Filipinos will never be worthy of Ninoy’s life

To prove this, one need not research and reflect on the current national situation of the Philippines. It is very palpable that the Filipinos are not worth Ninoy’s or anyone’s life at all.

Filipinos have these cultural values that are resistant to progress. Look at the masses who elect not only celebrities but incompetent people to government positions. This country is one big fan of popular people regardless whether they make sense or not. In order to be president of the Philippines, one just have to come from a political family and feign “good intentions” for the country which is a deplorable thing given the obvious fact that it should take more than that for us to elect people for government positions. The truth of the matter is, the masses as well as the elites have really shallow minds. They would rather blame the government for their own demise than to blame themselves.

One cultural value that does not facilitate progress is Filipinos obsessed with having too much “fun”. Even our politicians support this fun-loving attitude of the Filipinos. “Work hard, party harder” is deeply embedded in every Filipino’s attitude. We tolerate being undisciplined, barbaric, and insensitive towards people around us. These values stemmed from the Philippines, being a democratic country.

The Philippines is developing backwards. For the majority of Filipinos, short term solutions to problems that require the opposite is “pwede na”. From the dreadful Metro Manila Film Fest to vessels that sink every now and then, we have this culture of accepting mediocrity. Filipinos have trained themselves not to notice things that need to be fixed.

Filipinos will never be worthy of Ninoy’s life. Why, even Noynoy is not worthy of his father’s life.

Happy new year everyone.

Iya Justimbaste believes that positive reinforcement is not applicable to Filipinos.

The Querida System

What divorce is to the Westerners, querida system is to a few Filipino males. This is a way of life wherein a married man maintains a mistress, sometimes to the extent of including a second home. The Filipino married male who keeps a querida provides the mistress subsistence and goes home to her once in a while but he is ever careful to keep the relationship a secret from his lawful wife. If his mistress bears him a child, he usually supports the bastard but is very careful not to acknowledge the child’s paternity. This is not only because his wife might discover it but also because he might be accused of immorality especially if he is a government official or employee with civil service eligibility. This behavior is generally considered “normal” since it goes along with the concept of “machismo.” The “machismo” complex somehow encourages the Filipino male to take on a sexual role which could only be verified by the peer group to which he belongs in terms of the number of affairs he maintains and children he sires either with his legitimate wife or his mistresses. In fact, it is not surprising to find a laborer or jeepney driver earning hardly P300 a month, to have two or three kabits (mistresses).

For the mistress, having a child means a sure source of income. A man may not support his mistress but he can be coerced into supporting the child. Since being a mistress is a temporary affair wherein youth is dissipated in the process, without a child, she gets into a pitiful situation in old age. Philandering by the Filipino male is not very much looked down upon in the Filipino culture. Because he is a man, he can be forgiven for taking too much sexual freedom. He just wants to prove his masculinity. On the other hand, Filipino wives feel that sex is primarily the husband’s pleasure, so it can be denied him if he misbehaves. Outside the “kulambo” (mosquito net) is a punishment meted out to a husband who has been caught by his wife having an affair with another woman.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes..

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of swine flu and terrorist attacks. Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us... ..go ahead and delete this.

For the rest of us...pass this on.

A Small Prayer!

God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go..

I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you. When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.

Father,
God bless my friend in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!
And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you. Amen.

Then send it on to five other people, including the one who sent it to you within hours you will have caused a multitude of people to pray for other people. Then sit back and watch the power of God work in your life.

P. S... Five is good, but more is better

Can Sport Unite Filipinos?

Why are Filipinos not even good at sport? It seems like our athletes had been waved a red flag one day and then simply gave up on trying to achieve world-class status on all types of sports — I know, I know, aside from boxing, of course.

A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. There are too many words in that definition that do not apply to Filipinos really: “organized”; “competitive”; “skillful”; “fair play”; “commitment” and not to mention “set of rules”. Whew! Those are big words indeed, all of which simply fly over the average Filipino’s head.

I have always doubted other people’s claim that sports can unite us as a people. The fact that we are not good at sports is a reflection of who we are as a people. We do not have the right amount zeal and enthusiasm for it. Our lack of ability to excel in sports is just a reflection of our lack of passion for much of anything. Even as the world gets smaller because of globalization and international sports competition, we Filipinos fail to proudly join the leagues of other Asian nations in gaining some respect in this field. We often come home empty-handed from international competitions.

