That Narciso Rodriguez dress

THIS is the original dress of Narciso Rodriguez:


(Via NYT/AP)

And this is what Michelle Obama wore on Victory Night at Grant Park:


(Photo via mrs-o.org)
The dress looked great on the model. It looked hideous on Mrs. Obama. Her hips and thighs look way too huge. Ugh, very unflattering. Maybe she shouldn't have tampered w/ the original design no? Because now that I've seen the original on the model, I actually love the dress and would want wear it myself...IF I had a model's figure! haha

And maybe Mrs. Obama should've lost that sweater. I mean, if you are going to wear something daring, then do it all the way. Perhaps Mrs. Obama first thought that the dress looked fabulous on her, then had second thoughts bec. it could just be too bold for Victory Night, so she decided to wear the black sweater to take it down a notch. The result. Ick. Maybe if she had worn heels, the look would have been much improved.

Okay, we all have our off days. At least we know Mrs. Obama is human.

Bubut Quicho reflects on the US elections

FOR those still too young not to know or remember him, Perfecto "Bubut" Quicho was probably the first Filipino to ever head a major foreign hotel chain (Hyatt Regency) in the Philippines. He has gone on to become a partner in several restaurant ventures mostly with businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco, the latest of which is the newly-opened French bistro in Makati called La Régalade.

I got this email from a friend who wanted to share Mr. Quicho's thoughts on the conduct of elections in the United States and in the Philippines, and how local politicians need to behave more statesmanlike whether they win or lose. Read on:

We need change even more.

For the past couple of years, there was so much to dislike about America. After just one day – with the way they carried out a presidential election – there is so much to admire about America.

How can their elections be so inspiring, when ours have been so hopeless, even disgusting?

There are lessons to be learned here. Lessons we have to take to heart if we are to get out of the rut we are in. We have just been shown what clean elections are all about.

Foremost of the lessons is how ordinary citizens can control their fate, instead of having politicians control them.

The American people took their responsibility as voters seriously. Instead of asking, they gave – which right away eliminated the politics of patronage that has blighted elections all over the world.

Ordinary people contributed to the Obama campaign – small amounts of one to ten dollars each, which grew to millions of dollars because there were millions of them who gave.

The same ordinary people were actively involved – volunteering to work for their candidates, campaigning in their areas, and urging everyone to get out and vote.

Voters respected their rights. They came out in huge numbers– many going to the polls at break of dawn, enduring long lines and waiting for hours – to make sure their votes will be in.

The politicians were just as responsible. While there were some personal attacks and unsavory statements, the campaigns for the most part tackled issues and explained where they stood to the people. Much more than the mudslinging, there was a serious discussion of programs and prescriptions to deal with the nation's most pressing problems.

There was no cheating, nor attempts to subvert the election process, which has been part and parcel of our own elections. Which made it easy for everyone to accept the results.

The candidates displayed wisdom and maturity in the aftermath. Senator John McCain was gracious and magnanimous in defeat, despite the passion with which he competed against his rival, as he delivered what was described by a TV anchor as a "handsomely generous speech."

President-elect Barack Obama, in his own speech, was grateful, conciliatory, and grounded in reality as he acknowledged the challenges the nation faced and the hard work that waited to be done.

And he was humble in victory, telling the people that "I will listen to you, specially when we disagree." How different from the way our President reacts to critical views.


(Mano-mano counting in Manila. Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images, May 10, 2004)
But above all, we have to learn how count the votes quickly and get the results out immediately. Despite having to use different systems and unavoidable glitches, everyone in the US was determined to get the votes in and counted as quickly as possible. Not one politician made an attempt to delay the proceedings or manufacture excuses to postpone the counting. They did not want to influence the outcome, they wanted to know what the real results were.

Long drawn out counting of votes is the sure recipe for failed elections. But through the years, our political leaders have thwarted every attempt to computerize the elections.

We can do it, of course. The Indians have shown the way, using an efficient and inexpensive automation system that even the US concedes is superior to theirs.

But no one in our country is even taking a look at this system which can solve our election woes.

Most candidates believe that the only way to assure victory is to monkey with the results – long counts allow that to happen, automation will make it very difficult.

These trapos completely ignore the fact that the best way to win elections is to genuinely work for the welfare of the people.

