Monthly Archives: November 2011

Statistics, Hashtags, and Political Blogging

By admin | November 27, 2011

Excerpts of my presentation in the Visayas Blogging Summit 2011 in Cebu It’s fair to assume that we are fascinated with numbers, except of course during our student days when we cursed calculus, algebra, and our math wizard classmates. But as a general rule, it seems we often equate truth with numbers. A thing, an […]

Posted in media | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

No Country for Young Politicians

By admin | November 17, 2011

There are no young politicians in the Philippines. Politicians are getting younger but their politics remain old. The new faces, the fashionable and adorable ones, come from the same old boring brand. According to the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center, seventy-seven percent (77 percent) of legislators aged 26-40 belong to political dynasties. They are […]

Posted in youth | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Occupy Singapore Flop

By admin | November 13, 2011

Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, last week saw hundreds of protests against corporate greed and economic inequality spring up around the world. In Singapore, similar action was organized in the financial district to highlight the widening economic gap in the country and to ‘engage the public in creating a new form of democracy.’ […]

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Southeast Asia: Social Media and Human Rights

By admin | November 6, 2011

Delivered during the Amnesty International Western USA Conference in Los Angeles, November 5, 2011. Thanks @KalaMendoza for the invitation We already know that social media is a powerful information and communication tool. It has wonderful uses: Monitor, share, and create news; build networks, enhance communications; reach a broader audience while at the same time engage […]

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Even in the Philippines people live*

By admin | November 3, 2011

The Philippines receives international attention every time a freak storm hits the islands. It becomes more interesting to the global audience if floods, volcanic eruptions and super quakes destroy the communities of islanders. It’s pitied for being the most disaster-prone country in the world. But it also ‘trends’ because of its youtube-famous dancing prisoners, boxing […]

Posted in nation | Tagged , | 1 Comment