We beg to differ.
This was a year of upsets. The EU crackdown on refugrees, Brexit, the the rise of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, then the ascent of Donald Trump to Leader of the Free World confronts the thinking classes and “shocks” the chattering classes. We now hear how Filipinos, in this latest instance, are “shocked” by their…
The ascent of Donald Trump to the leadership of the Free World represents a massive fail on the part of America’s techno-industrial complex to deal with the reality of the character of America he represents. Rather than embrace, take on board, and manage the reality of a heartland simmering with anger and disillusionment, America’s hipster…
Read More “Donald Trump’s rise to power confirms a full global backlash against hipster culture” »
It’s easy to make a fearless election forecast when the stats are already showing a “>95%” lean towards a particular candidate. As of this writing a kick-ass New York Times up-to-the-second election results monitoring board is showing a needle that has gone squarely into the “very likely” field in a speedometer-type widget labelled “Chances of…
Read More “Here’s the real reason Donald Trump is now the 45th #POTUS following 2016 #ElectionDay” »
At the core of the crisis gripping mainstream media and mainstream “thought leadership” in the Philippines is the way ordinary Filipinos remain trapped in social hierarchy. Rather than encourage debate that focuses on the merit of the ideas and arguments tabled, Filipinos lazily defer to rank, credential, and seniority. This is no thanks, of course,…
Read More “Mainstream media needs to evolve – or face extinction” »
According to the article The marginalization of Brown Asians published recently on the Seattle Globalist, this is a perception begging serious consideration. The following excerpt from this article captures the all-too-familiar lament with regard to how “under-represented” Filipinos think they are as Asian-Americans… We are tired of the fact that when people think of Asian…
Read More “Are Filipino-Americans a ‘marginalised’ and ‘invisible’ people?” »
There’s a rare level of dimwittedness involved in coming up with — and actually implementing — the idea of petitioning the shutdown of Mocha Uson’s Facebook page. The backfire and fallout from this quaint project all but proved just how fragmented the Opposition is today. Even die-hard characters in the Yellow Camp refused to sign…
Read More “Attacking Mocha Uson only makes her stronger and her influence more powerful” »
A petition to suspend the Facebook page of Mocha Uson, a Filipino celebrity blogger and staunch supporter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, is making the rounds. The Suspend Mocha Uson Blog Facebook Page on Change.org has, as of this writing, attracted almost 26,000 signatories with the following write up set to be “delivered” to Facebook….
Read More “The hypocrisy in the petition to shut down Mocha Uson’s Facebook page” »
Hashtags: #TakeBackMariaRessa #OmidyarNetwork I can only feel for Maria Ressa. Her motherly interest to defend her team from criticism resulted in more harm rather than good. Nassim Nicholas Taleb comes to mind. He coined the the term “naive interventionism”, from iatrogenics in the medical field. Iatrogenics is a case wherein a…
Read More “IATROGENICS: Why Rappler is Becoming a Victim of Its Own Medicine” »