A tale of two men . . .


One was this small . . .


The other was this gee-normous . . .

"Wannabe super-model niece"


Meet my soon to be super-model 4-month old American niece, Bianca Shanelle


Wannabe

Meet my four-month old niece, Bianca Shanelle. Bya is her nick. She is the daughter of my sister and get this . . . a bonafide American Citizen.

Yup, she was born in the USA and if everything goes to plan, might be able to visit them by October or by early next year.

My sister is now living in San Francisco with my Mom and have sucessfully undergone an operation to remove her cervical cancer. However, she would have to undergo chemo and radiology treatments in the coming months to ensure that her cancer won't recur.
Sadly the procedure would also ensure that Bya would be their only child.

Truly, my niece's name fits her for she is the "Biyaya" of her mom.

I am not known to be a religious person, but I know many of you are. Hopefully you could include her in your prayers or rituals.

"Losing Focus"


Trying to be cute . . .

President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo is facing an exceptionally complex set of scandals and accusations and, as usual in the Philippines, nothing is clear.

Mrs. Arroyo's perfect storm of crises has probably put her close to lame-duck territory one year into her six-year term, and may have paralyzed her administration for years. This can only exacerbate the profound, long-term crisis of capacity that is crippling the state.

Even before the latest Comelec scandals, Arroyo had recorded the lowest presidential approval ratings in the history of opinion polls in The Philippines. It took her three weeks to respond to the telephone call revelations, and that response only came after a dozen of her cabinet secretaries reportedly threatened to resign.

But that reality came into effect on Mrs. Arroyo’s most trying day as 8 cabinet secretaries and two senior executives led by her economic team resigned en masse and asked for her to step down as well. On that same day her staunchest allies led by Senate President Franklin Drilon and former President Corazon Aquino joined the call for her to step down.

Rally after rally followed with each side gunning for the most number of warm bodies to give credence to their case. At its prime, the opposition claimed 40,000 flocked to Ayala to call for the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo. But most probably the masses went to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors and actresses in the seemingly variety show bandwagon. The Arroyo supporters countered with a prayer rally held last Saturday at the Quirino Grandstand saying that at least 100,000 supporters called for stability and the end of the political turmoil.

In the end, these rallies do not only worsen the economic instability of the nation, they also generate divisive sentiments among the people and draw away focus from the nagging problems that need our leaders’ full attention.

In the course of the political turmoil brewing in the Philippines, many politicians and civil leaders have lost sight of the true problem hitting not only the home country but the whole International community as well.

A pending oil crisis is looming in the near future as the price of oil in the world market has breached the $70 per barrel ceiling. In addition the Philippines desperately need economic reform and to strengthen its effort in the fight against terrorism.

It seems that Mrs. Arroyo is dead set in addressing them but she is hugely damaged, and intensely vulnerable should just one more crisis break out.

But whether things would grow better or worse from here on, would all depend on what the Mrs. Arroyo would do to ease the pressure on her to vacate the presidency. For as long as she would not do anything to worsen the prevailing national condition, the easier it will be for the armed forces and the national police to remain neutral as it has been doing in the past weeks.

Which is why it is important to settle the issue through constitutional process rather than allow violence and divisiveness to continue.

It is really just a matter of letting our legal processes take their course, and for results to come out with objectivity.

"Enter the Sandman"


British author Neil Gaiman


I must say, the level of geekiness was quite high at the Music Museum where Sandman author Neil Gaiman was to hold a Q&A sponsored by the ever dapper British Council. Even before the 1:30pm call time, the theatre was already bursting with fan boys and a large contingent of fan girls. Looking back it does seem that the girls outnumber the guys in this event.

Originally, I was about to pass this assignment to our newly hired reporter, which incidentally is an active Cosplayer (think Elektra and slave girl Leia and some other anime characters which I conveniently forgot. . . ), but due to a misunderstanding had to schlep my way to Greenhills and miss a more important coverage of Cory Aquino again asking GMA to step down at DLSU, Taft.

American Gods is the only work of Gaiman that I am familiar with. Although, I do recall that in college almost every artist was a-gaga over his works especially Sandman and some other titles in the DC Vertigo line.

See, this is the limit of my comic/graphic novel knowledge. Pathetic. . .

I was prepared to be bored with the whole she-bang and just shoot and scoot but somehow I got enraptured with the witty Brit and stayed for almost an hour. Albeit I could not relate much with the comic genre, it was interesting to note that Gaiman was a journalist first before becoming a graphic novel author. That is why, according to him, his novels are more gritty and some would say a different level then the usual hero fantasy that comics are generally known for.

That got me intrigued and am looking forward to read more of his work especially the graphic novels. Wonder if they are still available, cheaply of course.

Niways, this was a good break from covering the seemingly confusing political bruhaha that is plaguing our country.

Who's next?


Now former President Cory Aquino calls for GMA to do the "supreme sacrifice" and step down for the good of the country.



Influential Makati Business Club comprising of the Philippines' business elite calls for PGMA to step down.



Civil society groups reads a statement calling for PGMA to step down.

Mackenzie Calhoun- You are the wild man of
Starfleet. You love outwitting oponents by
doing the one thing they wouldn't expect from a
Starfleet ship... fighting dirty. Of course
to get away with your craftiness, you only
exist in books. Doesn't matter, you're much
cooler than Archer. Some people say you're a
self righteous SOB. They might be right, but
you don't give a damn.


Which Star Trek Captain are you?
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B'Elanna Torres! Congratulations! What does this
mean? It means you have some serious issues...
At least that is what some may think. You are
very confused. You don't like who you are and
to you the grass is always greener on the other
side. You struggle with two very different
sides, each one wanting to get the better of
the other. What you must realize is that both
of these sides are what make you who you are.
Don't fight it, unite it! You'll be able to
work twice as well if you aren't constantly
fighting with...yourself...
You are very good with technical things and with
running a room full of people. You can think
off the top of your head and get things done.
You prefer to work alone for the most part as
you can't really trust anyone else to do it
right.
If you have a fault, it is anger and mistrust.
Don't lash out at people because you are angry
with yourself. Try meditating, controling your
emotions. And every here and there, give
someone the benefit of the doubt. They may
surprise you.


So Which Star Trek Voyager Character Are You?
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