Philippine politics

I promised myself a long time ago not to think about Philippine politics. When I was younger and more idealistic, I really felt that the Philippines really had a chance, that the people would lift themselves up. Benigno Aquino had said at one time that the Filipino is worth dying for. For him that is exactly what he did, and 20 some years later, the country has not progressed in any real fashion, with the exception of the exploding population, which at 80 million (it was 60 million in the 1980s) is expected to double within the next 20 years or so. Is the Filipino really worth dying for?

Hello Garci?

Now the current president is embroiled in an election scandal that seems to sprout new wings and take off with every passing day. It appears that she had phoned an election commisioner on the eve of the vote for president during the last election against the now deceased Fernando Poe Jr. in an effort to ensure that she wins by 1 million votes. The election commisioner apparently told her that they will try their best, for what nobody seems to know. But what appears is that the country has yet again lost confidence in their leader, with many apparently clamoring for change. Her family is also apparently flirting with the same problems that befell the last duly elected president, Estrada. Namely, her husband, son and brother are caught up in a jueteng scam of their own.

Left out in all of this is everyday filipino, who has to figure out how to feed their families on a daily basis while the elected officials continue to stick their hands in the cookie jar and taking out enough to feed thousands of filipinos everyday.

Things will Never Change

Things will never change in the Philippines, that is a statement that my dad has always said, ever since I was in high school. And I tend now to believe him. People in the Philippines tend to be a bit corrupted, and this all comes from the top, from the govt, and the "public servants" on down to the driver in the city streets who pay off the cops who pull them over. Sad but true.

The problems seem to be unsolvable as political families keep amassing fortunes on the backs of the people. Now the Philippines wants debt relief? The country has been paying down its debts that were incurred during the Marcos regime, but the govt. still hasn't shown to the people of the Philippines, let alone the world, that they can be trusted with other peoples monies. Some say that eliminating the foreign debt would release more funds for the country, but the problem here is those funds widely end up in the pockets of the politicians, I should know.

Leave the Philippines
More and more Filipinos are seeking their fortunes abroad, which in turn turns the people into a mobile workforce, building up other countries at the expense of the Philippines. Now the govt. is more reliant than ever on the foreign remittances that these migrant workers send back home. It is increasingly becoming clear that as more people leave the country, the more the country will stay in the dark ages, and the more the Filipino will be known abroad as the workers performing the unwanted or unfilled positions in far off places.

Vietnam has a very industrious people and their govt. is communist. Just 30 years ago, it was wracked in war that left more than 1 million Vietnamese dead. That country is surpassing the Philippines in many areas, both socially and economically, and soon, the Philippines will return to its status not as the Pearl of the Orient, but the sick man of asia. What is it going to take to get the Philippines on track? A U.S. trained economist? She is not working out, and the people have lost faith in her. The U.S. government will support any "duly" elected leader. Is a coup d'etat the right answer in this case? Or should Arroyo step down for the good of the country? It is sad that a mere four years later, the people are faced yet again with the potential of taking matters into their own hands are calling a people power election, but is their support this time around of the cabinet members and armed forces or will the country follow Arroyo to whereever she takes it?

7ft 2 GT Surf Designs

I'll be working at home for the most of the Summer as Jeremy will be attending summer school, and I will be the one to drive him. It's not really that big a deal, except for the fact it gets hot in my "home office." At any rate, I finally picked up a new surfboard, a 7ft 2-inch guy Takayama "GWAT" I know its a lame name for an Egg shaped board, but that is what he calls it. Its got the concaved nose like a noserider, is wide like a longboard, but surfs like a shortboard. I got a barrel on my fourth wave riding it yesterday. And that is with the 2+1. I am going to pull the sidebites and ride it as a single and see how it rides as soon as I get used to the set up. So far so good, but haven't really tested it in overhead waves, which is why I bought it in the first place. On one of the biggest days at Newport last summer, I couldn't make the paddle out because my 9'2 was too darned big and unwieldy. I actually had my eye on this exact shaped board from GT for more than a year, and somebody put one up on eBay and I bought it. $425 was the price, which is a bit steep for a surfboard, actually the most I ever spent for a board, but his boards go for $800 new and I am not going to pay close to $1000 for a surfboard, Guy Takayama or not. Guy is the cousin of my friend Mike, the guy who taught me how to surf back in the late 70s. Guy learned to shape from his ncle Donald, whose boards go for $1000 plus. crazy huh!. When I started surfing, a new board was around $350. You can still get a board for $350, but at that price, you are buying a board made by a shaping machine in China. Seriously, you can buy a surfboard at Costco now that is made in China. At least I know that my GWAT was shaped by a protege of a true shaping master.

South Beach Diet Week 2

Well it is week two of my South Beach Diet, recommended by my doctor. It has been a pretty tough week, but I am now to the point when I look at something like a chili cheese dog from 711 or an in-n-out-burger, I don't mind that I am not eating that stuff anymore. The more difficult comfort foods are the chocolate bars. I am truly a sucker for Reese's peanut butter cups, Snickers bars, and Hershey chocolate bars. I really miss those things, but sugar is sugar, so they have been exed off my eating list. Phase 2 of the diet starts this monday, and for the first time, dark chocolate will be allowed in moderation. Bacon and eggs have been replaced by veggie based sausage patties and egg substitutes. I've liked the Morning star brand even before I gave upmthe bacon and spam and such, so, it wasn't much of a stretch with the veggie based patties. I've also been sprinkling the Morningstar "bacon" on my salads, so that helps out a lot. I have never eaten so much salad in the past week as I have done this last week, but it actually doesn't other me. Salad is pretty good stuff. And I have lost weight too. I was 165 when I started this thing, so I think I must have lost about 5lbs. I'll know when I buy a scale. I want to get down to about 150 to 155 and maintain the weight there. I've also started taking the drug prescribed by my doctor, Antara, which is supposed to treat cholesterol and lipid disorders. Little buggers are expensive and $90 for 30 pills. My health insurance pretty much sucks and won't cover it, but what can I do except watch my diet closely and pray that my blood chemistries improve.

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

http://www.milkandcookies.com/stuff/triumphvsw.asx

What are you. . . .I am a stormtrooper

Intel Inside. . . . Your Mac

Apple today announced that beginning in 2006, it will start shipping Macintosh comptuers with Intel processors. For those of you who don't know anny Mac users, they tend to be borderline zealots when it comes to the brains powering their computers. They call those who use Windows computers members of the Dark Side and most always espouse the superiority of the Macintosh when it comes to computing. I first used a Mac in 1988 and remember seeing commercials about the Mac in 1989, where a bunch of corporate types were trying to figure out how to better illustrate their report, and one of the people around the table says "Macintosh", and that was the gist of the entire commercial. Well, it seems that Steve and Company have finally read the writing on the wall and determined, rightly so, that the PowerPC architecture was basically a delayed dead end for the Mac, and Intel would better serve its needs in the future. All I can say is its about time. Apple has really been a great software company that haoppens to sell hardware. There is really nothing wrong with Apple using Intel CPUs to power the next generation Macintosh computers, because, after all, isn't "Intel" only half of "Intelligent?"