It is more rewarding for them to make fortunes from irregular deals and tainted projects. And to win votes – they grandstand, issue empty statements that land in media, spoil local leaders with favors in exchange for support, use money to influence voters when election time comes, and tamper with the results that do not go their way.

We need to change, more than they do in America.

People need to develop the courage to stand up for what is good for them. Demand concrete platforms and clear solutions to the problems that savage us. Get involved in the process by exercising the right and protecting their votes.

Our leaders have to look beyond their interests and give the people their due. By not insulting their intelligence with campaigns that are more like showbiz-style circuses. Campaigns should be what they are supposed to – a chance to let people know what they stand for and how they intend to help the taong bayan. With specific, concrete plans of action and not merely slogans and catch phrases.

They must seriously attend to the job of working for the people, does anyone still remember that officials are supposed to be public servants?

And we must finally overhaul the rotten political system that has only made our people miserable. Starting with the use of appropriate technology – something practical, affordable and suited to our needs – to automate our elections.

The politics of corruption and naked power has to end.

It is time to give the Filipino people the governance they deserve.

A fighting chance

I WAS glued to the TV set the entire day yesterday and well into the night until the U.S. morning shows came on. It was as if I still couldn't believe what had just happened that I had to keep watching all the news programs just to make sure I wasn't living in some parallel universe. Americans have, for the first time, elected an African-American as their President. Wow!

And while listening to President-elect Barack Obama make his speech in Grant Park (named after another U.S. president Ulysses Grant who also hailed from Illinois), it was if the entire mood of the world changed. It's like we now have something better to look forward to, even if stock markets everywhere are crashing, and food prices are rising. We now have hope that someone will help us turn all of this around.

It may be awhile 'til we see some concrete results. We have to be pragmatic that there is no magic formula that will solve all America's problems w/c have been impacting on the global ills. But at least now, we have a fighting chance to overcome these difficulties, with a little help from a strong inspiring leader that will hopefully, set things right in America.

Here's the text of Obama's victory speech on Nov. 4, 2008 (Nov. 5 here) at Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois.

OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.

Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who's been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

(Text of speech from the Baltimore Sun. Photos from www.barackobama.com)

Barack Obama is the 44th president of the U.S.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers." (Martin Luther King, I Have A Dream, Aug. 28, 1963)

45 years after this speech was delivered by pastor Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, the Americans have elected Barack Obama, an African-American, as the 44th president of the United States. As I write this, Obama has captured 338 electoral votes vs Republican presidential candidate John McCain's 155 votes, a landslide victory.

This is truly an historic event that resonates not only among Americans but with every citizen of the world. In the U.S. we see what things are possible, and how any dream, maybe outrageous everywhere else, is achievable there. And I am truly grateful for being alive at this time to bear witness to such a momentous event.

Congratulations to the American voters for changing the course of our history.

* * * *
Kudos to Sen. McCain for a very gracious concession speech. In his hometown in Arizona, he emphasized his duty first to his country above everything else, that's why he is throwing his full support behind the new President. He is truly a remarkable man, who was heroic in so many ways, but to whom fate wasn't just as kind. But he ran a good race, a real fighter to the end.

Now can you please send Sarah Palin back to Alaska?

* * * *
WHAT amazed me most of all throughout this electoral process, was how much the U.S. media invested in trying to outdo each other in their coverage and presentation.

While BBC had this oh-so-boring host trying to coordinate the discussion and field coverages, the network was ahead of CNN in terms of the poll count. Not to mention, it also had really snazzy touch graphics with the news presenter operating some kind of floating screen. Coolness!

The CNN though kicked ass with its holographic interviews. I caught the one of Anderson Cooper w/ will.i.am. Galeng.

Despite the third-world phone coverage of our own ANC (no live video, just phone patches...kaluoy naman), it still managed to deliver w/ its lively discussions among Americans living in Manila representing the Republican and Democratic Parties. And for awhile, it was fun to watch TJ Manotoc voting for Obama by using a typical voting machine w/c made available by the U.S. Embassy during its mock polls at the Mall of Asia.

The local network scored by snagging an on-site interview w/ US Ambassador Kirstie Kenney done by our favorite host Edu Manzano who started off by ribbing her about her rooting for Ateneo during the UAAP championship. (LOL! I just love Edu's wit.)

