Reflections on the Bangsa Moro

 

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the lady champion for State Terrorism, is now in India in the Bush-Cheney Gang’s  last ditch effort to promote Fear and Anxiety in the world and maintain the US miltary-industrial complex’s hold on its own and other countries’ security policies and programs and these countries’ commitment to purchase US military, intelligence and security goods and services.

 

In a New Delhi press conference, Dr. Rice said, " "Whether there is a direct al-Qaida hand or not, this is clearly the kind of terror in which al-Qaida participates." So now, a group does not have to be "believed to have links with al-Qaeda" to be considered public enemy no. 1.

 

I suppose the Bush-Cheney gang realized that if they continue to portray all rebel groups in the world to be "linked to al-Qaeda", then people would just not believe it. How can all rebel groups in the Muslim world be linked to al-Qaeda whose leader is hiding in the mountain fastness of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border? If this rich Saudi Arab is the leader of this giant terror network, then why are his rich relatives — brothers, sisters, uncles and cousins — freely doing business with the Americans, Europeans and others? How can he be a great leader of so many in the Muslim world yet not of his own family?

 

Rice’s mission to India is to sow intrigue and promote conflict between the two countries (India and Pakistan). Failing that, she would instill fear between the two so they will support American terror policies and program.

 

Really, the Bush-Cheney Gang should cease and desist promoting their Fear and Terror commodities. The world now knows better. We are now in a new era. The Bush wars are over.

 

The Bush-Cheney Gang should re-focus their sights to domestic affairs. America is now in Recession. It might even sink into another Great Depression. Dick Cheney could re-invent himself as the new John Dillinger while Bush and Rice could be the new Bonnie and Clyde.

 

 See post: Mumbai Attacks and Joe Biden’s Warning

 

 

 

 

During the last days of the US presidential elections, good old Joe Biden couldn’t stop himself from telling his party’s supporters to give all the help they can – not for the elections but AFTER the elections –  to would-be president Obama because he would be immediately “tested” with a “generated crisis”. He told his audience: “Mark my words!”

 

That generated crisis is the Attack on Mumbai.

 

From the news reports, it looks like it is another False Flag Terrorism masterminded by the cabal that controls the Bush-Cheney administration which closely adheres to Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations theory.

 

WHO WILL GAIN?

 

All viewers of the top TV series CSI, Law and Order, etc. know that the first question crime investigators ask is “What’s the motive?”

 

Big Business from the military-industrial complex got and is getting huge windfall from the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions. These companies – oil, security, construction, etc. – got and are getting hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues, even overcharging the US government by as much as 1000% as reported by investigative journalists. Plus, these firms act as consultants to other countries as well. They would not just give up all these revenues and profits without a fight. Thus, they have the motive for the crime.

 

And the best weapon would be again FEAR brought about by another false flag terroristic act.

 

False Flag Terrorism is terrorism done or masterminded by one group but blamed entirely on another group.

 

TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

 

The attack on Mumbai is like hitting two birds with one stone. The two birds are India and Pakistan. The US and Western Europe are in Recession. (The US just officially declared yesterday that the US has been in recession since December 2007.) The major emerging economic markets – India and China – are challenging Western economic dominance.

 

If Bush and company claim that the destruction of the Twin Towers is a challenge to the American (and Western) way of life, then the decline of Western economic dominance and the rise of Chinese and Indian economic dominance would be a far, far greater danger to the US and the West.

 

By sowing terror on India’s financial capital, Mumbai, the perpetrators of the attack hope that foreign investors would be petrified with fear and will abandon Mumbai and thus bring the collapse of Indian economy.

 

PAKISTAN

 

When Russia invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan became America’s best friend. In exchange for a few billion dollars worth of aid, Pakistan provided the base to recruit and train Muslims from all over the world (including Mindanao) to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. The American government and the CIA, together with Pakistan, convinced Arab governments to help finance the scheme. Osama Bin Laden, a son of a Saudi billionaire businessman was chosen as the CIA fund-raiser.

 

When the Afghani rebels known as the Taliban (students) won and forced the Russians out of their country, USA and the West celebrated.

 

But Pakistan had a longer-term agenda. It continued to support the Taliban, whom they created.

 

After 9/11, Bush, Cheney and company decided that the fall guys for the 9.11 event would be their former allies — the Taliban and the former CIA fund-raiser, Osama bin Laden. (In Michael Moore’s documentary, George W. Bush was shown meeting a Taliban delegation in the US just a month or so before 9/11.)

 

However, Pakistan was a thorn in Bush’s plans. Pakistan created the Taliban so it could not just abandon them. The price has to be quite considerable. So the US promptly paid / gave Pakistan a huge some of money / aid.

