P. Noy please don't be like this Hatoyama guy.

Yukio Hatoyama was forced to resign in disgrace as Japan's Prime Minister.

Just like P. Noy, Hatoyama won a huge mandate in the elections. Just like P. Noy, he is a scion of a prominent political family. He also has various and lengthy political experience. Just like P. Noy, he is also often accused (and is really guilty) of sartorial inelegance. The comparison better end there.

P. Noy should learn a lesson from the fate suffered by Hatoyama.

Many see Hatoyama as having allowed his historic mandate to erode on the minor issue of relocating an American military base. Analysts say he faltered on a lot of issues, including scandals over political financing; an inability to deliver on other campaign promises; and his administrations's failure to focus on matters affecting the economy.

The military base issue crystallized what went wrong with his nine-month old government. He seemed to waffle between appeasing Washington and assuring Okinawans that he would honor his campaign vows. Many Japanese saw his indecisiveness as a fatal flaw. His popularity plummetted largely because of this.

P. Noy -  be a strong and decisive president and deliver on your promises. The country deserves no less.

Congrats Lakers!

I couldn't follow the historic game 7 because I was locked in a seminar. I got text updates from friends. Many other participants were busy with their phones following the game too. At close to 12nn, the speaker, apparently noticing we were reading text messages, nonchalantly asked who won, almost in unison we said 'the Lakers'.

Anyway, congrats Lakers and Lakers fans. Now you see the value of Artest. While most players would thank their surgeons/physical therapists for fixing their bodies. Artest thanks his shrink for fixing his head. What a guy.

Glee finale nails it

The first installment of the back nine episodes of Glee season 1 was great. I raved about it in an earlier post. But the succeeding episodes were to me a letdown, perhaps because I had expected too much. I just consoled myself that the producers were setting us up for a grand finale. We know that a season 2 was ordered so I anticipated the New Directions to win regionals. It was the condition set for the glee club program to continue. Season 2 could then be their road to state championships.

But the show producers found a way to inject more drama than I anticipated. That's why they are creative series producers and I am a civil servant. They simply have a way to make shows like this interesting. The New Directions sang a medley of Journey songs in the regionals. Vocal Adrenaline (particularly Jesse) did a solid Bohemian Rhapsody version while Quinn delivered her baby. The Queen classic became a child birth metaphor.

Josh Groban and Olivia Newton John were two of the celebrity judges along with Sue Sylvester. In a plot twist, Sue was the only judge who voted for New Directions to win. Josh and Olivia pounded on New Directions in a comical way. The New Directions lost but they still got another year to prove themselves.

The final episode nails it. It more than makes up for the boring, crammed-up episodes 15-21. With it, the New Directions and the series deserve another run.

Hopeless Pag-asa / GMA

When the rains started to soothe the scorched earth, folks gladly welcomed the rainy season but Pag-asa did not immediately declare that summer's over. In fact, just last week they said the heat will be back. But after a few more days of rains Pag-asa relented. Finally last Sunday, they turned on their words half week earlier and declared the rainy season has started. They advised farmers to plant and take advantage of the rains.

But the Pag-asa forecasters must have been real bad in their previous lives. No rains came after their announcement. It's been three days now and the heat's been back. They could be right the first time. The rains are really here, it's just Pag-asa's luck to look bad. Always.
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Three weeks before stepping down, GMA is back on the road (foreign roads, actually). This time she is traveling again to China. What foreign policy could be served by this trip? Nothing.

But she could tie up loose ends in the aborted broadband deal.

My women's tennis album - French Open 2010 - part 2