Micketymoc posted this video already on his blog but I thought I’d post it again here to make a point.

It’s basically a skit about women as presidents. Margaret thatcher was pictured in a very compromising pose with the caption: “oops”, Former president aquino’s picture had the caption “slut”.

Here are just a few of the comments on the video:

“all i can say is that, whoever made that script for that show. I want to challenge him into a sparring much on UFC.”

“they HAVE NO RESPECT! Filipinos actually respect the women of our country that's why we have women president's not LIKE AMERICA! no manners, no nothing for that matter! Americans Have NO RESPECt AT ALL!”

“America is ready to insult anything, anyone because they think they are super nation, delusion that they carry the world upon their shoulder”

“thats not humor...its insulting to the former women leaders...”

“please give a little respect from us (filipino people). we are not doing anything, so please stop those stupid things”

If someone were to insult the cuisine of every country in the world, Filipinos are probably the first and, most likely, the only ones, who would cry foul… en masse!
The Philippines is a third world country with a long history of oppression by foreign colonizers, with a population that is composed primarily of people living below the poverty line and a sizable majority living among wealthy foreigners abroad. Maybe that’s why we view the slightest unfavorable comments directed towards us as deliberate attempts to belittle our race and nation, even if they’re really just innocent attempts at humor. And maybe that’s why we retort in such a passionate manner like the commenters above. -Because we’re used to seeing ourselves at the bottom of the rung where anyone can easily trample on us and therefore we always view ourselves as “inaapi”. Why is there a slave revolt when there are no slaves?

The people who posted the comments above actually took the satirical, sarcastic skit about female presidents as a direct insult to the Filipino people. The raw, unbridled, very emotional comments above are characteristic of Filipinos and should not surprise anyone anymore. Remember the malu Fernandez issue? The emotions are so unbridled and so overflowing that they’d insult anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Someone even called micketymoc’s mother a slut because micketymoc wasn’t offended by the video

Racial slurs? I’ve had my fair share of “straw hut jokes”. So what? I reply with a joke of my own and we both laugh. People make jokes about other nationalities all the time. Not all of them cry of racism though. Conan O’Brien does it quite a lot in his show. Luckily for him, he insulted the Philippines in Spanish. Filipinos didn’t understand him and therefore he was spared from the “bayanihan” mentality of Filipinos in which pinoys would form gangs and engage in competitions in which they’d determine who among them can come up with the best below-the-belt insult.

We stereotype certain nationalities (like the Indians, the arabs, the blacks, the Chinese) here so often that we don’t even notice that we’re already being downright racist. (negro jokes anyone?)

Why should we be exempt from the jokes that everyone else receives and that we also dish out, to an even greater degree in most cases. Everyone knows that you can’t make jokes about the handicapped. Are we that “handicapped” already that no one can make jokes about us anymore? I’d be more insulted if Conan O’Brien insulted every country except for the Philippines

II’m not saying that the “daily show issue” is of equal magnitude to the “desperate housewives issue” in which terry hatcher’s character belittled the competence of Filipino medical doctors. The latter has implications that may affect the professional careers of a lot of people.
Maybe a public apology is called for. But the cries of racism; the negative attacks on the writers and the actors of the show, civilized or otherwise; The banning of the airing of the show here in the Philippines; the various groups condemning the show. Are they really necessary? When is reacting overreacting already? Even the government got involved. I remember when the Erap administration banned Claire Danes from ever entering the Philippines and then labeled her “persona non grata” when she made unflattering comments about the Philippines”. Filipinos give “overreaction” a whole new meaning. Even the government joins in on the name calling

To those who were offended, we get it. You’re offended. There is no point in attacking people who are not as offended as you are. If you get offended when people call you “onion skinned” then aren’t you just strengthening the argument that you are in fact onion skinned.?. Someone insulted someone’s mother, another one insulted someone’s girlfriend, simply because they do not agree with your views. We already had our apology. What else do we want? What else do we expect to get? Who else’s blood do we want to spill?

I personally wouldn’t be offended by tongue in cheek humor directed at a very general demographic even if I’m part of that demographic. But of course I cannot tell anyone to not be offended by such humor -That is not the point of this post though. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be offended.