Sayang lang, with such an historic presidential election the Lopezes should have invested in bringing us Filipinos live feeds from the U.S. Ah well, maybe in 2012.

* * * *
UPDATE: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." (Barack Obama victory speech, Nov. 4, 2008, Chicago, Illinois)

Read the rest in BusinessMirror online and in NYT.

Goodbye Dubya!

(Photo from www.inet.ba)

AMERICANS go to the polls starting tonight (Nov. 4 morning in the U.S.) to vote for their next president. Whoever wins (of course I'm still rooting for Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama), that will be the end of Dubya. Thank God!

George W. Bush has led the U.S. into becoming probably the most reviled nation on earth with its foreign policy missteps (what can you expect from someone who's never traveled abroad until he became president?), and with his economic mismanagement, has made his oil friends richer, while pushing many Americans out of their homes.

Goodbye Dubya, you will not be missed. (Well okay, maybe David Letterman, Jon Stewart, SNL, and all the late-night comics would.)

* * * *
Btw, playing now on HBO is the Kevin Spacey/Dennis Leary-starrer Recount, a dramatization of events w/c took place during the Florida 2000 recount. It's very timely because it shows how the American democratic system actually failed the American voters because of the fallibility of the people in power tasked to implement their laws and regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually intervened in the recount and gave the election to Dubya. (Tsk, tsk, I wonder if the SC justices managed to sleep well at night throughout the 8 years of Dubya's term.)

Of course, Fate has a funny and sometimes cruel way of working things out for everyone's good. Former VP Albert Gore Jr. may have lost his bid for the White House but won an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental work. So there.

Just how dumb is Sarah Palin?

This is sooooo precious. Palin 2012 woo-hoo!

Sen. John McCain on SNL/The Obama Ad

(I think 'The Sad Grandpa' would work best hehe. Poor guy, he really sounds desperate na.)

McCain has good comic timing, too bad that the material written for him last Saturday was not that funny. I think SNL writers gave their everything for the Palin episode and had not much juice left for McCain.

Palin 2012? LOL! More like Tina Fey 2012! This woman is just awesome.

* * * *
ON a more somber note, here's Barack Obama's much-talked "American Stories" ad.



I dunno why but I think my cynicism has taken over again. When I first watched this ad, I was affected by the 'real life' stories of the 'ordinary Americans' featured. Now I'm a bit bothered by the apparent slickness of it all. It brings an undercurrent of fear into the picture, that if you don't vote for Obama, kawawa naman all these people in the ad, they will lose their jobs.

It portrays Obama as having the answer to everything. He says the right things you, as a voter, would want to hear from a candidate. And if you pay particular attention to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement, Obama is just the most perfect presidential candidate ever.

Obama has run a great, very emotional campaign. He sounds very sincere and he has touched a lot of hearts w/ his message of change and hope. Now my brain is just telling me there's something terribly amiss w/ him (aside from his cigarette smoking). Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing.

Barack o'lanterns

COOLNESS, noh? These Kanos can really be downright creative when expressing their political beliefs. See more Barack o'lanterns at Yes We Carve.



I am so looking forward to my red hot Halloween bitch/beach break. So where are you going this frightfully short weekend, guys?

AK Gov. Sarah Palin on SNL

IN case you haven't seen it yet, here are the sketches of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. Try to click pause when Sarah and Tina pass each other...the resemblance is uncanny. Too bad there was no Sarah/Tina sketch like that of Hillary Clinton/Amy Poehler's during the primaries.


Opening presscon


Amy Poehler steps in for Palin

INTERESTING that Palin flies thousands of miles to appear on SNL, but won't grant an honest-to-goodness press conference. Scary innit? You betcha!

In any case, if she does lose the election (and I'm betting my moosehair go-go boots that she will), SNL can hire her as one of its talents. She obviously knows groove to the music, act silly, and read cue cards. Whatta major achievement in the Republican electoral campaign.

Cindy McCain supladita

WAS glued to the TV set this morning to watch Debate No. 2 between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. No doubt about it, Obama was the stronger debater. He answered most of the questions pointedly..."This is what I'm gonna do about the economy...pak! No. 1, pak! No. 2, pak! No. 3... He had the answers and McCain didn't. Obama knew what issues to prioritize (economy, healthcare), what areas should he cut spending (the war in Iraq), and where investments should be poured into (e.g. renewable/alternative energy to lessen the dependence on foreign oil).