 

But President Musharraf continued to maintain ties with the Taliban and their allies in Pakistan. This enraged the Americans. They thought that the Pakistani president would be a docile lapdog. And so the US organized the return of the opposition party leaders – former Pakistani Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto – and orchestrated the fall of Musharraf. And so, Musharraf had to go.

 

In the last days of Bush in the White House, his group wants to show the world that the threat from Bin Laden is as strong as ever. The CIA (as reported by CNN and BBC) conducted bombing operations in the border villages in Pakistan. The Pakistani government, although partly installed by the CIA, refused to take the bombings sitting down. They protested the violation of their sovereignty and threatened to take action.

 

Obviously, those who masterminded the attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists hope to create conflict between India and Pakistan. This would weaken both countries and would be punishment for a recalcitrant Pakistan and an emerging economic rival that is India. It is like hitting two birds with one stone.

 

Besides, India and Pakistan are not like Iraq and Afghanistan. They can stand up to the Americans. So, the good schemers at the CIA probably thought that “if they can’t lick ’em, let ‘em lick each other”.

 

US KNEW OF THE ATTACK

 

The US just announced that it had informed the Indian government in October that a sea-borne attack against hotels and other establishments in Mumbai was being planned in a month or so.

 

Of course the Americans knew in advance. They probably planned the whole thing themselves – just like the “sinking” of USS Maine (which brought the Spanish-American War), Gulf of Tonkin PT boats attack (which started the Vietnam War), the Pearl Harbor attack (which made the US enter World War II) and the 9/11 attack (which led to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the start of the so-called War on Terror).

 

CLIMATE OF FEAR

 

The military-industrial cabal that has been lording over the Bush, Jr. presidency needs to maintain its control.

 

When Barack Obama started his run for the presidency, he called for an end to the climate of fear and attacked Hilary Clinton et al for supporting the Iraq invasion. As the campaign progressed, he was slowly changing his tune. Now, he will re-appoint Bush’s Defense Secretary, former CIA Director Robert Gates. The man, who promised to bring Change to America and probably the world, has a former TOP SPY and Bush’s Defense Chief in his team. Incredible!

 

THE WORLD NEED NOT FEAR

 

Whatever the Fear merchants do, the world is much the wiser now. India and Pakistan will not take the bait. They know better.

 

Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations doctrine has been discredited. The Americans themselves chose a hyphenated American (African-American) for its President.

 

The Western (American and European) way of life is indeed under siege – but not by terrorists. It is under siege by the abusers of their economic (capitalistic) doctrines. Adam Smith had warned that Capitalism encourages Greed. The Americans and Europeans (and some Westernized people like many Filipinos) idolized the Gordon Gekko character in the film, Wall Street. Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) declared “Greed is Good!” and let loose the greedy people in the West who made money out of thin air through the economic principles of their capitalistic system like the Fractional Reserve Banking principle which allows banks to accept money from the public and lend out ten times as much from that money (thus creating ten times as much [commercial] money from a certain amount of [central bank] money). From this 300 (or so)  - year old principle came other concepts like second or third mortgages and the creation of a huge derivatives market dealing in financial instruments whose values are derived from the value of something else.

 

Incidentally, I used to have a sexagenarian office colleague who kept on telling me that he admired people like John D. Rockefeller who made “real money” unlike Bill Gates whose worth is measured in “paper money”, as he called it. Gates’ worth, he said, goes up and down depending on the stock market.

 

Indeed, as the stocks and financial markets in the Western world go down, the real worth of these countries go down as well. We are now witnessing the Decline and Fall of America and the West.

 

SHOULD THE WORLD BE AFRAID?

 

The real danger now to the world is the possibility that these falling empires would decide to strike fear and terror to their perceived enemies or to one another. They have, after all, weapons of mass destruction – the nuclear bombs.

 

As the saying goes, “Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.”

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time in my life, I followed the whole two-year election campaign, from the primaries to Election Night. These are my impressions:

 

1. The long campaign makes the people get to have a good grasp of who the candidates are, how aware they are of the issues and where they stand on the various issues.

 

Perhaps it would be better if the campaign period here also last that long.

 

 

2. The teleprompters make good orators. It is such a pleasure listening to great speeches delivered eloquently. It’s been a long time since I last heard a good speech from a Filipino politician.

 

The speeches of the Democrat party people were very good, especially during their party convention. The Clintons, the Obamas, Biden and others were excellent orators.

 

 

3. The debates in both the primaries and the ones between the standard bearers were great. The questions were tough and the answers were credible. They were so unlike the so-so debates among Philippine senatorial and presidential debates (if any).

