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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| My Aubervilliers By Antonio C. Abaya Written Nov. 20, 2005 For the Standard Today, November 22 issue The nightly rioting and car-burning that rocked the whole of France for three weeks began last Oct. 27 in Clichy-sous-Bois when two immigrant youths � typically from North Africa and Black Africa � were accidentally electrocuted in a power sub-station, apparently while running away from the police for undisclosed reasons. The rioting spread from Clichy-sous-Bois to nearby Aubervilliers, and eventually to more than 300 towns and cities all over France, and close to 10,000 cars were torched, in the worst public disturbance in France since the 1968 student revolt. At the risk of sounding like Max Soliven, I venture to mention here the earth-shaking news that I was in Aubervillers, on October 15, 1961. The previous day, I had checked in at the youth hostel or auberge de jeunesse at the town of Givet near the Belgian border, after I had travelled through Belgium (from a village near Aachen in northwest Germany) for four hours, literally without seeing anything, the fog was so thick. I had been on the road on my Vespa motor scooter since May 1 and had logged almost 18,000 kilometers, about the distance, in a straight line, from Manila to San Francisco and back to Manila. I had started from Paris, my favorite city, and was now about to close the circle back to Paris. Getting ready for the last leg of my journey, I filled up the Vespa�s tank with fuel (about seven liters of gasoline mixed with oil) which would take me, more or less, the 260-270 kilometers to Paris. After paying for the gasoline, I had enough money left to buy a loaf of bread, which was my breakfast and lunch on the road for that day. As I came closer and closer to Paris, I nervously watched the odometer, wondering exactly how far that tankful of fuel was going to take me. Sure enough, at the northeast Paris suburbs or banlieue of Aubervilliers, at the exact corner of Avenue de la Division Leclerc and Rue de la Republique, my faithful Vespa, which had taken me over the highest pass (Puerta de Envalira in Andorra, 2,400+m) in the Pyrenees from France into Spain, and the second highest pass (Col du Grand St. Bernard, 2,700+m) in the Alps from Italy into Switzerland, and up into the Arctic Circle in Finland, sputtered and gasped to a stop. I had no more money for fuel or food, but I had enough coins left for one telephone call. I went to the nearest bar-grill and called the Philippine Embassy. When I identified myself, the call was transferred to an embassy official, the late Nene Zacarias, whose first words to me were: Naku, �tung batang ito! Matagal ka nang hinahanap ng kapatid mo! (My sister was in town, but I didn�t know where she was and she didn�t know where I was.) After I explained my dire financial situation, Nene told me to get a taxi to the Embassy, at 26 avenue Georges Mandel. I entered Paris that afternoon with the equivalent of two American cents in my pocket. The Embassy paid for the taxi fare and served me a late, hot lunch, and lent me some money to retrieve my Vespa at Aubervillers. My Aubervillers. I had run out of money earlier, in Hamburg and in Stockholm and was saved from absolute penury by German and Swedish girl friends, respectively, whom I had known when I was a university student in the US. But two American cents was the poorest I have ever been in my entire adult life. In 1965, I wrote about my travels in �Europe by Scooter,� which became a bestseller at that time. But I was bowled over when I was told by a niece that she had found it in the library of the University of Michigan, and when I met a Swiss journalist who had bought a copy of it from a travel bookshop in Zurich. Two years ago I received an email from a total stranger who identified herself as a 26-year old female who had inherited the library of a recently departed uncle, including my Europe book. As she told it, she had typed my name, Europe by Scooter and Erehwon Bookshop (its publisher) on the Yahoo! search engine, which made the connection to the tapatt website and my email address. She wanted to republish the book as a cult item. Only last October I received an email from another total stranger, who had seen my email address in her egroup and who identified herself as a patron of Erehwon in the 1960s �where I picked up my �Catcher in the Rye.� I also got to read your book �Europe by Scooter� which for me was a classic. Wish I could find my copy.� When I offered to send her a replacement copy, she replied, �I�m afraid I have to decline your generous offer. You see when I read that book, I was an impressionable 15 or 16- year old and I guess that�s what made it a classic for me. The style and subject were so refreshing�Perhaps if I read it again, I would not be reading it with the eyes of a young, eager, 15-year old but with the jaundiced and calloused eyes of a 60-year old. I would rather keep alive the memory of that part of me when I was growing up. I hope you understand�.� I understand. ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �My Aubervilliers� Dear Mr Abaya, I enjoyed reading "My Aubervilliers". It's not very often that I 'encounter 'Filipinos who've been to France who even know where Aubervilliers is. (By the way, the situation in Paris is not as bad as they say in the news. What Max Soliven said in his column 'By the way, Paris is not burning' is actually true.) Pardon my extreme ignorance but I've never heard of you before nor of your book 'Europe by Scooter'. Having said that, I am happy to read that we have something in common: Europe and most importantly, Paris or France as a whole. I've been living in Europe for more than 30 years and loving every minute of it. People who have met me know that I am almost more French than the average French person; so culturally attached am I to France that I've become "extremely" nationalistic or patriotic French. My family and I have recently been posted to Belgium but I still keep a home in Paris (3�me arrondisement) somewhere between Place de la R�publique and Les Marais. Should you decide to come and re-visit the old continent, I hope you would take time out to meet us and to allow me (and my husband) to re-visit Parisand/or Brussels with you. Best wishes, Anna de Brux, [email protected] Belgium, November 22, 2005 MY REPLY. Thank you for your kind invitation. I will certainly keep it in mind. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Can't wait to look for your book at the public library (Racine, WI, USA). Five years ago I did London to Athens and back by Vespa ... great trip; wish I could do another (longer!) trip now... No, I�m not Filipino. I found your story from a link through Google; I have "Vespa" as one of my daily "alerts." I doubt your book will be at the Racine Public Library... but there is an Interlibrary Loan service that finds me stuff from all over. I look forward to it. But what I really want is to do another long trip myself! I have a PX200 now, and am ready and eager to hit the road. (My wife has other ideas, of course). Pete Selkowe, [email protected] Racine, Wisconsin, November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony: What a very interesting e-mail this is for me. I don't know how young you were at this rather adventurous age but you were truly gutsy in doing what you did--traveling on your Vespa and you sound like you were alone. (I was 25, and I was traveling alone. ACA) Well, I never got to read that book you wrote but I surely would like to purchasea copy with your personal dedication to a fan you'll meet next month. My wife and I are Manila bound and hope to be there by the 5th of December. We are going to attend the 50th wedding anniversary of her sisterVirgie and husband Ronnie Sarmiento. I'd like to meet you sometime and perhaps we can have lunch at an eatery in Mega Mall. We'll be staying in Baryo Capitolyo with my wife's sister-in-law, Nati Achacoso. We will return home on the 5th of January '06. I look forward to exchanging adventurous moments in Europe back in 1947. I was one of thirty four Boy Scouts--six leaders and 28 Scouts. We attended the 6th World Jamboree held in Moisson, France in July of that year. I was 13 yrs. old and the youngest delegate from the Philippines. The trip took four months as we traveled mostly by ship, train and bus. I'll save the interesting portion of our trip when we meet--okay. Fred Vidal, [email protected] Plantation, Florida, November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Your Vespa story reminded me of my sojourn at the Universidad de Navarra where I purchased a hand-me-down-5 times Vespa for the equivalent of today�s P3000. I used it for four years with zero maintenance except an occasional half tank and sold it for the same amount when I graduated. Back here in Capistown, I scoot around town leaving the car in the garage for the longer trips. Third World reality has reduced my scooter dream to a Chinese-made plastic fantastic which I paid today�s P45,000 for. I expect to be able to sell it at P3,000 four years from now. Meanwhile, re: French Riots. Methinks that France is just going thru the malaise that all ex colonizers undergo. After decades of bleeding the colonies dry, the colonized will definitely gravitate to the land of the colonizer to assimilate and mine the fabled streets paved with gold. Their gold. It really depends on the way the colonizers treat this reverse colonization to prevent the clashes of cultures. Maybe, a comparative study of the present day picture of the cities of the Great Colonizers would be interesting. Africans and Asians fill the cities of London and Paris. Guatemalans, Peruvians, even Filipinos, among others, call Madrid su casa. There are more than a few Turks in Munich, Bonn and other German cities. Didn�t Rome and Greece go thru that too? Karma. As they say here in Capistown, "Merese nyo". Rafael Santos II, [email protected] Roxas City, November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir: The following quote came to mind when I read your article: - No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters. George Eliot Thank you. N. Abu, [email protected] November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, That