ZTE Deal - Acquired Narcissism

Here is a Press Release from our friends at The Black and White Movement (BnW):

The Black & White Movement
29 August 2007

ACQUIRED NARCISSISM

In a recent story reported on CNN about an American senator busted for lewd behavior, the reporter coined the term "acquired narcissism" to explain how people in high places find it easy to behave in bizarre ways, as if their stature entitled them the license to do what they please, believing they operate under different rules because of that stature.

We are tempted to use this description in regard to the actions of some of our leading political personalities. Take, for instance, the purported actions of some government officials connected to the ZTE deal. Did the "Comelec official" mentioned in Jarius Bondoc's recent column (ZTE deal conceived in hotel 'sexcapades', Philippine Star) think that his alleged trips to China, ostensibly to broker the ZTE deal, would go unnoticed and unreported? Did this official think that the mantle of protection offered by his position would be enough to render him "invisible" to scrutiny?

Does DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza think that the charges being leveled against him by Rep. Carlos Padilla in regard to the ZTE deal will go the way most cases go in this country - nowhere?

The answer to these questions is, of course, yes. Absolutely. The ZTE deal, like all the issues bedeviling the administration, will not go away. Not least because the more they try to confuse the issue, the more that the public zeroes in on official wrongdoing.

To be sure, many people in the present and past governments have been behaving with impunity for years. As if it was their right to act without fear of penalty, raid our coffers and subvert our institutions without a care in the world. Elected and appointed officials seem concerned mainly with enriching themselves, not serving the people.

The "Comelec official" should have been busy working on giving us the honest and orderly elections we deserve, not running around China receiving dubious hospitality while brokering shady deals. The DOTC Secretary should have been immersed in improving our telecommunications networks with our benefit in mind, not his, if the allegations against him are true.

Slowly but surely, people have been working to combat that culture of official impunity, this "acquired narcissism". And so there is hope - through the writing of Jarius Bondoc and other journalists, the arrogance of some officials to bamboozle us via the ZTE deal has been brought to light. Through the actions of Rep. Padilla, we may get some relief.

The Black & White Movement lauds the actions being taken to uncover the elusive truth we have been seeking. We need to lift the veil of obfuscation, to clear our vision of smoke and mirrors. Only then will we be able to find resolution to these, and many other, important issues that this government wishes to keep obscured from view.

Misquoting Spiderman's Uncle Redux

It wasn't that long ago when the issue that occupied bloggers who counted themselves as part of the Oppostion was the threat of government repression. Around the time of PP1017, CPR, EO464 and all that, it was Mike Defensor who was admonishing us that freedom comes with great responsibility to which journalist Carlos Conde penned a magnificent rebuttal. I am reposting his essay since i feel the time is right to revisit its message:

With great power…*

By Carlos H. Conde

I find it extremely ironic that this administration, which exploited the sins of the press to justify a campaign of harassment and intimidation against its members, itself committed what would amount to a journalistic infraction: it misquoted the uncle of Spider-Man.

We hear them much too often these days, all the president’s men pontificating on television, on the radio and in print about how we, Filipinos, particularly journalists, should exercise more responsibility given the tremendous freedom we have.

Freedom of the press is not absolute, says the always smug secretary of justice. It comes with it a great amount of responsibility, chimes in Arroyo’s chief of staff, he who is so young and so…

But Uncle Ben never said, “With great freedom comes great responsibility.” What he told Spider-Man was: “With great POWER comes great responsibility.”

Please ponder for a moment this difference in the quotes. And while you do that, let me tell you a thing or two about my opinion of freedom.

I think there is no such thing as a partial freedom. Either you have it or you don’t. In an ideal world, people should be free to do whatever they want. It goes without saying that they know the consequences of that freedom.

In the context of the press, journalists expect unbridled freedom. If they abuse this freedom, freedom itself – in this case, the freedom by consumers to switch channels or subscribe to another paper — will check them. Freedom has a way, you see, of punishing those who abuse it.

I am willing to concede, however, that the State may be justified in its desire to sometimes attempt to curtail our freedoms. We see that in countries in which contending forces, if not checked, could end up destroying themselves, their people and their nation.

