Achieving Happiness

What can I say? I am so into the Kris-James break-up-because-of-another-woman-daw story. It’s an issue my mom and I can bond over. Lately she’s been reading murder and lawyer mysteries, and I’m not into those (I prefer spy thrillers); she likes Josh Groban (I’m not a fan), so lately on the cultural front we don’t have much to talk about.
Until the Kris-James issue exploded.
When my dad was still alive, he would moan and groan and smirk and be snide whenever Mama would flip channels and watch ‘The Buzz.’ She’s always followed Kris Aquino’s career (but she never watched her movies, thank goodness for small favors), and now her marriage.
She feels bad for Kris. Last Sunday over a late lunch she kept saying "Kawawa naman ang batang iyan!’ and tsk-tsk-tsking, she said we (Kim and I) should watch the Buzz later on that afternoon and Korina Sanchez’ show in the early evening with her. It actually felt like we discussing the affairs of one of the members of the family and that we should all pitch in to help them during a very difficult time in their lives.
Kris is such a public figure, every single move she makes and every little thing that happens to her is media fodder — the stuff of newsstories, necessitating  spools of  audio, camera, and video tape to be reeled off and developed. She’s the country’s number one endorser (it’s like everywhere I turn there’s a billboard featuring her, what she’s wearing, eating, using, etc), and she has tv programs that run daily. She used to get on my nerves, but now, being married myself (haha!), I feel a twinge of sympathy for her.
Whenever Kim and I quarrel (over unwashed dishes, which DVD to watch, dirty laundry, wrong bread, rotting fruit in the fridge), it’s always a terrible thing for me because I really don’t like conflict. It makes both Kim and I cringe to think that the neighbors could hear us bicker and argue.
Now here’s Kris and her two-year old marriage is being dissected by everyone (including myself) on the planet and they’re laying down their own judgments and comments. It must feel so  horrible and no wonder she’s gone back to her mom. She should quit reading the papers and stop watching tv.
GMA7 is trying to justify airing the Hope interview as simply giving the public what it wanted; that the public deserved to know.
Jeez, the story isn’t exactly life and death like finding the cure for a sudden outbreak of SARS or the H5N1 virus. It’s not a matter affecting national security and no one will be the worse off if they didn’t know about it.
The impact on Kris and James, though, has been devastating. Kris could have had a miscarriage from all the upset and stress. Now they’re on the verge of a break-up or an annulment.
Is the breakup of a marriage (kahit pa celebrity) worth the telecast of a cheesy interview with a woman who wants her own 15 minutes of fame/notoriety?  Love or hate Kris Aquino, she didn’t deserve that. She could have been, she should have been spared from that.
Gad, I used up about 50 brain cells just to write all this…
—–

So I was right! Jovito Palparan does want to run for congress! Holy heck!

If Palparan ran for a
position in hell, he’d win and take over; but if he’s hell-bent on running for
public office, then everyone – and I mean everyone who doesn’t want their civil
and human rights violated and who believes that cold-blooded criminals must pay
– must all do their best to make sure
he doesn’t win.

In any case, Palparan’s bid for elective office should be
nipped in the bud. A serial killer and mastermind of massacres should not be
allowed to run even for barangay chairman. He belongs behind bars, not in
congress. To be honest, though, Palparan’s black brand of politics and twisted
understanding of what it means to defend democracy makes him an ideal candidate
of the Arroyo administration.

Nearly choked with outrage over Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief
of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon’s rah-rah-rah cheer for Palpatan. He’s practically putting up a fan club I
Heart Palparan Forever.

Which group will Palparan represent? ANAD? Or national
security adviser Norberto Gonzales’ Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas
(PDSP)? Palparan is a cold-blooded killer, and what other platform can he carry
but that of death? Esperon’s endorsement of Palparan is an endorsement of the
continuing spate of extrajudicial killings and the general deterioration of the
human rights situation in the country.

  Esperon has the gall to recommend
Palparan to run for public office even in the midst of the outrage over the
extrajudicial killings. He only affirms the AFP’s full support for the killings
and the continuing attacks against the members and leaders of the progressive
party-lists, human rights advocates and members of militant people’s
organizations. Esperon is a hypocrite and a liar by saying that he and the AFP
are non-partisan – here he is, practically the president of the Jovito Palparan
fan club and goading the killer to run.