 

And the debates were not limited to the candidates. The news programs regularly invited personalities from the two camps who debated with each other. The congressmen, senators, strategists, commentators, analysts, etc. gave the viewers better grasp on the issues involved. These kind of debates simply do not happen in the Philippines.

 

 

4. The campaign was No. 1 in the Media agenda. The news networks, the TV programs, the papers, and the radio shows all talked about the campaign – on a daily basis. It is impossible for an American not to know what was going on in the campaign.

 

In the Philippines, materials about the campaigns can only be read in the papers, heard on some radio shows and on news programs, plus the advertisements. There are no comedy shows like the Jon Stewart Daily Show or Robert Colbert Show or the Late Night programs, where campaign issues or personalities were always talked about.

 

I had been active in many national campaigns, and I have always thought that most of the electorates know very little about the candidates or the issues.

 

5. In the US, as a rule, media people - reporters, anchors, presenters, etc. — do not let the politicians get away with B.S. If the politician say something obviously wrong, they correct them. For example, when Rudi Giuliani said that the media people do not question Obama about his past, his associations with people, etc. the interviewer told Giuliani that "it was not true." When Giuliani persisted, the interviewer stood his ground. He said they had been asking Obama all sorts of questions for the past 18 months. Giuliani had to give in.

 

In the Philippines, that would never happen. Media people as a rule are either afraid, intimidated, ignorant, under the pocket of the politician or has the mistaken notion of "politeness" in media interviews.

 

6. During the whole campaign, one gets the impression that the politicians were really thinking of the people. They were concerned about the Medical Insurance. They want all the Americans to have access to medical insurance at the most reasonable price.

 

How different they are from the Filipinos. Here, nobody thinks of Universal Insurance. The majority of the Filipinos do not even have medical insurance.

 

A month or so ago, a relative of a friend died. He was in his early 50s. He did not have medical insurance so he hardly went for check-ups or medical treatment. He did not want to spend for his medical treatments.

 

He was not a poor man. He was a La Sallista and so are his sons. Yet he could not even afford to pay his medical bills.

 

The state of medical insurance in this country is deplorable. Filipinos simply cannot afford to get sick.

 

 

7. In the land of intellectual giants like Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Henry David Thoreau, I am amazed that intellectual pygmies like George W. Bush, Jr., John McCain and Sarah Palin can still find so many followers.

 

I was shocked when I learned that Bush, Jr, actually graduated from Yale University and took his M.B.A. at Harvard. People have told me that anyone can graduate from any American school, including the Ivy League ones, if one has money. But, really, how could George W. Bush get degrees from the top two US schools? It boggles my imagination. Just listen to him speak!

 

According to Oliver Stone’s movie, “W.”, George, Sr. had something to do about Jr.’s admission to Harvard. And of course, the family name got him into Yale.

 

 

8. I never believed that there is actually such a thing as a “dumb blond”. Blonds are just as intelligent or as dumb as brunettes or redheads. According to Shelly Winter, Marilyn Monroe was really intelligent. And she went for intelligent guys like Arthur Miller or John F. Kennedy. Joe DiMaggio was just an aberration in her love life.

 

But after watching Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View, I must say, if ever there is a dumb blond, Elizabeth is it. I think she is the dumbest blond ever.

 

 

9. Finally, with the election of Barack Obama, the anachronistic and war-mongering foreign policy of Bush based on Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations will come to an end. In my other blog, I wrote:

 

AMERICA HAS SPOKEN - OBAMA IS THE MAN

 

Barack Obama is the next US President. Amazing!

 

Just a few years ago, the US President’s policy closely conformed to Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations scenario where the world was seen as divided into power blocks much like in the Middle Ages – the Western World (Roman Catholic and Protestant Europe), the Byzantine (now the Orthodox Catholic as represented by Russia and Greece), the Islamic Empire, the Chinese Empire, the Indian Civilization, the Africans, etc.

 

Huntington divided the world according to religion and race. He suspected the “hyphenated” Americans (Latin-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans) as the “fifth column” working for America’s enemies. America, as seem by Huntington, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush is basically white West European descended from the Western Europe of the Middle Ages or the descendant nation-states of the Roman Empire.

 

This civilizational paradigm was the basis for Mr. Bush’s wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and adversarial relations with Bush’s “axis of evil” and cold relations with Russia.

 

AMERICA’S WESTERN IDENTITY

 

Huntington wants a uni-cultural America in order to be better armed in a 7 or 8 - civilizational world. He is against multiculturalism in the US. As I wrote in an academic paper:

 

Huntington says, “multiculturalism at home threatens the United States and the West.” (Ibid.,p.318)

 

America, a country of immigrants and the melting pot of the world, must now reject calls for multiculturalism because, for Huntington, “a multi-cultural America is impossible because a non-Western America is not American.” Huntington says, “The preservation of the United States and the West requires the renewal of Western identity.”

