by Perry Diaz
from Global Balita
With the tumultuous first decade of the 21st century, there is much anticipation of what the next decade would be like. However, there is optimism — and hope — that the New Year would bring peace and prosperity to all.
I would like to thank all of the contributors and readers of Global Balita. Together, they have all contributed to the success of Global Balita. On the one hand are the journalists, columnists, and writers who used the power of their pens to express their opinions on a …

Theres The Rub
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—A couple of environmentalist groups have a bright idea. Gathering at a churchyard last weekend, they begged their compatriots to greet the New Year with as much noise as they could muster but with as less toxicity as they could manage. Specifically, they asked their compatriots not to explode firecrackers and their more dangerous cousins on New Year’s Eve, but instead to blow their horns and whistles, bang kettles, pound washbasins, shake tambourines and improvised maracas, and play music at loud …

GLIMPSES
by Jose Ma. Montelibano

A new year by definition is different from the previous one. Many times, though, the difference is only in the number of the year, as 2010 versus 2009, with no other significant distinction. Few realize that there is no new year that is not slowly ushered in by an old one, and that a new year is mostly an extension of the previous one.

Once in a while, which there have been two in less than thirty years in Philippine history, dramatic events force quick changes early in …

A Cup o’ Kapeng Barako
by Jesse Jose
What a big joke! It’s true. America’s aviation security and its intelligence network, world-wide, is a big joke, like a big balloon, full of hot air. But let me tell this story first. It’s true. It happened. I swear.
Not too long ago, I visited my mother, who lives in Florida. At the curbside of SeaTac Airport, my wife dropped me off. I gave her a kiss, and then went inside. With my boarding tickets in one hand and my small carry-on bag in the …

Balitang Kutsero
by Perry Diaz
When Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s five-year-old granddaughter Marie Angelique — Mikey’s daughter — was asked by reporters what her Christmas wish was, she said, “I wish that my ‘lola’ (grandmother), I mean… I hope she’ll be President forever!” Makes one wonder if that was wishful thinking or self-fulfilling prophecy?
Now, that wouldn’t sit well with the eight presidential wannabes who are spending billions of pesos and thousands of hours only to see Lola Gloria keep the presidency for life!
My investigative reporter James Macaquecquec immediately called his “Deep Truth” informer …