Monday, August 31, 2009
Final Exam, SO 101, Film Analysis
2. You are to group yourselves into 3 person per group. You can do an individual work or in tandem.
3. You are to select a film of your choice (to be approved by your teacher) in which you are going to analyze the film and using sociological terms that you have understood in our discussion.
4. A minimum of 25 sociological terms and maximum of 50 will be used in your film analysis.
5. Parts of your work: A - Title Page which contains the groups member's names, section and schedule. B - One page summary of the film. C - Film Analysis an essay tackling the film's theme, the problem or conflict involved or how was it resolved. D - Individual reflection of the members on how it is working with group mates. E - Trivia of the film. F - Expenses in coming out with the production of the film analysis.
6. You can select any English or Tagalog film available at the market. The CD will be submitted with the film analysis and will not be returned. Thus purchase a CD that is affordable.
7. Deadline of the film analysis will be TTh -... , WF ...
8. Ask for the model of the film analysis from your teacher. It is available for you to view.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Philippine election
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090831-222802/No-cheating-in-2010-poll-aspirants-vow
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Furor over gender
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Vision of Presidentiables? Are there any?
By Antonio C. Abaya
Written on Aug. 17, 2009
For the Standard Today,
August 18 issue
Reader Vida Royal Manigsaca emailed me on August 8 that “I have questions regarding the sorry state of our country that I want you and your generation to enlighten me about.
It is difficult for me to express them because I don’t want to be regarded as unfair and disrespectful to my elders. Please bear with me. Here they are:
1. Why did our elders fail?
2. How did they fail?
My reply, which was electronically published in my “Reactions to ‘Damaged Control’” was as follows
“Our generation – your elders – failed because we did not produce a Lee Kwan Yew, or a Mahathir Mohamad or a Park Chung Hee. Instead we had a succession of mediocre, insipid, even stupid leaders who could not see beyond their noses and had no economic plan to build a prosperous society. The two who had the brains and could have made a difference – Marcos and Arroyo – turned out to be irremediably corrupt and wasted their time and talents trying to stay longer in power so that they could steal even more.
“Your generation does not show much promise either. Look at those positioning themselves to be president: Manny Villar, Joseph Estrada (again), Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, Noli de Castro, Bayani Fernando, Gilbert Teodoro, Ronaldo Puno, Noynoy Aquino, Among Ed Panlilio, Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Jamby Madrigal, Nicky Perlas, Grace Padaca, JC de los Reyes…..and tell me if you can see in any of them even the faintest resemblance to a Lee Kwan Yew or a Mahathir or a Gen. Park. “
My answer, of course, is that none of the above has the makings of a Lee Kwan Yew or a Mahathir or a Gen. Park. And yet it is someone who has the qualities of these three foreign leaders that the Philippines badly needs in order to overcome decades of consistently poor governance, restore our badly battered self esteem, and draw for us a credible vision of what we want our country to be.
We need someone like Lee Kwan Yew who was/is personally incorruptible and at the same time was/is so conversant with economics and international relations that he could speak ex-tempore and defend his policies before an assembly of multinational CEOs and diplomats and made/make solid sense, whether they agreed/agree with him or not.
In addition we need the strong sense of nationalism of Mahathir Mohamad who in the 1980s drew a vision – Malaysia Vision 2020, that sought and seeks to transform Malaysia into a fully industrialized country by the year 2020 – that he was able to convince the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-religious people of Malaysia to embrace as worthy of their national loyalty, beyond the narrow appeals of their tribes and ethnic groups. No mean feat, considering the catastrophic demise of equally multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious federal Yugoslavia in the 1990s that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Mahathir’s nationalism also expressed itself in his readiness to fearlessly fire back at other countries, other world leaders, as well as international agencies whenever he felt they were trampling on the national self-interests of Malaysia.
We also need the single-minded determination of Gen. Park Chung Hee to transform his impoverished, resource-poor and inconsequential Republic of Korea from 1961 to 1979 (when he was assassinated) into a fully industrialized country that is now one of the ten biggest economies in the world.
Compared to these three giants, most of the contenders for the Philippine presidency in 2009 are mere pygmies, bereft of any national vision aside from having themselves installed in the highest office, and devoid of real substance, like puffed-up balloons, the products of clever political marketing through self-serving infomercials, generous praise releases from hyperactive PR technicians, and lavish but undeserved hoohahs from mercenary columnists….. and not much else.
Noynoy Aquino is only slightly different from the rest of the pack. His sole claim to fame is that he is the son of Ninoy and Cory and the brother of Kris. Through many years in the Lower House and in the Senate, he has not succeeded in establishing his own political persona. Perhaps he has not even tried, content as he may have been to bask in the reflected glory of his forebears and his famous sibling.
