Education - Political candidates

The following information is interesting. I knew Obama and Biden were highly educated but I didn't know that McCain was at the bottom of his Naval Academy class; and that Palin attended 4 colleges to get her BA Journalism; I'm actually surprised she has a degree at all; she can't say a complete sentence with subject-predicate-object.


Barack Obama: Columbia University 1983 - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations; Harvard University 1991 - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden: University of Delaware 1965 - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science. Syracuse University College of Law 1968 - Juris Doctor (J.D.) vs.

John McCain: United States Naval Academy 1958 - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University 1982 - 1 semester North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters 1987 - B.A. in Journalism

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy halloween! Enjoy the pictures!

IRELAND - #2

What will I remember about Ireland?

I will remember the green fields with stone walls, in the western part of Ireland;
I will remember the 5,000 year old tomb, Newgrange, in the Boyne Valley in the Eastern part of Ireland;
I will remember the strange rock formations of Giant's Causeway, in Northern Ireland;
I will remember the tall high crosses which we saw in Kells and Rock of Cashel;
I will remember the peat bogs and turf and undulating Cliffs of Moher and our rainy journey through the Ring of Kerry;
I will remember the Irish breakfast of egg, bacon (ham), sausage, tomato, black and white pudding;
I will remember some nervous moments as we drove on the wrong side of the road;
I will remember the numerous sheep and cattle;
I will remember the ceaseless news of the elderly protesting the proposed cancellation of the medical card of the over-seventies.
I will remember the kindness and friendliness of the Irish people;
I will remember the rain that can be soft, lashing, desperate, or plain awful.

More Re A La Carte - National Book Award Finalist

My friend and co-editor of A La Carte, Marily Orosa, informed me that A La Carte is a finalist for the National Book Award in Anthology:

FINALISTS TO THE 2008 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
According to the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board, these are the finalists for the National Book Awards for books published in 2007:

ANTHOLOGY:A La Carte, edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard and Marily Ysip Orosa; At Home in Unhomeliness, edited by J. Neil C. Garcia; Best Filipino Stories, edited by Gemino H. Abad and Gregorio C. Brillantes; Cordillera in June, edited by B. P. Tapang; Ang Dagling Tagalog, 1903-1936, edited by Rolando B. Tolentino and Aristotle Atienza; Mga Piling Dulang Mindanao, edited by Arthur P. Casanova; Very Short Stories for Harried Readers, edited by Vicente Garcia Groyon.

Marily and I are delighted and amused that A La Carte is still attracting literary attention. The book won the prestigious Gourmand Award 2008 as the Best Food Literature Book from the Philippines. It also won third in the International Gourmand Award in London. Here are the book's blurbs:

"A menu of stories to suit your every craving! That’s A la Carte: Food & Fiction. This book fills a hunger in Philippine literature for fantasy, hyper-reality, romance, mystery … but with a good measure of culinary flavoring mixed in."
Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, culinary heritage advocate and writer

"Here is a book guaranteed to satisfy even the most discriminating taste, but also to make readers hungry for more stories, characters, insights, and recipes. Fact, fiction, fantasy, and food mix in a feast for the mind, the heart, the palate, and the soul. There are many well-known writers in the anthology, but it is not so much who writes as what is written that makes this book a must-read, just as it is not so much the chef or the cook that makes a recipe to die for, but the dish itself. Enjoy the 25-course banquet."
Isagani R. Cruz, The Philippine Star

"Books on food are quite popular these days and we are glad that recent
publications have gone beyond mere recipes to evoke what Proust called a
‘remembrance of things past.’ "
Ambeth R. Ocampo
Chairman, National Commission for Culture and the Arts
Chairman, National Historical Institute

IRELAND - #1

When I was growing up in the Philippines, there were many Irish priests and nuns, and so I knew that Ireland was this Catholic country that sent many of their sons and daughters to far corners of the world to serve as missionaries. In our recent trip to Ireland, I had this in mind, and I looked for the "Catholicism" in this small country - the Emerald Isle it is aptly called because indeed the grass that grows there is vibrant green, fields and fields of startling green grass with sheep and cattle grazing on it.

There are many things going on in Ireland, and one could go there on a Catholic pilgrimage for instance, or perhaps focus on politics, or on a woo-woo New Age theme; Ireland has a long history dating back to thousands of years. Our journey did not have a specific theme, and we tried to see what we could as we drove around this country that is smaller than California but which offers a variety experiences. We were simply "skimming" and so what I write will be first impressions of a visitor who breezed through the entire island in two weeks.

As far as "Catholic Ireland" was concerned, there was much to see and consider. Think about this: Before St. Patrick prosletized in Ireland around 433 a.d., there were already Christians in Ireland. But it was St. Patrick who converted thousands and began building churches all over Ireland. The ruins of these abbeys and churches are still there. The Rock of Cashel comes to my mind because St. Patrick baptized King Aengus there; Aengus was Ireland's first Christian ruler.

We also visited Kells where the Columban monks created the Book of Kells, (bible) which is on display in the library of Trinity College in Dublin. But the most interesting monastery was on Skellig Michaels, which we unfortunately could not visit because of bad weather (it rains a lot in Ireland). In 588 some 12 ascetic monks had occupied a small rocky island west of County Kerry, Ireland. In this stark environment, the monks had built stairs along the steep cliffs and beehive-looking homes from rocks. They built water cisterns and lived off what the sea and this rocky island provided.

