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Text of the page (random words):
owdered sugar it s certainly a big country as one of my colleagues remarked a local replied with a straight face you think so he went on to explain that with kalinigrad on the baltic sea and chukotka by the barents straight russia spans 10 time zones technically chukotka should be on the same time zone as alaska gmt 12 but to keep themselves sane they sensibly opted to keep it at gmt 12 their media is quite varied there s mtv sakhalin with dubbed versions of scrubs klinika pimp my ride and cribs there are local reality shows like dom house on it s third season there are your formula sitcoms and dramas like papa doshkii daddy s girls and ranielka unfortunately for me with my extremely basic skills the dialogue is lost on me the girls are cute though what i admire about the shows is that the bright and humorous lives are just behind the walls of the dark grey apartment blocks while on the street the people can seem so dour in a comfortable group their sense of humor does come out to shine the weather s usually good on a weekday when you re stuck at work and can t do anything to enjoy it then it turns bad friday night to early monday a local colleague said he added though that may be so you don t feel to bad when you come in to work on the weekend posted by hobbes at 11 06 pm no comments tuesday december 11 2007 multinational one of my favorite things about multinational assignments is well its very definition the opportunity to work with people from different places that leads to a rare treat that i hardly ever get to enjoy back home insulting one another nationality while at work scotsman i can t understand this it seems to be written by a filipino filipino i heard that scots learn to read at a later age than most englishman yeah like 40 discussing that rare treat for the economy class traveller american i ve never been upgraded to business class englishman that s because they know you re an american and can t appreciate it after getting into an accident and coming to work with a bandage on my face scotsman i don t know much about filipinos aren t you all on boats englishman i d be careful he fights look at him filipino yeah when the immigration officer denied my application for asylum i took exception scotsman well if you gave the englishman over there as a reference i m not surprised they denied you you should feel fortunate that they didn t lock you up to be fair though that last comment is close to the truth for 2 of my british colleagues one scot just returned from a caribbean cruise and he mentioned that the majority of the crew were filipinos and seemed to be well appreciated and tipped by the other vacationers the englishman related that his first work experience with filipinos was while working with a supply boat company in nigeria part of his duties was to go out and inspect the various boats mostly with filipino crews on one trip he found a chiller filled with beer and he straightaway informed the crew that it was against regulations to drink on board the crew chief replied with a straight face that no they don t drink on board he smiled and asked the englishman if he would care to have one carry on the the englishman said he said to me that the filipinos stood out for making him feel so welcome i treasure these moments and stories that make one feel more unique and less alone all at the same time posted by hobbes at 8 03 am no comments sunday july 01 2007 away again this is the first of the couple dozen weekends i can look forward to in aberdeen the location of my latest job assignment this posting is so far the most distant from the land where i was born a tropical place of palm trees heat and humidity aberdeen is in the northeast of scotland on the coast facing the north sea a summer here means overcast skies and almost certain rain with perhaps a few hours of direct sunlight woods low hills and farms with sheep and cattle surround the city aberdeen is renowned as the granite city of scotland and it obligingly looks the part from the road of king street close where i stay to the bar and restaurant haven of belmont street the square at castlegate marischal college the second largest granite building in the world shops and pubs fill the listed buildings of belmont street the similar hues of the streets structures and sky certainly aren t the most immediately enchanting as with any place once must take a closer look to appreciate the different textures and to find the vibrancy in the people themselves and in the things they chose to have around them union street and the surrounding area form the main retail district as one may expect in england and apparently farther north as well there are many gardens public and private the people of aberdeen supported the scotish resistance against the english led by scotland s greatest hero william wallace this statue of the man overlooking the union terrace gardens below presents a more fashionable figure than the woolly and wild haired character played by mel gibson the gordon highlander museum presents the history of a distinguished military unit that was formed for the napoleanic wars and has served the kingdom for the next 200 years the people of aberdeen may be more fortunate than most to be able to live with so much of their history around them and i can t help but appreciate a place that puts so much thought into their drinking establishments if one must admit to anything illicit it may as well be this one there are other adventures and attractions throughout scotland even other than a plate of haggis neeps and taties and i hope to visit them in time other pictures are located here posted by hobbes at 3 49 am no comments tuesday february 27 2007 there is a season the mid term election season in the philippines is this may and the topic once again turns to the supposed dearth of inspiring or even qualified candidates for the philippine senate and other offices this tri annual exercise of wailing and gnashing of teeth normally revolves around the following themes nationally known but unqualified candidates traditional politicians and their relatives political turncoats the common conclusions after griping about any or all of these points are the country is destined to be run by fools who were voted in by imbeciles the elections are a waste of time for any thinking individual because they are dominated by unthinking ones one should leave the country for somewhere else preferably where they appreciate critical thinking i can understand those conclusions from someone who was not able to receive a quality life in the philippines like access to housing food education employment media such as tv and newspapers and so on to get those reactions from someone who went to the same or a similar university to where i graduated from is simply embarrassing the university i attended was comparatively heavy on liberal arts courses such as theology philosophy and history the focus was on providing the students with the tools for critical thinking to equip them not only with knowledge but also with a reasoned faith the university was also the third most expensive in the country increasing the likelihood that the best learning resources cable tv personal computers internet connections trips to other provinces or other countries were available to the students for one to come to the conclusions listed above is to forget all about history and political theory critical reflection and