Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side Of The War





Almost everything I have to say on this, I have said before here. It's not so much an I Told You So but more a ultra liberalism meets reality check. Don't leave without watching the short news video on the topic. How ideals and so called fresh ideas meet the brutal truth of politics and are compromised. For all you die hard Obama fans? How is the savior looking now boys? Keep in mind I am not giving you Fox News video. The video, the story and the book do much better than I can tell you in my blog. Just know all us Obama skeptics saw this coming a long time ago.



Ed






http://abcnews.go.com/WN/exclusive-bob-woordward-talks-diane-sawyer-book-obamas/story?id=11719487


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1038/Analysis_of_Tweet_Contradiction_of_Sending_30000_Troops


http://www.amazon.com/Obamas-Wars-Bob-Woodward/dp/1439172498


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1195/The_Grass_Is_Always_Greener_On_The_Other_Side_Of_The_War





Sunday, September 26, 2010

Be Happy With What God Gave You









"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

The Book of Genesis 1:27


http://bible.cc/genesis/1-27.htm




Ever since I could remember I could always relate to the saying all form and no substance. An expression you may have seen me use in the blog was all icing and no cake. A saying I attribute to one of the many talk show hosts I listen to, Scott Van Pelt. I remember having a discussion with a friend of mine 15 years ago and the theme was be happy with what God gave you. And we were talking about hair color.


I was never a fan of cosmetic surgery. In most cases it is humans attempt to reshuffle God's deck. They conveniently forget God also made their inside. The inside can be worked on too.
 








 








One of the well known local attempts of reshuffling the deck is Pops Fernandez. I have included a mix of pre and post inflation pics. You can agree or disagree with me which is more appealing. Sorry if the word "skank" comes to mind in the post procedure pics. Not to mention the words ghastly, corpselike and trampy. And it's supposed to be an upgrade?


There are some of you who would wish that I leave Charice Pempengco alone. Well, it won't be today. Much was made of her botox procedure by that attention seeking hound Vicky Belo. I know someone who has known "Dr." Belo personally for many years and his/ her exact words were " she looks like she is made more by man than by God". Once again, what God gave is not good enough, let's get Charice's natural face and conform it to some man made ideal. 





Many of you have seen Shrek (2001). That climactic scene about "you find true love's first kiss and then take love's true form" really blew me away. It was an ending that will never happen in a Disney movie. If you were ever a fan of soaps or "daytime dramas" , Disney is the equivalent of soaps for kids. Everybody is attractive as long as they are good. When I was in high school, ET had a similar message. As my high school English teacher Brian Devenport once told us: "real life is not like that, everybody beautiful". That makes the climax of Shrek so powerful and ultimately better for the psyche of kids than all the Disney movies put together.

I have included two videos for your perusal:

1) ABC News report on some Hollywood casting agencies looking for actresses that are not surgically enhanced. A report that I consider the anti Vicky Belo video.

2) Cliff Richard and the Shadows doing their tribute to Pops Fernandez Lucky Lips.

I believe God meant us to take "love's true form".


Ed





Related links

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/985/Vanity_talk_Audio_Blog

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/704/Its_Better_To_Look_Good_Than_To_Be_Good


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/611/I_Am_So_Beautiful_To_Me_


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/336/Me_Myself_and_I_

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/192/The_Emperors_New_Clothes_and_its_relevance_to_today_and_to_your_life_

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/887/Is_There_in_Truth_No_Beauty

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1193/I_dont_find_Charice_Talented_But_Let_Me_Tell_You_Who_Is

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1194/Be_Happy_With_What_God_Gave_You

http://www.unwords.com/unword/skank.html


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvdvDREJ96c




http://katnip.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/lip-augmentation-is-not-good/



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-YXv9fuKLk&feature=more_related


http://antipinoy.com/in-the-news-charice-pempengco-undergoes-cosmetic-enhancement/









Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I don't find Charice Talented But Let Me Tell You Who Is












Since tonight my Facebook is full of people chestbeating about Charice in Glee, allow me to tell you I don't find her talented.

In fact I don't find Charice , Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson talented. I really don't care if you disagree with me. Save your speech about who featured her on their show. Oprah does not speak to me. Ellen does not speak to me. John Madden speaks to me. Women are a distinct minority in my CD collection but does not mean I do not appreciate the musical contributions of some from that gender.