But you can only be as offended as you’d allow yourself to be. Responding in a very uncontrolled emotional manner over a matter that a lot of people may consider trivial (I’m not saying that I think it’s trivial btw) doesn’t speak well of us as educated professionals. I’d like to think that our medical professionals are equipped with the temperance to deal with such issues in a not so emotional manner. And I’d like to think that the people who’ve been leaving the nasty comments in various blogs are not actually medical doctors!!
I’ve always admired people who can take a personal attack, brush it aside with wit and sarcasm and walk away unscathed. –they’re a dying breed

At the end of the day, whether you think the comment was derogatory or not, it always pays to have a calm head over your shoulders. A little sense of humor doesn’t hurt either =)

I’d like to apologize to my 500 gagizillion readers again for not updating this blog in almost 2 weeks. I’ve been dealing with the giganormic pain in the ass that is PLDT mydsl. I get disconnected every few minutes, would you believe?!? That is if I can connect at all, which is very rarely the case. It’s a conspiracy by shady forces to sabotage my blog’s inevitable rise to infamy, I tell you
…and while we’re on the topic of conspiracies, someone should tell the government that there are ways of diverting attention away from you that don’t involve military grade explosives. Also, the US government should tell the public that aliens really did land on Roswell and that the moon landing was really a hoax …no, sarcasm doesn’t exist. It’s a creative ploy devised by those who were not born with a sense of humor.

Anyway, time to get serious again. Don’t watch the video below if you’re not into nonsensical ramblings. But then again, what would you be doing here in my blog if you’re not into nonsensical, incoherent ramblings :-?

Here’s a philosophical video blog of sorts

I think there was a loopage of nonsensicalutory verbological utterancessations there somewhere.I’m not sure if the video made sense. I edited out a lot of parts, rearranged some parts… I recorded some parts early in the day and some parts later in the afternoon so it may be a bit incoherent, I’m not sure … can’t bear to watch it one more time to check for consistency. Just read the description below the video if you didn’t understand anything

Warning extremely geeky content.

This is actually based on an old thread I started and participated in in pinoyexchange. link here and here. I was more articulate and verbose then. I’ve lost at least half of my brain cells since I started this blog

I guess the problem is more interesting for atheists o(Read More)

Too much rage is never a good thing

The Philippine blogosphere has been a very vocal community lately. Bloggers wrote about their opinions on issues that mattered to them and fought for their advocacies. I think that’s definitely a good thing as it elevates people’s perception of blogging as something that's more than just a pastime for nerds and egotistical maniacs, like yours truly.
I didn’t post my thoughts on some of the major issues so here they are: I understand why malu fernandez’s article offended people but the unruly mob that personally attacked her in a very uncivilized manner gave some of the points she raised in her article a bit of credence. I think the death of Chris Mendez was absolutely deplorable and justice should be served swiftly…
I’d rather keep my thoughts on the other issues to myself since I don’t want to offend other bloggers any more than I already probably have. I’ve tried to be as Apolitical as I could on most of the issues because I didn’t really have strong feelings for any of those issues and I didn’t feel like I had anything original to say about them that I could express in more than a few sentences… and also because current events is not my cup of tea. I’d rather discuss philosophy and higher physics any day instead of current events which bore the hell out of me. Opinions become more or less the same after a while

A lot of the blogs that have chosen to take a side on those issues got a lot of flack from haters who did not exactly agree with their views. Haters even attacked people who have taken a more or less neutral position

In this article, I’ll be discussing the various flavors of trolls/haters that populate the local blogosphere. They come in various levels of articulacy but they all have one thing in common. They all have a penchant for dishing out personal attacks like Joey Deleon dishes out “slightly inappropriate” jokes. They’d not only insult you, they’d insult you below the belt …and then they’d insult everyone who’s related to you

I.)Some haters seem to be educated and express their displeasure with you in a somewhat civilized manner. Here’s a typical comment from such haters: :
“I find your biased take on the issue to be counter-logical and extremely idiotic. You, sir, are an idiot and a loser. Fuck you, your dog and your barber.”
I just wish they’d leave my barber alone. I happen to like my haircut right now. Also, I love dogs but I don’t have a dog right now. Browny passed away already. I actually welcome comments like these. They spur discussion, increase your hits …and at least you don’t feel shorthanded since they have actual points to accompany th(Read More)