Books « CLEVE.ARGUELLES dotcom

23Jan/1025

Arroyo or Estrada?

President Gloria Arroyo

Former President Joseph Estrada

Hindi man katanggap-tanggap sa atin ang naging pahayag ng COMELEC na payagang tumakbo muli sa pagka-pangulo si Estrada kahit labag ito sa Saligang Batas ng ating bansa, mas kinikilala ko parin siya bilang isang Pangulo kaysa sa naka-upo ngayon. Mas tanggap ko na ang pagtakbo niya muli kaysa sa pagtakbo ng isa sa Kongreso. Kahit ano mang sabihin ng iba na intellectually superior si Arroyo kaysa kay Estrada, wala pa ring patunay ito. Hindi naman napaganda ng current administration ang ekonomiya kahit mas matalino ang pangulo. Mas mataas pa nga ang GDP growth noong panahon ni Estrada kaysa kay Arroyo. Yun lang, talo na siya. Hindi rin natin dapat kalimutan that Estrada willfully faced his accusers. Binitiwan niya ang pagka-pangulo. Hindi naglabas si Estrada ng CPR o Calibrated PreEmptive Response para lang kontrolin ang mga mamamayang nagagalit sa kanya. Wala ring Oplan Bantay Laya na haharang sa mga babatikos sa kanya. Hinarap niya ang mga accussations sa kanya. Hindi siya nag I’m sorry pero patuloy paring hinawakan ang pagka-pangulo. Walang nangyaring pag-sesensor sa mga nagsasalita laban sa kanya, radyo man o TV. Corruption at plunder ang pinakamalaking pagkakamali ni Estrada. Pero ang pangulo ngayon, siya na mismo ang pagkakamali. Si Estrada, ibinoto at inihalal ng mga tao, naluklok siyang alam nating naging tunay ang eleksyon hindi katulad ng pumalit sa kanya na walang mandate at nadaan lamang sa Hello Garci ang pagkahalal. If I were to choose between the two, Estrada is the man.

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I’ve just read a 150 peso autobiography of Senator Chiz Escudero. It’s entitled Say ni Chiz. It’s quite revealing and entertaining. The whole book is written in conversational Taglish. I tried to copy his style by doing a Taglish post here. Anyway, you’d really love how he told his life in the book. It is also accompanied by simple drawings known as comics. It also revealed the personal side of him. Give it a try!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Tagged as: Arroyo, bantay, book, chiz, CPR, ejercito, erap, escudero, Estrada, Gloria, joseph, Laya, Macapagal, ni, Oplan, or, PGMA, Philippines, president, say, Senator, versus 25 Comments

9Apr/090

Branded Nation: The Marketing of MegaChurch, College Inc., and Museumworld

Category:	Books
Genre:	Reference
Author:	James Twitchell

This is a deviation from my interest. Haha. :D Surprisingly, the author is not Michael Crichton. It's James Twitchell. James Twitchell's style in writing is very interesting. It is not technical nor very non-technical. Haha. It allows the reader to be excited and to maintain their interest on the topic but at the same time to acquire deep knowledge and good understanding of the topic. James is witty, funny but also dense.

The book is about the marketing of the Churches, Education and Museum as a commodity and the way, us, the consumers accepts it. Twitchell's insightful explanations of the marketing strategies of the three domain are very interesting and very real since his insights are not far from what is really happening.

If you are an outsider in Marketing, this book is a real blast. But those who are in the field would find it boring since it states the obvious.

Read this and you will not look at Churches, Universities and Museums the same way again. Though this 300-page book can be easily reduced to a 30-page book, it is still interesting to read.

