Sympathy for the Boston Bomber?

Jose Mario de Vega

I read a Get Real Post article that expresses sympathy with the Boston bomber. Well, not with the bomber's act, exactly, but with the motive that is likely behind the bomber: bring down US imperialism.

Here's a link to the article. It's by Jose Mario de Vega.

The article begins with a stark condemnation of the bombing and expresses condolences for the young boy who was killed. Then it turns the gut-wrenching emotion inside out with an attack on America and ends with the closing call: "DOWN WITH US IMPERIALISM!!!"

Yes, in caps, three exclamation points.

In other words, this blog writer is sympathetic to the motives of the bomber. Make no mistake about that. It is not a call for understanding, or compassion. It is a clarion call of hate raised loud and clear on that bastion of blogging integrity Get Real Post.

The article content is mainly a list, a replication of "a century of U.S. Military Intervention complied by Dr. Zoltan Grossman".

A few excerpts from the author's own words in the article:

• I hope that those bastard imperialist and war mongers in Washington and Pentagon will not use the Boston event as a necessary pretext to bomb or attack North Korea and/or Iran!

• I hope that the American public would not be again duped and brainwashed by their stupid, racist and imperialist government!

• Those bastards who bomb Boston are terrorists, in the same vein, that the United States of America is the NUMBER ONE TERRORIST COUNTRY IN THE WHOLE WORLD by virtue of their long history of bloodbath, mayhem and mass murder committed against the people of the world!

• My heart breaks for those who died and injured in Boston, in the same vein that it pierces and shatters my soul every time an American bomb drops in any part of the world killing innocent civilians, especially women and children!

And then this remarkable quote:

• Consider the following conversation below: Guy 1: I’m really upset about the bombing. Guy 2: The one in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, or the one the media told you to be sad about?

So the author believes the gut-wrenching sympathy Americans feel about the Boston tragedy is sad because the media tells them to be sad. In other words, there is nothing about the incident on its own merits that calls for sadness. This reveals the author's own fake condolence in the article, condolence that is merely aimed at posturing himself as a sympathetic man.

He is not a sympathetic man. He is an angry manipulator.

The list of US interventions is a rather fascinating list. It is an example of when information presented out of context makes a new context, a new reality.

The implication is that the US is an aggressive war-mongering, imperialistic nation. The truth would have to be found in looking at each case and determining, was the US intervention good or bad from the perspective of the citizens of the subject nation, or was the intervention in some way aimed at defending American citizens?

I'm sure one could compile a reasonably profound balancing list of people who are thankful for the US engagement in their nation. So it is a rather interesting for what it is, a one-sided list sheared of context.

Note the sequencing of events around World War II:

• CHINA 1948-49 Troops/Marines evacuate Americans before Communist victory.
• PHILIPPINES 1948-54 Command operation CIA directs war against Huk Rebellion.

Missing entirely is World War II, and the US interventions in Europe and Asia.

What's with this? 

What's with this is that the list is concocted for advocacy, for impact, not for accuracy, or for comprehensive truth.

It is an argument, not a study. It is the kind of argument the Boston bomber likely BELIEVED.

So who is Dr. Zoltan Grossman who originally compiled the list?

• Dr. Zoltan Grossman is a professor of geography at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. His website is at http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz and can be reached at  grossmaz@evergreen.edu.  He is a civilian Member of the Board of G.I. Voice, an antiwar veterans group that runs the Coffee Strong resource center for soldiers outside Fort Lewis.   His list of U.S. military interventions since 1890 is at http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html.  (Source: Common Dreams)

The good doctor has made his mark writing and teaching about US racism and military interventions.  He is an advocate AGAINST war. But he at least appears to teach ideas, not anger.

What about the author of the blog article on Get Real Post? His name is Jose Mario de Vega. Here is what he says about himself:

• The writer has a Master’s degree in Philosophy, a law degree and a degree in AB Political Science. He was previously teaching Philosophy, Ethics and Anthropology at an institution of higher education in the Nilai University College at Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. He is currently a lecturer at the College of Arts, Department of Philosophy at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. As of the moment, he is preparing to publish his first book entitled “Dissidente”. It is a collection of his articles, commentaries and op-ed published by various newspapers in Southeast Asia.

He tags himself on Get Real Post as "The Radical".

I'm asking myself as I near the end of this commentary, had he submitted the post to the Society of Honor for publication, would I run it? Ought Get Real Post be condemned for running it?

You know, I probably would run it.  With an editor's comment framing why it is run. The disgrace of Get Real Post is not in running the article. It is in not allowing open comment to balance a provocative viewpoint. It is found in GRP's banning of JoeAm and others who have opposed GRP advocacies in the past. So Get Real Post walks no high ground here.

