There was a flap recently about the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), which runs the state lottery, raising the price of a six-combination lotto ticket from P10.00 to P20.00. All of the arguments against the 100% price increase, and against the lotto in general, are valid.

The lotto is an additional, and insidious, burden against the poor, who make up the vast majority of lotto players. It’s a major source of funds which the Arroyo administration allegedly routinely dips into for questionable purposes. No proper, transparent audit is done of lotto funds. The opposition suspects that the administration is now building its war chest for the 2010 presidential elections through lotto revenues. It’s a form of gambling which sustains institutionalized corruption .

The Catholic Church and various civil society groups have railed and rallied against it, rightfully calling it a morally corruptive influence which reinforces the Filipino penchant for
gambling and the “get-rich-quick, jackpot” mentality.

The government lottery people say they are selling hope. But hope not anchored on some form of spiritual belief or moral values which would transcend simple materialism is an illusion. Lucio Tan got it right when he branded his best-selling cigarette “Hope”. The perfect metaphor for the lotto: hope going up in (cancerous) smoke. Read the rest of this entry »

Its often been said about Steve Jobs that you either love him or hate him, nothing in between. Well, I don’t loathe him exactly, and you have to give him credit for being, in a much overused phrase, a “genius visionary”. So while I’m not an Apple worshipper like good friend Butch Dalisay, and many others I know, who presumably had a “nerdgasm” when Jobs unfolded his latest baby, the ultralight MacBook Air, neither do I see him as the anti-Christ. Read the rest of this entry »

For the Republicans, Michigan might be the turning point of the race for the presidential nomination. A loss here would likely deal a grave, if not fatal, blow to the aspirations of Mitt Romney, who was born and grew up in the state bordered by the Great Lakes and whose father was once a popular governor.

Mr. Romney has been quoted as saying:

“It’s personal for me because it’s where I was born and raised. We’re going to make sure this state gets on the move again. I care about Michigan. For me, it’s personal. “

Read the rest of this entry »