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4 out of 5. :D

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tagged as: branded, churhces, college, inc., james, marketing, megachurch, musuemworld, Nation, of, review, the, twitchell No Comments

18Mar/095

Today’s Extremes

Philo and Math

Earlier this day, our philosopy 1 professor showed us our pre-final grade. Chedeng! I got a grade that is 0.25 short for an "uno." One of my coursemates told me that its the highest na in our class. Ansaya di'ba? :D Then came the result of our second departmental examination in Math 11. I almost forgot I'm a deist. HAHAHA. Yeaaa! ( Sa lahat ata ng pagkakataon na makapag-wish ako, tres lang sa math 11 ang hiling ko.) It came out that i got a score that is half of the passing score. (Grr, bobo ko sa Math 11). And I suddenly realized how extremes my grades are. Sa tingin niyo? Gawwd! TRESSSS! XD The thoughts of taking Math 11 again horrifies me, ayoko maging irreg at ang doomed talaga ng dating sakin. Hays.

Tony Blair Visits Manila

Tony Blair, former prime minister of UK, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, head of the Labour Party in England, and currently UK's special envoy to the Middle East will be visiting Manila this coming March 23 for a speech regarding the functions of a leader as a peace negotiator that was arranged by Campaigns and Grey and De La Salle University-Manila as part of their International Bridge Program.

Event's venue is in Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila. Ticket price? 25, 00 pesos for VIP seats and 1500 pesos for the farthest seat in the general admission area. WTF. 25, 000 pesos? Ang mahal. 1, 500. Mahal pa rin. If they really want to be a good leader, they should at least, make theirseleves heard by the general populace. Dapat man lang may 200 peso or 300 peso ticket or libre na lang! HAHA. And for your 25, 00o pesos, you'll get to hear Tony Blair's rantings for 30 minutes. Grrr. Baka 30 days mong inipon yun tapos 30 minutes ubos na? Ang extreme talaga ng lahat sa isang capitalist system.Ticket! Ticket! Ticket! Gimme some!

Solidaridad and Doulos

I visited MV Doulos, the largest floating bookshop, to buy some books. Malamang, bookshop di'ba? I'm expecting great finds and rare titles. It is also my dream to collect works of Michael Crichton and Fidel Castro. At parang pagdating ko dun eh, non-existent silang lahat! Doulos offers a lot of spiritual and inspirational books, story and coloring books for kids but only little of interesting fictions and rare titles. I bought 3 books there for 200 pesos. One is about marketing strategies of schools, churches and museums (Branded Nation), the other one regarding the end of the world (Fused Armaggedon) and the last disproving all forms of established knowledge (The Last Man Who Knew Everything). Sulit naman ang 10 pesos na entrance fee sa pictures around the vessel and sa one hour seat sa balcony. Takot nga lang ako sa ship, so nahilo talaga ako after. XD

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Before visiting Doulos, I visited a bookshop in Padre Faura Street. Its the Solidaridad Bookshop which is considered as the best little bookshop in Asia. Though very small compared to MV Doulos, it offers a lot of more interesting titles and I think, rare books than what Doulos can offer. Nag-browse ako sa shelves and everything is worth buying and reading. Every single book there is super nakaka-excite basahin. There are books discussing politics, economics, sociology, literature and even history of neighboring countries. Bakit di ako bumili ng kahit ano? Because every single book under the roofs of Solidaridad is expensive. Minimum na ata ang 700 pesos eh, or may nakita pa akong 600 pesos dun. Still, kahit ano pa man, expensive pa rin. Hays, sayang. SANTA, mag-iba ka naman ng schedule ng pamimigay ng gifts. Please?

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Doulos being on the far left because it offers alot of cheap books and Solidaridad being on the far right because it offers books that are expensive are another example of today's extremes. I seem to notice extremities in my environment and it includes these two bookshops.

Bonifacio/Katipuan Monument

Alam niyo ba yung Bonifacio/Katipunan accross SM Manila? Its near LRT's Central Terminal, Manila City Hall and Universidad de Manila. Try niyong dumaan kapag gabi. You see alot of extremes. Yeap. Extremes in publicly displaying affection. Shocks, french kiss kung french kiss. At kahit maraming nakatingin, hindi nabobother. HAHAHAHA. :D

Chillax!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Tagged as: Bookshop, manila, Math 11, MV Doulos, Philippine, Philo 1, Plaza, Price, Sofitel, Solidaridad, Speech, Ticket, Tony Blair, Visits 5 Comments

15Mar/090

Fidel and Religion: Conversations with Frei Betto | MY | TWO | CENTS |

Title: Fidel and Religion: Conversations with Frei Betto on Marxism and Liberal Theology

Category: Social Studies

Rate: 5 out of 5 :D

Fidel Castro, the great Cuban leader is interviewed by Frei Betto, a brazillian priest and libreation theologist, on an informal setting with far-ranging topics that will interest Catholics and non-Catholics alike. :D The conversation includes a history of Fidel Castro's life, his early education, his belief about religion and his refutations about socialism as an anti-religion ideology.

