Seeking Truth

  

No doubt many are confounded why during these times getting at the truth and sticking to it is hard.  Amidst these times of pervasive misinformation and disinformation, all labeled loosely under the term, fake news, getting at the truth is one challenging task.  Many would argue that it could boil  down to who to trust.

But many of sources and institutions who were traditionally trusted have now been exposed as abandoning their time-cherished ideals, in exchange for exigencies demanded by their ideology and/or politics.

This is what we always have to keep in mind when seeking truth.

First, we have to eliminate what the pursuit of truth is not.

Truth is not difficult because of its obscurity or difficulty in discovery.

Truth is not difficult because these are confusing or chaotic times.

And lastly, truth is not difficult because of the steep challenges of the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Truth is difficult to accept and stick to because of one simple fact.

Many people are found to not want to arrive at truth and to accept it.  Many are too  invested in their own notions and versions of truth, they have allowed their minds to burying the real truth.  And would thus, maliciously propagate warped versions of truth.

Under this  thicket of  briars, we find the world we are inhabiting .  Prickly.  Uncomfortable, and damning.

Of Elections Past and Days of the Dead

THE JUDGMENT OF THE PEOPLE

These past months, judgments have been passed all around.  From the “high priests” of our times, the media, the rich and ruling elites, academia, etc. to the lesser-lite “potentates” in the administrative state and traditionally-revered government agencies, and including those kibitzing galleries of the world at large.

And with almost one collective voice, they have declared Trump unfit and unworthy to continue to sit as President of the most powerful country in the world.  Off with his head, they appear to declare.

But in one day, November 3rd, the only judgment that counts will be rendered by the people, the governed.

How shall it stand?

The crowd of a prior though similar time had also been ambivalent.  At first, it too marveled at the man on the hustings.  They adored his awe-inspiring miracles, his simple but profound teachings, the reverential promises of salvation and good will he had declared, his cool and calculating demeanor. But in the end, they too wanted no part of him.  So mesmerized, enamored, and subdued by the enticing rhetoric of their betters, the people who were supposed to know better and were trusted.

So history came to be as written.

Will it be repeated?

Note:  Yes, it was repeated.   But the road ahead could not be as rocky and dismal.

                                0000000000000000000000000000

In these days of the dead, it serves us well to remember how we regard life.

If one perceives life as having value unto itself then it is most important that everybody lives and nobody dies.

 But we have been taught that earthly life is not that significant. Christ taught by example about sacrificing a life so a greater good can be attained. Earthly life then has value when it has purpose, not because it is life and has to be lived to its natural end.

Thus, when we think about the dead, rather than think of the life itself, we memorialize instead the greater good accomplished.

                                 000000000000000000000000000

Living in an imperfect world with imperfect people, one can still practice some kind of perfection in our elections, given the supposedly democratic way they are done.

Thus, if one must have to choose from a slate of candidates, so that the overall choice would truly represent and typify the people being governed, at the very least please select candidates to represent the different defined sectors of that society.  Sectors to be prioritized as to number significance and importance.  One to represent big business, small business, the vulnerable and underprivileged, the world of academia and students.  One for Women?  I would say no, else in fairness we would also need one for Men.   Etc.    BTW, let us stay away from the whys and wherefores of the PartyList system.  It sucks.

 Also, we ought to forget about family relationships, friendship, or acquaintances in arriving at our choices.

                                                           0000000000000000000

Written 8 years ago but still relevant and apt for today.

But maybe with a bit of qualification, for in this current electoral exercise, I have witnessed so much unwarranted anger and hateful rhetoric thrown against an incumbent that many do not support coming from out of the woodwork.

Thus, instead of expressing thoughts and ideas why a certain candidate should be chosen over another, many instead unceremoniously unload on the person on the other side, detailing his many flaws and failings, plus various deleterious commentaries collected from a host of sources, as from other pundits and disgruntled relatives.

Personally, such method reeks of a heavy smell of self-righteousness that clearly is misplaced. For after all, we are all ourselves flawed and are all answerable to another authority.  And may also thus be guilty of such unwanted blemishes.  We ought rather to focus on pertinent misconducts rather than ad hominem assaults.

