istyupid #8

Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid on Tuesday confirmed his plan to make a political comeback as governor in his home province of Pampanga, revealing as well his plan to recruit Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda as running mate in the 2010 elections. -Inquirer.net (link here)


now i wonder why i even bothered to read the article. oh well.

the Obameter

Politifact (link here) just won a Pulitzer
and i was reminded of how useful their

truth-o-meters were during the campaign.
and i admit to not checking them since
november

so when i visited their site again,
i saw this:




the Obameter! nifty (link here)

imagine if we could put up a Gloriameter
though it's too late for that.

we should have one for the next president
or prime minister.

no, president!

istyupid #7

short-term memory loss? have we forgotten already?

Mr Joseph Convicted Plunderer Estrada,
apologize first then maybe you'll be worth listening to.



Estrada speaks to graduates vs corruption
By Erika Sauler
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:54:00 04/19/2009

MANILA, Philippines – And they said irony was dead.

Although he was ousted in a popular uprising in 2001, convicted of plunder in 2007 and granted executive clemency a month later, former President Joseph Estrada told a class of graduating students to “conquer widespread corruption and cheating in society.”

Estrada was the guest speaker during the 41st commencement exercises of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) on Friday.

In his speech, he joked that in his six years in elementary level, four years in high school and three years in college “lagi akong nakikinig sa professors, ngayon sila naman ang makikinig sa akin [I listened to my professors, now the professors listen to me].”

Perfect speaker

PLM president and United Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano said Estrada, although a college dropout, was the “perfect” graduation speaker because he was an example of a leader.

Estrada, who had hinted he might once again run for president, recently came up with a tentative list of senatorial candidates that included Tamano.

In his speech, the former president hit the Arroyo administration, saying corruption scandals had taken a toll on the country’s economy along with the global financial crisis.

Estrada, who turns 72 today, was ousted from Malacañang in 2001 by EDSA II, paving the way for then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to assume the presidency.

Ms Arroyo pardoned Estrada a month after the Sandiganbayan convicted him of plunder in 2007.

Series of scandals

“Funds for the poor go to the pockets of corrupt government officials under this administration,” Estrada said, referring to the $329-million National Broadband Network scandal, the $2-million extortion case of former Justice Secretary Hernani Perez and the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

“Naghihirap na nga ang mga magsasaka, ninanakawan pa [The farmers are already poor, yet this administration continues to steal from them],” he added.

“In the present crisis, government is not the solution to the problem because the government is the problem,” he said, quoting his “idol” former US President Ronald Reagan.

Estrada also asked the graduates to continue learning and to study why the country remained poor despite alleged programs for poverty alleviation.

“Bakit hindi umuunlad ang bansa kahit matatalino ang mga Filipino? (Why is the country not moving forward when Filipinos are smart?),” he said.

English this way

Estrada noted: “Panay nga ang Ingles eh. Wala naman kasi sa Inglesan yan [They speak English fluently. But progress does not depend on your ability to speak English well].”

While he criticized the Arroyo administration for neglecting the education sector, he extolled his own donations for scholarship programs. He said the Erap Para sa Mahirap Foundation had so far produced 12,000 graduates.

He said he had set up measures to make education affordable for the youth because an “uneducated people results in a weak society.”

Final message

Estrada lamented that Filipinos were forced to work as domestic helpers abroad due to lack of employment opportunities at home. He said this made foreigners think that Filipinos could only perform menial jobs, citing Chip Tsao, the Hong Kong columnist who labeled the Philippines as “a nation of servants.”

“Kailan tayo makakaahon sa kahirapan? Kailan maitatawid ang mahihirap sa kalbaryo ng gutom? Kailan maibabangon ang ating dignidad sa mata ng ibang bansa? [When do we rise up from poverty? When do we liberate our people from hunger? When do we reclaim our dignity in the eyes of the world]?” he said.

Estrada gave this final message to the graduates: “We must rebuild this country today or we may not have a country to be proud of tomorrow.”

like rising from the dead

it's a struggle really.
at times, a huge one. but always
so interesting

like a friend request from someone you haven't seen for a decade
like a childhood dream moments after you realize it is realizable

all this time.
like a song that pops out of nowhere telling you exactly the opposite of what you want to hear
like a text from some past i'd rather not remember
like an event that will happen every year even without you

especially now, without you.
like a place you never really liked but a flash of its name on a screen then you're back there


you still don't like it there
you still don't want to remember. you don't have to
you don't understand any of it. you really don't want to remember

but it's done.
you've remembered

and you may hate how
the request, the dream,
the song, the text,
the event, the place

could all come rushing back all at the same time
but you know for sure
there's no point hating forever.

sooner or later, you love
the sooner the better


and you remember all over again.



Say the words
And I'll lift into the air
Carry me on
And I'll stay forever
I'm ready Father
Take my hand
I'm ready Father
To fly, to fly
Fly
-Jason Robert Brown, Flying Home
official site here

homecoming

i was in the middle of an american pie marathon

when ma told me to watch

this JesCom special on pilgrimages,

particularly this one with Bishop Tagle

across four countries

and after everything, i had this strange longing to read

Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son

again but i left my copy in manila and so

i googled.

found this blog with an excerpt (link here) pasted below.

"As the Beloved of my heavenly Father...

Having 'received without charge', I can 'give without charge'.
I can confront, console, admonish, and encourage
without fear of rejection or need for affirmation.

As the Beloved, I can suffer persecution
without desire for revenge
and receive praise without using it as proof of my goodness.

As the Beloved, I can be tortured and killed without ever having to doubt
that the love given to me is stronger than death.

As the Beloved,
I am free to live and give life,
free also to die while giving life."
-Henri Nouwen

i honestly don't miss those holy week moments

where i would get so overwhelmed by the wrong notion

that Jesus died again. and again the year after.

and that by sunday, two days after, all is well again.

but i'm grateful that we're given the moment

to be reminded that He actually did.

and that He loved us first.

i miss the book.

nudging our weight

you know it's a good book when it moves you to actually do something.

today, shanon and i made a pact:
reach a body fat percentage of 12
and whoever lost less fat whenever one challenges the other
had to pay the other a thousand bucks

our official body fat calculator is here
our official inspiration is here
our inspiration's online commitment store is here

i read about them in a book which has a blog here




there is a new yorker article about it here

the book is seriously worth your time
i know the subtitle sounds really cheesy and mlah
but the book is filled with moments.
and i'm only in part two of five.

graduation speaker, check

even Mr Calasanz found it funny
but they went on with it anyway.

so there i was straight from the airport
being asked to "inspire" high school, grade school,
and (the best part)
prep graduates from my alma mater
marie ernestine school, where i studied 'til grade six.

i said yes, primarily for my mom.
i knew she'd love the whole bit.
she did seem to. even the colorful musical after.

anyway back at the airport in manila
and since i was six hours early for my flight,
i did manage to bump on sleepy people as hoped
but not on a stranger.

i bumped on Mr Acosta
and we had a lovely chat. apparently,
he was supposed to be one of the judges for that
eco-business award category for the hsbc contest.
small world


easy to realize that when you're in an airport.
strange encounters are funny.

strange requests too.
such as that graduation speech.
school founder Dr Fajatin wants a copy
but the one i gave was very different from what i prepared.

you see, i forgot the whole prep-six-year-olds thing and
decided minutes before my bit that i change stuff.
i changed a lot. the toddlers were uneasy.
and the spotlight didn't help.

good thing the theater wasn't so unfamiliar.
even Kuya Virgilio, the school aid ever since first grade was there.


much love, actually.