Sure Obama waffled a bit in the area of foreign policy compared to McCain's "I looked at Putin straight in the eye and it was KGB spelled all over his face..." But then that's why Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden was excellent as the latter has the foreign policy experience. As for McCain, he doesn't have a good grasp of the economy and how the common working Americans are hurting from the economy. It's simply because he has lived off his wife Cindy's bank accounts most of his life, w/ more than four houses to their name, so how can he be expected to understand the plight of the rest of the US of A, where Americans are losing their homes? He needed a VP who would've beefed up his economic knowledge, or the little that he knows about it. Instead, he picks someone who doesn't know diddly squat about the rest of the world except that "when Putin rears his head, it will be in Alaska." You betcha!

(Cindy McCain ang tigas ng fez mo!)

And sorry to say, McCain really not only sounded awful but looked awful as well. Politics is a matter of perception. When you watch McCain hobbling around on his bad leg, his hair all white, and hyuk-hyuking like an idiot, it just spells OLD. Look here, I have nothing about old people. I enjoy listening to them prattle on about their lives and their experiences. And I'm sure if I had a chance to meet Sen. McCain, it would be nice to chat w/ him and listen to his war stories, parang like a Lolo making kwento to his grandchild.

But his age and physical disability isn't an advantage in the visual department when the electoral campaign is covered by TV and Internet. Seeing him walk around the deabte venue today looked like his time was up. McCain's moment to become president has already passed him. He needs to let go and give the job to someone younger, tougher, and brimming with creative ideas. And I'm not talking about Sarah Palin ha? Ick!

I am also not liking that Cindy McCain ha. Right after the debate she went into the hall, moved around with her husband, nodded her head in greeting the debate participants. (It was a town-hall style meeting which called for a lot of questions from participants.) But she was just stiff and cold. Her face was frozen w/ a fixed smile. Parang nanigas yung fez nya sa kaka-botox! And she did not shake hands with anybody except Obama's after the latter offered his hand in greeting. As for the studio audience, Cindy kept her distance and did not offer even her pinky. Sa true lang, She not only is suplada but actually looks like a tranny pa!

(Michelle Obama super fabulosa!)

In contrast, Michelle Obama turned on the charm. She moved among the debate participants, held out her hand to greet them, kissed a few. Picture-picture. So fabulosa pa! I super like her. She's like Obama who has a lot of charisma. He strides and walks tall among the people, very fashyon in his business suit, so guapo!

There is another debate on Thursday (Friday 9 am Manila time) and I doubt if any of these two will say something new. It is very obvious that things are conspiring to make Obama the next president of the United States. The economy is in recession which in any electoral season, will never favor the incumbent leader. And most Americans want to end the war in Iraq so Washington can concentrate on their needs on their home turf. They need a very dynamic and spirited leader who has a vision where America will be in 10 years.

So I'm pretty sure Obama will win in November. And I promise to eat steak everyday if that doesn't happen.

I dunno 'bout you, but I'm voting for Tina Fey

The VP debate (...snore)

THIS is a belated reaction to the U.S. Vice Presidential debate aired last Friday (Oct. 3).

Neither of the two VP candidates (Democrats' Joe Biden and Republicans' Sarah Palin) said anything persuasive enough to get their rival's voters to switch sides. There were no fireworks set off. Biden was just too restrained and gently handled his opponent, maybe too gently, he had no fire in the belly at all. He was almost boring.

Palin, on the other hand, didn't directly answer assertions made by Biden against her presidential ally Sen. John McCain perhaps because she didn't know his record well enough to defend him. All she had were prepared soundbytes to attack Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. C'mon we've heard all of that before.

Biden sometimes came off as professorial as he tried to explain their tax plan and Obama's voting record (...zzzzzzz). Palin may have held her own, thanks to her debate coach(es), but still appeared wet in the ears like Eliza Doolittle trying to learn how to speak proper English. Dontcha think both of them would make a great team if they starred in My Fair Lady?

