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A Counter-reply to Schell’s unsubstantiated comments and my exchanges of barrage with Chankaiyee2 Part I

June 22, 2013, 12:05 pm
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A Counter-reply to Schell’s unsubstantiated comments and my exchanges of barrage with Chankaiyee2
On June 20th, the China Daily Mail published my piece entitled: “China’s stupid contention on South China Sea: most idiotic territorial claim in human history”.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank personally Craig Hill as the editor of the said well known news site for publishing my article. He has been doing so, since August of last year.
With regard to my latest article, once again I wrote about China’s persistent, yet utterly baseless territorial claim with regard to the South China/West Philippine Sea.
One commentator, as of my writing, by the name of LISSACALDINA has even reblogged my piece to her own wall, yet another has issued a comment. It is a comment in my view which is preposterous and undeniably idiotic.
Below is the comment written by Chenney Schell:
The vitriol in your writing is comprehensible. It’s advisable to express one’s opinions with objective analysis and a certain degree of emotional detachment. When arguing against differing opinions, you should not let your writing devolve into rampant personal attacks with no real substance.

It’s almost drudgery to debunk the various apocryphal claims in your article (about roles of China and Philippines, respectively, in World War II, the Chinese people’s stance on this issue, etc.) Contentious territorial issues aside, you clearly did not do the research about the subject you are writing on. Theories must be supported by evidence and facts, which are both reprehensibly lacking in your writing. I have no way of knowing whether you approach an academic subject with the same method, but I have doubts about the veracity of your claim of being a “Philosophy lecturer”.

Blind nationalism does not help resolving any issue. Both Filipino and Chinese governments have unscrupulously kindled nationalism as distractions to real domestic issues. I believe that you, as (presumably) a person working in the academia, should have known better than to partake in the gimmicks of shameless politicians. Clearly, however, it was not the case.
It is on this reason that I am offering my counter-reply to this guy. I beg the kind indulgence of our readers to allow me to dissect the contentions of this fellow and respond to his charge point per point.
Let us begin on his opening statement:
“The vitriol in your writing is comprehensible. It’s advisable to express one’s opinions with objective analysis and a certain degree of emotional detachment. When arguing against differing opinions, you should not let your writing devolve into rampant personal attacks with no real substance.”
Comment:
If the vitriol of my writing is comprehensible, then I am wondering: what the hell this guy is complaining about? I do not know the level of his English proficiency, but may I inquire: did he truly mean to employ or utilize the word “comprehensible”? Or perhaps, he committed an intentional typographical error and what he truly wished to say is that: my writing is “incomprehensible”? If my writing, despite its vitriolic stance is comprehensive, then, what the hell is his point?
I agree with his advice that expression of one’s opinions must be accompanied by objective analysis and a certain degree of emotional detachment.
Very good and well said, however, can you say that very thing, that virtue to that so-called military “expert”, Major General Zhang Zhaozhong who said the following:
Since the 1990s, the Philippines has done quite a few illegal and irrational things in its attempt to turn the Huangyan Island into its territory by means of presidential order, domestic legislation, and so on.
Question:
Do you agree with that military “expert” of yours?
Where is his objective analysis? Where is his degree of emotional detachment?
Your so-called military “expert” is charging the Republic of the Philippines, since the 1990’s for doing quite a few illegal and irrational things. The question there is: what are those illegal and irrational things?
Objective analysis? How could your so-called Huangyan Island be yours, when the ownership of the said territory is in dispute?
What is your evidence? Again, you will invoke your so-called historical evidence which have no basis either in fact and law?
Moving on to Schell’s second statement, here’s what he said:
“It’s almost drudgery to debunk the various apocryphal claims in your article (about roles of China and Philippines, respectively, in World War II, the Chinese people’s stance on this issue, etc.) Contentious territorial issues aside, you clearly did not do the research about the subject you are writing on. Theories must be supported by evidence and facts, which are both reprehensibly lacking in your writing. I have no way of knowing whether you approach an academic subject with the same method, but I have doubts about the veracity of your claim of being a “Philosophy lecturer””.
Comment:
Why it is almost drudgery to debunk the various apocryphal claims in my article? You have the data and all the information to refute my claim? Then, c’mon boy, why don’t you do so? You just talk, but you don’t write; then what is the good about that? Nothing! Nothing, because you cannot contest the facts! You cannot assail the unquestionable facts, by virtue of the incontestable truth that you have nothing and you got nothing to offer! You got nothing, except your talkative mouth! What a shame!
Are you disputing the horrible and horrendous thing that suffered by China last World War II? Do I have to remind you again about the Comfort Women? The Rape of Nanking of 1937? How you forgotten them?
For your information, may I invite your attention to read the book of Iris Chang entitled: “The Rape of Nanking” published in 1997!
Perhaps, on that work, you will remember again the past of your country!
With regard to the bravery and heroism of the Filipinos in defending Bataan (which served as the last stand of democracy in Southeast Asia then), the former Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill said that the Filipinos are “the best warrior in the world.”
General Douglas MacArthur was particularly moved by incident
he observed among the Igorots units during the Battle of Bataan:
"Many desperate acts of courage and heroism have fallen
under my observation on many fields of battle in many
parts of the world. I have seen last-ditch stands and
innumerable acts of personal heroism that defy description,
but for sheer breathtaking and heart-stopping desperation, I have never known the equal of those Igorots.
Gentlemen, when you tell that story, stand in tribute to these
gallant Igorots.”
For your information, the Igorots is a collection of an ethnic group that lives at the northern part of the Philippines.
On the Chinese people’s stand
I doubt if the Chinese people themselves support their government’s military aggression and bullying in the Asia-Pacific region.
You? Do you agree with your country’s contention that it owns all of those territories that it is claiming?
Consider the illustrative map used by the editor or administrator of this site. The said map is truly illustrative. There, one can clearly see that China is claiming those territories which are well within the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Is that right? Is that moral? Is that legal? I wonder; how come China cut short of her claim? How come she did not also claim a portion of the territory of Indonesia?
Please answer my question categorically, without the slightest attachment of emotion: Do you believe, by reason and by passion --- the territorial climb of your country?
I dare you, boy: speak the truth and shame the devil!
The question of research
You are accusing me of not doing my research, the problem is: have you researched and studied the provisions of international laws and universal conventions, such as the UNCLOS AND THE ITLOS?
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A Counter-reply to Schell’s unsubstantiated comments and my exchanges of barrage with Chankaiyee2 Part II

June 22, 2013, 12:10 pm
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Does your country have the right to fish on the EEZ of another country? Does your country have the right to claim a territory that is clearly not its own?
I did not clearly do research about the subject that I am writing?
For your information, boy, below are the lists of the articles and commentaries that I have written about the subject. I invite you to check them out! Real them all!
The dispute over Scarborough Shoal, The Malaysian Insider, April 18, 2012
ASEAN-CHINA RELATIONS: Time to contain hostilities in South China Sea, The New Straits Times, Malaysia, July 19, 2012
Call for the United Nations to tell China that it cannot do as it pleases, The Southeast Asian Times, Australia, July 21, 2012
Cambodia’s subservience to China: a tale of treachery and selfishness, The China Daily Mail, August 6, 2012
Bullyism: the new face of imperialism (China’s invocation of its so-called historical right), The China Daily Mail, August 8, 2012
China’s imperialist designs; showing its ugly head and bloody arms (South China Sea), The China Daily Mail, December 4, 2012
China is the troublemaker in the South China Sea; opinion from the Philippines, The China Daily Mail, December 17, 2012
China: Restaurant bans Japanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese and dogs: China acting not only as a dirty dog, but as a lousy bully and a racist freak, The China Daily Mail, March 1, 2013
How about you? What have you researched about your country’s claim? Again, you will invoke your so-called historical right?
The question of theory
You said that “theories must be supported by evidence and facts, which are both reprehensibly lacking in your writing.”
Boy, I am not talking of theories here; I am talking of facts and evidences. I am talking about international law and universal norms!
Again, let us refer to the illustrative map used by the editor in my article, do you sincerely believe all of those territories being claim by your country --- truly belongs to you?
I am saying now that your country’s claim miserably and reprehensively failed to prove on the very face of it the veracity and the logic of her claim.
I maintain that the territorial claim of your country does not only defy the tenets of logic, but indisputably the most preposterous assertion that I’ve ever heard in my entire conscious life. That is precisely the very reason why I stated that the claim of your country is the most idiotic in the history of humanity.
You also said that you have no way of knowing whether I approach an academic subject with the same method. I wonder what you mean by this!
I also do not know what kind of method the educational system in China is using in teaching her students? Do you still read the Red Book of Chairman Mao?
How about the historical method? Is this method being taught in your schools?
For your information, the educational system of the Philippines is patterned after the Western Standard.
Further, you also said that you have doubts about the veracity of my claim of being a “Philosophy lecturer”.
What is your point here, boy? Nonetheless, by virtue of the fact that your ridiculous remark is already slanderous, let me state for purposes of the records, without bragging and being boastful that this writer has three Degrees under his belt. For the benefit of the general public and the rest of the people of the world, this writer’s degrees are the following:
AB Political Science (1999), Manuel L. Quezon University/Olivarez College
Masters in Philosophy (2004), University of the Philippines
LlB (2007), University of the East/Philippine Law School
Now, if I may inquire, boy, how many degrees/courses have you finished? Or perhaps, you just finished having your lunch!? Is that it?
Boy, for your information, I am one of the blessed few from abroad who was hired by the government of Malaysia to be a lecturer to one of its universities under the American Degree Programme to teach those ‘dangerous’ and radical subjects namely Philosophy, Ethics and Anthropology.
How about you? Does any school in China grant you the privilege to teach in any school, polytechnic or university there? Whether in the city or in the remotest village?
Further, I also invite you boy to just type my name at Google, press enter and presto! Anybody who does so will promptly see all of those things that I’ve written about almost everything and the world.
For your benefit and so as for the understanding of the general public, the writings, commentaries, op-ed, articles, etc. of this writer regularly appeared at nearly all Malaysian publications, whether print or online. It goes without saying that my works also appeared regularly in various Philippine sites.
How about you? Where does your works appear?
The difference between you and I is that while you pretends to know (when in fact you doesn’t know), this writer is persistent in his studies and passionate in his endeavors.
Lastly on this matter, to completely demolish your doubt about my background, let me state for purposes of the records that the first book of this writer was published last June 5th by the Central Book Supply Inc.
The title of the book is “Dissidente”. Or, perhaps, you will also doubt the existence of the said book; hence I will also give the ISBN of it which is: 978-971-011-677-5. For your benefit, ISBN stands for: International Serial Book Number. Finally, I will also give you the website or the link of my publisher: www.central.com.ph.
Moving on to the last statement of this boy, this is what he said:
“Blind nationalism does not help resolving any issue. Both Filipino and Chinese governments have unscrupulously kindled nationalism as distractions to real domestic issues. I believe that you, as (presumably) a person working in the academia, should have known better than to partake in the gimmicks of shameless politicians. Clearly, however, it was not the case.”
Comment:
Finally, there is something that we are in agreement! I concur that blind nationalism does not help resolving any issue.
For purposes of the records, let me state that:
I hate the Chinese government, not the Chinese people! The two are not the same! I have to quarrel with the Chinese people; in fact I consider them as my people too! My rant and anger is directed at the government of China, especially your so-called Communist Party and your military that is a bully of the region.
It is my firm view that your bastard leaders are the problem in this part of the world --- of the whole humanity!
I condemn China’s bullyism and imperialism, not because I am a Filipino; rather I am against your greedy and opportunist country because I am a universal intellectual, a humanist and an international revolutionary!
I am not a nationalist! I am not a patriot! I am universalist, a cosmopolitan being, a citizen of the world!
It is on this great sense that I am also fighting for the right of the Vietnamese, the people of Brunei, Malaysia and even your Taiwan; which doesn’t want to be a part of your empire!
Again, you own those properties your country is claiming? Then, let us see how the international court will rule on this issue.
End of the day, I still hope that both the Filipinos and the Chinese people will not end up killing each other!
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A Counter-reply to Schell’s unsubstantiated comments and my exchanges of barrage with Chankaiyee2 Part III