But for this regime to invoke the importance of responsibility vis-à-vis freedom in order to supposedly keep the peace is an arrogant and self-righteous notion. Self-serving, too, because, as we all know, this regime’s motives in declaring a state of national emergency was not the protection of the State. It was for the protection of its president.

This brings us to Uncle Ben’s quote about responsibility being a corollary of great power. Guess who acted irresponsibly in using its great power?

Guess who, according to various testimonies and allegations, used great power to subvert the results of the 2004 elections?

Guess who used great power to compromise the armed forces, which today is more politicized than ever before?

Guess who used great power to promote the same military officials implicated in the 2004 election cheating, thus assuring that nothing would come out of whatever investigation that was going to happen?
Guess who used great power to sow discontent within the military?

Guess who used great power to quash the ideals and dreams of these young men and women in the service?

Guess who used great power to arrest constitutionally elected members of the House of Representatives?

Guess who used great power to murder dozens of activists and journalists, constrict the democratic space and stifle dissent?

Guess who used great power to send troops storming the office of a puny but noisy newspaper?

Guess who used great power to intimidate and harass the press, threatening media companies of actual takeovers if they don’t toe the regime’s line?

This regime has had great, great power, and never had any compunction to use it – irresponsibly, if needed — in order to survive.

*Posted March 14, 2006 in Davao Today

Today, the calls for freedom with responsibility in support of the issue of the day comes from fellow Oppositionist Bloggers.

It's been said before that the measure of free speech is the degree to which our society can accommodate opposing (and even offensive) views. Asking someone to shut up is a sign that we fear not being able to win the argument fair and square. More importantly, what is being lost is the all important element of consistency. We can be sure that the government and other interested parties are just waiting for the right moment to turn our arguments (which used to be their arguments) against us. Compelling a person's (or a group's) silence will only come at the expense of the common space of freedom that we all share and need.

BoA The Live - The Love Bug ft M-flo

A catchy, upbeat number from BoA and rap group M-Flo.

Languages Used and the Perception of Intelligence

Thanks to educator-activist Antonio Calipjo Go, the errors found in Philippine school textbooks are now well publicized and discussed. The focus has rightly been on how the Department of Education (DECS) can allow obviously poor quality textbooks to be distributed for use. Apart from this issue however, i believe that another aspect needs to be looked at. In an earlier post by Jessica Zafra, she listed ten examples of errors found in these textbooks:

1. “Walang ulap kung umaga. Nasinghot na ng lumalaking populasyon.”
   
2. “Many Filipino men and women have brains.”
   
3. “He seemed to be waiting for someone, not a blood relation, much less a bad blood.”
   
4. “People are not made to float like a bird.”
   
5. “Seeing a rainbow in the sky is like a dream that disappears that’s why a child wants it painted permanently in the sky.”
   
6. “As the campers trek through the trail at the rainboat they’ll stop now and then. They had huffs and puffs.”
   
7. “The chicken was dressed. They stripped off her feathers, served her quite bare and everyone poked at her breast.”
   
8. “God’s footsteps bulged the mountains up. God like morning bending over her baby kneeled down in the dust.”
   
9. “On Basilio’s skull, fire nicked. The tiny fire had a blow, huge and quick. He touched the fire on his skull. Past all that is beyond, he runs.”
   
10. “Si Pres. Garcia ay kumita ng unang liwanag sa Talibon, Bohol.”

Assuming the sample list is representative of the population of errors, we can see above that a majority are errors that can be attributed to the author's inability to express himself/herself in English.

A switch to Filipino language would eliminate these kinds of mistakes. What is true of the textbook authors all the more applies to the majority of Filipinos. As an example, the humor from this post at Expectorants is derived largely from the same sort of mistakes (intentional or otherwise).

Mistakes in the use of English encourage the impression that the speakers are less intelligent that they actually are. Since English is widely used in the Philippines, mistakes occur quite frequently and the impression of lack of intelligence is reinforced. Our more prosperous neighbors, Japan and China also have their share of well publicized English mistakes but these do not have a widespread negative affect on the perception of intelligence of the ordinary Japanese and Chinese because they largely express themselves in their local tounge.

I believe textbook authors and most Filipinos will be able to express themselves more intelligently if allowed to use the language they are more comfortable with.

