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Saturday, September 03, 2005
alumni silver anniversary
UP's alumni association in NSW just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Went with P to the Silver anniversary ball at Parramatta. Guests included the consul-general in Sydney who's also a UP alumnus. The main chapter president was also there and updated us on what's happening in the Phils. Was hoping to win the round-trip ticket to the Phils. Food served seemed endless. Music performed by Jun Javier band, soon-to-be VP of the assoc. There were also these cultural activists from the student movement of the seventies. I was the youngest in the ball. Magical evening.
Posted at 04:14 pm by starsi
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Cliff Wall, Blue Mountains
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In the news:
*Activists march onto the Sydney Opera House to protest the Forbes conference. The conference gathers around 350 executives, including former New York mayor, Rudi Giuliani and convened by Steve Forbes. It turns out the conference was opened on the other side of Circular Quay.
PM Howard promises to push through with industrial relations changes and is even thinking of taxation reforms. Steve Forbes is advocating tax cuts for higher-earning individuals and corporations.
*Former state opposition (Liberals) leader John Brogden taken to hospital after sustaining wounds believed to be self-inflicted. Brogden resigned from state opposition leadership after being criticised for his racist slur against the Malaysian wife of former state Premier Bob Carr and improper advances on female journalists.
*Liz Hurley comes to town.
Posted at 10:50 pm by starsi
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Posted at 03:21 am by starsi
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Monday, August 29, 2005
State Opposition Leader Resigns
View from Sydney Tower
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Here's a part of a newsbit that could offer a lesson to certain politicians we know. It's taken verbatim from the SMH, but I haven't included the quotation marks so as not to confuse with quoted remarks from the story.
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NSW Opposition Leader John Brogden has resigned as leader of the Liberal Party after revelations he labelled Bob Carr's Malaysian-born wife a "mail-order bride" and pinched the bottom of a female journalist at a function last month.
Announcing his resignation at a press conference this morning, he said: "I acted dishonourably and now is the time to act honourably."
Mr Brogden said he would stay on as the member for Pittwater.
He offered an unreserved apology to Helena Carr and Mr Carr, the former premier, for the "silly joke for which I can only but apologise and do so sincerely".
He also offered an apology to two journalists affected by his behaviour at the July 29 function organised by the Australian Hotels Association.
"They are acts that were meant in jest," he said.
"They were the sort of acts that I'm not proud of and will never be proud of," Mr Brogden said.
He said he drank six beers between 7pm and 10pm on the night but did not blame the alcohol.
Posted at 05:46 pm by starsi
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Sunday, August 28, 2005
Blue Mountains - View from SkyRide
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In the news: Underwater Tunnel repair completed. Hundreds walked the tunnel road, including an old woman who walked Harbour Bridge when it was inaugurated.
In the US: Cindy Sheehan and other protesters picket near the ranch of President Bush. Other pro-war campaigners say Sheehan doesn't represent American sentiment (Bush's rating dropped to 40% in a recent poll).
It only takes a slight moral imagination. Imagine if Germany claimed the right to attack the US for its possession of weapons of mass destruction and that it's the only country that has used nuclear weapons in war. What would be the reaction of Americans then? Every year after World War II, the US has been engaged in military actions against one or more country.
This is, of course, for freedom and democracy. In a not-so-perverted world, this presupposes the freedom to choose your own policies, the right to change and fight your own government, and freedom from fear of a foreign invader, no matter how seemingly benevolent.
Posted at 02:40 am by starsi
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Saturday, August 27, 2005
Bondi Surfers
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Helped friend to move things to new apartment just in front of Bondi Beach. Summer's coming in the next few months, so surf's up, mate!
Posted at 02:41 am by starsi
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Friday, August 26, 2005
Got published in the Philippine Community Herald. It ticks me off when there are even slight grammatical errors not due to moi but caused by the editing process. It happens everytime, I remember I contributed an article to the Phil. Collegian (and an LTTE); it's in the small things, the misplaced comma, the decapitated suffix. So sometimes you see your work and, well, never mind, got published and that's one link added to the world's story.
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Blokes and sheilas were drinking in a bar. A koala comes in through the door, orders food and eats, then shoots everybody and leaves by the same door.
Asked the reason for doing it, the koala answers: "Don't you know what a koala means? A koala eats, shoots, and leaves."
In the wildlife or in a zoo, a koala eats shoots and leaves.
Posted at 04:47 pm by starsi
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Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Posted at 08:21 pm by starsi
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Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Finally, an International People's Tribunal has indicted the Arroyo government, including for human rights violations, committed in the context of the 'war against terror.'
State forces can contribute a great deal to curb terrorism. By not perpetrating it.
In the Philippines, if democracy could change social structures, they'd make it a victim of involuntary disappearance. What the country needs is a lot of unemployed trapos (traditional politicians) and decommissioned generals.
Posted at 12:11 am by starsi
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Sunday, August 14, 2005
Sardines: the Oceanic Perils of Swimming
Sardines are a species of fish commonly eaten in Third World countries. In First World countries, they also serve as cat food. But in Third World countries, they are part of the basket of foods taken as the basic nutritional meal.
Very few people realize the perils of living as a sardine fish. I saw this documentary on the Sardine Run, reputedly "The Greatest Shoal On Earth."
In the depths of South Africa's coasts, millions of sardines pass through. A group of dolphins round up on a segregated group of sardines and force them into a "baitball." Dolphins then lunge at the baitball.
The dolphins send out special sonar signals that attract sharks. The sharks arrive for the feeding frenzy.
The sharks go for the dolphins, but upon reaching the baitball, they shift their focus.
They start attacking the sardines. The sharks and dolphins become predatory allies.
The baitball is driven from the depths. The sardines have a better chance of surviving if they thin out near the surface of the water. But in a pincer move, the dolphins attack on the sides, while the sharks do so from below.
It gets worse. Near the surface of the water, waiting seabirds like Cape gannets dive for the sardines, making this a three-pronged assault. But that's not all. Seals join in the fray.
Every one of the lost fish gets eaten. The rest are also eaten by the thousand by the Bryde's whale.
Sardines don't become extinct though. They are one of nature's gamblers. They play by numbers. So while millions of them get eaten in the Sardine Run, millions of them survive to return to the blue depths of the sea. Then they get hunted by other predators, like men. But that's another story.
Posted at 07:21 pm by starsi
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