 

For present-day Americans whose cultural roots do not lie in Western Europe, this could be very problematic. The Blacks might just have to stop calling themselves African-Americans, the Hispanics would have to forget Latin America and consider Spain as the origin of its culture, and Eastern Europeans might just have to be wary of its mother culture especially if they happen to be Orthodox Christians. And the Jews will just have to identify themselves with Western (i.e., Roman Catholic and Protestant) civilization.

 

The Asians may just have to go home. Huntington states,” Whatever economic connections may exist between them (U.S. and Asia), the fundamental cultural gap between American and Asian societies preclude their joining together in a common home.” (p.307) As for the Muslim Americans, they have started feeling the heat since 9/11 according to news reports.

 

John McCain fully supports this civilizational paradigm policy. He calls for a new League of Nations which would not include Russia, China and other potential enemies (read: civilizations). He obviously has no faith in the United Nations. His campaign painted Obama as “the Other”, directly or indirectly. Obama was the mysterious “Other” – Black, Muslim, and potential Terrorist.

 

But with today’s election of the African-American Barack Obama, one can hope that Huntington’s idiotic ideas will now be thrown into the dustbin.

 

The Dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. has been achieved. The war Abraham Lincoln waged for racial equality finally bears fruit. The American Dream is now a reality to all Americans – white, black, red or yellow.

 

A NEW AGE

 

Hopefully, the election of Barack Obama means the dawning of a new age of peace and prosperity for America and the world. That is my hope.

 

However, the signs do not augur well for America. There are forces beyond Obama’s control – the military-industrial complex (the same one Eisenhower warned against), the bigotry of people, etc.

 

Obama needs to be strong and steadfast and steer a course that is as far away from the Huntington-Bush-Cheney doctrine as possible. He must promote a paradigm shift in the world’s perception of reality and lead the world in pursuing goals that promote truth, peace and prosperity for all.

 

I wish President Barack Hussein Obama all the luck in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Some writers have categorized people according to the year of their birth.

• Lost Generation (1883–1900)
• Greatest Generation (1901–1924)
• Silent Generation (1925–1942)
• Baby Boomer (1943–1960)
• Generation X (1961–1981)
• Generation Y (1982–2001)
• Generation Z (2001–)

These categorizations are from Generations  by Strauss and Howe. According to this list, Senator John McCain is of the Silent Generation while Senator Barack Obama belongs to the X-generation.

 

The last 2 US presidents – George W. Bush and William “Bill” Clinton belong to the Baby Boom generation. The seven presidents before them belong to the Greatest Generation (also called the G.I. Generation), namely, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, and John F. Kennedy.

 

For the first time in US since 1960, somebody who does not belong to the Greatest (G.I.) Generation or the Baby Boom Generation will become President.

 

SILENT GENERATION

 

Historian and best-selling author William Manchester (American Ceasar) described the people of the Silent Generation as "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent." TIME Associate Editor Gerald Clarke, 32 (in 1970) wrote:

"We are renters still, taking as our own the values of both old and young—and not thoroughly comfortable with either. Many of us now feel quite at ease with pot, rock and permissive sex; many of us reject the youth culture categorically. Most of us, however, occupy the unhappy position of being undecided: we want to enjoy, but deep down in our pre-Spock psyches, we feel we shouldn’t. We puff marijuana at parties when we would be happier with Scotch or gin; we don bellbottoms when we would rather be in tweeds; we jump into affairs when we would rather be at home in bed—asleep. The visible result often is a compromise: the staid Wall Street lawyer, in vest, rep tie and cuffed trousers in the daytime, who turns Bloomingdale hippie in the evening, donning tie-dyed pants and tank top to weed the garden.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Generation

 

The Silent Geners were the Artists of the century as epitomized by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan. They were really not that silent. They led the civil rights movement and the Women’s Rights movement in the US. They were the bosses of the Baby Boomers.

 

In the Philippines, they were the pioneers of Pinoy Rock like the Juan de la Cruz Band. They were also the leaders of the socialist / communist movement like Jose Ma. Sison and Crispin Beltran. They were also the kings of Philippine movies – Fernando Poe, Jr. and Joseph Estrada.

 

In the US, nobody from this generation became president. John McCain belongs to this generation.

 

Perhaps it is unfortunate for the Philippines that three of its presidents belong to this generation – Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada.

