Pilot episode: Disturbing events in the US

“The events unfolding in the US since the start of 2025 look like the pilot episode of a multiseason political TV series — amusing as fictional drama but disturbing as a real newscast.”

Not to be self-important about it, but those are my own words, which I posted earlier today on my Tumblr and BlueSky accounts. I’m quoting myself simply because I don’t want to be accused of plagiarizing myself.

It’s not even a unique observation. Many others, I imagine, have the same idea, though they may say it differently.

Elegy for nine

Nine people are dead, one of them the ex-cop who pulled the trigger before being shot himself by a former brother in the service.

This not about one nation’s embarrassment and another nation’s outrage, although those are understandable and very real reactions, most of us being accustomed to living in just one country with people of the same race and nationality.

So even in this age of instant global communication, the us-and-them reflex lingers.

Last stand at the grandstand

Let’s all spare ourselves the fancy analysis.

Rolando Mendoza, a former police officer, decided to arm himself and take a busload of tourists as hostages.

Why? He claimed to have been a victim of injustice and he wanted that corrected.

How? By doing an injustice to total strangers so that the authorities would hear him out.

It’s the haircut

Maybe it’s the weird haircut affecting his judgment. Kim Jong Il lets the military explode a nuke, despite objections from all over the world, and he expects other countries, especially his next-door neighbors, to just shrug their shoulders and think: “Oh, the guy really means no harm. He’s just having a bad-hair day.”

Maybe he’s thinking that everyone's in on a plot to invade North Korea. But what the hell for? His country doesn’t have anything anyone can possibly want, except maybe kimchi — but then I doubt if they’re even eating as much of that as their southern brothers.

@ ATM

A phone that sniffs you out

Siemens, the German telecommunications company, is working on a mobile phone that could would sound an alarm if its owner's breath or body starts to stink.

It’s not a joke. You can read the article at the Reuters Oddly Enough site.

No sex as domestic abuse

Just read this bit of news from Reuters about a Spaniard who tried to sue his wife for domestic abuse. 

What sort of abuse? 

Well, she refused to have sex with him for five consecutive days. In his complaint, he said it was “degrading treatment.”

Kanino ba dapat magalit?

Napakahirap na sitwasyon ang hinaharap ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas, naipit ito sa dalawang desisyon na parehong puwedeng palakpakan at puwede rin namang mapulaan.

Tama lang na gawin nito ang lahat para mailigtas si Angelo de la Cruz, ang truck driver na nakidnap ng mga terorista sa Iraq. Katungkulan nito na protektahan ang mga Pinoy, nandito man o nasa ibang bansa.

Pero eto ang problema: Baka pagsisihan nito ang desisyon nitong bumigay sa mga terorista. Kahit sino na lang sigurong sangganong may gustong may ipilit ipagawa sa atin eh bigla na lang manghahablot ng kahit sinong Pinoy at tutukan ito ng baril - at pag di natin sinunod ang hilig nito, eh di nasa konsensiya pa ang pagkamatay ng hostage.

Syatap

Ang lakas ng loob nung nagbigay nung “shut up note” kay Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dingalen. Pero masisi kaya natin yung nagbigay nun? Kung sino man yung taong yun, isa lang siguro siya sa maraming mga mamamayang naririndi na sa tila walang katapusan, at tila wala ring hahantungang, satsatan at epalan sa Kongreso.

Ganito ba ang uri ng mga politikong ibinoto ng mga tao para magpatakbo ng gobyerno natin? Teka, baka hindi tamang salita yang “magpatakbo.” Hindi rin ata tatama ang “magpalakad.” Siguro mas eksakto ang “magpagapang.”