Last week I had a chance to address an international gathering of people affiliated with Liberal parties, on the subject of Asian Values versus Liberal Democracy. My thesis was simple: at the heart of the contention by proponents of “Asian Values” as some sort of superior alternative to Western-style Liberal Democracy, is an appreciation -from [...]
Here are my thoughts on the President’s Eighth State of the Nation Address (pictures and video here), as I conveyed them on Korina Sanchez’s show and briefly on Channel News Asia (Singapore). A State of the National Address, in particular, has two main audiences in mind. Those sitting in the Session Hall of the House [...]
I think my first train-related entry was back in 2005, in Debating solutions to squatting, I pointed to this entry by Torn and frayed in Manila on how our country possesses “one of the most ramshackle railways in the world.” That’s putting it politely. Torn was reacting to a report by Howie Severino (and The [...]
Over the weekend, the Inquirer editorial said current commanders are Nostalgic for Palparan ; but it was this news item -Ships’ 45 accidents listed: Lloyd’s details Sulpicio’s 28-year history- that provoked the most commentary, from yesterday’s editorial, Sucking up to Sulpicio, to today’s editorial, MV Scandalous . Especially interesting to me is that it took [...]
As a marching music aficionado I couldn’t pass this up. It seems as part of the new Russian imperium, they’re brushing up on spit n’ polish militarism: The Russian Presidential Guards in their freshly dusted-off Czarist-era uniforms. And who better to learn from then their German brethren? Hence.. The Bundeswehr performing Prussian marches in Red [...]
An interesting theme from commentaries overseas: a kind of all-pervasive mental and moral exhaustion afflicting national elites. Fin de siècle? The 1968 of our times (see contrasting views on that important year by Tom Stoppard and Tariq Ali; Filipinos had their 1968 in, well, 1970… it takes time for fashions to filter through…)? David Sirota [...]
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t? When things are relatively easy, no one wants to rock the boat. When times are tough, we’re told everyone’s too busy trying to keep body and soul together to want to rock the boat. The former is what I heard from middle and upper class types, to [...]
Read Uniffors. (yes, this is a day late, but better late than never)
Before anything else, here’s a glimpse of our national tastes as reflected in the TV ratings. See abscbnfan. And to inspire you even further, the blog’s lists of Upcoming ABS-CBN and GMA Shows Until 2009. Speaking of television, the recent weekend blockbuster provoked two noteworthy comments. First, Howie Severino’s Thank you Darlene for beating Pacquiao [...]