Manny Pacquiao put the Philippines on the map with his boxing skills. But not to belittle his achievements, it must be emphasized that boxing is actually an individual sport, and therefore his own individual achievement. It is not a team effort — like football, baseball or basketball — that requires team members to be organized and work in close collaboration with each other. And Manny is only one of a small few among 90 million people who excel — and he does so under the guidance of a foreign coach. Among the small few, we could count the Philippine Karatedo team among them. That team went home with three gold, two silver and one bronze medals on Sunday in the 6th Korea Open International Karatedo Championships 2010 held at the Gudeok Gymnasium in Busan, South Korea. But really, though they call themselves a “team”, that’s just another individual type of sport.

The Football International World Cup or FIFA World Cup is currently being held in South Africa. This is the first World Cup hosted by an African nation. It is not a small feat considering the number of countries who vied for the chance to host the event. The World Cup is the world’s most widely viewed sporting event in the world. There are 32 teams from all over the world competing for the title, the Philippines not included. This is actually a shame because the average Filipino’s physical build is just right for this kind of sport. Our agility (if we remain fit) could work for us should we take football seriously. We are not too tall hence; we can run around fast without looking goofy or awkward. Why can’t we excel in this sport though? Filipinos would much rather play basketball which requires that the player be taller than the average Filipino. Filipinos love playing it but we simply can’t excel in it.

Unfortunately, the Philippine national football team, despite being one of the oldest national teams in Asia, has never had any significant success on the international stage and has never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup or the FIFA World Cup. According to recent history courtesy of Wikepedia, in September 2006 the country fell to 195th on the FIFA World Rankings, its lowest ever. By the end of the year, the Philippines moved back up to 171st overall, after qualifying for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship with a 4–1 win over Brunei. However, their failure to advance from the preliminaries dropped the country’s ranking to 179th. After a string of poor performances, the Philippines refused to register and enter the qualification stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In short, we just simply gave up.

It was said that sport helped the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela sustain his spirits while in captivity for 27 years as a political prisoner. In 1995, as the president of South Africa, he handed the Rugby World Cup trophy to Francois Pienaar the captain of the victorious South African team . This single act united a nation divided and fractured by apartheid. I wish I could tell a similar story about the Philippines. For some reason, Manny Pacquaio’s win does not inspire the rest of Filipinos to strive for unity or even excellence.

Although I am not actually a sports fan, I believe that sport indeed has the power to uplift and inspire individuals. Sport is cheap and should not really cost much to get into. If you have a ball for example, you can play a game of football in your backyard or front yard. This is what we often did when we were kids and it was a lot of fun. It is really puzzling why a lot of the men in our country would rather while away their time guzzling alcohol than learn a skill and get physically fit at the same time.

One of the Philippines favorite sport is basketball. We are not good at it though and I heard that lately, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is steadily losing its fans for one reason or another. They say that the basketball team lack home grown talents hence, local fans are not really into the players. Some would say that there is a problem with the way the players play: they seem to have little passion for the game. There are also claims that some players are overweight and are not really fit to run around. The thing is, we are not really built for basketball, and the average Filipino is too short, so the association has to resort to drafting Fil-Am imports. I read somewhere that the PBA can be summarized as such: overrated players, mediocre performances and boring play. It is a sad situation that shows how our dysfunctional culture can also affect our fun and games.

Sport has a lot of enduring qualities. As former British Prime Minister Tony Blair once said, “It shows us how to participate in something that is bigger than ourselves, and teaches us how to demonstrate respect for teammates and opponents. It helps us to learn how to win with humility and lose with grace; how to set a goal and fulfill it. Sport brings people together; the self-worth and self-belief that it teaches are values that can last a lifetime.” As I reflect on how sports can influence the progress in our country, one thing is for sure: we will not win any sporting event if we cannot learn all of the above principles. Without a deep appreciation of these principles, not even sport can unite us.

Ilda is agent provocateur. She wants to help people realise that things are not always what they seem.

A Wedding in ShanXi

Traditionally a very poor region of China until the discovery of vast coal deposits.

Have a look at a wedding involving one of the coal boss' family.

OMG !!!




A Ferrari here can only be the escort car!

Wedding limo: Rolls-Royce Phantom

The Groom's home


Part of the dowry (cheque, gold bars and gold rice bowl set)

The Lambo (second one) is also part of the dowry!


Groom with the best men "team"


Picking up the bride


The bride's home


The lucky bride








Part of the escort team


A \3,000 manicure, forget the diamond ring.


