Kaus: First Time The MSM Has Ever Ignored Warren Buffett

Mickey Kaus: The press accounts I've read have wildly underplayed Obama supporter Warren Buffet's criticism of the President on CNBC today. It's fairly pointed, and Buffett comes back to it, suggesting he has a message he's trying to deliver. [E.A.]:

BUFFETT: ...And, Joe, it--if you're in a war, and we really are on an economic war, there's a obligation to the majority to behave in ways that don't go around inflaming the minority. If on December 8th when--maybe it's December 7th, when Roosevelt convened Congress to have a vote on the war, he didn't say, `I'm throwing in about 10 of my pet projects ... [snip] ...

JOE: Yeah, but you might--might not have fixed...

BUFFETT: But I say...

JOE: You might not--you might not have fixed global warming the day after--the day after D-Day, Warren.

BUFFETT: Absolutely. And I think that the--I think that the Republicans have an obligation to regard this as an economic war and to realize you need one leader and, in general, support of that. But I think that the--I think that the Democrats--and I voted for Obama and I strongly support him, and I think he's the right guy--but I think they should not use this--when they're calling for unity on a question this important, they should not use it to roll the Republicans all.

JOE: Hm.

BUFFETT: I think--I think a lot of things should be--job one is to win the war, job--the economic war, job two is to win the economic war, and job three. And you can't expect people to unite behind you if you're trying to jam a whole bunch of things down their throat. So I would--I would absolutely say for the--for the interim, till we get this one solved, I would not be pushing a lot of things that are--you know are contentious, and I also--I also would do no finger-pointing whatsoever. I would--you know, I would not say, you know, `George'--`the previous administration got us into this.' Forget it. I mean, you know, the Navy made a mistake at Pearl Harbor and had too many ships there. But the idea that we'd spend our time after that, you know, pointing fingers at the Navy, we needed the Navy. So I would--I would--I would--no finger-pointing, no vengeance, none of that stuff. Just look forward. ..[snip] ...

BUFFETT: Well, I was going to mention to Joe that you've heard this comment recently from some Democrats recently that a `crisis is a terrible thing to waste.'

BECKY: Yeah.

BUFFETT: Now, just rephrase that and since it's, in my view, it's an economic war, and--I don't think anybody on December 7th would have said a `war is a terrible thing to waste, and therefore we're going to try and ram through a whole bunch of things and--but we expect to--expect the other party to unite behind us on the--on the big problem.' It's just a mistake, I think, when you've got one overriding objective, to try and muddle it up with a bunch of other things.

P.S.: He's against "card check." ("I think the secret ballot's pretty important in the country.") ... 7:19 P.M.

New Website

ni Ping Lacson.

A box of Dibidis for you, Prime Minister

Obama's gift to Gordon Brown.

RP Kidnapping in the 90s

I was reading Lito Banayo at naalala ko yung malalang kidnappings of Chinese-Filipinos noong 1990s under the Ramos administration.

Let's give credit for Ping Lacson (under the Erap admin) and Angelo Reyes (under the Arroyo administration) for cracking down on this criminal "growth industry" after kidnappings spiked during FVRs time and for a short period after Edsa Dos under Larry Mendoza's time.

Pero wala talagang masyadong nagawa si Ramos ano?

DEMOCRACY?

*Posted by Enteng Romano at eLagda – 06 March 2009*

This year’s EDSA anniversaries (both I and II) will best be remembered for
its non-celebration. Thanks to GMA who not only downplayed it, but
trivialized it.

I agree with FVR, who was visibly irked with the non-appearance of GMA and
vanishing trick of VP Noli, when he said, “What appointment could be more
important on this day (February 25) than the commemoration of the
restoration of democracy?”

But then, you have to ask, “What democracy?”

Is there any Filipino who still doubts that GMA spoke to Garci? Even GMA
herself tacitly admitted it when she said, “I am sorry.” The Garci tapes
contained damning pieces of wiretapped phone conversations. In one, GMA
asked Garci to guarantee a 1 million winning margin. In another, they talked
about the abduction of a teacher to silence her. The most natural thing to
resolve this was for Congress to go through impeachment to either clear or
find GMA culpable. But they found the complaint insufficient in substance
and dismissed it. They have reduced the issue to a numbers game. In
succeeding years, a Malacanang stooge would file a bogus impeachment
complaint to immunize her for at least a year. *They have prostituted the
process and reduced it to power play.*

* *

Is there any Filipino who still doubts that COMELEC officials colluded with
suppliers to defraud the government of billions of pesos in the election
automation project? The Supreme Court itself declared so and directed the
Ombudsman to run after the culprits. But the Ombudsman exonerated them
leading to a situation where you have a crime without criminals. *They
defied the Supreme Court and got away with it.*

Is there any Filipino who still doubts that Abalos, FG, and GMA are involved
in the NBN-ZTE scandal? A picture is worth a thousand words, and a picture
with the three of them golfing at the ZTE headquarters in China says a lot,
especially since the ZTE project was quickly changed from a BOT to a
government-to- government contract soon after the game. Besides, how do you
explain GMA’s trip to China, “coming and going like a thief in the night”
(Malacanang Press Office’s own words) to seal the ZTE contract as witness,
doing the signing at the airport, breaking all diplomatic protocols? And
yet, no charges have been filed against any of the principal players, even
after GMA admitted that she belatedly knew of the irregularity. In contrast,
Jun Lozada and his wife Violet have 10 live court cases against them. *They
have perverted the justice system, using the agencies of justice to
persecute anyone who dare go against them.* **

Is there any Filipino who still doubts that GMA distributed money to
congressmen, mayors and governors at Malacanang in November 2007 to buy
their support? Among Ed Panlilio himself showed the money and an ABS-CBN
news footage showed Congressmen leaving the meeting with loot bags similar
to the one given to Among Ed. If it is true that GMA was truly unaware of
the dole-outs, then you would expect that the Taray Queen would unleash her
wrath on whoever was behind it for doing it right under her nose and making
her look like a fool. Nothing of that sort happened. KAMPI – the president’s
own party, owned up to the cash bonanza, and no one was ever charged,
reprimanded, or even slapped in the wrist. *They think all Filipinos are
dumb to accept such a tall tale.*

Is there any Filipino who still doubts that Jocjoc Bolante architected the
fertilizer scam, with the blessings of his patrons? Two independent Senate
investigations concluded so and recommended the filing of plunder against
him. But the Ombudsman is taking its sweet time in filing the charges. Under
public pressure to catch a big fish, the Ombudsman hurriedly filed graft
charges against Neric Acosta of Bukidnon – a known critic of GMA. Ooooppps.
Wrong aquarium. What the public wanted was a big fish from the Palace
aquarium where there are plenty of sharks. *They must think plunder is a
joke. That explains why they pardoned Erap so soon.*

* *

Is there any Filipino who still doubts that FG is involved in the rigging of
road projects? The World Bank Department of Institutional Integrity
concluded so, and they had two witnesses who attested to it. But FG could
not attend the Senate hearings. He has a heart condition and to testify
would be too stressful. (And a round of golf with millions of pesos at stake
is not?) They have just set a precedent in jurisprudence. Henceforth, all
accused with heart conditions cannot be compelled to testify. They can
either check in or get a certificate of exemption from St. Luke’s Hospital.
*They must think they’re above the law.*

* *

Of course, they invoke due process and rule of law as their refuge. For such
are the ways of democracy. Well... they have succeeded in perverting
democracy to a point where you can hardly recognize it.

I think this nation is long overdue for a change. Even the administration
agrees. But the kind of change they espouse – charter change, is really just
a ruse to extend their terms and perpetuate themselves in power.

No, more than change, this nation is long overdue for a revolution. And I
think it will happen soon, through the ballot or by the bullet.

The signs are clear.

The judiciary was designed to play a passive role in governance, acting only
on pleadings presented before it. But when you see a Chief Justice
proactively initiating reforms on human rights and leading a Moral Force
movement, you know something is wrong with the system.