The article represents an attitude that must be dealt with to find a peaceful way forward. It fairly represents what I consider to be a simplistic, angry, narrow-minded perspective held by radicals. In other words, it is a legitimate viewpoint no matter how disgusting I find the framing to be, leveraging the Boston bombing tragedy for political gain.

Here's what I think about the whole of the matter of war and peace:

Wars are not brought to us by earnest, honest, candid people interested in finding solutions to competing or conflicting self-interests. They are brought to us by conniving power-mongers holding narrow views, expecting others to fit into their narrow views, and leveraging emotions to achieve their goals. Sometimes these people occupy US government positions. Most of the time they are elsewhere.

You can recognize them easily.

They read a lot like Jose Mario de Vega.
______________

Addendum: Mr. de Vega's response to this blog can be found here: 

http://getrealphilippines.com/blog/2013/04/my-sympathy-to-all-victims-of-bombs-violence-agression-and-imperialism-and-the-us-global-domination/

I cannot respond to his blog directly because I am banned from Get Real Post. But, hey, I appreciate the time he put into it. He does have his passion.

My answer to his questions posed there would be twofold: (1) hate breeds war, and (2) information presented out of historical context breeds hate.

JoeAm

Hackers, Spammers and Priests

I have always admired those who adhere to an "ideology", for it reflects a discipline, a commitment, to an intellectual principle. Now, sometimes the whole effort goes wrong, as did the Soviet Union's communist ideology. But still, it beats a chaotic system of no profound definition, like  . . . well, like that of the Philippines, where the courts don't serve justice and the legislature is a gaggle of well-named shapeshifters under the influence of the moneyed and the Constitution is roundly ignored. But, hey, executive is good, for now, holding the place together peachy keen.

Today our topic is the ideology of hackers, spammers and priests. Here are Humpty Dumpty's short form definitions:

• Hackers: marauders who deface, disrupt or steal someone's proprietary computer programs and information.
• Spammers: volume distributors of unwanted information aimed at selling things or jamming computers with an abundance of transactions.
• Priests: preachers who live weird lifestyles and insist the rest of us live our normal little lives along the lines the preachers dictate.

You may not immediately grasp how the priests are related to computer thugs, but kindly bear with me.

The most prominent band of computer hackers is "Anonymous", a lose confederation of mischief makers who always attach a "good reason" to their mischief. They have adopted the stylized mask of Guy Fawkes, a Spanish Catholic rebel, as their logo. Never mind that he was convicted of treason and would have been hanged had he not jumped from the gallows platform and broken his neck.

Anonymous hackers are praised in many circles. They are the rebels in white hats, the Pancho Villa style popular heroes, banditos expressing the public's pent-up frustration and outrage. In their minds of their fans, they are closer to Batman than the Joker, more like Zorro than the corrupt, brother to Robin Hood, raiding the rich to feed the poor, not like the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Of course, that picture is entirely wrong. That is simply a fiction, a popular folk tale.  A lie.  Because hackers are nefarious destroyers of good will and good work.  Lunatic, self-justifying troublemakers who destroy wealth and add to poverty.  They are what they criticize, totalitarians of a different cloth, consumed with the fiction that they and only they are on the "right path".

Doesn't that sound like a priestly position to you?

Indeed, read the Anonymous mission statement, shown in the picture above, and you see the same threats and intimidation used by extortionist gangsters. Or clan leaders, come to think about it.

Pancho Villa's real name was José Doroteo Arango Arámbula and he was a general in the Mexican army when he was not raiding.  Batman of course was millionaire Bruce Wayne.  Zorro was Don Diego de la Vega, a nobleman seeking justice against those who would harm his family. Robin Hood was, according to some, the Earl of Huntington, a nobleman dispossessed of his land and goods, taking up the people's cause against authoritarian injustice.

Philippine hackers command no such honors or glory.  No one rallies around their leadership. Most shake their heads in dismay, or even disgust.  They are a small band of people whose sense of right is very wrong. Indeed, they presume to DICTATE what is right, and what is wrong. They sit at their computer tables and plow into other people's private lives, judge, jury and executioner.

They are talent and skill misdirected and misused. They could be working earnestly to create good will and constructive solutions but they choose instead to destroy.

They are more like the brutal Sheriff of Nottingham than Robin Hood. More like the Joker than Batman.

The wild-eyed crazy lady down at Seventh and Flower in Los Angeles, shouting madly at the pole holding up the street light, has about the same delusional vision of self. The same kind of self-justification and artificial reality that creates its own values and distorted acts. Rationalizations of bad behaviors abound.