A few years ago, I took a History of Christianity class and I recall the teacher saying that while the rest of Europe was in the dark ages, Ireland preserved Christianity. I had this in mind while I was in Ireland.

Interestingly, while some 80% of Irish are Catholics, the religion lacks a vibrancy that's apparent in other Catholic places. It is there, but subdued, and I suspect that the protestant English domination of Ireland for centuries has a lot to do with this. Let me make myself clear, Ireland is predominantly Catholic, but I missed the electric energy of places like Rome or Latin American countries - I am referring in particular to Knock where Our Lady had appeared in 1879. There were not too many people in Knock, which surprised me. In the Philippines people are almost fanatical about appearances of Our Lady; and certainly places like Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugurje have numerous pilgrims. When I visited Lourdes a few years ago, I recall the great number of people in wheelchairs and other devotees crowding the place. Not so, in Knock.

(more in another blog entry)

HELLO FROM THE EMERALD ISLE

This will be a quick one - hello, from the Emerald Isle where Lauren and I are. We are enjoying ourselves - spent a few days in Dublin, and picked up a car to see Ireland. We are driving counterclockwise from Dublin and are currently in the Southwest part of Ireland. It has been raining and is cold, but everything is so green and beautiful. The people are very nice. The food is so-so.

MORE WHEN I GET BACK, THEN,

Cecilia

TIME OUT FROM POLITICS FOR ME!

Time out for a couple of weeks from politics, and just in time, because I'm getting really caught up in it - constantly reading CNN blogs and visiting YouTube for politicals news/gossip what-not. Yesterday read that Cindy McCain accused the Obama camp of running the dirtiest campaign. Perhaps she was referring to all the Keating 5 bad press for her husband that re-surfaced AFTER Sarah Palin accused Obama of associating with Ayres. Meanwhile Michelle Obama gave a classy interview wherein she said she wasn't angry that Obama had been referred to as "that man" by McCain, and remained calm in explaining the Ayres matter - she said people don't want to hear about all of this but want to hear about solutions to our big economic problems, and that it's just politics. Class act!

I don't know if I'll have internet access for the next couple of weeks and if not here's a blessing for you and your loved ones, dear readers:

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains all soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

WHO WON THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?

Second presidential debate done in the Town Hall format, which did not appeal to me. The candidates (McCain and Obama)repeated what they had said in the first debate.

What did I think? Obama did fine; he was calm, presidential, composed, and he answered intelligently. He is an intelligent man, more of an intellectual than a politician, although he has good political instincts or has surrounded himself with people who know about these matters.

McCain looked like an angry old man, just simmering, simmering...he looked like he'd snap at any second. He IS an angry person; he jokes around, grins a lot, tries to be personable but you can feel his seething anger. He answered the questions fine, and repeated what he had said beforehand, and attacked Obama as he had done so in the first debate. Once, the camera caught him walking and apparently communicating with someone in the audience, and McCain was making a face and moved his right hand as if to indicate so-so. Further, McCain rudely referred to Obama as "that one."

The debate wasn't dramatic; in fact I became bored in the middle of the event. I don't know if the format was to blame, but it lacked energy, and the candidates didn't always answer the questions but took the time to attack the other. McCain was really doing this more, although Obama also pointed out McCain's weaknesses. They'd run out of time, and finally Brokaw had to chastise them to limit their talks.

Political analysts had indicated McCain needed to do something dramatic to turn the downward dive of his campaign. He didn't do this; he didn't excel. So, if what the analysts said is true, then the McCain campaign should continue it's descent. And factoring that aspect into the fact that he appeared like an angry old man - McCain lost to the cool, calm (albeit tired) Obama.

However, I am holding my breath because nothing's a given here. Republicans have a lot of tricks up their sleeve including cheating...and there's the race issue. There are people who simply will not vote for a black man even if their ship were sinking, which is happening right now - the US economy is in the worst state since the Great Depression.

But we shall see what happens. As mentioned, the American people will have to choose.

NEW DOLLAR BILL

Dear Readers,
You can guess that I've been consumed with political matters here in the U.S. It is difficult not to be involved especially when the economy is so bad. This is as bad as I've ever experienced it - worse than the 1980s slump, and any other slump in my lifetime. We, like everyone else, have lost some money in our investments. Everyday, the tension increases. People are not buying; people are hunkering down. I find myself doing the same. Instead of having lunch outside, I'll make a quick sandwich. The postal workers at the post office I go to say it's been very quiet - i.e. they haven't had a lot of customers, which means there haven't been a lot of business. Very scary.

Clearly change is needed, and not the kind of change offered by McCain and Palin, who mouth "change" and "maverick" but have the very same Bush-people running their campaign; there will be no change; simply a new titular head, a front guy for the likes of Karl Rove, Schmidt, etc. And Palin - God help this country if she were president.

The honesty and integrity of the likes of McCain and Palin are questionable: look up Keating 5 in connection with McCain and look up Troopergate and the bridge to nowhere and earmarking in Alaska with Palin. No, no, no, these two are not the kind of people who can lead the United States out of the mess it's in.

