It is often easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up with them…. Adlai Stevenson
I’ve been watching elections for quite a stretch in my adult life – Philippine, U.S. and Canadian elections to be exact. Canadian parliamentary elections are slated for October 14 and the U.S. elections November 4. Every election scenario is eeriely familiar – politicians showcasing their grand plans to promote prosperity and the usual promise “to do better” to restore the people’s trust in the government. In truth, everything that comes out of the politician’s mouth during election campaigns are nothing more than horse shit yet poor me, and thousands of gullible citizens like me listen to the dung and crap these people spew into the airwaves. We watch debates and judge candidates of their wit and resolve yet we all know that it’s a sham, a theatrical spectacle designed to delude people and make them believe that there are noble men who are willing to sacrifice their lucrative business careers and opt to receive a quarter of their 7 figure incomes so they can be given the privilege to lead and serve their country.
The Philippines is no exception. Our daily preoccupation is non-stop bickering and throwing of scathing accusations of misgovernance and all forms of tirades to discredit the government in power, every incumbent government for that matter. People are made to believe that principles are being fought for, when in fact it had been proven over and over that changing governments made no difference, for those that fought hard for their principles failed to live with them when given the opportunity.
The recent failure of the U.S. Congress bailout plan is an affirmation that despite the horrific scare of a depression, lawmakers care more about partisan sniping than saving the country from disaster. As one newspaper put it, dissenting Republican congressmen allowed the “entire country to be hurt because they were hurt” by a supposedly injudicious statement of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who labeled the bailout a stop gap solution to the Bush administration’s failed policies.
Politicans fight for their principles come hell or high water yet when given the opportunity to govern, fail to live up with them. It is a viscious cycle that happens every 4 years or so. We know it’s a farce but we don’t do much about it. Western countries that call themselves democratic and capitalist are pretty much fucked up like their Asian counterparts, the difference being their people seem content to bask in the halo of their inane prosperity rather than bombing and killing to vent their indignation and frustration .
BLIND DATE
Have you been on a blind date ? Well, here’s something that might interest you. How about going on a blind date and eating your food literally blind ? 🙂 A lady friend of mine who told me about her experience “dining in the dark” in her recent trip to Zurich, Switzerland. She had dinner with a friend, a former “young” actress in the Pinoy cinema. Hey, I am not trying to embellish the story but truth needs to be told 😯 Food is served by servers wearing night vision goggles and consumed by patrons in total darkness. What does one gain by eating pricey food in total darkness? My friend told me it enables one to savor the taste of food much better 🙂 Huh? Methinks it’s just one of those gimmicks, with the likes of the hanging restaurant, to attract people for the experience. I would never dare eat in this joint if I was starving but heck, it would be a real dandy place to go on a blind date when the spookiness might cause you to lose a bit of your inhibitions 🙂 I wish we have one of these restaurants in town. I would love to try it.
I did eat blindfolded once but it was part of a management course on coaching. I was totally deprived of sight and my partner was verbally instructing me the positions of the utensils and dishes and it was truly chaotic. The weird exercise wasn’t done for mere fun but to illustrate the difficulty of coaching and the need for patience which is a necessary ingridient of the endeavor.
COOL CHRISTIAN SONG
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The Warped Zone 
Dining with the person you really like in this restaurant where you eat in total darkness is a cool idea. When you steal a kiss or whatnot from your date, just be sure the waiters who are on night-vision goggles aren’t looking. Hahahahaha.
I’ve seen an episode of CSI about that dining in the dark thing. If I remember it right, the owner of the restaurant said they sell sensuality.
I agree with what you said about the Philippine government and I myself am tired not of the broken promises but of the endless nasty comments about whoever is in power. I’ve been accused of being unprincipled and indifferent because I don’t go around waving placards in rallies and I don’t make statements as to being PRO or ANTI. That’s because I think that these politicians, no matter how well their intentions were in the beginning, are bound to do a little (or a lot) of magic tricks along the way.
the blind thing is very interesting. i’d like to try it for the experience then maybe i can say why people should do it. lol. kaso matagal pa yun. lol.
I never got interested in politics because politicians turn me off 😦
Eating with lights out? I find it spooky. I can’t eat alone, yikes.
Doesn’t sound like a Christian song to me, except for the lyrics 🙂
Many say now that if the bailout plan would continue to fail (now being deliberated in U.S. Senate), the crisis might just reach almost near Great Depression level. That might be preposterous but that’s what Washington had always been falsely reassuring all year long, that nothing really is seriously wrong. And then Lehman just folded and now everything is threatening to go haywire. It’s just scary.
I agree fully with Ms. Pelosi’s statement, Bush financial policies over the years had created so much looseness and fragility. If the Republicans would still win this November, that might be a minor miracle.