(This cutie is gonna break a lot of hearts I tell 'ya! Piper photo from qudecide.wordpress.com)

Btw, the only thing I like about Palin is her daughter Piper. That kid is just sooo cute and she knows it! She looks like she's enjoying herself in the political arena...shaking hands with the old hands, and waving to the crowds. I bet this kid is gonna be the next politician in the family. And who knows, she might actually become VP! that is, if she doesn't follow in her Ate Bristol's footsteps. And let's hope she's not half as stupid as her hockey mom, golly gee, aw shucks. (Btw, have you heard the latest interview of Sarah Palin? She says she reads The Economist...you betcha! Sana sinama na din nya ang Wall Street Journal at Financial Times of London. Dagnamit!)

* * * *
WELL, I'm glad that debate's over. The next one between Obama and McCain (Oct. 8 9AM, RP time) should be exciting as it's going to be conducted in a town hall setting. I wish Obama loosens up a bit, and smiles more. Look at McCain, he looks like a cute grandpa when he giggles and smiles...not that it's gonna win him more votes.

With the U.S. economy slip sliding away, everyone pretty much expects Obama winning in November. It''s like a replay of the 1992 Presidential elections pitting Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush (without the Ross Perot factor). Then Clinton's campaign strategist James Carville came up with the most famous line which everyone is using again in the U.S. (and even here at home): "It's the economy stupid!"

The U.S. budget deficit is now $1.2 billion, unemployment at 6.1% with more Americans losing their jobs (159,000 in September alone, the ninth consecutive month of job cuts), and sub-prime credit mess exploding that a $700 billion bailout package had to be forged by the feds, even the war in Iraq has taken a back seat. All these factors are conspiring to make Obama look like the better presidential candidate than McCain. I'm crossing my fingers it would be so.

Obama makes 'world's worse person' list

HERE'S something to prep you for your viewing of the Biden-Palin debate later at 9 AM (RP time)...


(via Huffington Post)

So hilarious clinton!

What can $700 billion buy?

FIRST of all, no matter how hard I wrap my head around this figure for the U.S. government's grand bailout party, I dunno how they're gonna pay for it unless they hock themselves further in debt. This is overspending to the gazillionaireth proportion and who is gonna pay for all that? The American public. Why do we care? If Americans have less money onhand, they buy less of our goods.

Why can't the U.S. goverment just pay off the mortgages of those who can't pay, or at least, stretch out the borrowers' payments or just help them get on their feet, instead of pandering to Wall Street and (U.S. Treasury Secretary) Paulson and George Bush's rich buds?

Anyway, here's a piece in Vanity Fair on what $700 billion can buy: prevent 200 million foreclosures, pay the U.S. debt to Japan, pay for social security for the next 40 years, remake Titanic 3500 times (ick!), buy 10 iPhones for every American, or how'd you like 10 large hadron colliders? Read the rest at VF Politics and Power

Martial Law in the U.S.?

WITH all that's been happening in the U.S....the sub-prime credit mess, collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the instability of its insurance industry and near collapse of its major investment houses, plus the continuing debate in the U.S. Congress over the bailout package, I am getting more convinced that the presidential election in November may not happen at all.

Far-fetched ya think?

President George W. Bush is sounding the alarm, issuing veiled threats, and predicting a depression that the U.S. economy may not be able to get out of in a while; he is saying you guys better get with the program and approve the bailout package or you're dead. Unfortunately, congressmen are hemming and hawing over the plan because they know their constituents are against it. Why give money to those stinking greedy CEOs with houses in the Hamptons, when the rest of America can hardly make the next mortgage payment?

I mean, stranger things have happened...the U.S. did go to war and invade Iraq on the wrong information that it had weapons of mass destruction. So there is a precedent for irrational behavior. Bush could very well declare martial law on the pretext of "saving" the economy. He can argue that he is only after the welfare of the public and national security, and that bailout package is the only way to get the economy back on its feet again. After all, the chief executives in the other countries were the ones egging him to put such a plan together. So Bush can say he is not only saving the U.S. but the global economy. He needs this bailout plan in place like yesterday.

Bush and a messianic complex? I wouldn't put it past him.

(Ballot box photo from newmediabytes.com.)

Survey na wala lang

BBC survey suggests Pinoys prefer Obama over McCain
09/16/2008 | 07:49 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Barack Obama will win the presidency if he is running in the Philippines, or in 21 other countries, results of a poll recently conducted by BBC World Service suggest.

