praying for a pro-RH, pro-divorce, pro-gaymarriage pope

but mercury is retrograde in pisces until the 16th, so if a pope gets elected by then, chances are the chosen one would be a conservative.  if some time after, when mercury is again moving forward in earnest, then there’s hope for a forward-looking one, hopefully like john paul the 1st, though god forbid that he meet the same end.  but if conservative, i am sincerely praying it won’t be our own cardinal tagle just because it would most likely mean a hundred steps backward for reproductive health hereabouts, and who knows what else.

Time is on our side

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

It is reported in the internet that Malaysian police are storming the houses of legal Filipino Sabah residents tearing up their residence certificates, telling the men to run and shooting them for trying to escape and raping the women who are now fleeing in boats into the open sea to escape the sexual attentions of the Malaysian police.

None of these reports allegedly filed by Manila and Mindanao correspondents are taken at face value; they are printed only between quotes as though whatever Muslim women say must be taken with a grain of salt, unlike the pronouncements of Malaysia which are repeated verbatim by the palace and put out by media as Gospel truth.

If the reports are lies, we shall soon know. Even if the Philippines and Malaysian govts continue their news embargo of Sabah. Truth is the daughter of time and time will give birth to the truth. Meanwhile let us say nothing, because it is better to say nothing than read from a Malaysian script like the govt is doing.

Even if the reports are true, we should still say nothing and do nothing, for now. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Remember that all our armed elements: the AFP, the NPA, the MNLF and the MILF have been in constant brutal battle with each other for half a century. That’s a heck of a lot of reality training in warfare. The Malaysian armed forces have never been in a fight. So, easy, easy lang. Time is on our side.

the sultan’s timing

on facebook boo chanco posted a portion of former senator rene saguisag’s email on the sabah issue that starts thus:

I have yet to read an account on Sabahans pining for our export-quality type of governance, after 20 years of Marcos-Imelda and ten of GMA-Mike.

Many columnists have again found something they don’t understand and proceed to explain it, validating once again that media is the plural of mediocre…

and ends with:

The instant experts of three or four weeks may soon realize that only the tip of the tip of the iceberg they may have seen and should not be so forward with their explanations, suggestions and brickbats. Mike, of UP and Cornell, Nina, of UP, and Letty, of Wellesley and Sorbonne, were serious Senators. We should also engage Muslims Amina, of UP, and Adel, of Harvard, for their inputs.

We in our bivouacs may not irresponsibly continue blasting the Prez in his commanding heights, who may see more and farther. We should not casually provoke war and reprisals

so i’m not going there, except to say that i hope the former senator would be less cryptic and speak more plainly about what it is we don’t know about the sabah claim so that maybe we can begin to appreciate how the president has handled/is handling the crisis, including the “hopeless cause” part of it.

meanwhile, i’ve been waiting for media to ask the sultan or the princess about the timing of the sabah incursion.  why now, why not last year, why not later this year.  clearly it catches the president at a very bad time when, on the one hand, he’s campaigning for a 12-0 win of his senatorial slate come may, and on the other, things were looking up for the malaysia-brokered bangsamoro deal with the MILF, or so we were being told.  the stakes are so high, it would seem that the prez has reason to cry conspiracy.

*

The Sulu Sultanate Quarrel and Wider Implications 
GRAFFITI REVIEW: THOUGHTS OF EMPIRE 
Salonga explains Sabah claim 

the boob song

seth macfarlane was new to me, and i’d already “heard” via facebook and twitter how sexist and racist his script was, but i’m glad we watched the replay anyway because ina and i actually enjoyed the show, loved the irreverence from beginning to end, no sacred cows, not even jews.  what does that say about us kaya.  bakit tawang-tawa kami sa “we saw your boobs” rather than offended? i think what tickled me pink was how rare  and candid a confession by men it was, that seeing boobs, especially the boobs of hallowed hollywood beauties, is quite a thrill worth singing about, why not?  i know, i know, politically incorrect and all that, these women are more than their boobs, absolutely, but hey, seth wasn’t saying otherwise, was he?  so why can’t we take a little teasing, where’s our sense of humor, let’s pick our battles naman…   oh, and that lincoln-booth joke and the too-soon punch, that was good.  148 years later is too soon?  cracked me up.  so did seth as flying nun, telling sally field how hot! she was then, what-a-babe? as a young nun,  o baka naman, hot as in mainit ang costume, heh.