It would seem obvious that I haven't exactly been paying attention to LJ for awhile.  Like similar Internet fads before it (think Friendster) I suppose the appeal of blogging wore off.  Plus the fact I got bored with my layout and didn't have the means to change it, but that's another story.

Mostly I suppose it's thinking about what I want 
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Last week, AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. visited the University of the Philippines Diliman to attend a forum on development and conflict organized by the Assocation of Political Science Majors.  On his way out of the forum, Esperon was pelted with rotten eggs and mud by members of the University Student Council and other student ( Read more... )

POSTSCRIPT: My Thai friend just emailed to tell me that one of the reasons the military decided to push through with the coup was because Thaksin was planning on declaring a state of emergency when he got back to deal with the pro-democracy protesters once and for all.  Makes you wonder about the AFP.

Watching the breaking news of Thailand's Thaksin ( Read more... )

I finally caught The Day After Tomorrow last weekend (thank God for cable).  There really is nothing as visually entertaining as seeing Manhattan destroyed by a 50-foot sheet of ice and snow.  It's schadenfreude but imagining the annihilation of Western civilization, with Americans pathetically fleeing the border into Mexico, is the kind of ( Read more... )

I will indulge in a bit of astronomical geeking out here to mark the passing of one that all of us have grown up with:


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Here is a metaphor for our times:

Tonight a normal fifteen-minute trip on EDSA from Ortigas to Makati turned into a three-hour slog through the rain and traffic.  The reason?

A grand religious gathering was held at the Sanctuario de San Antonio, church of the perfumed and bejeweled.  It is a 'healing mass' presided over by some foreign preacher, and ( Read more... )

Being professionally unemployed presents a dilemma.  In the off-chance you become employed again, how do you make sure your brain hasn't been turned into mush by all the Prison Break and Grey's Anatomy episodes?

Me being me, I've spent it reading up on current affairs.  One of my favorite newspapers is The Guardian, the UK's left-leaning broadsheet ( Read more... )

"Wherever you go, remember that we did not teach you just to be exported.  The new graduates should use their skills and talents where they are most needed - right here in our own country - rather than search for greener pastures and fatter paychecks elsewhere."

- Chancellor Sergio Cao, 2006 Commencement Exercise, University of the Philippines ( Read more... )

My parents decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment trip up to Taal Volcano today since my aunt is visiting from Hong Kong.  Despite my intense desire to hibernate at home and sleep until noon (a luxury that's been denied to me for far too long) I volunteered to be the driver so I could practice for future roadtrips with
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When Filipino-Chinese are kidnapped, it's tragically normal.  When Filipino-Chinese are kidnapped by other Filipino-Chinese, well now, That's Entertainment.  William How (a fifty-something businessman) was kidnapped while jogging in Corinthian Gardens, which as most of you know is an exclusive gated subdivision in Quezon City.

Chalk one up for ( Read more... )