Are these the attributes of a revolutionary leader? No. And yet this is what the Philippines needs, a leader who can start and lead a revolution, a peaceful one, as much as possible; a violent one, if necessary.
I do not know what Noynoy has accomplished nor what he believes in, that I must vote for him for president. What have you done and what do you propose to do if you were to become president? The same rule-of-thumb by which I measure others, especially Chiz Escudero and Gilbert Teodoro, two young men in a hurry to become president, but without any solid accomplishment to their credit, without any clear idea of what they would do if and when they got there.
It is not enough that you have a glib tongue in criticizing the many shortcomings of the Arroyo administration (Escudero), or that you went to Harvard Law School and was a bar topnotcher (Teodoro). What have you accomplished, and what do you propose to do if you were to become president?
By the same token, it is not enough that you are the son of Ninoy and Cory and the brother of Kris, Noynoy. What have you accomplished and what do you propose to do if you were to become president?
If his endorsers hope to connect Noynoy subliminally with his mother Cory Aquino’s People Power “Revolution” of 1986, then they would be making a mistake. By many accounts, including mine, the most notable thing about that “Revolution” was that it did not result in anything revolutionary, aside from removing the over-staying dictator.
For all her many admirable attributes, Cory Aquino was no revolutionary. She looked backward, towards restoring our polity to its pre-1972 configuration. She had no vision for the future, for building a New Jerusalem.
We cannot afford to have another backward-looking president, who wants to restore our polity to a pre-Arroyo configuration. That would be nothing less than – Holy Mother of God! – an Erap restoration.
We need a forward-looking president, a truly revolutionary president, someone with the attributes and visions of Lee Kwan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad and Gen. Park Chung Hee.
That is why Noynoy (and Chiz and Gibo) must tell us what he and they have done and what they propose to do if he and they were to become president.
No, no, Noynoy. Being the son of Ninoy and Cory and the brother of Kris are not enough to reward you with the presidency. You must develop your own political persona, and part of that persona are your accomplishments in the past and your vision for the future.. *****
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between
1. If prisoners are said to be un-free, can they look at the sky with freedom? can they freely express their opinion? can they brush their teeth freely?
2. As a nation, do we want our president to eat in a hamburger stand?
3. Info-mercials are new to our modern world. We have to read the message or multiple messages that they are purveying. Communication experts agree on this. Now who benefits and who pays for it, that is one thing we should know.
4. Again the deaths of soldiers and so called rebels are a waste of lives. Lives that cannot be brought back. When shall the killings stop?
5. I guess the reason why babies keeps on arriving in this planet is to give hope to this planet bereft of hope.
6. I think Sen. Miriam Defensor is correct in saying on the info-mercials, "Don't force your faces on us". I think one of the best way is to turn off the TV and talk to your children. Anybody have heard, "Invasion of privacy?"
7. I have nothing against giving the public information. But when this information is burned to our consciousness without let up, my, my, I think that is too much.
8. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?
9. As we are experiencing underdevelopment, endless social conflict, corruption that becomes a collective nightmare, what we are seeing is a culture where we have no roots and sensitivity to others. We are creating rootless society.
10. The political life of a nation will always affect our lives unless we pretend to be dead persons.
11. Leaders and their people always have a complex and bizarre, relationships. Power relationships draws the the line of difference and the safety of the gray area.
12. In the modern time we were able to create a word "hidden agenda". As if it is an esoteric word. Actually this hidden agenda, as "hidden" as it is, is always seen in the bosom of one's interests. it's like the Emperor's new clothes.
13. I was delighted to know that "411" is the jargon for "information" It came from America. That is what you call cultural diffusion.
14. An American boy was called by the teacher and was asked "When was the United States founded"? The boy said, "9-11".
15. When is a statement considered to be, "half-true" and "half-false"?
16. The heart of a lonely runner is the one that is nurtured by love.
19. Escaping a problem may be fun for you. But with certainty, you can't escape yourself.
20. Losing your life direction may be a way of finding it.
21. Only the forgiving heart can melt a heart of steel.
22. "God will not wipe away the tears we never shed. If we shed tears of compassion, it will become tears of love and of joy" - Fr. Guido Argulles SJ
23. Only the man of greed is the one who can turn dreams into spectacular nightmares.
24. If you want to see evil, look for the one who delights in separation.
25. If you want to see evil, look for the one who delights in separation.
26. An email is a reminder that once we use papers to write letters. Placed them inside envelops, sticks the collectors item called stamps.
27. The highest umbrella I can use against the sun are the clouds.
28. I pray that one day rains can wash away our loneliness.
29. "Father why did you want to become a priest?" "Actually I was rejected to become a nun so I became a priest."