On why I believe that we ought to be active and partisan in our politics, with regard to issues and policies we find objectionable:

And I take a quite divergent view about our free will and how it operates in our reality.  I subscribe deeply to the attitude of Ignatius with regard to prayer for it rationalizes how free will and a whole host of paradoxes like God being all-knowing are justified.

Ignatius compartmentalizes prayer, the first part being the actual prayer say for assistance on the eradication of evil; and here we ought to pray like EVERYTHING depended on God’s will and Providence.  But the corollary part which is the actual doing of actually attempting to eradicate that evil, we ought to maintain the attitude that EVERYTHING depended on us.  So we work our butts to try and realize it.

If what we wish for does not happen, it is then less attributable to God than to ourselves.  That maybe we did not exert sufficient efforts and determination to try to eliminate that evil. Or also that with this tribulation some good will be born from it, to bring us closer to our eternal goal.  This due to the almighty and at times incomprehensible wisdom of God.

Therefore, regardless of which side we have hitched our chariot on, we ought to exert maximum efforts in bringing out that change.  Leaving no stone unturned.  And I say it should be less about whether the outcome would personally affect our own lives or not, but more because it is the right thing to do!

                                                    0000000000000000000000000000000

A Heavy Dose of Humility: In These Troubled Times

As I trudge along daily in the confines of the virtual worlds I visit in silence but ever alert, places which have now become familiar sights, I find one common thread.  Made more compelling under the intense heat of hotly-contested  politics and elections.

 And it is that like the pandemic scourge that has inflamed and disrupted our worlds, evil or its traces can find residence even in the best places and people that we hold dear.  Quite unlikely locales, but like COVID 19 its infiltration easily takes roots.

And like the scourge, we do find it insidiously in residence, whether knowingly or unknowingly, in places and people we think unlikely to be infected.

But then that is the nature of evil, it is smart, persistent, and definitely more resourceful than many of us, even the good-hearted among us.

How does it manifest itself in our words and actions?  In multitude of ways and means.

One typical manifestation.  How easily we treat as gospel truths snippets of facts we have acquired and clung to tenaciously, informing and hard-casting our profound beliefs, and then like the seers of old, imposing them on the rest with haughty authority and command.  Yet in truth, people may find what we know as scant, sparing, or even only a warped version of the truth.

What is it about wealth and power that when formerly ordinary folks acquire them, they start acting like gods? Like Imposing their will on others in certain ways, and anointing themselves as our moral and ethical guardians.

 What could be an antidote?  Unlike the pandemic, we do have the “vaccine” to assist us mitigate it.

Humility is one such answer, a ready tonic for arrogant pride.  It opens the path to knowledge and understanding.  It opens the doors of our minds to possibilities closeminded-ness, or even just pigheaded-ness, could never attain.

                                             0000000000000000000000000000000

Speaking of the 2020 US Presidential Elections 

When we were living there which had started forty years ago, the US electoral system was the envy of the world, not only for its process but its ease in handling and counting millions of votes expeditiously in a huge and widely-dispersed country. Even then, manual counting was the preferred method. And unquestioned results were known and broadcast quickly. By midnight of the same day, typically even partial results were already such that presumptive winners were already known.

But over time, it started to show its inherent weaknesses or time-borne shortcomings which were left largely unattended to and unmitigated. We know that any system is just as good as the people using it. In this instance, there is little doubt, it is the people responsible for its fall from transparency and integrity to one similar to lesser developed countries.

How ever this particular election is resolved, henceforth the US will have lost the vaunted transparency and integrity of its electoral system. It will be likened to like any in less developed countries.

 No doubt the US system has weaknesses or shortcomings exacerbated over time. When voter rolls are left not updated, then we have many dead people vote. It is reported that in California alone about 3 million names in the rolls ought to be expunged. But no such action.

 The massive mail-in ballots sent or other early voting schemes suddenly promulgated under cover of the pandemic, also contributed greatly to the chaos and exposed the system to possible massive voter fraud. Was it an unintended possible consequence or was it willful?

The latter is where the focus of the current and pending legal challenges will be centered. BTW, it is common knowledge that there are no electronic systems that cannot be hacked, one way or the other.

                               00000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Some Observations, collected over time.

The US as a country has always been center-right (essentially conservative in its values) likely as far back in history to its very founding. Any poll even today will show that. It is for this reason that the left has always been frustrated in the ballot and in legislation, though it is possessed of arsenal that the conservative right cannot match (power and influence coming from media, big tech and big money, etc.) No doubt because of this, the left has had to resort to other means. Like putting unelected judges who instead of interpreting laws, will try to legislate from the bench and thus move forward leftist agenda.

