Responding to Netizen's Comment

Netizen's Comment:  You wrote something about telling the truth and telling a lie.  In real life are there circumstances wherein lying can be considered morally acceptable than telling the truth?

When you are being introduced to the children of a friend, a long-lost relative, or even new acquaintances - well the child is not at all pleasing let alone pleasant to the eyes ... he is that kind of son or daughter only his mother will love. Well, this is not the time to be candid and blunt by being truthful and giving an unsolicited honest opinion about how one looks. If you feel you are going to puke for being insincere by saying, "Oh what a doll ...  cool down that contrite heart, focus on other areas and say "I like her straight hair ..." or say " what piercing brown eyes."

Stay away from commenting on his knock-knees, or his flat nose. Abstain from pointing out the child's oval and half-moon facial features. And desist from interfering with the child's squinting eyes. It is not lying if the moon's gravitational force is egging you to say something about the child's unkempt hair ... but it is rude and impolite to openly castigate the appearance of somebody's one and only child.

Besides, you looked like that yourself once, too- and look how well you turned out....

Short Circuit

It is BBM's inauguration day, but what news is competing with supposed to be a unity speech on the airwaves: Bulatlat and Pinoy.com were blocked. And later part of the day, a government agency was running after Rappler. 

It's deja vu time once again - a feeling that one has seen or heard something familiar before. To think that it is only BBM's first day.

I Agree

 

Questions You Thought Don't Have Answers

Filipinos love a good riddle and answering crossword puzzles. Our desire to answer all the questions and completely finish the job gives us some kind of titillation, the need to continue and persevere until we accomplish the task. It tickles our brain cells, and we feel mighty proud once the cryptogram is decoded.

People ask why everybody loves Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote? Or Ben Matlock or Jake and the Fatman.  Well,  they always solve mysteries.

Too bad, there are a lot of questions and mysteries out there that we may never learn the answers to their intriguing nature. The universe is far-reaching and its mysteries limitless, and there are many things that even geniuses have their arms raised upwards because they don't have answers to some of these queries. 

Let’s explore some of the questions that there are no answers to.

Question: Why pizza boxes are square when the shape of the pizza is round?

Answer: When it arrives at the door, the large, cumbersome box begs the question: Why are pizza boxes square, when the pie inside is round? The answer is actually quite simple: Square boxes are easier and less expensive to produce because they can be made only from one sheet of cardboard. Making a round box tells a different story.

Square boxes are also much easier to store since they can remain flat until needed.

Mapauli Na Siya

 

Sound Bites and Blurbs

What do we really want to know about Marcos's last days in Malacanang? We know already the story.

What is there to add if you don't intend to change it?

Just The Good Old Days

No drugs ... no alcohol ... no boys' night out ... no gimik ... no out-of-town trips!

Just brotherly love and sharing the fun with the guys.

Responding To Netizen's Comments

 Followed Up Netizen's Comment On Church Scandals

The so-called "overhaul" only took place after the fact.  How many wrongs were done against the will of the uninitiated since the creation of those crimes?  The laity lost count and the interest of pursuit remained like a hapless wish over the years.   The Vatican -- the single richest entity in the face of the world runs well-oiled cover machinery and could be all noise but what actions have been put in place to really punish its erring flock? Those meted guilty will just "disappear" only to reappear in some obscure parishes down the road when the "heat" has died down.  It's the same cycle repeated over and over through the millennia.  The Pope ages become senile, will be inactive for a while, and soon dies.  And the crimes committed by his flock during his watch die with him.  Tell me:- is there a world court order that could mete out fair and just punishment to those responsible for creating those heinous crimes?  Keep the faith but sorry, the answer is NADA! And the commission and the blatant hypocrisy down the hierarchy reign supreme!  Does anyone else care?  The answer is clear!  Even the faithful's silence is muted and will last forever!  There goes the image of your "2nd" father.

Response: 

With all due respect to you ... and whatever experience you have with the rotten tomatoes,  I just want you to know I am, with you on your fight, and whatever experience you have with them, I totally appreciate your rant, because it is really frustrating to see the laity's "urong-sulong stance" and their hesitation and indecision give the impression that they are not up to the challenge of getting involved in the scandals, it's a lengthy journey in the courts, & the money that goes with it and the most important how they can stomach the peering eyes of the public especially if you are the victim.

However in my place here in California, our parish has made some strides, it may not be a worldwide fight but at least we heard that something is being done no matter how turtle-paced it may be. It may not be the way you want it to be, but it warms my heart that some people are voicing out their support and the issues are not swept under the rug. And people are raising their arms.

If it helped to make you feel better. our parish has an independent lay-run board that holds bishops accountable if they decide on a cover-up and just last week there is a Mass of prayers of reparation and encouragement to parishioners to become more involved in their diocese. These are among the steps suggested by prominent lay Catholics to right the U.S. church as it deals with a new clergy abuse scandals.

It is time for laypeople to boost their profile within the church and help begin to dismantle long-standing clericalism that 

has sought to preserve the reputation of offending clergy at the expense of the safety of children.  That if there's still the notion of self-preservation at the expense of the victim ... it just begs for lay leadership to come forward and address this and help lead to healing.

As U.S. bishops worked to develop steps to promote greater accountability for abuse, they understand that their credibility is gone and the trust of the faithful is gone and the cry of hypocrisy besmirched their pious images.

I just want to point out though that my second father is a "rara avis". Whatever you expect from a priest - honest, polite, kind, generous, devout, righteous, duty-bound - he has it.  It is just so unfair, that a few rotten tomatoes can smear the whole rank and file. They don't deserve it, but I guess that's how life goes.

Just like the police and politicians. no matter how good the person is, once you are in that profession, people generalize - the stigma and the negative imputations will forever blemish even their shining badges of honor.