I have always been a music junkie and should you ever meet one, ask them stories about how they discovered certain albums or artists that are off the beaten path. There is more to discovering music than "I heard it on the radio" Here are a few of mine.

I go by a very simple ground rule in my evaluation.

1. It has to be an album that I own. Therefore listened to from beginning to end several times.

This rule will explain why Janis Joplin, Janis Ian, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Aretha Franklin are not here. I do not own any of their albums so sorry if you do and disagree with my selection.

Tapestry by Carole King. Oddly enough there are some cover songs here , but sung by the original composer. A review I read a long time ago said this has a living room feel and I truly agree. There is just so much more soul in her versions of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, You Make Me Feel and You've Got A Friend. Was on the Billboard Chart for decades.

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/music/item/190/Tapestry_by_Carole_King


Sade- Promise. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this. I went through the longest hair cut of my life. The second longest I blogged about. Granted they were 23 years apart. A lot of people know the first album because it's the one with Smooth Operator on it. This album I find a lot better. Between the opening "apology" of Is It A Crime? to the soulful War of the Hearts to the majestic haunting Fear just excellent songs.


Anita Baker Rhythm of Love . I was initially tempted to put Giving You The Best That I Got here. It does not have a song as bad as Rhythm of Love but it does not have a song as good as Baby either. I normally hate remakes but Anita does such a good job with You Belong To Me and The Look of Love. She "only " wrote 40% of the songs on this album. Honorable mentions are: GYTBTIG, Rapture and Compositions.


Heart- The Long Road Home. Normally putting any compilation is cheating on any best album lists. Except the Wilson sisters and their band mates changed the style of some of their well known classics. All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You (live ballad) is so raw and powerful I would feel very uncomfortable listening to it with the opposite gender present. Honorable Mention Dreamboat Annie and Dog & Butterfly.


Tracy Chapman- I think she was a Harvard med student at the time of this record. Which gives her something in common with Michael Crichton. Minimal instruments, excellent song writing. Folk for the 80s.

Melissa Ethridge. For those of you who that do not listen to albums really have no idea what it's like to put this CD on and be "accused" by the opening track "Similar Features". With that menacing bass line and Melissa's " delicate growl" to her singing. Bring Me Some Water is an excellent representative single to an excellent album. For me the hit single on 95% of serious albums are usually the most accessible as well as the weakest song on the album.


Jann Arden. Living Under June. Best known for the song she did not write on here Insensitive. It's the catchiest song yes but by no means the best. Like most great albums by women, there is a range to her expression here: menacing, vulnerable, needy, rocking and appreciative. Unloved is a duet with Jackson Browne. If you are sick of all those guy girl duets like Reunited and Separate Lives try this one.



Amanda Marshall. Nice range in this album from pleasant songs to rockers to power ballads that scare you. The opening track Let It Rain is part rocker part power ballad. Great opening guitar riff. Birmingham is a nice pleasant song describing not so pleasant topics. Beautiful Goodbye is such an excellent haunting song. About as atmospheric and intense as they get. Beautiful Goodbye is like a brutal emotional cleansing. A very talented ex choir mate of mine performed an excellent version of this song. Just her and a piano. I hope Patricia Merlo is reading this. Honored to be at her wedding ten years ago.

Blondie Parallel Lines. Many of you may not know Blondie. Those of you that know Blondie may not know that was the band's name and not the nickname of Deborah Harry. Of all the albums here, this is the one I have known the longest. Bought the cassette in 1979, the CD in 1990. Blondie was part of the "New Wave" pioneers in the late 70s. I never listened to the first two albums but am familiar with the three later ones. All of them have great highlights. Parallel Lines is the most consistent. The band (all guys) sound great for my ears. The guitars growl more than one would expect in certain tracks. Clement Burke was the first drummer I ever noticed just by listening to the songs.


Keiko Matsui Whispers From The Mirror - never heard of her? Neither did I till about 4 years ago. She is Japanese, I don't even know where she lives or if she is a musical product of Japan or the US. All I care about is this is good. Great songs, great piano playing and no singing. If I heard this out of the blue I would suspect it was Dave Grusin. That's how good Keiko is.

