Talkback: Education

In the show Talkback with Tina Palma just this morning, there were 4 students (Marco of UP was one of them and a guy from Pisay) talking about the state of education and its value to help our country. It was a good discussion. There were some points that I thought everyone totally missed the point while in others they had points I missed.

There was one question that Tina raised about what value is most important for you. There were good points, love for learning, trust in God, however, they have forgotten the importance of the sense of nationalism and patriotism. And this is what I is what I want to change in this country, that, that every Filipino have that strong sense of nationalism without loss of hope and a continued vision for the betterment of our Philippines.

Heroes

Something coming from an episode in Justice League Unlimited Season 2:

"Everyone in the league is good at their job.

But those 7, they are the best ever.

Not because they are the most powerful, they are.

All of them. Its not just because they are the first.

Its because they are special.

They have proven it time and again.

They make the hard choices.

They set the example.

They do what's right not what's easiest.

And they always come out on top."

It sort of sums up a definition of what a hero is. In a country that seems to be up for the dumps, we need to start being heroes in our own rights. We, as Filipinos, should start choosing what is right rather than what is easy. Each of us, doing our share. This may be too idealistic but considering the cynicism that envelops us right now, one idealist might make a difference, though small, but still a difference.

Just trying to do my fair share in nation building. Be a hero.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

by Rolling Stones

[chorus]
I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she was gonna meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need

Oh yeah, hey hey hey, oh...

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"
Sing it to me now...

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need

Oh baby, yeah, yeah!

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"
I said to him

You can't always get what you want, no!
You can't always get what you want (tell ya baby)
You can't always get what you want (no)
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need
Oh yes! Woo!

You get what you need--yeah, oh baby!
Oh yeah!

I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

You can't always get what you want (no, no baby)
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need, ah yes...

Random Things

I received a cool video made using Swish. It's fun. You can find the link here.

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“Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?

Like a fast-flittering meteor, a fast-flying cloud,

a flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,

He passes from life to his rest in the grave.”
—William Knox (1824)

10 New things...

... I learned about Green Lantern after sitting in Powerbooks last Thursday while waiting for some friends for in a vice binge:

1. The power of the Green Lantern ring does not work on the color yellow.

2. This is because long ago, before there was the Green Lantern Corp, the Guardians battled a evil being called Parallax.

3. Paralax can not be defeated and was therefore stored in the Central Battery where Green Lantern's ring get its power.

4. The only Green Latern that was not affected by this was Kyle, the Green Latern that survived Hal's destruction of the Guardians and the entire Green Latern organization.

5. How the Green Lanterns use their power depends on their perspective: John was an engineer which is why what he creates look like engineering designs. Hal was pure power. Kyle was an artist.

6. The first Green Lantern was Hal.

7. Batman hated Hal because Hal never knew fear. "... and what is Batman without fear. He is just a man."

8. Hal was possessed by the Parallax which is why he turned renegade and destroyed the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corp. He was chosen because he had the strongest willpower among all the Green Lanterns.

9. Hal was then possessed by the being known as the Spectre, God's spirit of vengeance. This was because the Spectre thought that he could help destroy Parallax.

10. Green Lantern and Green Arrow were great friends. So were generations of Green Lanterns and Flashes.

Green Lantern's Oath:

"In brightest day,
in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight,
let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power,
Green Lantern's light!"

Bebot

Here is a cool video... Funny but still somehow makes you proud being Pinoy.

Blueprint for a Viable Philippines

Former UP President Dodong Nemenzo appeared on TV last night on ANC's The Big Picture. He was there to talk about his group, Laban ng Masa, and his group's pamphlet Blueprint for a Viable Philippines.

What kept me tuned to the program was the idea that, finally, here is someone or a group of people who are presenting to anyone who will listen a set of guidelines that are pointing to everyone the obvious problems of our country and setting and addressing these issues at point blank to the point of spoonfeeding these possible solutions. The program gave only a brief overview of what the book was about. It was basically like a mosquito bite that needed to be scratched. And so typical of me to go ahead with the scratching.

I spent half of my day at work searching and browing through the document that Nemenzo and a group of intellectuals, including Randy David, and in consultation with various sectors put together. It presented the ideas and action plans in a 3 step format that started of with the issue, then presented what government is doing, and lastly, what can and should have been done.

The point of the whole thing though was that the government should actively education the people and help promote an active and vigilant citizenry. Democracy is more than the institutions and the people who work in them but rather it is the about the people who elect those public officials into the institutions. A intelligent, aware, and involved citizenry who will actively participate in public dialougues and consultations, a citenzenry who knows of the issues and not afraid to give his piece of mind, a citizenry who values and is proud of his country and is willing to do everything to make it work.

Currently, I no longer give a damn as to what structure or form of government our country will take. As long as we have the freedom and as long as we are responsible for our freedoms, any system will work. A responsible citizenry will put into power a responsible leader, who in turn can make things together with the citizens, hell of a lot better.