In the meantime, Norberto Gonzales’ also has plans to also run for a congressional seat
in Bataan. This guy has made a name and reputation for himself as
a war mongerer and an advocate of state repression of civil and democratic
rights. The residents of Bataan would do good
to think a hundred times over before they even consider putting his name on the
ballot. May all pens, pencils and all other writing implements lose their ink
and lead if users even begin to think of writing Gonzales’ name in the ballot.
Gumana na lang ulit if it’s the names of the GO candidates that will be written
(as well as the names of the progressive party-lists, syempre).

If there are dream tandems, then Gonzales and Palparan are a
nightmare team. The team from hell.

Was rereading Douglas Coupland’s ‘Microserfs’ last night and I twigged at how dated it was. That should be expected, I know - because he wrote it as a document of a certain period in history, covering a certain phase in the evolution of society and its technology. ‘
Reading it I felt freaking old. He was writing about how email had everyone hooked, and Pentium 1 software was way better than 486 droneware. Aaaagh. Then I remembered that I first read the book in 1995, and that was, sheeeeyit, a decade ago.
One sure fire I’ve discovered to keep track of how my mind and way of thinking/feeling have evolved is to reread old favorites. My reactions to the books I’ve read when I read them again after a certain period of time like, say, five years, serve as a gauge on whether or not I’ve matured or not. There are some books that personally affected me deeply when I was younger (The Catcher in the Rye, Little Women) but do not have the same impact on me now that I’m all  grown up (harhar). 
Then there  are the books that I will always be blown away by, no matter how old I get and how much time has elapsed since I first read them and when I read them again — To Kill a Mockingbird; The French Lieutenant’s Woman; The English Patient.

—–

They’re selling coffee buns in Mega Mall. Roti Mum from Singapore. They’re pretty tasty, but they’re not cheap. Kim and I ate a couple last night and made each other swear that we wouldn’t buy them anymore, sigh.
This is how we wean ourselves from expensive junk food: we eat a lot of it;  moan about how expensive it was; then, disgusted with ourselves, we resolve not to buy and eat  anymore (unless may ibang manlibre…). This is how we’re stopping ourselves from becoming paupers because we blow all our money on Yellow Cab pizza, Kettle Corn, Arce Diary ice cream and cake from Fleur de Lys (the Joaquin and Fleur de Lys cake is, gad, how do I describe it? Heaven in five bites a slice).
–

This is my MP3 player. Without it I go slightly nuts. It
keeps me company when am using public transport and traffic is hell. It’s two
and a half inches tall and an inch thick, and has 8G worth of music in it. More
than our sandwich maker, it’s my favorite gadget.

Right now its lying on my desk and a few moments ago I was
staring at it and remembering that a few weeks back I had wanted to write about
it and why it’s practically my best friend. But then other things came up, I
got upset by other things (I live in a perpetual state of being upset. I really
should freaking quit reading the news!), and I ended up not writing anything.

Anyways, that picture above is of my MP3 player. It’s a
Creative Zen. My friend Chi helped me to buy it off an American expat second
hand (two months old, the guy said) who was desperate to sell it to raise money
for his plane fare to the former USSR  where his girlfriend was. He used the player to learn
Russian, and sure enough when I got the player there were language files in it.
Since my Russian is pretty rusty, I deleted the files).

I had this molecule of an idea that I would write short
stories about things I own that really help me deal with everyday life — the
ordinary objects that I rely on to help me maintain my facade of normalcy like,
say, my P20 black plastic comb, my Columbia water bottle; my watch; my fake
Swiss Knife; my fountain pen and the Parker Ink bottle, the MP3 player. But am so lazy I seldom get
around to writing anything and for the most part I just make draft outlines and
leave them at that.

Like right now, being such a lazy duck and just tapping away
nonsense.

—

 US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney has made statements that the
US government is concerned over the extrajudicial killings in
the Philippines.
Thanks, but no thanks, Ambassador. Your country has meddled so much and so long
into the Philippines’
internal, political affairs that we are not at all a sovereign nation. And
before your government even thinks to make a comment on the worsening human rights
situation in the Philippines, the would be better to pull out its own troops
from Iraq and submit itself to the International Criminal Court for countless
crimes against humanity. A lecture on human rights is not something the US government
can credibly give.

The US Embassy won’t
even surrender convicted rapist Daniel Smith to the Philippine authorities, and
Smith violated a Filipina. The Macapagal-Arroyo presidency and the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP) are waging this campaign against political
activists and perpetrating extrajudicial killings also in the name of the US’ campaign against terrorism. Ambassador Kenney’s
expressions of concern on behalf of her government only add insult to injury.
They are steeped in hypocrisy.

