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BongBongBong August 26, 2009

Posted by Martin in : Uncategorized , add a comment

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=8d9f81713e9c621bc2b435915e8821d7e04e75f6e8ebb871

PRO-Life Philippines and the Reproductive Health Bill August 25, 2008

Posted by Martin in : General Rants, Relevant Reading, Religion/Atheism , 2comments

Apparently, stupidity proliferates much more freely than I anticipated.

Read this, and its related links.

It’s fascinating how the writer(s) of the article claim to be rationally destroying the bill using some frankly bullshit, sorry excuses for arguments. Notice how they abuse the powers of capitalization, and how they insult the opposition, sometimes relentlessly.

“To the unscientific and statistically ignorant…”

“HB3773 is a TOTALITARIAN / DRACONIAN IMPOSITION of CONTRACEPTIVE IDEOLOGY”

” Amend the bill and keep its CORE LIES.”

So, here are the purported Pro-Life counter-arguments, minus the exessive virtual shouting. (edit) Taking out the shouting is too cumbersome of a job. Nvm.

Very rational, see.

No.

Argument one fails on account of assuming that the bill requires people to undergo such procedures, and that abortion will be legalized. The bill seeks to give widespread freedom to Filipinos in their efforts to advance family planning; sadly, abortion will not be legalized. Also, the assertion that all such procedures are inherently dangerous is patently false. Arguably, under medically controlled conditions, such procedures are both generally accepted and perfectly safe. The only reason why post-abortion complications are so rampant in the Philippines is the unsafe environment in which it is done, since it is illegal.

Argument two fails on account of assuming that the usable, habitable land area of the Philippines is equal to or greater than that of similarly-sized Asian countries such as Japan. The concept of overpopulation extends beyond the simple equation of number of people divided by total land area. One needs to determine how much of the land area is usable, habitable, and conducive to modern life, which includes job opportunities. Indeed, would you have the population of the Philippines equally distributed throughout its various mountains, crop fields, and jungles? No.

Argument three fails on account of assuming that the uncontrollable breeding of Filipinos is actually an assumption of the bill. It’s not, really. The bill seeks to address continued population growth that the economy and our resources simply cannot sustain. And where the hell did that graph come from, anyway?

Argument four fails similarly by assuming that the stupidity of Filipinos is an assumption. The bill seeks to spread correct information concerning contraceptive methods and reproductive health; it seeks to correct disinformation spread by various nefarious authorities such as the Catholic Church, which once spread the blatant lie that condoms had small holes in them through which the HIV virus can pass through. Again, the bill does not make the assumption that a lowered birth rate would equal instant riches. It seeks to address the problem of sustainable growth and development. At present, there are already too many people, with the state having not enough resources to effectively cater to them all. One way to help the state is to lessen the influx of more people by generally acceptable and moral means, i.e. not abortion. Thus, this buys the state some time to regroup and consolidate its resources in the interest of the entire nation.

Well, at least they weren’t religious counter-arguments, but they were as self-righteous and dogmatic nonetheless.

On MMDA Methods and Experiments August 15, 2008

Posted by Martin in : Propositions, Relevant Reading , 1 comment so far

Recently, a whole flurry of Ateneans have been all worked up by the MMDA’s seemingly pointless experiments with the traffic rules of Katipunan road. Apparently, most accuse the MMDA of being inconsiderate and simply stupid for tinkering what they think is “working fine“.

But is it? Can one truly assert that the traffic condition Katipunan, and, by extension, the entirety of Metro Manila is “fine“?

It seems to me that the MMDA’s critics are quick to jump on any provisions that the MMDA lays out to give some semblance of order, but they rarely, if ever, even second guess their own contribution to the mess.

Can one really think that the MMDA  puts concrete barriers, pink fences, and signs apparently written by Captain Obvious in the middle of the city’s roads simply for the lulz? If you don’t know, many of the MMDA’s employees are engineers. Scientists. They are likely, if not assuredly, to have a sufficiently rational, but not necessarily ethical reason for their now-radical methods in ensuring compliance to the law; I have a theory to explain their behavior.

They’ve simply run out of ways to get drivers and pedestrians to obey the law. They think we need to be spoon-fed. They think that pedestrians actually need to be told that getting hit by a car is dangerous. And really, who can blame them, when we live in a culture where one can execute a U-turn four lanes away from the slot? Indeed, there’s even a sign at Macapagal Highway that states: “Stop when the light is red.” This is not to say that what they’re doing is right, but I’m saying there simply is no other feasible way.