I could go on and on, and my guess is that my regular readers think the same way I do, so I'm preaching to the choir - but here, take a look at the new dollar bill to reflect the current US economy:

ALASKA WOMEN REJECT PALIN RALLY

I got this email, which I'm reprinting here:

Subject: Fw: Pics of Biggest Rally in AK history
I just came back from gorgeous Alaska. After learning Palin's views, I was terrified that my clan was living in some backwards, fundamentalist nightmare (with the most gorgeous land imaginable). But oh no, I should have known better. A shame this didn't get more press. But can you believe the bit about the radio host? Unbelievable!

psssst...pass it on!

[The] Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtownAnchorage . Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.< BR>
The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally "a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots," and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received some nasty, harassing and threatening messages.

I felt a bit apprehensive. I 'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage , if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing "socialist baby-killing maggot" haters.

It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute.This just doesn't happen here.

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud h e couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

So, if you've been doing the math... Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska , who know her best, have things to say.

A bunch of pictures of that rally:

REFLECTIONS - FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE & LETTERS FROM EGYPT

I saw this very handsome book, Letters from Egypt: A Journey on the Nile 1849-1850, by Florence Nightingale, and bought it. It was published in 1987, one of these collectible books with gorgeous period pictures and illustrations. Having cruised up the Nile, I wondered what Nightingale's experience was like. After all there was some 158 years between her journey and mine.

Florence Nightingale was 29 when she went with family friends, Charles and Selina Bracebridge. Nightingale came from a wealthy family who traveled a lot; she had been born in Florence, Italy,thus her name. So off Florence went with her maid and the Bracebridges, by boat, to Alexandria, on to Cairo, and up the long stretch of the Nile to Abu Simbel, which was as far as they went. They were on a sailboat; the trip took three months.

Florence wrote lengthy letters to her family about her journey and indeed they are as a whole very engaging. I found it fascinating to compare what she had seen. The temples of Abu Simbel for instance, in their original site, had sand virtually covering the entrance to the main temple, so that they only had a three-feet hole to crawl into, to get inside the temple. The Temples in Abu Simbel, Karnak, and Luxor had sand up to legs of the statues; now, they have all been dug out so you can see the full length of these colossal statues. There was no Aswan Dam then, and their boat had to be pulled up the cataracts to get up river.

Their sail boat, called a dahabieh, had two bedrooms, a sitting room, kitchen area, and deck. The boat depended on wind; they sailed when there was wind; they parked along the Nile when there was none. During these times, Florence,always accompanied for protection, would explore villages, tombs, temples. She waxes very poetic over the achievements of the ancient Egyptians, and in fact, since she was religious, brought this aspect into her letters. She does not waste too much time giving you a blow-by-blow description of what she saw, but she focuses on her impressions and thoughts conjured by what she had seen, and this feels satisfying. You, the reader, are communing with a "mind" not just a camera.

The one thing that bothered me was her contempt for Arabs and contemporary Egyptians: "One goes riding out, and one really feels inclined to believe that this is the kingdom of the devil, and to shudder under this glorious sun, for 'this is his hour and the power of darkness'. I cannot describe it. In Italy one felt they were children, and their dawn was coming; here one feels as if they were demons, and their sun was set...there is hardly any attempt at thatch, and out of these come crawling creatures, half-clothed, even in this country where it is a shame of a woman to show her face. They do not strike one as half-formed beings, who will grow up and grow more complete, but as evil degraded creatures..."

There are more of the above, and worse.

Her language is beautiful, her point of view very clear, and if one didn't think, one would go right along that the entire people in Egypt were barbarians. She no doubt reflected the prejudices of the English people of the time. But this too is disturbing, to consider the deep prejudice of the English in the 1850s. Their assumption that they were superior to other human beings is fantastic. No wonder their colonies revolted against them.

Nightingale was religious and even considered converting to Catholicism. She remained a member of the Church of England, but Catholic nuns had inspired her to go into nursing. Before she took the trip to Egypt, in 1837, she said God called her to His service. She couldn't figure out what God wanted her to do, and apparently had some deep disturbance during this time. During that trip to Egypt she met the St. Vincent de Paul nuns and saw their facilities and she also went to Germany to train with the Lutheran order of Deaconesses. These were the beginnings of her famed nursing. Using her connections, she introduced innovations into the nursing system in England.

During the Crimean war, she led a group of 38 nurses there to minister to the wounded. Some 2,000 men reportedly died in her arms, in the Crimean war. She became a national hero of England. She wrote books; she lobbied for legislative changes to improve military health conditions. She was clearly a force; she did much even though she spent half of her life as an invalid because of sickness she contracted in Crimea.

BUT she abhorred the poor people in Egypt, and she also refused the services offered by a creole woman, Mary Seacote, another nurse, who wanted to serve in the Crimean war.

So, it's conflicting things like this that confuse me in assessing a person like Florence Nightingale: was she a saint? or a racist? or was she (and people) a little of both?

KEY PEOPLE IN MCCAIN CAMPAIGN

I found a more comprehensive list of the people running the McCain Palin Campaign- from Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.
I've highlighted the name Bush, to make my point that McCain is an extension of Bush.

Running the Campaign Day to Day
Steve Schmidt
(from July 2, 2008; started as a senior advisor in Dec. 2006) Campaign manager for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R-CA) 2006 re-election. Deputy Assistant to the President (Bush) and Counselor to the Vice President, responsible for Dick Cheney's press relations and communications. Point man for the Bush Administration on the confirmations of Judge John Roberts and then Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. Deputy Communications Director/Director of Rapid Response on Bush Cheney '04. Communications director at the NRCC in the 2002 cycle. Spokesperson for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Communications director on Lamar Alexander's 2000 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination for the first part of 1999. Press secretary on Matt Fong's 1998 U.S. Senate campaign in California. From North Plainfield, NJ.