June 22, 2013, 12:13 pm
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PS:
I am also supposed to reply to CHANKAIYEE2’s “South China Sea dispute: lucky China, unlucky Philippines”, The China Daily Mail, June 22nd. Yet, by virtue of the fact that the issues that, he raise is substantially similar with Schell, I deem that my reply to the latter is also the same with the former.
Nonetheless, for the benefit of the general public and the people of the world, let me post here the exchanges between me and CHANKAIYEE2 in his own blog.

JOSE MARIO:
My name is Jose Mario Dolor DE VEGA, not DE VEGO!
YOU ARE STILL CLAIMING THAT CHINA OWNS THOSE TERRITORIES! MAY I REMIND YOU THAT THE PHILIPPINE CLAIM IS ALREADY AT THE JURISDICTION OF AN INTERNATIONAL COURT! THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS TO WAIT FOR THE RULING OF THIS COURT!
I will respond to you in a greater length on my next piece!
By the way, is Tibet part of China too? Wow, you’re country is truly “lucky”! So many “properties”, yet the “ownership” is so disputable and questionable to the max!!!
CHANKAIYEE2:
As a Chinese, I certainly support my government’s claim, but I respect your right to express you view and will never use insulting and abusive language to deal with Filipino people. In spite of the dispute.
I hope that you understand that if the two sides do not each upholds its claim there will be no dispute at all. However, as I am no expert nor have the power to resolve the dispute, I would rather leave the dispute to be resolved by those who have expertise and power to make decision.
In the meantime, I still wish Filipino people have good luck and their country prospers.
As for Tibet, even Dalai Lama admits that Tibet is a part of China.
However, I do not think I shall argue with you since you are so ignorant and do not use the language that an educated person shall use..

JOSE MARIO:
The Dalai Lama admitted that Tibet belongs to China?
Bwahahaha!
I will not also argue with an ignorant creature like you! In fact, you are an idiot! An idiot of the highest order! Shame!!!
You support your government’s claim, because you are a Chinese, then I say, shame on you!
I hate the Chinese government, not the Chinese people, because your bastard leaders are the problem in this part of the world!
I condemn China’s bullyism and imperialism, not because I am a Filipino; rather I am against your greedy and opportunist country because I am a universal intellectual, a humanist and an international revolutionary!
I am also fighting for the right of the Vietnamese, the people of Brunei, Malaysia and even your Taiwan, which doesn’t want to be a part of your empire!
You own those properties? Then, let us see how the international court will rule on this issue!


Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
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A mockery of justice: The Trayvon Martin case (An Open Letter to President Obama)

July 15, 2013, 2:36 am
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Below is the statement issued by President Obama:

"The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin."

Comment:

I agree with Mr. Obama that the death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy, categorically disagree with him that because the jury has spoken his calling for all Americans to engage in a so-called “calm reflection” from two parents who lost their young son.

The question there is: under the prevailing circumstances, how to remain calm? Why would the parents of that young black teenager will going to reflect on the whole tragic event?

Mr. Obama, you yourself is also a parent and may I remind you of your own words last year with regard to this incident:

“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

Do you remember, sir?

During that period when the controversy is raging, you made a searingly personal plea for Americans to come together and do some “soul searching” after the shooting death of that African-American Florida teenager Trayvon Martin by a neighbourhood watchman.

You further added that:

“My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon. And you know, I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we’re get to the bottom of exactly what happened.

“All of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen — and that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident.

“Obviously this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids. And I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together, federal, state and local to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.”

Do you still recall all of these words, sir?

Yes, your country is known as a government of laws, not of men; but that bastard trigger happy “white Hispanic” (whatever the hell that means!) has put the laws into his hands and killed a human being.

Yes, your jury has spoken, but it does not mean that they’ve spoken the truth or decided the right thing!

I questioned the wisdom and the propriety of their ruling and bluntly accusing them for being biased and unfair.

I am condemning your nation’s so-called “legal” concept of "Stand Your Ground" laws that allowed a bloody bastard murderer like your Zimmerman to walk free on the night that he shot cold-bloody and killed arbitrarily the unarmed 17-year-old Martin.

I am also condemning that lobbying group known as ALEC that is one of your numerous ultraright-wing groups that crafted this so-called law”.

Who or what are this bullshit ALEC?

According to the Global Occupy Movement:

ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is a tool for corporations to obtain access to thousands of legislators, helping them to work hand in hand to develop profitable legislation. ALEC says it promotes “free-market and conservative ideas", including: resolutions against increasing the minimum wage, against attempts by the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, against “comparable worth” legislation that would encourage equal pay for women, privatization of prisons and replacing unionized workers with prison labor, protection of companies engaged in cruel and unnecessary animal testing, etc.

You are asking sir, how would you as an individual and as a nation, will prevent a horrible tragedy like this from occurring again in the future?

That is a good question, yet have you also asked the other equally important question: did your world-renowned justice system render genuine and correct justice to Trayvon?

Also, pertinent to the ultimate resolution of this case is the question that you, sir need to address is: what is your position with regard to this ALEC group?

I believe that the correct way and proper manner of honoring Trayvon is not only in curbing your gun laws, but also by giving that poor boy the justice that he, his family and all people like them, who are similarly situated --- deserve!

Undoubtedly, another utterly important way of honoring Trayvon is to order your Department of Justice to review the whole case.

We all know the truth that this case is yet another classic example of racial injustice, preposterous prolifing, arrogance, ignorance and extreme discrimination!

Do something, sir, before the whole of your people goes out to the street to demand justice!

Because there is no iota of doubt that in the end, WE ARE ALL TRAYVON MARTIN!

Of all the people, you should be the first one to protest this indescribable travesty and mockery of justice, you as being the first Black American president of the United States of America.

Please fulfill your father’s dream!

That is how we honor the boy and making sure that he did not die in vain!

In the stirring words of Frederick Douglass:

"At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! Had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced." (The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, July 5, 1852)

Hence, based on that, sir, let me issue again my disgust and dissent: I am denouncing to the utmost the utterly idiotic and impertinent ruling reached by that ridiculous jury and I am also condemning in part the racism still prevalent in your country and the double standard of your overall so-called justice system.

My solidarity to the family of Trayvon Martin and all victims of violence, racism, and discrimination like him!

WE ARE ALL TRAYVON! JUSTICE FOR MARTIN! JUSTICE FOR ALL!!!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
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President Nelson Mandela’s Legacy (Happy birthday, comrade Madiba), Mr. Obama’s Hypocrisy and the Courage of the Whistle Blowers Part I

July 21, 2013, 5:08 am
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President Nelson Mandela’s Legacy (Happy birthday, comrade Madiba), Mr. Obama’s Hypocrisy and the Courage of the Whistle Blowers

I refer to Amy Goodman’s “Fighting for justice a fitting tribute to Mandela”, ABQ Journal/Syndicated Columnist, July 20, 2013.

I concur with the author that:

“As the world celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, it is timely to reflect on his life, spent fighting for equality for people of color who long suffered under South Africa’s apartheid regime.

“Mandela was arrested in 1962, a year before Martin Luther King Jr. would give his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. After 27 years in prison, Mandela was released in 1990. Four years later, he would become the first democratically elected president of South Africa. We should use Mandela’s incredible life to shine a light on injustice in the United States, as George Zimmerman is acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin and as a massive hunger strike envelops the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where scores of men have been held without charge for more than a decade.”

(I invite the public to see my article on Trayvon, “A Mockery of Justice The Trayvon Martin Case: An Open Letter to President Obama”, Exposing The Truth, July 17, 2013)

Indeed, Madiba’s incredible life, a life that is molded and hammered by the struggle can be use as a guide to throw light on the present injustices that is now happening at the United States of America and by extension the oppression carrying-out and the massive global violation being committed by, undoubtedly the number one imperialist country in the whole world!

On the issue of internal injustice, consider the mockery of the acquittal of a bastard trigger-happy freak by the name of George Zimmerman in shooting cold-bloodedly a teenager by the name of Trayvon Martin.

If Madiba is well, what do you think would be his reaction to this outlandish and ridiculous trial? He himself faced a lot of kangaroo courts in his life, a series of tramped up charges and spending more than a generation of his life behind bars!

If Madiba is well, what would be his take on the issue of those so-called terrorists undergoing massive hunger strike at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, “where scores of men have been held without charge for more than a decade.”

Added insult to injury; those who are on hunger strike to register their point are forcefully fed! What a shame!

Will Madiba remember his own Robben Island? Well, at least Robben Island is Madiba’s land, not like Guantanamo which legitimately belongs to Cuba but until now is still being kept by the US --- illegally and indeed, immorality at the expense of its true owner which is Cuba!

Worst, the US is using the said property which is not theirs righteously to hold, detain, torture and dehumanize people that they consider as their enemies.

Here’s what President Obama wrote when he signed the Robben Island guest book:

“On behalf of our family we’re deeply humbled to stand where men of such courage faced down injustice and refused to yield. The world is grateful for the heroes of Robben Island, who remind us that no shackles or cells can match the strength of the human spirit.”

Wow! I wonder when he spoke of the “strength of the human spirit”, is he also referring to those people who despite the danger, the persecution and backlash of coming out into the open, into the world public to reveal and expose the truth; yet in the end still, they decided to do the right thing even at the expense of losing their everything?