30. A dictionary is always a guide to the perplexed.
31. A dog is one who considers him/herself to be a member of the family.
32. A film is around 120-minutes of suspension of disbelief.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between
1. To Hannah Arendt, a 20th century philosopher, we live by the choices we make. Such choices makes who we are. But still I wonder, why was not I able to choose my own family? This is a human mystery.
2. We may not have a perfect life, but we can love perfectly.
3. The World Wide Web is based on relationships. Without this concept of relationships I guess the concept of the web simply collapse. I consider Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the WWW as one of the iconic hero of this planet.
4. As I have said to my students in Sociology, "You cannot resign from your family, because a family, is a family, is a family." You only have one family, that's all you've got in your one life-span.
5. Every family has a flaw in it. No family is perfect. Everyone tries to correct such flaws but such flaws keeps coming back. I guess one of the identifying mark of a family is their flaws in it.
6. When one decides to keep physically fit, one should not forget to be fit internally. Thus, we have to remove those traces of hate, guilt, bitterness about our-self and others.
7. I have been at the edge of the Catholic church, but this Sunday as I attended Mass at the Transfiguration church, it looks like it is in its music as its salvific...
8. "Prayer does not make God aware of our needs. He already knows them. When we pray, we become more aware of our own needs. Prayer is for our benefit, not God's" - Peter McCall
9. I guess the Church is going to save my soul from burning in hell through its beautiful music and songs.
10. Irma Sonnenberg Menkel is 100 years old last 1997. In an article that appeared at Newsweek, being assigned as a Jewish barracks leader at Bergen-Belsen she was able to talk to Anne Frank and saw her die. When Anne Frank was in a coma, Irma didn'...t know that she was very sick. Irma said, "[at the camp] you did not have feelings anymore. You become paralyzed." We have known the humanity of Anne Frank (continued).
11. We have known the humanity of Anne Frank. We have known the inhumanity of her captors. Irma kept this terrifying story for so many, many years. Knowing her twilight years she decided to tell a horrible past.
12. If I lose my life shall I also lose my identity? Or is my identity the only personal thing that I can leave in this disturbing and lovely planet?
13. "When we understand what love is, we realize that we give up nothing when we love. Love is not a bargain. We never lose anything when we love. All that happens is we become more lovable" - Peter McCall
14. "There can be no authentic healing without forgiveness." Peter McCall
15. We think of eternity when eternity cannot be thought of. Eternity resides in our heart.
16. It is true when Kris Aquino lied to Cory. It is never ok when your loved one is finally going to bid you goodbye. There is this infinite pain that needs to be healed by love not just by time.
17. Eternity cannot be thought of as bounded by space and time. It has no dimension. Eternity is the unworded experience of life lived in totality.
18. Eternity is life lived fully on earth.
19. A news last night that a three year old child was run over by a bus at EDSA causing her death. This makes me really sad. It makes my stomach turn upside down.
20. When one has a possibility to experience the goodness of life and it is cut short by death, I think that is a tragedy.
21. Our rage, anger, cannot bring back the life of a loved one who met the creator. This is the reason why we should mourn. We should be able to say goodbye to our loved one, that is the purpose of mourning. In a way it should help up to attain peace.
22. A friend sent this message: 1. If you can't solve it, it's not a problem. It's reality. 2) Sometimes nobody really cares if you are miserable, so, you might as well be happy.
23. Continuation... 3) Enjoy being alive. There's plenty of time to be dead.
24. Somebody told me that it is good to bring flowers when you visit your loved ones because they can see, touch and smell it. But when they are consigned to the earth nobody is going to tell you a sweet appreciation.
25. One of the amazing realization as one ages is the knowledge that one can have more fun in achieving one rational goal.
25. Digitized condemnation. In our society when a person wishes to condemn an act of one, he can go to launch a campaign via the internet and those who will join the chorus can be counted to the last detail.
27. If prisoners are said to be un-free, can they look at the sky with freedom? can they freely express their opinion? can they brush their teeth freely?
28. As a nation, do we want our president to eat in a hamburger stand?
29. Info-mercials are new to our modern world. We have to read the message or multiple messages that they are purveying. Communication experts agree on this. Now who benefits and who pays for it, that is one thing we should know.
30 Again the deaths of soldiers and so called rebels are a waste of lives. Lives that cannot be brought back. When shall the killings stop?
31. I guess the reason why babies keeps on arriving in this planet is to give hope to this planet bereft of hope.
32. I think Sen. Miriam Defensor is correct in saying on the info-mercials, "Don't force your faces on us". I think one of the best way is to turn off the TV and talk to your children. Anybody have heard, "Invasion of privacy?"