The September 9 poll, done by BBC with Makati City-based firm M&S-Sigma Dos Philippines, Inc, showed that 46 percent of the Filipino adult respondents in the National Capital Region “would favor Barack Obama as president of the US." Only 22 percent of the respondents would pick John McCain.

Almost four of 10 Filipinos or 39 percent of the respondents “believe America’s relations with the rest of the world would improve if Obama were to be elected." Seventeen percent believe US relations with the world won’t change under an Obama presidency, while six percent of Filipinos “say they would worsen." (Click here for the rest.)

UNFORTUNATELY, we can't vote in the U.S. elections in November, unlike Filipino immigrants, most of whom are apparently swinging towards a McCain presidency. I've spoken with a number of older generation Fil-Ams who don't like Obama primarily because "he's black", he's "a Muslim" daw because his middle name is Hussein, and because he didn't pick Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Ahhh, e, i, o, u.

Can women have it all?

Something Like Life
Sept. 12, 2008

I HAVE tackled this question once before but, recently, the issue has come up again with the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican Party’s vice presidential bet. No doubt, this was a wise move on the part of the party’s presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, taking a cue from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s earlier presidential push which garnered a groundswell of support from many women voters.

Let me say here and now that except for Palin’s $375-Kazuo Kawasaki rimless titanium eyeglasses, which really look fabulous that I need to get me some, I don’t like her much. Her politics are muddy (e.g. pro-ban of certain books, anti-abortion, anti-gays, influence-peddling, just to name a few), and I think she’s ill-prepared to take over as US president in case, heaven forbid, McCain is incapacitated for some reason. Sure, Alaska may be just a Bering Strait away from Russia, but it appears it's the only foreign diplomatic issue Palin may be familiar with. How confident would Americans be with Palin seated across the Hamas and Israelis instead?

Her politics notwithstanding, the question is whether Palin can be an effective VP and help McCain run the most powerful nation on earth, while nursing a four-month-old baby with Down’s Syndrome and assisting her daughter Bristol in caring for an infant soon to be born. “Just how many diapers can a woman change at the same time?” as Jimmy Kimmel asks (ha-ha). In other words, can a woman really do everything? Can we have it all?

Patricia “Diday” Zamora-Riingen is the epitome of many Filipina executives of this day and age—she is young, smart, career-oriented, married and with kids.

Riingen is the head of Western Union here, and also oversees the Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia branches. Her job requires her to be frequently out of the country for meetings with her counterparts or her bosses. Not only that, Diday also manages Dome Café, the Zamora family’s restaurant. (Diday is the daughter of former banker and political power broker Manny Zamora.)

She is married to Leo Riingen, president and CEO of Informatics Holdings Philippines, and last year’s president of the Camera Club of the Philippines. They met at Procter & Gamble when they were both just starting in their careers. Now they have three kids ranging in age from nine to 15 years old.

As Diday herself tells it, she is able to accomplish a lot in her career and her family life because she has a great support system. “Well, my husband runs his own business so he has a more flexible time....And my support in the house [i.e. househelp] have been with me for a very long time.” Leo, she said, is on-hand to attend the Parents-Teachers’ Association meetings and bring their kids to the doctor for their medical checkups, among other responsibilities that are traditionally ascribed to women.

But on weekends, Diday says, she is focused on her family 100-percent. She switches off her work phone, cooks breakfast for her kids and Sunday dinners, lunches with her mother and accomplishes the other domestic errands like doing the grocery. “I do the grocery. Leo has no patience for it.”

(Tish Leizens, editor-in-chief, Our House)

Another example of a female go-getter is Tish Leizens (neé Perez), a former colleague here in Manila who has written for a Conde Naste trade publication. She is married to Ed Leizens, the security manager of the New York Science, Industry and Research Library, who is supportive of her career. “He always believed I had the potential to make more money than him. He is okay with that because he is very comfortable about who he is. None of that Filipino macho crap.”

Together they publish an interiors magazine, Our House", which Tish edits and, in a way, is their baby as they are currently childless (but still working at it!). Tish says that since she left Conde Naste to publish her magazine, she is now relying on Ed’s paycheck.

