Second Quarter Stormer

a mental maelstrom of thoughts

[EVAT, for the sake of hypocrisy and instant noodles...]

The newly-enacted expanded value-added tax (EVAT) law,  for one, is an infuriating event in these tumultuous times.

first off, it calls for more than what it can carry as a law. The 12% added premium to the products it encompasses can AND will bring headaches to the ordinary people. here lies the first hypocrisy of the law. While the promulgators of the law maintains that the EVAT will only encompass manufactured products and oil products. what these law-makers have not seen is that these products ARE what the ordinary people will consume. keep in mind, that the VAT from where the EVAT have been designed from, tax paid for by the manufacturers and is paid off by the end-line consumers IN TRANSIT.

In transit. well, another hypocrisy arises. By which product, yet again, does these consumer goods have to utilize in order to reach their market? Law-making bodies yet again made a mocking hypocritic claim that ordinary people will not suffer from the EVAT made by oil companies. wrong. It is the same rise of the oil (being the commodity in transit) that will lead manufacturers to yet again raise the prices of their goods. of course you know who the end-users are at this point.

From that same thought too, rises another hypocrisy. Oil products' prices will not affect the common tao? think again. Minimum fares have skyrocketted a couple of months ago. Public utility vehicles have been continuously asking for raises on their fare matrix arising from the rising costs of petroleum products, adding yet again to the woes of the public commuters. Who among the hypocrites said that EVAT will not affect the common tao?

Of course, those keen hypocrites have mentioned that the end products have been exempted. That means, yes, our pan de sal and *geez* instant noodles have been spared by the onslaught of the EVAT.

if only those hypocrites do their math...

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 00:19 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[of fireflies and reminiscing]

when one sees fireflies, what could one start to think of? that thought left me pondering of certain scenes...

for lola, it may mean running barefoot along palapas of the palayan. maybe hinahabol ni furure lolo... maybe laying down onto the grass after the running, the fireflies joining the thousands of stars up in the clear nightsky, the fireflies lighting up dreams of what will happen and what to do next...

for nanay, it may mean that it's getting quite late. she pulls out the gasera, illuminating the path where tatay may be walking, or where her children may be hiding still during taguan, to cough out a dinner call... fireflies wandering and fluttering about the street like pixielights lighting the clear nightsky...

for youngsters (yes, me included), it may be the the smell of fresh rain quietly sliding down talahib blades, after a shower in the rain... or maybe, it can be looking for a bottle to can the fireflies they captured with their hands... the many, the better. and those captured fireflies will either be window display, together with the clear nightsky and the constellations up above, or it may prove worthy to be the next best meal of a gagamba hiding inside a matchbox. a delicacy borne of the clear nightsky...

...i just wonder what fireflies could be for the kids of today?

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 21:05 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[1+1=2 (???)]

jus a couple of nights ago, mahal and i were discussing things, societal and so-on... then we kinda stumbled on some politics. that, after she shared what she and her friend talked about early that day. asked me many questions, too, on things like the opposition, or whether they (the opposition) should be always right.

her only comment was that, uhm... she chose to make no more questions. saying then and there, that for her, 1+1=2. and that's enough.

true, i suppose. it's a universal truth. problem arose when she tried to equate 1+1=2 to the political turmoil (or so she tried to...)

there lies the problem. people are too keen to say that they know the problem at hand. they always babble about "hey, we get these every time," or "sanay na tayo jan, yan na naman..." without even (just) trying to know the reasons behind everything that has been happening. they sinply go for the truth (or at the most, what's for them is the truth.) then they start babbling further away from even that truth they hold.

for once, i let a perverted stance come my way. wag ka na lang kasi magtanong. no offense meant, pero lalo ka lang maguguluhan. from there, Brownman Revival's song echoed. "Maraming nagmamarunong / wala namang marunong magtanong."

choosing the appropriate question can be, for starters, a thing to reckon with. who knows, maybe we are too perverted in our own little worlds that what we deem is right for ouselves CAN make a difference. questions abound, right, but where do they end up to? is it just to satisfy the truth we hold inside (which is tad a many to happen)? or do we ask questions to prove our preconceived notions wrong (and let another train of thought prick our personal truth-bubble to burst, ouch di ba?)

or should those questions end up with a way to solve a problem, hence eliciting action?

i often go for the latter. nope, 1+1 will remain equals two. unless another will disprove that to me.

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 16:15 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

[early morning surprise]

for all those who know me, yes, i am an ANIMAX fan. almost followed every series the channel has aired. and yes, another no-surprise, i am also a vid-gamer. so it's a no-gamer that, yes, i'll be following Initial-D 4th stage when it starts to air.

hmm.. will it ever be a surprise for me to discover that angel locsin will be part of the show as one of the dubbed voice?

i'd leave no comment on that matter for the meantime.

Sirocco blew away RaDiX4EvEr at 20:52 | :: slipstream :: | comments |

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