Malu Fernandez' Apology

Via Slap Happy, Malu Fernandez resigns from the two publications and issues the following apology:

"I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled 'From Boracay to Greece!' which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world. I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.

As the recent recipient and target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults, I now truly understand the insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor. Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions. It is my fervent hope that the lessons that Ive learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred ( against overweight individuals , for example )

I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest."

I do hope she is sincere with the above apology which i think is as good as any that i've come across. A clear victory for OFW's, for bloggers (who did not need the help of Old Media in this campaign) and against elitism. However, i think the attacks directed at her weight will be historically viewed in a negative light. I also believe that the campaign to fire her is a setback for free speech and sets a potentially dangerous precedent as explained by Jego.

Update Aug-24-2007 10:15PM: Despite its being, in my view, a setback for free speech, it can also be considered a victory for a form of direct democracy that blogger Sparks calls the Cyber Counterculture Movement. I believe that at least some of the credit for this phenomenon goes to this individual.

Update Aug-24-2007 10:21PM: Via Manolo, Jove Francisco posts one of the most moving tributes to the OFW that i've read (particularly because it does not go over the top).

Update Aug-26-2007 3:27PM: Blogger Dominique compares the recent blogstorm to a Lynch Mob. While there are similarities with real life lynch mobs, i think that the analogy can be stretched too far. After all, what makes lynch mobs unnacceptable is the element of physical violence which is not possible in a virtual environment. For example, in the Blogosphere, Malu Fernandez can always put up her own blog where the worst thing that can happen to her is to be ignored.

Update Aug-27-2007 11:03PM: Blogger Smoke points to an interesting twist a-la Poltergeist II.

Summer Scent - Zuo You Wei Nan Song

Excuse the cheesy music video, but i have been looking for this song from way back. I have no idea what it's about but i like the melody.

Elitist Mindset in Action

Via Schumey, it is clear that whatever school this lady came from did not teach history properly. It is also unfortunate that her parents failed to teach her the right values. As expected, she and like-minded individuals would rationalize that they are just 'being real'. Of course, such an excuse is self-serving because facing reality in its fullness would require admitting to themselves that they are grotesque specimens of humanity.

Either that or she's just channeling Simoun and trying to manufacture another EDSA Tres moment, in which case all i can say is congratulations and keep up the good work.

Update (August 17, 12:25pm): It turns out that the columnist is Migz Zubiri's aunt.





It figures.

Update (August 18, 2:33PM): I'm not in favor of having her fired for the same reasons given by John Marzan. It was really only a matter of time before the inevitable Tu Quoque would be brought up, which as has been discussed before, is logically flawed but may be morally compelling depending on the context. I've been in enough conversations (with both fellow OFW's and home-based Pinoys) where we have criticized other nationals for the very same reasons that Malu Fernandez has so i would have to toss aside the stone on this one.

Update (August 18, 8:29PM): As a response to those who are not in favor of getting Fernandez fired, blogger Sparks stresses the importance of distinguising between private communication (e.g. among a circle of friends) and writing for public consumption. I still have to digest the significance of this line of argument. My ambivalence towards firing is that i don't want this line of thinking to go underground. Here in Singapore, the government has legislated 'Out of Bounds' (OB) markers, i.e. matters that cannot be talked about. I wouldn't want our own version of that. If the Manila Standard wants to build itself up as the newspaper for the elitist mindset, then that's their lookout. It's better if the elitists and racists are where we can see them so that we can put them up as negative examples. For one thing, Malu Fernandez' name dropping could be useful for the purposes of a future transitional spring cleaning.

EDSA Tres and the Filipino Majority

Ten days ago over at Manolo's, i made the following comment...

grd, to me mlq3’s blog site roughly* represents the sensibilities of the EDSA Dos crowd which has fragmented to different camps because of Gloria’s illegitimacy. ellen’s site roughly* represents EDSA Tres and therefore the Filipino majority. Our nation can only move forward if both sections of our society engage in an honest dialogue, but that can only be built on an atmosphere of mutual respect. As it is, i see that many over here still subscribe to your (and Benign0’s) attitude of refusing to empathize and understand and instead assuming an air of unwarranted superiority. Just as One Voice is supposed to reunite the EDSA Dos crowd, there should be an equivalent attempt to do so between EDSA Dos and EDSA Tres camps. As it is, post election dynamics seems to be going the opposite direction.

