The Daily Bluster

Empathy means the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It’s the capacity to go inside the head of another being – be it human or animal – and experience what that other being experiences. If you lack this ability, it would be difficult for you to be compassionate to others. For example, if you see a person slaughtered like an animal in the streets and your first thought is, “ Pusher kasi e ” (even if you literally know nothing about that person) and feel something like unholy glee bubbling up your stomach, then you feel a sort of pride that you made the right choice in the last election, meanwhile not feeling anything about the person whose blood is staining the ground, and the sound of that person’s parents’/loved ones’ heartbreaking cries makes you think, “ Kung walang kasalanan yan di yan papatayin !” (If he’s innocent he wouldn’t have been killed!) And an image of your idol’s smug, smirking, and gloating face flash before your eyes and you feel a sort of thrill...

Is “bayot” an insult? I’m wondering because last night I heard Rodrigo "Digong"  Duterte on TV saying this in reaction to Mar Roxas’ expression of disbelief to his (Duterte’s) incredible claim that he could eradicate criminality in the first six months of his presidency, if and when he gets elected. The way he said it, his body language, the tone, his facial expression – all convey his meaning, that bayot (gay) is something so hateful and disgusting that he reserves that judgment to those who dare question the pronouncements of Emperor Digong. Well, to be fair, that is probably his most benevolent method of answering his critics. I suspect he has far more “creative” methods of silencing them. I can just hear his followers saying, “ Buti nga bayot lang e. Dapat sa iyo pinapatay .” (You should be thankful you're just being called bayot . You should have been killed.) And they’re right. They will inform you this, with unholy glee and righteous anger, with blazing, fana...

I was watching that “I see dead people” movie years ago when this so-called friend called me up and asked me what I was doing. I said I’m watching this movie with Bruce Willis in it, and there's this kid who sees dead people. He said, “Oh yeah. Saw that. Bruce Willis is the ghost.” Then he laughed. I played it cool, but I was seething. I thought of Cthulhu and considered summoning him.  I don’t remember what he said afterwards, what he called me up for, or even what we talked about, but every time I see him (which is about once or twice a year, thank heavens) I imagine him being gnawed on by a good-sized rancor . I remembered this incident because I just finished reading “Fight Club,” Chuck Palahniuk’s novel. Nobody called me up to spoil anything for me, but I did see this shirt on some website: This shirt is diabolical I was only on the first few pages of the book when I saw this, so the whole time I was reading, this was flashing on my head...

(Continuation) It turns out that these “rice farmers” weren't actually what they say they were ; they were actually misguided activists who moronically believe that food crops that carry the tag “GM” (genetically modified) are automatically bad. The rice plants that were destroyed were “endowed with a gene from cornand another from a bacterium, making it the only variety in existence toproduce beta carotene, the source of vitamin A. Its developers call it “Golden Rice. ” If made available to people, a cup of this rice variety would provide half an adult’s daily recommended intake of Vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency causes the death of millions of people around the world, and could also cause blindness among children. The vandals were members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), AnakPawis Party list, and MASIPAG, organizations that ironically style themselves as pro-farmer and pro-poor. They were there to stage a protest versus GMOs, a protest that quickly tu...

Like most Asians, Filipinos love to eat rice. They eat rice at almost every meal. It’s their staple food, their go-to food, the ultimate comfort food. No Pinoy meal is complete without it. Just as Eskimos have many words for snow, Filipinos also have several words that refer to (no, not snow) rice —they have about seven. There’s kanin , which means cooked rice; palay —unhusked rice; bigas —husked, uncooked rice; bahaw —leftover kanin ; tutong —the burnt part of kanin ; binlid — bigas that got crushed during the milling process; in some Visayan languages in the country's south, there’s even a term for the unhusked rice ( palay ) that got accidentally mixed with bigas : pasi . They eat rice with ulam , which many Filipinos think is viand in the English language (it’s not). An ulam is any dish, usually protein, eaten in tandem with rice--it makes scarfing down platefuls of hot, steaming  kanin more enjoyable. The ulam is usually strong-tasting ones like the adobo, a dish so...

People Worship Weeping Tree In California, Tears Are Actually Insect Excrement A growing number of Catholics in Fresno, California believe that a tree outside St. John’s Cathedral is weeping God’s tears. “When you say ‘glory be to God in Jesus’ name’ the tree starts throwing out more water,” parishioner Maria Ybarra told  KGPE-TV . Ybarra was the first person to feel the drops of liquid, which began falling from the Crape Myrtle tree on Wednesday. As news spread, more and more people gathered under the tree to pray. “I said my prayer and asked the Lord to give me a miracle cause I’m really, really sick,” Rosemarie Navarro said. Continue reading at this site . Aphides, the insect whose poop is mistaken for Holy Water. If you look closely, you'll notice the little bugger is laughing his ass off. Here is another account:  California Parishioners Believe Tree Is Weeping God's Tears; Arborist Says It's Just Bug Excrement This reminds me of a recent episode of ...

