The Dilemma of Choice

Pharyngula directed me to this article in the Daily Kos where a doctor writes why he does abortions. Abortion is not legal in the Philippines, contraceptives are barely tolerated by the Catholic church and their viewpoint dominates Philippine society. I hope somebody who reads this article will be brave enough to reconsider his/her personal opinion on this issue.

I was raised by my mother and my grandmother. I had no difficulty accepting that women are the equal of men. I witnessed the strength of my mother and grandmother everyday. But I always had an aversion to the pro-choice position. I always thought of the waste of potential of an aborted human being.

I accepted the pro-choice position when a friend, the martian, explained that pro-choice is about women, it is their body, it should be their choice. But I embraced the pro-choice position after I read Mandatory Motherhood: The True Meaning of Right to Life.

Dr. Harrison's article is a powerful piece that explains not only the difficulties poor women experience when they have no choice but to bear and raise unplanned children but also the moral dilemma every person goes through in deciding for or against an abortion.

"No one, neither the patient receiving an abortion, nor the person doing the abortion, is ever, at anytime, unaware that they are ending a life. We just don't believe that a developing embryo or fetus, whose mother cannot or will not accept it, has the same moral claims on us, claims to autonomy and justice, that an adolescent or adult woman has. I have never seen an abortion decision entered into lightly by anyone involved. The decision to have an abortion is most often made in the time of the first great personal moral crisis that ever faces a girl, a woman, her family and the people who love them. It is only those who stand outside and condemn the women and families who are faced with these dilemmas who take lightly the decisions made in these straits and trivialize the circumstances in which they are made.

Moral dilemmas are always about difficult problems. Decisions between right and wrong are not moral dilemmas; decisions between right and wrong should be no-brainers and should never be difficult.

It is in deciding between what we consider morally near-equal alternatives that we are forced to make agonizing appraisals. The decision between competing evils or competing goods - these are the judgments that may burn in your mind and live forever in your memory, that fry your soul. And it matters not whether one believes elective abortion a good or an evil, for every abortion decision is made between self-perceived competing goods or competing evils, not between obvious good and self-evident evil. "

Additions to my Reading List

The problem is I'm in the middle of finishing the Aubrey-Maturin series, all 20 of them so these books are way back in the list.

Creation museum carnival

This is collection of blog entries on the newly opened 'creation museum' as compiled by Prof. PZ Myers of Pharyngula. I wouldn't normally post or link to something on creationism because I don't think this is a problem in the Philippines. Not yet at least, but the opening of a whole museum dedicated to such nonsense seems too big to let pass.

So head on to Pharyngula to read why this museum should be relegated to the dustbin of history.

read more | digg story

The Karate Kid - Cliff Notes

CRACKED.com - Cliffs Notes on The Karate Kid

Do you think friendships between young boys and geriatric maintenance men are slightly creepy? Do you find yourself wondering if Cobra Kai will ever die? (Hint: never.) Sounds like you need to brush up on your Karate Kid. Luckily, you no longer have to watch the entire 120-minute film, thanks to our extensive Cliffs Notes on the John G Avildsen classic.

Magbilang Kayo ng Election Returns Niyo

Nanonood ako ng Prime News ngayon sa ANC kung saan nagrereklamo si Nikki Coseteng kung bakit hindi nilalagay ng NAMFREL yung bilang ng bumoto sa kanilang press advisory. Ang hindi ko maintindihan, bakit siya nagagalit sa NAMFREL samantalang dapat may sariling Election Returns ang oposisyon, yung panglimang kopya ng official ER's ay para sa oposisyon.

Ang hirap sa oposisyon napaka bilis magreklamo ng pandaraya wala namang ginagawa para maiwasan yung pandaraya. Yung organisasyon na tuwing eleksiyon na lang ay nagpapakahirap para mabawasan o maiwasan ang pandaraya sa Pilipinas, sila pa yung nababatikos.

Full disclosure: naging member po ako ng NAMFREL, hindi mataas ang naging posisyon ko, hanggang watcher lang.

Charlie Is My Darwin

Charlie Is My Darwin

Just joined the Friends of Charles Darwin

Eyewitness

From Eleksyon 2007 - INQUIRER.net:

Atty. Raissa Jajurie witnessed election irregularities in Sulu

"'I was really taken aback by the cheating in the area…I was shocked to see the BEIs writing on the ballots which had already been thumbmarked by voters,' ."