 

The Philippines only had 3 presidents from the Greatest or G. I. Generation. But in 1953, Magsaysay became President way ahead than the first US President from that generation. But after Magsaysay, the Lost Generation (1883-1900) regained its leadership for the generation’s last hurrah. The Greatest Generation’s Kennedy won in the US elections of 1960 as did Diosdado Macapagal in the 1961 Philippine presidential elections. Then Marcos held on to it for more than twenty years, finally losing it to the next generation – the Silent Ones through Corazon Aquino. Cory passed on the torch to her fellow Silent Gener who was succeeded by another Silent Gener.

 

In 1992, the Philippines lost its chance of having another president from the Greatest Generation in the person of Jovito Salonga of the Liberal Party. 

 

It appears that the Silent Generation was better off leading movements like human rights, women’s rights and civil rights or doing music, films and the other arts. When they lead countries, they tend to be conservative, authoritarian and second-rate. France’s Jacques Chirac is the epitome of Silent Generation world leaders. For decades, he struggled against Greatest Generation’s French leaders Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Georges Marchais and Francois Mitterand. He finally won when these guys left the political scene.

 

Finally, in 2001, a Baby Boomer, Bill Clinton’s classmate at Georgetown University, took over the Philippine Presidency.

 

BABY BOOMERS

 

Twenty years for a generation is long enough during the first half of the 20^th century. In the 19^th century or earlier, a generation would be around 30 years. This is because life did not change rapidly then. However, the rapid advance of technology in the second half of the century makes the experiences of people sharply different even if their age differs by only a decade or so. One decade in today’s epoch equals to generations in previous eras in terms of change in one’s daily lives.

 

Just a decade ago, we did not have HD TV or broad band internet or video-capable cellphones or DVD’s. A decade ago, personal computers have 2 Gigabytes of memory at best. Today, PC’s can have more than 300 GB!

 

The Baby Boom generation, whether it is defined as people born from 1943-1960 or 1946-1964 (the more common definition), could not possibly contain only one generation of people. The elder half of this generation is so vastly different from the younger half in fundamental ways.

 

From wikipedia, the Baby Boom Generation is described, defined, categorized in several ways:

1946-1972

·         The Baby Boomers were the generation born just after World War II, a time that included a 14-year increase in birthrate worldwide. Baby Boomers in their teen and college years were characteristically part of the 1960s counterculture, but later became more conservative, eventually gave birth to Generations X and Y. Most academic and demographic literature uses 1946 and 1964 as the cutoff years of the Baby Boom generation.^[1]

1954-1969

·         Generation Jones, first labeled by U.S. social commentator Jonathan Pontell, is the younger portion of the Baby Boomers. Their early life experiences hold more in common with Generation X than with the Boomers.

1964-1979

·         Generation X is the generation born between approximately 1964 to 1979, during the time of the Vietnam War, and connected to the pop culture of the 1980s and 1990s they grew up in. Other names used interchangeably with Generation X are 13th Generation and Baby Busters. Most of this generation are children of The Baby Boomers and The Silent Generation. Those born before 1973 spent most of their teen years in the 1980s.^[2]

*****

In the 1985 study of US generational cohorts by Schuman and Scott, a broad sample of adults was asked, "What world events over the past 50 years were especially important to them?"^[5] For the baby boomers the results were:

·         Baby Boomer cohort #1 (born from 1946 to 1954)

o        Memorable events: assassinations of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., political unrest, walk on the moon, Vietnam War, anti-war protests, social experimentation, sexual freedom, civil rights movement, environmental movement, women’s movement, protests and riots, experimentation with various intoxicating recreational substances

o        Key characteristics: experimental, individualism, free spirited, social cause oriented

o         

·         Baby Boomer cohort #2 (born from 1955 to 1964)

o        Memorable events: Watergate, Nixon resigns, the Cold War, the oil embargo, raging inflation, gasoline shortages

o        Key characteristics: less optimistic, distrust of government, general cynicism

 

 

Obviously, there is much confusion here. I would agree in the division of Schuman and Scott but I would not call cohort # 2 as Baby Boomers. I would say, the legitimate Baby Boomers are those born from 1943-1956. These people were born at the end or after WW II. It was a time for rejoicing. It was the post-war boom in the US, the Marshall Plan years in Western Europe, the independence years in the developing world. In the Philippine, the period was called the “Liberation.”

 

These people were born during a time of plenty. There were enough jobs for everyone and the future looked bright. Their parents were well-off and they grew up in the sanitized world of the 1950s and the mid 1960s.

 

They followed their elders’ lead in fighting for civil rights and other social rights movements. They listened to Rock n Roll of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and later, the Beatles. Their Peace advocacies led to the younger ones to the hippie movement. They went on to lead revolutions – from the sexual revolution to actual liberation movements.

