A little political

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Freakonomics: Fruits, Vegetables are Cheaper the further away?

Friday, September 28th, 2007

I spent the first 21 years of my life with little fruits and vegetables in my diet. (And I grew up in the Philippines.) Like many other developing countries, the Philippines is often perceived (not quite accurately) to be an agricultural economy. Assuming this as true (after all, we do grow *some* export quality fruits), […]

Ubelievable: Finding Some in the Hospitality Industry Quite Inhospitable

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

Were they being bigots, racists, or plain-old inhospitable buggers?
A friend of mine (a masters degree holder with honors) called up a number of hotels here in Singapore. His only sin: he wasn’t calling to book a room but to see if there were any openings. Well, some hotel HR managers (like an HR officer at […]

Money Matters: Does Money Matter?

Thursday, August 9th, 2007

Money can’t buy happiness–at least, so the saying goes. Well, I’m inclined to agree. After all, I’ve never seen an ad post for happiness. I’ve never seen happiness sold at the stores (no matter how big or small, modern or prehistoric). This proves a point, surely. But does it prove that money can’t buy happiness? […]

The Nation Joins Hands to Pray for Rain: Is it Enough?

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

Last Sunday, all the Catholic Churches across the country said short prayers, as part of Sunday mass celebration, asking ‘the Almighty’ for rain, following an order issued by Roman Catholic Church leadership late last week. Prompted by reports from civil society and government warning of an impending water shortage should consumption remain at current levels […]

Strike One? Or, are we just being too hard on China?

Friday, July 27th, 2007

Huge scandal–Siu Pao sold on China’s streets are cardboard-filled! While a number of global fastfood chains are rumored to use onions and ‘low-grade beef’ as burger fillers and global food manufacturers, cartilege in hotdogs, the world declares cardboard ‘taking it too far’. China is, after all, the well-known least cost, least quality source of goods […]

More on the Anti-terror Law (News bits)

Thursday, July 19th, 2007

Keeping up-to-date on the status of the Philippine Anti-terror Law, here are some updates on the news:
1. 28 more cases vs anti-terror law filed at SC <http://newsinfo. inquirer. net/inquirerhead lines/nation/ view_article. php?article_ id=77226>
By Leila Salaverria, Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 02:48am (Mla time) 07/18/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Opposition to the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007 is snowballing.
Quoting […]

Philippine Terror Law Takes Effect as Bush’s War on Terror Loses Steam

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

You would have thought that, as Bush’s War on Terror loses steam in the US, pressure on the Philippines (and on PGMA) to raise the bar on its own war on terror would ease up. Apparently this isn’t the case.
Just last Sunday the Human Security Act, the Philippines’ very own anti-terror law, came into effect […]

With an Eye for the *Good News*

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

Check out my blogroll for a link to Inquirer.net’s *Good News Page*–the news group’s response to Philippine Media being *all about the bad*. This special section of Inquirer.net features all the good news stories on the Philippines. Good idea, no? Well, read it. Then, promote it! I think daily supply of good news is just […]

(Update) Role-playing Madness

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

Amazing. INSEAD, the premier french business school, uses Second Life, a virtual second world built especially for the MMORPG fanatics and others of the sort, as a playing ground for business students in a new online MBA track!
The Economist (online) reports:
Is this for real?
In a novel twist on the idea of the online course, […]

Aren’t we all “SEC of it all”?
(The Media and Government are at it again!)

Thursday, July 12th, 2007

You’ve got to read it for yourself.
Just a brief teaser: Conspiracy theory, the SEC attempts to sabotage Phoenix Petroleum’s recent IPO through leaking potentially damaging information to the media but fails.
Link: Inquirer’s Conrado R. Banal III in “SEC of it all”

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