Giving the "Open the Door" Red Packets


Receiving the red packets on the other side


Bride's family


The wedding hall




This is one fleet for a recent wedding in Datong,

a major city in Shanxi.
Of course, involving another coal magnate.





F360
40 Porsche Cayennes, Range Rovers,

BMW X5 and Audi Q7 are not counted as the wedding fleet,

only escorts.


Classic Ferrari 575M






The escort team's job is to go ahead of the wedding fleet to

"clear the road"!






The camera team




6 Jeeps as camera team
4 Ferrari leads
4 Rolls Royce main fleet
6 Mercedes
6 Bentleys
20 Audi A8's
Hummer at the back
Cayennes for "odd jobs"!!!

A Letter From A Brave Filipina

IT IS A VERY NICELY WRITTEN LETTER ...........

I wish all politicians and public servants could read this letter.

Subject: A Letter From A Brave Filipina

To all Filipinos Everywhere:

I used to think that corruption and criminality in the Philippines were caused by poverty. But recent events tell me this isn't true. It is one thing to see people turn into drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves and murderers because of hunger and poverty, but what excuse do these rich, educated people have that could possibly explain their bizarre behavior? And to think I was always so relieved when petty snatchers got caught and locked away in jail because I never fully realized that the big time thieves were out there, making the laws and running our country.

Every night, I come home & see these "honorable" crooks lambast each other on TV , call each one names, look each other in the eye and accuse the other of committing the very same crimes that they themselves are guilty of, is so comical and apalling that I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I have never seen so many criminals roaming around unfettered and looking smug until now. These criminals wear suits and barongs, strut around with the confidence of the rich and famous, inspire fear and awe from the very citizens who voted them to power, bear titles like "Honorable", "Senator", "Justice", "General" and worse, "President". Ironically, these lawless individuals practice law, make our laws, enforce the law. And we wonder why our policemen act the way they do! These are their leaders, and the leaders of this nation - Robin Hoodlum and his band of moneymen. Their motto? "Rob the poor, moderate the greed of the rich."

It makes me wonder what kind of schools they went to, what kind of teachers they had, what kind of environment would produce such creatures who can lie, cheat and steal from an already indebted country and from the impoverished people . It makes me wonder what their children and grandchildren think of them, and if they are breeding a whole new generation of improved Filipino crooks and liars with equally negligible conscience. They all go to mass & receive communion! Heaven forbid!

I am an ordinary citizen and taxpayer. I am blessed to have a job that pays for my needs and those of my family's, even though 30% of my earnings go to the nation's coffers. I have complained time and again because our government could not provide enough of the basic services that I expect and deserve. Rutty roads, poor educational system, poor social services, poor health services, poor everything. But I have always thought that was what all third world countries were all about, and my complaints never amounted to anything more.

We see Scandalous government deals. Plundering presidents pointing fingers. Senators associated with crooks. Congressmen who accept bribes. Big time lawyers on the side of injustice. De Venecia ratting on his boss only after his term has ended, Enrile inquiring about someone's morality! The already filthy rich Abalos and Arroyo wanting more money than they or their great grandchildren could ever spend in a lifetime. Joker making a joke of his own "pag bad ka, lagot ka!" slogan.. Defensor rendered defenseless. Gen. Razon involved in kidnapping. Security men providing anything but a sense of security. The average Juan de la Cruz could not even imagine in his dreams. Is it any wonder why our few remaining decent and hardworking citizens are leaving to go work in other countries?

They say the few stupid ones like me who remain in the Philippines are no longer capable of showing disgust. Many like me feel anger at the brazenness of men we call our leaders, embarrassment to share the same nationality with them, frustration for our nation and helplessness at my own ineffectuality. It is not that I won't make a stand. It is just that I am afraid my actions would only be futile. After all, these monsters are capable of anything. They can hurt me and my family. They already have, though I may not yet feel it..

I am writing this because I need to do something concrete. I need to let others know that ordinary citizens like me do not remain lukewarm to issues that would later affect me and my children. I want to make it known that there are also Filipinos who dream of something better for the Philippines . I want them to know that my country is not filled with scalawags and crooks in every corner, and that there are citizens left who believe in decency, fairness, a right to speak, a right to voice out ideas, a right to tell the people we have trusted to lead us that they have abused their power and that it is time for them to step down. I refuse to let this country go to hell because it is the only country I call mine and it is my responsibility to make sure I have done what I could for it.