Hackers may have an ideology, but they are the opposite of mankind striving for the highest road.

Spammers are often hackers with a different method. They impose their messages on people who don't want those messages.

One popular spam destruction technique is the "denial of service" flooding of a web site with messages. Legitimate visitors are eventually locked out by the volume of messages. Computers around the world are kidnapped and harnessed to fire obstructions at the target site. Top Blogger Raissa Robles has recently apparently had her site effectively shut down by such an attack. "Database error" we'd get when trying to visit. Because some clowns with a keyboard and ideology determine that others ought not have the right to express themselves. Little lord jesuses with a very very small j.

This site is currently undergoing what looks like the early stages of a budding, building, spam-based denial of service attack. The daily volume of spam attacks is relentlessly upward bound. It started with two or three a day. Now hundreds per day. Soon it could be thousands.

I'm not a technology buff. I have no staff and no budget. If the spammers win, JoeAm goes off the air.

• It's no loss for me. It is rather like getting fired and retiring early.  I go to the beach.

• A gain for the hackers? How, they have built nothing.

• A win for the Philippines? Only if your mirror of values was built in a fun house of distorted images.

These are idealists with rotten ideals. Like NPA rebels. Extortionist gangsters who have no idea about economic well-being or social justice or who is really punished by their acts.

Do you think the government is punished by a defacement of a web site and interference with normal online business? Or are innocent people who need the government's help punished?

I tell you, these idealists are scoundrels. They harm the innocent.

That's where we get to priests

RH has been put on hold by the Supreme Court. More specifically, by Catholic judges on the Supreme court who cannot seem to grasp the distinction between government and faith.

The justices look to me like hackers, hijacking the government's earnest good work for their narrow religious ideology.

The priests are spammers. They live a lifestyle that is bizarre, unable to commit to a wife because Jesus might get jealous. Yet they instruct the rest of us, whether we belong to their union of faithful or not, how to live a proper lifestyle. Their relentless bombardment of the air waves, the newspapers, the pulpits, the halls of congress and the judicial benches floods the Philippines with muck the rest of us simply can't get through.

They have an ideology. They bludgeon the rest of us with it, and prevent us from doing our honorable good works.

Hackers, spammers and priests. Cut of the same cloth.

Philippine Media: The Lay of the Land

This blog is a little different, as I search for order rather than meaning. Indeed, many of you may already know these media, but it is a process of discovery for me.

I have read repeatedly about Philippine news reporting being shallow and sensationalist. But it has only lately crystallized in my mind how damaging this can be to the Philippines as the nation seeks to emerge as a productive, modern,  respected nation in the global community of human rights and commerce.

Sensationalist news focused mainly on problems can overwhelm good works. That's the main danger, that news reporting would undermine the trust people have for their government and its leaders, and convey the wrong impression about what is happening.

So I thought I'd explore in more depth what the various media bring to the information table in the Philippines. Indeed, this is a long-dormant passion of mine. It was my chosen field of work laid to waste by an economy gone south in the early 1970's. I had acquired a master's degree in Radio and Television Arts, doing my thesis work at CBS Television in Los Angeles. Job opportunities were thin at the time. The fates determined that I should become a banker, or rather a bank marketing officer, working on the other side of the media business, as an advertiser.

But journalism is an area where I have a decent understanding of good communication principles. What we see in the Philippines is "light news", a kind of "quick and dirty" reporting without a lot of investigative work. Interviews and "hearsay" evidence are taken as facts and this repesents the content of many news articles. So do murders, rapes, tragedies and other titillating stories.  And, indeed, the sensationalist drive for ratings means that news frequently gets laced with emotionally charged words. Headlines are written to strike nerves. Filipinos, emotional at heart, love the stuff.

I won't belabor this further. Let me just say that for now, we will accept the argument that media news disciplines in the Philippines are very slack, in the interest of profit. We might shade this differently as we progress.

As we work through this together, we can identify certain issues for follow-through. For example, how about politics? Does that drive anything? We must put that on our task list for further study.

A second takeaway becomes quickly evident. There is no central resource of broadcast or print media because the Philippines has no media regulator. The industry is "self-regulated". This is very different than in the United States where the Federal Communications Commission regulates media ownership and monitors that media are properly serving the best interest of the public. So no central repository of licensing or cross-ownership of media appears to exist. It takes considerable effort to identify the full scope of media power of the larger organizations. Sorting that out becomes a "to do" item for the future.

Because of the lack of a central regulatory data base, it was difficult putting together this simple starting profile. Some of the information is a couple of years old, and some of the specific players may have changed. But this is just a starting point, so rough edges will be fine for what we need to do.

