Donald J. Trump is now officially President of the United States. He’s even taken over @POTUS on twitter. Here’s the video of his inaugural address, with the transcript after the jump. Trump’s speech was one of the shortest inaugural addresses – the briefest, in fact, since Jimmy Carter’s in 1977 – but it was full of […]
16
Jan
Jan
Social media threw stones, and he caved. Batocabe retreats on vanity tax proposal: … https://t.co/8HB5nJm5bV— Aksyon TV (@AksyonTV) January 16, 2017 I apologize. That line was just too good to resist. But it is not entirely fair as it implies that the legislator in question lost some sort of fight. I don’t see it that […]
14
Jan
Jan
After the apparent success of raising taxes on cigarettes, people seem to be determined to raise taxes on pretty much anything they can think of. Just this week, the idea of a #VanityTax was floated, eliciting a rash of reactions on Twitter and other social media. It didn’t help that, as Cosmo.ph reported, toothpaste and […]
12
Jan
Jan
At the very start of this administration, one of the first ideas floated by the incoming Congress was the proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to NINE, from fifteen years old. Not long after, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) published a think piece, setting out the factors that needed to […]
11
Jan
Jan
The New York Times streamed Barack Obama’s farewell speech. It was great speech.
09
Jan
Jan
In this day of the hyperconnected media – when cable networks routinely tout various programs appearing in the Philippines “on the same day as the US” – it can be quite surprising that some people still don’t fully understand how it is possible for the US to “proclaim” Presidents-elect mere hours after elections; even more jarring is […]
09
Jan
Jan
By now, everyone knows about Meryl Streep’s magnificent Golden Globes (2017) speech. I’ve tweeted about it myself. So that’s not what this brief post is going to be about. Instead I’m going to call your attention to that snippet between the two most memorable parts of her speech: the rousing call to action to protect journalists […]
09
Jan
Jan
Right off the bat, lemme admit that I enjoyed Passengers, Jennifer Lawrence’s latest movie, co-starring Christ Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, Parks and Recreation). Two-thirds of the movie dragged on a little too slowly, but the remaining third picked up the pace considerably. That and Lawrence’s great acting managed to keep the movie from being […]
08
Jan
Jan
Every year, it’s the same. The Feast of the Black Nazarene comes up and the City of Manila is thrown into a tizzy. Government offices in the immediate vicinity of the observance’s epicentre – Quiapo – are shut down, traffic is re-routed, and the number of police officers assigned to the area go up. More […]
07
Jan
Jan
So it appears a complaint for corruption was recently filed against, among other personalities, a former presidential candidate whose official designation was given as “Secretary of the Department of Nutrition and Local Government.” It might have been a proof-reading error (it being 2017 and all, and Christian charity is never a bad thing), but regardless, […]