Deputy Campaign Manager/Political Director
Mike DuHaime
(from early July 2008...also serving as senior advisor for political operations at the RNC, announced March 7, 2008) Previously executive director of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee starting end of 2006. Political director at the RNC, started in January 2005. Northeast regional political director for Bush-Cheney '04. Prior to the campaign served as executive director of the New Jersey Republican Party starting in January 2002. Has his own political consulting firm, DuHaime Communications, Inc., which he formed in 2001. Deputy campaign manager of Bob Franks' 2000 Senate campaign. Graduate of Livingston College, Rutgers. From Hoboken, NJ.

Campaign Manager Rick Davis
(through July 2, 2008, then readjusted role; started as campaign manager July 10, 2007; CEO in the first iteration of the campaign) Managing partner of Davis Manafort; profited from failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Chaired Sen. McCain's Straight Talk America. National campaign manager on Sen. McCain's 2000 presidential campaign. Deputy Convention Manager for the 1996 National Republican Convention and deputy campaign manager on Sen. Bob Dole's 1996 campaign. Also worked on the George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan campaigns. Government service includes Special Assistant for Policy to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Special Assistant for the Budget to the Secretary of the Interior, Special Assistant for Trade Development in the U.S. Department of Commerce, and consultant to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Graduate of the University of Alabama.

Deputy Campaign Manager Christian Ferry
(National eCampaign director in the first iteration of the campaign) Consultant at Davis Manafort. Worked as a special assistant for the Virginia Department of Natural Resources in the late 1990s during the Jim Gilmore administration.

Senior Advisor Mark Salter
(speechwriting, message and strategy) Administrative Assistant (Chief of Staff) in McCain's Senate office. Has helped McCain write his four books. Started working for McCain in 1989 as a legislative assistant. Previously worked for Jeanne Kirkpatrick when she was UN Ambassador and at AEI. From Davenport, Iowa.

Senior Advisor Charlie Black
(support announced early March 2007; full-time on the campaign starting April 1, 2008) Chairman of BKSH & Associates through March 31, 2008. Senior advisor to Presidents Reagan and Bush (41). Principal public spokesman for President Bush in the 1992 presidential campaign. Chief spokesman for the RNC, 1990. Has managed the successful elections of more than ten members of the U.S. Senate and more than a dozen Members of Congress. Political consultant to U.S. Senators Jesse Helms, Robert Dole, Phil Gramm and Dave Durenberger. Political director at the RNC during the chairmanship of Bill Brock (late 70s-1981). B.A. in political science from the University of Florida and a J.D. from The American University. Native of North Carolina.

The list in the Democracy in Action goes on, so please visit their site.

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN?

I'm compiling a list of the people running the McCain campaign. I am not sure if these people are still in his campaign as McCain has a history of changing his staff often:

Steve Schmidt, senior adviser who worked in George W. Bush's campaign in 2004 (he was known as Bush's attack dog in the 2004 election); Schmidt was also to adviser to Dick Cheney;
Mike McDonald - Assists Schmidt; veteran of Bush-Cheney campaigns;
Mike DuHaime -worked in 2004 Bush campaign;
Karl Rove, McCain adviser who is White House Adviser (Bush's senior strategist)
Mark Salter, senior McCain adviser (chief of staff); McCain's closest aide --"the only person closer to McCain is his wife";
Mark McKinnon, media strategist who was Bush's media strategist;
Ken Mehlman, adviser who had run Bush's 2004 campaign;
Chalres R. Black, Jr., senior political advisor,who was in George J.W. Bush's 1992 election campaign;
Wayne L. Berman, lobbyist & Bush fundraiser;
Mark McKinnon - Bush's media consultant;
Terry Nelson - Bush's political director 2004 campaign;
Gerry L. Parsky - California chairman, Bush's 2000 & 2004 campaigns;
Nicolle Wallace Devenish - Bush/White House communications director;
Ron Weiser - Bush fundraiser
Wayne Berman, McCain's national finance co-chair, who it turns out is a paid lobbyist for two of the oil companies involved in the Sex-for-Oil Scandal;
John Green, Campaign Congressional Liaison, also involved with the Sex-for-Oil Scandal;
Carly Fiorina
Rick Davis - Campaign manager, profited from failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac;
Bill McInturff - chief pollster
Trevir Potter - chief counsel

Some sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/03/mccain.campaign/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_John_McCain_presidential_campaign_staff_members,_2008
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/mccain/mccainorg.html

Vice Presidential Debate Sarah Palin & Joe Biden

I'll admit that a part of me wondered if Sarah Palin would lapse into her Couric-interview mode, but she held up fine for the vice presidential debate. Despite rigorous Republican attempts to lower her expectations, word was out that she's a tough debater. Joe Biden, it was predicted, would have a more difficult time because he's verbose, knowledgeable, and he had to make sure he didn't come across as condescending.