She is quick to assert that “women can have it all”—but also qualifies it by asking, “Can you balance everything?” Especially for women in the US, this is not so easy. They don’t normally have the housework support we Filpinos are accustomed to. So she advises married women with children who want to pursue their career to “go ahead and get a nanny, or maybe your husband can be the nanny. Nothing wrong with that. You’ll be surprised that some men might not want to work and would be happy playing with the kids.” (According to the US Census Bureau, there were about 170,000 stay-at-home fathers in 2007, three times higher than what it was 10 years ago.)

So Tish thinks that women can set out to do whatever they want to do, but they must set their priorities. “Be clear on what you want and just go get it.”

Granted that American women may be more adept at multi-tasking, having been brought up without nannies and the household help unlike most of us here in the Philippines; that doesn’t mean they’re having a ball right now balancing career and a family life.

The same is true here at home. Filipino women have been easing their way into the corporate boardroom for a long time, but many find it tough to still hold on to their traditional roles of mothers and domestic engineers.

Fortunately, there is a growing number of Filipino men—especially among the younger generation who have grown up under a two-parent work/home setup—who understand the difficulties their mothers, sisters or wives struggle with on the home front, and are willing to share the domestic duties, as well. I have many girlfriends whose husbands get home before them and already have the night’s dinner on the table. No canned foods, mind you, but fresh, hot and made from scratch.

Can a woman have it all? Yes, she can—as long as she has the proper support system around her to make a go of things. Let’s not kid ourselves. If we try to do everything ourselves, we will be either physically dead before we’re 50, or end up in the basement of a major hospital or, worse, be addicted to happy pills just to numb the physical or emotional stress. That said, men can’t do everything themselves, either.

The trick is to find the right man who will help you achieve your career goals and be around to assist you at home. And my cynicism notwithstanding, I am happy to report that a number of my gal pals have found such husbands, so they do exist. (Yes, the strong sensitive Filipino male has finally arrived!) And, of course, find a great housekeeper. Between you and me, though, it may be more of a challenge to find the latter.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photos from BusinessMirror and Tish Leizens.)

A word from the father of Bristol Palin's baby

THIS is all over the Internet. Of course, I doubt he is the father of Bristol Palin's baby. But this kid is effing brilliant. The sarcasm just cuts to the core.

BTW, you just have to watch the interview of Barack Obama by Bill O'Reilly posted on YouTube (parts 1 and 2 for now). The exchange is lively, but Obama just runs circles around O'Reilly, by staying very even and cool. (I've always thought O'Reilly a hoot, and used to watch him back in the day when we had FoxNews on cable. But he is really isn't someone you should take seriously.) The Democratic presidential candidate has a few laughs at the expense of the latter as well. Cute.

Stand up and fight!

Fight! Fight! Fight! Celine L. 'kaw ba yan?


Okay, okay, I'm just teasing, hehe.

But I was almost on my feet today after watching Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's speech at the Republic National Convention, when he plead to the party delegates to stand up and fight. For sure McCain doesn't make the grade in public speaking unlike Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama; I think he overpracticed his speech. Still McCain was convincing in his arguments on why he should be President. I, of course, fell for his moving life story, of him being imprisoned in Hanoi Hilton, of breaking under torture from his captors, and of the impact it has made in his life.

I think McCain is sincere in wanting to improve the Republican Party by returning it to its progressive roots. (Abe Lincoln who freed the African slaves was a Republican btw.) He knows there is no other way to go if the party is to convince the American public that it is for the people and not just for the elite few. (The changes are being slowly instituted, firstly by not having President George Bush speak in person. The party is quite aware he is not popular and didn't want his presence to take away from the positivity that McCain is supposed to inspire.)

McCain spoke particularly to the swing voters, those who are still undecided because they think McCain is too old, while Obama is inexperienced. I think his speech today may have convinced some of them to vote for him, not only because of his life story, but because he had a more detailed platform for the economy than Obama had earlier presented at the DNC. And I have no doubt that he has a better grasp at foreign diplomacy than his VP Sarah Palin.

I always liked McCain, primarily because he is funny. I've watched him appear on several TV shows – Oprah, SNL, Ellen... the man is witty and has a self-deprecating humor. It may not count for much but I think a good leader must know not to take himself so seriously, and delude himself into thinking that he is God's gift to humanity. (Presidentita take note.) McCain amuses, Palin just condescends.

