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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Classical Music for 2008
By Antonio C. Abaya Written on Dec. 23, 2007 For the Standard Today, December 25 issue It is probably too late to get hold of these exceptional CDs in the last few days of 2007, except for those living in Hong Kong , Singapore , Japan , Australia-New Zealand, Western Europe or North America . For the rest of us, there is always next year. AQUITANIA: Christmas Music from Aquitanian Monasteries of the 12th Century. Performed by the Sequentia Ensemble for medieval music, directed by Benjamin Bagby and Barbara Thornton. (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi). For anyone who wants to escape from the crass commercialism and packaged merriment of today�s Christmas, this CD is ideal. Eighteen numbers from the medieval Duchy of Aquitaine (in what became France), the homeland of the troubadours, sung in silken polyphonic harmony, some by a male vocal ensemble, others by the group�s female ensemble; most a capella, a few accompanied by medieval instruments; mostly in Latin�.recreate for modern sensibilities the hushed reverence with which medieval Europe used to regard Christmas. (Highly recommended) BACH TRANSCRIPTIONS by Leopold Stokowski. Performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jose Serebrier.( Naxos ). I acquired this CD on the assumption that it contained Stokowski�s most celebrated Bach transcription, that of the Toccata and Fugue in d minor BWV 565. Alas, it does not. Instead it has as its main work the Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor BWV 582. Plus eight shorter Bach pieces, one by Handel, one by Purcell, and two melodies by Stokowski himself. How can anyone complain? (Recommended). BACH: Christmas Oratorio BWV 248. Performed by the Monteverdi Chorus and the English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. (Archiv Produktion). In my opinion, the ultimate in Christmas music. Composed in 1734, the oratorio is a series of cantatas grouped into six sections to celebrate the six days of Christmas, from Christmas Day to the Feast of the Epiphany. Recorded with superb musical artistry by the soloists and the ensemble on two CDs. (Very highly recommended). BEETHOVEN: Symphony no 10 in e-flat, first movement. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Wyn Morris.(IMP Classics) This is the first recording of the master�s last and uncompleted symphony and comes with a lecture on it by Dr. Barry Cooper. This controversial �first movement� was assembled by Dr. Cooper from fragmentary musical sketches attributed to Beethoven but which were not positively authenticated as meant to be parts of a Tenth Symphony.(Of historical interest only.) BERLIOZ: Symphonie Fanstastique, coupled with Tristia. Performed by the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Pierre Boulez. (Deutsche Grammophon). Smitten by the beauty of an Irish Shakespearean actress, Harriet Smithson, whom he met in a reception in Paris in 1827, the 24-year old Berlioz composed this his only symphony to, incredible as it may sound these days, attract her attention But thank heavens for that because this is one of the most dramatic symphonies ever composed, and one of my favorites. This recording, which includes a lesser known choral work, is a real gem. (Very highly recommended) HANDEL: Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Performed by Le Concert des Nations, conducted by Jordi Savall. (Astree). First played in 1717 on a barge on the River Thames for the pleasure of King George I, Water Music, in two suites, has become one of the towering masterpieces of the baroque era. The shorter Music for the Royal Fireworks was commissioned by King George II as accompaniment for a fireworks display in London �s Green Park in 1749 to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. The two works in one disc, played with such gusto and musical competence (except for occasional sours note by the trumpets) is a felicitous bargain. (Highly recommended). ORFF: Carmina Burana. Performed by soprano Sylvia Greenberg, counter-tenor James Bowman and baritone Stephen Roberts, with the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin und Chor and the Knabenchor des Staats- und Domchors Berlin , conducted by Riccardo Chailly. (Decca). One of my all-time favorites, of which I have at least four recordings. The raw energy and pulsating rhythm never fail to excite. (Highly recommended). SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony no. 5. Performed by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Coupled with SHOSTAKOVICH: Concerto no. 1 for Cello and Orchestra. Performed by cellist Yo Yo Ma, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. (CBS Masterworks).Another of my favorite symphonies. Shostakovich composed this in 1937, a time of crisis and impending war. Like some of his other symphonies (especially the 6th and the 11th) it is redolent with patriotism and revolutionary fervor. The composer was deservedly awarded the Stalin Prize in the 1940s. A superb recording of both the symphony and the cello concerto. (Highly recommended) VIVALDI: Stabat Mater RV 621, coupled with four short works by the same composer. Performed by counter-tenor Andreas Scholl, with the Ensemble 415 conducted by Chiara Banchini. (Harmonia Mundi). .The voice of Scholl casts a sheer hypnotic spell with its androgynous elegance, to which the ensemble adds an infectious contrapuntal cadence. (Highly recommended) WAGNER: Orchestral excerpts from �Tristan und Isolde�, �Tannhauser�, and �Die Meistersinger von Nurmberg.� Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan. (Deutsche Grammophon). From Karajan�s 1984 recordings. Includes the Overture and Venusberg Music from �Tannhauser�: the Prelude to Act 3 of �Meistersinger�; and, the Prelude to Act 1 and Liebestod from �Tristan,�, than which there is probably no better recording available. (Highly recommended). Baroque Music for Trumpets. Compositions by Vivaldi, Telemann, Pachelbel, Michael Haydn and Biber. Performed by trumpet soloist Wynston Marsalis, with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Raymond Leppard. (CBS Masterworks) A sumptuous feast of glorious trumpets and timpani from the baroque period, including two concerti for 3 trumpets and strings by Georg Philip Telemann and one concerto for 3 trumpets and strings by Antonio Vivaldi.. Extraordinary. (Highly recommended). . Danses de la Renaissance. Performed by the Clemencic Consort, conducted by Rene Clemencic. (Harmonia Mundi). A collection of fourteen Renaissance dances, mostly from France : banies, pavanes, gaillardes, rondeaus. With a truer ring of authenticity and a wider variety than the collection below. All very quaint and different, but you probably wouldn�t want to listen to them everyday (Recommended) ***** Spanish Renaissance Music. Performed by the Ancient Consort Singers conducted by John Alexander, and the Ancient Instrumental Ensemble conductedby Ron Purcell. (Tuxedo). Sixteen short compositions: four by Anonymous, the by others who might as well have been anonymous also. This can be mistaken for a recording of an all-night carousing by village drunkards pounding on pots and pans, before they were rounded up by the Inquisition and hustled off to be burned at the stake for singing with the Devil. (Very disappointing.) Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Classical Music for 2008� More Reactions to �Most Corrupt President� More Reactions to �Wayang in Bali � Rizal: A Continuing Death Rizal 111: I am Tao Rizal: Undeserved Adjectives? MALIGAYANG PASKO, TOKS! I am sure you know ! (?) that there are two super stations whatever to log in to, also gratis! 1. "accuradio.com" ! ! It has everything classical, pops anything on this planet! 2. "wqxr.com" THE New York Times 24-hour ALL classical station! Tony Oposa, MD, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thanks, Tony. One of the best gifts I have ever seen. Merry Christmas to you and your family, and, by the way, our paper. Gerry Geronimo, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww To the editors of the Manila Standard Today and Antonio Abaya. I was saddened to read the article by Antonio C. Abaya title "Classical music for free" in which he promotes a site that "shares" copyrighted material. The site is question is promoting piracy as the owner of the site has no right to distribute music in the way that he/she does. Wholesale distribution through the internet cannot be considered sharing. The owner of the site does not even make his/her name nor is there any contact information which, I would think, would make any reputable journalist question the source. The Philippines does not have a good reputation when it comes to the protection of IP rights but I find it extremely disturbing that a newspaper such as the Manila Standard Today promotes breaking the law. You are also in the business of creating intellectual property and I am sure you would not take it lightly if your rights were being trampled upon. I urge the editors to take appropriate action and remove the article and request Mr. Abaya to better check his source before tarnishing the reputation of your good paper. Regards, Riyaz Moorani, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 CEO, Naxos www.Naxos.com, www.NaxosMusicLibrary.com, www.NaxosRadio.com, www.ClassicsOnline.com Mr Riyaz Moorani CEO, Naxos In reply to your email of December. 25 regarding my article �Classical Music for Free� in the Manila Standard Today of the same date, I would like to comment that: Your fears that this will promote piracy are exaggerated. The market for classical music � especially for esoteric medieval and baroque music � in the Philippines is very small as to be virtually non-existent. It is simply not worth anyone�s bother to copy these CDs and sell them in this insignificant market.. This, I am sure, was realized by your Hong Kong-based German founder � whom I met but whose name I cannot recall � when my Erehwon Bookshop (closed in 1988) was the sole (authorized) retailer of Naxos� classical music cassettes (under another brand name) in Metro Manila in the 1980s. However, in deference to your concerns, and because it was not and is not my intent to promote piracy, I will remove all references to the offending website from the article when it is archived in my blog acabaya.blogspot.com and website www.tapatt.org. It may also interest you to know that my personal music library includes 37 Naxos CDs bought from various sources: amazon.com, Tower Records in San Francisco, Squires Gate Music Shop in London, HMV in Hong Kong, Delight Music (now closed) in Hong Kong, Beethoven Music Shop in Singapore, and various record retailers in Melbourne, Sydney and Helsinki, whose names I can no longer recall. Sincerely yours, Antonio C. Abaya Dec. 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Many thanks for the musical suggestions, selections that are a welcome change from the season's usual noise. Now I know which CDs to ask for from my daughter (like yours, she's also named Carla and often sends me classical discs) --- in case I want to hear more than downloaded music. Am particularly fascinated by your recommended Berlioz work since I have another version of that piece along with his "Harold in Italy ," one of my favorites. Also looking forward to hearing the Shostakovich and the medieval Aquitania . Best wishes for the coming Chinese new Year of the Rat ! Isabel Escoda, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww MARAMING, MARAMING SALAMAT PO ! WHAT A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM YOU. Sorry about the caps, I type with my eyes glued to the keys. Pls, pls say hello to Gigi for me. All the best for you and your family. A most blessed Christmas. Marilyn Ranada Donato, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Thank you so much for the tip on the blog that offers free classical music. I will be making use of this site-thanks to you. Music can give us a moment of comfort over all the problems that the world now bears. Merry Christmas (PS: This is one your more appreciated articles-it can give relaxation and peace.) Guy Rodriguez, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Many thanks for the information and the good advices for selecting a few gems of classical music...for free! A good gift for Christmas! Thanks also to Carla who was instrumental in making this happen and letting his Dad�s culture profit to others like me. Happy Holidays to you too and your family and good health! Paul and Madeleine Obrist, (by email), Dec. 25, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, A great gift this Christmas coming from you, SIR .My sincere Christmas greetings to you, your family and your staff. GOD BLESS AND GOOD HEALTH, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Emilio Vargas, (by email), Dec. 