Further in South Africa this is what he reportedly said melodramatically in reference to Madiba:

“When they tried to silence Mandela, he didn’t give up.”

Two hours later, he said that:

“We will stop Mr. Snowden and others like him.”

I do not know whether Mr. Obama is aware that there appears to be no difference between the “they” (pertaining to Madiba’s opponents then) and the “we” (regarding to America’s perceived enemies) that he is talking about or alluding to!

They are the same crap of bastard lying bloody politicians!

Here’s what Mr. Snowden said in a statement through Wikileaks that he released on July 1st:

"For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

"In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised – and it should be.

"I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many."

So, to Mr. Obama, Madiba’s act of standing up against the proponent of Apartheid in South Africa is noble, yet it is wrong for a citizen to tell the truth? The brutal and shocking truth: that the very government itself is spying on its citizens?

Amy Goodman narrated a conversation with Col. Morris, a retired Air Force colonel and the chief military prosecutor then at the Guantanamo Bay (he resigned in 2007) said that:

“We don’t need a lecture; we need a leader…”

Said Colonel refused to use statements obtained through torture.

Further, the said former chief military prosecutor added with grim irony that:

“When President Obama and his family visited South Africa, he took Sasha and Malia to visit [Robben Island]. And at the same time, he’s operating an island prison in Guantanamo, where the majority have been cleared to be transferred out. There are people that have been there for 11 and a half years that we have cleared to be transferred home, and they still sit in prison.”

Is Mr. Obama engaged in a “Double Face” policy?

On one hand, he is proud of Mandela, yet on another he is against those peoples who like to follow the footsteps of the great man, men like Swartz, Manning, Snowden, etc?

Mr. Obama condemned the harsh treatment and the long prison sentence of Madiba, but why he is still keeping those prisoners at detention, when they are already cleared to be transferred? How about those detainees that up to now has not been even charge?

May I remind or refresh Mr. Obama’s memory, here’s what Madiba himself had stated in an official press statement way back on June 26, 1961:

“I am informed that a warrant for my arrest has been issued, and that the police are looking for me. The National Action Council has given full and serious consideration to this question, and has sought the advice of many trusted friends and bodies and they have advised me not to surrender myself. I have accepted this advice, and will not give myself up to a government I do not recognise. Any serious politician will realise that under present-day conditions in this country, to seek for cheap martyrdom by handing myself to the police is naive and criminal. We have an important programme before us and it is important to carry it out very seriously and without delay...
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President Nelson Mandela’s Legacy (Happy birthday, comrade Madiba), Mr. Obama’s Hypocrisy and the Courage of the Whistle Blowers Part II

July 21, 2013, 5:11 am
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“I have chosen this latter course, which is more difficult and which entails more risk and hardship than sitting in gaol. I have had to separate myself from my dear wife and children, from my mother and sisters, to live as an outlaw in my own land. I have had to close my business, to abandon my profession, and live in poverty and misery, as many of my people are doing. I will continue to act as the spokesman of the National Action Council during the phase that is unfolding and in the tough struggles that lie ahead. I shall fight the government side by side with you, inch by inch, and mile by mile, until victory is won. What are you going to do? Will you come along with us, or are you going to co-operate with the government in its efforts to suppress the claims and aspirations of your own people? Or are you going to remain silent and neutral in a matter of life and death to my people, to our people? For my own part I have made my choice. I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.”
Below is an excerpt of the second statement through Wikileaks of Mr. Eric Snowden issued in Russia, dated July 12th:
“I believe in the principle declared at Nuremberg in 1945: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring."
“Accordingly, I did what I believed right and began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell US secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice.
“That moral decision to tell the public about spying that affects all of us has been costly, but it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets.
“Since that time, the government and intelligence services of the United States of America have attempted to make an example of me, a warning to all others who might speak out as I have. I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression. The United States Government has placed me on no-fly lists. It demanded Hong Kong return me outside of the framework of its laws, in direct violation of the principle of non-refoulement – the Law of Nations. It has threatened with sanctions countries who would stand up for my human rights and the UN asylum system. It has even taken the unprecedented step of ordering military allies to ground a Latin American president’s plane in search for a political refugee. These dangerous escalations represent a threat not just to the dignity of Latin America, but to the basic rights shared by every person, every nation, to live free from persecution, and to seek and enjoy asylum.
“Yet even in the face of this historically disproportionate aggression, countries around the world have offered support and asylum. These nations, including Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador have my gratitude and respect for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful rather than the powerless. By refusing to compromise their principles in the face of intimidation, they have earned the respect of the world. It is my intention to travel to each of these countries to extend my personal thanks to their people and leaders.
“I announce today my formal acceptance of all offers of support or asylum I have been extended and all others that may be offered in the future. With, for example, the grant of asylum provided by Venezuela’s President Maduro, my asylee status is now formal, and no state has a basis by which to limit or interfere with my right to enjoy that asylum. As we have seen, however, some governments in Western European and North American states have demonstrated a willingness to act outside the law, and this behavior persists today. This unlawful threat makes it impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there in accordance with our shared rights.
“This willingness by powerful states to act extra-legally represents a threat to all of us, and must not be allowed to succeed. Accordingly, I ask for your assistance in requesting guarantees of safe passage from the relevant nations in securing my travel to Latin America, as well as requesting asylum in Russia until such time as these states accede to law and my legal travel is permitted. I will be submitting my request to Russia today, and hope it will be accepted favorably.”
I do not know whether Mr. Obama is conscious of the apparent similarity of the cause being wage by Snowden and people like him to that of the struggle that fought passionately by Madiba!?
We all know the truth and that is the irrefutable fact that Mr. Obama and his government is the number one liar in this entire planet.
They professed to spread democracy, yet they are the number one interventionist country in the entire globe.
They claimed to be the land of the free and the brave, yet a great number of their people are imprisoned in a great poverty and deprivation and their braveness is only manifested though their so-called “Stand Your Ground” brouhaha!
They pretend to admire Madiba but what they are doing are all the very opposite of the principles and philosophy sanctioned and believe in by the great man.
Mr. Obama, you are a hypocrite of the highest order! At least, even if your Dubya is much idiotic than you, that creature is more open in his imperialistic designs and homicidal nature! Yet, it is beyond dispute that in the final analysis, you and that moron are one and the same! Shame!
President Mandela never ordered the South African military to bomb, invade and occupy another country.
There are no reports that Madiba ordered his military and intelligence officials to spy on their people.
There are no complaints that he ordered torture or abuse or humiliation of prisoners.
Hence, Mr. Obama, please don’t pretend to like and admire Madiba when in truth and in fact, you are a galaxy away from that great man.
To the U.S. government: stop preaching and lecturing the world how are we going to live our lives and conduct the sovereignty of our political existence.
You don’t own the world! We are the masters of our own fate! Mind your own business!
Stop spying on your people and stop invading other countries.
In the words of Morgan Beach, “The War on Whistleblowers and Journalism”, Exposing The Truth, June 16th:
“The war on whistleblowers is at an all time high. The Obama administration, using world war one espionage laws have cracked down and prosecuted more whistleblowers than all previous administrations combined. This, in spite of the fact that it is both legal and lawful to expose illegal activity in government via the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) of 1989 which allowed for whistle blowing when he/she “reasonably believes evidences a violation of a law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.”
“But, we are not to worry as those responsible for such illegal activity and war on the first amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances...”
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President Nelson Mandela’s Legacy (Happy birthday, comrade Madiba), Mr. Obama’s Hypocrisy and the Courage of the Whistle Blowers Part III

July 21, 2013, 5:16 am
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“Eric Holder (head of the Department of Justice) has been assigned the task of investigating Eric Holder’s illegal activity. Alternative media is always here bringing the truth into the mainstream and creating conversations on the illegal activity of government, if the government still served the people, would be completely transparent. Instead, we live in a world where the government keeps secrets, and the public is spied on.”

Mr. Obama, instead of spying on your citizens, occupying other nations, torturing and abusing people and harassing/persecuting whistle blowers your primary duty rather is to improve the preposterous and utterly bastardized justice system in your abnormal and perverted empire!

President Mandela stood up, struggled and fought for Humanity!

Mr. Aaron Swartz, due to state pressure and massive harassment ended his life tragically because he wants information to be available, accessible and free to the whole global public!

Mr. Bradley Manning is in danger of receiving long prison sentence for spilling the beans and that is passing so-called “classified materials” that shows the US government and its murderous and utterly despicable military atrocities and barbarities being committed arbitrarily in Iraq and Afghanistan!

Mr. Snowden is now a “stateless person” because he decided to come out from the dark to tell the people of the world the shocking and horrendous truth of the US government’s large-scale spying network on its very citizens!

These people in my view are noble, courageous and honorable individuals, who like Madiba had decided to confront the evil empire in the name of morality, justice, humanity and freedom!

Their aim is for the benefit, the general welfare and the universal good of all Mankind!

How about you, Mr. Obama, what kind of individual are you?

What are you fighting for?

PS: What can you say about the position of former President Jimmy Carter in publicly supporting Mr. Eric Snowden, saying as reported by Nick Wing for the Huffington Post (“Jimmy Carter Defends Edward Snowden, Says NSA Spying Has Compromised Nation's Democracy”, July 18-19, 2013) that Snowden’s act of “uncovering of the agency's massive surveillance programs had proven "beneficial"”?

What can you say to his accusation that your NSA’s “domestic spying as damaging to the core of the nation’s principles”?

Further, Mr. Obama, what is your take to the former President’s blunt charged that: "America does not have a functioning democracy at this point in time"?

Is your government, still the so-called United States of America or now the United Stasi of America?

Madiba’s spirit is listening and the world is watching!

Mr. Obama, I dare you, on behalf of Humanity, speak the truth and shame the devil!!!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
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Dalholkar: A Tribute to anti-superstition activist

August 23, 2013, 1:09 pm
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Dalholkar: A Tribute to anti-superstition activist

I refer to the Times of India report, Anti-superstition activist Dabholkar shot dead in Pune; CM, Pawar condemn killing, August 20th.

On behalf of all humanists, enlightened movements and anti-superstition groups, I condemned o the highest possible degree the utterly brutal and undeniably barbaric murder of Narendra Dalholkar in Pune.

As the report clearly narrated:

“In a setback to the progressive movement in Maharashtra, leading anti-superstition activist Narenda Dabholkar was shot dead by two unidentified assailants while he was out on a morning walk on Tuesday.

“Known for his over two-decade long campaign against outdated and inhuman social practices, Dabholkar was currently engaged in mobilising public opinion and holding discussions with Maharashtra government for passing an 'anti-superstition and black magic' law in the state legislature, opposed by certain sections of the society, including the Warkari sect.