I just wish he didn't crib from the Democrats' main theme of change. In his speech, McCain said: "Change is coming", "We're going to change Washington" etc., also, "stand up and fight" which was vintage Al Gore, DNC presidential candidate in 2000, if I remember correctly. And yes, sana he chose a different VP.

Needless to say, McCain is a lot more intelligent, is better-read, and more traveled than Bush. He is certainly no buffoon. So if McCain does get elected as U.S. President in November, I think he will be able to turn the U.S. government around and rebuild it from the shambles that Bush has left it. Well, sana nga.

* * * *
But let's not delude ourselves that with a Republican win, the Philippines will likely receive more aid from the U.S. government, as some misinformed quarters suggest. The Philippines has not been on the list of foreign aid priorities of any donor country for the longest time. The fact of the matter is, we are no longer of any use for the Americans since their bases were removed from the country. Also, the Philippines is considered a more developed and stable economy — albeit with hiccups — compared to say, the African nations, which the U.S. government has prioritized in terms of official development assistance. (We mostly get second-hand Huey helicopters for our military forces, ngek.)

For fiscal year 2007, the Philippines was allocated a budget of $70 million by the US Agency for International Development. In FY 2006, it was $73.6 million. For FY 2008, the country will likely receive only $66 million. In contrast, U.S. development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa rose from $1.5 billion in 1996 to $6.6 billion in 2006. So clearly, those are the priorities of the U.S. government and will not likely change even if a Republican or Democrat wins the U.S. presidential elections.

Anyway, let's see how the campaign goes. Stay tuned for the first presidential debate on Sept. 26.
* * * *
The conventions now over, it's back to local issues for us: Inflation at 12.5%... gasp! Miriam won't seek presidency...thank you Lord!

Sarah who at the RNC

THIS woman pulled no stops. Just as Republican presidential candidate is using her to appeal to the female voters, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, used her son in the U.S. military who would be leaving for Iraq next week, her daughter who has special needs, her 17-year-old pregnant daughter, and her husband a "champion snow machine racer", to appeal to a disparate range of American voters. The Republicans are trying to sell her by highlighting her "orindariness"; that her life story is the same story of every American.

But Palin isn't exactly your average hockey mom. She is a governor so she has a job and doesn't stay at home 24/7. She doesn't have to run all over town picking up her kids from school or from soccer practice. She has help to do that for her.

On her young pregnant daughter Bristol alone, Palin is so far off from the ordinary American family who have to make tough decisions about a similar domestic situation. Of course she can afford for her daughter to go through with the pregnancy; the family is privileged enough to allow her daughter to go on to university after her pregnancy, unlike the thousands of other pregnant teenagers, who face no other choice but to drop out from school and work immediately after giving birth. (Do I hear Murphy Brown cackling in the background?) There are so many ways she and her family are different from the average American family that I think the will be able to discern these come November.

As an attack dog, she did her job well in tearing down Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. She was witty enough in pointing out that her job as a small town mayor is "like a community organizer only with real responsibilities." She had enough sarcasm to put David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart and the entire SNL cast out of their jobs. But let's just make it clear that Palin is actually going head to head with Sen. Joe Biden, a distinguished and well respected member and leader in the U.S. Congress, the Democratic VP candidate who has a string of major legislative accomplishments, and not Obama.

And as a woman, I don't appreciate her trying to pander to the disenfranchised female American voters with her supposed real life soccer mom story. It's just insulting. She never once even mentioned how she was going to address the Middle East conflict (and we all know part of the VP's job is to travel abroad and deal in diplomacies across the globe), nor did she have any real plan about the environment except to echo McCain's desire for alternative fuel sources but she is an advocate of drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge btw.

She mentioned about how Obama was so worried about reading the rights of the Al Qaeda terrorists, but she fails to mention of course the Republican administration's failure to actually go after Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. So sure, Palin's a pretty mom with a small town experience as an administrator, but can she sit across the table from the Israelis and its Middle East neighbors to talk peace?
* * * *
Many wonder why am I so engrossed in the U.S. elections? Whoever wins in November will impact on our country. Any policy that the U.S. government implements will likely be the direction our own government will mimic. The entire globe is watching the U.S. presidential elections because all our economies are intricately linked with the U.S. economy. We need a strong U.S. economy to boost our own economy...the Americans are still our major buyers, and we need their money. It's a simple as that.