must have been an awesome experience riding a motor scooter, visiting countries in Europe during your younger days. Too bad, I was not able to get hold of a copy of your book. It must have been fun to read. Your younger bother, Mon and I, together with three other friends also traveled through Europe by car, using the US $10 A Day Through Europe as our bible. It was fun but your trip tops them all. Now, we can both reminisce. Cesar Sarino, [email protected] November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony---how�s life in the Philippines---loved the Vespa story. Regards John Craige, [email protected] Malaysia, November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony: I read great with interest this particular piece from you, and I couldn't help reminding myself that you and I shared friendship with two Swedish girls at Northwestern. They were not students, but nannies on temporary work in the US. I can never forget the name of one of them ~ Monica. Is it possible that she is the same girl you met again as you scootered through Europe? Jimmy Pimentel, [email protected] Sydney, Australia, November 22, 2005 MY REPLY. Good to hear from you again, Jim. I got re-acquainted with our beautiful and statuesque friend, Monica Stahl, in Gothenburg on Sweden�s west coast, where she was working in a hospital as a physical therapist. I do not know who exactly that other Swedish girl you had in mind was, but whoever she was, I did not see her in Stockholm when I was there. The girl who helped me out there was Gerthy Sjobert,who was working for the airline SAS, first in Chicago, later in the Stockholm suburb of Bromma. I am not sure if you met her at Northwestern. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Guillotine for Gonzalez Dear Mr Abaya, Did DoJ Chief Raul Gonzalez really say that government is under no obligation to look for Garcillano? No kidding! What on earth possessed the DOJ chief to open his mouth again and utter such gross and clumsy remark? What did he mean by government not under any obligation to look for Garcillano? When you have half of the population of a country - and even less - backed by its legislature clamoring for an election official accused of rigging the elections to come to the open and shed light on the accusations affecting the highest office in the land, government agencies, particularly the legal branch of that government has the MORAL obligation, if not the legal obligation, to search every nook and cranny of this earth, and the universe, if necessary, to answer the accusations. Never have I seen such vile contempt for a people by their government except in Bogota. I'm against the capital punishment but I think I'm prepared to change my mind in the case of DOJ Chief Gonzalez. People have been guillotined before for much lesser offense. Anna de Brux, [email protected] Belgium, November 22, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww A great German word: Schadenfreude by a retired Cantabridgian insurance executive. I am not a great fan of German achievement. I believe that a Lexus or a Cadillac is better than a BMW or Mercedes. But I do acknowledge that Germans have a way with words. They created words that other languages simply do not have. Schadenfreude is such a word. In case you are not familiar with it, it takes 7 English words to define it: "malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others". All this is a prelude to inform you that I felt - and greatly enjoyed -Schadenfreude recently. A friend had recently come back from a trip to Russia. He told us that he saw beautiful flowers at an expensive flower shop in Moscow and asked where these out-of-season flowers had come from. "Holland," he was told. "Most of our flowers come from Holland but the Dutch buy a lot of them from Israel and resell them throughout Europe. We are lucky to get them. They are so beautiful." Another friend spent a week in the French countryside where he enjoyed a wonderful tasty fruit, apparently some kind of a cross of a peach and a plum. He asked what it was and was told that it was imported from Israel, the only place where it was cultivated. I am sure that at least some of the flowers, fruit and vegetables that cater to European sophisticates came from the more than 3,000 Gaza greenhouses. They were all built on barren empty land by the Jews who -until a few years ago - employed over 12,000 Palestinians there. Since the start of the last intifada and several terror attacks by the more demented employees, the number of Arabs working the greenhouses was drastically reduced and they were replaced by Thais, Africans and Filipinos. During the months of preparation for the Israeli withdrawal there were many questions on what should be done with the greenhouses. They were state-of-art agricultural marvels with their own sophisticated temperature and humidity control systems, they turned out millions of dollars worth of produce yearly and they were a source of employment for thousands of people in an area where close to 40% were unemployed. Should these marvelous structures be destroyed? Moved? Abandoned? And