anti-“This or That” and “(name of the seated Philippine President)/US regime” tirade in every street demonstrations there is available. Punching the air with their clenched fist that reminds us with deodorant commercials (only with unsavory looking Communist hags and cadres), an anachronistic defiance of every thing that is not connected to their own anti-establishment, pro-Communist agenda, these are the same groups that receive (and up still is unaccountable) the much-vilified Countrywide Development Fund or simply Pork Barrel.

Of course, these militant groups have a finger in everything, like the consummate politicians and demagogues they are. At the University of the Philippines, the premier state-run school of higher learning, these very same groups have penetrated and manipulated student politics, making sure they have control in the major student publications, in student councils and usually representations to the Board of Regents. During the Estrada years, under the recommendation of KASAMA sa UP, the largest and loose dictatorial association of student councils in the university- composed mostly of left-leaning and sympathizers of the Reds, Hannah Serrana of UP Cebu College was appointed as the Student Regent. Before her term expired, she was found out having embezzled millions of pesos of funds that was supposed to be used in constructing an alumni hall in UP Diliman. Until now, she and her family was nowhere to be found. Prior to Serrana, her compatriot Desiree Jaranilla of UP Miagao also sat on the Board of Regents as the student representative but her left-leaning tendencies and incompetence earned her a pariah status even in her home campus. Although UP Iloilo like UP Manila has been more centrist traditionally than other campuses, sympathizers in UP Iloilo have dwindled in the past 10-15 years, with left-leaning student council candidates are junked in favor of a more centrist student leadership.

On the international front, the Terrorist Group tag by EU and Washington given on the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, is well-justified. Aside from the several extortion rackets, gun smuggling, attacks on telecommunications facilities and transportation, encouraging child warriors and other nefarious activities, a Time report in May 13, 2002 (Return to Year Zero by Alex Perry) confirmed the support and the meeting of Filipino Communist guerrillas with their Nepalese counterparts in Kathmandu in 1999 along with Indians and Bangladeshis and “resolved to turn the kingdom into a laboratory for various revolutionary game plans,” which basically making Nepal and the Nepalese people virtual guinea pigs in the communist social experiments. No wonder, communist cadre Roger Rosal recently praised the communist agitations in Kathmandu recently. What the local media failed to take notice is that the Communists in Nepal is as much hated by its people as the authoritarian monarchy of King Gyanendra who ascended to power when the Crown Prince massacred his entire family. As the Time report tagline correctly says “Nepal’s Maoist rebels are murdering, beating, bombing and looting- all in the name of “protecting the people””. So familiar. According to the Kashmir Telegraph, the Maoist communist Revolutionaries from Peru (the lethal Sendero Luminoso), Philippines and India (Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar) are linked with the Revolutionary Internationalists Movement (RIM) of Nepal, which is preparing the ground for the ultimate coming together of the Communist Revolutionaries throughout the world. Sounds sinister? The communist movement in Nepal has killed thousands of people in its protracted struggle to topple the establishment. Very much like in the Philippines and in Peru.

As usual with the Batasan 5 out of their rat holes, expect more noise in Manila. Or maybe in Ayala. Ask Jejomar Binay (You have got to hand it to the man, I am expecting he will single-handedly bring down the recent stock market gains by his Ayala jaunts). Makati taxpayers are shouldering the cost of the usual paid crowds in the stretch of Ayala.

Meanwhile, count that the Commission of Human Rights will always be siding with this troublemakers everytime they are dispersed in demonstrations. I always wondered whose side is the CHR is on. When a police or a soldier is murdered or a common person is inconvenienced by these stupid demonstrations or a legit company victimized by these Communists, criminals, demagogues, bandits, terrorists and troublemakers, the CHR's reaction is strangely muted but when these people cry oppression everytime the law put its foot down, CHR is quick to howl violation of Human Rights. For crying out loud. what is this double-standard application?