Are You Going To Vote?
November 13th, 2009 by cocoy
It was blackest night. The only sound I could hear were my fingers pounding the keyboard, hard at work. There was swoosh from my instant messenger, like a lightsaber being lit and on the upper right hand corner of the screen, a sticky from growl was pasted. A friend happened to come online. It was Roch.
“Are you going to vote?” Roch asked. “TG Guingona. You should vote for him. ”
To be honest, Roch’s question, in my mind’s eye registered like this: Do you have the ability to overcome fear?
If you are reading Blackest Night, you would know this. The most powerful weapon in the universe is a ring that is a circle of never-ending light. Its color is the symbol of renewed life. When a ring-bearer, even the Torch Bearer falls, the ring asks a simple question when choosing a replacement: can this being overcome great fear? There is elation when that ring floats before you, offering its symbiosis: You have the ability to overcome great fear, welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.
May 2010 may be far away but there is much that can happen between now and then. Noynoy Aquino is faced with questions about his minority holding on Hacienda Luisita. None of the attack jobs focus on CARP and what exactly is wrong with it. A snippet about CARP from my post, this is the Opportunity of Solomon and the Luisita:
For more than twenty years, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program has utterly failed not only to provide for an equitable distribution and ownership of land, it has failed to improve farmers’ lives and it has disastrously ruined the Philippines’ agricultural industry. How many landowners chose then to sell their land for housing and other commercial development rather than to sell to farmers? How many sugar mills then went out of business simply because of labor disputes that helped cause their closure as much as high operating cost brought about by an inefficient and rowdy labor force and global challenges? How many farmhands have been deceived by marxism to despise capitalism for the sake of despising it?
The more rowdy elements of society prefer to fester anger, to feint being victimized when clearly, they prefer to choose to work against the system in some perceived grievance than to engage society openly. How then is this zealot form of marxism any different from the terror Usama bin Laden inspires? How then is this heckling any different from highway robbery? How then is this methodology not a cause of the poverty that their ideology wishes to destroy? How then is this not festering hurt and anger?
Then there is the surprising entry of actor Edu Manzano into the Vice Presidential fray, under the administration’s party. Maybe on December 1st, Chiz, won’t confuse us and just drop off the race.
There is great trepidation at how successful automated elections will be. I am certain no one reading this hopes for it to fail— yet there are myriad challenges as @momblogger points out. Then there is the ongoing battle to open the source code for the program to be used on election day.
Of course, you have to know how to vote in an automated election. These questions do not dispel my doubt that it can be pulled off successfully.
My doubt come from that realm of knowing IT projects hardly ever work right the first time around. Certainly, rare it is for it to be successful, when one hardly has any experience in pulling off something like this in a mammoth scale.
Many of you might point out that we’ve tried automated elections in Mindanao. I’m still more comfortable rolling it on a smaller scale and then growing it in years rather than doing it in one mammoth swoop. It just seems more prudent that way, especially with a lot riding on May 2010. The law of course says the country must be automated in whole and not piecemeal. What a flawed law.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope election automation can be pulled off. I most certainly hope that there will not be a failure of elections on election day. I hope there will be a government on June 30, 2010 and that the transfer of power goes to the rightful victor of the fight.
What happens if it doesn’t?
Let me segue a bit to note the most important event of the week comes from US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s vist to Manila (transcript of ANC Live forum). You should check that out.
As I was writing, there is great trepidation. The die has been cast and seemingly for better or worst we are headed towards a rough road.
There are scary things out there like Microsoft patenting sudo.
More than a duty, I associate overcoming great fear and voting because there is a lot riding in the next election. It is a battle beyond good and evil. Maybe there won’t be a tingle in your arm as the green light flows out of the ring, limited only by what we can imagine. But marking that ballot with our choice is close enough I think. On that Monday in May, it is my humble opinion that we must set our fears aside, overcome it and vote for the future. It is a shot at redemption. It is a shot at opportunity. It becomes a new dawn, a new chapter. I hope that that ballot will indeed open new doors.
