miniZibaldone

Philippine Daily Inquirer's   " Costly traffic " Metro Manila’s traffic mess is one problem that is proving too difficult to untangle. A confluence of events since many administrations ago has led to this nightmare in the capital. Last week, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) estimated that the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Manila now costs at least P3.5 billion in lost opportunities a day — a jump from the estimated P2.4 billion a day in 2012. The future does not seem to present much promise either. According to the Jica study, Metro Manila’s population in 2015 was nearly 13 million while Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite combined had almost 11 million. That puts Mega Manila’s population in 2015 at 24 million.   [link] Mindanao Times  " Missing the point " The stir that the Boracay controversy has created has resulted in concerned agencies scampering for solutions to the garbage problem. In the Davao Region for instanc...

Philippine Star  "State of the nation" Rodrigo Duterte has inherited an economy that is the second fastest growing in the region after China. A framework for peace in Mindanao is in place. Business confidence has been high for the past six years, buoyed by policies that were anchored on good governance.  Last Saturday night, President Duterte signed a landmark order, implementing freedom of information throughout the executive branch. He is expected to push his congressional allies to pass an FOI law to promote transparency in the other branches of government.  The challenges faced by the nation remain daunting. The income gap is a chasm and economic growth has not trickled down, with about 40 percent of Filipinos classified as poor. The lack of decent employment continues to fuel the migrant worker phenomenon, opening Filipinos to exploitation and human trafficking overseas.   [full text] Sun.Star Cebu  "Reviving “hablon”" HABLON sa Cebu” is a community’s ...

Untold Stories by Alan Bennett Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary 2 by Norman del Mar  Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary 3 by Norman del Mar  In Praise of Difference: Genetics and Human Affairs by Albert Jacquard  Notes on a Century by Bernard Lewis  Elizabeth Bishop and the New Yorker  

The history of English can be explained in five words

When a Pope Asks Forgiveness by Luigi Accattoli  What Went Wrong With Vatican II by Ralph McInerny History of the Church in the Philippines (1521-1898) by Pablo Fernandez The Church in an Age of Revolution by Alec Vidler  The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright The Ancient City by Fustel de Coulanges  The Great Siege by Ernie Bradford

Sarajevo Rose: A Balkan Jewish Notebook by Stephen Schwartz Name-Dropping from FDR On by John Kenneth Glabraith The Haunted Land by Tina Rosenberg From Bondage to Liberation by Faith Berry The Rise and Fall of Athens by Plutarch  The Negro in the Making of America by Benjamin Quarles  South: The Endurance Expedition by Ernest Shackleton  A Study of History 1 by Arnold Toynbee 

Egyptian Peasant by Henry Ayrout Local History and the Library by J. L. Hobbs The Politics of Upheaval by Arthur Schlesinger The Final Revolution by George Weigel On the Rez by Ian Frazier A Shopkeeper's Millenium by Paul Johnson The Soul of New Machine by Tracy Kidder 

The Unintended Reformation by Brad Gregory Salvation at Stake by Brad Gregory A History of German Literature by J. G. Robertson Shadow in the Land by Dannemeyer The Story of American Catholicism 1 by Theodore Maynard   From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman 

The Ascent of Money: Financial History of World by Niall Ferguson The Ice Finders by Edmund Blair Bolles A Short History of English Literature by Sir Evans China Wakes by Nicholas  Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn How the West Was Lost by Dambisa Moyo Five Germanys I Have Known by Fritz Stern Fool's Gold: The Inside of JP Morgan by Gillian Tett

No Bells to Toll by Barbara Bode   The Alps by Andrew Beattie The Atomic Bazaar by William Langewiesche   The Fall of the House of Credit by Alistaire Milne   The Unwinding: An Inner History of New America by George Packer   Human Smoke: Beginning of World War II by Nicholson Baker  

The Freeman's  Lastimosa: " Linigwatay sa lana" Human sa pila ka semana nga pagsaka sa presyo sa lana, may mga eskperto nang nangagpas nga nitugsad na ang lana sa iyang kinabaratohan nga ang-ang. Busa wa nay laing kapaingnan. Nipadayag sila og pagsalig nga magsugod na sab pagsaka ang presyo sa mga produkto sa lana sa mosunod nga mga adlaw.  Gitumbok nila ang mosunod nga mga sukaranan sa ilang pangagpas sa pagmahal sa lana: (1) Kasabotan sa Saudi Arabia, Russia ug Qatar paglaslas sa ilang produksiyon sa lana, ubos sa kundisyon nga molaslas sab ang ubang kanasuran; (2) pagsugod na og tidlom sa produksiyon sa lana sa Estados Unidos; ug (3) pagsulbong sa kalibotanong konsumo sa gasolina.   [kinatibuk-ang lindog] Sun.Star Cebu's  Carvajal "Taphaw Kaayo" HOW Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista judged the first debate to be world-class simply beats me. It came nowhere near the definition of a debate as, in-between lengthy commercial...

The Freeman's Lastimosa Bisan inosenteng panagsungi sa negosyo di luwas atol sa martial law sa diktadura ni Ferdinand Marcos. Tungod sa koneksiyon sa kakostablehan ug kapolisan (kay PC/INP  pa man niadto) sa usa ka negosyante dinhi sa Sugbo, nakugang na lang ang iyang gikalalis nga duha ka negosyante nga mga dinakpan na sila ug gida sa Kampo Sotero  Cabahug (karon headquarters sa Cebu City Police Office). Giingnan sila sa imbestigador nga gidakop sila pinasikad sa Arrest, Search and Seizure Order (ASSO). Pasabot  nga wa pay kaso nga napasaka batok nila sa korte, gani way klaro unsay ilang kaso, apan di sila makapiyansa ug padayong matanggong hangtod nga mahusay ang ilang  problema. Ang biktima nga mga politiko nga nakalingkawas sa kalbaryo sa ASSO nakaasoy sa pait nilang kasinatian ug napasidunggan nang mga bayani sa pakigbisog sa  ngiob nga katuigan sa diktadura. Apan ang ASSO mahimong nakabiktima sab sa mas daghang kasarangang sibilyan. Nga mahimong wa makas...

Philippine Star   If Filipino voters are showing a strong preference for candidates with authoritarian tendencies plus the only son of a dictator, one of the reasons has to be the  perception that democracy is not working for the country.   Those who suffered during the oppressive days of one-man rule can only shake their heads and sigh that people who support politicians with an authoritarian bent don’t  know what monster they are trying to revive. Beyond warning that Filipinos should be careful what they wish for, however, those who want to nurture hard-won freedoms  should address the public frustrations that are giving rise to a longing for discipline and the kind of leadership that gets things done and brings peace and order.   [full text] Sun.Star Cebu  MARCELO Garbo Jr. has gone a long way since his assignment to Central Visayas in 2011 as director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7, which is based in Cebu City.  Garbo, who is set t...

History of the Church in the Philippines (1521-1898) by Pablo Fernandez The Church in an Age of Revolution by Alec Vidler  20th Century Music by David Ewen