blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

The current debate on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and plans for its recommissioning has placed the Pinoy scientist center stage. In many ways the debate brings the Pinoy scientist into his/her debut on the national political stage. The scientist can determine the direction of national policy and development. This is different from the past view that scientists are PhDs and as such are limited to the classrooms. The scientist is no longer a “teacher lang”. National development and strategy are no longer the exclusive domain of lawyers, economists and those pretending to be one. The scientists will play a large role in this country’s political life as their critical mass increases. Despite her faults so often discussed here, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has to be thanked for this. Her support for the country’s scientific development is very much greater than her predecessors. She appointed as science minister a research scientist and experienced research manager who has n...

With apologies to Alex Pope! The secret of life hid in priestly superstition And God said, Let Darwin be! And thus was freed from its darkened prison!

I have finished my treat of DVD for review movies. "Australia" is billed as a tribute to the "golden age" of movies. The opening credits however reminded me of Indiana Jones. Nonetheless the Baz Luhrmann film has proven the wags wrong. The film is no Outback Waterworld! Anyway the film lives up to its Aussieness. There are a lot of Australian private jokes in the movie and only blokes and sheilas who have lived long enough in Oz can get the punchline. Example 1: all newbies to Oz are enthralled to see hopping kangaroos. The ooooohs and ahhhs I have heard in Billabong sanctuary years before. But then something typically Aussie happens to the roo. Guess!?!? (Clue: When I first landed in Australia when I was an overseas student there, the first roo I saw in Oz was a roadkill.) Example 2: Also when Nicole Kidman's aristocratic character goes down the gangplank and into the wharf, she tries to check into a "hotel", where in Oz a hotel is a pub. She walks r...