Trillanes the Trapo

Newsbreak reports that when Sen. Trillanes was campaigning, he promised not to avail of pork barrel funds and has just broken that campaign pledge.

"Just more than a month ago, Senator Trillanes broke that campaign pledge.

He asked for the release of P100 million of his pork barrel, citing projects that included help for poor patients and infrastructure. His lawyer and chief of staff Reynaldo Robles confirmed that Trillanes indeed made that request despite a previous declaration that he would not touch his pork. He changed his mind, Robles said, upon the advice of “people from the Senate, his consultants, and myself.” If he didn’t use it, Robles reasoned out, somebody would.

Surely Trillanes knew that long before he was elected senator, that if he didn’t use his pork somebody would? What was he thinking when he made that campaign pledge, that he could justify breaking it as long as the situation called for it? For that seems to be his emerging track record now, justifying everything—including a sloppy tactical plan at The Pen—as long as he felt that the situation called for it."

Note: I am not saying that pork barrel allocations or using pork barrel funds is bad. I think there are valid arguments for allowing pork barrel allocations. I'm just sick of people basically using pork barrel allocations as the symbol of all that is wrong in Philippine politics, yet use them when they are elected into office. If they are wrong per se, then, even if you are doing good projects, then you are contributing to a higher evil.

PBA in Action

Read this great article about Rosell Ellis and the PBA via ESPN's TrueHoop blog

"Basketball is the only professional team sport in the Philippines and plays an enormous role in society. A basketball court, along with an outdoor market, a Catholic church, and a municipal hall, is a hallmark of every town plaza in the archipelago. Even against the starkest odds, Filipinos find ways to play the game. They cut, slide, pivot, and leap in flip-flops or bare feet. They attach wire rims to rusty car hoods and lash the homemade backboards onto coconut trees.

PBA players are as famous as movie stars and politicians; in fact, after they retire from playing ball, they often become one or the other. On the surface, Ellis' life as an import in this hoops-obsessed nation is sweet. The Alaska franchise provides Ellis with an apartment, a maid, a car, and a driver. He makes more money in a month than most Filipino families earn in a year. When fans spot him in malls and restaurants, they call him "idol," ask for high fives and autographs, and take photos with him.

Notoriety feels good once you're used to it. Although African Americans have been in the Philippines since some arrived as soldiers in the Philippine-American War at the end of the 19th century, tall black athletes in Manila are still exotic. Upon seeing Ellis, people occasionally act like visitors at a petting zoo. When he wanders through the aisles of one of Manila's labyrinthine flea markets, browsing for pirated DVDs or knockoff designer clothes, people wait for him to turn his back, then run behind him to measure their heights. The boldest among them reach up to feel his hair, an object of endless fascination among straight-haired Filipinos."

Now I wish I did not stop watching PBA games.

Nakuha sa E-mail

TOP TEN REASONS WHY TRILLANES AND COMPANY SHOULD HAVE GONE TO VICTORIA COURT INSTEAD

1. They were only gonna stay for a 'short time' anyway
2. Bishop Labayen and Fr. Robert Reyes could have heard **confessions
3. They could have wet the towels in the jacuzzi to combat tear gas
4. There are no wedding receptions in Victoria Court. Only honeymoons.
5. It always has more people than Manila Pen
6. The APC won't know which garage to park
7. The ceiling mirrors would have thrown off the raiding party.
8. ABS-CBN could have done an episode of XXX and The Buzz while covering the coup
9. 'What happens in Victoria Court stays in Victoria court

Forever Ruined

form cectic.com



for context you can read, this, this or search google.

Wrap your junk

via pharyngula

Traveler IQ Challenge

Atheista pimped this game in his site. I used to like looking at maps so I thought I'd try it. I only got to level 10 with 357,004 pts and a Traveler IQ of 110. Atheista did so much better.

This Traveler IQ challenge is brought to you by the Web's Original Travel Blog

Vindication

In a previous post on the Manila Peninsula fiasco, I wrote

"Conspiracy Theory: Maybe Sen. Trillanes is actually in cahoots with the President so they can impose their creeping Martial Law."

Now I find out that, no matter how absurd the conspiracy theory is, some people will be thinking it. Former Commodore Rex Robles today opined that:

"Problema dito sa ginagawa ni Sonny Trillanes nagmumukha kampi siya ng Malacañang. Hindi natin alam kung ano ang totoo kasi gagalaw siya ng galaw na napakahina tapos lalabas na malakas sa Malacanang (The problem with the way Sonny Trillanes's acted was he looked like he was with Malacañang. We don't really know what's the truth because he carried out a weak plot, which made Malacañang
look stronger),"

Kaya ang tanong niya ay

"So our question now is which side Trillanes is really with. Is he really Gloria Arroyo's enemy or ally?"

This theory trumps Sen. Trilanes' own conspiracy theory that National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon were behind the Glorietta blast. :)

Disjointed Thinking

Media people are so full of it. I know that I've been harping about Philippine media's sense of entitlement these past couple of days but they're just so arrogant.

Look at what Amando Doronilla wrote today.

"The mutineers surrounded themselves with media people, all aching to report a good story. Trillanes and Lim used them as shields. They knew the media shield provided them immunity from violence. They knew that government forces could not assault them without slaughtering media people. That would have provoked international outrage against the Arroyo administration."

He recognized that Trillanes and Lim used the media people covering their fiasco as human shields yet, he concluded that.

"The charge that media people were obstructing police operations does not wash and is a poor excuse."

If media people were being used as human shields so that "government forces could not assault (Lim and Trillanes)... then how can you say that "media people obstructing police operations does not wash?"

And then he makes what almost all the media people I've read and heard have argued.

"Their official IDs should be sufficient to identify media people. They should not be subjected to political loyalty test. This restriction is unwarranted and unacceptable, a breach of journalistic freedom and responsibility to serve the public right to know."

Which is just a plea for special treatment because they are media people. They were witnesses, possible accomplices, what were the police supposed to do. Take their word for it? Would the media countenance the police taking the word of anybody else? Would that be good police work?

The Art of BS: How to Succeed on Papers & Essays

I’ve decided to provide a few tips (ten) I’ve learned when writing essays or papers. My tips may not ensure you get that A, but they should help you improve your grade. At the very least, these tips should help you to not fail. Remember, there’s no substitute for actually knowing the material.

read more | digg story

Chilean Prostitute Auctions 27 Hours of Sex for Charity

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign. Maria Carolina became an overnight celebrity in the conservative Roman Catholic country, making news headlines and appearing on talk shows since she made her unusual donation.

read more | digg story