Free at last!

I will do a cartwheel and a back flip if I could. My 78 days covering Malacanang on top of defense ended two days ahead of schedule today, Sunday. Hell yeah!

No more monitoring government radio and television (no offense to friends in state media, much respect). One morning, I puked listening to a mid-morning anchor lambasting the Sumilao Farmers, and I have a high tolerance for stomach-turning stuff.

No more wearing formal shirts, pants, and shoes. I don't iron clothes and I'm a sneakers person.

No more walking from LRT-2 Legarda Station to the Malacanang Press Corps working area, which to the overweight like me feels like a kilometer.

Thanks to old and new friends who helped me out over the two and a half months of double duty.

Finally, I can resume jogging around camp, taking a power nap after work, and most importantly, income-augmenting activities.

It gets sweeter. Tomorrow, Monday, I'll be back on Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys, and next week, I'll be somewhere in the extreme north for my vacation.

US soldiers kill animals, too

To say this is cruel, even evil, is an understatement. What did the poor puppy do to him? According to a CNN report, the son of a bitch in question is being investigated by the US Marine Corps.

When I wasn't too old for MTV (rock)

At the turn of the millennium, sometime between the late 90s and the 2000s, I was hooked on MTV and Channel V, when it was all about the music, when the VJs were cool (Trey, Nadya, Mike, Kamal, Rahul, Sonya, even Donita Rose). I just don't get the music channels now, especially MYX, who the hell hired Lucky or Heart to VJ? I can't stand them and their twangs.

Thank heavens for YouTube.

Splender "I Think God Can Explain"



The New Radicals "Someday We'll Know"



The Goo Goo Dolls "Black Balloon"



Fuel "Hemorrhage"



Default "Wasting My Time"

The dissenting opinion

I'm sick and tired of people using the word "truth" so loosely, as if it were their monopoly. This article was the fourth most read article on INQUIRER.net on Monday evening.

Has Lozada been playing us for fools all along?

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:11:00 03/03/2008

MANILA, Philippines - I agree with Belinda Olivares-Cunanan that, indeed, Rodolfo Lozada Jr.’s “too emotional” look makes him appear believable. (“Whistleblower’s own sins,” Inquirer, 2/13/08)

We were intently watching the live telecast of the confrontation between Lozada and former Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos. At the start, I was under the impression that Lozada should be given the benefit of the doubt. After all, his coming-out derailed his career and many ambitions.

Sadly, however, at one point in the program—when Abalos was talking about how good the hamburgers at his daughter’s canteen in Wack Wack was—we saw Lozada making faces in the background. I realized then that the benefit of the doubt should be given to the administration.

When Lozada was told he was on TV, he said he was not aware that he was also on air. How can an IT expert not know that it is possible for a TV station to simultaneously show on air two persons in different places?

Lozada’s seemingly innocent comment cast a dark cloud on his credibility. Has he been playing us for fools all along? I have been monitoring the NBN hearing at the Senate and the more I hear Lozada’s testimony, the more I realize that he is enjoying every minute of it. Maybe, there is truth to our perception—unpopular though it may be—that Lozada is part of a grand conspiracy to destabilize the present government. Sadly, this is not being shared by those who have been ranting, before the media, against the government.

We dream of a better country to live in, not only for ourselves but also for our children and their children. We fervently pray that our incomes grow tenfold. But allowing a few people to use us, make fun of us and play God with our future will not lead us to this dream. That will keep us from this dream.

—FRANK GONZAGA,

1 President Osmeña St. ,

Commonwealth Heights Subd.,

Quezon City

Click here to read the article on the site

It's all over, Arroyo flees

I was with a pack of reporters, scrambling for a good photo from behind the screen fence of the NAIA Terminal 2. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's black Mercedes Benz speeds towards the tarmac. She comes down and boards a gray military plane. She is going on self-exile.

This was my dream the other night. It was too vivid and unlike other dreams, I remember every detail even after I got out of bed. If this comes true, call me if you want to know your future.

Heartbreaking, but can I give up burgers forever?

The United States Department of Agriculture is recalling 143 million pounds of beef, the largest recall in US history, after a California meat packing company was found to have mistreated cattle -- crippling the poor animals and carrying them on forklifts.

I can't bear watching video footage of animal cruelty, but I sure love a big burger. Why am I so concerned with how these animals die, when they'll end up on my plate. What's difference does an "un-cruel" death make when they'll end up as ground beef? Is the food chain enough justification?

I can go vegetarian, even vegan, but that will take a lot of will power and a ton of cash. Plus I remember an animal rights-professor in college telling us in class that plants emit a very faint sound when their leaves or fruits are picked, or when they are uprooted. So what's left to eat?