Vulture capitalism. Sounds yummy, no? All you conservatives, say Amen!
A Batangas bishop: watching the Lady Gaga concert is like “joining devil worship.”
Manila Representative Amado Bagatsing: Lady Gaga “flaunts her lifestyle as though this was normal behavior. We need to shield our people from being exposed to artists who destroy our culture, our beliefs and our values. She poses a dangerous source of corruption to our youth.” (Bagatsing has asked the House of Representatives to broaden the powers of the board of censors to enable it “to cover live concerts with lewd acts.”)
Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles: fans of Lady Gaga “are in danger of falling into the clutches of Satan unless they are already there…Avoid all enticements of the devil…This Gaga has been banned in Indonesia and in Korea. Why not here? She also does not deserve the title of ‘lady,’ a title given to inimitable and decent women, like the Mother of God.”
Senator Ralph Recto: “I am watching [the concert] to provide some parental guidance to my young sons, nieces and nephews.”
Christian groups complaining about Lady Gaga: “Born This Way” encourages homosexuality, “Judas,” mocks Christians’ “religious beliefs and moral fiber.”
Monsignor Sabino Vengco, Jr.: Lady Gaga “would be making a mockery of the Christian religion and the Blessed Virgin.”
Fr. Gabriel Delfino: Lady Gaga is “the wrong role model who should be prevented from staging her concert in the country.”
Fr. Robert Reyes: “The devil is more sophisticated than Lady Gaga. I’m not at all thrilled about having her in Manila but we should just watch Jessica Sanchez instead. Lady Gaga might even be happy with all of this. Perhaps she might even be deliberately baiting us.”
All quotes taken from the Philippine Daily Inquirer (yes, they are real).
Let others write the history of events that are apparent: the battles and the treaties, the hereditary conflicts, the amassing and dispersion of authority, the struggles among the estates, the territorial ambition that continues to link us to animality; you, the friend of fables, you must write the history of the passions, without which the history of money, labor, and power is incomprehensible.” — Carlos Fuentes, Terra Nostra
PEOPLE ARE STRANGE: Out and On Sale -
PEOPLE ARE STRANGE is hot off the press! And right in time for Black Lawrence Press’ May Sale. From now till the end of the month, People Are Strange is 40% off the retail price. Grab a copy now! Yay.
Obama Says Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Legal -
It’s not just about same-sex marriage, it’s about civil rights. The U.S. has a president who is aware of this, because he lives in the 21st century. Ironically, 30 states still live in the 19th century. Talk about a backward culture.
South
Something is bound
to hold things together
Dark energy Net gain Universal sympathy A big lie
When I listen closely
I am not here
something has been lost
in transit
And so I make up this story about us
You are as far as Australia
is south
and the deep sea trench is at arm’s length
And the universe folds over
the Himalayas in one beautiful blizzard
of emptiness
I never said happiness
these minuscule losses
these insignificant deaths
connect me like veins
to the big burning heart
of something
I can never explain
……
Something is bound
to hold the world together
Next door is Paris
upstairs is Utica
and two flights down is the frozen river of the Aztecs
In the past there were catapults
in the future a single virus will eat a village
of truculent souls
and the polished thieves will steal our identity
and you and I will be nothing more
than you
and I
In the past the volcanic corridors led from bread shops to bordellos
and nobody looked the other way
In the future the past is
anybody’s guess
and what if everybody got it wrong
between don’t remember and Pompeii
the winged phalluses
the ancient women all in black
offering them in their soiled and wrinkled hands
in this part of the story
there is no end to mourning
……
Something is bound
to hold us together
This poem forms a trinity
the haunting conundrum of religion, philosophy and mathematics
is not present here
I am trying to pull out of words
their most wretched simplicity
I am not afraid of finding
nothing there
In the past there was Sweet Briar and your hair
wet with rain
In the future all continents will break
until there is no more room to move
and the world has come full circle
and the angels are tired of holding us up
then we will say it’s all up to us
then we will conquer the deep recession
and our bankrupt innermost insolvent
something
will crawl out of the words
like Adam leaving the garden
his human heart finally broken
(Source: noelshaw)
In the Philippines, Haunted by History -
MUST READ: A timely essay by my friend Gina Apostol. America’s policies, and its defense ties with Manila, have always benefited the Filipino elite.
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