 If the Ambassador Kenney is personally concerned over the
human rights violations being perpetrated by the AFP, then she should make a
recommendation to the White House that the US withdraw all military aid to the
Philippines, and permanently call off the Balikatan exercises.

 Can she do this? Can Ambassador Kenney and her government go
beyond issuing these statements of concern and do something concrete by way of
ending military abuses in the Philippines?
Sadly, the answer is most likely ‘no.’

Nakakasawa na rin. Madalas pag kinakamusta ako ng mga kaibigan at kakilala, sunod na tanong pagkatapos ng ‘kamusta ka?’ ay ‘kelan ka manganganak?’ (or permutations of the same questions, phrased as ‘Buntis ka ba?’, ‘Wala pa bang laman yan?).
I did not get married to bear children. That wasn’t the main thing.
Not that I don’t want to have kids. Because I do (really. I– we–want two children, a boy and a girl, and we even have arguments as to which school we’re going to send them to), but right now it’s a very scary thing. I don’t want to subject my children to the kind of society we suffer right now. I feel very hesitant.
I read the newspapers and I want to throw up. And I’m not even pregnant. If I were pregnant and I read about all the stupid, inane and outrageous comments of the various officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) about UNHRC special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings  Philip Alston’s report, I’d probably miscarry.
Gad. This is an insane government peopled and led by liars, lunatics and killers.
It’s also the election season, and the trapos remember the poor and exploited, and they make the rounds making promises, shaking hands, chucking babies under the chin. I am appalled that Sen. Joker Arroyo sees it better to run under Macapagal-Arroyo than to be an independent or tolerate the Opposition. I am disgusted that boxer Manny Pacquiao is letting himself be used by Arroyo and her handlers - and the same goes for actor Cesar Montano (who really should know better — hasn’t he learned a single thing from the movies he starred in? Muro Ami? Bagong Buwan? Nothing? Not a smidgen?)
I am currently nursing a cold, and my nose is like a leaky faucet. I find it hard to breathe and I have lost most of my appetite. I am impatient and easily tired and right now my nose hurts and it all contributes to my barely-containable disgust  with the way things are in the Philippines. I’m reading news reports while I wipe my nose and I’m practically hurting myself reading.
I’m writing without much attention to order or theme right now, but all of my thoughts run in the same direction: I AM DISGUSTED.
My mom just sent me an SMS saying what a hard and difficult life Jose Rizal had. I’m guessing she’s finally gotten around to watching that DVD Rizal biopic my sister have her as one of her Christmas presents. I laughed and texted her back that Andres Bonifacio had it tougher. I can imagine her sighing as she sent her response - "Ang hirap pala maging bayani. You end up dead.’
Oh mom, that is so true. This country is led by false leaders who kill nameless and faceless heroes, those who seek to change the way things are and try to make a difference in how the way things will be by saying, demanding how things should be.
Anyways I’ve gone through an entire roll of tissue paper and the desk is littered with proof of how bad my cold is. Richard Gomez is apparently so clueless that there’s an actual (kahit paano) difference between the administration and the opposition. He says it doesn’t matter much to him whom he runs with. Omigod. And that his running doesn’t have anything to do with his acting. Omigod ulit. I feel my headache getting worse.
Edgardo Angara has reportedly admitted that he’s running under the Arroyo banner because he’s being practical — he wants his votes to be safe. He is, after all, running with a mistress of electoral fraud, so joining forces with her will ensure that his votes will be counted. Oh heck.
Just wiped my nose and I think I’ve rubbed it raw. My upper lip is stinging bloody hell.
—
Tomorrow is Friday. Yippee. I like Fridays. Always have. It has to do with my childhood. Friday meant that the next day would be Saturday and there would be Saturday Fun Machine over at Channel 9.
Now I like Fridays because Kim doesn’t have work the next two days and we can hang out a bit and eat pizza or whatever. And I can bitch and moan and complain all I want and he’s there to listen and argue me out of my angry mood.
—

The Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s refusal to acknowledge and respect the findings and conclusions of United Nations Human Rights Commission special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston is proof that it will never substantially and genuinely address the issue of the killings.

Instead of receiving the findings objectively and constructively, Malacanang and its military spokespersons as well as justice secretary Raul Gonzalez have taken to dismissing Alston’s findings. Malacanang spokesperson Ignacio Bunye says that Malacanang welcomes all investigations into the killings; but seeing the AFP’s reaction to the Mr. Alston’s report, will Malacanang act in the findings of the investigations?

