JD Salinger of The Catcher in the Rye fame passed away in his Cornish, N.H. home last Wednesday at the age of 91. The famous recluse who has lived away from the public eye since 1953 died of natural causes. Read the New York Times obituary. Another interesting piece on how fierce Salinger’s neighbors were in protecting his privacy.
JD Salinger, 91. Rest in peace.
You know, I really not expect Manny to be win in his fight to Cotto, you know. I mean, ah, his very boastful na, you know. So I mean, ah, I thought he lose.
But I mean, ah, I watch the fight you know. And you know, Pacquiao have difficulty boxing Cotto, butCotto find it, I mean, he think, you know, he think it’s harder to fight Manny. Manny lose in the first round, you know, I mean, ahh, it was hard to, uhm, I mean, measure Cotto, you know. But I mean, in the next, ahm, rounds, you know, it easy for Manny already.
Manny say that Cotto was a hard, I mean, ahhhhh, you know, fighter. His ears become big and he have, you know, wounds on his, ah, face. Yeah. He’s very humble when he got, you know, interviewed. I mean, uhhhhhhh, he don’t boast with Mario Lopez, you know.
So even though I, ahhh, you know, don’t like Pacquiao boastful outside the ring, I mean, uhhh, congratulation to his record-breaking win. His make all Filipino people around the world proud and also to all boxing fans around world.
Oh yeah—Wapakman, don’t mess it!
I am too young to remember Cory Aquino. I was born long after the EDSA Revolution she led, long after her ascent to power, long after she graciously stepped down from office once her term was over. By the time I was born, she had returned to being an ordinary citizen, detached from all the pomp and splendor of the presidency she used to occupy. As a child, I knew her not as a symbol of hope to my country, but simply as the wife of Ninoy and as the mother of that annoyingly hyperactive woman I kept on seeing on TV.
But I am not too young to know how much I owe to Tita Cory. She was the woman who toppled an oppressive dictatorship, who stood for freedom when no one else dared do the same. She was the woman whose role proved pivotal in restoring democracy to a troubled people. She was the woman without whom I would possibly not be enjoying the liberties and freedom I enjoy today.
For her admirable leadership in a time of crisis and conflict, for her courage to stand for freedom and liberty no matter what the cost, for her role as a beacon of hope to the Filipino people and to the world (not only in 1986, but even today), we are eternally indebted to Mrs. Aquino.
On this occasion, I join my countrymen—no, the entire world—in celebrating the life of Corazon Aquino. She may have left us, but her legacy remains and will always remain alive and well. On this sad occasion, I join the entire world in mourning a profound, deep loss of a beacon and icon.
Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. Gone in the flesh, alive and well in the spirit. May her legacy—what a great legacy it is!—live on forever.
History has just been made. Barack Hussein Obama has been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and is the first African-American to hold that title.
This inauguration began with the four-whistle train ride from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., akin to the one Abraham Lincoln took centuries prior. In addition, Obama was also sworn in with his hand on the same Bible Abraham Lincoln used during his inauguration—a presidency peppered with history, indeed.
But Obama’s inauguration and tenure is historic in other terms as well. The United States is in what some are calling Great Depression 2.0—jobs are being shipped overseas and families are losing their savings at an alarming rate. There are conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world that America just can’t seem to end. The country’s image in the world has been tarnished by eight years of failed government. Washington politics are broken, corrupt and have gone against the very essence of democracy, that is a government from, for and by the people.
It bears repeating: this is a historic presidency at a historic moment in time.
So after the pomposity is over and everyone has settled down, in the end, Barack Obama needs to roll up his sleeves and get to work. The pressure is definitely on. He will have to begin the difficult task ahead of him as the world watches from behind his shoulder with cautious optimism. He will have to mend broken relationships and forge new ones. He will have to fulfill the promises of hope and change that carried him all the way to the highest political position in the world. He will have to prove that his profundity is not only superficial, not only present in his rousing speeches but in his actions as well. He will have to bring the government back to where it belongs—the people.
It seems like so much for one person, but President Obama realized the burdens of the office even before he announced his candidacy. This is what he signed up for. There’s no excuse. He’s got to step up to the plate (as do we).
This author congratulates President Obama on his historic inauguration and wishes him well on the road ahead. I hope he doesn’t disappoint as his immediate predecessor did. I hope he fulfills the promises he made to America (and essentially to the world). God bless him. God bless the country and the Free World he now leads.
When America elects its next president come November, it will have to decide between two starkly different candidates—the seasoned John McCain, who believes in spending billions of dollars on the war in Iraq, but thinks twice about spending millions of dollars in education, or Barack Obama, who, in his charismatic speeches promises of a new direction for his country, for change we can believe in, but who many people believe does not have enough expertise to deliver his promises.
That is, in my opinion, perhaps the biggest dilemma voters face. Should they entrust the future of the world’s single largest superpower to a man who knows how to manage a country but in a wrong way, or to a young chap who promises radical change despite his short curriculum vitae?
I watched Hillary Clinton address her supporters in New York just minutes ago, and just like everyone predicted, she refused to concede to rival Barack Obama. She says she “won’t make any decisions tonight”, and will consult with party leaders and supporters on what to do next.
How about raise the white flag and face the music? Is that a good suggestion? CNN, among other news organizations, has predicted that Obama has acquired the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. He now has more than 2,130 delegates on his side, well more than the 2,118 needed to nominate.
Yet, Hillary still refuses to concede. At least, not on her own. She urged her supporters to go to her website and tell her what she should do next.
I’m not old enough to vote; heck, I’m not even American, but I’ve been following the campaign and while Hillary put up one heck of a fight, the worse has come to her campaign.
Meanwhile, tonight is a historic night—the Democratic party, for the first time, has nominated an African American for the presidency. Although I believe that race matters little, if at all, in governing a world superpower. But the social repercussions of this moment in history cannot be neglected, and if anything, let’s ponder for a moment and understand that race cannot be a barrier to anything.
Barack Obama is talking in St. Paul, Minnesota right now and he’s attacking McCain. He’d earlier said that he was proud to declare that he was the Democratic nominee for the presidency, and he’s focusing his efforts on bringing people over from Grandpa Johnny. Meanwhile, Hillary’s still stuck in the past. She’s still immersed in a world where the White House was in her reach.
That time has passed. Get over it. With all due respect to Senator Clinton, she’d be better off as Vice-President to Obama. What she’s doing is not good for the party, and it’s eating up Barack’s time and effort. Time to wave the white flag.
What’s this I hear on Engadget about the UK planning to record every phone call, email and web page sent by its citizens? Says Engadget,
the Telegraph is reporting that Britain’s Home Office is working on database designed to store the details of every phone call, email, and web page accessed by British citizens in the previous year. The idea is to have various telecom providers hand over their records, which will all go into the database and then accessible by police upon receipt of a court order. Of course, there’s no reason why police couldn’t simply ask the ISPs for the appropriate data when they get that court order, since records are required to be kept for a year, but sometimes it’s important for a government to build a massive scary database of personal information with endless potential for abuse by embittered low-level bureaucrats, you know?
Invasion of privacy much? Unjust eavesdropping much? Potential for abuse much? This is too stupid to call. Let’s hear it in the comments section. 
The right ear article on today’s Philippine Daily Inquirer is headlined: “UK study: Fat is bad for global warming.” Uh-oh. Look familiar?
In fairness to Gore, I support his whole global warming campaign, but he’d better hit the gym more often lest he be labeled a hypocrite. The rest of the story after the break.
