The Philippines: Tiger or Stuffed Kitty?

The Philippines is fascinating, a nation with well-developed democratic institutions but underdeveloped democratic principles, a nation of broad economic reach and almost no economic depth, a nation of foul-weather patriots who rip money from the civic coffers and fair-weather patriots who tie their soul to the fists of a boxer and lash out with indignant … Continue reading →

Of Nuts and Bolts

I must say the blogging scene in the Philippines is getting dry and dull. Politics is at an ebb because Congress is not into a production mode and all the President’s men and women are so busy we can’t keep pace. Top Blogger Raissa Robles seems to have slowed to a crawl, perhaps because of … Continue reading →

Envy, Integrity and Missing the Mark

My wife watches “Voice of the Philippines” every Saturday and Sunday evening. I stop by if I can watch the singers singing, rather than watch the judges rationalizing or commercials selling. The singing contest is an interesting set-up, with competition at two levels. (1) The singers compete with each other, and (2) the four coaches … Continue reading →

Snowden. Is the Issue Privacy or Trust?

The Snowden affair seems to have little to do with the Philippines, other than give critics of the United States an issue to rally around. But it may be useful to reflect on the underlying issues because they may shade how we look at FOI or other acts of the Philippine government. The battleground in … Continue reading →

Third Stage Sovereignty

Blogs are like large rocks. If you write a big enough pile of them, you eventually have enough shapes – wedges and edges and planes – to fit together to form a wall. The wall may even be strong enough to become a foundation for a structure. I rather like that notion, that The Society … Continue reading →