The two did not screw up, but Biden was more substantive. Palin was charming and "folksy" as newscasters called it; although I'll admit that I found it most annoying when she winked at the camera. Biden was not condescending; he was forceful, extremely knowledgeable, composed, and charming. Palin had a memorized script and she did not answer questions directly but would use her time to regurgitate her script. She spoke in generalities, unlike Biden who was very detailed and specific. Palin threatened Biden about some of the facts he cited, and I imagine there will be a post-debate brouhaha about who said wrong things during the debate. Biden did an excellent job in defining the differences between the Obama camp vs. the McCain camp - and that is that McCain is pro-war and will continue Bush's doctrines; this despite Palin's separating herself and McCain from Bush.

It will boil down to the American people. They are the ones who will vote. It is up to them to wade through all the words --- the rehashing of this vice presidential debate will go on for days --- and people must go past who was more poised or who was more attractive; they need to focus on the substance of what was said, and who will "deliver."

For my part, eight years of Republican rule is more than enough. Even though Palin and McCain say they are different from Bush, they share the same doctrines, the same values, and clearly will have the same Bush-people surrounding them. What's that saying that's been bandied about? - If you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. If you put lipstick on a Republican, it's still a Republican.

More Thoughts on Bush, McCain, Palin, Obama, Biden

I have watched some of our friends support and vote for Bush. Even when it became apparent that Bush had done a lousy job, they continued to find excuses for him. I have not seen them since the recent Bailout crisis, so I don't know if they remain Bush fans, but I suspect that they continue to support the Republicans and will vote for McCain.

This used to boggle my mind because from the start, I could see clearly how terrible Bush was, and it confused me when other people couldn't see what I saw. Right now, I see plain as day what a disaster McCain and Palin will be as president and vice president of the United States. McCain is another Bush; he has the same values, and operates on the same doctrines. He has the same Bush-people helping him (White House Adviser Karl Rove is running the McCain Campaign). I don't understand why Americans are buying McCain's line about being different from Bush. He will continue the Bush administration; the U.S. will continue to borrow money from Japan and China to sustain the 12 billion dollars per month cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The economy will plummet even more. A McCain administration will be a disaster.

And Sarah Palin? You know what she makes me think of? - Women like Imelda Marcos, Marie Antoinette, Eva Peron - yes, beautiful, charismatic, but not deep enough. These women were leaders when their countries were in turmoil - perhaps the people allowed them to be in power because they were a diversion - but ultimately they were not good for the people and in fact precipitated the political changes in the Philippines, France, and Argentina.

I hope that enough American voters will see through the politicking and tricks that Republicans have been pulling: there's the surprise nomination of Sarah Palin; there's limiting Palin's contact with the media; there's McCain's sudden abandonment of his campaign to "save" the bailout; there's the media buzz to lower expectations of Palin in the Vice presidential debate; there're plans to take advantage of media attention over the wedding of Palin's daughter and instant-beau - trick after trick to manipulate the media and the minds of the people.

Interestingly it's the dire economic situation that has made people favor Obama in recent polls. Well people need to keep in mind that voting for McCain will be more of Bush. Bush=McCain; McCain=Bush. And should McCain be president and die, the next president will be Palin, and that administration will be even worse than the Bush administration.

It does not take a rocket scientist to spell all of these out. You just have to look, observe, read, and think.
~~~~
For more, click below

Matt Damon talks about Sarah Palin in YouTube
Anne Kilkenny's letter about Sarah Palin
Part 2-Couric interviews Sarah Palin about foreign policy, in particular about Pakistan, Alaska and Russia
Sarah Palin * Katie Couric - Foreign Policy (Russia right next to Alaska)
Couric Stumps Palin with Supreme Court Question

CEBU OCTOBER 11 FASHION SHOW & MUSICALE IN THE PARIAN

I just learned from my sister-in-law the following:

From Terry Manguerra: "Val Sandiego and some of his friends are planning a big happening on Oct. 11 with a fashion show and a musical all to be held somewhere near his house. They are trying to get the Lim Bonfing bldg. if they can manage to fix it. Ace Durano the tourism secretary and the cardinal will grace the occasion. Hope this will be the start of the Parian rehabilitation. We, of course , at the Cathedral Museum are all for it."

I'm delighted to know about this. The Zee Quarterly Magazine, a slick magazine in Cebu is also running an article of mine entitled, Life in Parian Now, with pictures of Parian sites and some women ancestors of mine.

I am so excited at the gentrification of the Parian in Old Cebu!

~~~
Top Photo shows a mural of Colon Street, on the 17th century Yap-Sandiego House;
Bottom Photo shows a painting of Colon Street in my apartment in the Parian, Cebu; it is criticized because the figures are from different historical periods, but I call the painting "The Ghosts of Colon Street."

Maryknoll College 68 classmates at home

Maryknoll College class of 1968 classmates were over for some good old Filipino comfort food and catching up.

Top photo shows: Lucy Adao McGinley, Maria Ciocon, me
Bottom Photo shows: Lucy Adao McGinley, Med Villanueva, Maria Ciocon

MICHAEL GENELIN - READING/BOOK SIGNING OF SIREN OF THE WATERS

YOU HAVE TO GO TO THIS LITERARY EVENT!!!!!

Michael Genelin, author of Siren of the Waters, will be doing a literary reading/book signing as follows:

October 20, 2008 - Monday, 7 p.m. - Traveler's Bookcase, 8375 West 3rd St.,323-655-0575

October 21, 2008 - Tuesday, 7 p.m. - The Mystery Bookstore, 1036-C Broxton Ave., 310-209-0415; 800-821-9017

The book is also easily available from Amazon.com.