In an interview by Egyptian news outlet El Wady , Ali Ahmed displays unbelievably astute observation and intelligent commentary on his country’s political, social, and religious condition, considering he’s only twelve years old. TWELVE YEARS OLD! I bet many of our politicians can’t even spell “fascist theocracy.” I am awed— I am humbled!—by this kid’s intelligence and cogent observations.  This video has gone viral these past few days. Although the interview occurred last October, his views are  more relevant  now  than ever, as the Egyptian military removed from office President Mohamed Morsi last week, a year after he was elected to office.  The twelve-year-old spoke passionately on topics like religion’s undue influence on politics, society’s disingenuous treatment of women’s rights, and the lack of social justice. The kid would put to shame even our country’s current crop of leaders—both political and religious. Watch the ...

This one is destined to become a classic. Ran across this gem here .  Of course, the gentleman probably thought that he was doing his community a great favor, and perhaps there was a sort of...preparation, for this obviously important event. But hearing his testimony, one can't help but wonder what kind of reference materials he consulted. Not an approved Biology textbook, that's for sure. Maybe he dreamed this up, after a really memorable  night? Who knows?    Watch and listen: Here is the text of his testimony: My name is Mike Frey. I speak as a concerned Minnesotan father and husband. And the thing about same sex marriage is that, people who are married, do have sex. And when same-sex people are married, they do have sex, there’s something called sodomy. Sodomy defined in Minnesota is sex by or with the mouth or through the anus. When there is ejaculation into a vagina, there is a barrier there, as in your packet it states there, of a cellular tis...

...(T)he only thing left to do is shout -- not moan, or complain, but yell out at the top of your voice whatever it was you had to say. What you've never said before. What perhaps you don't even know till now--Jean Anouilh Two news articles made me think of the quoted passage above. First—“ SC asked to declare cybercrime law illegal .”  This bill—the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012—was passed in the Philippine Senate that Senator Guingona is trying to amend. The article quoted Senator Guingona as saying, “Without a clear definition of the crime of libel and the persons liable, virtually any person can now be charged with a crime—even if you just like, retweet or comment on an online update or blog post containing criticisms.” What is alarming is that the Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda agrees with the bill. They find nothing wrong with it.  Seriously. Senator Tito Soto ( the unapologetic plagiarizer nonpareil ) apparently had a hand in the inclusi...

Image is from here . Funny, but unfortunately the joke's on the voters. But I guess it’s true what they say—we get the leaders we deserve.  After all, it’s the people who are responsible for putting men and women like these in power. Reminds me a little of Senator Tito Sotto, (incidentally also a TV comedian) who shamelessly copied parts of his privilege speech from bloggers and is apparently unapologetic about it. He seems to be oblivious of the ethics involve in such matters.  If he were a student who copied word-for-word some parts of his assignment from the internet, he might get in trouble with his teacher, but that's about it. But he’s a Senator, for Christ’s sake. So yes, we do have a bit of a situation. The trouble is, the Senator does not even realize the sordidness and the tackiness of his actions. In his mind, he should not even have to apologize--although his aide made an apology of a sort to the blogger, however lame the apology was. T...

So, 2012. The year the world is supposed to end. As the world (much of it, anyway) celebrated the coming of the new year, I couldn’t help but notice the different ways cultures of the world welcome the new year.  For us here in the Philippines, we like to usher in the year with a bang—literally. With firecrackers that can set off car alarms, and can reduce your precious doggies to whimpering, whining, shitting, piteous creatures; with firecrackers that shatter eardrums, and mangle hands and, in some cases, cause fires and kill people.  The firecracker on the left is aptly called "Goodbye Philippines" Also by firing loaded guns indiscriminately into the sky. This one’s fun—gravity tells us that what comes up must come down, right? So when the bullet does return to earth, it sometimes hit people, including children.  And kills them. Loud noises are supposed to drive away “evil spirits,” according to Chinese traditions. That people use this superstition...

I have never liked celebrating my birthday. Birthdays only remind me that I am one year closer to dying. Last December 28 was my birthday, and were it not for two old friends who actually made the trouble of going to my house to greet me personally, I would probably spend my birthday just like I did the year before (and the year before that): playing a video game. As it was, the three of us drank and talked about old times.   I’m glad they came; I actually enjoyed my birthday this year, which surprised me.  I suspect I am turning into a grouchy old fart, though. And I find I am content to be a grouchy old fart. What the hell, I am disappointed and disillusioned with the world—and the world is disappointed and disillusioned with me. Might as well live with that , and accept my grouchy old fart persona, even if I am not as old as this old fart: This is probably my last post for 2011. Frankly, I didn’t think this blog would go past this year, given...

So, in this season of hope, peace and good will, Catholic League president Bill Donahue has launched a campaign—“Adopt An Atheist,” is what it’s called. Behold : Here’s what our campaign entails. We are asking everyone to contact the American Atheist affiliate in his area, letting them know of your interest in “adopting” one of them. All it takes is an e-mail. Let them know of your sincere interest in working with them to uncover their inner self. They may be resistant at first, but eventually they may come to understand that they were Christian all along. If we hurry, these closeted Christians can celebrate Christmas like the rest of us. As an added bonus, they will no longer be looked upon as people who “believe in nothing, stand for nothing and are good for nothing.”   What he is doing is just perpetrating the bigotry that religious nuts like him have towards people who happen to not share his set of beliefs.  Religion could be dangerous, as it is; combine i...