When you have the two chambers of Congress competing with each other in
leading investigations of never-ending scandals – the lower chamber to
insulate its patron at the palace, and the upper chamber to provide a stage
for its presidential aspirants… you know that they will come to a head
sooner or later.

When you read a full page ad by associations of retired and active officers
declaring that they are united behind an incarcerated comrade, you know that
something more than just a senatorial bid is brewing.

When you view all of these against a backdrop of hundreds of thousands of
Filipinos losing their jobs, and hundreds of thousands of families moving
below the poverty line… the old palace line that they are working hard on
the economy supported with their fudged numbers simply will no longer cut.

And when you factor in the people’s sentiment about their president – 46%
disapproval and 45% distrust ratings, you know you have a powder keg just
waiting for the fuse to be lit.

The political equilibrium is precariously unstable brought about mostly by
the abuses and excesses of the ruling class. The inviolable law of physics
is finally catching up with them… for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction.

The Americans bought into Obama’s promise of “change we can believe in.” I
think the Filipinos will buy into anybody’s promise of “change we can live
with.” I still remember how people rushed to the side of government to
defend democracy during the Oakwood mutiny. Is there any Filipino who still
doubts which side people will rush to, this time around?

Are there Filipinos who still care about democracy? Many. But not the farce
that we see today. We all yearn for the one that is *of the people, by the
people, and for the people*.

*Panahon na para sa pagbabago. Now na!*

Imagine if Erap was adept at the teleprompter

Imagine if he was as good as O.

UPDATE: nah... probably wouldn't have helped in the end.

What I'm currently reading/listening to right now

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression

Saul Alinsky's Rule for Radicals #12

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

The Stupidity of the "Right to Reply" law

Neal Cruz explains it:

The "Right of Reply" bill, both the senate and House versions, were obviously crafted and, in the case of the Senate bill authored by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., already passed, with total ignorance of the workings of news organizations. They were done without undergoing committee hearings where journalists were invited as resource persons. If they had, they would have known that the bill is unnecessary and a waste of time. Persons and organizations that are the subject of news stories are already given the right to reply-in fact, asked for their comments-which are published at the same time as the first story. No need to wait one or three days.

When the reply or comment is not published at the same time as the story, it means one of two things: the subject is not available or withholds comment until he or she reads the story in the newspaper and/or he/she wants to consult his/her lawyer. In any case, the story says why there is no comment from the subject in spite of efforts to contact him. A third reason is that the subject is guilty or does not want to incriminate himself further or does not know what to say and would rather not say anything. You know, no talk, no mistake.

Read the whole article. GMA Arroyo and Manny Villar were cited as examples of stonewalling.

More from Ellen Tordesillas and Dean Bocobo.

Gov. Bobby Jindal's creationism problem

Randy Barnett:

This is Not Good: From Little Green Footballs:

Everything the media tried to pin on Sarah Palin, [Bobby] Jindal actually did: he promoted and signed a creationism bill (with help from the Discovery Institute), he took part in an amateur exorcism and claimed it cured a woman of cancer, and possibly worst of all, he pals around with people on the extreme edges of fundamentalist Christianity, and at least one person who has associated with outright neo-Nazis.

You can read the dirty details here. The LGF prediction:

My take: the MSM and the left would love it if Jindal is the GOP nominee in 2012, because he will lose. So they’re going to ignore all the damaging issues until then, preemptively sabotaging any effort to find a more viable GOP candidate.

While at it, you can read about GOP Governors Mark Sanford and Tim Pawlenty's creationist sympathies here. Republicans be warned: No demonstrably creationist politician will be elected President of the United States.

Follow up post by Randy re Jindal.

I think the only way for jindal to deal with the problem if he wants to run for president is for the issue to come out during the primaries. let it come out early and let the voters and the national media scrutinize and rake jindal over the coals with this (ala obama's jeremiah wright issue). this will allow jindal to address the issue early on on whether he wants to disown his previous statements and positions, and whether the public, polls and MSM are willing to let him off the hook.

if he STILL wins the primaries despite the revelation and make a good job of reassuring the public early on (determined by credible internal and national polls) that the creationism issue will be in the past and and that it won't affect the way he governs the country, then that issue will become old news and less potent against him come october.

Obama's teleprompter

man, they guy even used it during his first national press conference as president, even during the Q and A portion... for his handlers to pass along talking points, statistics etc on the screen without being to obvious to the folks watching on tv.

Obama does crazy things with his voice

I did not make this up. Three examples.

"Most of the pundits, historians and economists who debate the Great Depression agree about one thing..."

"...Whatever may have caused the crisis, protectionism, trade barriers and, yes, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, helped to ensure that it lasted as long as it did. So uncontroversial is this view that it is virtually U.S. government policy. "To this day," intones a State Department Web site, "the phrase 'Smoot-Hawley' remains a watchword for the perils of protectionism."

The Philippines was briefly mentioned too in that Anne Applebaum column.

Chiz Escudero = the second coming of Marcos?

Nagtataka ako sa sinabi ni MLQ3. Is he really that bad? O hyperbole lang yan? Personal ba ito?

Look, I'm not a big fan of Escudero, especially after he made these comments na parang gusto nyang tumakbo para sa third term ni Arroyo.

Legarda and Escudero belong to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), although at the Senate, Legarda is with the minority and Escudero, with the majority. Legarda was number one in 2007, having won the most number of votes among all the senatorial bets. Escudero was number two.

… Escudero predicted that there would be no one-on-one contest between the opposition and the administration in the 2010 presidential election, “since no incumbent is running, and there is the question on who is really an opposition.”

“GMA is not running in 2010, and it would be unfair to the people if presidential candidates should still use her as an issue,” he explained.

Indeed, candidates would be like shadowboxing if they will be punching at a non-opponent. Chiz said that instead of raising the GMA bogy, candidates should talk about their platform of government.

“Any candidate who runs on an anti-GMA platform is insulting the intelligence of the people. The people will vote for a presidential candidate because of what he or she intends to do if victorious, not because he or she is against GMA,” Chiz stressed.

Yes, medyo suspicious na ako kay Chiz. But it's still too early to compare him to Marcos. (i'm thinking of Godwin's Law)

Previous: Damning with faint praise.

GOPs favorite wedge issue makes a comeback

"Welfare." From Mickey Kaus:

Shouldn't Republicans be making more of a fuss about the provision in the stimulus bill--both House and Senate versions, apparently--that spends $2-3 billion to the states for "temporary welfare payments"? I initially thought Charles Hurt of the N.Y. Post was being alarmist when he suggested the provision would "drastically undo two decades of welfare reforms." The essence of the 1996 reform was ending the individual legal entitlement to AFDC (cash aid to single mothers, basically) and replacing it with state-run programs that, in theory, require recipients to enter the work force. The stimulus bill doesn't rip up that basic deal, as I understand it. But it is part of a larger liberal campaign** to use the recession to weaken work requirements and let millions of non-working single mothers back on the welfare rolls. Specifically, it would apparently reward states that expand their welfare caseloads--even if the increase is only the product of loosened work requirements rather than a worsening local economy.

Nothing wrong with helping states avoid anti-stimulating cuts in a recession. Nothing wrong with targeting money to the poorest, who are most likely to spend it quickly. But why use the aid specifically to encourage expansion of welfare? This isn't "welfare" as only conservative Republicans would define it--i.e. any means-tested assistance. This is welfare as everyone would define it--cash assistance to able-bodied single mothers (or fathers) who may or may not be working, as in the old, despised AFDC program. Better to use the money (and more) to create public jobs*** for these would-be recipients if private sector jobs have dried up, even if that upsets municipal employee unions (which don't want welfare recipients doing jobs their members might do)? Don't revive the old AFDC principle that if you have a child, you can count on the government to take care of you with cash aid even if you don't work.

At the very least the extra aid to the states shouldn't be triggered by caseload expansion. (You could, for example, give states aid in proportion to their local unemployment rate.)