* Please note emphasis on the ‘roughly’.

...to which Rom reacted:

"cvj:just a minor quibble - edsa tres cannot represent the majority of the nation, whether numerically or ideologically."

I promised an explanation so i did some research. I got hold of this book that Manolo recommended two weeks back and this in turn led me to the Pulse Asia’s October 2005 Ulat ng Bayan Survey Report: Media Release on People Power. The survey reports on the in EDSA, EDSA Dos and EDSA Tres. As shown in the table below, for the latter, it was at around 2 percent nationwide:
Source: Pulse Asia
Two percent of the adult (over 18) population is around 1 million, clearly not a majority but we already knew that. The real question is, how much support did the crowd have? This is answered by the survey question on the level of support for such a mass action which according to the table below is eight percent nationwide:

Source: Pulse Asia
Eight percent is about eight million, again clearly not a majority. To cross-validate this data, we can use the votes given to Loi Ejercito Estrada during the May 2001 elections as proxy for support of EDSA Tres which is at 10.5 million.

Therefore**, linking the EDSA Tres crowd to the majority does not stand up to scrutiny. On this assertion, I stand corrected. Whatever electoral majority that the Opposition achieved in the recent elections has sources other than (or in addition to) that particular People Power event.

** Assuming the above survey results are representative of the general population and subject to the margin of error.

Civil War as Psychotherapy

I am disturbed at how often i hear Civil War being proposed by the very people who would most likely be its victims. Just the other day, commenter BrianB over at mlq3 sounded like a true Jacobin when he declared:

"Pare, France is a great place to live in because of the Terror. Besides, we have smarter people than Danton and Robespierre. People who know how to blog and look at their email."

Naturally, I was heartened when another commenter Devilsadvc8 responded:

"You’ll be surprised at how many “smart” people revert back to being barbaric when surrounded by evil. I believe Winnie Monsod called it Lucifer Effect (or something) That’s what happened to the French revolution. anger got out of hand, and fellow revolutionaries who showed a hint of sympathy with the enemies, were hanged along with them. it’s like the NPA purges. anything less than blind obedience (or great acting) would be branded as a betrayal of the cause... and btw, if this were to happen (an Bastille-like event), you think those who blog and email will be the ones leading it or the ones being dragged out into the streets? use your imagination man."

Nicely said, i thought to myself, which is why i was taken aback when on the very next day, the same Devilsadvc8 pretty much endorsed BrianB's idea from the day before:

"I believe civil war can do what everyone has failed to do. unite the survivors of that war in a common goal of correcting our past’s terrible effect on our psyche, and forging a new history for the Filipino people. spilling blood and fighting for a cause are what Filipinos need."

I have since had further exchanges with him over at that thread on the merits of this option. What i find specially curious is the commonly held belief in the supposed benefits of such an event on the Philippine national psyche. Back in 2005, another mlq3 commenter 'X' made a similar suggestion:

"you know ive been thinking about something similar to what the automechanic said. Perhaps is lies in the fact that the price we pay for our democracy is too cheap. assemble a few thousand people in Edsa, convince a few influential people to be there too and convince the military to join. it’s too easy.

unlike with bloodshed. it something that nobody wants to experience, and if we as a people carry some sort of baggage in our psyche about not wanting to have bloodshed again, perhaps FIlipinos would be more protective of TRUE democracy."

I really don't understand how they can assume that those are precisely the lessons that will be learned.

Update 08-11-2007: Devilsadvc8 provides a background on the circumstances that has led him to reach his above recommendation. [Devils, thanks for explaining your side.]

Climate Change and Salt

I just finished watching the 'Mega Disasters: Mega Freeze' documentary in The History Channel which explains how global warming can disrupt the Thermohaline Circulation (THC)* causing an abrupt drop in temperatures in Europe and North America similar to what happened during the Younger Dryas** (12700 to 11500 years Before Present) setting off a chain of disasters that will reduce the estimated carrying capacity of the planet from the current 8 billion people to 2 billion.