THE MEDIA DEFINED

It would be good to get a good reading of the landscape before we advance into it. Our focus is on news and information, not entertainment. The national goal is presumably an educated community having access to a variety of kinds and sources of information. Opinion columns or broadcasts represent the interpretive part of the news, so we include that in the realm of study as well.

We can start by breaking news sources into four groups:

• Television networks and stations
• Radio networks and stations
• Newspapers and other print media
• Internet news and commentary

Let's try to characterize each:

Television networks and stations

There are three dominant television networks and a wide range of over 200 local television stations, most affiliated with a network. Dissemination of programs is via airwaves, cable and satellite.

The two top networks, ABS-CBN and GMA-7, battle almost equally for dominance. It is a bitter battle, with interpretation of leadership meaning a lot in terms of advertising revenue. The two networks have engaged in legal and public bickering for about 7 years now, each claiming it is number one. The third network, is ABC-5. Recent Nielson ratings reported percentage viewership as follows:

Network	Share Points
GMA-7	36
ABS-CBN	30
ABC-5	15

ABS-CBN claims it held the prime time lead at 41% to GMA's 32%. The source is a different rating agency.

Beyond the "Big 3", we have the following television networks:

• Both GMA and ABS-CBN own secondary stations that broadcast shows aimed at younger "lifestyle" audiences, QTV-11 and Studio 23, respectively.

• One of the larger radio networks, Radio Philippines Network, owns a television station, RPN-9 (oops, outdated; read on. JA).

• Several other significant networks target regional or specialized audiences:

• UNTV 37, a public service channel owned by the Progressive Broadcasting Corporation in Quezon City.

• NET 25, featuring IT programming and encompassing Asia and Australia.

• IBC 13, the Intercontinental Broadcasting Company managed by the national government. (Update. Now only the People's Television Network is held by the government; see comments below. JA).

• RMN 31, the Radio Mindanao Network, which has 10 stations across the Philippines and one station in New York, USA.

• Cable and satellite subscribers can also sign up for CNN, BBC and other information channels. These typically do not feature the Philippines, and they are controlled outside the Philippines.

Radio Networks and Stations

There are just short of a thousand radio stations in the Philippines. All major cities across the nation have at least one radio outlet. Manila has 51.

The two largest TV networks also own substantial radio properties.

We also once had the Radio Philippines Network, cited above. But it's a changing world and RPN has been consolidated with former government radio stations of the IBC, and recast as ETC, under private ownership (including by San Miguel Corporation). The government got tired of losing money and offering crappy program so cobbled together a new network and kept only the public television station.

The major radio networks in the Philippines include:

• Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) – 200 owned and affiliated stations nationwide. The news and talk station DZRH is its anchor, and it feeds other network stations such as Radyo Natin , as well as television through companion station RHTV. MBC also owns entertainment stations Love Radio, Aksyon Radio, Easy Rock and Yes FM. 

• ABS-CBN –  DZMM Radyo Patrol national news which feeds cable TV news channel DZMM TeleRadyo.  ABS-CBN also owns  My Only Radio's regional network of 14 FM music and entertainment stations.

• Radyo Mindanao Network (RMN) – AM and FM stations in 34 cities across the Philippines with heavy representation in Midnanao.

• Bombo Radyo – Bombo Radyo talk radio has 22 stations and Star FM operates 21 music stations. Based in Iloilo City.

• Catholic Radio Network – 52 church-run radio stations under a variety of different names nationwide.

• GMA Network – 23 radio stations across the country with main stations DZBB SilverRadyo and the Campus FM chain of music stations.

Newspapers and Other Print Media

There are approximately 75 newspapers published in the Philippines. Of these, 48 are in English with most being local publications from large cities, 20 in Filipino languages, 2 in Spanish, 1 bi-lingual and 4 in Chinese.

The major national newspapers include:

• Philippine Daily Inquirer.  Estimated circulation 260,000 daily with an average daily readership of over 2 million.

• Philippine Star. Circulation of about 270,000. Reaches Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

• Manila Bulletin. Circulation of about 280,000.  Owned by Emilio Yap who also owns tabloids Tempo and Balita and magazines such as Liwayway, Bisaya and Philippine Panorama.

• Manila Times.  President Aguinaldo read this publication. 

Other newspapers include

• Other: Business World, Malaya, Manila Standard Today, The Daily Tribune

• Tabloids:  Abante (circulation 420,000), Balita (Tagalog), People's Journal and People's Taliba (English and Tagalog versions), Pilipino Star Ngayon (Star's Tagalog paper), Saksi Ngayon (Tagalog) and Tempo (Manila Bulletin)
  

The Inquirer established a radio station in 2010, Radyo Inquirer.