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I have read your column which came out on The Manila Standard Today entitled Classical Music for 2008. I am a music lover and enjoy listening to music be it pop, jazz, classical, R&B, hip-hop, OPM, OST, etc. I have visited the link to the blogsite you mentioned in your column and it is indeed a gem of a site. Although I am not a fan of rapidshare for file sharing, the selections in the site are simply too good to pass up. I have only one suggestion to the blog owner, he/she could have added preview links of the selections like other paid music sites. This will facilitate for easier location of music some down-loaders are not familiar with. Thank you for sharing. Noi Ramirez, (by email), Dec. 26, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, Thanks for the wonderful holiday gift: free classical recordings. Come to think of it, good classical music MUST be given free to serious listeners (majority of whom perhaps cannot afford the steep price of such recordings). Make the few rich aficionados subsidize their free distribution. Thanks for your sharing... Happy New Year and enjoy your deserved respite ! Regards, Ernie del Rosario, (by email), Dec. 29, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �Most Corrupt President� (Dec. 20, 2007) Tony, I do not know about GMA being the "most corrupt" but she certainly ranks way up or rather "down" there. At any rate, the distinction is not something to be proud of unless one is himself or herself morally bankrupt / mediocre. Dr Dennis Acop, (by email), Dec. 28, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, May the year ahead be a year of good news, good health and good life for all of us. God bless. Every body knows many a government officials are corrupt from top to bottom, from elected and appointed officials, from those certified, educated or not, from policemen to Generals, from mayors to President's circle of aide. The question is What should we do? Who should do it? When should we do it? How should we do it? Tama na! Sobra na! Bayan gumising ka na! Take care and God Bless. Sincerely yours, Gerardo S. Fernando (by email), Vancouver , BC , Canada , Dec. 29, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, First of all, may I wish you a blessed New Year. It wouldn't be right to wish you a "happy" one, considering that you and I know the problems of this country will not be gone in 2008, and for as long as she is at the helm. Many of your readers seem to think that a survey by Pulse or SWS can be "influenced" by the one who paid for the rider questions. Didn't they take elementary statistics in college? Or have they forgotten what random sampling means, and how a proper sample and a proper research design could effectively represent millions? Anyway, if Marcos is now judged less harshly as far as corruption is concerned, it could be due to two factors: the passing of time is one. The other is what ordinary folks call --- " may nakita naming kapalit", or, there's some kind of trade-off. Marcos has infrastructure and hospitals and an LRT to boast of. There's very little to show for the 8 years and counting that this woman has been in office. If you look at the figures for Erap, they're you're "squealing masa" still, so what's new. The bigger problem for GMA, as I see it, is that those who believe she is more corrupt than Erap are mostly from the rich and the middle class. Note that of those who disagreed on the Erap pardon, a bigger percentage believe she is the most corrupt, as compared to the squealing masa who agreed with her pardon of Erap. She has lost her support base in Edsa Dos clearly, except for the following: Esperon and his military clique; Capalla, Gaudencio Rosales, Aniceto and the conservative bishops of the land for whom everything is "todo pasa" for as long as she keeps praying the rosary piously (kuno), and will not permit artificial birth control; most of her cabalen in Pampanga. When will they abandon her? In this country, nobody ever knows. Lito Banayo, (by mail), Dec. 30, 2007 P.S. But then again you write for the Standard, which, although I admire some of its writers apart from you, has always been pro-administration, any, for that matter, but specially this one, where the owner, Ricky Razon, flits in and out of Malacanang " como parientes del presidente". wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You fellows are saying that PGMA is the most corrupt president in the history of our country, but I am saying different thing. The most corrupt president we have ever had was the late Mr. Marcos and perhaps in the world in terms of taking into consideration that the Philippines has over half of its population living under dire poverty. So, you fellows can beat your chests in anger like a gorilla because most likely you persist on what you say so. The many of you left the motherland like leaving a house of your own with falling walls and leaking roof to live in someone's concrete house and, the worst of it all you criticize your parents for not repairing the house where you were born naked. You should either go back to the Philippines and run for public office if you think you have the better solution to uplift the living condition of the those who can not put foods on the table three times a day. So I am waiting for rebutal from anyone of you. But before I forget, let me say these words in passing: Let President Gloria finish her terms and help her instead of pulling her down because the nation is deeply suffering from "Ingitan". But make no mistake into thinking that I cast my vote for her, nay NO! Rosauro Feliciano, ECE, (by email), Kuwait , Jan. 04, 2007 (An OFW in Kuwait ) (Speaking for myself, I do not live abroad. And my personal perception is that the most corrupt presidents since the 1970s are, in alphabetical order, Arroyo, Estrada and Marcos. Who THE most corrupt is cannot be known factually as the court cases against them are either incomplete, un-adjudicated or have yet to be filed. ACA) Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, In any war, including war against corruption, we do not plead with our enemy to stop the battle. We set up your own arsenal to stop the enemy. What we need to do is set up the Grand Jury and Trial Jury systems as the common people's arsenal against powerful grafters by filing an urgent petition with the Supreme Court to promulgate the jury systems. Once the systems are in place, the common people, like you and me, can become sentinels against public officials in our communities. We no longer need to plead to grafters to stop their acts and instead we can indict (by the Grand Jury) or convict (by the Trial Jury) them and send to jail according to our own terms and wishes. The people have that power under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution and it does not need any legislation in Congress to allow the people to exercise their sovereign authority. At this time, we are like crying babies, hoping that in 1000 years will find a "motherly" president to nourish us with good govrnance and once we find one, we will again endure for another 994 years with an era of presidential grafters.. I have drafted the Jury Rules and I already submitted the same to Chief Justice Puno. All that is needed is to urge him by way of a formal petition to promulgate by the Supreme Court in accordance with Article VIII, Section 5(5) the system under the same authority in setting up of the writ of amparo without seeking authority from Congress. How about forming a committee of around 5 energytec citizens to start the ball rolling? And by the way, the Amparo Writ is not as effective as we think unless it will be backed up by the Grand Jury system wherein you and I, the common citizen, can indict a disobedient amparo respondent with the crime of obstruction of justice ON OUR OWN TERMS and not on the President's or any government official's own term. Without a Grand Jury, can the Supreme Court hold the Executive, a co-equal of the Judiciary, in contempt of court for disobedience of an amparo writ? Not even once in the over 100 years of its legal existence where it was originally devised in Mexico a country whose government is as corrupt, if not more, as the Philippine government. Without the Grand Jury system and poised to act, would President Nixon of the U.S. have resigned from office for his authorship of the Watergate scandal? I doubt it. I would be happy to send a CD of the Jury Rules draft to any interested party by providing me his postal mailing address. Marlowe Camello, [email protected], Homeland, CA, Jan. 05, 2008 Lawyer and Online Entrepreneur wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Happy New Year!! Well, I am trying hard to like the President, because as I look at the brighter side like improving economic situation, there seems to be some reason to like her, but every time I do, scandals after scandals come out. The Pulse Asia survey to me appeared more of an opinion of the surveyed population which of course involved subjective judgment. So many people are fed up and maybe by selecting GMA as the most corrupt, they would also like to send a message to GMA about this "perception" and hopefully she will do something to change things. Nothing will change if they will select Marcos or Erap, they are done, and that is one of the bias in the survey. The question seemed to be or may be interpreted the same as when it is rephrased to "Which president (from 80's up) do you like most?" which may give the same result putting GMA dead last. But instead of taking it as a constructive criticism, she brushed it aside and deemed it merely "perceptions". But that it is also precisely the point. The people has a very negative perception of her. If she will change the perception for the better, the very same people dumping her will unite and rally behind her, support her all the way. The kind of President that we need is a person who is trusted and looked up to by the people, a respectable, clean and dignified president, not necessarily the brightest. When can we have one? A prosperous and year of abundance ahead for you! (for me as well) Edilberto Anit, (by email), Jan. 02, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �Wayang in Bali � (Dec. 18, 2007) Tony, In response to your question: (But even Vegans exhale carbon dioxide, and their poo, when digested by bacteria, generates methane gas. What do you ride when you go to work? A cow, instead of a polluting car? But it also exhales carbon dioxide and its dung also generates methane gas. So what's the advantage, as far as global warming is concerned? ACA) I am quoting paragraphs from the webpage I attached (i.e http://www.goveg.com/veganism_environment.asp ). "Raising animals for food is also a water-polluting process. One dairy cow produces more than 100 pounds of excrement per day. The animals raised for food in the U.S. produce 130 times the excrement of the entire human population of this country. Their excrement is more concentrated than human excrement and is often contaminated with herbicides, pesticides, toxic chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, and so on. These massive farmed-animal factories generally don't have waste-treatment plants. Instead, the manure is poured onto land or into giant lagoons, where it often spills over into local waterways, kills fish, and poisons the drinking water. Streams and rivers all over the middle of our country that once were clear and full of fish are now filthy and lifeless because of manure runoff from factory farms. There's an enormous "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico now, where no fish or other animals live. This is largely because of the enormous amount of animal waste that has flowed from factory farms down rivers and streams and into the gulf. Two of the most pressing environmental issues of the day are global warming and the destruction of the rain forest. In 2006, the University of Chicago published a major report stating that adopting a vegan diet is more important in the fight against global warming than switching to a hybrid car. This is because of the enormous amount of methane and carbon dioxide produced by farmed animals. Methane is a molecule that the EPA says is 20 times more effective at creating climate change than carbon dioxide. Animal agriculture is the largest source of methane in the U.S. As for the rain forest, most people know that the rain forest is being destroyed to create grazing space for cattle. But Greenpeace published a report in 2006 indicating that the new trend is for huge companies to clear rain-forest land to raise crops to feed to farmed animals. It specifically blamed the chicken industry for leading the way in the destruction of the Amazon. The Web site GoVeg.com has information about all these issues. And by the way. I do not advocate using cattle to go to work. On the contrary that will be against my ethical belief against exploiting animals. My suggestion on going vegan is not an exclusive solution to stop global warming and I also advocate non polluting renewable energy etc. Regards, Jesse, [email protected], Dec. 28, 2007 (Understood. But when rice, wheat, corn, sugarcane and other crops are harvested, and when trees are felled for logs, the inevitable vegetative waste matter left on the fields and forests do rot and they release methane gas � 21 times more contributory to global warming than carbon dioxide - into the atmosphere. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr Abaya, Europe's lead to commit to a more radical CO2 emission target will be more likely a challenge to meet given the new economics of the price of crude oil going past the imaginary $100 per barrel line, or increased LNG price in the years to come. If crude oil pushes past the $100 barrier, the demand for LNG will increase which will consequently put pressure on its price to go upwards. Natural gas is the best alternative to crude oil fuels for base plant power production in the current energy technology market. At the moment natural gas liquifaction trains are running at maximum capacity, and any disruption to its supply due to plant breakdowns (for operating at maximum capacity! a catch 22 situation if you call it that) will not help at all. More liquifaction trains are being constructed worldwide from Peru to Angola and will be on stream by 2012-2015, which is five to six years from now. In fact even 2 more LNG plants are being planned to be constructed in kidnap-prone Nigeria just to meet the anticipated demand. I guess the oil companies who will be operating the plants consider paying for ransom a small distraction versus the $billions that will be earned. In an article in downstreamtoday.com, Russia just concluded a deal for Turkmenistan and Kazhakstan to supply it with LNG, but the price has increased to $130 per 1,000 cubic meters at the first half and $150 at the second half from last year's $100 per. Since Russia subsidizes its domestic fuel pricing, it has no recourse but to pass on the price increase to its customer, Europe . Europe will then have to fall back to the old reliable but CO2 belching coal plants. "In Germany alone, nearly 50 percent of power production in 2005 was based on coal. Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government plans to build up to 30 new coal-fired power plants over the next decade, despite Merkel's commitment to reducing greenhouse gases. The decision by the government, however, to halt coal production by 2018, because of its costs, means that these power stations will have to be fed by imported coal, most likely Russian." With this development, and with the U.S. , China and India not committing to any cuts in CO2 emission, the Bali Agenda will not be met, and all the efforts to make it work will have been for nothing. Fuel cells are good alternative but expensive. Like all revolutionary technology, only the military is using the most efficient models especially in submarines running very silent, thus stealthy, electric motor for propulsion. Eventually they will be released for wide spread civilian use but it may take years just like the internet from DARPANET, GPS, or the Hummer gas guzzling SUV. Chester Montenegro , (by email), Malabo Island , Equatorial Guinea , West Africa , Jan 01. 2008 (True, fuel cells are still more expensive. But with the price of oil continually rising, and the deleterious effects of CO2 emissions now estimated to cost as much as $6.98 trillion to correct, there will be a cost convergence in the near future. The mass production of fuel cell-powered cars by Honda, BMW and Daimler-Chrysler � over which the US military has no say - in the next three years will accelerate that convergence. ACA ) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, Just a counter reaction on your post comment to Jess the Veggie, what's the advantage of being a vegetarian and what has it got to do with global warming?, I think you know the advantages having a background in chemistry and of course biochemistry. We just need to follow the energy trail and we will know that eating veggie more helps in curbing out carbon dioxide and therefore global warming. If people eat more veggie, more plants need to be grown and therefore more photosynthesis, just like telling people to plant more trees. This is also what they teach in most elementary students as the kids do not pretty understand much about those complicated things discussed in Bali . So, lets eat more veggie, besides, we are not getting any younger. Cheers. Edel Anit, (by email), Jan. 02, 2008 (My question to Jesse the Veggie was: how does organic farming combat global warming, as he had claimed it did, As you can see above, he did not answer that question. Although I eat a lot of (but not exclusively) vegetables, I do not see how organic farming combats global warming at all. (In fact trees, with their profusion of leaves 5 to 15 meters above the earth, do a much better job of absorbing CO2 from the air than vegetables, which usually rise no more than 20 to 30 cms above the ground and are harvested every three or four months, whether they are grown organically or chemically. Maybe we should eat more fruits than vegetables, if global warming is our primary concern. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, I quote the relevant paragraph from Congressman Rolio Golez's linked Canberra article, just in case you did not bother to read it. "In 1985, China 's average consumption of meat was of 20kg, but per capita meat consumption had now increased to 50kg, Diouf said. This reduced the amount of grain available because 1kg of beef could take as much as 8kg of grain to produce. The British medical journal The Lancet recently published a study suggesting a 10 per cent cut in global meat consumption by 2050 would reduce greenhouse emissions from agriculture and also improve health for rich and poor nations" Maybe you should look into the vegetarian angle more seriously as I originally suggested.. Kind regards, Jesse, [email protected], Jan. 05, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Forwarded to Tapatt by Perry Diaz) Rizal: A Continuing Death by Gemma Cruz Araneta The phrase comes from Apolinario Mabini who used it to describe Jose Rizal�s life. Mabini believed that Rizal "bravely endured the terrors of death that awaited him� thus he learned not to fear it, and had no fear when it came to take him away" Rizal was calm and even cheerful as he was led to Bagumbayan, "�to show that he was happy to sacrifice his life, which he had dedicated to the good of all Filipinos." Mabini concluded, " In truth the merit of Rizal's sacrifice consists precisely in that it was voluntary and conscious... God grant that they will know how to render to him the only tribute worthy of his memory-- the imitation of his virtue." Rizal lived and died for the Filipino. Last 30 December, Dr. Floro Quibuyen (Asian Studies Center, UP) gave the annual Rizal lecture sponsored by