We can pray.. After all, they cannot be more powerful than God!

I implore mothers out there to raise your children the best way you can . I beg all fathers to spend time with their children, to teach them the virtues of hard work, honesty, fair play, sharing, dignity and compassion - right from the sandbox till they are old enough to go on their own. Not just in your homes, but at work, in school, everywhere you go. Be good role models.

I call on educators and teachers - . . Instill in them love of their country, help us mold our children into honorable men and women. Encourage our graduates, our best and brightest, to do what they can to lift this country from the mire our traditional politicians have sunk us into. The youth is our future - and it would be largely because of you, our educators, that we will be able to repopulate the seats of power with good leaders, presidents, senators, congressmen, justices, lawmakers, law enforcers and lawful citizens.

I ask all students, young people and young professionals everywhere to look around and get involved .. . YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU! Let your voices be heard. Text meaningful messages to awaken social conscience. Try your best to fight moral decay because I promise you will not regret it when you become parents yourselves. You will look back at your past misdeeds and pray that your children will do better than you did.

Remember that there are a few handful who are capable of running this country.. You can join their ranks and make their numbers greater. We are tired of the old trapos. We need brave idealistic leaders who will think of the greater good before anything else. Be good lawyers, civil servants, accountants, computer techs, engineers, doctors, military men so that when you are called to serve in government, you will have credibility and a record that can speak for itself.

For love of this country, for the future of our children, , I urge you to do what you can. As ordinary citizens, we can do much more for the Philippines than sit around and let crooks lead us to perdition. We owe ourselves this. And we owe our country even more.

Remedios C. Paningbatan
Administrative Officer
Office of the General Counsel
Asian Development Bank
Tel (632) 632-4248
www.adb.org<http://www.adb. org/

Tulong Dunong, ACIL, ICTUS, and other memories from up the Hill

If I lower my guard and take the comfy view that I am fundamentally defined by where I was schooled, I’d call myself an “Atenean”. When you are an Ateneo alumnus (and specially when you remain on as a faculty member), you usually come equipped with a lot of connections and the frame of mind to segue into “socially-oriented” projects if you wanna go down that path. But then I’m not really one to take “comfy views”. I may be “socially-oriented” but not, by any stretch of imagination, along the lines envisioned by my former Ateneo teachers.

By the time you graduate from the Ateneo High School (AHS), you will have been fully indoctrinated by the Tulong-Dunong (roughly translated “Help with Knowledge”) programme. The “TD” programme involves AHS students going off to disadvantaged public schools one day every week to tutor in Math, English, or Science the handful of elementary school students assigned to them. Participation is a mandatory part of the curriculum from the 3rd Yr to 4th years of high school if I recall right. The ACIL (Ateneo Catechetical Instruction League, I think it is) is an organisation for people who want to get involved in TD-type stuff beyond the mandatory requirements.

Usually high-performing students from these public schools are identified over the course of the programme and granted scholarships in the Ateneo.

At the University of the Philippines, the ICTUS (could be either “Instructional Catechetical Teaching for University Students” or “In-Christ Teaching for University Students”, whatever…) organisation is the counterpart of ACIL within that secular institution. It was founded by Ateneans and seems to be run along a similar ACIL-like doctrine.

It is a model (almost one you can consider a franchise) that is often successfully replicated in many other institutions of learning. Like Media and political influence, it is a channel over which information and knowledge is disseminated. So my view there as far as these things go is that it comes down to the quality of the content transmitted through these channels. You can have a dense and extensive network of channels (read lots of classrooms and teachers in your education system just as there are a lots of newspapers TV shows and entertainment personnel in Media), but if your content is not rich, deep, meaningful, and of the right kind you end up simply mis-educating and mis-informing in a larger and more efficient scale.

I’ve experienced being a member of ICTUS in UP. Nice bunch of folks — but so totally emo. Like in most religious orgs (UP-speak for “organisation”), there are a lot of activities involving open exhibition of religious fervour – the Angelus prayer is observed everyday at the prescribed hour, masses are sponsored by the org at every Catholic “day of obligation”, and lots of other ad hoc prayers are murmured openly (grace before meals, thanking the Lord for little wins, etc.) every now and then. Singing of religious songs continuously emanate from the org Tambayan (a designated hang-out spot within the campus).