Politicians should be accountable to their promises. If they fail to deliver, they should be booted out of office by the people. That’s the only way you can keep them honest.
Eating with the lights out? Is this a joke or what 🙂
I like the rap-ish ending of the song.
Abaniko – I would demand a private cubicle and the servers who wear night vision goggles stay away until called 😆
Kat – hmmm.. selling sensuality.. that’s interesting 🙂 True, there comes a point where you get tired of the endless bickering because since Marcos was booted out some 22 years ago, various administrations that took over were condemned by everybody right from day one. What else is new ? 😦
Prinsesa – the closest that you can go to is in Beijing I think. Hey, maybe I should start a dining in the dark restaurant in Manila 🙂 You think it would sell?
Irrealis – politics is a dirty game for starters so I’m not puzzled why you think that way. Not a good idea to be eating alone in the dark LOL 🙂 Yep, the song sounds contemporary save for the lyrics hehe.
Major Tom – Pelosi was spot on but her partisan statement irked many Republicans and didn’t help the cause. The point is, the bailout needs to be passed in some shape or form to alleviate the crisis. I hope the market has time to wait for the outcome. A no bailout option is at this moment quite unthinkable.
Natez1 – right on. But more often than not, in politics, choosing a candidate is like selecting between the devil and the deep blue sea. It also happens that a new administration can be worse than the previous one !
There really isn’t much difference between Western and third world democracies when it comes to their dysfunction. I guess what saves the Western democracies from falling into the abyss is that they have a more robust and vigilant justice system.
That “blind date” concept is so funny. But I don’t think I’ll go for it anytime soon. Hehehe
Panaderos – spot on bro. Great point. The justice system is one great equalizer and likewise the economic prosperity of the people.
Given the staggering economic dilemma facing the US today, it also proves that a lax and poorly regulated market system can likewise extract tremendous economic damage to the country much like wanton and systemic corruption in government !
The dinner in the dark is one heck of a venue for a blind date, isn’t it ? I would imagine the weird experience will bring the two a little closer, if not reduce the animosity if things didn’t work out 🙂
Indeed the concept of dining in the dark is quite interesting. Something that I am not particularly interested in trying.
Ewok – I will try it for the sake of experience, more so if my wife or daughter will have fun 🙂 One thing I can say is, I would only eat finger foods – no sauces nor wet stuff to ensure that I eat something !
you’re right. politicians regurgitate the same promises every election. it’s just the character that is new but it’s the same shitty platform. 😦
Mari – you just rephrased the quote of the week in my side bar 🙂 In a nutshell, it is a tug of war and no matter who wins, it’s the same devil 👿
“Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule–and both commonly succeed, and are right “… H.L. Mencken
The questions all american citizens should be asking is: where did the 700 billion went? and now, where is the 700 billion bucks headed to? Congress and the senate should be compelled to divulge to the american public where the dollars are handed to. We all know, the 85 billion is for AIG, and one billion for the CEO’s, regardless if their companies is down the sewer.
Some talking heads I’ve listened to said, the 5 trillion budget surplus handed to Bush 43 by Slick Willy was a blur and unreal. Yet these same talking heads now claimed the US budget deficit is at 3 trillion! That’s minus 8 trillion turn around during GWB’s rule. Cheers!
TruBlue – the 700 billion is an estimate and a big part of the bill is the management of these funds, including the criteria of who gets to be bailed out. The questionable CEO compensation is definitely on the table. Methinks this is the end of the joyride for this greedy bunch.
Boy, the figures you’ve mentioned are humongous. The money spent on the Iraq war alone, some 650 billion would have been sufficient for the bailout !
WaMu’s CEO got 19million buckaroos after three weeks only with the bank. Heck! he hasn’t even finished writing his resume yet rewarded with a chunkie piece of the pie!!!
Agree, they should clamp down on their outrageous packages.
Natural disasters, health care, and other necessities are legitimate financial burden of the government. But this war in Iraq, is
chopping off much of the Treasury. Removing
Saddam and five plus years later, all of us would dream of cheap gas, but it compounded the problems, and now a screwed up economy.
Cheers and goodhealth!
The song’s got a catchy beat…. reggae, I’d say. That’s the first time I’ve heard a Christian band use a reggae beat. 😀
hay naku, what is happening in the US is an eye opener, save a lot, and do not overspend. i hope they can come up with a solution that will not just be short gains but one that can last a long time. let this be a learning experience to the “only superpower” and so they say.