the National Historical Institute. He spoke about some relatively unexplored facets of Rizal's life. These are: 1) Rizal�s essay, "Filipinas dentro de cien a�os", 2) his concept of the nation, 3) his Dapitan years, and 4) Rizal�s hitherto unnoticed minor study on Oceania . Dr. Quibuyan described Rizal�s essay as ground-breaking and futuristic for no other Filipino scholar of his time had dared envision the Philippines in one hundred years. (This appeared in the Sept 1889- Jan 1890 issue of "La Solidaridad").Thorough in his analysis of historical forces�both local and global�that impinged on the Philippines towards the 1890s, Rizal foresaw that these islands would eventually have to contend with the USA . "Filipinas dentro de cien a�os" began with some annotations Rizal had made to correct Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas ( published in Mexico in 1609). Rizal described the impact of Spanish conquest on the natives of these islands as a "terrible crisis" because it changed "government, laws, usages, customs, religion and beliefs" which resulted in depopulation and impoverishment." Rizal argued that the natives lost "confidence in the past, [while] still without faith in the future." Because "they gave up their writing, their songs, their poems, their laws in order to learn by rote other doctrines they did not understand, another morality, another aesthetics, different from those inspired by their climate and their manner of thinking�" decline and self-degradation set in until "they began to admire and praise whatever was foreign and incomprehensible, their spirit was dismayed and it surrendered." Dr. Quibuyen pointed out that Rizal�s wrote about "a factor which did not exist before" called "national spirit" that was finally awakened by "� a common misfortune and a common abasement" . It united all the inhabitants of the Islands and was promoted by a "large enlightened class within and without the Archipelago" which Rizal called "the brains of the country" and that ".. within a few years it will constitute its entire nervous system and demonstrate its existence in all its acts." In that edifying essay, Rizal argued that the road to progress could no longer be blocked, that the Philippines could no longer remain a colony as it will either be assimilated by Spain, " � with more rights and freedom or will declare herself independent after staining herself and the Mother Country with her own blood. Either way, the advancement and moral progress of the Philippines is inevitable; it is fated ." Prophetically, our national hero concluded that " Spain is not the only factor to be considered. In fact, because she is already on the decline, she is no longer the most crucial factor in the Philippines ' future. The younger generation of Filipinos, who would shoulder the task of building a new nation and preparing the country for the 20th century, would have to contend with the rising superpower in the Asia-Pacific region-- the United States of America ." (And the rest is history!�if I may add.) . There will be more on Dr. Quibuyen�s enlightening Rizal lecture... ([email protected]) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Forwarded to Tapatt by Perry Diaz) RIZAL 111 - I AM TAO! By Edwin D. Bael* 2008, because of the number 8, is said to be a year of new beginnings and resurrections; it is also the 'Year of Grace' for Catholics. But by the way things are in our country, we seem to face another year of the same: for most of us - crisis, corruption and poverty with entertainment from politico-military theatrics; for the very few - the good life. The whys and wherefores of this national situation rattle our consciousness as we try, once more, to recall and make sense of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal 111 years ago. Was his death at the hands of a Filipino firing squad who themselves were at the mercy of a Spanish firing squad behind them, worth all his hope: Yo muero cuando veo que el cielo se colora y al fin anuncia el dia tras lobrego capuz (I am to die when I see the heavens go vivid, announcing the day at last behind the dead night) that he could one day behold his beloved joya del Mar de Oriente secos los negros ojos, alta la tersa frente, sin ceno, sin arrugas, sin manchas de rubor (Jewel of eastern waters: griefless the dusky eyes: lifted the upright brow: unclouded, unfurrowed, unblemished and unashamed!)? One hundred and eleven years have passed and still Inang Bayan's dusky eyes are full of grief, her brows are still neither lifted nor upright - still clouded, still furrowed, still blemished, still ashamed! Paradoxically, the problems are different yet the same: nor more foreign colonizers, only the Filipino elite; no more struggle for independence, just the daily struggle for freedom from want and freedom from fear. As generation Y would ask: what's up with that? Could we perhaps be approaching our national problems with the same mind sets that created the problems in the first place? If we are, could we be bound to go round and round till we die of exhaustion, like the caterpillar that follows its own tail? Albert Einstein is known to have observed: "No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it". Gawad Kalinga stalwart Tony Meloto, in his 'Spirituality in Nation Building ' speech, said: "My choices define who I am, influence those around me and affect the state of my country and my world." No one can disagree with such a statement. But one could add: My choices are marked and circumscribed by my own definitions, perceptions, beliefs and understandings of myself, my family my nation. In other words, my own definitions (beliefs) delimit my choices. Examples of the distortive effects of such beliefs and internal definitions are provided by the classic stories of humans raised by wolves/gorrillas, or those of swans raised by ducks, or of eagles raised by chicken, or pigs raised by dogs, dogs raised by cats or lions raised by sheep. For humans exploited by other humans and made to believe their supposed inferior nature, there is no end to possible citations on the abominations of slavery and of the oppressive conditions starkly expressed in Edwin Markham's poem "The Man With the Hoe", which we can very well relate to our own "Men, Women and Children with Scavenger Hooks" in Tondo and other garbage dumps. Is it possible we truly are of a higher, nobler nature yet have come [or made by others - more appropriately, allowed others to pressure us] to believe we are only good for a little corner of this downtrodden world (as in the song: DITO BA [sa