A Coup or Not?
Snippets of information from the TV send my thoughts spinning into interesting directions about the "coup" attempt...
1. Apparently, early on during the incident yesterday members of the Magdalo group indicated that it was not a coup attempt. This was, naturally, ignored. I mean: "We've taken over a hotel with weapons and explosives and then made demands that gov't heads step down... but it's not a coup, okay?"
2. The government kept listing housing and pay as the primary grievances of the 94-95 groups, downplaying and generalizing the accusations we heard yesterday to correcting the 'graft and corruption' in the country.
3. General distrust in the group of ANYONE with a "flag rank" with few notable exceptions.
4. Despite concerns about who might've been behind the Magdalo group, it's fairly clear that the Magdalo group was far more organized and efficient than any political parties that attempted to take advantage of this event. It's clear the Magdalo group had their own agenda apart from the political players.
5. They're season veterans claiming that they've been betrayed by the country they've bled and died for, and fingered the highest military authority below the president as a ringleader.
6. Everyone seems to agree (except perhaps for a certain Defense Secretary and others in his camp) that there are legitimate grievances, but this was not the place or time to engage in acts such as this to force change.
7. While everyone points out the economic problems that this will cause, they argue that nothing will improve anyway unless the changes they propose are implemented... whereas in the long run, the country will benefit if they are.
Likely scenario:
1. Punish the heads of the "coup" to the full extent of the law.
2. Make minor but public concessions to the minor demands of the group, and belittle their primary demands and accusations.
3. Use the event to purge convenient political targets like Honasan and supporters of Erap.
4. Release lots of well-written PR crap to confuse and depress the rest of us.
5. Life goes on.
I don't agree with their methods as well, but would I tell these "idealistic" folks to wait for change from the stagnant and self-perpetuating bureacracy of our country if I met them? I have no answers. I suppose they've made their decisions and took action.
Perhaps more of us should take action if we still care about our country. If indeed there is still a country to care about.
NEW COUP REVIEW
This Sunday morning, a bunch of junior military officers holed up in the Oakwood apartments and G4 complex. Their grievances: among other concerns like low pay and lack of housing as compared perhaps with then Philippine National Police... an accusation that General Angelo Reyes was behind not only the sale of weapons and ammo to the MILF, but also gave the go ahead for the bombing of the Davao airport by military personnel. Another accusation - the potential declaration of Martial Law in August of this year.
Most of the concerns are about the impact to the economy... and yet, these officers don't appear to be concerned about that. They must be concerned about generals and other government officials growing wealthy over the deaths of the comrades and bloodbrothers... enough so that they are willing to lay down their lives (having already said goodbye to their families already).
As for the involvement of ousted presidents and members of the opposition... it's likely they are using these military groups for their own purposes with promises of support and so on. I'd be shocked if this were the case, though... since these problems were certainly aggravated if not started by that prior administration.
I think that there's obviously more complexity to the situation than is apparent on the news and the spin placed on it by the various political parties. From the statement of the military personnel, it's apparent that the junior officers believe in what they're doing, but were probably convinced or manipulated by others to believe that there's no other option.
And the politicians are having a field day, jockeying for position.
Apparently, though, the Estrada camp released a CD across the country (which I don't have a copy of) that shows how the plight of the common Filipino has worsened in the time of PGMA (including of course the injustices against the former president). So there was SOME planning in the Estrada camp for this.
I hope it doesn't overshadow their grievances about the military. Apparently they DID express their concerns directly to PGMA, but nothing happened in the interim. So they assumed she was part of the problem...
This Sunday morning, a bunch of junior military officers holed up in the Oakwood apartments and G4 complex. Their grievances: among other concerns like low pay and lack of housing as compared perhaps with then Philippine National Police... an accusation that General Angelo Reyes was behind not only the sale of weapons and ammo to the MILF, but also gave the go ahead for the bombing of the Davao airport by military personnel. Another accusation - the potential declaration of Martial Law in August of this year.
Most of the concerns are about the impact to the economy... and yet, these officers don't appear to be concerned about that. They must be concerned about generals and other government officials growing wealthy over the deaths of the comrades and bloodbrothers... enough so that they are willing to lay down their lives (having already said goodbye to their families already).
As for the involvement of ousted presidents and members of the opposition... it's likely they are using these military groups for their own purposes with promises of support and so on. I'd be shocked if this were the case, though... since these problems were certainly aggravated if not started by that prior administration.