then a wonderful and heartwarming solution was found. A small group of wealthy American Jews decided to buy the greenhouses from Israel and donate them to the Palestinian Authority. One of the donors was former World Bank president James Wolfensohn who put up $500,000 of his own money. All in all, $14 million was collected, the deal was done and appreciative Palestinian spokesmen announced that the greenhouses would become the cornerstone of the future Palestinian economy. So where is the Schadenfreude, you say? Happy ending for all, right? Palestinians get the greenhouses, Israelis get $14 million and the small group of admirable Jews in America get the warm feeling of having made the world a more tolerant and loving place where Arabs appreciate Jewish kindness and are less eager to murder Jews, right? Just an hour or so after the Jews left Gaza, thousands of Palestinians swarmed into the empty settlements. The Palestinian police watched the mob demolish the abandoned synagogues and set them on fire. They also watched with interest as part of the crowd turned on the greenhouses -breaking windows, taking plates of glass, wiring, computer and electronic parts and irrigation pipes and timers. It didn't take long - after a few hours or so the greenhouses that it had taken years to build were just so much junk. And so we have Schadenfreude. The Palestinians will not export flowers to Holland or fruit to France. The greenhouses will not be rebuilt. The Palestinian economy, such as it is, will continue to be mired in corruption, hatred and violence. They will suffer--Schadenfreude �but still, they'll never admit that it was their own fault. And I have Schadenfreude towards the na�ve rich Jews who thought that the Arab reaction to their gift would be based on logic and not on inbred hatred. You silly people, didn't you learn yet that this is the Middle East where scorpions sting even if this means their own destruction? You lost $14 million and, you know, I am glad you did. I only hope that Israel cashed the $14 million check before it was too late. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww A bigger push for a Grand Jury Dear Tony, I have read with great interest every email you sent me. I am truly persuaded by the effectiveness of your thoughts of pushing the President to do something more fruitful for the people and if I were she, I would have long resigned from office for being unable to accomplish anything significant for the good of the people. However, if she does resign or be ousted, my question is: Will her successor do any better? Will her successor be able to send to jail all grafters that have heavily infested the government? I don't believe that whether PGMA remains in office to finish her term, or be replaced prematurely by someone with the attributes of a pope, Philippine society will be in better shape than today. With government grafters growing in number everyday, while none of them is going to jail because of the inutile Philippine justice system that is incapable of incarcerating almighty crooks, I think Philippine society will even get worse and one day suffer the kind of rioting in France that we are seeing today. I have nurtured the idea that the best way to improve the Philippines is to have a justice system that is not afraid to indict a corrupt president and his/her front liars and anyone else who serves in the government whose main and only ambition is to enrich himself or herself in office and be called an "Honorable Great Somebody." The only way to accomplish this is to activate the "Sovereign People Power Clause" of the ordinary citizens under the Philippine Constitution which is Article II, Section 1 by means of establishing the Grand Jury and Trial Jury systems to enable the common people in the private sector to have a deciding voice in the governance of justice. With the guidance of judges and jury instructions, the common people cannot be intimidated to decide to indict or convict any government almighty grafter because the common people's private livelihood and employments in the private sector cannot be sabotaged by the president or by his/her accomplices. I have drafted a proposed Grand Jury and Trial Jury systems law entitled "People's Action Against Corruption Act" which is patterned after the modern U.S. jury systems. I wish to ask your kindness to lend your hand for "a greater push" for its enactment by the initiative process under Republic Act 6735 to become one of its co-sponsors by joining two well known personalities, namely: Mr. Vic Del Fierro (email: [email protected] ), President of the Coalition for Consumers Protection and Welfare, and Mr. Oscar Barrera (email: [email protected] ), Trustee of the Federation of Exporters who are both highly enthusiastic of enacting the proposed law by the initiative process. And probably, if you can invite Teresita Ang See to join you I see no reason that the initiative will not succeed. The reason I am suggesting the invitation of Ms. See in the crusade is because she can be greatly instrumental in asking financial support for the project from the Filipino-Chinese community whose members