“69-year-old Dabholkar, who headed the 'Andhashraddha Nirluman Samiti' (anti-superstition movement), was out for a morning walk when two motorcycle-borne unidentified assailants fired two bullets from close range into his head from behind, police said quoting an eyewitness.”

The undeniable gruesome “offence took place on the bridge near Omkareshwar Temple in the city in the vicinity of 'Sadhana' magazine, which Dabholkar edited to propagate progressive thought to change social mindset.”

It is my firm view that the attack committed against Dabholkar is not only against his person; it is also an attack against all those principles that he stood and fought for all his life!

It was a devious and evil attack by the legions of darkness and the prophets of madness and ignorance against reason, science and enlightenment!

The forces of darkness and creatures of backwardness decided to kill a devoted student of free thought and a being of the light!

This bloody incident reminds me of a similar crime committed 2, 500 years ago!

The unjust Athenians condemned Socrates to death for “corrupting the minds of the youth” and for “blasphemy”.

The time and the location are different, but the context and the circumstances are identical.

The stupid Athenians condemned a philosopher to death because they do not want the people to think and some bastard murderer killed an anti-superstition activist, because they do not want the people to know the truth. They do not want the people to think for themselves!

It is my fervent view that both Socrates and Dabholkar are martyrs of free thought and critical inquiry!

I believe that both of them died for Humanity!

I cannot understand the “mindset” or the “mental mechanism” of those idiots in carrying out this barbaric act.

I do not know whether those fanatical freaks and prophets of ignorance are aware that what Dalholkar is doing is simply and clearly following the scientific and humanistic provision of the Constitution.

Article 51 A (h) of the 1949 Indian Constitution expressly provides the following duties of the citizens: “to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”!

There is no iota of doubt, on my mind whatsoever that that is exactly what our activist has done for all his life.

I do not know whether those idiots are aware that they may have succeeded in killing Dabholkar, yet I doubt if they could have killed his ideas, thoughts and principles.

Yes, Dabholkar may no longer be with us, but I refuse to believe that in his untimely demise his beliefs and principles had died with him.

I certainly believe that all the causes that he took and devoted more than twenty years of his life is alive and well not only in his village of Pune, but for all of the people of India and the world!

Those beliefs and principles such as to think for ourselves without relying to some supernatural or metaphysical forces!

His ardent belief in humanism and the natural goodness of man!

His stand in firmly renouncing “practices derogatory to the dignity of women”!

His devotion to the scientific method and his declaration of war against barbaric and archaic rituals!

His propagation of rational thought, in the hope that it may lead to critical thinking of the people and the masses as a whole!

In short, his passion and struggle for enlightenment!

I also heavily doubt if they could erase the memory and legacy of the man.

I do not think and I do not believe that his death will stop the march of reason and the eventual victory of science over superstition and ignorance!

He may be dead, but his philosophy will never perish!

I overwhelmingly concur with the Times of India’s description of Dabholkar’s life mission and that is “spreading scientific temper and eradicating superstitions and undesirable rituals in the society was a lifelong mission which he carried with zest and rational thought, notwithstanding resistance from retrograde elements”.

I reiterate my condemnation of those murderers who killed arbitrarily and barbarically our great man. I also would like to include to my criticism and disgust those so-called retrograde elements who hates and dislike our activist’s life work of promoting enlightenment and rational thoughts.

To quote the stirring words of the noted British philosopher, an ardent humanist and a world renounced social critic, Bertrand Russell:

“A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create.”

I join the “prominent political leaders and social activists from the state including Union minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar” who condemned the killing of Dabholkar. He describe him as “a dedicated, selfless social activist who was committed to promote progressive thinking”.

Indeed, as Pawar categorically stated:

"The progressive thought for which Dabholkar gave his life, will not die in Maharashtra…"

In the equally beautiful contention of Robert G. Ingersoll:

“Man must learn to rely upon himself.

“Man, should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he should that heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. The present is the necessary child of all the past. There has been no chance and there can be no interference.

“If abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, man must free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover them. If the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done; if labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the defenseless are protected, and if the right finally triumphs, all must be the work of man. The grand victories of the future must be won by man; and by man alone”.

Long Live, Dabholkar, the anti-superstition activist!!!


Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer

College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
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Virginity and Morals I

August 24, 2013, 12:46 pm
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I refer to the Aljazeera report, “Indonesians outrage over virginity test: Education chief in Indonesian city faces anger after proposing virginity tests for students entering high schools”, August 22nd.

As clearly narrated by the said news agency:

“A proposal by an education official on Indonesia's Sumatra Island requiring female senior high school students to undergo virginity tests has been met with public outrage.

“Indonesian officials on Tuesday dismissed the proposal as excessive and unethical, with the country's education minister saying "this is not wise."

“Muhammad Rasyid, head of the education office in South Sumatra's district of Prabumulih, was the official who initially proposed the plan. He wanted to start the tests next year to discourage premarital sex and protect against prostitution. "If you want to protect your children from negative influence, there are other ways," the minister said.”

Comment:

I overwhelmingly sympathize with the public outrage generated by the utterly preposterous and undeniably barbaric proposal by the head of the education office in South Sumatra district of Parbumulih, Muhammad Rasyid.

I concur with the people’s disgust and hate of Rasyid’s proposal to require female senior high school students to undergo virginity test.

I would also like to commend the Education Minister for stating categorically that the said outrageous plan is not wise. I believe the said Minister used a somewhat mild tenor, because the correct and precise way to accurately describe the plan which is a “brain-child” of Rasyid is an idiotic plan of the highest order!

I do not know how come this creature managed to become a head of an education district.

I am questioning the wisdom and the propriety of those authorities who appointed this fellow to the said position.

How could you explain the fact that an education head could ever think, worst would even proposed the said inhumane, barbaric and preposterous plan?

Said plan in my view is barbaric by virtue of the fact that to compel and to require those senior female high school students to undergo the said test would undeniably violate their persons, their rights and their individuality.

Such arbitrary act and forceful act will also violate and trample on the Constitutional rights of those female senior high school students with regard to their bodies and persons!

The government or the state for that matter has no right whatsoever to touch the body of an individual citizen of the republic.

My body is mine and it is not the duty or the business of the authorities to touch, to intrude and worst, to check on my sensitive, private parts.

Hence, said proposal in my view is irrefutably idiotic and preposterous. It is idiotic in the sense that, it is indisputably in contravention of the constitution. Hence, by virtue of the fact that it negates and invades the rights of the individuals it is preposterous on its very face!

I fully agree with various activists in accusing “Rasyid of promoting "sexual violence against women" after he suggested the idea following the arrest of six high-school students for alleged prostitution”.

There is no shadow of doubt that the said sinister plan is a plain “discrimination and a violation of human rights”.

This stupid proposal is discriminatory by virtue of the fact that it has the nefarious potential and the dangerous tendency to deny and deprive those female students of their universal right to education.

It is on this great sense and irrefutable grounds that this ridiculous scheme will undoubtedly lead to violation of human rights.

Worst, if ever the authorities of Indonesia will allow this barbaric and preposterous plan, it will also bastardize the dignity and humanity of those individuals subject of the said plan.

I completely subscribed to the contention of Aris Merdeka Sirait of the National Commission for Child Protection when he said the plan was "just aimed for popularity."

Indeed, as Aris Merdeka Sirait said in Jakarta:
"Loss of virginity is not merely because of sexual activities. It could be caused by sports or health problems and many other factors…"
"We strongly oppose this very excessive move."
If I may just add, loss of virginity can also be due to the fact that a specific girl’s hymen is so thin that a major physical exertion such as mountain climbing or doing gymnastics or the like can lead to the rupture or destruction of the same.
Further, some women are virgin, even if one their first sexual act, they did not bleed. Why? It is because some women has thick hymen that in some instances they have to undergo a medical operation in order for their hymens to be opened by using scissors.
Questions:
How about those girls who lost their virginity because of an accident? Say, fall from a horse, or a bike or from climbing the tree?
How about those girls that were victims of rapes and sexual assaults? How about those victims of incest?
How about of those girls who voluntarily and consented/ agreed to freely engage into a sexual relationship?

Are they going to be denied their right to education?

Does it mean that if a young woman is no longer a virgin, she is immoral?

Does it also follow that if a young female student is no longer a virgin, she will not do well in school?

I do not think so!

What does virginity got to do with education? Whether or not, a woman is virgin or not is immaterial, her right to education must not be denied!

The law, whether local or international did not stipulate that education are exclusive for the pure and the innocent!

The law does not distinguished; hence that idiotic so-called head of education district has no right to make a distinction!

Education is a basic human and universal right and it is available to all regardless of their station and background in life!

A woman may be chaste or already deflowered, but it is my firm view that her morality and sense of decency cannot be reduced solely by her hymen.

Morality and ethics are not mere physical features, they are in truth and in fact, internal attributes; their source are from the individual’s inner character!

I am glad that the local authorities of Sumatra are against this stupid proposal!

I am also pleased as reported by Kate Hodal of the Guardian, “Female students in Indonesia may be forced to undergo 'virginity tests': Indonesia's education chief Muhammad Rasyid has drafted plans to 'protect children from prostitution and free sex'”, August 21st that:

“Local and national MPs, activists, rights groups and even the local Islamic advisory council have all denounced Rasyid's plan as potentially denying female students the universal right to education, in addition to targeting girls for an act that may not have even been consensual, such as sexual assault.”

The said proposed “tests would affect students seeking to enter senior high school”. In Muslim-majority Indonesia, senior high-school students are aged between 16 and 19.

As Aljazeera further reported:

In a written statement to the Jakarta Post newspaper on Wednesday, Rasyid seemed to back away from his proposal a bit.

"We never planned a virginity test for female students. We were only approving the request made by the parents of a student after she was accused of no longer being a virgin by a suspect in a human trafficking case."

Comment:

Rasyid, if you never planned a virginity test, then who the hell in the first place has brokered this stupid idea that outraged the public? What is the root cause of all these brouhaha?

Earlier, your plan is to do it with ALL of the senior female high school students in Sumatra, meaning your original plan is general; why now, you are saying a different story?
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Virginity and Morals II

August 24, 2013, 12:55 pm
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Now, if my reading of your letter is correct, you are saying that: the said test will only be applied to a particular student on the ground of the request of the parents of the same?

Why the change?

Is it because after you saw and realized the people’s anger now you are backtracking from your original position?

Assuming that what your saying is true, though I heavily doubt the sincerity and the veracity of your pronouncement, nonetheless, be that as it may, my question is: what is your business to interfere with regard to the issue or question of someone accusing someone of no longer being a virgin?

Don’t you think that that business is lodged to the courts and to the medical profession and not you?

Further, why would you give credence to the accusation of a suspect in a human trafficking case with regard to a young woman’s chastity?

Are you saying or implying to us that the statement of that suspect is more believable and more credible than the denial or statement of a young woman?

Now, assuming that the said student that you highlighted to your letter is indeed, no longer a virgin, what then are you going to do?

Will you deny the said student her inherent and universal right to education?

Will you deprive her in going to school?

If your answers are in the affirmative with regard to all these negative scenarios, then I say that you will surely violate the Constitution of Indonesia and all of those international conventions which Jakarta has agreed upon to observe in good faith!

Do I have to remind you that:

Indonesia, though the world's most populous Muslim country of 240 million, is a secular nation where most of your people practice a moderate, tolerant form of the faith. Further, your country is a good model for unity and diversity and toleration for all faiths, creeds, ethnicity, races, etc.

Hence, in my conclusion, your plan in my view is not only against the very principles wherein Indonesia in part was founded, but also inhumane, barbaric, idiotic and utterly backward!

If there is still some sense of decency and humanity left in you, you should not only backtrack from your initial and original position, the right thing to do is to admit your mistake before the public, the country and the whole world, scrap/drop that stupid plan and apologize to the whole nation for the fiasco that you have spawned!

That is the right thing and you have to do it now!!!


Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer

College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines

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War on War: The House of Common’s Historic Vote and Question of the US impending war on Syria

September 1, 2013, 2:12 am
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I commend the British House of Commons for defeating the Government’s Motion to support the US planned military intervention in Syria. The said motion is defeated by 285 to 272 votes.

As aptly reported by the Press TV:

“During a heated parliamentary debate on Thursday, Respect Bradford West MP George Galloway delivered a fiery speech against a motion by Prime Minister David Cameron to authorize a military action against Syria.

“The British lawmaker cited a Daily Telegraph report indicating that a definite majority of people in the UK are opposed to the country’s involvement in a potential war on the Arab country.

“Galloway further argued that there is “no compelling” evidence that the Syrian government has launched a chemical attack in the fight against the foreign-backed Takfiri groups.”

The Respect Bradford West MP said passionately that:

“To launch a chemical weapons attack in Damascus on the very day that a Unite Nations chemical weapons inspection team arrives in Damascus must be a new definition of madness”.

He further stated that everyone knows the Assad regime is bad enough to use chemical weapons, but the question is: "Are they mad enough to do it?"

The rebel MP’s crucial question is undeniably in point:

“Did they really launch a chemical weapons attack on the day UN inspectors were arriving in Damascus.”

Clearly, according to him, the “narrative” has changed, now England is keen on regime change on Syria with the connivance of the US and they are for two years now trying to topple the government in Damascus --- without any success!

Thereupon, he also hit at his country’s hypocrisy:

“If Assad was that bad, why did Britain invite him to stay at Buckingham Palace? Why did one prime minister propose him for a knighthood? And why was he praised as a moderniser?

“Because governments have looked at the opposition.
The rebels include people who eat human flesh, and saw the heads off their opponents.”

Another admirable aspect of the said rebel MP’s stirring speech is the fact that he inserted in his condemnation of the impending war on Syria to that of the silence, bias and hypocrisy of his nation with regard to the barbarism, injustices and mass murder being committed by Israel to the Palestinians!

As he sharply stated:

“No one in the Commons has criticised Israel for its illegal settlements.”

What does the historical vote of the House of Commons means for England?

I concur substantially to some of Andrew Sparrow’s “MPs vote down military intervention in Syria: Politics live blog, The Guardian”, August 30th, that:

1. Britain will not be attacking Syria.

Comment:

I just hope that after this humiliating defeat for the British neo-cons and imperialists, they will no longer force the issue and just accept the will of their citizens and their people.

2. The "special relationship" has just become less special.

Comment:

I doubt if Obama and his gang of mass murderers ever expected this outcome, yet even on the face of this historic vote which clearly isolates US from UK, Obama says that they will act unilaterally against Syria. Though, England is no longer a member of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing”, nonetheless America still has France. Yet, let us clarify our terms, when we speak of France with regard to this issue, I am referring to the French government and not to the French people!

This Obama is not only a hypocrite, but also the number one mass murderer!

I completely agree with an independent Irish MP, Clare Daly especially when she categorically stated that:

“Of course, the biggest irony of all, the protestations of Obama himself in his speech to children in Northern Ireland about peace, when he said, ‘those who choose the path of peace, I promise you, that the United States of America will support you every step of the way. We will always be the wind at your back.’

“Now, I ask you, is this person going for the hypocrite of the century award?”

“Because we have to call things by their right names, and the reality is that by any serious examination, this man is a war criminal. He has just announced his decision to supply arms to the Syrian opposition, including the jihadists, fueling the destabilization of that region and continuing to undermine secularism and knock back conditions for women.”

3. Britain is becoming less imperialist and more European. This is probably the most important lesson to be learnt from tonight's vote.

Comment:

I agree that indeed, this is the most important lesson! England in a way is now renouncing its imperialism and now subscribing to the true international law! It seems also to me that they are now recognizing the existence of other nations in the world.

Again, as the Respect MP categorically asked: if you cannot persuade the United Nation Security Council with regard to your view --- who are you on the other side to determine what is “international law”, what the desire of the “international community” and to declare what should be the “international community” must do?

Since when did Russia and China cease to be a member of the international community?

"Russia and China say no to war in Syria, so do I, so do most people in this country."

4. Parliament matters more. Technically prime ministers do not need the support of the Commons to go to war. Sending troops into action is a prerogative power (meaning it can happen just on the prime minister's say so).

Comment:

Be that as if may, after the Iraq fiasco, I doubt if there is any Prime Minister who has the galls to by-pass Parliament and completely ignore it!

As Neil Clark in “Britain’s parliament finally turns against the neo-cons and serial warmongers”, RT (Question More), August 30th, said:

“These serial warmongers told us that 'something must be done' in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, producing no evidence to back up their claims that the Syrian government was responsible. But this time- unlike in the cases of Kosovo, Iraq and Libya- they've not been listened to. And the neo-cons and 'liberal interventionists', who trumpet so loudly their commitment to spreading 'democracy' around the globe, are not very happy at this wonderful and long overdue sign of a democratic resurgence in Britain. A newspaper poll showed that just 8% of Britons wanted immediate weapons strikes on Syria, but despite that the 'Democracy by Bombs' brigade are condemning yesterday's vote as a black day for democracy. Oh, the irony!”

Now that the people’s will is clear and triumphed through their representative, I am hoping that the British Prime Minister will fulfill the promise that he stated at the House after he was humiliated and rebuffed, not only by the British people, but worst, even by his own partymates:

"British parliament and the British people do not wish to see military action; I get that, and I will act accordingly."

The power of the people

I overwhelmingly concur with Tim Wall’s “Little Britain: The mouse that (finally) roared”, RT (Question More), August 30th in their analysis that:

"The parliamentary rebellion against Cameron and Obama came as a big surprise to just about everyone in mainstream UK politics, mainly because it was not organized by any of the main political parties. It came, rather, from the grassroots of society – ordinary people who lobbied their MPs before Thursday’s vote, and from the legacy of protests against the Iraq war."

Hence, it is the people themselves who decided against the war.

Now that the British public has decided to do the right thing, I am wondering how the American, the French and even the German people will decide the question of Syria! Will they also bombard with emails and letters their representatives? Will they also pressure and make it known to their congressmen and senators their vehement opposition to any military action?

The whole world is waiting and watching!!!

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The Path and Necessity of Writing

September 6, 2013, 8:05 am
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Vincent Van Gogh once said that: “If you hear a voice within you ‘say you cannot paint’, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”

In the same vein, we can also say with certainty that the apathetic and pessimistic voices that trying to stop and silence us to write can only be subdued and be defeated, if we ourselves will begin to hold the pen and commence to write.

It is on this great sense that Voltaire is correct when he stated that to “hold the pen is to be in a state of war.”

In doing so, we will give justice to Franz Kafka’s admonition:

“Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.”

I concur with the Meg Manzano (“The write path”, PDI, August 24th) that the task of “assembling words to orchestrate an idea and momentarily hold a reader captive to one’s thoughts is quite daunting…”

However, I certainly believe that we humans write not simply to impress, but more importantly to express. The former is merely to persuade, while the latter’s aim is to convince and to enlighten.

Man’s duty is to discover the truth and to highlight the natural beauty of virtue base on our material human condition.

Part and parcel of discovering the truth is by writing about it.

As Graham Green told us “writing is a form of therapy”. Indeed, I often “wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.”

There is no iota of doubt that writing is a human necessity!

It is my contention that we have no choice but to write. It is on this inescapable sense that writing is also a curse or a disease (call it what you will)!

Writing is both a gift and a curse, and as I already noted; it is also a disease. It is my contention that such is the fact by virtue of the undeniable truth that the only thing that can make one at ease is only when one is writing or precisely the very moment when said individual lose oneself in the act and process of writing his or her thoughts!

The only cure or the sole antidote for the “itch” is for us to keep on scratching it! We have no choice and there is nothing we can do about it, because we are constituted as such!

To write is to be human and to be truly human is to write as truly and as completely as possible with regard to the overall human condition!

Writing is also a gift, by virtue of that fact that the said process or exercise heals our deepest wounds, calm our nerves and regularly restore our sanity.

Nonetheless, I also admit the indisputable fact that, writing is also a curse, because no matter how many times one writes or no matter how often one scribble one’s thoughts and ideas; the need, the hunger and the burning desire to write and to express oneself is always there.

The urge to write never goes away, there’s no dissipation, no let up, for the thirst for words and the will to express --- remains, no matter what!

Yes, I concur with Manzano’s words that:

“People will tell you that writing is commonplace and that if it possesses any incredible substance, it is reserved for professors, scholars, and literature students. Let me tell you differently. Get lost in the whimsical swirls and sways of words, marry rhyme and reason with your phrases. Re-imagine the believed nature of a story and how, if it isn’t only good for bedtime, then it’s too complicated to bother with.

“Fall in love with writing and revel in your ability to tell a story that can make others feel, that can disturb their previously still surfaces and provoke their curiosities. Spur their creativity by allowing them entrance to your own mind, and let them see a woman the way you’d see her (do her brown eyes startle you or perhaps leave you with coupled breaths?), offer them careful adjectives that may aid them to grasp her flesh the way you celebrate it.

“Create a world, allow others to briefly take residence as their eyes scan your work, and finally, leave them heavily compelled to build one of their own.”

It is beyond dispute that in the process of writing and putting into paper our ideas and feelings, we lose ourselves; yet it is also undeniable that it is also by scribbling our thoughts and it is only through writing that we find ourselves, realize our existence and internalize the true meaning of our lives.