If you'd like a more detailed history of the Philippine newspaper business, here is a link to an article published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts on a recent but unknown date.

Internet News and Commentary

The largest television and newspaper enterprises also have robust and informative web versions of their daily news and opinion fare. Videos and live feeds are featured on television sites. Here are the links to the news or main sections of those outlets.

• ABS-CBN
• GMA-7
• ABC-5
• Philippine Inquirer
• Philippine Star
• Manila Bulletin
• Business World  

The most significant internet-only news and opinion site is, of course Rappler. It is a younger, more interactive and less advertising intense news effort.

Information is not readily available as to the impact of the internet on newspaper circulation, or the financials of these undertakings. The web sites are significant efforts, maintained in a much more dynamic, current state than are government agency sites, for example.

We also have attached to the news outlets robust opinion and commentary sections, with top columnists such as Randy David drawing several hundred reader comments in response to an article. Bloggers represent fly-by-night opinion mongers, rather wayward and quite broke orphan cousins.

Conclusions

There are three or four main players in each media category. The internet is the most competitively robust because it has both newspaper and television players, plus Rappler.

In order of dominance based on daily viewership, I'd guess the impactful voices stack up as follows in terms of power:

1. ABS-CBN
2. ABC-5
3. Abante
4. Philippine Inquirer
5. Philippine Star
6. Manila Bulletin
7. Manila Broadcasting Company
8. GMA-7
9. Business World

We now have in this first blog is the general lay of the land. There is much, much more to explore.

For Further Study

• What is the ownership connectivity among the major players. That is not clear from this cursory review.

• Do editorial or news policies reflect a political bias?

• What are the issues emerging from "self regulation" of media? Are television and radio frequencies considered a "public resource"? Or are they the total purview of private interests?

• How does the quality of news reporting vary from outlet to outlet?

• What are trends in internet readership? How is the internet affecting the financial viability of the mainstream media?

The next article in the series will take up trends on the internet, and financial impacts if such information is available.

Electioneering and the Blogging Foreigner

I have been silenced . . .

Philippine Immigration has made clear that foreigners are not to engage in Philippine elections in any way. Not even open our mouths or tap our keyboards.

Immigration has announced that it will deport foreigners who violate Section 4 of COMELEC Resolution 9615:

• Resolution 9615, SECTION 4. Prohibition against Foreign Intervention. - It is unlawful for any foreigner, whether juridical or natural person, to aid any candidate, or political party, organization or coalition, directly or indirectly, or to take part in, or influence in any manner, any election, or to contribute or make any expenditure in connection with any election campaign or partisan political activity.

I feel your pain, Joe . . .

This is very different than the Unites States, I must say. In America, freedom of speech takes precedence over one's citizenship. Foreigners have full right of free speech. The Supreme Court made this clear in a 2012 ruling that confirmed that a ban foreign political contributions did not represent a violation of free speech:

• “Notably, [the campaign finance law] as we interpret it, does not restrain foreign nationals from speaking out about issues or spending money to advocate their views about issues,” the court said. “It restrains them only from a certain form of expressive activity closely tied to the voting process – providing money for a candidate or political party or spending money in order to expressly advocate for or against the election of a candidate.”  ("Supreme Court upholds election law limiting foreign influence" by Warren Richey in The Christian Science Monitor)

In the States, a foreigner can say or write opinions all over the place, in or out of the election cycle, just like an American.

Well, almost all Americans are from immigrant families, so it is a different mindset over there.

Here in the Philippines, it is clear that we have a more protective and authoritarian form of democracy.  I rather fear Dr. Rizal would be disappointed.

Indeed, COMELEC Resolution 9615 is a minutely detailed, high-control, by-the-book directive from a powerful regulator. It is regulation by knit and grit. COMELEC refers to any information that is outside the narrow bounds of their determination of fairness to be "propaganda". Not ideas, or information, or platforms. Propaganda.

It is strange to me, the binding of expression. Open ideas are what drives honor and competence and solutions. Shutting them up is what assures abuse. And ignorance.

So I have an idea if you will allow me the courtesy of squeezing an impudent suggestion in here. Tighten the rules a bit. Don't let anybody say anything to anybody in any form at any time so the the Public is not burdened with original thought or pesky decisions requiring information and ideas. No one will be biased with any fresh insights whatsoever. They can just vote the "name".

Oh, wait. . . . Pardon me. You say that's the way it is done now?

Boy howdy, like the proposed cybercrime libel laws, this 9615 is enough to make an overbearing opinion-monger go Santiago. 