Unfortunately, I find that hypocrisy often comes with the territory of an openly religious lifestyle. Being openly religious entails great responsibility. If you can’t back up your open religiosity consistently with a correspondingly pious lifestyle that is seen to be compliant with the dogma of your religion, guess what: you end up with the ironic outcome of undermining the very religion you seek to promote. That’s where Jesus Christ seems to be coming from in his continuous denouncing of the Scribes, Pharisees, and other religious officials during his time.

Catholic dogma is quite clear on a few things. There were three such things that were particularly relevant to me as a late teenager and, later, early twenty-something aspiring (albeit unsuccessfully) to lead the swinging lifestyle of a university student:

(1) The matter of “mortal sins” involving “impure” thoughts and actions (if you know what I mean);

(2) The matter of how sin makes you unfit to commune with the Lord (eat His flesh and drink His blood); and,

(3) The matter of how the only way you can re-establish your fitness to commune with Him is through the onerous Sacrament of Reconciliation.

(Note that like the good Catholic School alumnus that I am, I banged the above away on my keyboard straight off the top of my head without googling one bit of it)

So back then, it was often quite a bewildering experience for me to watch as friends of mine, who just hours or even minutes earlier I had just been exchanging rude stories and jokes with in the Tambayan, lined themselves up at the aisle of our University Chapel waiting for their turn to receive Holy Communion. Was there some kind of express drive-thru Confessional box around the corner I was not aware of?

My own thoughts became even more disturbing to me when I realised that I’d routinely scan the Holy Communion queue towards the end of the mass and think “hey Jojo over there has been bonking Gigi over the last couple of months”. Then I’d go on to think about how I haven’t seen either of them go to Confession lately — or worse have seen them go to confession before every mass they attended.

Shudder.

Suffice to say, there was something quite wrong about the sort of thinking that imprisoned my mind at the time.

My point is (with apologies for having so far digressed and digressed from the digression a few times here), can we always be a hundred percent sure about our personal moralbeliefs that make stuff offensive? bearings? Is it thine eye that offends? Or is it thine

Perhaps take a moment to read my recent article Voids in logic and substance simply plugged by the ‘magic’ of ‘People Power’ published on GetRealPhilippines.net, or at least reflect on this excerpt:

What does [the] trend towards increasingly abstracted and simplified representation of ideas, information, and data mean? Hold that thought while we consider the example of something more tangible – the transport and distribution of physical goods in an economy – that we can use to illustrate the point I plan to make.

In the old days when people used to produce what they consume, an “end-product” was not regarded in quite the same way a Twenty First Century tween would see her mug of Starbucks hot chocolate. A subsistence economy consumer would most likely be aware of most of the value of the tangible economic input into, say, the wild pig thigh he is munching into – the hunt, the kill, and the butchering of the beast. The value has substance and is derived from real assets and capital – the hunter’s skill and weapons and the planning that went into the hunt, for example. In contrast, the only palpable source of the value in the Starbucks drink a modern-day city slicker would discern is the brand experience – the stoking on the ego of walking in and out of a trendy establishment, the pride in being seen holding in one’s hand a tall paper tumbler that conspicuously sports the green circular logo. The coffee beans that give the beverage its rich flavour may have come from South America or Africa, the milk accounting for its texture from Australia or New Zealand. None of it matters. Indeed, there is no way the average Starbucks customer could be aware of such details.

We are at an age where we are on a day-to-day and even minute-by-minute basis served up a dense platter of symbolic ideas encapsulated in colourful sensually-appealing icons. And even before the technology was available to package them in the way we now consume them through our whiz-bang electronic devices, such persuasion tools have been around for some time and have been just as effective at capturing our sensibilities. The problem lies in the way these packages insulate us from the soundness (or lack of soundness) of the logic in their underlying ideas.

With that in mind, consider now what Inquirer.net columnist Conrado de Quiros says in his latest article Yes, he might:

Noynoy, like his mother, has the power to tap into People Power. That is the one huge ally he would need to fight corruption. That is the one huge ally that will be there to fight corruption.

Cory formally institutionalized People Power – it’s a provision in the Constitution – but never really used it in the course of her term. The provision was left for the politicians to pervert, not least Arroyo who used it to oust Grace Padaca and Ed Panlilio and to try to change the Constitution. Noynoy holds the key to it. If he discovers it, he will raise, like Aragorn who conscripted the dead kings and their legions in “Lord of the Rings,” an army mightier than any of his enemies can muster.

Equipped with the right approach to thinking, some of the right questions may now naturally emerge when faced with the sort of moronism exhibited above. Up to the challenge?