sulok na ito])? For we could ask, like Rizal in 'Cervantes in Argamasilla de Alba': "Miguel,Miguel [Filipino, Filipino], why does your courage surrender to the blows of fate? If the cedar of Lebanon [molave of the Philippines ] defies the horrid roaring of the hurricane; if the hard rock, when the violent sea rages against it to the clamor of wrathful tritons, can stand firm: why do you, invincible genius, despair?" (emphasis provided). In the same poem, Dr. Rizal prefigured the difficulties we now face: "I heard your groans against strict destiny; and I opened the awe-inspiring book where your tremendous fate, inscribed in ominous colors, can be seen. Thorns shall you find along the way, sown there for you by fraud and falsehood; and you shall grapple with your dark fate as the maimed gladiator grapples with death." (emphasis provided). And then counsels a way out: "So go, Miguel, [Filipino] let your clear mind , focus of light, shine on your land to redeem a demented multitude by tearing down the dark, dark veil. And like fraught cloud, hurl expertly in your lofty flight a sizzle of lightning to tumble down the god of madness and to bring forth celestial good." (emphasis provided). What is this "dark, dark veil" we must tear down? And whence do we get this "sizzle of lightning"? Is the veil perhaps related to our conception of our own "pagka-tao"? Our being human? If we try to reach back into the dawn of time, we cannot be sure, but can only grasp some straws of data: like forbears travelling across land bridges from mainland Asia, the archipelago getting settled at least 50,000 years ago [Tabon cave man was carbon-dated at 22,000 years], peoples coming in as seafarers, living as separate tribes, spawning at least 171 native languages-not dialects, practicing animism, getting influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism (Shri Vijaya,7th Century and Majapahit,13th Century), Islam (14th Century), Catholicism (16th Century), Protestantism (19th Century) and the rest of global influences up to the present---all piling on top of another, for the Filipino survives by adapting... Yet almost all our languages refer to our being human beings or persons as "tao" or "tawo" or some phonetic variation thereof. These are the languages referred to, in the felicitous words of Dr. Rizal in "Sa Aking Mga Kabata": Ang hindi marunong magmahal sa kanyang salita mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda (Who does not love his own tongue is far worse than a brute or stinking fish). There are reportedly 13 native Philippine languages with at least one million native speakers; one or more of these languages is spoken natively by more than 90% of Filipinos and we call humans/persons/man-woman as "tao" or similar sound: Albay-Bikol: tawo; Bikol: tawo; Cebuano: tawo; Hiligaynon: tawo; Ilokano: tao; Ilonggo: tawo; Kapampangan: tau; Kinaray-a: taho; Maguindanao: tawo; Maranao: taw; Pangasinan: too; Tagalog: tao; Tausug: tau. When we say "tao" we mean some human, one with higher consciousness or noble nature. Thus we say, "magpakatao ka!" Be free, aware and responsible! When we knock on a door and say "Tao, Po !" (definitely not the equivalent of 'any body home?'), we are declaring a human being is here, not an animal or the wind! Nothing inanimate! Did our various ethno-linguistic groups get influenced by the Chinese tradition of "tao" from their philosophical heritage of taoism? May be. But if there was that close an influence, why not use the Chinese term for persons, as in shen or gui? "Tao" in Chinese conception "can be roughly stated to be the flow of the universe, or the force behind the natural order. Tao is believed to be the influence that keeps the universe balanced and ordered. Tao is associated with nature, due to a belief that nature demonstrates the Tao. The flow of qi as the essential energy of action and existence, is compared to the universal order of Tao. Tao is compared to what it is not, like the negative theology of Western scholars. It is often considered to be the source of both existence and non-existence". That concept seems to be too big and grandiose compared to our daily usage of 'tao'. Might not this lower level conception of "tao" be a part of the dark veil? In Mark 12:28-31, when Jesus was asked by a Scribe as to which of the commandments is first and most important of all [in its nature]?, the Lord replied: " The first and principal one of all commands is: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment. The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. (Amplified Bible) The logic of our mind would ask: Where is the instruction to love 'yourself'? Why did Christ immediately go from loving God with all-our-all and then to loving our neighbor as we love ourselves? Shouldn't there have been the progression of loving God, loving yourself and then loving your neighbor as yourself? Shouldn't the directions of love have been up, in, then out? Why is there no distinction between the 'up' and the 'in'? And why is the second like the first? Did the Lord, Jesus Christ, mean there really is no distinction between "the Lord your God" and "yourself" because God is within each of us? And therefore when you love God, you actually love yourself (no 'up' but simply 'in')? Thus, there can only be two commands--which are like each other--because when you love your neighbor, you also love God? If that be so, can I dare say: I AM GOD? AND SO ARE YOU? Can each of us say, like Christ: "I and the Father are one"? Can we conclude then that the dark veil is the wrong belief that each of us is separate and distinct from God? And that all the evil in the world are but the consequences of our ignorance of "God within" and of our insistence that God is simply out there from Whom we can ask any thing, Whom we can treat as an ATM, and Whom we can blame for every thing? This is worth considering. After all, "all descriptions of reality are temporary hypotheses" [Buddha]. In Peter Russell's "A Scientist's Oddyssey", he found that "when mystics say 'I am God', or words to that effect, they are not talking of an individual person; their inner explorations revealed the true nature of the self, and it is this that they identify with God; they are claiming that the essence of self, the sense of 'I Am' without any personal attributes, is God". Yet even to think of it, has been fraught with danger. Tenth century Islamic mystic al-Hallaj was crucified for using language claiming identity with God. Fourteenth century Christian priest and mystic Meister Eckhart was summoned before Pope John XXII and