Michael Genelin is a graduate of UCLA and UCLA Law School and has worked for the LA District Attorney's Office. He has served with the US Department of Justice in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. He has also written for film and been an adviser to television series. He now lives with his wife and daughter in Paris.

Siren of the Waters
Michael Genelin. Soho Crime, $24 (336p) ISBN 978-1-56947-484-6
When seven women die in a van that skids off an icy highway and bursts into flames near Bratislava, Slovakia, at the start of Genelin's chilling debut, evidence suggests that the victims were murdered, pawns in a human trafficking ring. After a nightclub is blown up, Slovak police commander Jana Matinova discovers that a vicious criminal, Ivan Makine (aka Koba), may be involved in the women's deaths. The author deftly interweaves Matinova's investigation with the somewhat tragic backstory of her relationship with her husband. Past intersects with the present when Matinova has a chance meeting in Strasbourg, France, with her daughter's husband. From there, multiple murders lead to a mysterious man whose reason for the murders may be more poetic than practical. Matinova's no-nonsense personality anchors the action throughout.
~~~~


~~~~
Top photo shows me with Michael and Susie Genelin in Paris
Bottom photo shows Michael, Susie, and husband Lauren at an outdoor concert in Paris

Salman Rushdie pictures

I found these pictures of me with Salman Rushdie at a PEN Conference in Barcelona. He was hiding at the time these pictures were taken. I checked the net to see if he's still hiding and got the following information:

"Rushdie won in 1988 the Whitbread Award with his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses...

"The novel was banned in India and South Africa and burned on the streets of Bradford, Yorkshire. When Ayatollah Khomeini called on all zealous Muslims to execute the writer and the publishers of the book, Rushdie was forced into hiding. Also an aide to Khomeini offered a million-dollar reward for Rushdie's death. In 1993 Rushdie's Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was wounded in an attack outside his house. In 1997 the reward was doubled, and the next year the highest Iranian state prosecutor Morteza Moqtadale renewed the death sentence...

"However, on September 1998 the Iranian government announced that the state is not going to put into effect the fatwa or encourage anybody to do so. According to interviews, Rushdie has decided to end his hiding. On February 1999 Ayatollah Hassan Sanei promised a 2,8 million dollar reward for killing the author."

Hmmmm, sounds like he still has to be careful.

US Politics and Marcos Dictatorship

I find myself growing more uncomfortable at what is going on in US politics. There are a lot of issues really, but the recent incident that made my antennae go wild is the matter of Governor Palin.

I am not comfortable with how the Republicans have insured that nothing (or very little) that is palatable about Palin is known by the public. It's a major coverup to insure that Palin's image remains tinseled. The Republics have made her off-hands to the media - what was the term they used - until the media treat her with "deference?" They limit and/or choreograph her interviews. About Troopergate, the Republicans have made sure that those who have been subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Alaska investigative committee refuse to testify. McCain is well aware of the popularity and draw of Sarah Palin, and this is why he is doing everything he can to make sure she remains an attractive archetype to voters.

I've heard some people shrug the above matters as "politics" but frankly it reminds me of how Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos acted before Marcos became a fullout dictator. They controlled the media and played up their image as the "Jack and Jackie" (referring to the Kennedies) of the Philippines. In fact, the Marcos coverup of their misdeeds continued even when they were the Conjugal Dictators. Many journalists lost their lives, or jobs, or had to go into exile because they had written something that displeased the Marcoses.

What I recall with the Marcoses was that their takeover happened slowly, at least in the beginning. They controlled the media; they placed their cronies in power; they silenced the opposition; they built a strong military; they changed the constitution - and by the time the world knew what was actually going on, Marcos was entrenched as a dictator.

So, when I see the Republicans cheat during elections (I still remember how Gore "lost" that election to Bush who has essentially bankrupted this country); when I see the controlling of the media; when I see the manipulations to present a tinseled image and not the truth - I worry. I have not even mentioned Guantanamo and the human rights breaches there; and the stacking of the Supreme Court so most of them are Republicans.

All I can say is that Americans need to be vigilant and should not dismiss matters as "politics." They should be very, very jealous of their democratic system and challenge every little thing that goes contrary to democratic principles,no matter how small. The small matters that we allow to get by become big, and uncontrollable. I have seen this happen in the Philippines. What I learned is that despots are in their place because enough people allowed this to happen. I think the same can be said for any situation, whether we are referring to Hitler, Stalin, or Amin - enough people allowed them to become despots.

The American people must be very careful with what is going on.

U.S. POLITICAL TIDBITS

What is going on?????

1. In 2006, George W. Bush family bought a 98,842 acre farm in Paraguay; Bush, Sr. owns roughly 173,000 acres in the same area (Argentina;

2. In 2007, Halliburton (Cheney-connection)relocated from Houston to Dubai;

3. September 21, 2008: "A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president. The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act..." - Aol News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ON A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TOPIC, HERE ARE RECENT US POLITICAL POLLS:

Gallup Daily: Obama 50%, McCain 44%

September 20, 2008
Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Wednesday through Friday finds Barack Obama maintaining his lead over John McCain among registered voters, by a 50% to 44% margin.

Rasmussen Report: Obama 48%; McCain 47% - Sunday, September 21, 2008

IMAGES OF THE FILIPINA IN LITERATURE

(I found this essay in my files. This was first published in Filipinas Magazine.)
By the time I was a teenager, the Philippines had been a colony of Spain and the United States for a combined time of some four centuries. The dominating concept of beauty was Western; “white” was beautiful, “brown” ugly. When Gemma Cruz came around and won the Miss Universe contest of 1967, she changed the idea of beauty in the Philippines. Before her, all other Filipina beauty queens sent to international contests were mestizas, very European-looking. Her victory marked the decline of the colonial idea that fair was beautiful, and dark evil. Even Disney images showed blonde Snow Whites and Cinderellas, and dark-haired wicked stepmothers and witches.

Unknown to many, there were several foreign visitors to the Philippines who wrote about the beauty of the Filipina. I’ve put together here some excerpts of those writings.

As early as 1521, Antonio Pigafetta, Italian chronicler of Magellan’s voyage around the world, made some interesting observations about the women of Cebu. He wrote: “The prince led them (Spaniards) to his house, where he had four very beautiful girls, and almost white like ours, and he had them dance to metal cymbals, with them all naked, and he gave them refreshments, then they returned to the ship.”

Of the queen, Pigafetta reported, “The queen was very young and beautiful, covered with a white cloth, her mouth very red, a hat on her head with a crown on top of it like that of the Pope. And the hat and crown were made of palm leaves, and she goes nowhere without this crown.”

“One day,” he said, “the queen came with great pomp to hear mass, three young girls went before her with three of her men, hats in hand. She was dressed in black and white with a large gold-bordered silk veil on her head, which covered her shoulders. And on top of it she wore her hat. And many women followed her, who were barefoot and naked, except around the shameful parts, and a small kerchief around their heads, their hair loose.”
***
Antonio de Morga, a Spanish official in Manila from 1595 to 1603, wrote the history of the Philippines during the sixteenth century (Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas). He has interesting descriptions about the inhabitants of Luzon:
“They are of average height, are the colour of cooked quinces, and both men and women have fine features. Their hair is very black...they are very clever at anything to which they put their hands, they are sharp, hot-spirited, and determined.”

Even though he was not appreciative of the native custom of blackening their teeth, De Morga continued his respectful description:
“The women in the whole of this island wear jackets, with sleeves of the same stuffs, and of different colours: these they call varos (baros), they do not wear a chemise but have a white cotton wrap around the wasit, falling down to the feet. They also wear other coloured garments around the body, like mantles, which are very graceful. The principal women wear crimson ones, some made of silk, and other of cloths woven with gold, trimmed with fringes and other ornaments. They wear many gold necklaces, and have bracelets on their wrists and wear huge wrought-gold ear-rings, besides rings of gold with stones upon their fingers. Their hair, which is black, is gracefully tied up in a bowknot at the back of the head... The chieftains wear braids of beaten gold of varied design and many of them wear shoes, and their womenfolk also have dainty footwear, many using gold-trimmed velvet shoes, and white petticoats.

“Both men and women, especially the chief people, are very clean and tidy about their person and garments, and of goodly and graceful carriage. They are very particular about their hair and take a pride in having it very black; they wash it with the boiled bark of a tree called gogo and anoint it with oil of sesame mixed with musk and other perfumes.”

The Frenchman, Guillame Joseph Hyacinthe Jean Baptiste Le Gentil de las Galasiere, published in 1769 A Voyage to the Indian Seas, a record made shortly after the British troops pulled out of Manila. Le Gentil preferred native and mestiza women to the Spanish women in Manila whom he dismissed as deformed.

“For my part,” he said of the Filipino, “their color seems to me even more strange, and I find it difficult to compare it with anything. To me, it seems to approach more closely a light dead leaf color. The color of the women is lighter. They have beautiful black hair, of which they take great care, washing it with perfumed oil. They say that they do this to keep if free from dandruff, which, without the oil, would be quite considerable; but it is possible that a little vanity enters into this. However, the fact is that I have never seen among any other people with such beautiful hair as that of the native women of Manila. They wear it very long. It is by no means unusual to see women with very thick hair, so long that it touches the ground when they stand upright. They take pride in having long hair, and it would be impossible to inflict upon them a greater misfortune than cut it off. They do not use any ribbons or bands to die up their long hair. The men as well as the women braid their hair and tie it in a knot on top of the head. They have beautiful eyes, well shaped and black. Some of them have gray eyes...”

“They wear a kerchief, with a red border, around the neck. These kerchiefs are a great luxury in Manila...Wealthy women wear one over the hair, another around the neck, and carry another in the hand...

“The women’s chemises do not come down as far as the men’s shirts, and they are also worn very loose. They are made open at the throat and very low cut, so that they barely cover half of the breast. They are not made with cuffs like the men’s shirts, and are not fastened with buttons.

“For the rest of the body the women use a length of cloth which they wrap around themselves, tucking one of the ends in at the waist. This covering is called a tapis. The tapis is worn by all the native women of this archipelago. It is ordinarily made of silk and only comes down to the middle of the calf of the leg.
“...One sees women who have skirts of Indian cloth, made with tucks almost like those of our women, but they never go out without putting a tapis over the skirt. The foundation color of the tapis is chestnut brown, sometimes solid, sometimes with thin red stripes, and sometimes traversed by large red bands, occasionally embroidered. Over all this the women wear a sort of cape made in the Spanish style, with which they cover the whole body from head to foot. Around their necks, on their breasts, on their wrists and on their fingers they wear gold jewelry. A woman must be poor indeed not to have any. When they go out they wear very clean slippers embroidered with gold or silver. I do not understand how they can keep them on, for these slippers are as narrow and short as can be. They are in fact made in such a way that only the four big toes can be put inside, the little tow being left outside; and they are so short that these women have more than half of the heel projecting beyond the slipper. They wear a very large pin of gold or silver, very cleverly worked, which they use as an ornament for the coil they make of their hair.”

He contradicted a Franciscan friar’s statement that the native women wore modest clothes. “For my part, I take the liberty of not being entirely of this opinion. These garments are perhaps the most immodest which one could imagine...In order to get an idea of this clothing, outside the church, one must imagine a very pretty mestiza girl with a fine figure (as almost all of them have), whose beautiful black hair is piled up in a coil on her head, and the coil fastened with a gold pin. She wears a magnificent kerchief, embroidered and fastened so that it stands upright and goes around the head in such a way as to leave almost all the hair visible. The chemise, over which they put nothing, is loose fitting and made of a fabric so fine that it conceals nothing. Furthermore, this chemise is cut so low - that is to say, so open at the top - that it leaves uncovered the upper part of the shoulders and half of the breast. It is true that almost all these women wear an embroidered kerchief over the chemise; but this kerchief, to my mind, is nothing but a refinement of coquetery - indeed, it is not fastened in front, as our women wear it; the two sides and two bands hang carelessly under the arms.

“The skirt comes under the chemise and does not prevent it from floating loosely. A clean tapis is put over this skirt; but as it does not come more than half way down the leg, it exposes all the lower part of the skirt; and the tapis is wrapped so closely that from behind one can see the shape of the body. Add to this the tiny slippers the native women wear and which, with the tight-fitting tapis, perhaps require them to adopt their peculiar style of walking, and you will get an idea of the modest garments of the native women of the Philippines!”
***
Another Frenchman, Paul P. De La Gironiere, who lived in the Philippines from 1820 to 1840, wrote Twenty Years in the Philippines, in which he described his adventures in the archipelago and the estate he created, Jalajala. He too admired the women of the Philippines:
“In the evening, Spaniards, English, and French, go to the promenades to ogle the beautiful and facile half-breed women, whose transparent robes reveal their splendid figures. That which distinguishes the females half-breeds (Spanish-Tagalogs, or Chinese-Tagalogs) is a singularly intelligent and expressive physiognomy. Their hair, drawn back from the face, and sustained by long golden pins, is of marvellous luxuriance. They wear upon the head a kerchief, transparent like a veil, made of the pina fibre, finer than our finest cambric; the neck is ornamented by a string of large beads fastened by a gold medallion. A transparent chemisette, of the same stuff as the headdress, descends as far as the waist, covering, but not concealing, a bosom that has never been imprisoned in stays. Below, and two or three inches from the edge of the chemisette, is attached a variously coloured petticoat of very bright hues. Over this garment, a large and costly silk sash closely encircles the figure, and shows its outline from the waist to the knee. The small and white feet, always naked, are thrust into embroidered slippers, which cover but the extremities. Nothing can be more charming, coquettish, and fascinating, than this costume, which excites in the highest degree the admiration of strangers. The half-breed and Chinese-Tagalogs know so well the effect it produces on the Europeans, that nothing would induce them to alter it.”
***
Robert MacMicking, a Scot who lived in Manila and wrote Recollections of Manila and the Philippines (during 1848, 1849, and 1850) had his own opinion:
“A number of the women are very beautiful, for although their skin is dusky, the ruddiness of their blood shows through it on the cheek, producing a very beautiful colour, and their dark, lustrous eyes in general lit up with intelligence and vivacity of expression, than those of any Indians I have seen elsewhere.
“A very pleasant trait, to my taste, is the nearly universal frankness and candid look that nature has stamped upon their features which, when accompanied by the softness of manner common to all Asiatics, is particularly gratifying in the fairer part of creation.

“Their figures are well shaped, being perfectly straight and graceful, and nearly all of them have the small foot and hand, which may be regarded as a symbol of unmixed blood when very small and well shaped, as although the mestizas gain from their European progenitor a great fairness of skin, they generally retain the marks of it in their larger bones, and their hands and feet are seldom so well shaped as those of the pure-bred Indian, even though the Spaniards are noted for possessing these points in equal of greater perfection than the people of other European countries.

He too made note of their hair, “as one of the most remarkable beauties in the native and mestiza women, being very much longer and of a finer gloss, than that of any Europeans.”
***
The reader should not be misled into thinking that all foreigners’ accounts recorded Filipinas as beautiful because there were critical ones, curiously by Americans who visited the Philippines at the turn-of-the century. But for now let us glory in these early reports of admiration for our Filipino women
~emd~

MANILA BOOK FAIR - ANVIL BOOTH

Marily Orosa sent me pictures of the Anvil Booth in the book fair in Manila. Some 40 authors, Marily and I included, have their photos featured. Our picture is sandwiched between the photo of Felice Sta. Maria, looking intent and sultry, and Linda Panlilio in a formal dress. I think I have a double-chin in the picture, but Marily says, "We look nice. We look young and natural and happy and confident. No, I dont think you have double chin." Marily is my good friend, you can guess.

I'm assuming that the books Marily and I co-edited, A La Carte Food & Fiction and Behind the Walls: Life of Convent Girls are featured, plus my other books by Anvil: Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, Cecilia's Diary, Journey of 100 Years, and Growing Up Filipino (Philippine edition).