“The words are not good for the secret meaning, everything always becomes a bit different, as soon as it is put into words, gets distorted a bit, a bit silly—yes, and this is also very good, and I like it a lot, I also very much agree with this, that this what is one man’s treasure and wisdom always sounds like foolishness to another person.” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
A certain James Soriano, an Ateneo de Manila University student and columnist of Manila Bulletin, wrote an essay titled "Language, learning, identity, privilege" for his column. Apparently, it caused quite a storm among some Filipinos such that Manila Bulletin removed the piece in its website. His first sentence is: "English is the language of learning."… Continue reading James Soriano, his language and his little world
Here's an article I wrote more than a decade ago about our great-grandfather Sheikh Yahya ibn Hadi and his descendants in Mindanao and Brunei: "I now know that wars do not end wars," said Henry Ford. For the Moros, wars are simply followed by more wars. Wars usually correspond to turning points in our lives.… Continue reading Sheikh Yahya ibn Hadi and his descendants
After ten long years, after bombing Afghanistan to kingdom come and controlling all its oil and gas resources, after invading Iraq and creating havoc there while controlling its oil and gas resources, after declaring a War on Terror and practically profiling all Muslim males as terrorists, the United States of America, through its president… Continue reading Osama bin Laden — dead at long last!
PALACE FIRES DEPUTY OMBUDSMAN FOR NEGLIGENCE OF THE HOSTAGE-TAKING INCIDENT Manila : Philippines | Apr 01, 2011 FROM: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8657537-palace-fires-deputy-ombudsman-for-negligence-of-the-hostagetaking-incidence Manila (Philippines) - The Deputy Ombudsman was fired on Friday by Malacanang through a 15-page decision approved by the President. The deputy Ombudsman was blamed for the hostage-taking fiasco that caused deaths of 8 HongKong Nationals and their… Continue reading Pnoy Passing the Buck to Ombudsman
Last March 7 was the 105th anniversary of the Battle of Bud Dajo, the massacre of some 600 Moro men, women and children by the officers and men of the United States Armed Forces, with some (Christian) Filipino soldiers. In 1999, I wrote a newspaper article on this episode of Moro history to commemorate the… Continue reading Bud Dajo Massacre
Tomorrow, March 11, 2011, Uranus, the planet of Revolution re-enters Aries, the Zodiac sign of War, and squares (antagonistic to) Pluto, the Planet of Death and Destruction, in Capricorn, the sign of Big Business and Strong Governments. To all the "strong republics" and the strongmen of rich governments (especially oil-rich countries in the Middle East),… Continue reading Uranus re-enters Aries
Postprandial Musings, 2.0 