This premise may explain and validate the results of the last 2020 presidential election. In spite of the formidable concerted efforts arrayed against outlier and much-maligned Trump he still was able to garner over 73 million votes, which one could easily surmise were earnest and legitimate voters who not only favored Trump and his agenda, but also loved him since their vow of support included prayers offered to him. This is the most that any sitting president has ever received. Thus we have people of faith who find Trump promoting and elevating their values and faith practices.

This election also brought to the fore an added issue that has not been addressed before in any serious manner. Voting Fraud. Which we believe did not just happen now, but had started to creep into the system over time. Though there is yet no verified and confirmed claims of fraud that could overturn the initial count, no doubt fraud has been committed on a large enough scale, as we are finding more and more daily. The forced exposure to sunlight on this issue could bring about reforms to protect its transparency and sanctity, so a frustrated people could restore back its trust and confidence in the system.

Standards of Beauty

 

Saw an image  (not the ones featured here) in FaceBook and its obvious intent was for people to notice that a black child was also beautiful and very good to look at.  It had hoped to dispel the current prevalent notions that one has to have fair skin and Western features to look desirable or beautiful.

 But the  common almost compulsive drive to look more Western I find is not uniquely Filipino.  Many other darker ethnicities also have it, like even among the African Americans in the US.

If so, then we could not attribute it solely as an unintended aftermath of prior colonization or coming from other recently acquired traits.

It would appear to reside deeper in the psyche of modern man, where we might hope to find his current notions and concepts of what would be considered beautiful, or desirable, or even good to look at.  As an example, maybe as elemental or ingrained as that the color white stands for good, while black for bad or evil.  As light versus darkness?

Or it could be what is innately perceived as symmetry of parts that exudes an observation of visual pleasantness or conformity to certain standards.  Like the almost universal preference for taller people rather than shorter ones?  More deep-set eyes and high-bridge noses?  Women looking more feminine with defined curves?  Etc.

A more honest conversation could lead to a better understanding or acceptance of what could be considered as today’s standards.

The lady featured is of mixed parentage, with a Romanian father and a Chinese mother.  She was born in Canada but is now a British subject and resident. This young 18-year-old is the current rage in women's tennis.  Her looks no doubt add to the mystique of her almost unexplainable popularity.

                                                                        000000000000000000

Introducing the Cagayan de Oro City Hall Building

When we think CDO City Hall the image conjured is that of an imposing white-washed building standing sentinel beside the western approach of the oldest bridge of the city, Ysalina Bridge.

In reality it is now a complex of several high-rise modern-looking buildings adjoined to the side of the old structure and occupying a space many times bigger than the original.

At some point all of us ordinary residents will have to get acquainted with the maze of buildings and offices that now make up City Hall.

We all have to queue up for our annual residence certificates, payments of real property taxes, business permits, a multitude of clearances like police, health, fire, what have you, and a litany of chores and duties to confound the hardiest citizen.  We know we need to register with City Hall for every birth, but not many think that we also have to go through onerous routines when somebody dies.

Thus, in one of those trips, I found time to snap some scenes as I waited for my turn.  And one new detail learned:  Know that when you get your police clearance a 3rd party organization processes your clearance for which you are charged a fee, over and above the regular fee that goes to City Hall.  Part of public service outsourced to the private sector?

  Imagine also that all prospective employees have to have this, aside from the host of requirements and clearances that definitely would raise the hackles of the most patient individual.  And all of them with a considerable fee attached to each one.  Another sample of the burgeoning costs of government!

No wonder even the government’s physical structures have become so large, so expensive and so complicated.

                                               0000000000000000000000000000000000

A Mortified Life:  An Oxymoron?

Because mortified comes from Latin, it could mean to kill or subdue.  But life is about living!

At first glance then, the term could be an oxymoron, which could translate as a killed life.

But over the ages, the noble and profound concept of mortification has taken on more significant meanings to our living of life.   Simply, it means living a life which is characterized by subjugation or “killing” of the human desires and inclinations which drive us away from our divine purposes.   Shorter still, it means controlling our concupiscence which is the innate legacy of our fallen nature.