reasoning to avoid limiting officials to members of a particular class our constitution requires pretty much only citizenship residency and literacy to qualify for an elected position it s simply insensible to bitch about traditional politicians and actors at the same time since that would imply espousing two opposing ideas besides what makes manny pacquiao one who worked his way through national and international ranks to become one of the best and most profitable in his profession any less eligible than a lawyer or a doctor and we re hardly unique with the usa s former actors arnold schwarzenegger wrestlers jesse ventura and yes basketball players bill bradley a notable example is italy s ilona staller a former porn star any reasonable evaluation of our previous elected officials would have to be done on their actions once they assumed office for example ferdinand marcos graduated from the prestigious university of the philippines college of law and topped the bar exam the essence of politics and governance especially in a democracy is to compromise between diverse and in many cases opposing interests these interests may be any or a combination of class sex ideology religion or region shifting alliances and goals are an indivisible part of this activity especially over decades this was true with manuel quezon sergio osmena and jose laurel who plotted with and against one another constantly and yet they are all accounted as among our greatest leaders this twisting and turning are certainly true and no less valid in our own time if one cares to note the careers of jose de venecia juan ponce enrile and blas ople furthermore the unending dominance of political families tends to decrease or is absent in economically progressive areas compare surigao del norte with brothers for governor and congressman and dinagat with the related governor congressman and mayor of the capital in batangas the governor four congressmen and mayors of the three chartered cities don t share any last names perceived performance is also a factor closer to home in the 2004 elections for the mayoralty of quezon city the first term incumbent sonny belmonte crushed the previous mayor mel mathay this was attributed to the difference in the city s delivered services and collected revenues during belmonte s first term and mathay s prior three terms the same is said for the fernando s dominance of marikina city why should we think that the pace of improvement is unacceptably slow elections are aptly described as a political exercise pe is a worthy subject if only to teach us there is incremental progress after numerous and regular repetition what can you expect if you go to the gym once every three years we ve been at it only since 1945 and we ve had our limits on our membership between 1972 and 1986 put it another way americans has been at it every four years since 1789 and they d be the first to say that they don t always get it right what is sad is that all this information is available for us to see and we have been instructed of how to use this information to come up with reasoned conclusions what gives us the right to deplore the decisions and abilities of our less affluent and educated countrymen when we ourselves with all our access to knowledge and opportunity so easily retreat to mourning and weeping in our valley of tears posted by hobbes at 3 32 pm 4 comments thursday december 14 2006 mirrors an article in the philippine star about a new columnist reminded of the first time i reacted to a newspaper article one in the philippine daily inquirer this was the first and so far the only time i sent a letter to an editor this was a year and a half ago and i still feel as strongly about the issue then as i do now the memory put even more of a spotlight on something i ve always felt strongly for writing writing was always something i could escape into to do it the way i wanted took so much of me took all of my focus that i had no time or feeling to spare for anything but the act itself and it was something i once could do well and easily one of my friends mentioned once that the act of creation is the only sure way to see one s self while that can be interpreted in so many different ways i do take it to mean that what i choose to write that which i put myself into will turn out to be an image of the person that i am that thought makes it so tempting to only write of things that are inspirational and true where there is nothing unresolved it seems so much nobler to describe the human as to what it could be to always seek our better angels it s far less attractive to write of ignorance and confusion anger and prejudice indecision and regret the result can be fearsome to behold because that would be myself at my worst and with no idea how to move beyond that but then i d be a writer and honest with myself and that s a good a start as any posted by hobbes at 9 12 pm no comments monday december 04 2006 entitlement this was the first and only newspaper article i thought enough to react to i was working out of the country at the time and i was a fairly frequent philippine airlines customer reading it the first time it was published wasn t something i relished but seeing it featured on the main page of the newspaper s website for weeks irritated me enough that i sent this letter to the editor this is regarding your article on why you ll never fly with pal again i very much agree with you that there is simply no excuse for shabby and impolite treatment accorded to you by the customer service representative you gave instructions that were executed on your departing flight and simply botched on your return you have every right to expect that this error would be rectified that this error was not rectified does deserve your anger but i disagree that the airline and all the people behind it deserve the words you have written in your article over the last nine months i ve taken five round trips with philippine airlines two domestic and three international out of the ten flights i ve had two delays one for forty five minutes and another for three hours not a good record at first glance but in the same time period i ve also taken three round trips with singapore airlines i had one flight delay for forty five minutes also two out of ten and one out of six aren t too far part i believe i also believe that to relating the customer service representative who did not extend any service to the diligence of the aircraft maintenance technicians is a bit of a stretch if we ignore the guidelines imposed by international regulators and insurers there still is pal s current safety record and i ve never had a problem with the pal flight attendants or even ticket office personnel if there is indeed a culture of rudeness and uncaring pervading the entire organization i haven t seen it that lucio tan is a controversial figure doesn t need any elaboration here but it is also true that in the mid nineties he alone was the one who took up the gauntlet of turning pal from a government corporation to a profitable private enterprise he did that with no previous experience in the airline industry the airline just managed to achieve profitability in an environment that includes everything from the 1997 asian crisis the 2001 september 11 attack and the current oil price crunch that management feat deserves a bit of praise pal is not the cheapest airline nor can it claim to have the best service the airline does have its third world inconveniences as you put it and you certain...