The innocent interpretation of this behavior is that the voters, being illiterates, asked a member of the BEI to help them fill up the ballots. There are of course other interpretations:

"Jajurie described the voters as "too scared" or that they "could have been paid.""

Because Atty. Jajurie was there and saw the scene for herself, I am inclined to accept her interpretation.

The Better Part of Valor

From ‘No voting in Maguindanao’:
via Manuel L. Quezon III: Costs of political cannibalism

You have accused the present administration of cheating in the last elections. You are almost sure that they will cheat again in the coming elections. To ensure that they cannot cheat again you do "not bother to field local candidates or assign poll watchers in the province’s (Maguindanao's) 27 towns." because

“It was pointless to put watchers in Maguindanao. There’s no such thing as elections there,” Asis said in Manila when asked if the LP had counterchecked the supposed TU sweep.

“The elections there are done by other people, not by the constituents. The elections there are dictated. There’s no point,” added Asis, who supervises the LP’s internal canvassing at its campaign headquarters in Makati City."

It's like they are asking the administration to cheat them with impunity. But of course the opposition's shortcomings does not prevent them from questioning the result of the Maguindanao tally.

But GO campaign spokesperson Adel Tamano scoffed at TU candidate Luis “Chavit” Singson’s reported lead in the early results in Maguindanao.

“It does not only smell of cheating but also stinks to high heavens,” Tamano, a lawyer and a Muslim, said Thursday.

He added: “Even assuming that Maguindanao is an administration bailiwick, why is Chavit -- a Christian and not from Mindanao -- No. 1, and [Sultan Jamalul] Kiram, who logically will be supported by his fellow Muslims and Mindanaoans, not No. 1 or even in second place?

“The 12-0 result in Maguindanao with Chavit as No. 1 speaks volumes about the credibility -- or lack thereof -- of elections in that area.”

But without any candidate or watcher from the area, they can only speculate, they have no proof. They could have had proof, maybe prevented the cheating if they only diverted some resources to the area, they chose not too.

From the Stupid Quote Department

From Eleksyon 2007 - INQUIRER.net:

"Ocampo said, “If they had the machinery, why was it only concentrated in Maguindanao? How come they did not achieve 12-0 anywhere else?”"

Maybe their machinery only worked in Maguindanao? How stupid is this quote, did the PDI misquote him? Did they quote him out of context?

From the same article:

"Santiago said reports that voters in Maguindanao had voted straight Team Unity in the senatorial race were “unbelievable, unless they resorted to massive vote-buying.”

TUTA may have resorted to massive vote-buying, but can people please stop accusing each other of massive cheating without any shred of proof. For example, Bayan Muna complained that:

The 273 votes cast for Anakpawis in Colombio town, Sultan Kudarat province, were reduced to zero during the provincial canvass, according to Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano.

Can't they produce their tallies that prove this? If they have watchers, then the watchers should have recorded the results in raw form. If they were smart, they would have asked the BEI to sign their tallies. If they can produce this tallies with the BEI signature, then we have some evidence. If they do not have watchers, they can ask the Dominant Minority party access to their official 5th copy of Election Returns or NAMFREL for their 6th copy and tabulate from there. How is this significantly more difficult than just mouthing off?

Dirty Harry is Back

From Eleksyon 2007 - INQUIRER.net

The reason Sen. Lim barged into the HQ of Mayoral candidate Atienza yesterday was because of:

...valid reports from his men who allegedly saw teachers going in and out of the establishment. He claimed it was possible that the teachers carrying legitimate ERs swapped it for fake ones inside the office, were given money and later proceeded to the canvassing area to surrender the fake ERs.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, Dirty Harry is back as Manila Mayor, and he did not need to be proclaimed to violate somebody's right to the presumption of innocence. His men told him that cheating is being done in the HQ, well unless proven otherwise, cheating is being done there, even if he found no proof.

The search did yield election returns, although an examination conducted by Commission on Elections officer Jovencio Balanquit—who also rushed to the scene—showed that these were legitimate copies given to the dominant majority political party, Lakas CMD.

I sure am glad I don't live in Manila.

Update 5/18/2007

Ali Atienza concedes.