Gonzalez has taken a complete leave of his senses. It’s embarrassing how such a ranking official of the government can make such comments about a representative of respected international institution; especially right after Pres. Arroyo herself has said that her government will cooperate fully with Mr. Alston’s investigations.

What kind of cooperation is this government giving to Mr. Alston or to any other members of the international human rights community? Malacanang will simply not acknowledge the findings and recommendations of these concerned individuals and their respective organizations. What Malacanang and the likes of Gonzalez want is absolution; or at the least, for the members of the international community to shut up about the extrajudicial killings in the country.

Gonzalez is a national embarrassment; and he is liability to the already unpopular Arroyo administration. With the likes of Gonzalez in the Department of Justice and in the cabinet itself, no justice can ever be given the victims of the killings and their families. Gonzalez will relentlessly persist in his campaign to insult, disparage and denigrate all those who demand that Philippine government to address the killings and punish the perpetrators. Pres. Arroyo herself most likely if not silently applauds Gonzalez for his lack of respect and discretion as well as utter rudeness when speaking on the issue of human rights.

It’s official – Malacanang will never acknowledge any international report on the human rights situation in the Philippines that doesn’t coincide with its own version of reality. Pres. Arroyo herself has on many different occasions said that she welcomes any and all assistance from the international community to get to the truth behind the extrajudicial killings; but now here we have her own cabinet officials and spokespersons of the Armed Forces of the Philippines making personal insults against a UN official and refuting his findings as mere results of brainwashing.

How come she has not chastised Sec. Gonzalez for his insults against Mr. Alston and his office?

It’s clear that Malacanang and officials like Raul Gonzalez will never welcome any investigations into the killings that will not absolve the government and the Armed Forces of the

Philippines.The only assistance that Malacanang will genuinely accept and welcome in relation to the extrajudicial killings are the ones that say that the AFP is not guilty and that there is no government plot to eliminate civilians allied with human rights groups and progressive party-lists.

In the meantime, it’s good that the Melo Commission’s report has been released. It will now be up to the public to lay down its verdict on the report. It should however be pointed out that even the Melo Commission which Macapagal-Arroyo herself ordered established was unable to come up with findings that did not pinpoint the military as perpetrators of the killings.

The Melo Commission cannot be accused of being biased in favor of the so-called Leftists; but still it’s findings reveal that the military is accountable for the deaths of the members of the progressive party-lists and human rights groups. Now that the report has been made public, we challenge Pres. Arroyo to act on the findings and the recommendations of the Melo Commission and proceed with the arrest and prosecution of the masterminds and perpetrators of the killings, beginning with Jovito Palparan.

We have had enough of Malacanang’s lip service to the issues of human rights and the extrajudicial killings. Malacanang should put its money where its mouth is so to speak. We demand that Pres. Arroyo order the immediate arrest of Jovito Palaparan and the immediate scrapping of Oplan Bantay Laya. Arroyo herself should a issue a public apology to the families of the victims, and also publicly denounce the killings as the handiwork of the AFP.

No witness protection program, no number of court hearings can replace the outright scrapping of Oplan Bantay Laya. This must be the first step – for a public declaration on the part of the administration that it is ordering the AFP to stop attacking and killing the members and leaders of militant people’s groups, human rights organizations and progressive party-lights. What we demand is an unequivocal statement from Pres. Arroyo herself calling on the AFP to stop its killing operations.