Sinead O'Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.

Raw emotion might seem like a cliche statement but to me it describes this Sinead O Connor album. This was two years before her "Fight The Real Enemy" shocker. But I digress. Twenty years after I bought this I still feel uncomfortable at times with how the emotion gets through on some songs here. And I am not even a woman. I bet if I was in the right mood and I had this album cranked , I would think she was mad at me.




Shoot Out The Lights- This album is a collaborative effort between a husband and wife. At least they were married at the time. The intro to Shoot Out the Lights you have heard a dozen times in movies like ID 4 and TV Shows like the Sopranos pilot. Yes, Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed reminds me of Ode to Billy Joe.




Speaking of tension between couples while making an album, I will close off this list with an album by Christine, Stevie, Lindsay, John and Mick. Better known as Rumors by Fleetwood Mac. The fact that there are such good stories about this one album shows you how important an album was back then. Know of any good stories about recent albums? I thought so. No one making an album worth caring over now. To this day I still don't understand the phrase "players only love you when they're playing." Rumors sold a bazillion copies and for good reason. There is not one bad song on it. Christine and Stevie made other great songs but listen to the ones they have here.


http://www.superseventies.com/fleetwoodmac3.html

http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=841&c=18


Ed


Honorable mention: She Bop and I Get Weak.



Keiko Matsui Whisper From The Mirror

http://www.amazon.com/Whisper-Mirror-Keiko-Matsui/dp/B00004SR3N


http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Sade/dp/B000002663/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280158211&sr=1-2


http://www.amazon.com/Road-Home-Heart/dp/B000002TSX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280158391&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Marshall/dp/B000002BHX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280158625&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Under-June-Jann-Arden/dp/B000026LAM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1280158728&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Tracy-Chapman/dp/B000002H5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280158862&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Parallel-Lines-Blondie/dp/B0000087QO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280158996&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Shoot-Lights-Richard-Thompson-Linda/dp/B000000612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280159143&sr=1-1


http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Etheridge/dp/B000001FSC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8qid=1280159338&sr=1-2

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Pop Up Video King Sized Trunk




Thirteen years ago, I thought Pop Up Video by VH1 was the greatest thing. Guess it has to do with me being a trivia nerd. Tonight through the miracle of computer magic, I give you the pop up video of King Sized Trunk. Pop ups by me.
I provide some samples of real pop up videos in the links below. Click here for the original.Feels cool to finally make one of these. VH1 if you are watching, This one's for you.

Ed


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1178/King-Sized_Trunk

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/941/POP_UP_Video_Every_Breath_You_Take

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/930/Tears_for_Fears_Part_3_Pop_Up_


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/785/This_Guy_Shoulda_Been_MJs_Father_in_Law

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/936/Girl_You_Know_Its_True_Pop_Up













Friday, September 17, 2010

If Its Easy To Do Its Easy Not To Do



  • Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins-
  • "Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become."
  • It's too bad failures don't give seminars. Wouldn't that be valuable? If you meet a guy who has messed up his life for forty years, you've just got to say, "John, if I bring my journal and promise to take good notes, would you spend a day with me?"
  • We've all heard the expression, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Well, I've got a good question for you: What if it's true? Wouldn't that be easy to do - to eat an apple a day? Here's the problem: It's also easy not to do.
  • What you give becomes an investment that will return to you multiplied at some point in the future.
  • When somebody shares, everybody wins.
  • "Showing a profit means touching something and leaving it better than you found it."
  • Most people are just trying to get through the day. Sophisticated people learn how to get from the day.



I first heard Jim Rohn's voice in 1994. I was looking at my Facebook this morning. It was in the Jim Rohn Facebook Page I joined a while back. It said Happy Birthday Jim Rohn. Which is normal and nice enough. Then it followed with these dreaded words " would have been " . He only died December 5 2009 and I did not know. You know our world is screwed up when people care more Rico Yan and Francis M. dying than Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn will live on in the hearts and minds of people who have real values. Just hopefully maybe one day I will be one.