***
*image is from here. It was published under creative commons.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License
November 13, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Overcoming “fear” isn’t the hard part. The hard part is trying to educate a populace more attuned to form rather than function.
November 13, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Fear of voting? Nah, voting, and selecting whom to vote for are the easiest part, no fear!
Thinking that the one least popular among the presidential candidates wins the election…that’s fearsome!
November 13, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Hillary Clinton is one smart and classy lady. Good of heart, strong of mind.
Maybe view voting with excitement rather than fear.
Joe
November 14, 2009 at 1:58 am
I wish I have that powerful LORD OF THE RING. I would vanish: ignorance, graft, corruption, superstition, religious idiocies, poverty and all the ills we have now. Anyway, please vote and choose wisely!
November 15, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Gibo Teodoro — great choice to be next president.
Vote Gibo!!!
November 16, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Goodluck, Dante!
November 17, 2009 at 5:45 am
I definitely not endorse any candidate. This is my
definite POSITION.
November 14, 2009 at 6:45 am
Voting is very similar to investing in the stock market. Rational expectations drive voters. Unfortunately when most go into short term investing it creates problems.
Issues that affect the stomach and the perception of who will most come closest to filling that most basic need usually gets the vote.
This election in the midst of the advances of communication technology will be a test on whether the country has reached a cusp. Having participated in the congressional campaigns in the urban and countryside I believe there continues to be a huge gap.
Getting that critical mass organized around an idea that can influence the beast is still along way off.
So far my bet goes to the business as usual mode. I have lost all hope in the Senate and the Presidency. Elections are won or lost almost always at the local level.
November 14, 2009 at 6:47 am
sorry, off topic: i want to start up reading DC comics. is the blackest night a good intro to green lantern? how about batman, and superman? thanks!
November 14, 2009 at 7:39 am
GabbyD,
yes, Blackest Night is good intro into green lantern. The first issue (#0) is actually free. You can read it here: http://www.dccomics.com/sites/greenlantern/media/comic/Blackest_Night_0.pdf
Blackest Night 0’s exposition also explains where the DC Universe was in at the start of Blackest Night.
Blackest Night is the best book out there. Well, second only to my personal favorite, Batman and Robin.
You don’t need to know anything to get started. that said, it is part of a trilogy of collected editions:
a. Green Lantern: Rebirth
b. Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War
c. Blackest Night
You can also pickup the collected edition, Green Lantern: Secret Origins (which is all about how Hal Jordan got the ring and also foreshadows blackest night).
Aside from the main title, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps is also a must read. Both series got awesome creative teams. Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps post Sinestro Corps War is also a setup for Blackest Night, but like I said you can pickup Blackest Night without reading those issues.
As for Batman, DC’s Flagship book is “Batman and Robin,” written by Grant Morrison. It is one of the best written books today. It just concluded the second arc (issue 6). The artist for the second arc, btw was Filipino-Chinese Philip Tan. I suggest you pick up Batman and Robin from issue 1. I’m not sure if it is already out as a collected edition, but this is a must read book. No prior knowledge is needed. Batman and Robin 1 is very accessible starting point. It will tell you what has happened before and why Batman is where he is.
If you really want to know what came before Batman and Robin 1, it is good to read Morrison’s entire run. They’ve been collected already:
For the collected edition, i highly recommend reading this in sequence:
1. Batman and Son http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=7429
2. Batman: The Black Glove http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=12491
3. Batman: RIP http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=10731
I have to note that I am a Morrison fan and have been since I was a kid. His stories are not for kids heheh. His writing is crazy.
Another must read is Detective Comics, featuring Batwoman. It not only has a compelling story about Batwoman, but the art is so gorgeous. Art like this only comes out of graphic novels but the creative team of Rucka and Williams is really awesome. I can not help but recommend this book. Sadly, it doesn’t even fall on Diamond’s top 20, but this is an adult book.