on dining, hmmm, in the dark? 🙂
TrueBlue – it’s really outrageous when you think that staff salaries might have been frozen because of the financial situation of the company, yet the big boss gets a package that will set him up for life 😦
As for natural disasters I sure the govt has budgeted billions in their emergency fund. The Iraq war, although many think it is a huge expense, a big part of it also goes back to the US economy, when defence companies and contractors get a big chuck of the expense ! The war has stabilized because money talks. I suspect the Shiites, Kurds and Sunni leaders have been given billions to keep them quiet let alone giving them cuts to the oil revenues. Money talks 🙂
The US is a very rich country and I have no doubts it will pull this one off. Now we see how powerful it is, when the world stops if it stops functioning 🙂
Wil – I like the beat . It’s quite contemporary Christian music wihch appeals to the younger generation. A few years ago a frirnd gave my daughter a “Veggie Tales” DVD. It’s a Christian theme, with veggies as characters 🙂 This song was in that DVD 🙂
Rheiboy – the name of the game right now is belt tightening because of the economic uncertainty hovering in the horizon. There’s talk that credit card companies might even reduce the credit limits of its cardholders to reduce its debt exposure. I’m sure we will pull out of this in a year or so 🙂
Dining in the dark is similar to Pinoy politics…..Kabig ng kabig totally unmindful of the misery surrounding them! Guilt free nga naman pag di mo nakikita ang ninanakawan mo ng dignity with poor leadership at di pag gamit ng utak (kung meron man).
Yung dining in the dark would be nice if everyone goes in there naked, but of course with the most benefit going to the waiters and waitresses with infrared goggles, puwera lang kung talagang unsightly na ang nakedness ng iba!
Noypetes – “unsightly nakedness” – LOL 🙂 Maybe the night vision goggles might not even see the detailedimperfections hehe 🙂
Now made me think rather creative. How about the dining in the dark and naked at the same time? That would be exciting no? 🙂
I just want to commend this new look of your site. I think Digg 3 is just so fitted for you, especially the graphics on the header. I am even thinking of using it myself. 🙂
i like your new layout. i’m not usually into pages that look busy and clutteredm, but yours is good. now i’m thinking of changing my layout yet again. 🙂
i read about the activity on coaching where you eat blindfolded. i like the idea. i’m going to use it in one of my classes. hahaha.
bw!!!! ambek! ahehehehe i think it would be hard to eat in total darkness… though i think it’s an interesting must try… haha
and funny it suits ‘blind’ date.. hahaha
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Dining in the dark gives you an excuse to grope, hehe. Naughty me… 😀
The US may have its share of rotten politicians but at least the bureaucracy runs like a well-oiled machine, plus, they stay true to the constitution. Unlike ours that keeps changing every decade or so…
Major Tom – thanks. I’ve been looking for a 3 column theme to stretch the page a little bit. The blue and green colors of the text is a bit odd and I’m not too sure if my header graphics blend with the page. I’m thinking of changing my header 🙂
You may have noticed that I did a little change on my blog by putting in a Quote of the Week and Joke of the Week text widgets, both of which I change every time I have a new post, and they must be relevant to my post as well. I still have to learn how to use CSS to make cosmetic changes to the theme 🙂 I plan to get my own domain in future and purchase a real cool theme 🙂
Barry – thanks. I’ve managed to keep my blog ad free so I guess that minimizes the clutter 🙂 One thing I don’t want to happen is for my blog to crawl upon start up because of so many ads and unnecessary widgets ! I ‘ve seen blogs as such and I just don’t have the patience to wait 😦
So you want to create a mess too eh? hahaha 🙂 The training I went to was done at a hotel so you can image the chaos it took when food spilled over and utensils fell on the floor 🙂
Piapot – one thing I am sure that dining in the dark on a blind date would turn out more exciting esp when you will only agree to see each other’s faces once you finish dinner ! 😆
Sngl – you bet, a bit of -ooops, sorry- here and there would be readily excusable hehe 😆
Yeah, what’s the deal with changing the constitution every now and then ? To justify the schemes of those politicians already in office ? Worse, once it is ratified, you wouldn’t even see its full implementation 😦
i never tried blind dating. before i was invited to one but sudddenly i had a change of schedule.
Dong – if you’re not attached yet, try it out bro. You’ll never know – It can be quite exciting 🙂
one of the gimmicks where people would go for the experience. hehe. for the curious.
Tina – definitely a gimmick ! It’s like paying to get into a haunted house – for the fun and experience 🙂
Thanks for dropping by 🙂
dining in the darK/ quite a new concept errr…gimmick
the bailout plan was just signed into law bu dubya bush. hope it lives up to expectations
Tutubi – how about opening a dining in the dark restaurant in Manila – do you think it would sell? 🙂
Yes, finally the bailout was signed but it did not buoy up the market duh . The not so good US unemployment figures for Sep was the downer of the day. What is else isn’t bad news these days? 😦
I heard about that dining-in-the-dark resto in Zurich. I don’t think it’s the place for me since I have arthritic fingers. 🙂
But somehow, I’m kind of curious how it feels to eat in a dark resto.
Jayred – I hope they don’t serve crab legs. It would be one heck of a challenge 🙂