What’s common between Captain Mendoza and Venus Raj?

 “Mean what you say and say what you mean.”

The biggest blunder the recent “Major, major” twin tragedies (excuse me for bringing this up again but it’s a must) that happened in the hostage-taking drama and Ms. Universe were all about miscommunication. You can never be wrong in taking communication for granted.

If the dismissed Captain Mendoza were true to his heart to say that he will not hurt his hostages, he may still live up to his family's honor. If Venus Raj (Ms. Philippines) humbly used a translator to answer her question and not be purely overwhelmed by the emotions of the pageant, she wouldn’t be finishing 4^th runner up in the recent 2010 Ms. Universe pageant.

“Ask,” I always tell people when they’re not sure of what they’re observing because through more information, you can never go wrong. Using the right communication, we will avoid fights, quarrels, and God forbid – death and yes, 4^th runner up finishes.

If you want to improve your communication, read this article and improve your skills keeping peace wherever you work and live. The article headlines ten things you should never forget when talking to anybody. If you are one that gets a lot of complaints when people talk to you, this article is for you.

Posted via email from Born 1973

Eight shallow questions about last night's hostage drama

Nothing will justify what former policeman Rolando Mendoza did last night to make the public take his side but what is more troubling is how the police did their job. Obviously, the police did not do a stellar performance in saving more lives or avoiding bloodshed during the drama and this brings forth a lot of questions what should have or shouldn't have happened. This goes the same with the media coverage: Did the presence of media hampered the effectiveness of the police operation? We just don't know. I'm posting some of those questions below to open discussion and learn valuable lessons from this as a concerned citizen of this nation. This will educate us and give us a broader understanding about the unfortunate incident that took place last night.

On the policeman's dismissal - We all know the disgruntled police officer snapped after hearing he lost his job from the service courtesy of the investigation made by the Office of the Ombudsman:

1. Why wasn't the former policeman's motion for reconsideration heard?
2. How many more cases like this is happening or will happen because the authorities in justice are not doing their job?

Just before the shooting started - It started minutes after the police (with full media coverage) took the hostage taker's brother into custody

1. Who authorized the arrest of the brother of the hostage taker that potentially started the situation?
2. Did the police know that the tourist bus have a television monitor to know what was going on when they arrested the brother of the hostage taker?
3. Didn't they know that the media will swarm on the arrest of the hostage taker's brother?

On the assault - If you watched the live or taped coverage of the drama, you'll have the same questions

1. What were the SWAT doing smashing the windows instead of using night vision goggles to track down Mendoza inside the bus?
2. In smashing the windows why were the police lacking materials to perform their operation like having ladders to smash the windows?
3. Why did the SWAT team go inside the bus without night vision goggles or even a flash light?

Photo credit: Pat Roque/AP (bus) / smh.com.au/AP (rolando mendoza)

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Bad Politics

What is this public-owned vehicle doing in Megamall?

Due diligence is a must to keep the public aware (in this case, Manila City residents) of public officials wanton abuse of our tax money for their own private needs.

This pictures were taken today (Ninoy Aquino's death anniversary day) at SM Megamall Building B, around 11:30 AM, at its second level parking. The two Manila City Tax-owned vehicles with District 1 Manila Congressman Asilo's name on it, were parked right in front of the mall's doors. Notice how they took out the plate number of the public vehicle to avoid being detected. However, they could not take away the conduction sticker off the windshield of the vehicle. They thought they won't be detected.

Ninoy's death in 1984 was the Filipinos' awakening of his/her consciousness of what should be done to right the wrong.

Does Rep. Atong Asilo know this? Does Mayor Alfredo Lim know this?

It's sad that such barangay public officials just don't get it. Let's fire these abusive people, please.

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Posted via email from Bad Politics

Starbucks is now offering Free wifi

via mashable.com

This news is from the U.S. but the main question now is when would Starbucks Philippines implement this? This is definitely great news especially to the Filipino market who loves to go online with their new found multimedia toys like iPhone, iPads, Macbooks, Vaios, and other smart phones. To many of the online community, this initiative by the coffee shop giant is long overdue. Starbucks is a place for reading books, studying, and research. Having this new feature will give more people reasons to go and enjoy the ambiance this Seattle-based coffee place offers. After this great news, you should know that Starbucks will also offer exclusive content only they could give customers. It's called Starbucks Digital Network or SDN. The said network will offer exclusive customers exclusive content only they could provide. According to Helium.com, when online inside their shops customers will get to choose five channels to get exclusive content for their purpose: News, Entertainment, Wellness, Business & Careers and My Neighborhood. Now, how exclusive this will be relies heavily on how enjoyable the experience is. Right now, it sounds promising, with Apple iTunes providing free downloads in the Entertainment channel of this SDN. The other providers are The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

With this new feature, I sure hope Starbucks will win more customers but like I said it all depends on what their content can provide customers so we'll see how this will figure out in their operations.