Superman:
Get World of Krypton. It is nearing the end of the series because DC wants a huge superman event next year so the books this year is a setup for that. I suggest you go back to World of Krypton 1 because you’ll find it weird that Superman isn’t on Earth but instead on New Krypton.
Hope you get to enjoy Blackest Night and Batman and Robin
Cheers!
November 15, 2009 at 7:45 am
thanks for your well-considered suggestions.
i’ve been reading planet hulk, world war hulk — i like the hulk coz his inner conflict is very cool, but the hulk is becoming deus ex machina of the marvel universe. but planet hulk is very good.
the marvel story civil war is interesting also, but i dont understand why the mutants arent taking a side… (among other problems…)
November 15, 2009 at 9:35 am
On Marvel, I’ve enjoyed Bucky’s run as Captain America. Some Dark Reign titles are also interesting.
November 15, 2009 at 3:46 pm
My mother is a school teacher who has served in many elections. The usual MO of pols and their agents: confuse and obfuscate the election officers. So when something goes wrong, i.e. election officials confusing memos and orders, someone has a scapegoat. In reality, it’s a smokescreen for cheaters.
In the new automated elections, I’m sure they can find a way to blame technology and the supposedly tech-phobic masses.
November 15, 2009 at 3:58 pm
the masses are technopobes. anyway, might i suggest you checkout blogwatch? i linked to them in the post. they have videos on how automation works.
November 15, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Yeah, like the masses read blogs.
November 15, 2009 at 4:10 pm
err, yer not trying to correct my vocabulary, are you?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tech-phobic&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enPH243PH243&ie=UTF-8
November 15, 2009 at 4:17 pm
My point is, the danger doesn’t like in the technology itself but in the perception of this specific technology. Educating the public via sites and TV shows just isn’t enough. Our population is made up of many people who’re too scared of the simplest bureaucratic procedures. I do a lot of snail mailing and I often see these hapless older folks who ask around where to buy stamps and where to put the stamped envelops. they’d ask me strange questions like if you scratch out a section of an address, would the envelop remain valid (as in mailable?). Some of these folks would journey for hours just to mail it in a provincial capital post office.
November 15, 2009 at 4:19 pm
This is not to say the technology is bad, but I wonder how easy it is to cheat in the coming election and then blame everything on the novelty of it.
November 15, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Well you’re talking to the choir here. hehe. as i’ve mentioned in the post, i too am ambivalent with regard to automation. I think doing it one huge chunk is asking for trouble. i think we would all sleep more soundly if this was done in stages.
November 17, 2009 at 5:35 am
It is and will be my POSITION not to endorse any Presidential
candidate. I will just be helping in clarifying issues to help
the voters choose wisely. The candidates I will vote are private
to me. The casting of ballot is secret.
However, I definitely not endorse for you to vote for Villar, who is
an Opportunist. Nor Erap Estrada, who is a Convicted
Plunderer. Erap Estrada had already proven himself. He simply did not do a good job. The remaining Candidates must present their PLATFORMS and BLUEPRINTS OF ACCOUNTABILITY. We must take a hold of their tails. To make them fulfill their promises during the election. They must also be ACCOUNTABLE of their decisions.
November 17, 2009 at 10:36 pm
now this is monopoly at work.
Nothing is wrong with it actually. Implementation is the problem. The people who should implement it are the ones who are opposing it (using SDO’s and some other form of policy rather than distributing land to farmers) thus your point of view that CARP does not deliver. That’s why CARPER (CARP extensions and reforms) was formed. Any law not properly implemented by officials are provoking the anger of those who become victims of its negligence.
to quote Ninoy Aquino:
from: http://www.stuartsantiago.com/ninoys-politics-the-filipino-as-dissident/
Noynoy was not being called upon because he was an owner, but rather as a possible president who will implement laws.