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect”, hence Anais Nin is absolutely correct in reminding us.

Writing gives us our identity and concretizes our autonomy. Needless to state, the exercise and process of writing gives our lives its meaning and significance and more importantly, it consequently improves and completes our humanity, in the final analysis!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines


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Putin and Obama: a comparative irony of the “dove” and the “hawk” Part I

September 15, 2013, 11:15 am
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But Russia sometimes can play a positive role in world politics, in spite of the fact that I want to stress again in internal policy our president and our prime minister are realizing not the best variant, definitely not the best variant of economic and social policy. --- Aleksandr Buzgalin, Professor of Political Economic, Moscow State University

Its bedazzling that the person that was largely portrayed as the “bad guy” turns out to be the “good one” who stopped in undeniable sense the possible eruption of World War III.

How could we explain the irony of a former KGB director who successfully denied before the international community a so-called Nobel Prize winner from militarily striking Syria?

Not only did the Russian President shame and smash before the bar of the global public opinion the American President, on the question of the impropriety and inappropriateness of bombing Syria; the former has also shown in a clear and comprehensive manner what the world has already known long time ago and that is the irrefutable fact that America is not what it says it is to the planet: an imperialist and aggressive empire!

What President Putin did a couple of days ago was really amazing!

Indeed, “millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.””

I am wondering now who is the true hawk and the genuine dove? Who between these two individuals are for peace and for war and naked aggression?

I am not a fan of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, I firmly consider him as an authoritarian leader bordering on being a tyrant.

We all know the state of human rights violations and disrespect for political expression in the former Soviet Union.

Admittedly, it is very hard to believe President Putin as a virtuous man and a man of good will especially the way he dealt with Chechens (and other minorities) with an iron fist; not to mention, most importantly his Macheviallian method of choking all kinds of freedoms and civil liberties in Russia.

Specifically, I will not forgive him for his inhumanity with regard to the case of Pussy Riot rock band (See my article, In Defense of Artistic Freedom and the Freedom of Expression: Political Dissent in Russia through art and music, Etniko Bandido Infoshop, July 30, 2012).

Nonetheless, to quote from the interview of Aleksandr Buzgalin, Professor of Political Economic, Moscow State University, “What’s Putin’s Interest in Syria?”, The Real News Network, September 13th:

“I want to say that I want to talk about interests of Russian people and not about interests of Putin and his colleagues about Russian authorities, because really we have very often big contradictions between these two actors of our social and political life.

“But now I think Putin made something positive. It's not typical for his internal policy, but for foreign policy this time it's more or less a progressive step. Why he did it, of course, it's better to ask Mr. Putin, not me. I am not president of Russia still. But my command will be following. I think Russia is trying to show that our country is one of the important geopolitical actors, players, and we really want to have our presentation in central, this key region of world conflicts and to play our own role. This is, I think, real geopolitical interests of our authorities.

“Also, there are some important reasons, much more important reasons. This is first of all peace and absence of war, absence of killings and killings of thousands and thousands of people, which already started and which can become terrible catastrophe if United States will use modern weapons and Russia will participate in this conflict from another side. It's really terrible threat which can be compared with Vietnam War, or even more dangerous because Israel is nearby. And this is also very important agent, actor of these conflicts.

“So from my point of view, Russian now is realizing its geopolitical interests. But these interests are more or less adequate, or better to say more adequate for peace in the region than geopolitical interests of the elite of the United States and President Obama.

“And I completely agree with United States citizens, majority of citizens, as I understood, who don't want to have a war in this region. And this is interest of our people.

“Why Obama did not express interests of majority of Americans and Putin this time expressed interests of not only Russians but I think majority of other people in the world? This is an interesting question. But Russia sometimes can play a positive role in world politics, in spite of the fact that I want to stress again in internal policy our president and our prime minister are realizing not the best variant, definitely not the best variant of economic and social policy.”

Indeed, I am critical of President Putin and Russia’s ultimate motive in resolving this issue of paramount universal importance yet, having said that, I would like to state for purposes of the record that on the specific issue of handling Syria, there is no shadow of doubt that I am on his side!

I commend President Putin in his efforts to derail the American plan of bombing Syria. I also subscribe to his stern criticism of America’s ideology of exceptionalism, militarism and unilateralism.

As President Putin said directly to the American people in his op-ed published by the New York Times, “A Plea for Caution From Russia: What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria”, September 11th:

“My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”

On the other hand, though critical, I welcomed the election of President Obama. I joined the American and the majority of the international community in his assumption of power in the US five years ago.

I am one of those millions of people who believe that this president will return America to its old path, yet, year by year (he is already on his second and last term) I am getting pissed off and utterly disappointed with him.

Sad but true, but the so-called “change” that he consistently and persuasively proclaimed that we can believe in --- turns out to be even worst than their war freak Dubya!

This president has grimly made the so-called American Dream into the worst American Nightmare ever!

This guy, has no difference from his predecessor. Indisputably, Obama is much dangerous and more warmonger than Bush Jr.

Hence, late 2011, I completely junked this bastard fellow!

He kept on saying that the US must intervene with Syria to defend international law, yet they will do so without the sanction of the United Nations and again, disrespecting and bypassing its Security Council.

The question here is: what are the moral ascendancy and the legal right of the US to do so, if they are the number one violator of the said international law?

How could they enforce or implement the said law, when they are not respecting it and does not abide by its force?
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Putin and Obama: a comparative irony of the “dove” and the “hawk” Part II

September 15, 2013, 11:23 am
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I do not know whether Obama still remember his pledge to end the wars that he inherited from Dubya!

They have yet to settle the on-going war in Iraq and Afghanistan plus the continuous drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen, and now, they are so agitated and so bloody eager to intervene on Syria.

It defies the law of logic to say the least.

Does the US know the dire repercussions and the deadly consequences of their latest intended military adventure?

I concur with President Putin’s analysis that:

“The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.”

Indeed, if the US proceeded with their folly and madness, the consequences are blatantly grim. The Syrian attack will lead to a regional war and said war might lead to another world war to the prejudice of humanity as a whole.

The People of the World must stand up as One; in preventing at all cost the eruption of this war.

War is against the interest of Humanity; hence we all must declare war on war!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
College of Arts and Letters
Department of Humanities and Philosophy
Polytechnic University of the Philippines


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Chin Peng: In Defense of a Revolutionary

September 26, 2013, 9:49 am
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Chin Peng: In Defense of a Revolutionary

I refer to the two stirring articles of Kua Kia Soong’s, “The patriots and pretenders”, September 18th and Jeswan Kaur’s, “Umno in no mood to forgive Chin Peng”, September 19th that both appeared at the FMT.

Said pieces pertain to the struggle and request of Chin Peng to return to the land of his birth.

I cannot understand why Putrajaya cannot forgive nor forget Chin Peng’s atrocities, as if he is the most evil person that appeared in the history of the country.

I concurred with the de facto Opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim’s view that: “let bygones be bygones”.

Indeed, “forgiveness is taught in all religions but the Umno leaders maintain that Chin Peng and the CPM cannot be forgiven for their past actions during the Emergency.”

Why?

It is because “during the 12-year “Emergency” when the CPM was waging a war against British colonialism, a total of 3,945 security forces, 2,473 civilians and 6,697 insurgents were killed. (Anthony Short, ‘The Communist Insurrection in Malaya, 1948-60’, 1975: 507) Because of this record, it is argued, Chin Peng and the CPM he led cannot be forgiven.”

So, for the government, never mind if Chin Peng and his comrades fought the Japanese!

Never mind that he and his comrades defended the honor and sovereignty of Malaya while the British abandoned the country!

Never mind that even England recognized Chin Peng’s wartime contribution! He was awarded the OBE, albeit later it was withdrawn!

Never mind that Chin Peng agreed to lay down arms and signed the Hat Tai Peace Accord. An agreement in good faith that was signed by the Malaysian government but subsequently ignored and violated by the said government!

The ultimate question there is: why the government in the first place signed the said Accord when they have no intention of fulfilling it in good faith?

In the straightforward words of Jeswan Kaur:

“Chin Peng was clear as to why he was waging a ‘war’. But was the BN government ‘ethical’ in its dealing with the former guerilla whom the Malaysian government is now all out to label as a ‘traitor’?

“Chin Peng ‘honoured’ his part of the 1989 peace deal. Did BN do so?”

Now, the man is dead, yet ironically even his ashes, still cannot come home!

Questions:

Why is it that the government reestablished good relations with Japan despite its wartime atrocities? If they can forgive, kiss and make up with Japan, why not with a “prodigal and radical son”?

Why is it that the government allowed the bodies of terrorists to return home, yet they cannot allow even the ashes of a dead revolutionary?

Is it because those terrorists are Malays, Muslims and that old revolutionary is Chinese; worst a communist?

I cannot understand the kind of justice the government is practicing. In my view, it is not only a kind of selective racial justice but also a type of selective ideological forgiveness.

If they cannot forgive a communist revolutionary, then why the hell forgive a bloody terrorist?

Chin Peng fought for his country! He both fought the Japanese colonizers and the British imperialists. He also fought his own country because he believes that it is not a government that protects and defends the rights of the people, but the interests of the former masters and the capitalists.

To the BN government, that is a crime that cannot be forgiven or forgotten!

Yet, those terrorists who discriminately and arbitrarily bombed to death innocent people, oh well, they can be forgiven; they can come home and be buried to their hometown.

Wow! Such a bloody irony!

Is that justice? Is that fairness?

Hell no! I do not think so!

I overwhelmingly concur with Kua Kia Soong’s categorical question and critical analysis:

“Do our history books extol the patriotic role of Chin Peng and the CPM during the struggle against Japanese expansionist aggression during the Second World War?

“The CPM-organised Malayan Peoples’ Anti-Japanese Army was decorated by the British queen in London after the war, but their contributions have not been acknowledged in our own country.

“All over the world, the progressive left democratic alliances were the true patriots who fought against German and Japanese fascism during the Second World War.

“Can Umno name any of their leaders who distinguished themselves during that effort to liberate our country from Japanese occupation?

“Umno leaders say that the CPM’s insurrection against British colonialism was wrong but what alternative strategy did Umno have to liberate the country from colonial exploitation?

“Do the Umno leaders believe that Independence could have been won without the insurrection against the British colonial power?”

By way of reiteration, may I be allowed to repeat that question of Mr. Soong:

Can Umno name any of their leaders who distinguished themselves during that effort to liberate our country from Japanese occupation?

To put it in another manner, can Umno state for purposes of the records, what did their beloved leaders have done during the Japanese occupation?

For purposes of the records, can they list their contributions, their sacrifices and hardships?

What have they done for the country during those critical times besides waiting for the return of the bloody British and hiding from the bastard Japanese?