And so, dear readers, in recognition of COMELEC'S representation that you are not mature enough to read JoeAm's mighty opinions and sift them through your own cognative filter for reasonableness, it is with a huge sigh of reluctant retreat that I have withdrawn 12 blogs that have the potential of being declared in violation of COMELEC's ruling.

I'll republish one or two after they are duly sanitized for reading by lola and all the other nice ladies down at the Church bazaar.

Actually, I suspect this COMELEC ruling needs to be tested for constitutionality, but it is not gonna be done on this American's wallet. You want the kind of country that is afraid of opinions, you may have it.

You know, to some extent, I understand the hard and all-inclusive COMELEC position banning foreign campaign contributions and "influence", which includes speech. The Philippines has been abused by foreign engagement in politics in the past. Abused as in ruthlessly occupied. The U.S. has not.  Furthermore, the Philippines is a small nation. A large nation could take command of an election by funneling large dollar amounts into a campaign.

But money is money, an individual is an individual, and an opinion is an opinion.

The regulators look at an opinion as a weapon, a threat. I look at it as a seed. The germ of an idea that can be welcomed or rejected or debated. Indeed, that is what blogging is about. The dynamic of generating ideas through debate. Those who disagree with JoeAm can write their own opinion. They can debate the matter. They can strive for a sharing of enlightenments. As in think and teach and learn.

Read these discussion threads. It is not the article that is important in many cases. It is the debate.

That's what that comment box is for at the bottom of the page.

Vibrant discussion keeps a democratic nation healthy, alive and on course.

So I go back to my often-asked question, usually reserved for low-esteem blog commenters not the national government, why is an idea allowed if it is stated by a Filipino but not allowed if it is stated by a foreigner? It is the same idea.

I also think that in the modern era of the internet, enforcement of the "influence" provision by deporting violators who take partisan positions on the internet is rather strange thinking. As long as I am here, the government can put its autocratic tape over my electioneering mouth. When I'm deported, then it's balls to the wall influence in every online medium available to me.

So tossing me out would prove that it is not WHAT I WRITE that matters to the authorities. It is authority that matters to the authorities.

Furthermore, when Immigration starts deporting people for simply having an opinion, the Philippines will come across in the modern world as heavy handed and  . . . well, maybe not the best place to set up shop. Like backward. Like banana republic.

Same o same o authoritarian rot and malaise. Same o same o non-competitive Philippines.

But my parents taught me to obey, and my school taught me to respect authority, and my church taught me to exercise humility, so I will follow the rules.

And the Philippines will be one voice quieter during election time.

Candidates who represent a lousy choice for the Philippine public can sleep well.  JoeAm will not be badgering them.

My my. . . . do you suppose . . . the thought struck me . . .could it be . . . that if they can silence enough voices they will soon have everything in order. Only THEIR propaganda will be allowed?

Ship shape, as they say.

Hunky dory.

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya 

Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya
Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya
Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbayah 

Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya 

Someone's crying, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's crying, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's crying, Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya 

Someone's praying, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's praying, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's praying, Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya 

Someone's sleeping, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's sleeping, Lord, kumbaya
Someone's sleeping, Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya

JoeAm's Delusions of Grandeur

I was accused the other day by a commenter on Riassa Robles' Top Blog of having ulterior motives for writing blog articles. The guy is pro Sultan, which may give you an idea of his reason for not taking kindly to JoeAm's defense of President Aquino in the Sabah matter. His accusation is that I really have no interest in the Philippines. He says I am only writing to prove my intellectual superiority to Filipinos. I've left out all the flicking and fricking words that accompanied the message.  Here's the link if you wish to see pure hostility at work. 

My answer was rather simple as I know when I'm responding to a mind that has no bend to it and emotions that do not permit reason.

But, indeed, as in all things, there are hidden truths. And so, my loyal Society associates, whom I might add were also insulted in that extraordinary comment,  I must offer my confession. I aspire to demonstrate that I am smarter than y'all, that I can (1) enumerate wisdom better than Edgar, and write international stuff better than "J", and talk family better than Cha, and prowl the internet better than Andrew, and be an artistic wild man better than Mariano, and laugh and remember things better than . . . um . . . better than . . . oh, yes, I recall . . . better than Johnny he he.

Indeed, my aspirations to superiority know no limits. I often put myself into the shoes of President Aquino to see where he is walking. Boy am I puffed up when I jam into those little wingtips. They are for sure tight about the toes, but, hey, Chinese women break their feet for beauty, so we superiors do what we must do.  But, frankly, it's a little hard these days because there are so many other Filipinos already in those shoes pretending they know better than Mr. President how to handle tricky and deadly international incidents like Sabah. They have no information, and no solutions, but boy howdy, passion requires no intelligence to be loud.

