Bush Political Appointees: Criminals and Incompetents Glorified (Part II)
By Rawlein Soberano
In less than four weeks, the Bush administration will be history. Like Hurricane Katrina, it left along its wake some of the bitterest memories that Americans will remember on the level of the Great Depression of 1929 for the sufferings it caused the American people. At first glance, it is not difficult to figure out why and how did this come about. If those appointees can be described in one line—they are the glorification of criminality and incompetence. “Nemo dat …

An age-old war for dominance and supremacy
By Wilhelmina Orozco
A new war is on between the Israelites and the Palestinians, an age-old war for dominance and supremacy. Why can’t these two people shake hands and be friends? Is it really difficult being a friend to an armed person? What makes arms drive people to kill and massacre communities? Why is there no respect for life at all?
There could be cold war, not anyone moving at all to help on anything. There could be ostracism of each other, or simply dislike without …

The Greatest Filipino Ever
By George M. Hizon
“Rizal would lose his head for writing the Noli Me Tangere “
- A prophesy rather made comically by Rizal’s friend Padre Federico Faura, S.J.
Looking back at the year 1887, one cannot help wonder why national hero
Jose Rizal was considered Spain’s greatest enemy in the Philippines. From the history books that we have read, Rizal was depicted as a mild-mannered gentleman, he was neither brash nor ill-tempered. Although he was an expert marksman and fencer, he neither held a gun nor brandished a sword against …

Why GMA must fire DAR Sec. Nasser Pangandaman Sr.
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
Philstar: December 30, 2008
We were rudely interrupted from enjoying the Yuletide season when the STAR announced on the front page the following rather disturbing piece of news last Sunday, December 28, 2008.
“Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Sr. and his son Nasser Jr., a mayor of Masiu town in Lanao del Sur, were tagged as part of a group who allegedly beat up a 56-year-old businessman and his 14-year-old son at the Valley Golf and Country …

PerryScope
by Perry Diaz  

With his impressive track record of prosecuting Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby; former Illinois Governor George Ryan; and, now, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Patrick Fitzgerald is on top of the world. If Eliot Ness was alive today, he would have gladly relinquished the title of “Untouchable” to Fitzgerald.
Eliot Ness was immortalized in the television series, “The Untouchables,” in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1987, an Oscar-winning blockbuster movie of the same title was also produced.
Ness and his team were called the “Untouchables” because they …

Oh Cory, how could you?
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
Philstar: December 28, 2008
“Oh Cory, how could you?” That was what I said to myself when told last Monday that former president Cory Aquino apologized to convicted former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada for her role in his ouster during the January 21, 2001 EDSA II.
A COPA (Council on Philippine Affairs) stalwart, who was at the Joe de Venecia (JDV) book launch held at The Podium in Mandaluyong, called me last Monday to express his reaction to Cory’s now …

LET’S SEE HOW GOOD YOU ARE AT PLAYING “SOCK AND AWE” 
 CLICK HERE  http://play.sockandawe.com/game
ENJOY!
PERRY

JESUS CHRIST AND CHRISTMAS COMMERCIALISM
by Cheryl L. Daytec
on Thursday, December 25, 2008
“Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season,” says a message circulating in cyberspace.
 
December 25 is the presumed birthday of Jesus Christ. This is debatable because when he  was born, shepherds were out watching their flocks at night. In those days, flock-watching in the fields was possible from spring to autumn. During winter, the sheep were sheltered  in the shepherds’ homes. Israel’s temperature can drop to   really low levels   in winter. It must have been lower in the old …

Christmas Is For Them
GLIMPSES
Jose Ma. Montelibano
Just when I thought I could sit in an easy chair and enjoy the good cheer and goodwill of the season, the latest SWS report on hunger had to grab my attention and ground me to a reality even more pressing than Christmas. Many friends from different Christian communities have been quietly feeding the hungry that they could reach with their presence, tasty and steaming hot lugaw, and whatever resources they can share. I am sure that many priests and nuns are doing the same. …

Tears on Christmas Day
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
Philstar, December 25, 2008
Although the Christmas Days I have spent with my late mother were joyful family occasions, there was never a Christmas Day when she did not seek private time to shed tears of sadness.
At first she tried to hide this from us. After all, tears of sadness were not fit to be shed on such a joyful family occasion. Later on, she realized that we had gotten accustomed to it as part and parcel of Christmas Day and …