You would think this would be a potential killer issue for the GOPs--"See, the Democrats already want to undo welfare reform"--and Obama, being sensitive to the charge, might quickly back down. It's easiest to whack the camel when only its nose is in the tent, no?

Read the whole thing.

A tough day for Obama

these are the headlines from Drudge today:

Obama backs down on 'Buy American' after EU trade war threat...
Tax problems torpedo two big nominations...
Departures tarnish ethics drive...
AP: 'The new president, seen by some as arrogant'...
India warns Obama over Kashmir: 'Obama is barking up the wrong tree'...
Paris rejects 'Obama-style' economic program...
EU attacks 'Buy American' clause, seeks removal from stimulus...
On a tough day, Obamas escape for a while...

Playing the Beatles Backwards: The Ultimate Countdown

All the beatles song listed, from worst to best.

Ya can listen to some of it by typing the name of the song here.

Obama Fatigue

is there such a thing?

Two opposing views on the Israeli-Palestinian Quagmire

One from Tom Friedman: "The 5-State Solution"

The other from Michael Totten, who recently returned from Israel. The Mother of All Quagmires.

My pick for NBA All-Star reserves (East-West)

East Reserves:
devin harris - pg
joe johnson - sg
jameer nelson - pg
paul pierce - sf
danny granger - sf
boris diaw - c/pf
chris bosh - pf

West reserves
Shaquille O Neal - C
Tony Parker - pg
chauncey Billups - pg
dirk nowitzki - pf
pau gasol - pf
brandon roy - sg/sf
al jefferson - C

Alec Baldwin's "rude, thoughtless, little pig" of a daughter

is beautiful pala.

she's the 13-year old daughter who received papa alec's infamous phone message. (ht althouse)

UPDATE: alec baldwin is 5'11. so do the math.

Speaker Pelosi: Birth Control will help the Economy

tell that to the CBCP bishops and Maam Arroyo, Speaker Pelosi.

"People in a democratic country wouldn't let their government restrict family size ... would they?"

Yes the would.

Key point by Will Saletan:

What a mess. On one side, we have the Catholic bishops, who are so adamantly opposed to contraception that they're blocking the provision of birth control for voluntary use. On the other side, we have an emerging near-majority of the population that now favors coercive limits on family size. Do the math: The Church claims to represent 80 percent of the population, yet more than 80 percent reject its teachings on contraception, and 44 percent think the government should impose laws in precisely the opposite direction. It looks as though the bishops' anti-contraceptive absolutism is driving their own flock into the arms of a totalitarian remedy.

If Global Warming is real, then why is it cold?

The Website.

Child Abuse in Gaza

(ht michael totten)

Marc Lamont Hill vs Margaret Hoover

I'd rather see two young, good liking liberal and republican debate the issues than see the red hot maggie paired with another blonde conservative (Monica Crowley).

"Spread the Wealth Around"

Hah!

Big Hollywood

this is a new website that i have included in my blogroll. A site that features Hollywood conservatives and libertarians (actors, producers, directors). It is being run by former Drudge associate Andrew Breitbart.

...And the sun also rises in the East

Arroyo Administration caught lying again.

More here from Tongue-Twisted.

A look back at 2009

A 2009 retrospective by Niall Ferguson.

Rove 110, Bush 95

That's the number of books Karl Rove and W. Bush read during their book-readin' contest in 2006.

It all started on New Year's Eve in 2005. President Bush asked what my New Year's resolutions were. I told him that as a regular reader who'd gotten out of the habit, my goal was to read a book a week in 2006. Three days later, we were in the Oval Office when he fixed me in his sights and said, "I'm on my second. Where are you?" Mr. Bush had turned my resolution into a contest.

By coincidence, we were both reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals." The president jumped to a slim early lead and remained ahead until March, when I moved decisively in front. The competition soon spun out of control. We kept track not just of books read, but also the number of pages and later the combined size of each book's pages -- its "Total Lateral Area."
The Opinion Journal Widget

We recommended volumes to each other (for example, he encouraged me to read a Mao biography; I suggested a book on Reconstruction's unhappy end). We discussed the books and wrote thank-you notes to some authors.

At year's end, I defeated the president, 110 books to 95. My trophy looks suspiciously like those given out at junior bowling finals. The president lamely insisted he'd lost because he'd been busy as Leader of the Free World.

Ricardo Manapat, the Forger, is dead

From ABSCBN: "Ricardo Manapat, the former director of the National Archives and author of the classic anti-cronyism pamphlet "Some Are Smarter Than Others", has died. He was 55...

In 2004, he was accused of tampering documents pertinent to a disqualification case filed against then presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. The Supreme Court later ruled against the petition and allowed Poe to run."

Videos of Celebrities talking in French, German, Spanish

Sandra Bullock in gives an interview in German, and at the Bambi Awards (german speech)

Audrey Hepburn gives interview in French and Italian.

Jodie Foster gives a french interview in 2007 for the movie "The Brave One".

Kobe Bryant's interview in Italian.

Kim Cattrall (Samantha of "Sex in the City") does an intro statement in German.

Natalie Portman talking in Hebrew. More here.

Viggo Mortensen speaks perfect Spanish (w/ an Argentinian accent). Also in Danish. And he tried to answer a question in French.

Johnny Depp in French at the World Music Awards in 2002.

Malin Akerman does interview in Swedish

Uh oh...

When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. But what if China sneezes...

From David Frum:

I've been banging the drum in this space for some weeks about the risk to China's political stability posed by the financial crisis. Here's an authoritarian regime that legitimates itself by delivering economic benefits - only the benefits are ceasing to flow. Today's Washington Post delivers the latest report on the consequences:

When 9,000 of Shin Guoqing's fellow taxi drivers went on strike early last month, he felt he had to join them.

Soaring inflation had undermined what his $300-a-month income could buy for his family, and Shin said he was frustrated that the government had done nothing to help. "After running around the whole day, you have only a few renminbi for it," he said, referring to China's currency. "You don't feel good about your life."

For two days, the drivers held this Sichuan province metropolis of 31 million people under siege, blocking roads and smashing cars. The Communist Party quickly stopped the violence by promising to address the drivers' demands for easier access to fuel and better working conditions.

From the far western industrial county of Yongdeng to the southern resort city of Sanya and the commercial center of Guangzhou, members of China's upwardly mobile working class — taxi drivers, teachers, factory workers and even auxiliary police officers — have mounted protests since the Chongqing strike, refusing to work until their demands were met.

"...Trade is not the highest priority for the incoming Obama administration..."

From Instapundit:

Becerra Won’t Be Obama’s Trade Rep. “Saying that he has come to the realization that trade is not the highest priority for the incoming Obama administration, Rep. Xavier Becerra has decided not to accept Barack Obama’s offer to be United States Trade Representative.” I’m very worried about a descent into protectionism, which would turn the economic situation from problematic to disastrous all by itself. This isn’t making me feel better.

Hmmm... and how will that affect the RP?

Where's my Conan and Leno?

bakit walang Tonight Show at Late Night w/ Conan O'Brien sa JACK Tv kanina?

Taking Naps

it's good for you. although i still haven't mastered the technique on how to take it during breaktime.

but in my experience, naps aren't necessary if you get enough sleep (7 hours) at night.

only sleep deprived people need naps... like me sometimes kung 6 hours lang ang tulog ko.

Today: GM. Tomorrow: the Egypt bailout?

Too big to fail, World Edition.

Manila reports Ebola virus in pigs

but it's not the same one as the deadly African variety that affect humans raw.

How the Kennedy and Nixon administration used the Fairness Doctrine

Until the Reagan administration extinguished it, the doctrine required broadcasters to devote reasonable time to fairly presenting all sides of any controversial issue discussed on the air. The government decided the meaning of the italicized words.