If the THC is as important to maintaining the present climate as that documentary says it is, a simple (and perhaps simplistic) solution would be to throw more salt into the Ocean to maintain present levels of salinity. How much more salt and how to do this would be the challenge facing the world's scientists and engineers.

Update 08-11-2007: Via bookforum.com, a pointer to Mad scientists vs. global warming.

Update 01-01-2008: Via bookforum.com, a pointer to The Year's 10 Craziest Ways to Hack the Earth.

*For those who watched The Day After Tomorrow, the disruption of the Thermohaline Circulation is what triggered the Ice Age in that movie.
**Al Gore also talked about this in his movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

This Is Beach

Tag Response: Eight Random Facts About Me

I've been tagged by Sparks. Here are the rules for “8 facts”:

• In the 8 facts about [name], you share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you. At the end, you tag 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going. Each blogger must post these rules first.
• Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• At the end of the post, a blogger needs to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here is mine (in chronological order):

Fact #1: I've had trouble sleeping early (and waking up early) since i was a kid. (Early in my career, i almost got fired because of this.)
Fact #2: I do not follow sporting events.
Fact #3: I hate shopping (except for books or music cd's). It drains me of my life force.
Fact #4: I took up Accounting in College, but i've worked in Information Technology all throughout my working life. I did so in part because i wanted to be were the action is and not just be a scorekeeper. Only later did i realize that scorekeeping is the game and in the business world at least, IT professionals exist mainly to serve Accountants.
Fact #5: I once accidentally deleted the payroll file of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Fact #6: I read only non-fiction books. I estimate that it will take me at least twenty years to go through my collection (more than 800 so far).
Fact #7: I don't mind eating with other people, but on normal days, i prefer eating alone.
Fact #8: I sleep with the lights and tv on, even if the tv is outside my room.

I'm tagging the following eight bloggers:

Jaxius
Torn and Frayed
Village Idiot Savant
Tingog
Manila Bay Watch
Arbet
Schumey
Peryodistang Pinay

Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs (personal nominees)

Via Manolo Quezon, Janette Toral's Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007. My three (3) nominees are:

1. Tingog
2. Smoke
3. Jaxius

As far as i know, all the above have started blogging after August 2006 and have in one way or the other influenced my thinking through their blog entries and comments.

Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago today, i wanted these guys to be bombed to oblivion. I thought to myself then, how dare they disrupt our peaceful, democratic way of life and bring us back to the bad old days of attempted coups. I never expected that i would be voting for one of them in the last election. I still would not condone the way they risked the lives of the Oakwood residents but i do appreciate the logic behind their widthrawal of support. As they have warned us, all is not well and subsequent events have revealed the true nature of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Administration and the Military Generals who prop her up. We are a nation that is fast running out of selfless and wise elders, not that they were in abundant supply in the first place. Our hope as a people rests on enabling young leaders like Captain Faeldon and Senator Trillanes to put their ideals into action, as they have done so since July 27, 2003.

Philippine Elections: What (and What Not) to Automate

Halalang Marangal (HALAL) has released its Audit Report Number 4 on the May 2007 mid-term elections. It details the areas in which the COMELEC and NAMFREL fell short during the past exercise (refer to the PCIJ's blog entry for a summary) and derives lessons on how future elections can be improved. Of particular interest are its recommendations on what part of the process to automate, and more importantly, what not to automate. The current manual system can be divided into three stages:

1. Voting
2. Precinct-level counting
3. Canvass (which takes place at the Municipal, Provincial & National levels)

HALAL recommends that the precinct tally not be automated. The Audit Report states:

"The manual counting of votes at the precinct level is superior to automated counting in terms of openness, transparency, and providing an invaluable lesson in civics to all participants and witnesses. Because it is non-automated and open, it is slow enough that any citizen can actually audit in real-time the counting process. But because of its massively parallel approach of simultaneous tallies in all the two hundred thousand plus precincts in the country, is also fast enough that results are usually in within 6-12 hours."[emphasis mine]

HALAL makes a good point about the social value of the precinct level tally which will be lost if we implemented a system like the one from Mega-Pacific that was junked by the Supreme Court. Instead, it recommends automation to start at the Municipal level canvassing:

"HALAL recommends that ERs be encoded into computers as soon as they are brought to a municipal canvassing center. HALAL recommends, once the ERs are encoded, that original printouts be made available at cost to any interested party, during the municipal canvassing and afterwards, as certified true copies of these ERs...once ERs are encoded, that all subsequent consolidations, additions of row and column totals, computations of indicators like voter turnouts and ballot fill-up rates, and the printing of certified true copies of SOVs/COCs be done with computers."