One may read this book and fall in love with Fidel Castro, or one may read this and go hunt Castro's head. A must-read boooook for all! :D Yey!

I'm currently reading a Castro book. Its title is "No One Can Stop the Course of History."

Chillax!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tagged as: Betto, book, Brazillian, Castro, Coversatiosn, Cuban, Fidel, Frei, Leader, Libeariton, Marxism, Priest, religion, review, Thelogy, With No Comments

9Feb/092

A Case of Need |MY|TWO|CENTS|

a-case-of-need-michael-crichton-925054290s A medical thriller that will surely encompass the boundaries of science and art, the boundaries of Law and Medicine.

"Dr. Art Lee is jailed for performing an illegal abortion resulting in the death of a prominent physician's daughter. Dr. John Berry, Art's friend, knows Art is innocent and sets out to prove it. He encounters resistance and apathy from most people, but he tenaciously searches for the real abortionist to clear his friend's name."

Crichton wrote A Case of Need in 1968, under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson. It combines the wit of John Grisham and Michael Palmer into one great book that somehow succeed to include moral fables and so, moral conclusions.

Art Lee tells us why he decided to conduct abortions, despite the knowledge that he was committing a criminal offence. A woman asked him for an abortion; when he refused, ‘she said she knew of a man in the North End who would do it for two hundred dollars. He had been a medical orderly in the Marines, or something.’ The prospect bothered Art all night:

‘I had a vision of her going to a smelly back room somewhere and meeting a leering little guy who would letch her and maybe even manage to kill her. I thought about my own wife and our year-old baby, and how happy it could all be. I thought about the amateur abortions I’d seen as an intern, when the girls came in bleeding and foaming at three in the morning. And let’s face it, I thought about the seats I’d had in college. Once with Betty, we sat around for six weeks waiting for her period. I knew perfectly well that anybody can get pregnant by accident. It’s not hard, and it shouldn’t be a crime …

‘By morning I had decided that the law was unfair. I had decided that a doctor could play God in a lot of crappy ways, but this was a good way. I had seen a patient in trouble and I had refused to help her when it was within my power. That was what bothered me – I had denied her treatment. It was just as bad as denying penicillin to a sick man, just as cruel and just as foolish.’

But Crichton was not only motivated by the humane pragmatics of legal versus illegal abortion. In one of the seven appendices to this short thriller, Crichton concisely summarises six main arguments for abortion, and their counter-arguments.

With unusual addition of geekish footnotes, A Case of Need will surely find its way in your heart, in your heart, and sometimes because of medical science jargons, in your brain.

4 out of 5. :)

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tagged as: a, case, crichton, michael, of, of need, review 2 Comments

28Jan/090

Timeline | MY | TWO | CENTS |

Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Michael Crichton

Quantum Physics.

No way. "Timeline" is not for the boring professors of physics, It's really a 14th-century action thriller that takes you on a roller coaster ride through medieval France. If you ain't a history buff, this particular book will add some sense to you. :) But if you are, then this book is certainly a good read to test your trivias.

Wait. The writer is Crichton? Yes. To prove that it is indeed one of Crichton's work, quantum physics was included and played a major role on the story (especially the ending).

The action scenes are excellent and authentic (read: do not read this while taking inside a public vehicle!). Crichton made a real research and did a good job finding truths about France and quantum physics as well.

It's a book that drives you full throttle to the very end, makes you think, and remember something along the way. (Sooth?) I'd say that, as books goes these days (read: twilight), this book is a real read indeed.

5 out of 5 :)

Popularity: 1% [?]