I think that there's obviously more complexity to the situation than is apparent on the news and the spin placed on it by the various political parties. From the statement of the military personnel, it's apparent that the junior officers believe in what they're doing, but were probably convinced or manipulated by others to believe that there's no other option.
And the politicians are having a field day, jockeying for position.
Apparently, though, the Estrada camp released a CD across the country (which I don't have a copy of) that shows how the plight of the common Filipino has worsened in the time of PGMA (including of course the injustices against the former president). So there was SOME planning in the Estrada camp for this.
I hope it doesn't overshadow their grievances about the military. Apparently they DID express their concerns directly to PGMA, but nothing happened in the interim. So they assumed she was part of the problem...
SANDUGO!
Please check out this link for a Sandugo teaser!
BREASTFEEDING FATHERS
Oh. My. God.
Male Lactation
I first became interested in male lactation in 1978 after reading Dana Raphael's book, The Tender Gift: Breastfeeding. Although Raphael only dealt with the subject briefly, she did say that men can and have produced milk after stimulating their nipples.
My husband, David, and I were intrigued with the idea. We had just had our first unassisted homebirth and were excited about applying our positive thinking techniques to other aspects of our lives. Although Raphael had written about milk production through nipple stimulation, perhaps, we thought, David could do it simply through suggestion. He began telling himself that he would lactate, and within a week, one of his breasts swelled up and milk began dripping out.
Fascinating stuff. Dean? Any comments?
Please check out this link for a Sandugo teaser!
BREASTFEEDING FATHERS
Oh. My. God.
Male Lactation
I first became interested in male lactation in 1978 after reading Dana Raphael's book, The Tender Gift: Breastfeeding. Although Raphael only dealt with the subject briefly, she did say that men can and have produced milk after stimulating their nipples.
My husband, David, and I were intrigued with the idea. We had just had our first unassisted homebirth and were excited about applying our positive thinking techniques to other aspects of our lives. Although Raphael had written about milk production through nipple stimulation, perhaps, we thought, David could do it simply through suggestion. He began telling himself that he would lactate, and within a week, one of his breasts swelled up and milk began dripping out.
Fascinating stuff. Dean? Any comments?
TEEN TITANS
The new Teen Titans comic book is out, and it's a mixed bag. I liked the art, and I liked how the story seemed to be building towards something. I liked the tensions building between the young Titans, and how the mentors were genuinely concerned about their "wards".
I found it curious, yet tantalizingly satisfying that they've retconned Superboy into having 1/2 Kryptonian DNA along with his human half. I'd always thought he was fully human and had metahuman abilities that approximated Superman's powers, but...
I didn't pick up Graduation Day, but I was sad to see that Donna Troy (Wonder Girl) is dead. Gah, I hate it when they kill characters for shock value.
I'll be around for the next issue though. We'll see...
The new Teen Titans comic book is out, and it's a mixed bag. I liked the art, and I liked how the story seemed to be building towards something. I liked the tensions building between the young Titans, and how the mentors were genuinely concerned about their "wards".
I found it curious, yet tantalizingly satisfying that they've retconned Superboy into having 1/2 Kryptonian DNA along with his human half. I'd always thought he was fully human and had metahuman abilities that approximated Superman's powers, but...
I didn't pick up Graduation Day, but I was sad to see that Donna Troy (Wonder Girl) is dead. Gah, I hate it when they kill characters for shock value.
I'll be around for the next issue though. We'll see...
Brainstorming for a Campaign
I've got several threads that are slowly being woven into a story line for my Champions campaign:
1) The mystical thread - this ties in with the mysterious shadowman and the tablets at U.P. The Chinese Warlord and the copper bowls. And of course, the Crowns of Krim.
2) The organizational thread - FREELancers, VIPER, UNICORN.
3) The alien thread - the Boazanians, the dimensional mirror creatures...
Are these threads connected somehow? Yes...
I've got several threads that are slowly being woven into a story line for my Champions campaign:
1) The mystical thread - this ties in with the mysterious shadowman and the tablets at U.P. The Chinese Warlord and the copper bowls. And of course, the Crowns of Krim.
2) The organizational thread - FREELancers, VIPER, UNICORN.
3) The alien thread - the Boazanians, the dimensional mirror creatures...
Are these threads connected somehow? Yes...
THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS
Hm. The 94-95 issue. The Anti-Drug drive. The Smear Campaign against the Catholic Church. The moves against Danding Cojuanco and Raul Roco. And possibly even the sideswiping of Ramos' daughter. It seems that the campaign for next year's elections is already in full swing.
