UP Profs vs Supreme Court (and vice versa)- Shame, shame, shame!

It's shameful that our Supreme Court has dismissed the suit of "comfort women" who for years have been seeking reparation from the Japanese government for atrocities done to them. Equally shameful is the fact that our SC has come up with a resolution that is plagiarized - it has quoted material from legal sources without attribution. UP law professors thought that's sooo wrong and unjust that they told Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo - the one who xeroxed the decision - to pack away his toga and quit his post. In retaliation the high court tries to charge the group with contempt. Enter the two Evans - Evan Fox-Decent and Evan Criddle (whose work the AJ has so meticulously plagiarized) expressing their support to the group saying that "Holding the UP Law Faculty in Contempt Would Be a Grave Mistake" as posted at http://opiniojuris.org/2010/10/26/holding-the-up-law-faculty-in-contempt-would-be-a-grave-mistake/. Shame, shame, shame!

Friendster vs Facebook in the Third World

Heard that Friendster is coming up with its Project Neutron, which basically turns the social networking site into a social gaming portal. Sure, as if Facebook isn't enough to cause us all carpal tunnel syndrome courtesy of its mouse click-hungry games. BTW, should I sue Facebook, Inc. for causing me CTS and caffeine overload? I think with this development House Resolution No. 184, which is aimed to regulate use of social networking sites in government agencies, should be passed into law ASAP.

I worked in a government agency for a year and I know for a fact how cyber activity of some public employees gobbles up a lot time and taxpayers' moolah. Government agencies should dissuade their workers from engaging in such activity. Maybe inform them via emails or twits? LOL. You see the irony?

FYI, the Philippines is no.7 in the world with the most number of Facebook users, and no. 1 with the most number of Friendster users, according to online sources. Perhaps the popularity of social and gaming portals, not to mention online dating sites, is due mainly to Filipinos attempting to escape Third World reality.

Dumb and Dumber: FBI's take on WikiLeaks and Wikipedia

I was dumbfounded when I learned of FBI's latest headline-grabbing stint! Yahoo News reported that the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation has "threatened" to criminally prosecute Wikipedia - yes, the user-friendly, ad-free, free-for-all content source on the Net - for displaying the agency's seal. Apparently, the FBI imposes federal restrictions on the use of the image. Wikipedia's display image on its site, according to the legal representatives of the agency, "constitutes manufacturing, selling, or possessing such an insignia". I said "What?!" Didn't the FBI overreact where it shouldn't act at all? IMAO, the agency should delve into the WikiLeaks controversy rather than into something as trivial (and harmless, for crying out loud!) as the use of its seal. Maybe Nike should sue Wikipedia for displaying its swoosh on its pages. And, oh, the CIA too has its official emblem on Wikipedia, and maybe the intelligence agency could also legally threaten the site. LOL.

The WikiLeaks documents and videos, I heard, are bound to imperil the lives of military informants and personnel particularly those serving the US and Australian governments in their peace and counter-terrorism efforts. So the FBI should zoom into the matter, and put into good use the taxpayers' money.

My Missed Train

I almost cried when I missed Train's show at Alabang Town Center last June 18. My sisters and I learned that the band was going to perform here only a day before the gig and by then it was too late to plan a trip to Manila. Another thing was my brother and his family's arrival was on June 19 and my sister and her brood's was on the following day which meant busy, busy week for us.

It's not often that we host alternative bands here in the Philippines. So whenever I hear of some noteworthy bands coming over I make it a point to attend. I think the last show I've seen was James Blunt's, which was eons ago. And before that Duncan Sheik and Jars of Clay (more eons ago). I heard that Nine Inch Nails had their Araneta gig last year, but unfortunately I missed that one also. Now, on the other hand, the Maroon 5's tour here LOL that I intentionally missed because the band's too "gayish" for my taste.

Now that we missed Train, all my sisters and I are left to do is to sing Hey Soul Sister in chorus.

The Road

Finally, I've seen the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's superb novel The Road on DVD! I've seen a lot of films adapted from myriad literary sources - from classics to new literary phenomena - and I often ended up disappointed. But John Hillcoat's visual translation of this Pulitzer price winning novel deserves a two-thumbs up. Hillcoat perfectly portrayed the ravaged landscape, the dismal existence of humans, and the breakdown and triumph of morality - the things that were so believably conveyed by McCarthy. Kudos also to Viggo Mortensen's and Kodi Smit-McPhee's portrayal of the lead characters.

PNoy's SONA

LOL It's been almost two years since I wrote my first blog here. So here's a valiant attempt on my part to follow that one up. So I'll talk about the recent SONA. As I've said in my FB account that although I didn't shade Aquino's name last May (FYI, I voted for Teodoro), I am quite optimistic that PNoy will lead the country to the right direction. I hope that his statements during his SONA will not be broken promises but effective directives towards his "tamang daan" agenda. I fervently hope also that he'll go after GMA who, together with his whole family and cohorts, had drained the government coffers.