Apple Introduces the iPhone

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone yesterday at MacWorld Expo 2007. Like the iPod, it looks like it's going to be an industry-revolutionizing product.

Go here to read more.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, here it is:

The bad news? It won't be available in Asia till 2008. Damn.

(Those in the US are lucky. It'll be available in June 2007, and will be available in Europe in the last quarter of this year.)

The Golden Post

This is a milestone of sorts-- the 50th post of my first blog, Thinking Aloud.

I've often been asked why I blog. I might as well be also asked why I write, because my answers would be the same: because I enjoy it, and because I can. The first answer speaks for itself; the second is open to interpretation. "Because I can" may be interpreted as "because I know how to write," but that is subjective. By my own standards, I feel I write adequately, which is to say that I can at least get my point across without leaving readers befuddled.

But I digress.

I suppose the best way to interpret "because I can" is what millions of people have discovered-- that the internet has provided a means by which everyone can be heard. It doesn't matter if you can't put two phrases together to form a coherent thought (well, it does matter, but that's another story...), what matters is that if you have something to say, and you want people to hear it-- whether in carabao English or flawless insert language here, publishing a blog is just the way to do it.

That being said, thank God for the internet and free blog-hosting services.

Not a good day...

...to be Kim Jong-il.

In the Washington Post :

U.N. Votes To Impose Sanctions On N. Korea

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to condemn North Korea and impose stiff sanctions on the communist government in response to its suspected nuclear test. More.

It's not enough that the whole world is breathing down your neck. To make matters worse:

South Korean Approved as U.N. Secretary General

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 13 -- The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon on Friday as the next U.N. secretary general. More.

Mo' power, mo' problems. Welcome to the world of nuclear powers.

A boatload of stars with mean Irish accents...

...that basically sums up my first impression of The Departed, which stars Jack Nicholson, et. al. Okay, I know that's an understatement. There's Leonardo "I'm from a family of criminals trying to do The Right Thing" Di Caprio, Matt "I look so clean-cut but I'm one sinister fellow" Damon, Martin "this is my first gig since The West Wing, and I still sound like Jed Bartlett" Sheen, Mark "one profanity a second" Wahlberg, and Alec "the best-looking but now looking extremely middle-aged" Baldwin.

Oh, yeah, and for some reason, they just had to put in an African-American actor-- Anthony Anderson. The name of the cop (state trooper!) he plays in the movie? BROWN. How's that for in-your-face irony?

Here's a synopsis of the movie, which is directed by Martin Scorsese and is a remake of the hit Hong Kong movie Internal Affairs.

Since I have yet to watch the original-- those who've watched it say it is awesome-- I won't make any comparisons. By itself, it's a pretty entertaining movie, if violence and blood being splattered all around is your thing.

(An aside. This is, by my count, the third movie Scorsese and Di Caprio have done together. Is this Di Caprio's way of distancing himself from his cheesy role as Titanic's boyish lead? Is he trying to say, "yeah, I am now a bad-ass dude who can do violent action movies and look credible doing it"? His next movie is Blood Diamond, another violent flick. My prediction? Di Caprio will not appear clean-shaven in his next few roles. He wants everyone to know that he is a MAN. My suggestion? Get a new voice box. You'll ALWAYS sound like a little boy.)

Another thing. The music in the movie kicks ass. I was expecting more U2, but I guess Bono and company are too busy saving the world to write songs for another bloody Scorsese project. If they do put all the songs here in their OST, it should be worth buying.

Overall, they do manage to sell you with their accents. Jack Nicholson, of course, steals the show as one real bad-ass. Nobody does it like Jack. If you only need one reason to watch this movie, he's IT.

A little ranting is good for the soul...

...and if you get published in a newspaper while you're at it, so much the better.

In page 14 of the October 4 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, my letter to the editor (based on this rather long blog of mine), sent during the (electricity-less) weekend after Typhoon Milenyo hit:

Can’t we avoid tragedies caused by typhoons?

IT DOESN’T take a genius to know that at least once a year, we will be hit by a tropical storm so strong it’s going to cause disasters and power outages in various places around the country.

Take Bicol, for example. In 1988, the region was hit by a storm that was so forceful the whole area went without electricity for months. In 1993, Typhoon “Sisang” hit Bicol and the region had no power for two weeks. After Typhoon “Milenyo,” Bicol might spend another Christmas in darkness. The reason for all these? Toppled power lines. Were these fixed in the past? Yes. Was something done to prevent similar episodes from happening? No.

So each time a powerful typhoon blows across our region, my fellow Bicolanos hear the same old refrains: “Be patient; don’t complain; everyone else doesn’t have electricity; you’re better off, because at least you have a roof over your head; prayer and national solidarity will get us through this crisis.”

Give me a break.

Patience, they say, is a virtue. In our case, however, it is a virtue that has been abused, time and again, by idiots who claim to be the best leaders we can have. Natural calamities have become so commonplace in this country you’d think by now we’d know what to do to cushion their impact.

