Please don't file a COC, Mr. Estrada

COMELEC commissioner Rene Sarmiento said recently that former president, Erap Estrada can file a certificate of candidacy. There are allegations that he will be running for president again. What a horror! He's my least favorite president. He's actually our neighbor here in New Manila. We always pass by his "Boracay Mansion". It's a living proof of corruption and his obsession to luxury and yet his slogan is "Erap, para sa mahirap". Oh come on.

He's just the worst president ever! He dropped out of college and became a movie star. I think I might have personal grudges against him. He's slogan is just far out. When he became president, the poor became poorer. I can only recall the bad things that happened to his term. He slowed down economic growth. He was charged with graft and corruption and was house arrested. Why would he want to run for office again? He would need to spend millions or even billions of pesos for campaigning for a low-paying government job. Why would Erap want to spend millions for just a low-paying job? It's obvious that he has plans of corruption again. I wouldn't want that to happen. Let's face it, he has chances of winning in the elections and I don't want him to win.

Stop sweating GMA's breast implants!

It has been reported in the media that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was hospitalized recently because her breast implants leaked. I was shocked when I learned about this. I asked myself, why would the president want to have breast implants? But it's really none of my business. She underwent the surgery a few years back (1980's i think). I am not in the position to make a fuss about it because I believe that women have inherent and sole rights to their bodies. They can do whatever they want with it. PGMA has all the right to do what she wants to her body. 

The media is popularizing and making a big deal out of PGMA's breast implants. I actually think that there's nothing wrong with what PGMA did. It's a private matter. Even if she's a public figure she still has the right to privacy. We don't need to interfere with private matters like this. There are more pressing matters that concern the nation. There are more important issues that the media has to attend to or disseminate information on. The print media looked like tabloid to me when they made a big deal out of PGMA's implants. The TV news looked like The Buzz or Startalk to me when they covered the story. The news media is profit-oriented. They would cover and exaggerate stories even if they don't concern the nation. What will we gain if we dwell on an irrelevant matter like this? Nothing. We're being "chismosos" and "chismosas" which is not good. 

Your heartbeat could have stopped but the beat of your music lives on

Michael Jackson is one popular figure with many contributions in the field of music. One of his His best-selling albums, Thriller is still on top of the charts up to now in terms numbers of copies sold. Over 100 million copies of his album thriller was sold in the market making him and his music popular. Who doesn't know MJ? He's overflowing with talents. He has a nice voice. He has unique dance moves like the moonwalk wich other artists try to replicate. Many artists draw inspiration for him like Gary Valenciano and Justin Timberlake.

You may think that Michael Jackson has everything. You may think that he lived the good life since he has fame, money and the talent. But according to MJ himself, his life is incomplete. He is not satisfied with his life. He wasn't able to enjoy his childhood because his father always pushed him to perform and make no mistakes. His father didn't treat him well. He was beaten up by his father a lot of times. He claimed that his father abused him which made his childhood tragic. This is probably the reason why he created the Neverland ranch. It was named after Peter Pan's, Neverland. MJ;s Neverland ranch has a zoo, amusement park and two railroads. I think MJ spearheaded the construction of all these to make up for his tragic childhood. He probably thought that all these would make things right for him which I think did not really happen. He engaged in drugs and was involved in four cases of molestation.

A lesson that can be learned here is that children should never be beaten up or forced to do things. This will have a psychological effect on them. An example of a psychological effect is repression. Repression in psychoanalytic theory, is removing distressing memories from our conscious mind. In the case of MJ, it's distressing his painful childhood memories through the creation of the Neverland ranch. Repression leads to anxiety. Another lesson that can be learned here is that parents and children must maintain good relationships. You'll never know when you're time is up and you're life is over. If you have problems with your dad or any member of your family, try to patch things up before it's too late. :( Another lesson here is that we should enjoy childhood, adulthood, senior citizenship and teenage life. We should live our lives to the fullest. We can only be children, teenagers, adults and senior citizens once in a lifetime.

Automated elections 2010

We all know about that we might have automated elections here in the Philippines on May 2010. Computers will be used to count votes in precincts. 800 ballots will be scanned in each computer provided by Smartmatic International. If i'm not mistaken, the process that will be done is called optical scanning. It's the same kind of technology used by US and UK for their elections. After ballots are scanned, no more human intervention is needed. The results of the elections will available after three days. The results will be sent by the computers to us through satellites, SMS and calls. According to an article that I read in the Philippine daily inquirer, it's 100 percent accurate. If ever the system crashes, the ballots will still available for manual counting.

I am for this automated elections. Gone are the days where nuns have to protect ballot boxes and people have to wait for months for the election results. We are in the year 2009. Modern times call for modern ways. I can't say for sure that this advancement in technology will help prevent cheating in elections. But given the fact that no human intervention will be needed after all the votes have been scanned in the computer, is promising. Human intervention is just scary when it comes to counting the ballots. We live in a society where money is a god. Money can alter the results of the elections. That's why I'll trust a computer more. I think it's less susceptible to cheating. Unless, computer programmers and technicians are bribed to hack the system or something. I just hope that this automated elections will push through and that it will pave the way for a clean and honest election. If the operations are successful and that no cheating was done, we can set an example to other countries in Asia who are still stuck with manual elections.

My stand on China's Green Dam project

China is currently spending millions of Yuan for the Green Dam internet filtering project. The Chinese government said that their main purpose for implementing this project is filtering pornography. They will filter what Chinese people can access in the internet. They will ban pornography.

I think that this Green Dam internet filtering project's real purpose is to block out negative publicity about the Chinese government and to monitor what the Chinese people are doing while using the computer. It's a ploy for surveillance and for the public opinion not to think negatively of officials like Hujintao. The supposedly anti-pornography purpose of the project is just a mask. Who's to say that pornography is bad? I am an interpretivist and I believe that reality is interpreted through the mind. What is good and bad are socially-constructed. Pornography is bad only if you believe that it's bad. For me it's not bad. It's just that the Catholic church has attached a negative stigma to sex and anything related to sex but in reality, it's just part of human nature. Why filter out things that are part of human nature? Going back to the Chinese government blocking publicity, the Chinese government is accountable to their people. The Chinese people have all the right to know what's going on with their government. On the issue of surveillance, the Chinese people have the right to privacy. It's a universal and inalienable right. Even an insititution like the Chinese government cannot take away that right.

I say no to China's Green Dam Project!

"Yo Mama's Last Supper" by Renee Cox

"Yo Mama's last supper" by Renee Cox is a photograph of an African-American woman with twelve African men dining in a long table just like Jesus and his disciples during the last supper. The African-American woman is naked.

I decided not to post the work here because I find it very disrespectful. It disrespects the Catholic Church because of how the work portrayed Jesus as a naked African American woman. I don't understand why the artist decided to do that. Renee Cox also disrepected Leonardo da Vinci because "Yo Mama's Last Supper" was patterned from Da Vinci's "Last Supper". I just feel that she made fun of Da Vinci's masterpiece. Renee Cox defended arguments against her work by saying that we are created in the image and likeness of God and that she can portray God like herself(an African-American woman). I just don't feel that there is a need to portray the teaching that we are created in the image and likeness of God literally. Renee Cox literally portrayed Jesus as a naked African woman. Why did the woman have to be nude? It just doesn't make sense. I learned that the main themes of her works(mostly photographs) are debunking stereotypes and empowering women. In "Yo Mama's Last Supper", I'm guessing that she wanted to debunk the stereotype that men are more capable to be leaders that's why she portrayed Jesus as a woman.

Renee's argument is really strong but the photograph still disturbs me.

Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God"

Wahhhhhh. I just find this artwork super scary. This artwork was made by Damien Hirst last 2007. It's made out of platinum, diamonds and human teeth. The number of diamonds used for this artwork is 8,601. That's 1,116 karats. According to a site, it's the most expensive work of art. You will need about 16-20 million USD to create it. To purchase it you need 99 million USD.

What exactly is Damien Hirst's purpose in making "For the Love of God"? It was created to depict the ultimate victory of death or the maximum celebration you could make after death. I beg to disagree. I don't see the work as a depiction of ultimate victory of death. To me, it's nothing but a glittering overpriced material object intended for the artist to make money out of. If I had 99 million USD to spend, I won't spend it on this crap. Yes, diamonds are a woman's best friend but I just don't appreciate diamonds attached to a scary skull. I'd rather go shopping, travel, buy myself a car and of course, feed the children in Africa. <3>