I'm not saying that folks who've got charges levelled against them ain't guilty. I'm saying that if they are, they have been for a long time. So, the fact that folks are going for this 'truth & justice' crap now makes me question the motives.
Even the 'escape' of the Al-Ghozi may have been politically motivated. Either someone wanted the current government to look bad, or someone wants to look good by revealing that Al-Ghozi was killed when resisting recapture.
Talk about lack of trust in the government. I mean, how much of our tax money goes into politicians pockets? And look at what we get in return.
Hm. The 94-95 issue. The Anti-Drug drive. The Smear Campaign against the Catholic Church. The moves against Danding Cojuanco and Raul Roco. And possibly even the sideswiping of Ramos' daughter. It seems that the campaign for next year's elections is already in full swing.
I'm not saying that folks who've got charges levelled against them ain't guilty. I'm saying that if they are, they have been for a long time. So, the fact that folks are going for this 'truth & justice' crap now makes me question the motives.
Even the 'escape' of the Al-Ghozi may have been politically motivated. Either someone wanted the current government to look bad, or someone wants to look good by revealing that Al-Ghozi was killed when resisting recapture.
Talk about lack of trust in the government. I mean, how much of our tax money goes into politicians pockets? And look at what we get in return.
The SHINING CROWN, The SHADOW CROWN, and The STONE CROWN... of KRIM
Last weekend's HERO game was a blast, with MegaVolt, Jade, Blink, Karl Jimenez, and LATA squaring off against the Crowns of Krim (only 4 of them, actually).
Temblor, the bearer of the Stone Crown is possibly dead (from being teleported 1000 km upwards away from the surface of the earth, placing him within the exosphere or outermost shell of Earth's atmosphere). Phoenix, the wearer of the Shining Crown is in a coma (after being severely damaged by high-pressure holy water and a piston-powered beating). Eclipse, the wearer of the Shadow Crown is imprisoned in a room of Ultra-Electromagnetic Energy stasis fields.
For all my players, it was revealed that they were misinformed about the whereabouts of a very special resident of St. Luke's Hospital... Mr. George Underhill, Managing Director of the FREELancers...
Last weekend's HERO game was a blast, with MegaVolt, Jade, Blink, Karl Jimenez, and LATA squaring off against the Crowns of Krim (only 4 of them, actually).
Temblor, the bearer of the Stone Crown is possibly dead (from being teleported 1000 km upwards away from the surface of the earth, placing him within the exosphere or outermost shell of Earth's atmosphere). Phoenix, the wearer of the Shining Crown is in a coma (after being severely damaged by high-pressure holy water and a piston-powered beating). Eclipse, the wearer of the Shadow Crown is imprisoned in a room of Ultra-Electromagnetic Energy stasis fields.
For all my players, it was revealed that they were misinformed about the whereabouts of a very special resident of St. Luke's Hospital... Mr. George Underhill, Managing Director of the FREELancers...
TAKING A BREAK FROM ALL YOUR WORRIES
... sure would help a lot!
I'm still swamped by work. Last week it was a User's Training, this week it's a User's Training but for another client. Don't they know I've got scientific papers to edit? (m-dash or n-dash... hmmmmm...)
I've only been able to skim through my preferred reading material (SF / Fantasy & RPGs), spending most of my time on either work or sideline reading.
I've been able to flip through VICTORIANA, a Victorian-age RPG. It mentioned the Philippines... which reminded me of my recently halted work on the Hinirang RPG. It's also inspired me to considering claiming to be a variant of Fuzion so that Hinirang can get the exposure to Fuzion RPG fans. Hm...
Gah - back to work. Deadlines a-calling.
... sure would help a lot!
I'm still swamped by work. Last week it was a User's Training, this week it's a User's Training but for another client. Don't they know I've got scientific papers to edit? (m-dash or n-dash... hmmmmm...)
I've only been able to skim through my preferred reading material (SF / Fantasy & RPGs), spending most of my time on either work or sideline reading.
I've been able to flip through VICTORIANA, a Victorian-age RPG. It mentioned the Philippines... which reminded me of my recently halted work on the Hinirang RPG. It's also inspired me to considering claiming to be a variant of Fuzion so that Hinirang can get the exposure to Fuzion RPG fans. Hm...
Gah - back to work. Deadlines a-calling.
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