I assert that the primary, indisputable cause of traffic in Katipunan and elsewhere is not the MMDA; rather, it is the drivers that are the culprit in this situation. And how can this be, do you ask? Top Gear Philippines’ July 2008 issue featured an article entitled “Survival of the Safest”, which listed twelve reasons as to why the Philippine traffic situation is generally screwed. And these were the first three listed reasons:

1. Filipino drivers are not properly trained.

2. We are always in a hurry.

3. We have no discipline.

I shan’t go into the details; I’d rather have you guys grab a copy yourselves. So indeed, it is the driver that is first to blame. Infrastructure, enforcement, and other factors come in after that.

 

So, on to the traffic situation in Katipunan. The MMDA’s most recent changes include the ban of tricycles on Katipunan, by citing the road as a major thoroughfare, and the extension of the concrete barriers near Gate 2, such that those coming from the flyover will be forced to enter the Ateneo from Gate 3; although, if some students are real assholes, they’d make an illegal U-turn and execute a counterflow the first chance they get, but I digress.

Abolishing trikes is indeed a radical maneuver that will bring about changes to most of the trike-riding Katipunan-dwellers, including myself. But I do consider it acceptable in the interest of loosening up traffic, since after all, Katipunan is technically  part of C-5, which is a highway – tricycles are illegal in such thoroughfares. Their slow speed and often – I heavily stress often – reckless maneuvers in the heat of traffic heavily contribute to rush hour jams. Indeed, a U-turn slot was often held up due to an amazingly long line of tricycles entering the U-turn from the outer lane.

The simultaneous closing of the U-turn slot near Gate 2 as well as the extension of the concrete barriers in its vicinity holds some good arguments in its favor. It is given that those that come from the service road are not all going to Ateneo – arguably most of them are simply passing through. However, they have obstacles to overcome. The first and the lesser is the long line of Ateneans queuing up to get into Gates 1 and 2 – an already time-consuming task. But the second, and much more frustrating task, is to deal with the massive build up of vehicles near Gate 2 that come not only from the service road, but from the flyover. Technically, those that come from the flyover swerve to get to Gate 2, and since most drivers don’t understand the concept of lining up, they take up anywhere from 2 to 4 lanes in their efforts to get into the Ateneo. This is where the U-turn slot in Gate 2’s vicinity comes in – the concrete barriers that serve to create an easy U-turn by blocking 2 lanes the Ateneo side’s traffic gives a very small funnel for northbound vehicles to maneuver. What does this result in? Ubertraffic. Thus, the MMDA closes the U-turn, and extends the barriers to prevent swerving and clogging.

Try and observe the traffic. In the past, leaving at 6.30 for my 7 a.m. class spelled doom. That’s not the case anymore.

 

Overall, don’t pin it all on the MMDA. It’s us drivers that have more of a share in this mess than they do; the quick, closed-minded criticism of MMDA policy blinds one to one’s own faults.

Lulz at NSTP Processing Session #1 August 15, 2008

Posted by Martin in : General Rants, Religion/Atheism , add a comment

Our very first NSTP processing session took place last Wednesday at a variety of venues, since no room was officially reserved for us. Adventurous, no?

For those who don’t know, NSTP stands for National Service Training Program; this was formulated to apparently stimulate a more holistic development of civilian nationalism that the ROTC program was only partly successful in instilling.

Now, the lulz. The facilitator mandated that opening and closing prayers be led by randomly chosen students every session. Sure, no problem there. The Ateneo, after all, is a Catholic institution. But then she blurts out that:

sana naman walang atheist dito, diba?

I lol’d.

She’s in for a surprise.

Theology Class June 21, 2008

Posted by Martin in : General Rants, Religion/Atheism , 1 comment so far

A few high school classmates of mine were talking about their respective theology classes one day, and one of their stories rather piqued my interest.

He asked the professor if the existence of god can be proven, and if possible, how. The professor was then taken aback for a moment, but s/he managed to muster the powerful argument from grades.

If you haven’t figured that out by the end of the semester, you’ll fail this class.

Talk about motivation. My curriculum dictates that theology be deferred for one semester in favor of a Philosophy 100 class, so I haven’t had the luxury of being so exquisitely threatened. I’m looking forward to theology class. Intellectual sparring, ho!