A call of national reconciliation and a historical closure

If the government is really sincere in its call for national reconciliation to all the parties and segments of the whole of Malaysian society, then it is my firm and passionate view that the first step for them to do is to allow the return of ashes to the country of Chin Peng and so as the rest of his comrades who wishes to return and die in their homeland.

Justice must be tampered with mercy and compassion!

If the government will not do so, then there will be no closure with regard to this issue. Chin Peng may be dead but there is no shadow of doubt whatsoever on my mind that his revolutionary spirit and his radical legacy will continue to spawn new believers and future adherents.

In the parting words of the old revolutionary himself:

“In the final analysis, I wish to be remembered simply as a good man who could tell the world that he had dared to spend his entire life in pursuit of his own ideals to create a better world for his people.

“It is irrelevant whether I succeeded or failed, at least I did what I did. Hopefully the path I had walked on would be followed and improved upon by the young after me. It is my conviction that the flames of social justice and humanity will never die.”

Comrade Chin Peng, may you rest in peace!


Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines


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An Open Letter to President Vladimir Putin Part I

October 11, 2013, 11:01 am
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October 13, 2013

Hon. Vladimir Putin
President
Russian Federation

Dear Sir:

I am writing to you as a humanist and as a fellow citizen of the world. I certainly believe that this open letter coming from a lowly lecturer of Philosophy from Southeast Asia will not go unnoticed, because indeed, a noble intention and a humanistic endeavor will always bear fruit!

I also vehemently believe Sir that the right thing to do under the circumstance is to directly write to you, because it is only by appealing to your reason that you will unleash your humanity and compassion.

Sir, as an obnoxious and man of truth, I admit that straightforwardly that I am not a great fan of yours. In fact, I am utterly critical of your administration and wary of your regime.

Yet, having said that and despite the fact that I do not have a high regard to your political leadership and bureaucratic machination, let me also state for purposes of the records, personally and formally that with regard to the handling of the Syrian question, you have proven your mettle, sense of purpose and inner worth at the world stage.

Sir, needless to state, the world owes you and your government a lot, because of your political acumen, careful deliberation and diplomatic tact, you and your country has averted the possible eruption of World War III.

On that utterly important universal note, Sir, let me state directly that I thank you and Russia, on behalf of all humanity for all your efforts and contribution in averting a world-wide catastrophe and mass misery on a global scale.

Sir, the main purpose of this letter is not to blow your horns or to inflate your ego, but rather to ask you in a very humble manner the dropping of the dubious and flimsy charges against the Greenpeace activists which are currently in your territory and custody.

The antecedents and facts of this case is not in dispute, nonetheless for your reference and information, please do allow me to quote from the statement of the Greenpeace themselves:

“On September 18, a small group of Greenpeace International activists approached the Gazprom Prirazlomnaya oil platform, in the Pechora Sea off the Russian coast, to engage in a peaceful protest of Arctic oil drilling. Two activists were detained and held overnight on a Russian Coast Guard vessel.

“The following day, September 19, the Russian Coast Guard illegally boarded the Greenpeace International ship Arctic Sunrise while in international waters. All 30 members of the crew were held under armed guard for 5 days as the ship was towed to the port of Murmansk. Upon arrival, the activists were taken from the ship and held by authorities on land.

“On September 26th, 28 of our activists, along with a photographer and videographer who were documenting the action, appeared at a preliminary court hearing in Murmansk, where most of them were remanded in custody for two months, facing investigation for possible piracy. We are demanding the immediate release of all activists, our ship, and an end to offshore oil drilling in the Arctic for good.”

Mr. President, I implored you to show your humanity and sensitivity to the call and wishes of the people of the world; please release those individuals which are now known universally as the ARCTIC 30.

Sir, “the crew of the Arctic Sunrise were protesting at the Prirazalomnaya for purely unselfish reasons. As the ice is retreating, oil companies are moving north to drill for the fuels that are causing the ice to melt. The Arctic 30 were acting out of a deeply held conviction that this is a risky enterprise, when an oil spill would be catastrophic for the entire region. They should not be charged with such a serious crime as piracy for taking peaceful, safe action to protest the dangerous industrialization of the Arctic.

“Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Nobel peace prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel have joined hundreds of thousands of people across the globe calling for the release of the Arctic 30.”

Mr. President, needless to state, I am also writing to you personally to add my voice and show my solidarity to those people in detention at your country.

Sir, in the name of humanity, please released them unconditionally and immediately.

Sir, if I may remind you, during the height of the Syrian crisis, when the imperialistic and militaristic US government are hell vent on militarily intervening on the said country without just cause and again bypassing and disrespecting once again the United Nation Security Council; you did not let the historical moment and the momentous event to unfold without doing anything.

You stood your ground, raise your voice in a diplomatic tone, yet in a very firm manner and make it known all over the world your clear stand and reasonable position on Syria.

Not only that, Sir, you earn my respect and admiration when you personally went beyond what is normal and typical and that is when you yourself wrote an open letter addressed to the American people.

I certainly believe without the slightest element of doubt that that crucial time is your greatest moment at the world stage.

Now, Mr. President, Sir, I humbly beseech you to please exhibit and show again your humanity and statesmanship. Please show your humanitarian consideration and executive compassion to those environmental activists being detain at your jail.

Mr. President, to quote from the letter for you of the Executive of the Greenpeace International, Mr. Kumi Naidoo:

“Their fate is a matter of global concern. Therefore, I would come to you with an offer. I am willing to move my life to Russia for the duration of this affair. I would offer myself as a guarantor for the good conduct of the Greenpeace activists, were they to be released on bail. They, we, Greenpeace, do not believe ourselves to be above the law. We are willing to face the consequences of what we did, as long as those consequences are within a nation’s criminal code as any reasonable person understands that code to be.

“It is clear from your own statements that you do not regard the activists as pirates, although that is the charge levelled against them. You, in common with millions around the world, know that in being accused of piracy they are charged with a crime that did not happen, that our activists are accused of an imaginary offence. Indeed, you have previously said that you have admiration for groups like Greenpeace, and that our protests inspire sympathy in you. Were our friends to be released on bail, I offer myself as security against the promise that the twenty-eight Greenpeace International activists will answer for their peaceful protest according to the criminal code of Russia.

“The law, as we both know, does not apply the offence of piracy to the actions of peaceful protesters. I therefore ask you to use any avenues of action open to you as President of the Russian Federation to request that the excessive charges of piracy against the detainees are dropped, and that any charges brought are consistent with international and Russian law. I also respectfully ask that the two independent freelancers, who are not Greenpeace members, be immediately freed.”

Hence, please release them, Sir! There only fault, if you can call it so is the very fact that they are being truthful and so passionate on their mission of protecting and saving the environment for our future generation, because to paraphrase a time honored saying: We do not inherit this earth from our ancestors; we are merely borrowing it from our children.
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An Open Letter to President Vladimir Putin Part II

October 11, 2013, 11:04 am
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Lastly, Sir, besides the Arctic 30 activists, I am also pleading to you personally to pardon and release from prison all the members of the Pussy Riot Rock band!

Sir, if ever they have committed an offense or a crime, it is my firm view that by virtue of the time that they have already spent in jail; it is about time that you show your leniency and compassion to those girls.

Their families had already suffered enough and I believe Sir, the time now is right and ripe for you to free them.

Sir, please do something; lift your finger and grant them their liberty.

The world is watching Sir, please do the right thing! SHOW YOUR COMPASSION FOR HUMANITY!

Respectfully yours,

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
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Insensitivity, arrogance and an act unworthy of being a president Part I

November 10, 2013, 11:20 am
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Insensitivity, arrogance and an act unworthy of being a president

The whole world knows the colossal tragedy and great calamity of massive proportions that is now being suffered by the Philippines due to a “super storm” with an international name as Haiyan locally known as Yolanda.

Typhoon Yolanda “is said to be one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, beating Tacloban City and Leyte to near rubble, with coastal towns and the regional capital devastated by huge waves. The category 5 typhoon made a straight line path through the Philippines from east to west, with a devastating wind gust of 275 kph (170 mph).”

It was widely reported that “most of the deaths resulted from the surging sea water carrying debris most of the survivors described as tsunami-like, which flattened houses and killing hundreds of people.”

Earlier, the government reported the fatalities were 3, but two days after the said typhoon left, it was reported by Sun Star (Police: Yolanda death toll could reach 10,000) that “the death toll from one of the strongest storms on record that ravaged this city in Eastern Visayas could reach 10,000 people, officials said Sunday after the extent of massive devastation became apparent and horrified residents spoke of storm surges as high as trees.”

Elmer Soriano, the Regional police chief said he was “briefed by Leyte Governor Dominic Petilla late Saturday and told there were about 10,000 deaths in the province, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.

The governor's figure was based on reports from village officials in areas where Typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan) slammed Friday.”

The City administrator Tecson Lim also said that the death toll in the city alone "could go up to 10,000."

On this juncture, it is heartening to note, despite the hardship and devastation being undergone by the Filipinos that the international community forged its love, prayers, concern and solidarity to the Filipino people. See, (“Pope Francis, other celebs send out love to typhoon-hit Philippines” by Thea Alberto-Masakayan | Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom – Sat, Nov 9, 2013)

The Pope himself sent out prayers and love through a tweet in his official account @Pontifex.

"I ask all of you to join me in prayer for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda especially those in the beloved islands of the Philippines…"

He then asked the faithful, not only to pray for the Philippines but to assist and give “concrete help”.

There's also Ken Chu (Zhu Xiao Tian) of the famed Taiwan sensation F4, “who praised Filipinos' ability to smile amid hardship.”

"The Philippines never let any calamities drag them down instead they face it with a smile. How they do that?… The Philippines has been my home for days-weeks when I was filming a movie. Such a genuine and hospitable people…”

Patrick Stump of the Fall Out boy lead singer had a short but heartfelt message: "Love to the Philippines."

Korean actor Lee Min Ho, also sent out words of encouragement.

"I heard that there was great damage done by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. I hope everyone is safe now. Please don't lose faith. We're thinking of you from Korea."

The Indiana Pacers’ General Manager, Kevin Pritchard said:

"I'm watching the Philippines and I'm wondering - what's the best charity to give to to help them directly. They are the friendliest people…"

Eugene Cho, who's based in Seattle said these beautiful words of love and solidarity:

“Dear Philippines: We're so sorry for your pain & loss. You are not alone. The global community mourns with you & will do all we can to help.”

That is besides Rihanna, Kevin Bacon and Jessica Sanchez’ messages of love and solidarity.

As of today, November 11th quite a number of international organizations led by the United Nations had already pledged help and support. Added to these are the financial support, aid and donations being offered and given by various countries and nations.

On behalf of the Filipino people, thank you very much!

The Response of the national government

On November 9th, as reported by ANC, “PNoy: Tacloban seemed unprepared for Yolanda”, the “president” reportedly stated the following words in a briefing at the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC):

"Yung Tacloban, hesitant lang ako. Para bang hindi ganun ka prepared...compared to other areas...Siguro I will reserve comments muna at this point in time hangang mas makumpleto natin yung datos,"

Commentaries:

I will not mince my words and immediately will ask: what kind of bastard “leader” this freak is?

A lot of people have died and he has the gulls to even accuse those people (the dead, the injured, the starving and their local officials of the said city) of negligence and unpreparedness?

This adds insult to injury to say the least. Indeed, this is a grave slander to the honor and memory of all those who died in this horrible catastrophe.

Yet, in my view, the other colossal tragedy is the sad fact and the brutal truth that what the so-called ‘chief executive’ of this Republic is not only a heartless creature, but worst an insensitive idiot!

What adds to my great sadness, mounting distress and incontestable anger is the undeniable stupidity, insensitivity and heartlessness of the so-called "president" of this Republic!

That bald, ridiculous and good for nothing freak, instead of rallying the people, boosting their morale and leading by example, has acted rather ungentlemanly, unethical, childish, in a word: idiotic!

Where can you find a so-called "leader" who instead of joining his people's misery and desperation has instead criticized the people for not being prepared! Who wants to die anyway?

So pathetically idiotic!

Questions: Mr. Aquino, those people who died just outside the Tacloban airport, we’re they not prepared?

How about the airport, the same was totally devastated by this typhoon; does it mean that it was unprepared too?

I am ashamed that this guy is the “president” of this great nation.

Consider the following report of Carlos Maningat, “Aquino walks out of Tacloban City briefing; typhoon victims in survival mode”, Philippine Online Chronicles, November 10th:

“Aquino, who arrived at the city Sunday morning to assess the damage wrought by super typhoon Yolanda, was reportedly dismayed by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario’s update on the typhoon’s impact on the city.

“Del Rosario told the President that Tacloban City is 95 percent devastated. When asked by Aquino about a Tacloban jail that withstood the storm, he allegedly replied that it was considered a “minor devastation.”

“At this point, President Aquino reportedly stood up and left the briefing.”

Commentaries

Mr. Aquino, if you cannot stand up the heat; then get the hell out of the bloody kitchen: better that you resign your post. That will be good for the people and the Republic as a whole!

According further to the reports, prior to the walk-out (which according to Mr. Aquino’s dogs, specifically Mr. Coloma is not a walk-out, but a mere short bathroom break), the “president” “was also irked by a businessman who was requesting the government to declare martial law or a state of emergency in Tacloban City.

“According to a report, a friend of the businessman told Aquino that looting and killing is already rampant, adding that he was even held at gunpoint by looters.

““But you did not die, right?” Aquino allegedly replied.”

Commentary:

Is that the proper way to respond to a legitimate question?

How I wish said businessman retorted and asked: Mr. Aquino, why are you acting like a brat and a freak?

I certainly believe without the slightest iota of doubt that what Mr. Aquino did is the heights of insensitivity, arrogance and an act unworthy of being a president.

Shame on him!
↧

Insensitivity, arrogance and an act unworthy of being a president Part II

November 10, 2013, 11:25 am
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I concur with University of the Philippines-Manila Professor Carl Marc Ramota that:

“We need a leader who does not abandon us amid grief and despair, not a brat who can't put his acts together and walks out of a disaster briefing…”

The question of the alleged walk out

Assuming for the sake of the argument that Mr. Aquino did not walked out, but merely went to the comfort room for a short break, how come he did not says so?

Does it mean that he does not even have the most basic courtesy and human decency to inform the people gathering there that he has to go to the comfort room to shit, to urinate or to have his cigarette break?

What a stupid, lousy and bloody pathetic excuse!
Shame!

I overwhelmingly agree with Vice-President Binay when he described the disaster caused by super typhoon “Yolanda” as a “national tragedy”.

I am in complete agreement with him on his call “for a concerted effort to provide immediate help to survivors and restore order in affected areas.”

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Vice President said “finger-pointing wouldn't do any good at this time.”

"There will be time to determine what went wrong, but at this moment our urgent task is to extend much needed help to the survivors and restore vital public services…"

Way to go, Mr. Vice-President!

To the International Community and world organizations, various governments and individuals: again, on behalf of the Filipino people, let me/us thank you all in our own words:

Maraming-maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat! Mabuhay po kayo! Padayon!

WE SHALL OVERCOME, AS ALWAYS! #PUSO! #BRAVEHEART!!! :)

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Philosophy lecturer
College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines





↧

The brat prima donna, the Good Guy and the Resilience of the Filipino People Part I

November 16, 2013, 7:25 am
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I refer to the on-going ‘controversy’ concerning a so-called “veteran newscaster” as against a world renowned and widely respected international journalist, Anderson Cooper of CNN.

This pertains to the latter’s harrowing report on the ground which is being disputed by the “veteran newscaster” who did not even (up to this day) went to the calamity site (Tacloban).

To quote a portion of the report of Gil Cabacungan, Anderson Cooper-Korina Sanchez tiff goes viral on the Internet, PDI, November 16:

“Sanchez had criticized Anderson in her radio program on Wednesday afternoon on DZMM after he reported on the government’s less than stellar response to the needs of Yolanda survivors. Said the ABS-CBN news anchor: “Itong si Anderson Cooper, sabi wala daw government presence sa Tacloban. Mukhang hindi niya alam ang sinasabi niya. (This Anderson Cooper. He said there was no government presence in Tacloban. It seems he doesn’t know what he is saying).”

“Sanchez’s remarks became a hot topic on Twitter, something that Cooper was not about to let slip by. Said the CNN journalist: “Here’s what I actually said: As for who exactly is in charge of the Philippine side of operation, that is not really clear. I am just surprised. I expected on this Day Five, I thought I may have gotten here very late, that things will be well in hand; it does not seem like that. People are desperate, they do not have any place for shelter. It’s very difficult for people to get food, neighbors are helping out neighbors, water is in short supply, it is a very very bad situation here.”

“Cooper, who arrived in Manila on Monday, took a dig at Sanchez for not being on the ground to do her reporting. “Miss Sanchez is welcome to go there (Tacloban City) and I would urge her to go there. I don’t know if she has, but her husband is the interior minister and I’m sure she can arrange a flight,” he added.”

So, here is a local newscaster who criticized a foreign journalist, except that the former is reporting at the comfort of her news network, while the latter was precisely there at the scene of the colossal tragedy of massive proportions joining the thousands of the people, victims of this unimaginable catastrophe on their everyday hardships, miseries, woes and countless struggles.

The latter has seen eye ball to eye ball the aftermath of the super typhoon; while the former has only seen the after fact, after watching or seeing the live reports of her fellow crew from the television.

Who among these two individuals are credible and believable on their respective reports?

I believe without the shadow of doubt that only a moron, worst a complete idiot of the highest order would support the contention made or the assertion claimed by that local newscaster. This creature I likened to a brat prima donna of baseless broadcasting and good for nothing reporting.

What kind of reporting is that? Reporting inside the bloody studio?

What a shame!

In the scathing and strong words of Film Icon and Director Peque Gallaga:

“What our leaders tell us is contradicted by the reports from the international commentators who are understandably more objective and growing less dispassionate as they witness the horrors around them. What our leaders tells us is also contradicted by the victims in these areas who are slowly able to give us the true picture of the realities of the situation. And the reality is that people are starving. The dead still lie on the streets even five days after the event. There are anguished souls scavenging for whatever they can survive, as well as professional looters ambushing the helpless and relief caravans. It’s a warzone out there.”

This prima donna brat of local news casting has the galls and the think face to ridicule and criticize a good man, when in fact that man has the guts and the balls to go to the bloody field and report from there live, together with the survivors.

Again to quote Director Gallga’s rant and stinging criticism:

“So I very much care now where all this help is going. I read Marvin Xanth Geronimo who was there when Yolanda struck: that TV personalities and politicians like Mar Roxas and Ted Failon going to Tacloban for the photo op. they never helped; endless tracking video shots of flattened towns with people walking clutching a plastic bottle of water with no government presence whatsoever; Korina Sanchez calling Anderson Copper “misinformed”. Copper was in Tacloban. Korina was not; the US landing 5 planes full of goods and not allowing any politicians to touch any of it. How much more do we need for us to realize that the enemy was not Yolanda? Yolanda was just a force of nature. The enemy is our leaders. And the leader of our leaders is the President.”

Rather than criticizing those good for nothing leaders, who at most are only good at alarming and frightening the people prior to the arrival of the typhoon, yet so bloody slow, as slow as the snail to come, to respond and help after the typhoon has left, the brat has instead criticized unjustly a man who is rightly and greatly doing his job.

Rather than criticizing and calling the attention of the national leadership for somehow “abandoning” the other areas that were also hit such as Eastern Samar, Antique, Capiz, Panay Islands, Palawan, Cebu’s coastal towns and other far-flung remote areas (such as Homonhon Island), this local “news caster” instead has shown her bias and prejudice by attacking Mr. Cooper for something which he did not even say in the first place.

Rather than criticizing those politicians which the United Nations has specifically named by giving strict order to the US military that those donations and the relief goods was not to be touch, the prima donna instead has directed her bullet to a good man who is doing and carrying out his duties on the field.

How on earth would it be possible that a man who is on the field of battle could be misinformed and a creature is so informed when that creature has merely staying and reporting at the four corners of her bloody office?

Well, in fairness to this creature, it was reported that she went to Ormoc; yet I am wondering why she did not bother to go to Tacloban? She did not go to that place, yet she has the galls and the thick face to question the integrity and accuracy of the people who went to the place! Wow!

That is the heights of absurdity and the greatest mockery of all time! Shame! Bloody shame!

In criticizing a good man, in such a vulgar and baseless manner, this idiota has shown the whole world how idiotic and pathetic she is. She completely made a fool out of her foolish self!

I wonder what would be her reaction to the following observations and field reports of the other foreign press/journalists.

Consider the pronouncements/observations of the following members of the international media:

“There does not seem to be an effective operation to get help to those in need.” --- Jon Donnison, BBC

“It is certainly not organized.” --- Paula Hancocks, CNN

“There is no real evidence of organized recovery or relief.” --- Anderson Cooper, CNN

“Minimal amounts of aid have reached the worst-hit areas”. --- Tania Branigan, The Guardian

Is there a reasonable ground to believe, it possible that all of them are misinformed, too?

How about the sister of the President himself, Ms. Kris Aquino who also believes that the government is quite slow responding to the needs of the victim, will that brat newscaster also lambast her as “misinformed”?
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