Putin is Time Person of the Year

Russia’s enigmatic President AND Prime Minister, modern-day Tsar and overall CEO of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin bests celebrity environmentalist Al Gore and crowd favorite JK Rowling to take this year’s Time Person of the Year recognition.

Photo credit: Platon for Time

The banner story reads:

Stop the Hunger (for Gold)

 
(Photo credit: Cyberprince Chronicles)

The Philippine contingent on Saturday ended up in 6th place at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, a far cry from the what was posible 2 years ago when the meet was hosted by Manila, where — cheered on by their kababayans and helped by homecourt advantage – our atheletes won the most golds. This year, on the other hand, the country took home two special awards: the MVP of the entire tournament was Miguel Molina, a Filipino swimmer, who was chosen because he was the winningest male athlete in the games (with 5 medals in all); the award for Sore Loser of the Year meanwhile also goes to Team Philippines, with the most number of athletes walking out from their respective matches to protest against alleged bias in their events (ie, boxing, taekwondo). Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao I heard was very disappointed with the new title bestowed upon Filipino athletes; Thaksin on the other hand must be thinking that this was payback for his allegations last time that there was cheating in officiating in the Manila games.

Reviewing Our Human Rights

Today the world celebrates the 59th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In a year, it’ll be 6 decades since the construction of the single most contentious, single most confusing document in the history of mankind. For one, the declaration has been cited too many times by the activist left in criticizing oppressive governments; this notwithstanding that the war in Iraq was waged by the most oppressive regime known to man under the pretext of protecting human rights as well. The document is obviously subject to interpretation; it’s scary to think that the source of our universally-applicable, inalienable rights is not spin-proof (I have previously tried to spin human rights, in my post on this blog about torture and human rights).

 

Let’s Play NationStates

Two or three years ago, I got hooked on this online game called NationStates. The game is fairly simple: you register your own country/nation-state, select its attributes, and then by deciding on issues/dilemmas presented to you as your country’s leader, you get to chart the status of the country on three areas: political freedoms, economics, and civil rights. Based on the country’s status on these three areas, the country is categorized into one of 27 “UN categories” ranging from Scandinavian Liberal Paradise to Psychotic Dictatorship. The number and the happiness of your people, the economic performance of your industries, your government spending priorities, and the influence that the country can peddle is based on how dilemmas are settled and on the age of the country. Evidently, the game appeals to controlling political animals who would like to test their skill at governance and nation-building (GMA and Dubya, have you tried this?). For those who like role-playing, there is space in the game to spy on and/or correspond with other leaders, and there is even a mock United Nations where supranational issues are addressed.

Apparently the game is still up and running to this day; there are now over 75,000 countries registered that are actively being played. The server deletes countries that have not been played for 28 days, so obviously I had to register a new country to play (also since I already forgot the password I used for my old country, the Republic of the Capybaras).

The first step in nation-building apparently is to choose a name. I chose The People’s Republic of Pizzaloy to represent the love for pizza of my country’s citizens (and also their love for their great leader). Then I went on to choose a flag (I’ve always loved the Vietnamese flag), and a government style (sensible, liberal, oppressive, anarchic, evil… sensible seemed most sensible to me). I then typed in my currency (the “pepperoni”) and my chosen national animal (the Garfield). The country’s motto is “Onward to pizza heaven!“

We Deserted Trillanes

Blow by blow: Senator Antonio Trillanes walks out of Makati RTC, marches along Makati Ave. He is accompanied by General Lim and the Magdalo soldiers. Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, former UP President Nemenzo, Bishop Tobias, and Father Robert Reyes join their group. They call for President GMA’s ouster as they hole themselves inside the Manila Peninsula hotel. President GMA calls an emergency cabinet meeting. The PNP sends police in full battle gear, SWAT teams surround the rebels. A warrant of arrest is issued. A tank smashes through the Pen’s front doors. Tear gas is released. Trillanes et al voluntarily exit, they are handcuffed, and are escorted to wherever they are now.

Trillanes was elected in the last senatorial elections by a popular mandate. Suffering from a political campaign that was grossly underfunded (his TV ad barely made it to 10 seconds) and a platform that was attacked left and right by the administration and by other detractors, he still was able to secure the 11th seat, besting quite a number of traditional politicians, including some from the administration ticket. This was no doubt to PGMA’s dismay then; now, Trillanes proves again that he is one of GMA’s worst nightmares.

