Blow My Whistle

Today, I saw something strange on TV. The so called "whistle-blowers", stool pigeons who want to spill the beans on the pork barrel scam, were celebrating mass on TV. Apparently, that's super important. It seems like the usual theatrics to me.

I just thought it was odd. Why do we always have to drag God into every big thing that happens in our country? I'm sure the big guy upstairs has more pressing concerns. By the way, didn't anybody think it was, I dunno, a little dangerous having all those people in the same room?

Considering what they're up against, I guess a little prayer wouldn't hurt.

Howling Fjord Music

Sometimes I do miss playing World of Warcraft.

Going Rambo in Zambo

Today, government forces and the Moro National Liberation Front clashed in Zamboanga City. People are dead and the city has been shut down. As if the country didn't have enough problems. Nothing like a reminder that our entire way of life can descend into chaos in a matter of minutes, some parts of the country anyway.

Truth be told, I don't know much about the shit that happens in the South. All I know is that I'm happy I don't live there. It's all pretty boring stuff. My interest lies in the workings of government and it's hard to do that when there's no government to look at. The situation in Mindanao is this: everyone wants a piece of the pie.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the other Muslim rebel group, denounced the attack as a desperate move by the MNLF. Maybe the MNLF were just envious that they didn't get as much concessions as the MILF. But it's pretty hypocritical of the MILF to denounce the attack as inimical to the interests of the "moro" people given the fact that the MILF have dubious authority to represent the people. It's not as if anyone elected these jokers. I'm sick and tired of all these alphabet soup groups.

This is what happens when you negotiate with terrorists.  They get emboldened and go on in the delusion that they speak for all the people.

They're not gonna drop their guns and embrace peace no matter what the president thinks.

With Great Power

You know what ticks me off?

About the pork barrel scandal, you get jackasses like Senator Drilon who insist that giving out money is the duty of an elected representative. Otherwise, he says, without the pork barrel,we should just abolish congress altogether. 

Good grief.

He says it like that's a bad thing. Anyway, assuming that we continue the pork barrel as is, does this mean that our lawmakers are gonna be more careful with how they spend the people's money? Not so says Senator Estrada. According to that buffoon, it's not the responsibility of the Senator to verify the NGO involved! Well, how about that!? Senator Enrile apparently agrees with him on this assessment. And I thought Enrile was supposed to be the "smart" one.

What this boils down to is quite simple. Our representathieves just want all the money and power, insisting that it's absolutely necessary to their jobs but at the same time want none of the actual responsibility when it all goes to hell. What two-faced, good-for-nothing parasites.

Sometimes, I wonder if people will ever tire of suffering these idiots.

Child Stars

There's this little girl on TV. What's impressive about this little girl is that she has her very own show called, "The Ryzza Mae Show". The little girl is the titular host of the show and she invites celebrities over or something. What a little girl could possibly ask that would be of great interest or importance is beyond me. The show is popular and a lot of fans comment on how well-mannered and cute the little girl is. Indeed, she's a plump little tot who fills the stereotypical idea of the "precocious youngster" quite well.

 Yet, something feels wrong about it. I think it's just me because society doesn't seem to find anything wrong with it. The show still exists doesn't it?

 I don't buy into the show's premise that this is a little girl who's wise beyond her years. Children are children and children are stupid. They don't know what they're doing. They can be manipulated and used and often are. It has been my personal observation that Philippine society isn't kind to its children. I've seen parents teach their street children to steal. Little kids are made to dance and sing to "amuse" their relatives. They're taught at an early age to be subservient little tools who know their place.  Children are just there to look cute and obey.

I feel like the show is exploitative. Maybe I'm just a killjoy who doesn't get it but history has shown us that show business isn't very good for a child star. 

One day, they're angels and next thing you know, they're grinding and "twerking" in some garbage awards show.

Cute As A Bug

I would have slept earlier yesterday if I hadn't seen this very interesting documentary on the BBC channel about German automobiles.

You gotta hand it to the Germans, their industries are probably the best in the world. German brands are always top notch. Look at Europe right now and the Euro crisis. Even when Germany doesn't even mean to, they dominate Europe. Why even war in the first place if you can just roll over them with economic power.

But back to automobiles. My grandpa used to own four ( I think) old Volkswagen beetles in different colors. I had many fond memories of those vehicles. Even now, I can still remember the distinctive chugging of the engines, the silhouette as it drove over the slope of Mango Avenue, the feel of the seats, the heat of the interior and the bright blue star painted on the hood. What ever happened to those cars?

I wish we had kept at least one beetle. 

Ten Minutes

 

They got her.

No wait, they didn't. She surrendered to the President who then had a little chat with her for ten minutes and personally brought her to Camp Crame. Yes, the President of the Philippines personally escorted the suspected mastermind of the pork-barrel scandal. El Presidente even rode the lead car, which is the most dangerous position in a convoy! Who's the boss here?

There's a lot of hubbub in the social media networks. A lot of people are yelling about Janet receiving special treatment or that the President could have made a "secret deal" with her on who to spill the beans on and who to protect. It does seem suspicious. A lot can happen in ten minutes...

Here's my take. What I think happened was, Janet approached the President out of fear of her safety because there's a lot of lawmakers who have no qualms about giving the old deep six to the odd blabbermouth or two. In an effort to look like he's taking charge, Dear Leader jumped at the chance and perhaps imagined himself as a Caesar in his triumph with the reviled enemy as a prisoner in tow. But being inexperienced at taking charge of things and not blaming others, El Presidente instead, only managed to look servile and the whole thing raised more questions. What did they talk about in those ten minutes? Your guess is as good as mine.

The President should know by now that this is the social media age. The vocal "anti-pork" groups are beasts that lurk on Twitter and Facebook. Therefore, they are not so easily swayed by the excuses of his spokespersons or his lackeys in the media. If it looks suspicious, hell will be raised. You can't wrestle the narrative man, it's not like the old days. This whole mythology of The President as the son of heroes with a glorious legacy won't hold, at least, not on people with enough brains to use a computer. The poor maybe, but remember, his enemy right now are the social media kiddies and some of them are quite competent.

What remains to be seen is if the social media crowd can translate their movement into something concrete like a party or voting bloc. Anger isn't enough. That anger must be transformed into a tangible thing; voting power.

As for Janet, well... due process, etc., etc., all that crap.