We can better follow the logic of this recommendation if we look at a timeline of the recently concluded canvassing process:

Timeline of COMELEC Canvass by Region
(click on image to enlarge)

The above timeline shows that canvassing takes much longer than the average precinct tally (which was completed within 6 to 12 hours according to HALAL as quoted above), taking almost sixty days for the entire process to complete. It also reveals a weak relationship between the number of votes and the time taken to canvass those votes. For Region 4A, 36 million aggregate votes for Senators were canvassed in three days. By contrast, the much fewer 8.5 million votes of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) took forty six days for the same process. This means that for the recently concluded election, in terms of percentage of votes canvassed, we found ourselves in a situation where it took as long for the COMELEC to certify the remaining three percent of the Senatorial votes as it did the preceding ninety-seven percent. (Refer to diagram below showing the percentage of Senatorial votes canvassed over time.)

Percentage of Senatorial Votes Canvassed Over Time
(click on image to enlarge)

Entering the results at the initial stage of the canvassing process i.e. the municipal level, would help shorten the duration by taking advantage of the near simultaneous data entry that takes place among the country's hundreds of municipalities. More importantly, it would also make it harder to massage the data further down the line especially if as HALAL advises, it is immediately made available online:

"All ERs, SOVs and COCs should be put online or at least be made available to any interested party, together with their file checksums, at no additional cost, making the entire tabulation process completely transparent."

The attributes of transparency and auditability are emphasized because the last thing we need is an automated system that operates like a black-box. With these in mind, i believe that such an automated system must be built as Open Source software.

Automation that does not lend itself to inspection will just bring forth a younger breed of technology savvy Bedol-types. We can get a flavor of such a 'black box' type system in the results of the local absentee votes. As can be seen in the first diagram above, the canvassing of the local absentee ballots was completed relatively quickly and early (by May 20). Within these local absentee votes, Zubiri emerged as the topnotcher. Was the result fair? Who knows?

Update Aug-24-2007: Via Manolo, it's a hopeful sign that the media is giving some attention to Verzola's advocacy.

Rice and Chips: Replicating the Silicon Valley Model

In his book, Rice and Chips: Technopreneurship and Innovation in Asia, Dennis Posadas, IT industry veteran and BusinessWorld I.T. Matters columnist, identifies what he sees as the distinguishing elements (e.g. geographic clustering, universities and research institutes as catalysts, the availability of venture capital etc.) that made Silicon Valley the exemplar for high technology entrepreneurship and innovation. He then provides a survey on how these elements are being replicated across Asia (including the Philippines) as well as some pointers on how the model is (or can be) adapted to suit the local context. In this area, he touches upon the importance of an institutional framework, the role of returnee Asians from the West as well as the need to promote a culture that tolerates failure.

Much of the value of the book comes from his interviews with Asian entrepreneurs such as Deepak Amin of Covelix and Peter Valdes, Fil-Am co-founder of Tivoli Systems, a systems management software company that was eventually acquired by IBM.

Of particular interest to me is his discussion of the role of industrial policy in developing the Information and High Technology industries which he labels Techno-nationalism and defines as:

"a desire to free their economies from an over reliance on Western technologies, and to be recognized internationally for the ability to develop their own cutting-edge technologies. Most Asian economies drive innovation through national programs rather than market-driven research and development"

This observation squares with what i have previously written about concerning industrial development. The role of the State has been a contentious issue (for example in the comments section here). Nevertheless, i believe that the author remains relatively agnostic about this matter and acknowledges the useful role that multinationals play in driving innovation.

More about matters concerning the book here.

Cebu Prison Inmates Perform Michael Jackson's Thriller

Saw this featured at boingboing.net. With almost 400K hits in 6 days, looks like it's on its way to the Youtube record books.