are the favorite targets of kidnappers for ransom. You may also might invite the leadership of the NUJP (National Union of Journalists of the Philippines) whose many members have already been murdered under mysterious circumstances. The Grand Jury system is the greatest weapon for the people to discover the real identities of murder and kidnapping master minds. I have outlined the steps for its enactment under RA 6735 and it is published in the following web site: http://anticorruption.homestead.com/Steps.html . The draft of the proposed law is also linked to the same web site. My article in support of this proposed law is also published in the Internet at: http://anticorruption.homestead.com/Justice1.html Perhaps both of us, and maybe at least 70% of Filipinos, do not want Malakanyang to be run like a family sari-sari store whether it be by a "saintly" Gloria or a devilish Lucifer. Kindly give me a call. I will continue to write others you wish me to contact to join you. God bless you. Marlowe Camello, [email protected] Homestead, California, November 22, 2005 PS - By any chance, do you know Mr. Abraham (Abe) Abaya, a Filipino client of mine in Los Angeles, California? I am just wondering if he may be related to you. Her daughter, Alice Abaya, is also a lawyer in Los Angeles MY REPLY. I am not related to either Abraham Abaya or Alice Abaya. Thank you for thinking of me for your pet advocacy, but I am not the right person to push that crusade as I am not a lawyer and have absolutely no legal background. You are better off connecting with a prominent lawyer like Frank Chavez or Mario Ongkiko. I am sure Vic del Fiero would know how to get in touch with either of them. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww |
| Reactions to �The Defeat of Revolution� Mr Abaya -- I sent you a msg. earlier from my own yahoo address but misaddressed it, hence my forwarding (which you said you couldn�t access). I'm sending it to you again below from another e-mail address. I.hope you receive it this time . A journalist friend in Manila has occasionally beenforwarding your work to me here in Hong Kong [I don�t always have time to look at the web]. I found yourtwo recent pieces on Why the Philippines is Poor and The Defeat of Revolution particularly brilliant, andsent it to people who may not have seen it. Some years ago when I was living in Berkeley, I met Sonny San Juan who teaches at a university in the US east coast. Ever since then he's been sending me e-mails on issues he's been pushing I thought I'd send him your two pieces, and his comments were: On "The Failure of Revolution,: he wrote: "Everyone can see this piece is full of cold war cliches and generalizations that don�t apply to the current conditions in our country. Can anyone really believe our press, or any press, is free? There may be relative permissiveness back home, but media anywhere remains controlled by the business elite, families, CIA, religious sectors and various interest groups, etc. His piece is an example of how difficult change will be." On your "Why Are We Poor?," he said: �Can anyone seriously believe tourism will be the magic trick for the Philippines, to become a "tiger" like Taiwan, South Korea, etc.?" Incidentally, I used to go to your Erehwon Bookshop years ago while still living in Manila (I've been in HK for over 20 years now) and have always found your writing stimulating -- when I get a chance to read it. Best wishes. Isabel Escoda, Hong Kong, November 22, 2005 MY REPLY. Harvey�s name is familiar. Wasn�t he a correspondent of the Far Eastern Economic Review, my favorite newsmagazine before it folded up? And isn�t Isabel Escoda also Gootie Taylor, sister of Dick and the other Taylors? I have read your occasional pieces from HK in the PDI. Thanks for your kind words. I have put both of you in our distribution list. My articles are archived in www.tapatt.org. If you want to read my readers� reactions, for and against, to my articles, without having to access the website, join our tapatt yahoogroup by following the e-instructions appended at the end of each article. As for Sonny San Juan, he of the impenetrable prose, he has been proclaiming, for the past 30 or 40 years, the victory of the Revolution from the safety of beautiful New England. Storrs, Connecticut, I believe. Opacity seems to be contagious. His wife writes in the same turgid and incomprehensible style. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Through the tapatt yahoogroup) Hi Mr. Abaya, You might have read some stuff I wrote on other websites sometime ago about a rather practical and HUMANE solution to the Communist problem: SENDING THEM TO THE SPRATLEYS to set up their own state... Rather than have them languish in prisons as political prisoners, why not let 'em prove that their pudding is worth eating... Round up all those Utrecht-based lazy-bones, their front-org leaders, and captured NPAers, and send them to one of the bigger and more inhabitable islands in the Spratly group and give them artesian wells, and one years' worth of canned goods, 50 boars, 50 sows, 50 hens, 50 roosters, chicken feed, hog feed, fishing rods, fish nets, and anything that'll allow them to survive for a year on the biggest of the remote Spratly islands... And tell them that we'll be back in 10 to 15 years to check up on them to see if they have been able to set up their Communist Utopian Paradise... And give them the warning... "We hope we don't find skeletons when we come for a visit in 10 to 15 years... GOOD LUCK!" No one can and will accuse the Philippine Government of human rights violations. If anything, the Philippine Government will be giving those abusive Communists FREEDOM with which to practice their Communistic religion, practice Communist Politics, practice Communist centrally planned economics, and prove to us bourgeois capitalist running dogs that their system "works best." We'll be giving them enough LEBENSRAUM and zero political interference. They're basically ON THEIR OWN. And heck, they'll also be able to prove to us whether or not their silly isolationist xenophobia and anti-Western, anti-foreign rhetoric really works. It's better than machine-gunning idiots like them. Besides, with them in the Spratlys, other countries will covet those islands less, since the only reason that they're coveted right now is that they're UNINHABITED and not SETTLED by anyone. Let the commies have "the FREEDOM" to practice their Communist Ideology, free from bourgeois influence... Orion Perez Dumdum, [email protected] November 22, 2005 MY REPLY. Fine. But suppose they discover oil and gas under the Spratlys. What then? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hello Tony. I think you'll enjoy this: it relates to your "Revolution" series. Rene B. Azurin, [email protected] November 22, 2005 The Little Red Hen - Modern Version Once upon a time, on a farm in Texas, there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat. She called all of her neighbors together and said, "If we plant is wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?" "Not I," said the cow. "Not I," said the duck. "Not I," said the pig. "Not I," said the goose. "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen. And so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain. "Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen. "Not I," said the duck. "Out of my classification," said the pig. "I'd lose my seniority," said the cow. "I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose. "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did. At last it came time to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake the bread! ?" asked the little red hen. "That would be overtime for me," said the cow. "I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck. "I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig. "If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose. "Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen. She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I shall eat all five loaves." "Excess profits!" cried the cow. "Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck. "I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose. The pig just grunted in disdain. And they all painted "Unfair!" picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities. Then a government agent came, he said to the little red hen, "You must not be so greedy." "But I earned the bread," said the little red hen. "Exactly," said the agent. "That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle," And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly understand," But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the "party" and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled. 'Fairness' had been established. Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared.....as long as there was free bread that "the rich" were paying for. Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs. Hillary got $8 million for hers. That's $20 million for memories from two people, who for eight years, repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything. IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY, OR WHAT? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to �Anatomy of Failure� (Through the tapatt yahoogroup) To Mr. Abaya, Few points at random: I enjoy and am learning immensely from your healthy (mutually offensive too - certainly not worth emulating but concededly part of a pluralist democracy) debate with a certain Mr. Viswana. But do us babes in the woods a favor. Please do not bring the curtain down on him. He represents the antithesis side and I (or we?) would be deprived of a view equally valuable to yours towards forming a more enlightened opinion. (Excursus: A most dangerous position is one which borders on "ako lang ang tama." Don't thenon-schooled and the masses have their own hermeneutics too which deserves a hearing? Even the language that we use reinforces the gap. Such impertinence). You have non-expert readers, including myself, who don't have sufficient academic background to understand highly technical terms and concepts in economics. Your interaction with another, equally capable economist-academician (is he? I'd presume)at least is not beyond us. By the way I agree with another reader who wrote that the issue of communism in the country is moot and academic. But the struggle for a decent standard of living among the scavengers in the Payatas dumpsite continues. Capitalism? Socialism? Certainly a non-issue for them. Whose then? Thanks for the space and more power! Levy Lara Lanaria, [email protected] November 22, 2005 MY REPLY. Mr Vaswani was under the impression that, since I was attacking the communists and communism, I would also be defending free trade and globalization, the IMF, World Bank and his other pet peeves. He may have been a little surprised to discover that he and I share certain advocacies. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww George Burns and Oprah Whitney When George Burns was 97 years old he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. She said, "Mr. Burns how do you carry so much energy with you? You are always working and at your age I think that is remarkable." Mr. Burns said," I just take good care of myself and enjoy what I do when I do it." Oprah said," I understand you still do the sex thing, even at your age." George said, "Of course I still do the sex thing, and I am quite good at it." Oprah said, "I have never been with an older man, would you do it with me?" So they had sex and when they finished Oprah said, "I just don't believe I have never been so satisfied ... you are a remarkable man." George said, "The second time is even better than the first time." Oprah said, "You can really do it again at your age?" George said, "Just let me sleep for 1/2 hour. You penis in your right hand and wake me up in thirty minutes." When she woke him up, they again had great sex, and Oprah was beside herself with joy. She said, "Oh Mr. Burns, I am astounded that you could do a repeatperformance and have it be better than the first time. At your age, Oh My, Oh My!!!" George said that the third time would be even better. "You just hold my testicles in your left hand and my penis in your right hand and wake me upin thirty minutes." Oprah said, "Does my holding you like that kind of... um, recharge your batteries?" George said, "No, but the last time I had sex with a black woman, she stole my wallet" OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| We are thrilled to know that, as a young man, you were able to tour Europe, especially France, on your Vespa - every now and then running on prayers alone. (I might be assuming too much on this, because as you yourself hinted, you were in your youth a member of Kabataang Makabayan, like Joma, hence, as you insist a "communist". But since "communists" are supposed to be not fond of religious beliefs, then your Vespa might not be running on prayers alone. Of course, in those days, they said that in Europe, everybody should be communist until 18 years of age. But we all know that "communism" is an ideal state; it has never been tested nor achieved. Thus, all the "communist" countries of Eastern Europe then and of Asia have NEVER accepted or called themselves officially "Communist" states. Officially, and at the UN fora, they called themselves or officially referred to, for instance, as "Socialist" states, like: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; or as "People's Republic", like: "People's Republic of China", or "Democratic People's republic of Korea".) But I digress. We very much like your experience. Nene Zacarias, of whom Ambassador Pex Castro had told us of so many good deeds, assisted you and helped you reunite with your very much worried sister. Like you, I came to know Europe in my younger days. Geneva was my first assignment way back in 1972, immediately before Martial Law. With a Volks, I had criss-crossed all of Western Europe, also Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Yugoslavia. But with my family - a wife and two kids. We had slept in our Beetle in our forays to the beaches of South of France, from Nice to St. Tropez; left it at a parking space in the cliffs of Monaco; or in the parking lots underneath Geneva Lake (some years later as I had been exiled to Europe three times); and traveled the highways - unlit, without railings or traffic signs - above the clouds of Yugoslavia, on our way to Dubrovnik. We immensely enjoyed Europe in a Beetle, as you did too on a Vespa! CONGRATULATIONS again on you articles for the Standard Today. It is nice to know that you no longer support the CHA-CHA for now. And don't do it please in the future. More power to you! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU! Nelson D. Lavina, [email protected] December 23, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww |
| Hi Mr. Abaya, I own a Vespa in Manila and have been to Europe last year. Unfortunately I did not travel on a Vespa there, but have seen loads of it. Happy to stumble in the Manila Standard online your column My Aubervilliers. I would just like to ask where I could buy a copy of Europe by Scooter. Do you also have a jpeg copy of the cover? I would like to post it in my site, pinascoot.blogspot.com if that�s okay, Edmund Umali, [email protected] Jan. 26, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww |