blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Last Saturday, several Pinoy writers and scientists met at a Figaro cafe to discuss how science and humanities can be bridged. People have this stereotypical view that these disciplines cannot be bridged. Perhaps the unity of the sciences and the arts was best put into words by John Steinbeck in "Sea of Cortez" "The impulse that sends a man to the tidepools and reports what he finds there is the same that drives a man to poetry" "Sea of Cortez" is a unique work, with a typically scientific phyletic catalogue and a travelogue "Log". Steinbeck co-authored it with Edward Ricketts (who was the marine biologist). The phyletic catalogue remains as a major work in marine biology and a definitive guide to the marine life of the Sea of Cortez. But many have read the oft reprinted "Log" that is usually sold as a separate volume. Did Ricketts the scientist only write the catalogue? and Steinbeck only the "Log"? The answer is we really ...

In celebration of Andres Bonifacio Day on Nov 30, I am blogging my English translation of the Katipunan's Code of Ethics or Kartilla (Kartilya). Recruits to the revolutionary association had to learn these by heart. The code was first written by Emilio Jacinto. The Kartilya remains as relevant today as in 1896 . My apologies for errors in translation. I know there are better translations than this one. 1) A life not spent for a holy and noble cause is like a tree without shade or a noxious weed. 2) Acts that stem from pride and selfishness do not come from a desire to help others.. 3) True holiness comes from helping others, charity towards others and the measure of such is in each reasonable act or word. 4) Dark or white your skin may be, all men are equal though one may be greater in knowledge, material wealth, beauty these do not add to one’s humanity. 5) Those who are men of goodwill put honour before concern for self and those who do no good puts the self before honour. 6) For...

The Chancellor of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Professor Sergio Cao recently on Nov 14, 2006 issued a memorandum prohibiting activities that "stimulate war and promote violence" on campus. The memo specifically mentioned airsoft games. This is of course had the airsoft student community up in arms. After all, the airsofters just shoot fellow airsofters and not some innocent bystander. What does the Chancellor mean by his words? I think he is either misinformed or ignorant on what it means to go to war and what real pacifism is all about. Also his memorandum puts a cloud on the practice of the martial arts, popular PE subjects, as well as the sports with a military origin such as boxing, archery, marksmanship, the javelin, hammer throw, shotput and discus. All of these are Olympic sports by the way. These sports do not stimulate war at all. The most important values for life I learned in martial arts are 1) This knowledge that I learned can kill and I can only...

I have only two memories of publisher and journalist Max Soliven. The first one is when he interviewed my dad in a smoke filled cafe in Tokyo in 1980 and the other one when he spoke at a meeting of high school student leaders. I was a boy in 1980 and I do not recall exactly what the interview was about but I suppose it had to do with how long Ferdinand Marcos could hold on to power. I do not recall what was my dad's response. But since my father was still in active service as a general officer, he trusted Max with his opinions. Max knew my dad. They were both "saluyots" a.k.a. Ilocanos. Saluyot is a vegetable that is eaten in quantities in the Ilocos and a major ingredient of "pinakbet". I learned to eat saluyot from my dad. Max called Ilocanos saluyots, since these veggies do not require much to thrive, are cheap, nutritious, can live in marginal environments, in short resilient as the Ilocano. No amount of persecution could put the Ilocano down. The Ilocano su...

The latest dish of the Broccoli family’s James Bond Franchise "Casino Royale" has met with mixed reviews from many people. Time says Daniel Craig's depiction of 007 is "all body but no soul". Some Bond "purists" have welcomed this Bond reformation. The movie is as close as one can get to the Ian Fleming novel according to them. To the rubbish bin went Moneypenny, Q and his gadgets but of course the vodka martini remained and later on Bond will stick to that shaken not stirred. Film scholars at the University (Yes. There are academics who study film and they have students who do the same) recently told me that the James Bond movies can now be considered "cult films" since they have an almost religious following. In fact the non Broccoli Bond film” Never Say Never" is considered a "heresy"! And proof of the franchise's longevity is the long queue of senior citizens who bought tickets for the screening. The teens also bought t...

I finally got it from the mail, my very own copy of Oxford Professor of the Public Understanding of Science Richard Dawkins' scientistic opus "God Delusion" that tries to convince readers that God is unlikely to exist. And to think I got it on the feast day of Saint Albert the Great, the Mentor of Thomas Aquinas and patron of scientists and science. My favourite saint (of science that is), Galileo Galilei is probably the first scientist to say that scientists should avoid doing theology. Well that isn't really a problem for many scientists that followed. Conversely,Galileo had to remind theologians that they shouldn't do science. The late Stephen Jay Gould took wise counsel, Dawkins seems did not. Reading Dawkins on Theology gave me a headache. As a scientist, I have read books on Catholic theology, while surely that isn't my field, I have admired the clarity of Aquinas and even Teilhard and of course Joseph Ratzinger. While I had to at times struggle, Aquinas...

Pope Benedict XVI has shown a penchant for reviving (or restoring) long lost Roman Catholic practices. In his investiture last year, he revived the use of the early Roman pallium, the symbol of papal primacy and jurisdiction over the Church. The pallium is a wool vestment worn on the shoulders by all metropolitan archbishops in the Latin Rite as a sign of their communion with the Roman See. But over the centuries, like all vestments such as the chausable, this piece of cloth became smaller. In Christmas last year, the pope wore a red cap with an ermine lining or camauro. The camauro which dates back to the medieval period, fell out of use after the death of John XXIII, who also discontinued wearing the shoes of the fisherman. Benedict revived it last Christmas and the post-Vatican II congregation thought he dressed up like Santa! But Papal fashion revivals aside, this Pope is now thinking of giving a wider indult for priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass in Latin. We can recall th...

Revisionist Sofia Coppola would have it no other way. Her latest cinematic opus "Marie Antoinette" mixes the modern with the Ancien Regime in a rather curious way. Postmodern cineastes would probably know very little about the roots of the French Revolution. Schools no longer give much time for students to learn about Liberte, egalite, fraternite. I noticed this when we heard some college students wonder what's so special about Marie Antoinette, whilst Marla and I were queing for tickets. The ill-fated queen is remembered for something she did not say. Let them eat cake! Rosseau wrote the statement "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" that was ascribed to an earlier French queen. This was not a really an insensitive thing to say since medieval French law mandated fancy bread (brioche is really egg bread) be sold at the same inexpensive price as less fancy bread. This was of course in the movie with Marie Antoinette denying saying that to her ladies-in-waiting. Per...

Ooops the title is erroneous, but have I got your interest?. Death is actually when evolution stops. What continues to evolve is Homo sapiens response to death and this can only be done by the living. Death is thus is a topic of serious research that cuts through Theology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Archaelogy, Sociology,Psychology and Evolutionary Biology. In short, the study of Death or Thanatology cuts through all fields of knowledge. But why is death and dying so significant that we have evolved numerous responses to it. Most animals will shun a rotting corpse as a primary behavioural ecological response. Of course a dead body is a resource too good to waste so some organisms evolved specifically to dispose of dead bodies. And the most iconic of these is are the Vultures. Members of the Genus Homo first showed signs of respect for the dead in Homo neanderthalensis , who in Shanidar, now in Iraq more than 150,000 years ago buried their dead with flowers. Homo sapiens , the species ...