A very pregnant thought with multi-faceted angles to ponder.

A Mother's Instinct

 

How one timely and prudent move of my late mother may have helped shape my future.  And more than giving it form and shape, may have saved it.

One clear manifestation of a mother's trove of virtues she critically needs in creating and growing her own family, to match the task's multitude of responsibilities.

For many adults the events of youth may be subjects of either happy reminiscences or rueful regrets, but in most instances we consign them to a remote segment of our minds after we attain maturity.  We are too preoccupied with adult life, we do not want to be bothered much by such puerile gestures like trying to  make sense of events in our reckless youth.

But at certain advanced stages, we cannot help but be prodded to recall early events to try and understand why certain things in our adulthood transpired as they did. Or were allowed to happen, or that one was lucky enough to be offered them.

Given such a listless and a bit chaotic childhood for me, I welcome this rehashing of my youth if only to understand my life better.  And better still, such revelation may assist my next generation in their own living of life.

So for these reasons, this little exercise in history is being undertaken.

In my own life in high school, one stark detail that sticks out is the growing aimlessness and listlessness I was experiencing not only at home but more pronouncedly, in school.

I was immersed practically in my own little world, though surrounded by many people composed not only  of many siblings but companies I kept away from home.  Found himself drifting to a less real and more fanciful world.  A world of carefree living, with reduced responsibilities and complete freedom to roam and idle. And of course, with no serious thought of the future.

And this I was experiencing as I was approaching the end of high school.  Though I may not have been aware of it, or maybe was not capable to comprehend situations that I had no prior knowledge, I now think that maybe some people around where I lived may have noticed it.  From telltale signs that taken together could spell disaster.  Like little missteps in school that could be signs of graver issues.  Or the school administrators may have gone above me and reported it to my mother who was the guardian at home.

In hindsight I now  judge that had there been no intervention my downward slide could have gotten worse, who knows to what nadir.  To a point of no return?

Anyway, after a year of college in the same school I did high school, I was suddenly whisked off to Manila to live with my father and a couple of elder brothers who were not only living there but also studying.  And the trip somehow jibed with another issue that needed immediate attention in Manila.  Our youngest sister needed medical attention for a skin problem on her neck that she was born with.  So what better opportunity for me to accompany her on a long and slow boat trip to Manila.  As I understand it, it was my mother who had insisted that I be sent to study in Manila.

That change in scenery and environment I now believe was the turning point of my young life.  The 3 years spent there had given me valuable insights and accommodating knowledge that allowed me to change my outlook and attain the maturity that would later on me serve me creditably in life.  Because after 3 years and graduation from an undergraduate degree, I would be sent back to the old hometown and to start a new life.  Or really to pick up from where I left off.  The changes were mostly inside, with few visible changes in the outside.  Save for such petty stuff as beaming that I could afford to dress with the latest trends brought from Manila, which would be quite an improvement from the local fashion. 

And from henceforward my life had completely taken a different turn.  This time a serious and expectant one.  I had become quite serious with my further studies and was actually thinking about my future and its prospects.

So one wonders what would have happened had my mother not taken the action that she did.  God only knows.  But it would not be farfetched to surmise that that was the rightful decision during that time. And it was not because Manila offered a better place to live or continue school.  Just that the change itself was the trigger that sparked the transformation to maturity.

In life sometimes earlier blessings we received are not known and acknowledged until we are almost through with life. But we get to it before it is too late.

Just A Potpourri Of Thoughts and Opinions

 Just A Potpourri Of Thoughts and Opinions

Those in the business of parsing every Duterte rhetoric and its delivery are having a field day.

He has provided them with the perfect storm, everyone being literally inundated with a phalanx of seemingly incoherent statements and out of this world ideas on how to govern amidst an overly-sensitized world. And the presses are grinding with dizzying speed, laying out ink on the whys and wherefores of all those “unacceptable” statements.

It would appear that he is singularly attempting to “upset” the world order, both locally and globally, with his unexpected pronouncements.  I daresay the world order that has been thrust at us and grudgingly accepted or tolerated as normal in our own lives.

  And just as solicitous are the multitudes of defenders, a number of them could be adjudged overly aggressive and blindingly partial, but dominated IMO by those who are earnestly trying to understand this man who has over time shown in the past all the way back to his stints in Davao City, his genuine paternal concern for the people and his single-minded tack to bring good governance to his constituency.  Which to this day has now become the entire country.

