Piercing Pens

War on Iraq is Illegal — UN SecGen Annan

Post author By Julian Alejandro
Post date 9/17/2004
10 Comments on War on Iraq is Illegal — UN SecGen Annan

Of course, we knew it all along. It’s just that there are stubborn people who insist otherwise.

According to a news release by the UN News Service, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan “had reiterated his well-known position that the military action against Iraq was not in conformity with the UN Charter” in a BBC interview.

When repeatedly asked if the war is “illegal,” Mr. Annan finally answered: “Yes… I have indicated it is not in conformity with the UN Charter, from our point of view, and from the Charter point of view it was illegal.”

Faith and Religion Humor and Satire

Bush vs. Jesus

Found this at David Hopkin’s blog. I copied the entire post:

As part of “Piss-Off-Bush Monday”, here’s an interesting bit of satire from Mad magazine. (Historical sidenote– Mad was created by EC, a popular comic book company from the early days of the industry. During the ’50s, EC was destroyed by a government council researching the involvement of comics in contributing to juvenile deliquency.)

Movies and Television

UP Film Institute Premieres Fahrenheit 9/11

Post author By Julian Alejandro
Post date 9/15/2004
3 Comments on UP Film Institute Premieres Fahrenheit 9/11

Here’s a chance for those of us who haven’t seen this movie yet:

UP Film Institute premieres Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11

The UP Film Institute in Diliman, Quezon City premieres Michael Moore’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Fahrenheit 9/11, on Sunday, September 26, at 7 p.m.

Personal

So What?

I am fat.

No, seriously, people from work think I am. It is not enough that I’m super-gooey nice to them or that I’m smart, funny and can get along well with just about anybody. I simply don’t fit into that Barbie girl archetype. Not that I want to be Barbie. She’s too blond and dull for my type. Plus her wardrobe’s not that great.

Since time immemorial, I think I have always been self conscious about my weight. In a society flogged down by skinny girls in skimpy clothing, Thin is in. Anything less than that or should I say more than that is just not right. Whatever.

Media

NUJP Welcomes Surrender of Damalerio Murder Suspect

Post author By Julian Alejandro
Post date 9/13/2004
6 Comments on NUJP Welcomes Surrender of Damalerio Murder Suspect

“Today is a good day for the struggle for press freedom in the Philippines,” declared the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines as it welcomed the surrender of former police officer Guillermo Wapile, a suspect in the of Pagadian City journalist Edgar Damalerio.

The journalists’ organization reported that Wapile surrendered yesterday to the Philippine National Police in Region 9 and was presented to the media today.

Politics and Elections

Debt, Crisis, Pork and our Lawmakers

Post author By Julian Alejandro
Post date 9/12/2004
11 Comments on Debt, Crisis, Pork and our Lawmakers

Under Jose de Venecia’s leadership, representatives of various parties in the lower house have agreed to scrap their pork barrel. The congressmen said they are “taking the moral and political high ground” to help the president solve the fiscal crisis.

This proposal however still needs to be approved by all the 236 members of the House of Representatives. The people have long been calling for the abolition of the pork barrel system, officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund. With the initiative already taken by their leaders, will the lawmakers finally yield to the public’s clamor?

We hope so. Many of them will surely raise ostentatious and obviously self-serving concerns. They will say–as Bohol Rep. Roberto Cajest had already did–that the abolition of the pork barrel system will “adversely affect basic services and economic growth.” Duh? Wouldn’t the delivery of basic services and our economy improve when we’ve finally disposed of that corruption-ridden system?

Peace World

Terrorism

Three years ago, the world’s most powerful nation suffered from the 9/11 terrorist attack that killed thousands of its people. The United States government retaliated by attacking Afghanistan, believed to be the base of Osama bin Laden, main suspect in the World Trade Center Attack.

Later, it claimed that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with bin Laden’s al Qaeda. Thus, with a little help from its friends in the so-called “coalition of the willing”–to which Philippine President Arroyo enthusiastically dragged her nation–US invaded Iraq and killed around 12,000 Iraqi civilians and a thousand of its own soldiers.