blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

The constitution of the Philippines requires the President to appear before Congress and deliver her “State of the Nation” (SONA) address on the third Monday July each year. The idea was that the President can present her accomplishments and plans to the legislature and the people. The whole idea of the Head of State appearing before parliament started with the English Sovereigns who called parliament on their whim if they wanted something done (more taxes, ex post facto bills, lop somebody’s head off etc). As representative government evolved, parliament became supreme in passing laws. The Monarch became under the law rather than above the law. While she can still summon parliament on a whim (The Queen retains this prerogative to this day and so does the President of the Philippines), she rarely if ever does. In the case of the Queen of England, constitutional convention forbids her to express her political opinion in public. When Parliament new sitting starts; The Queen just reads th

I never liked long haul flights. Flights that last 9 hours or more are a bore. There was a time in the distant past when the in-flight magazine really contained interesting articles. That was the time when flying had that adventure panache and people dressed up for the flight. Now flying is as common as getting on the subway or bus (with the added post 9/11 stringent security checks as an appetizer). And like subway stations and buses, the in-flight magazine is filled with ads and more ads and articles on resorts and getaways that are nothing but, ads! The average bloke in economy class of course can just dream of these hotel suites and resorts. The in-flight movie is something that the cable networks have wisely ignored. The in-flight radio is a mishmash of less known and strange 1970s hits. I once thought that the classical program on channel 13 was OK.  Then I suddenly realised that the avant-garde classical program sounds like… gasp, a jet about to crash! Switch channels. Since onl