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