 

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Franklin Drilon and most top Philippine officials belong to this generation. My brother Jun Abbas, Nur Misuari and Hashem Salamat of the Bangsa Moro revolution all belong to this generation.

 

The younger half of the so-called Baby Boom generation is so different from the older half such that they deserve to have a totally different category. Those born from 1955 to 1964 should be distinguished from the Baby Boomers of Clinton, Bush, Jr., Gloria Arroyo or the Bangsa Moro revolutionary leaders. As pointed out by other authors, this group has more similarities to the X-geners than to the elder Baby Boomers.

 

Those born in the late 1950s up to the late 60s belong to a totally new generation, distinct from the Baby Boomers. The world has become very different then. Russia had launched its Sputnik rockets, America started building its Inctercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), the Civil Rights movement had started. This is the period between the First Indochina War (French vs Vietnam) and the Second Indochina War, popularly known as the Vietnam War.

 

The children grew up in the 1960s and 70s amidst The Cold War between the Superpowers. While the Baby Boomers danced the Swing, and Boogie, they danced the Disco, New Wave and Break dance. The Baby Boomers listened to Rock and Roll, this one listened to Rock Music – from folk rock to acid rock to punk rock, etc.

 

While the Baby Boomers are unfamiliar with computers, this generation were the pioneers in Personal Computers. Bill Gates and Steven Jobs of Microsoft and Apple belong to this generation. This is the first computer-savvy generation.

 

David Foot in Boom, Bust and Echo defines Generation X as those born in the US between 1958 - 1964 (post birth-peak Boomers). He calls the X -Geners  born 1967 – 1979  as the ‘Baby Bust’ generation. Foot says that the Baby Busters had more economic opportunities than the X-geners.

 

So, are those born from 1958-1964 or thereabouts Baby Boomers or X-geners? So as not to confuse them with the elder Boomers or the younger X-geners, I will call them the New Epoch generation. I belong to this generation. And so does Barack Obama.

 

US ELECTIONS

 

When George Herbert Bush fought Bill Clinton for the US Presidency in 1992, it was a fight between the G.I. or greatest generation represented by George Bush, Sr. and the Baby Boom generation represented by Bill Clinton.

 

Since 1960, only people from the Greatest Generation became US president until then. In 1992, for the first time in US history, a Baby Boomer became the country’s president. And the Baby Boomers led everywhere – in England and other countries, in major business enterprises, etc.

 

In 1996, the Baby Boomer Clinton was challenged by another G.I. generation leader – Robert Dole. It was the G.I. geners last try at world leadership.

 

In 2000, two baby boomers fought for the White House – Al Gore and George Bush, Jr. Four years later, George W. was challenged by another baby boomer – John Kerry.

 

This year’s US election, the G.I. Geners and the Baby Boomers are gone from the limelight.

 

The Silent Generation has taken over the Republican Party. John McCain is the last champion of the Silent Generation.

 

The Silent Generation has often been overshadowed by their elder brothers – those who belong to the Greatest or G.I. Generation. Later, they were taken over by their juniors – the Baby Boomers. John McCain is hoping to finally break the jinx of the Silent Generation and become the first US President from that Generation.

 

Interestingly, he chose a running mate that does not belong to either the Silent Generation or the first half of the Baby Boom Generation. He chose Sarah Palin of the New Epoch Generation..

 

Meanwhile, the Democrat candidate Barack Obama also comes from the New Epoch  Generation.  And interestingly, his running mate, Joe Biden, comes from the same generation as McCain – the Silent Generation.

 

And so for the first time since 1960, the two presidential tickets do not include anyone from either the so-called Greatest or G.I. Generation or the first half of the Baby Boom Generation.

 

For the sake of America and the world, I fervently hope that the next president of the USA will come from my generation – the New Epoch Generation. It is the generation that understands and experienced the past and comprehends the future.

 

McCain belongs to a generation way past its prime. Obama belongs to a generation that is most capable of leading the world into a new epoch of a world based on peace, equality, prosperity and knowledge.

 

 

Batas Pambansa (Republic Act) 22 known as the Anti-Bouncing Checks Law is supposed to deter people from abusing the use of checks as well as facilitate the flow of money through the checking system instead of cash.

 

The banking system in the Philippines is horrible, to say the least. It would take me tens of pages to list the defects of our banking system. That is why we need not fear of any banking collapse like in the US. The banking system here is primitive, to say the least, and only serves the banks’ owners.

 

The present proposals to increase the insurance deposits from P 100,000.00 to P.5M or P 1M is a step in the right direction.