5 Documentaries Today

Sometimes the problem with med school is that you get so busy with duties and with studying, that it becomes difficult to find time to attend to other interests, especially those that are not relatable to work inside the four walls of the hospital. So many episodes, movies, games, plays, books, events, news, issues etc etc were lost this way during my 5-year stay at the PGH. Survival sometimes meant having to block out all other competing interests in an effort to understand and commit to heart (yes, not just to memory) the fronto-ponto-cerebello-dentato-rubro-thalamo-cortico-spinal pathway; and for this, the feeling that one is detached from the real world is an all too common experience for the average med student.

Good thing there are reruns.

Today I watched five documentaries in a docufest sponsored by my sister’s org in UP Diliman. All were from the award-winning GMA show I-Witness, and all I missed when they were originally shown on TV. The first, Howie Severino’s Brod Is Thicker Than Water, discussed the death of UP stude and Sigma Rho neophyte Cris Mendez from hazing. When news broke out of Cris’s death, I was on duty at PGH for pre-residency qualification; I found out about it from my sister, Cris’s classmate at the NCPAG. We usually talk about updates on this issue (or the lack thereof) during dinner.

The QC Reproductive Health Scandal

It was around two Sundays ago when the parish priest in our church first invited mass attendees to read the circular issued by QC bishop Ongtioco opposing the proposed reproductive health bill for Quezon City sponsored by Councilor Joseph Juico. The ordinance “Establishing a Quezon City Population and Reproductive Health Management Policy” was attacked in that it supposedly ”kills unborn children, causes deadly cancers, (and) destroys the Catholic educational formation of our youth.” A leaflet with the letterhead of the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish (in QC) says the ordinance would bring “sexual promiscuity to intermediate and high school students in their class lessons.” In the next few days, the proponent has apparently been villified by pro-life advocates and has come under intense pressure and condemnation from the Church (see related news items: ABS-CBN, Inquirer).

The objection of the Catholic Church to the progressive concept of Reproductive Health is not new (“progressive,” to distinguish from the Church’s archaic view that the natural method is a safe, effective and acceptable method of reproductive control). In 2005, the Church and its pro-life minions successfully buried House Bill 3773 or the Integrated Reproductive Health and Population Reduction Bill. As a result, there are still no comprehensive government strategies to combat the continually exploding population size of the country and family planning efforts nationwide are still underfunded and lacking; the situation is expected to get worse as the USAID fund for contraceptives (the largest source of free contraceptives for the Filipino poor for the past 30 years) runs out by the end of 2008.

Numbers

One of the major trends in modern medicine is its respect for the intrinsic power of numbers and their study. In the movement known as Evidence Based Medicine (or EBM), the teachings of tired old doctors passed on from generation to generation are not taken as absolute truths, but as principles that are less convincing than those supported by hard evidence. The NHS classification of medical literature uses Level A to apply to theses supported by strong studies such as consistent Randomised Control Trials (or RCTs), and Level E to refer to expert opinion or theoretical results (find out what Level B, C, and D mean in Wikipedia). The whole idea is to determine best practices in the medical field by testing them against objective observations and to do away with extraneous variables such as bias in making important medical decisions.

Indeed numbers have a very strong power to convince. When used properly (ie, in presentations that can sustain the interest number-haters like myself), they can strongly influence opinion, affect stances, and forward certain advocacies  (who can forget that three-storey projection in The Inconvenient Truth? 3:15 on this YouTube video). I am sharing below my favorite number-play sites (ie, sites I go to when I suddenly get that nerdy urge to know more about the world):

Impeach Again and Again and Again

On Monday, another impeachment complaint was filed against President Arroyo, this time by opposition stalwarts led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Bayan (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) representatives, and the human rights group Karapatan, among others from civil society. The complaint was endorsed by activist lawmakers Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casino, Luz Ilagan, and Crispin Beltran (of the Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and Anakpawis groups). This after Congress already rejected an impeachment complaint targeting former COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos and President Arroyo, citing the House Rule limiting the number of impeachment complaints that can be filed against a certain official in a year to just one. Satur Ocampo had this to say on the rule:”For all intents and purposes, the one impeachment per year limit is antiquated, and worse, it’s being taken advantage of by the incumbent corrupt and illegitimate presidency and its allies in the House of Representatives.”

Several have already voiced the concern that the one impeachment a year limit is being used by the Arroyo government to immunize itself from serious, and possibly successful impeachment proceedings. And especially since a lot of people have noted that the first pleading against GMA was incomplete and lacking in substance (I even heard somewhere that it was only three pages long!), then it is fair to conclude that the political strategists in Malacanang are using the one complaint per year rule as their shield (and a dummy impeachment complaint as their weapon of choice).

Eviction Time!