Happy Birthday Nanay Eliz

Today is the 69th birthday of my Nanay.

I googled July 2 birthdays and their horoscopes. It is interesting to note that the supposed characteristics of Cancer people are actually exhibited by Nanay. Consider this:

"Although July 2 natives are not likely to have a large circle of friends, those who are close to them are of paramount importance. In romance, they are never happy being involved in superficial relationships. They must be assured of a commitment, or they can never give their whole heart." - Nanay has always been a loving wife to my father, no matter what.

"July 2 individuals have strong ties to their families and may even count family members among their closest friends. They make good, but anxious, parents. They are never quite confident of their own abilities as parents and may often err on the side of caution." - Nanay is the best mother to our brood of 9.

"Because July 2 individuals tend to have a good sense of humor, they are unlikely to manifest the same problems with weight and diet that other Cancer natives may have. If they have a sedentary job, these individuals may need to get involved in a serious exercise program." - Right on again.

Other July 2 celebrants are Michelle Branch, Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Tisdale, Imelda Marcos. I bet they are or will be good mothers and they have great mothers, too, like the sources of the quotes below, but I am sure my siblings and I have the best.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands.  But a mother's love endures through all.  ~Washington Irving

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done.  ~Author Unknown

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.  ~Jewish Proverb

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.  ~Irish Proverb

Happy birthday, Nanay! We love you.

Exactly a year before our glory

By this time exactly a year from now, by the grace of God and the will of the Filipino people, we will no longer have Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as president. Mark the date, June 30, 2010, for it is her last day in office, and hopefully further machinations to perpetuate herself in power will not succeed.

If we let someone the exact opposite of her name, someone so unworthy of her name and surname, stay beyond June 30, 2010, that will be very hard to explain to our children and grandchildren. Let us prove to them, like Rizal, that not everyone was asleep during the time of their forefathers.

It's the final countdown...

Transformers 2 - More than a peso per minute waste of time

Paying PhP161 to watch the 2.5 hrs. long Transformers 2 means you only waste your money at the rate of PhP1.073 per minute. Imagine if the movie was just 90 minutes long, then you would have wasted PhP1.78 per minute. So, despite the all-out assault on your eyes and ears, the movie still gives better bang for the back as you waste your money slower. What other film can give you that?

They made the film PG-13 so parents will have to accompany their pre-teen children to watch it. So the wife and I watched the film too, together with Popoy, 6, and Vito, 12.  There are clearly scenes not for kids, even if they watch together with their parents. There are pumping scenes by dogs. There is another scene with a small robot humping Megan Fox's leg. There is a seduction scene with a scantily clad woman astride Shia LaBeouf with the shot showing her panties. Then there is the scene where Shia's mom got stoned from some weed spiked food and said she would do anything to get an A.

There is a lot of sexual innuendos in the way Mega and Shia were about to conduct their video chat. The scene of John Turturro in thongs is grossly disturbing. But I have no complaints with Megan's other scenes;  she in hotpants on top of a motorcycle, and in a tank top running away from bombs.

Of course there is a lot of violence even if most of it is inflicted by robots on robots. The punching, kicking, stabbing actions will be imitated by kids. The movie bored me, but the head splitting sound effects on a full surround theater prevented me from dozing off. Moreover, I couldn't follow the story, but my boys did. The parents needed guidance on that aspect.

Saving is counterintuitive? The paradox of thrift

Late last year, Malacanang urged Filipinos to tighten their belts some more by saving money and being more thrifty. The monetary authorities embarked on initiatives to promote financial learning that aim to promote a culture of savings. Early this year, a monetary board member urged Filipinos to strengthen their personal finances and help the economy by saving more in banks.

Global consumer confidence is down and a local survey shows consumers see buying conditions in the next quarter less favorable, as the Filipinos’ spare cash is primarily intended for savings. Overseas remittances are seen to go flat this year, and in the first four months of the year, US remittances actually went down. Households have to curtail their spending. Filipinos become more prudent and cautious. In fact the IMF has said that Philippine households showed significant increases in savings rates, thereby cutting domestic demand. Is the government's plea to save now heeded?

But wait! Jollibee and SM are getting worried. Now economists warn us saving at this time will not do us any good. Contrary to what intuition or common sense would indicate, saving now will do us more harm. How is this going to happen?

From Wikipedia: "The paradox of thrift (or Paradox of Saving) is a paradox of economics propounded by John Maynard Keynes. The paradox states that if everyone saves more money during times of recession, then aggregate demand will fall and will in turn lower total savings in the population because of the decrease in consumption and economic growth."

Old school economics say that since what was saved was later invested, there could not be excessive saving. But later Keynes asserted that thrift is virtuous only up to a point. If we increase the proportion of income we save, the reduced expenditure on goods will lower total demand in the economy. Thrift is laudable up to the point businessmen in the economy wish to borrow our savings for investment.

A former NEDA chairman and the monetary authority share the sentiment that further precautionary saving will worsen the country’s current economic conditions.

What happened to their pontifications that frugality is good for our families and the economy? It took a receding economy to be an eye-opener for us to be wise with our money. This is a natural reaction to our increased awareness of our fragile economic state.

But is it going to be a problem?

Why do big business and government authorities want us consumers to fuel economic growth?

Big business and government must also do more to help the economy along. What good is growth if it is not spread among the many? Make sure that the stimulus package is not siphoned off by greed. Be satisfied with moderate growth profits. Please moderate the greed.

Michael has left the building

The Philippine newspaper Philstar cannot resist using the headline "MJ beats it" and the accompanying picture showing him beating it. The layout is even punnier in the print edition.

The viral video of the Cebu inmates dancing to MJ's Thriller enjoys renewed success. It had 23.6M+ views last Saturday and it had an additional 1M+ views overnight. It is viral twice over. Now, the prison is a tourist destination as tourists flock to watch them dance.

MJ had financial troubles lately. But with a resurgence of interest in his body of work, his estimated $400M in debt can be easily wiped off. If he were alive today, he'd be laughing his way to the bank. Like Elvis, who also enjoyed similar renewed public interest after he died, rumors will arise that MJ faked his own death so he can enjoy his life without his every move scrutinized. MJ sightings will be reported, and the new catchphrase will be "Michael is in the building". This is expected in a world grieving because "Michael has left the building".