THERE are some of us who are familiar with this column’s title, know very well what it means and who either support or are against it. And then there are those of us lost in translation. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about it. But first, a bit of foreplay to get things going.
It seems the virus COVID-19 finally caught up with US President Donald Trump. He announced on Twitter a couple of days ago that he and his wife tested positive with the false bravado and nonchalant attitude he has been projecting. I am not surprised.
I really don’t care who the next president of America will be. What I care about is that whoever wins should not interfere with the affairs of a sovereign nation, particularly the Philippines!
And speaking of the virus COVID-19, a coincidence or it is what it is – the rise in COVID-19 positive Iloilo City Hall employees seems simultaneous with the rise of positive cases in the barangays now on surgical lockdown.
***
It seems that anything President Duterte says, for sure Leni Robredo will always have her say against it i.e.
Duterte says he’s an LA Lakers fan, Robredo is immediately a Miami Heat fan. Or Duterte mentions he loves burgers, Robredo will say she loves hotdogs (hehehe, with malice toward someone).
So the Office of the Vice President will have an additional P45 million added to its budget and according to VP Leni Robredo she will use the money to buy new vehicles. Now she did not specify if she will buy used BMWs or just regular AUVs.
If we follow the logic of the usual suspects and the “devotees to the cult of the yellow ribbon”, P45 million in this pandemic will buy a lot of rice. (What is it with this people with rice? The money can also buy pizza or pasta)
***
Those party-list representatives in Congress calling themselves the Makabayan bloc, why is it so hard for them to denounce the atrocities committed by the New People’s Army if they’re not one of them or supporters of the NPA?
Along that line, it seems Sister Mary John Mananzan of St. Scholastica Academy of Manila cannot denounce the atrocities committed by the NPA. I wonder why?
This is also the same Sister Mary John Mananzan who said in a Senate hearing that she believes so-called transgender men with complete set of penis and testicles yet identify as women are “women”. Yet in the same hearing, when asked if she will admit a transgender male with complete set of penis and testicles to enrol in St. Scholastica — an exclusive all-girls school, she was at a loss for words and fumbled at answering the question. She actually never answered it properly, just mumbling some unrelated words about God’s love for His creation.
***
In an interview last March by CNN, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was asked if he were to pick a role model for women in light of International Women’s Day, he said it would be Margaux Uson a.k.a. “Mocha”, currently Deputy Executive Director V of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).I say good choice and why not!
***
And we segue to 420, 4:20, or 4/20, the cannabis culture slang for marijuana and hashish consumption, especially smoking around the time 4:20 p.m. It also refers to cannabis-oriented celebrations that take place annually on April 20.
In 1971, five high school students in San Rafael, California used the term “4:20” in connection with a plan to search for an abandoned cannabis crop, based on a treasure map made by the grower.
Calling themselves the Waldos, because their typical hang-out spot “was a wall outside the school”, the five students designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time. The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase “4:20 Louis”. After several failed attempts to find the crop, the group eventually shortened their phrase to simply “4:20”, which ultimately evolved into a code-word the teens used to refer to consuming cannabis.
April 20 has become an international counterculture holiday, where people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis. Many such events have a political nature to them, advocating the liberalization / legalization of cannabis. Vivian McPeak, a founder of Seattle’s Hempfest states that 4/20 is “half celebration and half call to action”.
On that day many marijuana users protested in civil disobedience by gathering in public to smoke at 4:20 p.m.
As marijuana continues to be decriminalized and legalized around the world, Steve DeAngelo, cannabis activist and founder of California’s Harborside Health Center, notes that “even if our activist work were complete, 420 morphs from a statement of conscience to a celebration of acceptance, a celebration of victory, a celebration of our amazing connection with this plant” and that he thinks that “it will always be worthy of celebration”.
So “excuse me while I kiss the sky”./PN