Omigod. Britney Spears shaved her head. She is now officially bald.
Gad. I feel so sorry for this person. Sure she has millions of dollars in the bank; and sure, she’s
an internationally-known pop star (my opinion on her music is not the issue here, though);
but she has recently divorced from her husband, she’s raising two kids on her own; she’s
the subject of so many nasty rumors (some are actually true, especially the ones that say that she goes around without underwear and that she hasn’t been taking good care of herself. The pictures are so sad) and she’s just, well, devastated.
Money really can’t buy you love and happiness.
She really should just check into rehab or something.
Oh yeah she did — but she left after one day.
Britney Spears, bald. She is not Sinead ‘0 Connor. She shaved her head because she’s sad and she’s distraught and she probably can’t take care of herself anymore. She doesn’t have the energy or the ability to focus.
Yeah, yeah, I know - why the heck am I writing about Britney Spears, and so what if she uglified herself by taking a razor to her own scalp and cutting off her own mane?
I have long hair. It’s almost done to my waist. It takes me at least ten minutes in the shower to shampoo it, and another ten to rinse off. When I comb it, arm and shoulder aches afterward because I have to run the comb through the strands at least a hundred times to get rid of the tangles and make sure that I don’t look like I’ve been dragged through the brambles by the hair.
Every two hours at work I check into the john to see if I still look human, that my hair isn’t too wild.
So there. Imagine all that effort! It takes me three minutes to decide what to wear every day, but 30  all in all just to fix my hair.
Even when I’m in funk and feel like just staying indoors to gripe and groan, I still comb my hair. Actually, I’ve noticed that the more upset I am about the world, my personal life, work, etc, the more attention I pay to how I look and whether my hair looks like Medusa’s or not. Because nothing sucks more than being in pain (or being upset, etc) than everybody else knowing about it.
BUT BRITNEY SHAVED HER HAIR RIGHT OFF. She walked into a tattoo parlor, grabbed an electric shaver, and went to work. The attendants said that she looked pretty spaced out while she was doing it; and that she told them that she was sick and tired ‘of dealing with it all,’ whatever ‘all is.’ The divorce, the mean gossip, everything.
Tsk-tsk-tsk. I feel bad for her and her two kids, they’re just babies. Somebody should just adopt Britney Spears and give her a hug or something. Her family doesn’t seem to be doing much to help her. Somebody should also pay closer attention to her, who knows what else she’ll do the next time she picks up a razor.
Maybe when she’s more sane she could try and do what the late Princess Diana did — make use of all the crazy media attention and publicity in support of good causes. Maybe she could campaign against drug addiction, or homelessness, or lack of allocations for public schools and hospitals. Maybe she could campaign against George Bush even. Gad. She’s 24? 25?
—–

                          There are days when I think that the Macapagal-Arroyo government is hoping that Filipinos will think in terms of the X-Files when analyzing the issue of the relentless political and extra-judicial killings — that Filipinos will think that the killings ra being perpetrated by aliens.

Human rights organizations keep pressing that the investigations into the killings be conducted scientifically, like what the Las Vegas crime lab CSI unit under Gil Grissom does with their cases; but hell, the government insists on the X-Files-type of approach: the killings as supposedly unexplained phenomenon.

How do you explain away 830 people brutally shot and killed? All of them either human rights advocates, members of progressive partylists, or members of militant mass oragnizations? Aliens dropped out of the sky, freezed time, shot the activists, then left and went back to their spaceships? Like what’s happening in the Philippines is an intergalactix experiment of some higher form of life?

And what about the hundreds of those still missing — the desaparecidos? Are they now being considered alien abductees and can their families hope that they wil return one of these days, with strange markings on their lower backs, wrists and abdomens, with no recollection of what happened to them or where they’ve been?

It’s simply frustrating how lives do not mean jackshit to this government.

—

For all of Malacanang spokesperson Ignacio Bunye’s statements to the press that his boss respects human rights and that she is giving ful attnetion to the issue of the killings, Malacanang is now refusing to release the results of the Melo Commission’s investigations. The European Union Commission and visiting United Nations Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings have requested copies of tyhe report, but Malacanang has been less than cooperative and is stalling the report’s release. The document, it’s been said, will not be made available to the media.

What’s the logic behind Malacanang’s decision to keep the report under close wraps? Does the document pose a threat to national security? Will its release cause an immediate impact of further weakening the economy? Why is the media – and hence, the general public – being kept in the dark regarding the full contents of  the Melo Report? The more Malacanang tries to keep the report under close wraps, the more we will push for the report to be made public.  As guardian of the fourth estate, the media has the right to know and the responsibility to report what is contained in the Melo Commission’s official findings. The commission’s report has not been classified as top secret, so why is it being treated as such? Has Malacanang embarked on a copy-reading, editing, and re-writing campaign and is in the process of revising the report?

Some 57 Anakpawis political party members, coordinators and leaders have been killed since Anakpawis was first established in 2003.  The rest are members and leaders of Bayan Muna, and members of people’s organizations under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN). All in all, 831 activists have been killed since Arroyo came to power in 2001 Most of the  killed come from the peasant and labor sectors. Just the other day, a member of the League of Filipino Students and Kabataan Party-list was gunned down in Sorsogon. All these should have been documented by the Melo Commission and noted by Malacanang (after all, Macapagal-Arroyo herself has said that the issue of the killings is important to her, right?)