So today, I am going to reach for new heights. I am going to step out of the President's shoes and into the  lace-up boots, black in color, shiny of toe, of Abraham Joseph Rizal.

By the way, did you know that Abraham Lincoln and Joe America are EXACTLY the same size at 6' 3 1/2", and weighing 190 American pounds. Unbeknownst to the museum curator at the Henry Ford Theater Museum, down in the basement below where the President was shot, JoeAm slipped into Abe's dinner jacket. Perfect fit. I mean perfect.

Or maybe that was Mary Ford Theater. All those American oligarchs. I get confused.

But I digress.

So allow me to channel Abe today in my address:

(Deep, rich Abe-like voice) Hello my fine Filipino friends. It is good to be with you here at the Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Yo, sound guy! Would you kindly adjust the gain a bit? The feedback sounds like General Lee wheezing under duress of cannons to left and cannons to right.

Thanks!

Two score and seven years ago, I was brought forth upon this earth destined to free Filipino men and women from the bondage of the dynasties. And the oligarchs. The rich guys from China that make the Forbes billionaire list by stepping upon the backs of poor and innocent Filipinos who drudge mightily for a few pesos a day.

I'm here to show you the way, and to prove my mighty mental muscularity over you ordinary Filipinos who could not figure this out if you sat 60 to a room for 50 years  in one of the DepEd's sweat shops for children. In the modern vernacular of the educational wizards at DepEd that is called a "classroom", but you and I both know what it is.

It is a place where children are shut down rather than opened up.

It is a place where kids learn to be discouraged and ignored, rather than inspired.

It's a place where young people are charged money to take exams, as if it were a privilege to be proved unsuccessful.

Here's my grand solution!

The Philippines needs a middle class.

Yes, that is what is required.

Look, there are 400 people with names and money at the top, 6,000 people with middle class income, and 94,993,600 people slogging for peanuts.

Now, contrary to what some might think, I am not a war monger nor am I a revolutionist. I am a pragtologist. That is rather like a proctologist, but I look into a different orifice.

I look at a hole in the top of the economy through which pass brains on the way to America and Australia and labor to Dubai and Egypt.  Give us your inspired and ambitious masses exclaim the rich states, and we will give them what you refuse to provide: opportunity.

And that's precisely what I look around for daily.

I  look for opportunity offered with common sense pragmatism by the Philippine government and Philippine businesses. It's my passion.

And I have discovered the shocking truth. In the Philippines, opportunity is a big fat zero for 97.2% of the population.

Now given this astounding fact, which is accurate within a 72.3% range for error, we superiors are inclined to ask, why does the nation refuse to provide opportunity?

Because it is into authority and obedience and does not have the strength of confidence to let Filipinos fly free to achieve.

Because DepEd teaches obedience rather than innovation and the bosses instill submission rather motivation. No one here knows how to make Filipino hearts soar with hope. With REAL hope, not some Sotto plastered political  spin that yaps about hope but is just the same old proctologists delight.

Because the schools stifle and the employers stifle and the dynasties plug their family members into all the cool jobs that could be the DREAM, the hope, the motivation of the working stiffs. 

If the Philippines only knew what CAREER meant. If the Philippines knew what fairness of employment opportunity, and what freedom really meant.

There are no careers in the Philippines. The dynastically gifted bounce from job to job, getting sucked along by Grandpappy's fame and Pappy's calling in of a few favor chips. Real CAREERS require effort and innovation and problem solving and productivity. The Philippine family favoreds just schlep along plugging up the channels of hope.

And so, my finely feathered Filipino friends, ya'll remain screwed until such time that the nation recognizes that AUTHORITY does not motivate, it constrains. And memorization is not intelligence, it is upchucking by the numbers. And freedom is the great release of human aspiration. It is not something that requires libel suits hung on it or courts that give no access to the poor.

Insecurity is a bitch, restraint a bastard.

Dump them and let's rock.

[Cue Bill and Ted on air guitars.]

The Cybercrime Rules

I have attached a new section to my Policy and Terms in view of an apparent tightening of government authority on expression in the Philippines. This is reflected in the passage of cybercrime legislation now before the Supreme Court where it is being tested for adherence to Constitutional mandates. Included in the law is a strange and unexplained provision that doubles penalties for internet libel, as if the internet were a devious and sinful medium. And it is reflected in proposed legislation by seven House of Representative members to declare entertainer Justin Bieber "persona non grata" in the Philippines (banned from the Philippines) for doing a mocking satirical photo of Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao subsequent to his recent loss by knockout.