In the meantime on the celebration of what would have been his 80th birthday take ten minutes and either watch the video provided or download the audio of him sharing and communicating. Even though his words have touched me for many years a fair question is what do I have to show for it? Well I can't show you a financial empire. What I can show you is the diversity of my blog and how I try to communicate learning and experience. How I try to make note of things around me and try to learn and hopefully get others to learn. Experience both good and bad as he says in the talk about the seasons. As he says in the analogy of the orchestra. The orchestra is not there to only play happy little high notes. You need the full experience of the orchestra the happy and the tragic. You should welcome all experiences which may be easier said than done. But there is a bigger reason when we wrestle with our challenges. I will leave you and the topic of Jim Rohn like this. This is the first birthday of Jim Rohn where he is not on this Earth. But he can still give you a gift instead of the other way around. Visit his page on Facebook, his website or simply view the videos in this blog/ Youtube or download the attachments in my Multiply blog. Any of those things are easy to do as Jim says. He also says they are easy not to do. Happy Birthday Jim Rohn! Ed






http://www.mediafire.com/?kotei2425zg

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/



http://www.jimrohn.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=550#SUCCESSF




For more information on Jim and his popular personal achievement resources or to subscribe to the weekly Jim Rohn Newsletter, visit www.JimRohn.com.



Quotes by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher, reprinted with permission from Jim Rohn International 2010.
As a world-renowned author and success expert, Jim Rohn touched millions of lives during his 46-year career as a motivational speaker and messenger of positive life change.







http://www.mediafire.com/?kotei2425zg











Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Alien Lands In Luneta Joke


Flying saucer lands in Luneta. Alien gets out and approaches Juan and Maria dela Cruz having a picnic with their Max Chicken. Alien says to them "Take me to your leader". The couple although momentarily disoriented agrees. They agree to get on the flying saucer and they set course for Malaca�ang.


Once there the alien tries to make sense of Noynoy Aquino:


Alien: " This guy does not act like a leader. All he does is blame everything to on his predecessor. He has avoided challenges all his life. He does not give straight forward answers to straight forward questions. In his first major test he avoided any kind of pressure. He can not even get his own hand picked staff to go in one direction. All I see in his history is him donning yellow , making the "L" hand sign and talking about his dead parents. According to some logical frameworks on leadership like this and this he is not a leader. I said take me to your leader, I was not joking:

Juan and Maria dela Cruz :"Neither were we".


















Sunday, September 12, 2010

Conflict of Interest The PBA and the CFL





I don't like the Philippine Basketball Association. Why? Like anything in life, when you are the only game in town, people will overlook your flaws. Since you are the only game in town then you have little incentive to fix your flaws. The PBA with its flaws is an accurate microcosm of the flawed pinoy. It's all about being astig and not about being proper and ethical.


Basketball is the only team sport that Filipinos generally care about . There are a few scattered hotbeds of football/ soccer around the country but insignificant in the national scene.
Today's lesson boys and girls is about a concept known as conflict of interest.


"We can define a conflict of interest as a situation in which a person has a private or personal interest sufficient to appear to influence the objective exercise of his or her official duties as, say, a public official, an employee, or a professional."

http://www.businessethics.ca/definitions/conflict-of-interest.html


The fact that this exists in the dominant sports league in this country speaks volumes of how people here do not think. The gambling problem here can be defined as serious. Yet no one questions conflict of interest in the PBA? I would question it except I don't care. Well sorry I do care. My girlfriend's sideline is entirely funded by gambling on the PBA. Would you consider that a conflict in interest?



If you want a very short explanation of how bad conflict of interest can be to the integrity of sports listen to the two minute clip I just heard about how this exists in another bush league that I am somewhat familiar with. The Canadian Football League. Like anything in life, you cut corners or you compromise ethics when you are desperate. The fact that the league has to rely on one businessman to own teams in the two biggest English speaking cities in Canada says volumes of overall lack of financial interest and overall interest.


I guarantee you this will be the only piece you will ever see comparing the CFL with the PBA.
I lived in a CFL city for 19 years. I used to save up my earnings as a newspaper boy to watch Joe Papao and Larry Key do their thing in Empire Stadium. I bought my car stereo from Larry Crawford in 1988. I played for the BC Lions 1982-1984 (trombone in their marching band). I was at the 1985 BC Lions parade on West Georgia and getting some joy seeing AL Wilson (center) hold on to the cup. I constantly followed the local sports scene through the Vancouver Sun and CKNW radio in the previous century. The CFL as a league and team by team did everything in it's power to look as undignified as possible. Examples I can remember.