Malacanang’s the one making such a big deal out of the report by keeping it from the media and the rest of the public. The controversy surrounding the Melo Commission’s findings and recommendations will not quit and go away so long as human rights organizations and other concerned parties are made aware of its full contents. The Commission’s credibility has been under fire from day one because it was Pres. Arroyo who ordered its creation as an obvious attempt to show the international commnity that she’s doing something to address the killings. Then, when the commission said that it’s b was done, it essentially absolved Macapagal-Arroyo from blame and responsibility for the killings by oh-so-carefully implying that the problem lies with the military. Now, the report is being kept under Malacnanag’s lock and key.

It’s difficult to not suspect that Malacanang and its various spin doctors are keeping the report close to their chests as yet because they want to make its contents more favorable to the administration. Otherwise, the report would have been made public as soon as it came out. It’s not exactly a document that has severe implications on national security, but perhaps Malacanang is afraid that its content is damning enough to verify and confirm the assertions of human rights groups that the Arroyo government is implementing a state policy on extrajudicial killings against activists and human rights advocates.

If Malacanang will only release the report to the European Union Commission and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, then it will only confirm the allegation that the Melo Commission was only formed to satisfy the demands of the international community. The families of the victims interviewed by the Melo Commission, for instance, also have the right to know what the commission’s conclusions are. They should not be kept in the dark. Let the members of the media read and interpret the contents of the said document. Let there be an objective reading of the report, and let the public decide.

—-

Saw Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s ‘Babel’ last weekend and went home depressed.
I suppose that the fact that it makers chose topics like the ones exposed in
the film already makes the film worthy of the awards and citations it has
received; but for the most part it was
like a series of scenes from real life. While it is true that I didn’t see much
that I realize or learn anything new , it affirmed my belief that often, the
problems of humanity spring from the fact that people frequently and tragically misunderstand each other even over the most simple things.

Misunderstand and deliberately, with the full doing of
chauvinist and militarist governments and power systems, twist each
person’s understanding of others.

I guess the strongest message of the movie for me at least
is this: we have to listen to what each one of is saying. Listen, be
compassionate, and always strive to keep our humanity when we deal with each
other even during the most trying situations.

That’s pretty trite and corny, I guess; but sheesh,it’s
really the simplest lessons that are most forgotten or ignored (Listen closely,
pay attention, be open-minded even as you take a stand). And this is where the tragedy lies. Human
nature?

It is to the benefit and increasing power of governments
like that of George W. Bush that paranoia, mistrust and racism are maintained
between peoples of different color and culture. That people blame the country’s
or the world’s he way others are different in how they speak, how they dress,
how they worship or work; instead of going to the root causes of
conflict: unresolved poverty , injustice, ignorance.

All over the world there is hunger, disease and death due to
war. How can it be that, say, in Hollywood, the likes of Paris Hilton can buy
hundreds of pairs of diamond-studded shoes if she wanted to, but in countries
in Africa, children literally fall down death because of starvation? How is it
possible that the children of the business elite in the Philippines can get nose and breast jobs out of
vanity, but thousands of children in Bicol and war-stricken Mindanao have never seen a doctor in their entire life?

How can that not be wrong? And how can such a state of
things in the world be allowed to happen and continue? How can anyone who knows
that such…twistedness in the world happens on a day-to-day basis not want to
do anything about it?

So we sat there in the dark theatre, biting our lips and
then muttering how we should have, gad, should have watched ‘Night at the
Museum’ instead.

—-

To my friends and acquaintances who have ‘normal’ jobs and
‘normal lives’, please, sometimes please spare a thought for the less fortunate
and the victims of social injustice:

1. Join cause-oriented groups

2. Volunteer to the Red Cross

3. Go out and do something good for other people,
anything!!!!

If you’re a nurse or a doctor, volunteer for a medical
mission; if you earn a lot, please donate to activist causes and for the relief
measures in calamity-stricken regions.

Gad, I sound so desperate; but it’s so…immoral to not do
anything at a time when millions of people are dying!Do something worthwhile.
Help other people who are in trouble — starving, homeless, sick or dying. Be
less selfish and live a little for others.That’s a start.

(As an aside, I read the latest PETA newsletter on how the
company PetSmart neglects to take of the animals it sells in its stores.
Hundreds of hamsters and gerbils dying because of malnutrition or stressful
living conditions. Then, last night Kim and I went to the Bio Research branch in SM Megamall and the hamsters were literally chewing on each other. Cannibalism. Cute Teddybear hamsters gnawing on their dead kin like creatures straight out of a George Romero film.The stress living in  too cramped cages. We wanted to buy and rescue all the hamsters.Aaaagh! ).

—-