forced to "recant everything he had falsely taught", when he preached that "God and I are one". Thomas Merton, a contemporary scholar and mystic, wrote: "If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence and my own present reality, the indefinable am that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center, I pass into the infinite I am which is the very Name of the Almighty." St. John of the Cross, acclaims: "The soul is in itself a most lovely and perfect image of God". A teaching from 'The Impersonal Life', Anon, states: "I AM you, that part of you who is and knows... that part of you who says I AM and is I AM... I AM the innermost part of you that sits within, and calmly waits and watches, knowing neither time nor space... It was I Who directed all your ways, Who inspired all your thoughts and acts ... I have been within always, deep within your heart." So, can we say that when we declare: I AM TAO, we really mean I AM GOD in principle: co-creator of all that happens to me, my nation, my world? Can we then cite our constitution that "Sovereignty resides in the people, and all government authority emanates from them" and mean it from the divine perspective of sovereignty? Therefore, can we then take any person or group of persons, natural or juridical, who seeks to undermine, defeat, modify or in any other way prevent or make difficult the full and free expression of the people's will (as in election fraud) to be perpetrators of treason or the substance thereof, because these are acts of treachery against the sovereign and designed to injure the integrity of the sovereign? Can we then call upon the Armed Forces of the Philippines to judiciously exercise its role of being "the protector of the people and the State" ... "to secure the sovereignty of the State" against any and all who would prevent or otherwise disturb the full and free exercise of such sovereignty by the people? Given the lifting of this veil of separateness and being at-one-ment with the Lord, can we now make sense of Dr. Rizal's exhortation of the Philippine youth?: "Look up with tranquil face, Philippine youth, on this day and shine, manifesting the grace and gallantry of your line, fair hope of this land of mine! xxxx Bearing the good light of art and science, to the battleground descend, O youth, and smite: loosen the heavy pound of chains that keeps poetic [and national] genius bound". In the same vein, can we now appreciate Dr. Rizal's optimism about the capabilities of the Filipino in his 'Hymn to Talisay'?: "We are children that nothing frightens, not the waves, nor the storm, nor the thunder; the arm ready, the young face tranquil, in a fix we shall know how to fight. We ransack the sand in our frolic; through the caves and the thickets we ramble; our houses are built upon rocks; our arms reach far and wide. No darkness, and no dark night, that we fear, no savage tempest; if the devil himself comes forward, we shall catch him, dead or alive." What did Dr. Rizal expect of us, who now remind ourselves of his ultimate sacrifice? In "Hymn to Labor" he has 'The Boys' end the play with the following stanza: "... And the ancients will say when they see us: 'These are worthy, behold, of their breed!' Not by incense are the dead more honored as by sons who are glorious indeed. For his country at war, for his country at peace, the Filipino will stand guard, will love and will die!" (emphasis provided). There is then the matter of honoring him (and other heroes passed into the great beyond) by being 'glorious indeed'. Could we honor him with right words and right actions? After all: "You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you: and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways." (Job 22:28, Amplified Bible). Moreover, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life] (Proverbs 18:21) By the power of our tongues, let us 'hurl a sizzle of lightning' by decreeing, in full realization at the moment of utterance, the significance of our unity with the Lord God Almighty, coupled with the complete intention [you could say: New Year's resolution] of acting as such: I AM TAO! Uncommon. Sovereign. "Out of Time's abyss and Eternity's vast cavern I rise: I am the New Year. Now I have come to govern".* ---------------------- About the author: Edwin D. Bael is Knight Commander of the Knights of Rizal. He was Consul General of the Philippines in Los Angeles 2000-2002. He now resides and works in San Diego , California . Note: The English translations of Rizal's works in Spanish are quoted from "The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal Translated by Nick Joaquin". *[Rizal's 'The New Year' - A Fragment] wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Rizal: Undeserved Adjectives? A radical historian who constantly challenges the status quo of historicity urged yesterday future writers on the life, works and heroism of Dr. Jose Rizal to refrain from further embarrassing him with undeserved adjectives that do not faithfully reflect his true being. Rizal had never seen a corporate boardroom in his lifetime and therefore not a businessman as portrayed by Dr. Ernesto Sibal in his book, Rizal the Businesssman. He merely hawked farm products in the sidewalks of Dapitan, according to author, professor, newspaper columnist, magazine editor and historian Dr. Frank Grego. The national hero is not a linguist as portrayed by historians Sofronio Alip and Gregorio Zaide. He had no formal studies in linguistics and dialectics who learned Japanese because of his pursuit for the love of O Sei San in Japan; French to communicate with Nely Buosted and Gertrude Becket whom he wooed in Paris; German for his unrelenting interest to his A las Flores de Heidelberg; and Spanish because of his education in Ateneo and Universitae de Sto. Tomae. Dr. Grego stressed that Rizal indeed carved a head of a carabao during one of his depressive days but he was not a sculptor as historified by Teodoro Agoncillo. His carving was far beyond compare with those of the Igorots�s and the wood carvers in Paete. The national hero was not an ophthalmologist as pictured by other historians when he checked the blurring eyes of his mother. He did not undergo any ophthalmic fellowship, for he obtained a mere licentiate and not a doctorate in medicine, Grego emphasized. �Why do they have to embarrass Rizal with these inaccurate labels in their desperate efforts to justify his proclamation by the Philippine Commission as an American-made National Hero in 1902?� Dr. Grego asked. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |