GOVERNMENT AND PEACE

In the case of harassment of government officials by hired goons, we are dealing with two types of coercion.

The first is coercion per se, the human threat of physical harm against another human. A person who is coerced is limited to the choice of either doing that which the other wants done; or to suffer physical pain or immobility, even death. Some would consider this not much of a choice!

MANILA FILM FASCISM

It isn’t that the Metro Manila Film Festival movies are bad ― and they are most likely all bad (I’m not going to bother watching to find out).

“DIESEL ONLY” ― THANKS, SUPREME COURT!

About a month ago, I made an off-hand comment about the FPIC pipeline leak issue:

I’ll be damned if the Supreme Court, kalikasan declaration in hand, does not sanction FPIC beyond what is sensible. That’s for us to wait and see.

And what do you know, the results speak for themselves. Most gas stations today are short on supply, or at least short of the means of distributing supply; you see ‘DIESEL ONLY’ or ‘UNLEADED ONLY’ signs everywhere, and from what I hear, whatever supply there is costs a lot more (not just centavos more per liter) than it did just a couple of weeks before. Personally, I’m worried about the next time I have to refuel.

MONETARY STIMULUS = BAD ECONOMICS = BAD ECONOMY

It’s a wonder that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco recognizes that the ‘liquidity’-fueled boom of late could not last, and that he expects things to slow down next year.

But if you think that he is calling for good, sober economics, you would be mistaken.

His projection of a rise in bond yields is based on the (correct) notion that prices are increasing at a faster rate in relation to previous periods, for which demand for securities would tend to drop.

Yet Tetangco’s attitude, and the attitude of most economists is, “When things heat up a bit, we will will slow things down a notch, and then rinse and repeat.”

STUPID HEADLINE OF THE DAY: “OVER MY DEAD BODY ― LACSON”

I’ve talked about the tendency of the Inquirer to ‘S.S.’ a story, but this is ridiculous. Such a strong statement by Senator Ping Lacson, or so we’re made to believe. It turns out, not once does he actually use those words in his Facebook message on which the quote is based.

CLINT EASTWOOD DID IT BETTER, a.k.a. DIRTY HARRY’S REIGN OF TERROR

Back when I did my work in the lower House of Congress in Batasan, QC, I’d often hear congressmen use the quote, “Dura lex, sed lex,” or “The law may be harsh, but it is the law.” Speaking in Latin was supposed to make these legislators sound smart.