 

CHECKING SYSTEM

 

Carrying huge amounts of cash around is not a good idea. Before the credit card system came into use, the checking system was introduced. In France for example, the banks guaranteed the checks so French people could use their checks even for shopping. That was the system back then when I was in Paris in the late 1970s and 1980.

 

Because of the horrible state of the banking system here, accepting checks is so inconvenient. First, for some banks like Land Bank, you cannot even deposit a check to your account in any Land Bank branch other than your own branch. Well, sometimes they do accept, but only if the teller is in good mood.

 

Second, cashing in a check is quite taxing. You have to queue up, wait a long time for your turn and must carry so many ID cards with you. And sometimes, if the teller is in bad mood, she might even question the validity of your ID.

 

Of course, for the rich people, these inconveniences are not felt directly because they simply let their messengers do the job.

 

Third, if you receive dollar-denominated checks, you cannot even deposit them in your own peso account. You have to open a dollar account.

 

At any rate, the Anti-Bouncing Checks Law was passed in 1979. The reason for it was obvious – to maintain the integrity of the checking system and facilitate business transactions through use of checks instead of cash. Issuing bouncing checks became a crime – punishable by imprisonment and fines.

 

However, there is so much to be desired for in our justice system. Criminals who issue worthless checks abound, and they don’t get to spend a day in jail.

 

Since the Eduardo Vaca vs. Court of Appeals, the Courts seemed to have deleted the provision of BP 22 regarding imprisonment.

 

And then came the decision on the Betty King vs People of the Philippines (319 SCRA 654, Dec. 2, 1999) where the Court said that it has to be proven that the defendant received a notice that the check was dishonored by the bank. The justices who penned and signed this decision should be hanged for incompetence and gross misunderstanding of the law.

 

This ruling just about gave all the estafadors free hand in issuing bouncing checks left and right. This practice is of course injurious to the business community as well as to everybody else.

 

And this ruling negates the spirit and letter of BP 22 or the Anti-Bouncing Checks Law.

 

To make matters even worse, in the Elvira Yu Oh vs Court of Appeals and the People of the Philippines (403 SCRA 300) which was decided on June 6, 2003, the Court  reaffirmed the previous ruling on the Betty King case.

 

The recent Court of Appeals scandal just proves the kind of characters in the highest courts of the land. When it comes to moneyed people, the laws can be interpreted any which way.

 

Fortunately, against great odds, came the Lilany Yulo y Billones vs People of the Philippines (GR 142762) [March 4, 2005] where the Court ruled:

 

What Batas Pambansa 22 penalizes is the issuance of a bouncing check. It is not the nonpayment of an obligation which the law punishes, but the act of making and issuing a check that is dishonored upon presentment for payment. The purpose for which the check was issued and the terms and conditions relating to its issuance are immaterial. What is primordial is that the issued checks were worthless and the fact of worthlessness was known to the petitioner at the time of their issuance, as in this case.

(See The integrity of checks is redeemed )

 

Thank God there are still intelligent justices left. Isn’t it OBVIOUS to anyone with a high school diploma or an average IQ that the rationale for BP 22 is to punish the very act of issuing worthless checks ? The whys and wherefores of the issuance of the check are only incidental and not material and the receipt of a notice of dishonor should not be of prime importance.

 

MY INTEREST

 

It is my unfortunate luck now to try the validity or efficacy of BP 22. A certain Ranulph F. Huertas, who goes around claiming to be Managing Director of Mr. & Ms. Magazine, has issued a check in payment for my services as Managing Editor and the services of the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine for three months. We agreed to accept the post-dated check which was way below the amount stipulated in our contracts because we knew that Mr. Huertas and his common-law wife, Leslie Michelle Co, would find it difficult to come up with the money even though they boasted to the original owner of the magazine that they had more than enough money to pay us and run the magazine.

 

The check bounced last Oct. 15 and we have talked to our lawyers about it.

 

We recently found out that Mr. Huertas’s checks given to other people also bounced. And yet this guy still plans to continue publishing a magazine even though he could not pay his editors, writers, photographers, printers and other creditors.

 

Even though people raise their eyebrows every time I ask for cash instead of check as payment for my services; from now own, I will insist on a cash basis only. No more checks for me.

 

NEW LAW FOR THE NEW CENTURY

 

With the collapse of the Financial and Credit Markets in the US and Europe and parts of Asia, perhaps it is time to amend BP 22 and give it real teeth to become a true deterrent and to make the process swift and accessible to all.

 

My proposal would be to create a Bouncing Check Desk in Police Stations where the mere presentation of a bounced check (dishonored by the bank), a warrant of arrest would be immediately issued and the culprit would be arrested and scheduled for trial. S/he could be released without trial if s/he could pay within 5 days after the arrest. This would truly deter the estafadors and would insure the credibility of checks and facilitate commerce in the land.