When government regulation of the content of broadcasts began in 1927, the supposed justification was the scarcity of radio spectrum. In 1928 and 1929, when Republicans ran Washington, a New York station owned by the Socialist Party was warned to show "due regard" for others' opinions, and the government blocked the Chicago Federation of Labor's attempted purchase of a station because all stations should serve "the general public." In 1939, when Democrats ran Washington, the government conditioned renewal of one station's license on that station's promise to desist from anti-FDR editorials.

In 1969, when the Supreme Court declared the fairness doctrine constitutional, it probably did not know the Kennedy administration's use of it, as one official described it: "Our massive strategy was to use the fairness doctrine to challenge and harass the right-wing broadcasters and hope that the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue." Richard Nixon emulated this practice. In 1973, Supreme Court Justice William Douglas, a liberal, said the doctrine "has no place in our First Amendment regime" because it "enables administration after administration to toy with TV or radio."

From George Will.

Bakit absent si Mike Arroyo sa recent Pacquiao match?

dahil ba kasama siya kasama siya sa imbistigasyon ng money laundering ng mga US authorities at FBI?

Manny Pacquiao's pre-fight interview (in English) with Gambo and Ash

he sounds like a metrosexual Oscar dela Hoya, but with more uhmms...

Court of Appeals wants Erap Docu rewriten before it gives TV airing approval

The 12th division of the Court of Appeals demanded a major rewrite in the Erap Documentary before it will the movie to be shown on tv:

There was the 12th Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) actually demanding a major rewrite of the Joseph Estrada bio-documentary, should it be shown on television, because as the court ruled, the producers of the bio pic Ang Mabuhay para sa Masa in documenting the Edsa ll revolt, which was definitely a coup d’ etat, does not show the “legality of the transfer of power” from Estrada to Gloria Arroyo in January 2001.

The CA said in its ruling that “petitioners are still mandated to recognize the legality of the transfer of power from former President Estrada to President Arroyo and reflect the same in the file” while upholding Malacañang’s position to include in the film the side of persons who were allegedly “defamed” by the documentary that states Estrada was illegally removed from office.

As the report went, the CA was quoted as having ruled that “the portion ‘Power-Grab,’ by its descriptive appellation, connotes the illegal seizure of power purportedly executed by the current president. It runs contrary to the Supreme Court (SC) ruling.”

Apart from this, the court also found objectionable the portion with “Conspiracy” emblazoned across pictures of Gloria, Mike Arroyo, Fidel Ramos, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Angelo Reyes, then Estrada’s chief of staff, Michael Defensor, Hernando Perez, Chavit Singson and other businessmen.

This said the court, “insinuates their unified action to overthrow President Estrada” and that “integration of said portion into the film tends to undermine the faith and confidence of the people in the government,” with the court even adding that the biopic can even be deemed “libelous and defamatory.”

More amazing, the court, acting like a lapdog of Gloria, ruled that “finding the subject film replete with defamatory remarks and scenes (it is) likely to impair faith in its government” and “imposition of limitation/condition on its exhibition appears in order.”

More: As the balancing factor in the form of replies of personalities defamed, “their replies should be integrated in the film as a part thereof,” the court said.

This is not only a clear infringement on the freedom of the press and of speech that the CA upholds, but worse, it even dictates what should and should not be included in a documentary.

Why should a court impose and mandate prior restraint on a documentary — because as sure as hell, the court, being a part of government has imposed prior restraint in getting that Erap documentary from being released in the electronic media and even dictates to the producers what should and should not be included in a documentary.

But it was a power grab. There was a conspiracy. And this is another attempt to censor political speech.


Armida Siguion Reyna:

I hear that the Court of Appeals (CA) wants Joseph Estrada’s biographical video documentary to first acknowledge the legitimacy of Gloria Arroyo’s presidency before it can be shown on television, and for a moment, I think, hey. Not even the CA bench is sure who the rightful leader of the country is, and that’s why it needs the Erap video to tell them!

Don’t think I’m being odd. Right now there’s nothing odder than the court requirement to edit into Ang Mabuhay Para sa Masa the recognition of “the legality of the power shift” that was Edsa Dos. The addition completely changes the tenor of the docu from when it was originally conceived and put together three years ago, at the time the subject was still in Tanay. It also tells us just how much this administration continues to be afraid of the man it kicked out of power in the name of morality, only to find out that — well, you all know what’s been found out about the one installed, no matter the times she and her cabal deny their thievery.

The value of Ang Mabuhay Para sa Masa as a historical document cannot be dismissed by even those who disagree with what it says. It was produced, written and directed from a point of view that is decidedly not Gloria Arroyo’s, nor that of any from her side of the fence, so it’s hard to understand why the CA and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) want it redone as if it were produced, written and directed by Malacañang.

Government has access to media such as no one else has. In 2005, soon after then Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye made a fool of himself declaring which of the two CD’s in his hands was fake, the Pasig River Mafia threatened, through the National Telecommunications Commission, to close media outlets caught broadcasting the “Hello Garci” recordings. This is how powerful Mrs. Arroyo is, and still her men insist on re-editing the Erap video to remind all and sundry who the boss is?

The CA order for revision, says producer Rey David of Public Perception Management Asia (PublikAsia), is “a directive to rewrite not just a script but an entire portion of Philippine history,” because “everything in the newsreel can be verified in historical documents and even news reports. Therefore I find it odd that we are being compelled to revise certain portions of the film when there was nothing invented or fictional in it.”

Read the whole thing. and read this report too from the inquirer.

Only Ten?

the indian government said that only 10 terrorists were involved in the Mumbai attack. kinda hard to believe since a lot of valued targets spanning a wide area were under attack on that day. i won't be surprised if half of the terrorists members managed to escape and "melted away" among the indian population after their successful operation.

No sense of delicadeza

Many of the Justice committee members that voted against the impeachment complaint were among those listed as recipients of the Jocjoc Bolante Fertilizer Fund.

"How does the country hold the president, any president, accountable?"

yan ang tanong ng INQUIRER.

The answer is: NOT through impeachment

Pinatunayan na yan ng militar, simbahan at civil society noong 2001 pa.

The only way to get rid of people like Arroyo, Erap, and Marcos is thru People Power.

Mumbai Attacks Highlight the Cancer that is Pakistan

a cancer to its neighbors in India and Afghanistan.

The Murder of the 2008 Impeachment

List of Justice Committee Members & How They Voted. I saw my congresswoman in that list.

DBP lost P4 Billion in Lehman Brothers collapse

From Ernesto Maceda:

A senior DBP governor confirmed to us that the government financial institution lost $80 million or P4 billion in investments in Lehman Brothers.

If only for that, president Rey David and the DBP Board of Governors should resign. But shouldn’t major foreign investments by government financial institutions be subject to approval by the Secretary of Finance?

Up to now, GSIS has not admitted how much it lost in investments in Credit Agricole and ING Barring.

NFA lost P72 billion in its operation while BSP lost over P100 billion in “foreign exchange trading losses.”

All these while GMA and Secretary Gary Teves are considering raising taxes and claiming lack of funds to support government programs.

Meanwhile, coffee shop and stock market lounge talk about how much a top administration personality lost in the Lehman bankruptcy. Estimates range from $300 to $700 million. Three Malacañang cronies and a Cabinet member are said to have lost millions of dollars in the financial meltdown from their stash of illegally acquired wealth.

So what were they saying again about our financial system and economy not being affected by the meltdown in Wall Street?

Or what about that "firewall" we keep hearing about? I think this administration has not even come close to telling the entire truth about the extent of our government losses due to the collapse of many financial institutions in the US.

From Marlen Ronquillo:

Investing in Lehman Brothers? I don’t think it is a priority in the investment portfolio of the DBP. Investing in Lehman Brothers, the collapsed investment bank that got sucked up in the whirlwind of greed-induced turmoil that rocked the financial system of the US (and many parts of the globe), was definitely one of the last things DBP, as per its sworn mandate, would engage in.

The news reports said otherwise.

The news reports tagged DBP as one of the Philippine investors in Lehman Brothers. A $90 million placement was made to Lehman by DBP. The story did not detail under whose leadership the $90 million investment was placed by DBP. What is clear is that the investment had vaporized, along with the money invested in Lehman from prominent and obscure places across the globe.

It was the only state-owned bank said to have invested in Lehman Brothers.

Pagmamayari ng gobierno ang DBP, so we taxpayers are on the hook again for the P4 billion lost to Lehman + the needed bailout.

UPDATE: Philstar columnist and GMA toady Alex Magno is a board member of the DBP. Maybe people should ask him about the Lehman Brothers deal.

China slashes interest rates as panic spreads

The People's Bank of China cut interest rates by more than 1pc point as the economy crumbles and millions of jobs are predicted to go ahead of Christmas.

AND: Workers riot at Chinese toy factory.

(via Drudge)

Instapundit: A harbinger of things to come?

Iran: A Nation of Bloggers (video)

Boyfriend ni Francine Prieto?

The guy on the right. Naka-jackpot ka manong.

Nani Perez walks

Why? Did you expect a different outcome? Lusot si MR. IMPSA.

From Ninez Cacho Olivares:

As predicted, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the case against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, his wife, his brother-in-law and Gloria Arroyo’s fund-raiser, Ernest Escaler.

But get this: Sandiganbayan Justice Edilberto Sandoval, in dismissing the case, cited “inordinate delay” of the Ombudsman in charging Perez et al., as he claimed this to be a violation of Perez’ constitutional rights.

He then went on to quash the Ombudsman’s information against Perez et al. on graft charges.

The current Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez never took the case seriously, kahit na noong in charge pa siya sa DOJ (after boss Nani was forced to resign from his post.)

Anthony Golez is a dum dum

from a malacanang press release:

Golez scoffed at the claim of ousted House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. in his auto-biography regarding the cancelled National Broadcasting Network-ZTE deal.

A portion of De Venecia’s autobiography, which was printed by a Philippine national daily today, touched on an alleged meeting at the ZTE headquarters in Shenzhen, China in which the President and the First Gentleman were present.

But Golez dismissed the former speaker’s claim, saying it “will not hold water.” “Madali pong gumawa ng auto-biography ng kahit na sinong tao.” He added.

In his autobiography, De Venecia said that “as always, the First Gentleman said hardly a word.”

Golez said that if De Venecia’s autobiography is “going to be used as evidence for any intention or motivation, it will not hold water. It is hearsay, dahil ito ay isang kwento lang.

“It has to be appreciated by the courts. Only then can we call it a biography of the truth — otherwise it would be mere science fiction,” he said.

Manuel Buencamino: "The first thing the physician cum spokesman has to learn is how to use a dictionary. Any dictionary will tell Golez that De Venecia’s account is only hearsay if he had heard it from another person and then told it to someone else. Eyewitness account ito ni De Venecia. He was there, he saw, he heard. So it is not hearsay."

A few things you might find interesting about the Bubby Dacer case

Since Cesar Mancao and Glenn Dumlao have been arrested, bumalik na naman sa balita ang kaso ni Salvador "Bubby" Dacer. Naglabasan na naman ang mga insinuations at innuendos na may kinalaman si Ping Lacson dito (This is the same Lacson that has a "Billion dollar" hidden account sa US, hindi nyo alam?)

Pero in Ping Lacson's defense, I will post here a few exculpatory items that was pretty much ignored by the then pro-Arroyo, pro-edsa dos mainstream media, but point to others as the suspects in the dacer-corbito murder case.

Here's article one:

DACERS ASKED TO COMMENT ON PRIEST'S EXPOSE

Manila, April 9, 2001 - The family of public relations man Salvador "Bubby" Dacer was asked yesterday to comment on the statements of a Parañaque priest over the possible knowledge of former President Ramos and his national security adviser Jose Almonte in Dacer's disappearance.

The opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino said yesterday: "We appeal to the Dacer family to come out and confirm or deny Fr. (Gabriel) Baldostamon's statement. We understand the pain they must feel at the continued disappearance of their father, but they must come out in order to help shed light on this matter. Don't be afraid of Ramos and Almonte."

Fr. Baldostamon is the parish priest of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary church in Sun Valley Subd. where the Dacer family lives.

He claimed to have heard Almonte "consoling" the Dacer family that should they recover or "arrange" for Dacer's release, they would spirit him out to the United States and make it appear that he was still missing.

Baldostamon said Almonte made the statement in a breakfast meeting with the Dacer family about 10 days after his disappearance.

"Did Almonte really say that?" the LDP asked. "If he did, he must explain his intentions for doing so and why did he sound as if he had contact with Dacer's abductors?"

The LDP said it is a "surprise" that Almonte has not even reacted to Baldostamon's claims.

Almonte earlier came out with a letter in which Dacer wrote apprehensions over drawing the ire of Joseph Estrada and former PNP chief Panfilo Lacson.

The LDP said the parish priest had no reason to lie when he bared his story, which was first brought public by Bishop Teodoro Bacani in his Today newspaper column last Thursday. The following day, Baldostamon confirmed the contents of Bacani's column.

It was also Bacani who first questioned Almonte's motive for coming up such statements before the Dacer family. Bacani also asked probers looking into the Dacer case to dig deeper into Baldostamon's statements.

Article two from Herman Tiu Laurel:

Investigate Almonte

by Herman Tiu Laurel

Two weeks ago, news of the explosive revelation from the Dacer parish priest hit the newspapers. Fr. Baldestamon of the Sun Valley parish church came forward to make public overtures he heard from Ramos henchman Joe Almonte to the Dacer children a short time after their father disappeared—that he could negotiate for his release provided Dacer is immediately shipped to the US and the family continues to mourn like he had never been found. Why has NBI chief Reynaldo Wycoco not called in Almonte to find out more about this crucial angle?

We are now being bombarded on a daily basis by headlines on “killers” of Dacer having surfaced and confessed.

However, when read, the full story identifies them only as “suspects.” Before this, an Inquirer headline tagged Estrada as the culprit behind Dacer’s disappearance and presumed murder. Department of Justice Secretary Nani Perez had to clarify later that there was no factual basis at all for the headline. The “uncivil Society” media has really been going amuck. I suspect it is to deflect attention from the Fr. Baldestamon bombshell involving Almonte—and Ramos.

Fr. Baldestamon’s revelation was brought to the surface in one of the newspaper columns of Bishop Ted Bacani. Last week, I read a letter-to-the-editor from Ramos to Bacani, outlining his response to the Bacani column. It was a very lame letter recalling his expressions of concern for Dacer’s disappearance, citing such inane publications as Customsweek. Readers will recall that it was precisely Ramos’ dubiously premature and hammed up concern, when Dacer’s disappearance was not even an established fact yet, that triggered suspicions about a Ramos hand in the abduction.

The story is now told to close friends by the Dacer children, Ampy and Sabina, that the Ramos visit to Dacer’s office on that fateful day of the disappearance was very uncharacteristic. In the many years of Dacer and Ramos’ professional dealings, never once did Ramos visit Dacer’s office. But on the day of Dacer’s kidnapping Ramos did, and after only an hour of waiting he started making it too obvious he was concerned—by calling media about his alarm over Dacer’s disappearance.

It could have just been traffic, a flat tire or engine trouble, a sudden family emergency, a bum stomach, an extended breakfast meeting, or a hundred other small possibilities that delayed Dacer for an hour. With cell phone service the way it is today, and service providers undermining each other by delaying interconnections or with cell sites jammed or down, an hour’s wait to get a cell phone connection happens quite frequently. So, delayed cell phone contact is not sufficient reason to panic and call media.

The scenario is too much like a no-smoking room with a tell-tale tobacco stick.

The government has produced one suspect after another. Each time they bring up these suspects, more questions come up. The original duo, who were alleged to have disposed of the bodies, were themselves blocked from seeing their lawyer, Atty. Ric Valmonte. The subsequent “confessed” participants in the Dacer case have, according to newspaper reports, reportedly been arrested without warrant and “subjected to physical torture.” All these alleged violations of the suspects’ rights, which will have serious bearing on the credibility of the investigations, must be looked into.

The NBI, which is assigned to the Dacer case, must preserve and protect its integrity and credibility at all times. Unfortunately, former general Wycoco is not delivering on this fundamental duty he has to the organization. He is leaving too many stones, nay, boulders, unturned on the trail of the Dacer case—lying so in plain sight of everyone who cares to see. But he is apparently deliberately turning his eyes to where there are no rocks and boulders, content to follow the trail where red herrings are being tossed farther and farther away.

Now that the Almonte angle has been raised by Fr. Baldestamon, Gen. Wycoco is obliged to invite both to be interviewed. The story must be officially verified, and Almonte’s side should be looked closely into. The Dacer children must also be asked, to crosscheck the parish priest’s story. But foremost among these actions is this—send a summon to Almonte. This Rasputin of Ramos has some explaining to do. If he gets himself off cleanly, we won’t raise the issue again. While he avoids the Almonte matter, nothing he does will be credible.

And from Ninez Cacho Olivares:

NINEZ CACHO-OLIVARES
Too strange,too rushed
Apr 16, 2001

The case of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer is a strange one indeed.

First, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announces to the public that the case has been solved, as its officials presented before the media, two eyewitnesses and a bag of charred bones plus dentures that they claimed were Dacer's and his driver Emmanuel Corbito's but which still had to undergo DNA testing for positive verification.

Then one witness showed the media a pair of brown loafers which he claimed belonged to Dacer and which the killers gave him for his own use. He even went to the extent of claiming that the pair of shoes used to be white, but that they were brown today because he had dyed the pair brown.

Based on the eyewitness account, certain cops identified with former Philippine National Police chief Panfilo Lacson, were implicated in the "murder" of Dacer and Corbito.

It was later discovered that the pair of shoes shown by the witness could not have belonged to Dacer or Corbito. And forensics still had not determined whether the charred bones were human bones.

It was much too evident that the so-called eyewitnesses were lying through their teeth and the NBI certainly knew it. But NBI chief Reynaldo Wycoco continued to peddle the story and came up with the ridiculous claim that in the case of Dacer, the corpus delicti was not the body but the killing itself. Duh!

It was clear that the Arroyo government, its Justice department and the NBI were more than willing to frame their foes with a murder rap, which does not speak too well of the Arroyo government.

Other questions arise: Why was the skull never found? Why weren't other pieces of jewelry, which Dacer normally wears, found in the site where he and his driver were said to have been burned to a crisp four months ago?

A priest suddenly surfaced and claimed he had overheard Fidel Ramos' man, Jose Almonte, talking to the Dacer children and telling them to keep on mourning for their father as if he were really dead while Almonte communicates with the kidnappers.

The same priest also went to the "murder" site and concluded that given the report that Dacer and his driver were burned to a crisp, the site would have shown a bigger burnt area.

Not too long after, the children of Dacer suddenly called a press conference claiming they have accepted the fact that their father is dead, as they had the bones and dentures checked by a private physician. They also claimed that found in the same murder site were the dentures as well as pieces of jewelry that belonged to their father.

This development raises more questions than answers. How is it possible for the family to have gotten another set of dentures and bones after the NBI had already been through the site with its "evidence"? More to the point, did the NBI surrender the "evidence" to the Dacer family for a private test? Why couldn't the NBI find the jewelry and the denture which the family suddenly found long after the NBI had combed the place? How could a private physician positively identify the dentures and bones when they were presumably with the NBI forensics unless there were of course two sets of dentures and bones, both belonging to Dacer, which would be too incredulous.

Then too, what does this make of those eyewitnesses, who claimed they saw Dacer and his driver murdered and burned to a crisp?

What does this make too, of the Dacer children who claim to have found the jewelry in the same murder site, a development which doesn't quite jibe with the eyewitness' account. If the murderers were generous enough to give away a pair of shoes, wouldn't they also have taken the jewelry Dacer was wearing?

Even more strange is that Fidel Ramos who first tipped off the cops that Dacer was missing after the publicist was late for an hour for his meeting, didn't quite say why he didn't bother to call back Dacer, who had a mobile phone with him, to first check out if he was indeed missing.

And wonder of wonders. The day the Dacer children claimed that their father was indeed dead, Ramos had, in the newspapers, a condolence note, claiming too, that Dacer was dead.

It's the strangest case yet, and what seems clear is that too many people want the case closed, with the conclusion that Dacer is dead.

One wonders why there is that rush to declare Dacer dead.

Eto yung reaction ko dati.

It was ramos who called the attention of the police re dacer's kidnapping because na late lang ng isang oras si dacer. Makes you go hmmm....... (ah!~ siguro malakas ang ESP ni FVR na kinidnap si dacer kaya tinawag nya kaagad ang mga pulis.)

Nail in the Coffin for the Pidals?

Former Speaker Jose De Venecia confirms bribery, corruption in Arroyo Government.

High Gas Prices killed the US economy

OPEC's gift to GWBush. And it worked.

So Obama's plans to re-impose the ban on off shore drilling via an executive order once he assumes office is completely wrongheaded.

Hollywood's decline, TV's rise

By 2020, the movie industry in the US will be on life support because of movie piracy and torrents. I say this because movie piracy and the internets have already killed the movie industry here in the Philippines. But TV shows will survive because it is free. Most American movie stars of today will make the transition to TV in the near future, just like what is happening here. For example, while moviestars like Sharon Cuneta and Vilma Santos are in decline, TV stars like Bea Alonzo, Willie Revillame and Kris Aquino are replacing them as the biggest and most influential celebrities in RP today.

"Level the playing field" with card check

From Mickey Kaus:

The New Plan? Cripple Honda! Save Detroit with Card Check! Eliminating the secret ballot and making it easier to organize U.S. Honda and Toyota workers (and imposing contract terms via binding arbitration) would "level the playing field," says Dem. Congressman Tim Ryan. ... Then when Honda and Toyota responded by importing more cars from abroad, we could have import quotas! Eventually the whole automotive sector could be planned by Congress in conjunction with existing business and labor interest groups. Red State has seen the future and it is corporatist.

Republicans need less GOD in their Party

The Social Conservatives have taken over the Republican party, to the GOP's own detriment. Sabi ni Kathleen Parker:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Here's the deal, 'pubbies: Howard Dean was right.

It isn't that culture doesn't matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party -- and conservatism with it -- eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one's heart where it belongs.

Agree. Even African Americans and Hispanics, who are usually conservative on social issues, are not flocking to the GOP. Non-whites are just not buying what the Religious Republican Right are selling.

More from Gov. Christine Todd Whitman: The Party Won't Win Back the Middle as Long As It's Hostage to Social Fundamentalists

Peter Schiff's predictions in 2006-2007

Ann Althouse said Peter Schiff "was painfully correct and surrounded by clowns."



Bilib ka ba?

Now here's him predicting Obama's impact on the economy.



Change you can believe in?

UPDATE: Time to stock up on canned goods and ammunition?

The Next Four Years?

Trends Research CEO Gerald Celente, the guy who got many things right re the financial meltdown has three predictions:

- By 2012, America will become the First "Undeveloped" Country in the world

- Tax Revolution, Food Riots, Squatter Rebellion, Job Marches

- Holidays 2012: Food More Important than Gifts

Say Hello to your new Senate President

Juan Ponce Enrile.

Those who voted for JPE were:
1) Ed Angara
2) Rudolfo Biazon
3) Jinggoy Estrada (trinaydor si Villar?)
4) Chiz Escudero
5) Dick Gordon
6) Gringo Honasan
7) Ping Lacson
8) Lito Lapid
9) Loren Legarda
10) Jamby Madrigal
11) Bong Revilla
12) Mar Roxas
13) Migz Zubiri ("Maguindanao" senator)
14) Juan Ponce Enrile

Those who abstained were:
1) Noynoy Aquino
2) Joker Arroyo
3) Alan Peter Cayetano
4) Pia Cayetano
5) Kiko "Noted" Pangilinan
6) Nene Pimentel (Enrile's dagdag-bawas victim)

Absent:
1) Miriam Defensor Santiago
2) Sonny Trillanes

Kawawa naman si Villar. Walang bumoto para sa kanya. Those who "voted present" este... those who abstained were not necessarily Villar supporters--like pimentel and aquino. Pero lahat ng presidential candidates para sa 2010 ay bumoto kay Enrile. And the "Wednesday Group" stuck together.

GMA pushes for limitations on press freedom at the UN

In a recent event at the UN that got little coverage from the local media, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was seen pushing the "RP model" her administration concocted as the new standard for press freedom.

Consider one key draft resolution at the event. Introduced jointly by the Philippines and Pakistan, it openly seeks to limit press freedoms. Sure, as read by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, the language pays lip service to the notion of freedom of expression.

But the document then goes on to emphasize the "special duties and responsibilities necessary for the respect of the rights or reputations of others, protection of national security or of public order, or of public health and morals."

Translation: Don't even think of publishing those Danish cartoons or anything even close to them. And forget about questioning authorities in places like, say, Riyadh.

Or don't go after people like Mike Arroyo and Co. And people need to stop making documentaries that "undermine" people's faith and confidence in the duly constituted authority.

Fidel Castro gets religion

Christopher Hitchens: Why on earth did Castro build a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Havana?

Lito Banayo's blog

wish it was more "bloggy." Puro Malaya articles lang kasi ang laman eh.

How to speed up the vote counting without the machines

By electing our senators by region. Two senators per region, where one seat (alternating) is up for reelection every three years.

Kasi in our current system, a voter gets to pick 12 senators per election cycle (plus vote for President and Vice president every six years.) That means each voter needs to fill up up to 12-14 names on his ballot. No wonder bumabagal ang bilangan sa national level.

[Hindi naman problema ang bilangan sa local level (congressman, governor, mayor, etc).]

Imagine, if each voter will only have to choose One senator per region every election year, mapapabilis ang bilangan sa midterm elections, hindi ba?

At kung ang boto lang para sa pagka President at VP ang bibilangin natin para sa national elections, sa tingin ko within 3-5 days malalaman na natin kung sino ang nanalo.

pero kailangan muna nating amendahan ang Constitution.

"Si Gen. Garcia sa States nahuli, si Bolante sa US din natiklo, si De La Paz, sa Russia. Bakit sa Pilipinas walang nahuhuli?"

Tongue Twisted's favorite quote from from Sen. Mar Roxas.

My New Blog

dealing with the NBA.

Do Filipinos believe in Creationism?

there was a big to-do with Sarah Palin's stance on "creationism" a month ago. Turn off raw ito, sabi ng mga moderate at independent American voters, dahil backwards-thinking raw yan.

Pero tayong mga Pilipino, would many of us shun a candidate if he or she admits to believing in such things, ie God created Life and Earth... Adam and Eve... Garden of Eden...

O hindi, dahil naniniwala rin ang mga Pinoy dito?

Condi and Hillary's new Hairdos

Condoleezza Rice's new look



Hillary Clinton

The Weather Underground Documentary

I didn't know there was a "Weather Underground" docu. Most of the blogs I've read never mentioned it either.

But here's Obama supporter Camille Paglia doing her own research on Ayers Dohrn in her latest article.

Pursuing the truth about Ayers, I recently rented the 2002 documentary "The Weather Underground," from Netflix. It was riveting. Although the film seems to waver between ominous exposé and blatant whitewash, the full extent of the group's bombing campaign is dramatically demonstrated. It's not for everyone: The film uses gratuitous cutaways of horrifying carnage, from the Vietnam War to the Manson murders (such as Sharon Tate's smiling corpse, bathed in blood). But the news footage of the Greenwich Village townhouse destroyed in 1970 by bomb-making gone wrong in the basement still has enormous impact. Standing in the chaotic street, actor Dustin Hoffman, who lived next door, seems like Everyman at the apocalypse.

Ayers comes off in the film as a vapid, slightly dopey, chronic juvenile with stunted powers of ethical reasoning. The real revelation is his wife, Bernardine Dohrn (who evidently worked at the same large Chicago law firm as Michelle Obama in the mid-1990s). Of course I had heard of Dohrn -- hers was one of the most notorious names of our baby-boom generation -- and I knew her black-and-white police mug shot. But I had never seen footage of her speaking or interacting with others. Well, it's pretty obvious who wears the pants in that family!

The mystery of Bernardine Dohrn: How could such a personable, attractive, well-educated young woman end up saying such things at a 1969 political rally as this (omitted in the film) about the Manson murders: "Dig it. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them. They even shoved a fork into a victim's stomach. Wild!" And how could Dohrn have so ruthlessly pursued a decade-long crusade of hatred and terrorism against innocent American citizens and both private and public property?

"The Weather Underground" never searches for answers, but it does show Dohrn, then and now, as a poised, articulate woman of extremely high intelligence and surprising inwardness. The audio extra of her reading the collective's first public communiqué ("Revolutionary violence is the only way") is chilling. But the tumultuous footage of her 1980 surrender to federal authorities is a knockout. Mesmerized, I ran the clip six or seven times of her seated at a lawyer's table while reading her still defiant statement. The sober scene -- with Dohrn hyper-alert in a handsome turtleneck and tweedy jacket -- was tailor-made for Jane Fonda in her "Klute" period, androgynous shag. Only illegalities by federal investigators prevented Dohrn from being put away on ice for a long, long time.

Given that Obama had served on a Chicago board with Ayers and approved funding of a leftist educational project sponsored by Ayers, one might think that the unrepentant Ayers-Dohrn couple might be of some interest to the national media. But no, reporters have been too busy playing mini-badminton with every random spitball about Sarah Palin, who has been subjected to an atrocious and at times delusional level of defamation merely because she has the temerity to hold pro-life views.

Take that, Mainstream media! LMAO! And yes, read the whole thing.

PBS documentary website

Torrent or get the Youtube version.

Jobama?

Jojo Binay declares his intention to run for president in 2010.

And if Mayor Binay wins, he'd be our first "black president" raw, sabi ni House Deputy Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II.

It's good that Jejomar declared early. Let the vetting process begin!

MORE: Ellen Tordesillas thinks Binay's announcement means Erap has closed the door on running for president in 2010.

Margaret Hoover en Español

She always has that naughty girl look whenever I see her at The Factor.

The Rehabilitation of Sarah Palin's Image

From Marc Ambinder:

Wonder why Sarah Palin is everywhere? It's not because she IS running in 2012. It's because, in order for her to think about running, she has to change the way that non-Republicans see her. It's a precondition.

Because Democrats and Independents just don't like her.

Who will be the new White House Chef?

Will it be this guy?

Does it mean the current Filipina Head Chef will be replaced on Innauguration Day?

"Why is the Philippines absent in the excitement over the election of America's 44th president?"

kasi may pagka-racist raw tayo, sabi ni Conrad de Quiros. And here's the original W. Scott Thompson article "America's gain, Philippines' loss?"

I have similar thoughts on the subject here.

How family planning works in Mexico

and how we can learn from them.

Inquirer: Stop Stalking Obama

The Inquirer Editorial on our Stalker-in-chief:

WE HOPE that President Macapagal-Arroyo, on this visit to the United States, will not try again to wangle a meeting with President-elect Barack Obama, or even try to call him to offer belated congratulations. She may suffer a third snub, and succeed only in embarrassing not just herself but the Filipino nation.

It is not difficult to speculate why Obama has been avoiding Ms Arroyo. Aside from the fact that the Philippines does not figure importantly in the US' geopolitical scheme of things, Ms Arroyo is not exactly a political figure that Obama, who ran on a platform of change and would like to project a good, clean image, would want to be seen with. The nation's experience with Ms Arroyo the past eight years shows that she is the quintessence of the traditional politician.

