Learn How to Draw

Update

The video was been removed, sorry :(

What's the deal with ZTE?

I did not intend to post something on the ZTE-NBN deal, I don't have the motivation to analyze the deal. But like most Filipinos, I am following the unfolding of the secrets, mostly by reading MLQ3's serial posts, DJB is also covering the story. Between the two of them and the newspapers, I feel the story is fully covered.

But I came across this post from Rick Bagahue at Tek for the Pipol and he cites a UP study by Raul Fabella and Emmanuel de Dios that

"...debunked economic rationales it determined beforehand.‭ ‬It provided reasons why the following can not be the basis for the NBN project‭; ‬supposed savings that the government will get,‭ ‬anticipating congestions,‭ ‬back-up inadequacy and pre-empting predatory behavior of private providers.‭ ‬In addition,‭ ‬the paper sees the government as incapable of keeping up with the rapid technical changes.‭ ‬It has also advised the government to just concentrate on‭ "‬core competencies‭" ‬and leave all‭ "‬non-core competencies‭" ‬to the private sectors.

The paper concluded that such a NBN project is not needed and all the government needs now is a moral backbone."

It seems that we are not only dealing with a project that is financially disadvantageous to the the Philippines and financially advantageous to some, but worse, we are being asked to fund a project that is not needed.

Update: September 24, 2007

The paper by Professors Fabella and de Dios can be downloaded at the Action for Economic Reforms website.

5 Questions Season Two of Heroes Had Better F#@king Answer

from CRACKED.com

"we’ll re-examine some of the loose threads and questions left over from the first season of Heroes, and make some predictions about what will happen next. Hopefully this will help our readers get back up to speed before Monday’s season premiere. Also, this will give us a good excuse to post several pictures of Ali Larter in her panties."

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Mammals are Great

Several days ago, Micketymoc bought Christopher Hitchen's new book, God is not Great. Since I was also contemplating buying it, I asked him if he can post a review of the book. He most graciously agreed.

Here now is micketymoc's review of Christopher Hitchen's new book, God is not Great

His recommendation:

"If you’re an atheist fresh out of the closet, god is not Great is exactly the kind of book you need."

Which leads me to tentatively decide to buy the book only if I can find it in a bargain bin sometime in the future.

Results of Death-Camp Experiments: Should They Be Used?

In this feature, you will be faced with an ethical dilemma that is progressively illustrated with ideas and imagery you might find repugnant, even abhorrent. At the end of each page you will be asked if, based on what you now know, you still believe that doctors and scientists should be able to use the data from death-camp experiments.

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Going International

I had a post about former Judge Floro a while back, he even left a comment on the story and I told him that I would write a follow up post on his story when I had the time. Obviously, I was not able to do that. Then, picking up a free copy of the Asian Wall Street Journal, I came upon this story.

Former Judge Florentino Floro has hit the big time. When I first read about him, his story was featured in Reuters. Now he is in the Wall Street Journal story which was picked up by one of my favorite blogs.

Then and now, his claim is that he should not have been relieved of his position because

"It shouldn't matter what I believe in, whether it's Jesus, Muhammad, or Luis, Armand and Angel,"

On the face of it, he is absolutely correct, it does not matter what he believes in, as long as he does his duties as a Judge fairly and honestly. And the Philippine Supreme Court resolution that relieved him of his position actually states this fact

"There is no indication that Judge Floro is anything but an honorable man. And, in fact, in our disposition of the 13 charges against him, we have not found him guilty of gross misconduct or acts or corruption"

But he was not relieved of his position because of what he believed in, he was relieved of his position because of

"the findings of psychosis by the mental health professionals assigned to his case indicate gross deficiency in competence and independence."

In the WSJ article, it states that

"He passed a mandatory psychiatric evaluation applied to all prospective judges and was sworn in as a regional trial-court judge in November of that year, handling both civil and criminal cases in Malabon, a district in greater Manila."

What is not stated in the article, that he failed two previous psychiatric tests in 1995 and 1998 because as stated by the evaluating psychologists in 1995

"evidences of developing psychotic process"

and in 1998

"he is at present not intellectually and emotionally equipped to hurdle the responsibilities of a judge and he may decompensate when exposed to anxiety-provoking and stress-laden situation"

but

Because of his impressive academic background, however, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) allowed Atty. Floro to seek a second opinion from private practitioners. The second opinion appeared favorable thus paving the way to Atty. Floro’s appointment as Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge of Branch 73, Malabon City, on 4 November 1998.

The Supreme Court came to regret this decision by the JBC because despite all the psychoilogical findings against former Judge Floro, the SC states

"It goes without saying that Judge Floro’s appointment as RTC judge is fait accompli. What awaits us now is the seemingly overwhelming task of finding the PROPER, JUST AND EQUITABLE solution to Judge Floro’s almost seven years of suspension in the light of the fact that the penalty imposed herein does not merit a suspension of seven years."

The Philippine Supreme Court tried to do the just and equitable thing, and judging by Judge Floro's actions after his relief, I say the Philippine Supreme court succeeded.

p.s.

Links to Judge Flortentino Floro's actions after being relieved of his position.

His blog
A thread he started in badscience.net
Blog post from Lowering the Bar on Judge Floro
Blog post from A Criminal Waste of Space
News story from Sun.Star Manila

Leftists Increasing

via Jessica Rules the Universe

The Sunday Times reports that

"A large-scale historical study of handwriting down the ages by academics at University College London (UCL) has found that the proportion of left-handers has gone up from 3% among those born more than 100 years ago to 11% today."

:)

Dating Age Range

from xkcd.com

Welcome to Hell

from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal via Pharyngula

7 Thinking Errors People Probably Make

The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.

The common thinking errors are:

1) Confirmation Bias
2) Hindsight Bias
3) Clustering Illusion
4) Recency Effect
5) Anchoring Bias
6) Overconfidence Effect
7) Fundamental Attribution Error

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