 

 

Oil price is now down at US $ 89.00 per barrel. Just some weeks ago, it was over UD$ 140 per barrel and some so-called experts were predicting that it would go beyond US $ 200 / bbl.

 

And of course, the Muslim-hating Americans and Filipinos keep on pointing at the “greedy” OPEC countries, who happen to be mostly Muslims.

 

When intelligent people tell these finger-pointing individuals that the culprits are mostly the speculators, they would not believe it. They would always point to what the “experts” say; i.e., it is due to the law of supply and demand. And since most of the supply is with the OPEC members, they limit their production and so the price goes up.

 

For months on end, I’ve been telling people that the oil price increase is artificial. There has always been so much oil – physical oil. Even with the sharp increase in demand because of the booming Chinese and Indian economies, there was still plenty of oil for everyone.

 

FEAR AND GREED

 

However, because of the fear and greed of the developed economies, they pumped the price of oil sky high. First, the companies in developed economies were afraid that most of the oil will go to China or even India, so they bought so much – not only physically (physical trading) but also through paper, i.e., futures and swap contracts. They call it hedging or risk management.

 

Second, because of greed, speculators invest heavily in the futures and oil derivatives market. They call it trading or portfolio diversification.

 

Meanwhile, the actual demand for physical oil remains the same. The oil suppliers have been saying that there is over-supply of oil, but nobody seems to believe them.

 

Just recently, OPEC REDUCED oil production, still claiming that there is over-supply. Some “experts” were surprised because they thought that OPEC would INCREASE oil production. The US has constantly pressured Saudi Arabia to increase production and it constantly did. Now, OPEC said enough is enough.

 

INSTANT FALL OF OIL PRICE

 

Now, despite OPEC’s reduction of oil supply, the oil price dropped tremendously. Why? Because the price increase was ARTIFICIAL.

 

The fear and greed of the companies, institutions and individuals of the developed economies have brought ruin to their own kind. The price increase of gasoline has created havoc in the US, especially in its automobile and airline industries.

 

With the collapse of American mortgage giants, iconic investment banks and the world’s largest insurer, the greedy speculators are finally selling off their oil portfolio.

 

FREE MARKETS ANYONE?

 

During the Asian Crisis, the Americans, Europeans and Filipino Amboys kept on saying. “Don’t bail-out companies. Sacrifice! Let markets be free.” Well, now, look who is bailing out companies? The Republican-controlled US government!

 

The vaunted free market economy of the US is in danger of collapse. The housing market has collapsed leaving millions of Americans unable to pay their mortgages. The government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac almost went bankrupt and had to be bailed out by the Federal Reserve Bank.

 

Then came the fall of investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merryl Lynch. For anyone who knows a bit of financial markets, s/he would realize that when the 158-year old Lehman Brothers falls, the system must be in BIG trouble. Add to that Bear Stearns and Merryl Lynch, then the free market system of America certainly needs some fixing.

 

Now comes the fall of the world’s biggest insurer – American International Group (AIG). In school, we were taught that banks could collapse anytime and it would not do much damage to the country or system, but if insurers fall, it is time to run. AIG just happens to be the world’s biggest insurer.

 

CHINESE CONNECTION

 

The Fed has to save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac not only because they were thinking of the poor Americans who may be homeless soon, but because most of the debts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been bought by central banks and government financial institutions of other countries, especially China and “friendly” Arab countries. As government-sponsored entities, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds are practically guaranteed by the US government and gives higher interest rates than Treasury bonds.

 

The Americans have actually been taking out their housing mortgage from Chinese communists and Arab Muslims (terrorists?)

 

The US wants to save face in the world’s financial markets.

 

Bear Stearns, an investment bank, was also lucky enough to be saved by the government. It, too, has lots of foreign clients. Bear Stearns has a partnership with the Chinese government-controlled CITIC Securities Company.

 

Unfortunately for Lehman Brothers, the US government did not think it has lots of foreign investors, especially Chinese.

 

And now comes American International Group’s (AIG’s) collapse. Again, the Fed stepped in. AIG, too has lots of business in Asia, especially China. In fact, it was founded in Shanghai in 1919. In 1980, China AIG was formed on a 50-50 joint venture between AIG and the People’s Insurance Company of China.

 

No wonder Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has a fascination for Chinese business ventures like the ZTE-NBN. She is just following the moves of her idols, George Bush, father and son.

 

 

 

Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao almost lost his fight against WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez despite knocking him down in the third round because of bad boxing strategy. Pacquiao won by a split decision..

 

For the full text, go to my other blog, The Setting Sun (includes a video clip)