33. I have nothing against giving the public information. But when this information is burned to our consciousness without let up, my, my, I think that is too much.
34. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?
36. As we are experiencing underdevelopment, endless social conflict, corruption that becomes a collective nightmare, what we are seeing is a culture where we have no roots and sensitivity to others. We are creating rootless society.
37. "The beginning and the end of all Christan leadership is to give your life for others" - Henri J. Nouwen
38. The earth does not care for us. We have to care for the earth so that it can care for us.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between
1. One of the best "weapon" in life is the perpetual thought that it is always possible that one can do good.
2. One of the best mornings I've ever had is walking around and knowing who I am.
3. "Do not yearn after immortality, but exhaust the limits of the possible" - A Greek lyric poet born year 5 before the Christian era.
4. I am against death penalty because society has imposed to the condemned to cease self-discovery.
5. I am very much afraid in my life finding out that I cease to become who I am.
6. I have had no difficulty mourning the passing of my father in 2001. I guess I knew and have accepted that our parent will not be with us forever.
7. Our immortality does not happen to be triggered by death. Our immortality happens in what we do when we are alive.
8. We can't argue with life as much as with death. My only wish is that it will not be painful.
8. I think grand children are the one's who build the bridges to one's immortality.
9. I love to see my grand daughter grow and shower her with everything. Why is this so? I guess we do not share a past where scores are to be settled!
10. Smoking has caused untold suffering to many. Every 3 seconds, somebody dies due to disease related to the use of cigarettes. Thus, a cigarette is a WMD, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Funny, it is available in your neighborhood store and can be purchased by high school students.
11. Non smokers have the law behind them. RA 9211 protects non-smokers from second hand smoke. Inside jeepneys, inside restaurants as public spaces, smoking is prohibited. Thus, I have declared my house to be smoke free.
12. My death figure on smoking related diseases is based on a World Health Organization data. If you want to join the anti smoking movement you can join the Framework Convention Alliance Philippines.
13. Children and youth, including adults are vulnerable to second hand smoke. Thus, a law was enacted to protect them. Isn't it nice to go home without you smelling smoke all over your body. If your workplace is still a smoking area, you can talk to your supervisor about this problem. You can assert for a smoke-free environment.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Atomic collider delayed, sorry.
Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between
1. I still remember in 1991 when Cory visited Cabiao Nueva Ecija. Natapilok sya, (she sprained her leg, as she walked at the rice field coming out from the helicopter) but still she did what she has to do, to meet with the farmers.
2. There will only be one Cory Aquino.
3. Dear Betty, thanks a lot. Cory is etched in our history. May our people and the people of Nigeria forge a strong bond of friendship. Betty Akeredolu is a friend who is battling against cancer. She is a cancer survivor. In 1986 she was studying at Iloilo. She named her daugher "Corazone" and is taking up law. They live at Abadan, Nigeria.
4. Death that brings dread in each one has a totalizing effect. Sorrow and grief is a natural outcome of this event that each one has to grapple with.
5. Cory Aquino may have not said it but it seems her BFF (Best Friends Forever) is the Filipino people.
6. We all wished that when Cory was praying, we hope we were there with her. But because of death, now, when we pray for Cory and asking to be with us, without fail, she will be praying beside and with us.
7. The lesson that Ninoy gave us is "The Filipino is worth dying for". I think as a testament of Cory's life, she was saying "The Filipino is worth living for."
8. Kris Aquno's tears at the necrological service are tears that we will understand because all of us suffered a loss. First it was Ninoy, now it is Cory.
9. I have said that death is totalizing. The Marcoses' paying their last respect to Cory who overthrew their father. This may be bizarre but this is what death can make, we should be prepared for surprises.
10. Politics is basically doing good. The premise is that people are basically good and good deeds can be done. If it can't be done, perhaps we got the idea of politics completely wrong.
11. A sprain is limiting my movement now. I hope not my spirit. My sprain recurred. I encountered an accidental trip on a rainy 16 July. The sprain left after 2 days but it returned back tonight. I am now in total wonderment. The pain is creeping when I move. I am experiencing it, observing, listening to the pain.
12. A new song of Manoling V. Francisco SJ entitled Your Heart Today run a line, "Yet there are hearts I still can't move". This can be addressed to people in the social movement for change. We have to accept that there are people that we will find difficult, like stones.Sunday, August 2, 2009
Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between
These thoughts were written last 1 August 2009. Our beloved former President faced death for what it is. It started with a thought on number one and trains of thoughts came in. I wish to share these thoughts in this public sphere.
This was first written at Facebook and I witnessed a surprising responses from friends.