1) In their version of jumping the shark, the CFL expanded south of the border in the mid nineties. Four teams. One of them in Las Vegas, a place where self respecting leagues do not go for whatever ramifications they foresee. Granted you have to be significant to have ramifications so the CFL gets a pass. This experiment of Frankenstein proportions lasted two seasons. In what real league does an expansion team finish third place in the end of season point total? Baltimore did it their inaugural year. In Baltimore's second year they won the whole thing. Then the team vanished. What real league has a champion make like D.B. Cooper? The year after Baltimore won the CFL championship. The league circumcised all four American based teams then adopted a new slogan "Radically Canadian!". The CFL is so indecisive they make Brett Favre look like Solomon.


2) This example I am going entirely off memory. I see no evidence of it in Google. Sometime in the mid eighties in an effort to boost sagging attendance the league (CFL) wanted Bryan Adams to play a half time show in every CFL stadium for free. They wanted to claim it was his patriotic duty. That traumatized me the way any kind of grovelling will traumatize you. To see an entity with no sense of self worth begging. I would have better luck asking Ines de la Fressange for a date and insisting she pay.


3) In my years when I followed the league there was a regular annual ritual. Some of the CFL players will forgo a guaranteed roster spot in their CFL team for a shot at making an NFL team. Football is brutal on your body no matter what level you play it at. Might as well get paid well for it. Those that do not make it to an NFL roster usually reapply to the CFL team that has their rights. I remember this enraged a guy called Cal Murphy. "How dare these guys treat the CFL as a consolation prize?" Well Cal, in terms of money and prestige it is.


The PBA and CFL seem to have a lot in common. They should have mutual "brainstorming sessions" since they seem to hold the same values or lack of them.

Ed



Technical note: Audio Attachment of conflict of interest is available as an attachment in Multiply version of this post.



Links

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1188/Conflict_of_Interest_The_PBA_and_the_CFL_

http://nymag.com/news/features/39593/

http://www.oursportscentral.com/cflinamerica/

http://www.globalintegrity.org/reports/2006/philippines/notebook.cfm

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/cfl/argos/article/763120--cox-braley-takeover-of-argos-damages-cfl-integrity


http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/business_sports/clips/9208/



http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=68740d68-22a7-42d0-80d4-dd1f54953b17

http://www.thescore.com/cfl/articles/24362-work-continues-on-sale-of-toronto-argonauts-to-b-c-lions-owner-braley

http://www.mediafire.com/?220fzze7eck8q89

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/267/Reality_of_why_the_Philippines_is_nowhere_near_a_medal_as_of_now

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1143/They_Forgot_the_Philippines

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1177/I_Am_16_Going_On_18

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1142/Pinoys_Only_Dig_The_BBall_

http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/23/commentary/sportsbiz/index.htm





Friday, September 10, 2010

Video Don't Stress Someone You Are Exploiting To Begin With





Video Don't Stress Someone You Are Exploiting To Begin With

I was reading this article that suggests our pathetic excuse for broadcast journalists compromised the safety of those hostages on the 23rd of August 2010. All of you reading this know the concept of KSP. In fact the President's sister is a prime example. After reading this, it is clear to me KSP is the root of all the evil that stinks from this episode. First of all Mendoza like TROLLianes and Panfilo Villaruel before him wanted attention to his cause so bad that he felt justified threatening innocent civilian life. What those guys ultimately did was exploit a media that itself is dying for attention. Once again the media forgets that they are there to get the story and not be the story. The problem with our sponsors ( who in turn feed the media with money) is they care more about the size of the audience than the quality of the audience. Number of eyeballs are infinitely more important than number of brain cells in this equation.

You don't have to know me well to know I am an NFL fan. Twenty years ago there were all sorts of fans who would trespass directly into the field of play well before the game was officially over. You could see them if you were watching the game and sometimes even during the highlights. Morgana the Kissing Bandit was one of the more famous ones or twos. One day, sports media got wise and decided to turn the cameras away from the field every time a fan decided they wanted to cross the line from being a spectator to being spectated upon. The media realized by showing these morons on their telecasts they were part of the problem. So by not giving these guys "pansin" or attention it was the equivalent of depriving a fire of oxygen.

If you understood what I just said , please explain it to the ambulance chasers we have that masquerade as journalists. Getting noticed is more important than saving lives or performing duties expected of journalists. Getting ratings (one upmanship) it seems really blinds one to lives that hang in the palm of an armed lunatic.

So now that I explained this vicious circle where attention hungry armed hostage taker exploits attention hungry mass media and vice-versa comes the moral of my story. "Don't Stress Someone You Are Exploiting To Begin With " . It's Murphy's Law. The guy is stressed as it and by manipulating the situation to benefit your network and yourself, there are other factors compromised. Factors like safety. It's exactly what happens in the video below. Well worth two minutes of your time.


Ed



http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/2/Manila_Peninsula_November_29_2007_

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100909-291266/Ratings-war-may-have-doomed-negotiations

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2003/11/09/news/disgruntled.former.ato.chief.takes.over.naia.air.traffic.control.tower.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/pr/subs/siexclusive/07/09/flashback.morganna/

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1187/Video_Dont_Stress_Someone_You_Are_Exploiting_To_Begin_With_

Ratings war may have doomed negotiations

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer


MANILA, Philippines—A raging ratings war among broadcast networks may have doomed negotiations and turned an 11-hourlong hostage drama into a bloodbath, a radio-TV reporter who was on the phone to the gunman during the critical hours told a fact-finding panel Wednesday.

Erwin Tulfo told the committee headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that the blow-by-blow coverage of the standoff was driven by the media tendency to “out scoop” each other.

“The problem is, we are all chasing ratings, exclusivity. My colleagues may not admit it, but that was the main thing, getting an exclusive report,” he said.

Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed during the Aug. 23 fiasco in which the abductor, dismissed Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza, 55, was also gunned down.

Tulfo said the ratings game was essential for media companies—be it newspaper, radio or TV—in luring advertisers as commercials and advertisements were their major sources of earnings.

Tulfo, an anchor at Radyo Mo Network (RMN) and chief correspondent of TV5, was summoned as a resource person at the marathon hearings as he was able to talk with Mendoza during the critical tense moments.

Roan Libarios, a panel member, asked Tulfo if the bloodbath could have been prevented had the police acceded to Mendoza’s demand to release his brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, who was arrested for allegedly conspiring with him.

“Yes, I think so,” Tulfo replied, adding that Mendoza became enraged when he saw his brother’s arrest on the TV monitor inside the bus.

Ethics and rules

At that point, negotiations had bogged down after Mendoza brushed off as “trash” a letter from the Office of the Ombudsman offering to review extortion and robbery charges that prompted his sacking two years ago.

“Ma’am Teresita Ang See was right when she said that something’s wrong with the media. If she’s talking about the ethics and rules, in the broadcast media, the ratings and exclusivity (matter more),” he said.

Ang See admonished RMN senior reporter and anchor Michael Rogas on Tuesday for his supposed failure to plead for the lives of the hostages.

De Lima remarked that the hostage crisis apparently “became hostage” to the competition among leading broadcast firms.

Earlier, RMN broadcasters told the committee they violated no law. Their counsel, former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., said that media were being used as a “scapegoat” for the government’s ineptness.

KBP guidelines

Ang See, a Chinese-Filipino anticrime advocate, said that guidelines of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) explicitly forbid media contact with hostage-takers.

“Are you aware of this rule? It’s very clear in your own KBP guideline … I’m really very sorry if this is the state of our media now,” Ang See lamented.

She also questioned the insensitivity of RMN to air the shooting rampage inside the bus which, she said, may have been heard by the children and other relatives of the victims.

Tulfo defended RMN’s decision to air the interview with Mendoza, stressing that they merely wanted to know the conditions of the hostages inside the hijacked bus.

Tulfo, who admitted that he was not a journalism graduate, maintained that they were merely doing their jobs as journalists during the coverage of the incident.

“Are you aware that no profession should be above human lives? Senator Pimentel said that RMN did not violate even the KBP’s own code of conduct. But isn’t calling Mendoza an interference?” Ang See asked.

Intervention

“You did not call it interference or intervention that at that most critical time you tied up the open line of the hostage-taker for almost one hour?”

Tulfo replied: “I don’t think so, ma’am, because I believe there was more than enough lines in that situation.”

“Are you aware that your own guideline said just calling in could tie up the open lines and complicate the negotiations?” she said.

“Yes, ma’am, but I did not stay long on the phone because I also reported live for TV5,” he answered.

Ang See then pointed out that Rogas could have incited Mendoza to shoot the victims when he repeatedly asked him about his plans after his brother was taken by the police.

Arena for propaganda

On Tuesday, Rogas said he asked Mendoza to stay calm and not to hurt the hostages.

“During that interview, the chief negotiator (Supt. Orlando) Yebra was trying to calm down Mendoza. Did it occur to you that he was not heard by the hostage-taker because you were interviewing him?” Ang See stressed.

She then reproached RMN for giving Mendoza “an arena for his propaganda and arena.” She surmised that the live media coverage emboldened Mendoza to carry out his threats to kill the hostages.

Susan Enriquez, GMA-7 anchor and reporter, also testified Wednesday that she was able to talk with Mendoza for at least three minutes, but the conversation was not shown on TV because of the network’s existing policy.

“I don’t recall any police officer telling us what to do and what we should not do,” Enriquez said.

Despite lapses by the media, neither President Benigno Aquino III nor his Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma considered the arrest of reporters in the aftermath of the Aug. 23 hostage crisis.

Coloma told the House appropriations committee that the thought of recommending the arrest of broadcast and print reporters in the bungled hostage drama never crossed his mind.

When asked by Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez if he would recommend the arrest of reporters as had happened in the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, Coloma answered no.

“The answer I give is in consonance with the overall policy enunciated by our President when he faced the press after the hostage-taking incident and said that he doesn’t believe in imposing prior restraint,” he said. With a report from TJ Burgonio





Saturday, September 4, 2010

Noynoy's Smile




Much has been made about Noynoy's smile describing the Hong Kong bus tragedy. Like I said before, no one ever trusted him with crisis before but the voters trusted this guy with the problems of the Philippines. So what does he do? With people watching him looking for answers to an unfortunate tragedy he decides to do a Cheshire Cat.



There is nothing he has done or nothing he is going to do that I did not warn you about before. What I will do is remind you all of a pretty little song that you may have forgotten. My long distance dedication Casey to President Noynoy.


Ed



http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1112/The_Acts_of_Noynoy


http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/seares-noy-smiles-and-smiles-hk-doesn-t-know








Wednesday, September 1, 2010

True Words of Wisdom for Parents and Non-Parents Alike Audio Blog.



One look at this blog and you will have a hard time believing it's not a product of dysfunction. Granted since nobody is perfect most people have some dysfunction or other. I admit that I have more than most. The advice you will hear in the audio attachment really struck a chord with me. It obviously struck a chord with the narrator of the story, morning man Mike Greenberg. I heard him say it at least three times but only now do I feel the need to share with you. Which goes to prove that you don't always absorb what something has to tell you the first time. It might take more than that. At least with me.

You all know I am not married with no kids. But does the advice on the audio attachment relate to my childhood? Or yours? Or my adulthood? In life there are no easy answers. Sometimes the best I can do is make you think.

I heard that very simple thought and I thought of how much confusion and misguidance that simple act can do and impact on a young life. Or even a more mature life. One of my main goals with my blog is to be me. Even if that me is vulnerable. I will not go into details but if this audio speaks to me it might speak to you. It might impact your children and your children's children. The possibility alone makes the two minute investment of your listening time worth it.

I actually have the book of the guy being referred to in the extremely short story. Though it's part of my 20 book backlog. Shame on me for not prioritizing someone who can be this substantive.


Ed




http://edrlopez.blogspot.com/2008/08/good-thought-that-i-need.html

http://www.mediafire.com/file/gsxzcoeottnet26/ESPN%20Radio%20Daily_%208_31%201.mp3
(audio blog)


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1181/True_Words_of_Wisdom_for_Parents_and_Non-Parents_Alike_Audio_Blog.


Note Clip is attachment in the Multiply version of this post. http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1181/True_Words_of_Wisdom_for_Parents_and_Non-Parents_Alike_Audio_Blog.