Why Google Wave Will Live

No matter how much bashing Google Wave gets, I still think this Google application is a genius. The moment I got wind of its Beta testing, I requested for an account and started toying with it. As soon as I started using it, I saw all the possibilities that I can do with it to help me in my work and personal life. In fact, I dubbed it as the "Facebook-killer" because you can do so much more interactivity with it. In fact, I find Facebook (FB) mundane nowadays - reading other people's stats is not really that interesting for me. Yes FB gets me connected with other people but I need something more useful and meaningful that will last longer than pop culture - hint-hint.

People, especially in the Philippines, love chatting and sharing stories with one another. And Google Wave is perfect for that. In fact you can never go wrong with chatting because people need to exchange words than just posting and not knowing if people will connect or not. Google Wave thread any conversations (like gmail, of course) you make but with photos and other visual capabilities that could make the interaction more meaningful. You can share pictures, do polling, plan events, draft and edit documents, share music and videos, brainstorm. . .there's so much possibilities you can do with it. In fact, people that I asked to try it said they liked it too - especially when we start editing work online and real time.

With all the promise Google Wave can give me, I hope Google will not take The Wave out. I like the wave and there's huge potential in what it can do to help people get meaningful connections both at home and at work. I feel Google Wave didn't get the chance to be known more for people to enjoy its full potential.

Trivia
Aside from "Facebook-killer," do you want to know what other names I gave it to tell people about it? Other names I gave were "Yahoo! Messenger on Steroids" or "Email meets Facebook meets Yahoo! Messenger." How can you not love Google Wave?

Arroyo Admin to Aquino Admin: Be kind and fair to Arroyo

"I wish that those coming in to govern in the coming weeks will understand, as they start engaging bureaucracy and the people in government, that they’re there to support. They should not look at our brothers and sisters in government as just people sitting around, and using their position for their own personal interest." - Donald Dee, PCCI Member

via showbizandstyle.inquirer.net

I wonder what he and Sec. Bautista-Horn means when they said to be fair with President Arroyo. Their statements want me to ask two questions: If they have nothing to hide, why fear? and Is President-elect Aquino that vindictive and blood-thirsty to put outgoing President Arroyo behind bars?

For Sec. Bautista-Horn's part, I think she got it all wrong if she thinks all the Filipinos ever want to have are infrastructures. I think it's wrong to surmise that all we want are tall buildings, modern trains, and tough bridges. In my opinion, the good secretary should've just be humble enough that the Arroyo Administration has all these to offer and we hope the incoming administration could just further help the Filipinos in their plight until 2016. Something like that. But to suggest what people should feel is not within their rights. Unsolved social injustices, railroading congress, and unaccountable system of governance does not even merit a grade of "good." It's poor and it's compromising the moral fibers of our nation. Lastly, I don't like what Sec. Bautista-Horn said, ". . .I am very hopeful that the next President will further build on our achievements for the greater good of our people." "Our achievements," Ms. Horn? As far as I'm concerned, I think you should've just termed it as "these achievements" because you sound like somebody owes something to this administration. I think the Filipino people do not appreciate tangible progress without the intangible progress.

For Mr. Dee's remarks, it makes me want to ask why people would think that everyone inside the administration are just "sitting around, and using their position for their own personal interest." Are you saying exactly what people thinks? If that was so then you hit the bull's eye. Your statements should be answered with, "if there's smoke, there must be fire." And you just admitted that there is something hugely wrong with this administration's branding and system of governance.

To the men and women of President Arroyo's administration, "Thank you." You guys did your best under the circumstances. But never dictate what those you serve should think about this administration. Allow the people to reap what you worked on and just agree with the statement said once before to allow history decide on what Pres. Arroyo and her administration did. If you think you did enough then that's probably good for you but let us think for ourselves.

Posted via email from Bad Politics

La Nina threatens Australia

via heraldsun.com.au

It sounds funny to actually imagine that Australia will be bombarded by buckets full of water but that imagery does not bode well for those who will be affected by the continuous downpour of rain. Because of trash, clogged drainage, and undisciplined neighbors of ours - we are bound to suffer more than our neighbors down under. What is the government doing about it right now? Who's overseeing the progress of taking out the clogged sewer system we have in the city? Are we planting more than we should? The hot summer months killed most of the trees that's supposed to hold rain water from the highlands. What are we doing to remedy the situation? What are we doing to prevent disastrous problems?

Posted via email from Bad Politics