Rodrik on Kinds of Growth Spurts

Dani Rodrik compares Asian vs. African growth accelerations with respect to over- and under-valuation of the exchange rate. He explains:

"In Asia, growth is typically engineered by increasing the profitability in manufacturing and other tradables. But in Africa the typical growth spurt is preceded by aid inflows and other transfers, which appreciate the exchange rate, and render future growth less sustainable."

Read the whole thing here.

Substitute "remittances" for "aid" and it would appear that we are once again in the wrong continent.

Mama Mary vs. Musa

Manolo Quezon was right. There has been "a last minute miracle of the sinister sort". Of course, Migz Zubiri was also right when he said that "Quezon was not aware of all the strategies, both new and time-tested, employed by my team." Now we know. After today, no one can deny that a mere mortal like Musa Dimasidsing was indeed no match to Mama Mary. This is obvious once we compare their respective track records in driving voter turnout in Maguindanao.Voter Turnout*
(click on image to enlarge)

The diagram above shows that in the municipalities under her control, Mama Mary achieved a voter participation rate in the high 90's, well beyond the 68% national average. Next to this, Musa's anemic 23% voter turnout rate in Pagalungan is hard not to notice.

Encouraging voter participation is one thing, but that's only the start. What really matters is the ability to compel these voters to write 'Zubiri' on the ballot. As shown in the diagram below, while Musa can only manage a 42% success rate, Mama Mary was able to convince no less than 96% of the voters in the Maguindanao Precincts under her responsibility to do so, again much better than the 72% achieved in Zubiri's home province of Bukidnon.

Percentage of Votes Cast for Zubiri**

(click on image to enlarge)
Just to leave no room for doubt that Zubiri's victory is not of this world, Mama Mary left miraculous signs reminiscent of her Son's miracle of the loaves and fishes as manifested through the ballot fill-up rate.
Ballot Fill-Up Rate***
(Click on image to enlarge)
As the diagram above shows, not only were the electorate of one of our poorest province able to achieve ballot fill-up rates beyond that of the members of the A, B & C Classes, with the help of Mama Mary, they even managed to break through the math barrier and fill up more names than the form would allow. The fact that there was a maximum of twelve blanks to be filled up was not an issue when it came to the municipalities of Ampatuan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Paglat, South Upi and Sultan sa Barongis. By contrast, Musa can barely manage to fill in an average of three names per form in Pagalungan.

All this means that Zubiri is correct when he says that he owes his victory to Mama Mary. In the Maguindanao municipalities where Mama Mary was present, Migz was ranked Number 1. It was only in Pagalungan where Migz ended up in a respectable but nevertheless unspectacular 7th place. While as the PCIJ states, it is true that "the Pagalungan voting results also more closely reflect the outcome of elections in the five other provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao", this can also be taken as proof that Pagalungan's results reflect its total lack of supernatural origins.

The above facts speak for themselves and as Wittgenstein would say, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent".

*Source: Why You Should Doubt The Maguindanao Election Results, Avigail Olarte, July 3, 2007. Voter turnout percentages in the diagram is computed by dividing NO. OF REGISTERED VOTERS WHO ACTUALLY VOTED by NO. OF REGISTERED VOTERS (Comelec May 3 Memo). National Voter Turnout computed from National Tally Sheet SENATORIAL CANVASS REPORT No. 30.
**Source: Why You Should Doubt The Maguindanao Election Results - 5, Avigail Olarte, July 12, 2007.
***Source: Why You Should Doubt The Maguindanao Election Results - 4, Isa Lorenzo, July 12, 2007. The Ballot fill-up rates as shown in the diagram for Nationwide-ABC, Nationwide-D and Nationwide-E Classes is from The educational and class vote for Senator, Social Weather Stations (SWS), May 12, 2007. Lady of Manaoag image from http://www.chabelle.com.

Ricky Gervais and The Long Tail

This is probably old news to some of you, but I only came to know about two surprising pieces of information just now:

1. Ricky Gervais of The Office fame was the singer of my favorite new wave song; and
   
2. More To Lose (as performed by his band Seona Dancing) did not do well in the UK Charts or anywhere else. It became a hit only in the Philippines two years after it was released. (It looks like the rest of the world suffered from a failure of taste.)
   

I think that the way this song did poorly in the beginning and eventually became a hit once it reached our shores would qualify as an early example of The Long Tail.