This kind of authoritarianism seems to emerge from  powerful people from time to time in the Philippines.  Powerful individuals believe earnestly that they are permitted to set the rules as to what others are allowed to do or say, regardless of the letter or SPIRIT of the Constitutional provision for free expression. I believe it is this same sense of righteous individual power that has led to repeated coups in the past when powerful people don't like the tone of what others in government are doing or saying. Or when vigilantes are allowed by city mayors to prowl the streets shooting criminal suspects. I think it is dangerous to the State when powerful people are allowed to define what laws mean based on their own emotions.

Free speech in the Philippines means "you are free to speak as long as you say what I want you to say."

The VALUES upon which America was founded get lost in Philippine authoritarianism. Values get turned upside down, and the libel law is one of the tools for upending good values.

Because it is a real fact that the Philippines has distinct authoritarian tendencies, it is best to prepare for them.

Libel is a strange crime. It is one person's view of damages versus another's. Malice is in the eye of the beholder, and malice is what underpins a libel suit. One cannot gather forensics evidence on malice, fingerprints or DNA. It is just arguments. And hereabouts,  the courts seem to listen more intently to the arguments of the powerful than arguments from those with little power.

Furthermore, the accused is considered guilty at the levying of a charge. And truth is no defense.

So I need to lay the best groundwork possible to deal with the threat of accusation from the empowered. It is my goal that the ground rules allow for the widest range of responsible free expression in this blog.

Take pornography. Showing naked breasts is offensive to some. Showing the widest ranges of sexual engagement is offensive to others. Violence is offensive to others.

Words are nothing more than linear photos. Rather like sexual photos, and this blog presents a variety of photos DESIGNED to awaken the mind. Where we get into problems is if we mention names. That is like showing a politician in a sex scene.

It may be true that he is a public figure. It may be true that he is engaged in sex. But he din't want to be shown engaged in sex. Or stealing. Or abuse in its many forms.

We put politicians and priests and bloggers and others into the word pictures.

It gets dicey, for sure.

The difference is that we seek to provoke ideas not sexual arousal. Our effort to generate ideas is hindered if we talk in generalities instead of specifics. We can only achieve our goal, a healthy, wealthy and wise Philippines if we are provocative.

We leave the sexual arousal to others, in the main. I mean, Angry Maude is a walking bombshell, so who knows what tittilations she inspires.

It is important that readers understand that this is a blog substantially of opinion, not fact; of satire, not truth; of guess, not measurement. In other words, we intentionally distort truth, in the name of meaning, and articles have precious little foundation in fact. Therefore, any suggestion that this blog site contains malice cannot possibly be true. Parable is not malice; it is a lesson. Satire is not malice; it is literary art in the name of meaning. Opinion is not malice; it is a point of view.

Let me put it another way. When I suggest the President of the Philippines is an idiot in a blog, I don't mean he is an idiot. And if you wait a blog or two, you are likely to read unending praise for him.

The only measurement of good intent or bad is found in the sum of all expressions in the hundreds of blogs contained in The Society of Honor by Joe America. An unbiased reader will find articles rich with opinion, discovery, lessons, and humor, all in the name of building a healthy, wealthy and wise Philippines. To ascribe "malice" to this effort, or any small aspect of the effort, is to grossly distort the aims, ambitions and achievements of the authors, publisher, and commenters.

Visitors are advised to know and understand how this blog operates, and the ground rules, before reading or commenting

This is the new section of my Policy and Terms

Cybercrime Protections (Addition January 6, 2013)

• Nothing in this blog should be taken as a truth. The articles are rife with satire, exaggeration and opinion compiled to produce certain meanings, meanings intended to advance the well-being of the Philippines. Many expressions are intentionally provocative to work through the armor of reader complacency; no malice is intended. It is impossible for the publisher to distinguish fact from fiction for every phrase written. Therefore readers are advised that they are required to take NONE of the statements literally, as truth. The only truth is the meaning readers gather for themselves, based on their own history, conditions and intellect. The Society cannot be responsible for extracted meanings that diverge from intent, where the intent is the well-being of the Philippines.

• As stated in the section "Ownership of Comments", thoughts and opinions expressed by commenters are entirely those of the commenter. The Society has no way to discern which are intended with malice or which are satire, exaggeration and opinion, intended for the well-being of the Philippines. Complaints need to be taken up with the commenter directly.

• The Society gains no revenue from its publications. No advertisements are run. No articles are sold. No incentives are taken to express a certain viewpoint. No payments are made to contributors. The sole reason for being is to advocate for a healthy, wealthy and wise Philippines. The publisher has retired from employment and issues this blog soley for the personal satisfaction he gains by contributing to the well-being of the nation he has come to love. If words contained herein are deemed harmful in anyway, the Society is happy to share its revenue with complainants in whatever proportion complainants deem reasonable.