When will enough be enough? How many people have to die, how many Filipinos have to lose their homes, how many floods do we have to put up with, how many “power-less” days must we live through before something is really done to prevent these from happening?

“An ounce of prevention,” the saying goes, “is worth a pound of cure.” It’s a lesson that our leaders, apparently, have yet to learn.

White Papers, Anonymity, and Cough Syrup

Around this time last year, a white paper criticizing former Chief Justice Davide's Memorandum Order making the Supreme Court Program Management Office permanent was making the rounds of the Court. The paper raised several issues regarding the Chief's Memorandum Order, and called on Court employees to wear red in protest.

I criticized the white paper, not so much on its merits (not that it had many), but the manner in which it advanced its positions. As I said in my blog, I don't believe in "supporting causes being espoused by nameless, faceless people" because I've always held that the willingness to express one's opinions must be accompanied by the courage to stand by them.

I've always maintained that anonymity is a blanket under which cowards hide, a convenient means to evade the responsibility of having to answer for their beliefs. You say or do something, you take responsibility for it. You write something, you sign your name and say, "hell, yeah, I wrote it." That's why when I was asked permission to have my blog printed and distributed, I had no qualms about saying yes. Did I offend the writers of the white paper? Probably. Did I care? No. I said the white paper's author was gutless, and one year later I still feel the same way.

Gutlessness, it appears, is catching. An anonymous officemate (or officemates) sent me and my fellow SC Chief Judicial Staff Officer, Atty. JM Erni, a bottle of cough syrup, with a short note. It seems someone was offended by our -ahem- coughing. According to our generous cough syrup donor, JM and I are insensitive, ill-mannered virus-spreaders who give no thought to the health and welfare of our officemates.

When did these supposed incidents occur? What exactly did we do? Who was at the receiving end of our spittle? Whose auditory senses were offended by my constant throat-clearing? So many questions, no answers forthcoming-- ah, the pitfalls of anonymity.

Anyway, for the benefit of the (anonymous) offended party (or parties), some clarifications are in order. You need not worry about catching something. You see, JM and I are both asthmatics and are allergic to many, many things. (I suspect we're allergic to idiots and cowards, hence our runny noses, coughing, and wheezing.) She carries a mini-drugstore in her bag. I have a stockpile of Claritin in my drawer. These are the only reasons we get through a day of working amongst (anonymous) morons and (anonymous) wimps without going through anaphylactic shock.

If-- as I suspect-- you are offended by things other than our coughing, you should feel free to fire off another anonymous note. I suspect there are other things about us you find distasteful. Maybe it's the smell of UP Diliman, something we can't get off our clothes no matter how hard we try. Maybe it's our youth, which we can't hide no matter how many lines public service adds to our faces. Maybe it's the unhidden sound of disdain in our voices, the contempt we have for those who are unwilling or unable to give Filipino taxpayers their money's worth.

It could be anything, but we won't know for sure until someone has the courage to say what he or she REALLY WANTS TO SAY, and grows enough backbone be held accountable for what is said.

Till then, don't blame us if we keep on coughing. As I said, we're allergic to cowards.

Unlike Mike

One point. One. Frigging. Point.

This was how much Kobe Bryant scored against the Phoenix Suns in the second half of Game 7 of their best-of-seven series. A do-or-die game. Win-or-go-home time. The pride of one of the greatest franchises in professional sports history on the line and what does Kobe do?

He only attempts THRICE in the second half of the game. THREE times.

It's not as if the game was beyond reach at the half. The Suns led, 60-45, but the Lakers had 24 minutes of basketball to turn things around. Sure, the Lakers were getting their asses handed to them, but for crying out loud, they had TWENTY FOUR frigging' minutes to play some defense, get their acts together, and win the damn game.

The pathetic performances of the other Lakers weren't surprising. That's a given. But I thought Kobe was going to do his darnedest to WILL his team to victory, which Michael Jordan tried EVERY time. Sure, Jordan's Bulls got beat. Hell, they got beat ALL the time. But their opponents bled for each and every win. Jordan may not have won games against Larry Bird early in his career, but at least he won Bird's respect.

(An aside. How competitive was Jordan? In practices, his team, naturally, would lead by a WIDE margin over the second team. At halftime, he would be put on the other team. And he would still play his ass off to win. And most times, he did.)

That, unfortunately, is what Kobe's lost in his sub-par Game 7 performance-- respect. Everything that defines him-- his competitiveness, his fire, his relentlessness-- these are the things that draw comparisons to Jordan. And these are the things that were absent in the most important minutes of the Suns-Lakers series.

This could have been it. The game that could've made Kobe Bryant a legend. He didn't have to win it. All he had to do was play his heart out and try. He didn't. That's why "Be Kobe" will never sound as good as "Like Mike."