And last time I checked we are still holding up and in one piece.  Maneuvering rudder every which way to right the ship and keep all of us afloat.  Except for the hurts and bruises, sadly inflicted by a number of our own fellow shipmates.

 Helmsmen and mates, to the masts and ballasts with eyes peeled and muscles taut for the continued rough ride ahead!

We shall overcome!

                     000000000000000000000000

This local movie has garnered so much attention and following lately.  The reviews are largely and inspiringly positive, though a number are casting doubts on the complete authenticity of events depicted in the movie.  Like it was a history book, or something.

But I take a much different tack on this subject movie.  Because, yes, it is just a movie, though about historical events.

Movies are meant to entertain and be interesting to the audience.  Thus, it will of necessity have to avail of romanticism and other cinematic tools to make them so.  One emphasis for example could be how emotions as expressed are magnified in each role to bring out loud and lasting impressions on and consequently lasting connections with the viewers.

Thus, all things considered, if we want to learn more and give due respect and honor to our heroes, I suggest we be encouraged to use more traditional methods of doing so.  Like reading serious, historically accurate, and unvarnished accounts of them.

   And let movies about them take side roles that simply play as catchy introduction, especially for the younger generations reeling in wanton dearth of relevant models to emulate and follow.   Apart from the youthful and nubile movie celebrities who crowd our interminable sessions with the TV and Internet.

                  00000000000000000000000

RIP - Steve Jobs.  I was quite fortunate to have resided in the very same vortex that created the tech boom of the late 80's up to late 20th century.  And was thus only a short ride away from the valley where many of the big companies like Apple and Intel got their starts.  Today Steve Jobs name is synonymous with the name of Apple, but we know that there were others just as significant in making Apple what it is today.  Names like partner Steve Wozniak who is credited for making the early Apple computers realities, or even less known Ronald Gerald Wayne, or a Mike Markkula who provided needed financing early on.

But today it is Steve Jobs day and Apple is Steve Jobs.

               00000000000000000000000

At this time we recall the death anniversary of Apple’s Steve Jobs.

Many post quotes he made while living.  This one attached is a popular one.

The premise is undeniable.  Life is indeed short.

But the succeeding resolutions differ in form and meaning.

Jobs said not to waste it living somebody else’s life.  But more popularly, people will reflexively say:  to enjoy and make the most of it.

Thus, many cramp as much pleasurable activities in their lives while still able – taking travels, vacations, visits to relatives and friends, attending gatherings, etc.

Clearly  as revealed by their actions what the saying specifically means for them.

You think Jobs shared this interpretation?  As reflected in his own life, which was cut short so abruptly?

Did he mean that because life is short, he would spend his few remaining years or months, dropping everything he was doing for Apple, and attending to his personal life and family?

Rather than continuing his life’s activities that could influence or benefit more people?

                                                   000000000000000000000000

Philippine Politics 

Certain developments challenge my admittedly limited understanding of local party politics.

This Philippine president coming into the presidential fray was thought of and considered the most outlier of all the perfumed and scripted candidates who cavorted around the political stage.  Assumed generally as not adept in politics, he never toed political party lines, and though allied never really needed anything from the party, not even publicly pretending to need anything.  Was never part of any cabal nuanced to both the clandestine nature and the shallow niceties of politics, instead speaking and acting his mind without any filters of even feigned courtesies. And a quite dirty and pedestrian mind and mouth he has, alarming and shaming both the high and mighty of society, and the lowly masa.  The powerful RC clergy especially is in a tizzy, practically condemning his every utterance.

 But more people obviously wanted him since he got elected, warts and all.

How come this?

So now his political detractors have considered him an accomplished masterful tactician and manipulator of other branches of government.  He now has pocketed as his rubberstamp the twin houses of Congress.  Many sow fear broadcasting in obtuse ways that the uniformed sectors of government now kowtow to his whims and caprices.  Has he also captured and mesmerized the vaunted judiciary?

So how come one solitary non-politician, one almost without ideological partners, getting only a handful of votes as many claimed, and not really considered knowledgeable to the intricacies of big and bloated government, now being touted as wielding so much power and influence over such entrenched bureaucratic segments of government? 

Hands are flailing away in confusion and surrender.