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 →

The Aquino Road Map

House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora asked an excellent question of the Aquino Administration during his rebuttal speech to the President’s SONA speech. As Rappler headlined it: “Where’s the road map?” Zamora was actually gracious in his critique, explaining it is not his place to criticize what the President put into his speech, or left out, … Continue reading →

People of Size, Character-Wise

I admire Mother Teresa. She would get out into the field, out with the flies and mud and disease, and help people. I admire Bill Gates, a zillionaire who is giving his money away to help the neediest people around the world. I admire artists who give of their inner soul  so that others may … Continue reading →

“What’s Your Bag?”

I love idiomatic expressions. Sancho Panza is my idol. Well, one of them, along with Barak Obama, George Carlin, Grace Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Charles Dickens and a bunch of people rich of character who are both compassionate and drop dead intelligent. Well, I suppose it could be argued by some that Carlin and Bierce were … Continue reading →