But what if Obama relents and gives Maam her 5-minute photo-op in NY?

Obama is an intelligent, smart leader and he must be up-to-date on what's happening in various parts of the world. He probably knows that Ms Arroyo is held in low esteem not only in her own country but in parts of the world that value honor, integrity and honesty in government leaders.

The Philippines, during the incumbency of Ms Arroyo, has sunk lower in standing in terms of corruption. The Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy last March found the Philippines to have the worst corruption rating among Asia's 13 biggest economies. A World Bank study in July said that corruption in the Philippines is perceived to be the worst among East Asia's leading economies. Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index, released in October, showed the Philippines way down at 141 among 180 countries surveyed.

Forty-two percent of the respondents in a Pulse Asia poll in October considered Ms Arroyo "the most corrupt president in Philippine history." She "surpassed" even Marcos, who was featured in an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for the "biggest robbery" [of the national treasury] of $5-10 billion.

Obama probably has an inkling of the world-class graft and corruption that is taking place in the Philippines, and of the suspected complicity of Ms Arroyo and her husband in some of the multibillion-peso deals like the $329-million NBN-ZTE project and the P728-million fertilizer scam.

He probably knows about the human rights record of the Arroyo administration: 933 activists and militants killed and 199 missing or disappeared, and 59 journalists killed. He probably knows something about the report of UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston who criticized the executive branch and the military for their apparent failure to stop the spate of extrajudicial killings. He probably has read reports about the attempts of the Arroyo administration to suppress the freedom of the press and freedom of expression and to restrict the people's right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for the redress of their grievances.

But what if he isn't up to speed with the current Philippine affairs?

Change.gov scrubbed

Agenda disappears from Obama's website.

Voting "present"

Obama does it again!

UPDATE: Pulling a NAFTA?

And the importance of being careful.

The new SWS 2010 prez surveys are out

De Castro, Villar, Legarda tops the survey.

The results probably doesn't mean much at this early a stage. I mean wasn't Hillary polling 20 pts. ahead nationally of Barack Obama a year ago. And wasn't Rudy Giuliani the frontrunner for much of 2007 after McCain's campaign imploded?

Eniwey, bakit paminsan-minsan lang lumalabas yang mga SWS at Pulse surveys na yan. Hindi ba nila kayang gumawa ng daily tracking poll katulad ng Rassmussen at Gallup?

At dapat, independent ang SWS sa Pulse sa data gathering, hindi katulad dati.

Luchi Cruz Valdez resigns from ABS-CBN

The funny thing about it (for me) was that the news item was posted in the Inquirer Showbiz/Entertainment section.

Rahm Emanuel, Obama's Pitbull w/out Lipstick

Clinton's former thuggish aide from Chicago becomes Obama's next WH Chief of STaff. Here's some background about this character from Rolling Stones in 2005.

But Democrat analyst and FOXNEWS contributor Kirsten Powers give Rahm the thumbs up.

More from Glenn Reynolds:

"Actually, I think this makes sense for Obama. Emanuel will serve as Obama's hatchet-man and Dr. No, but the main targets will be Congressional Democrats and Democratic interest groups. Obama realizes that he's promised a lot more than he can deliver, and Emanuel's job will be to stave off all the claimants who -- as they realize that too -- will try to get to him before it's too late. Obama can stay the good cop, while Emanuel will be the bad. Republicans flatter themselves if they think they'll be the focus of Emanuel's attentions; they'll be an afterthought."

Stocks continue post-election plunge

Dow, S&P 500 Post Worst Two-Day Decline Since 1987.

And Michael Moynihan on the Surge that never came.

Now they tell us!

From Ramesh Ponnuru

David Greenberg in Slate: McCain's campaign wasn't really so dishonorable. Next he'll be telling us that Obama's connection to Wright was a legitimate issue.

UPDATE: Hillblogger disagrees though.

Condi celebrates Obama's victory

Nice touching moment. So Barry's the first, will she be the second?

How bad was Sarah Palin?

here's the "day after" report from FOXNEWS that was put off the record until after the elections.



HuffPo: Palin Once Greeted McCain Staff Wearing Only A Towel

Asians uneasy over Obama's trade stance

because Obama appears to be a protectionist. And how will that affect our call center industry?

Related: What to expect from an Obama presidency

John Hindraker: "Barack Obama is a rather mysterious figure: despite the fact that every policy he advocates will hurt the economy and the stock market, he has been the darling of Wall Street. Employees of securities firms have been among the biggest contributors to his campaign."

Luli Arroyo ties the knot

Maam's 37-year old daughter finally gets married to banker Jay Bernas of Bear Stearns Int'l.

Mr. Bernas is a kamaganak of Jesuit fr. Joaquin Bernas of The Ateneo.

RIP, Michael Crichton

He passed away yesterday at the age of 66.

He's one of my fave authors and i have read almost all of his novels except for the recent ones like "State of Fear" and "Next".

Norm Coleman finally ekes out a small lead

over Al Franken. But it's not over yet (just keep refreshing, 99% na). Let's hope moderate R-Sen. Coleman wins re-election over Stuart Smalley.

UDPATE: AP calling the race for Norm Coleman.

Filipinos pick Obama over McCain in mock polls

77% to 23%

sponsored by the US embassy and held at the Mall of Asia and in Cebu.

Congratulations

to the next US president, barack obama.

"The End of Jewish Domination in the United States."

the world rejoices!

Why McCain lost the election

McCain's recent moves after the financial crisis was a factor. The situation was an opportunity for John McCain to show leadership, to show that he has the right temperament for the job-- but instead, his reactions were erratic and too gimmicky/stuntlike to reassure the public. Compared to Obama's cool and calm, McCain's impulsiveness seemed like a riskier choice for voters.

Obama's performance in the debates were also Barack with the voters. He made a good impression on undecideds and he looked presidential. He beat McCain on the economy in the first two debates and did a respectable job on national security and foreign policy.

But the main reason why mccain's poll numbers have dropped was because of Sarah Palin.

Defenders of Palin like Rush Limbaugh claims that she gave McCain his only shot at beating Obama in this election. But that's nonsense. The slight lead McCain got over Obama in the polls during September was just your typical post-convention bounce.

If the McCain camp wants to energize the rightwing base, it could have done much better by selecting the more qualified Fred Thompson or the impressive wonderkid Gov. Jindal.

It could have played safe and smart by selecting economics expert Mitt Romney. Or it could have made a bold move by picking Condi Rice.

Pero hindi eh.

For independent voters, the Palin pick was a risky choice. She is unqualified for the job she seeks, and McCain is pushing 73 yrs old. If something unfortunate happens to the old man, many people would be scared of letting this woman take over the white house.

The palin pick was supposed to attract women voters and Hillary's PUMAs to mccain, but obama's slight lead among women voters has ballooned to a big double digit gap after sarah palin's disastrous interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric:

Women prefer Obama (51-38) while men prefer McCain (47-43), indicating the Palin strategy did not really work on females... Single women prefer Obama (65-26) while married women vote for McCain (46-43)

Take note, as Sarah Palin's once favorable-unfavorable numbers have steadily dropped after her convention speech, it dragged mccain's chances at the presidency down with her.


(poll source: FOXNEWS)

Look at the table, McCain's favorables are still good. In short, pabigat si Gov. Palin sa ticket.

McCain's VP choice also killed whaterver chances he once had with attracting independent and moderate republicans. Just look at the numbers for mccain before and after the Palin selection. Gen. Colin Powell endorsement of O. was the nail in the coffin for Sen. McCain.

This Fucking Election

words. just words.

The Sarkozy Scenario

From David Frum's article:

The president of the country was massively unpopular. His party was hammered by scandals. The economy was bad, unemployment was rising and polls showed worrying levels of public pessimism.

The nation’s left-wing opposition party had united behind a charismatic and appealing challenger: the first major party nominee to be something other than the usual white male.

Really, the whole thing seemed hopeless.

America 2008? No — France 2007.

Read the whole thing.