Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
I have just finished reading John Berendt's modern classic "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", a non-fiction account about the town of Savannah, Georgia. I once borrowed the tape of the movie version in which John Cussack starred but I fell asleep midway into the opening sequences. I had totally forgotten about the movie until I chanced upon a nice hardbound copy of the book at a local bookstore and realized the book is a lot better than the movie.
My creative writing teacher, NVM Gonzalez, always told us that it was always necessary to put local color in one's work because it is what defines good literature. True enough, the book is steaming with local color. It has great characters and a setting that makes me want to pack up and migrate to the US of A. The little lawyerly story about the trial of an antique collector who killed his gay lover was just a bonus. It is just a detail in a small corner in this large mural of an enchanting town peopled with high society hob-nobbers, hustlers, cross-dressers, hotshot lawyers and prosecutors, coffee shop weirdos, lounge musicians and voodoo practitioners. It is also quite a riot that the story ends with an acquittal of the antique collector (after three mistrials) that was won, perhaps not by the lawyers, but by the voodoo practitioner!
Who was it who said that great art always leaves you with a wound that never heals? I have been so fascinated with this book that I even used the town's name in a corporation I incorporated for a cousin "Savannah Holdings. Corporation." I have also proposed a deal with a client about historical restoration of landmark places in the Philippines. No takers yet But who knows? The book will sit along well with my most cherished editions of "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo and "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Monday, November 18, 2002
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
On Being in Government
We have recently been appointed as legal consultant for the National Food Authority. The appointment allows for free practice outside the NFA; thus, we will be insulated from the financial constraints usually associated with a government job. It does not mean, however, that it is going to be a free ride. There is much work to do. We have to help run the law department of a PHP 7 Billion corporation that controls the food supply of the Philippines. On top of these, we have to deal with stuff like protocol -- i.e., before we can talk to Mr. C, we have to talk to Mr. A and then to Mr. B-- and a resident auditor from the Commission on Audit. Well, that will keep us honest.
It is quite interesting to know that in spite of the fact that the pay is low, being in givernment requires having to deal with regulations as expansive as outer space -- from rules that prohibit the use of photocopying machines unless your bring your own paper to laws that require the filing of a statement of net worth the violation of which can send one to jail.On top of that being in government compels me to do the thing I dread the most -- riding an elevator run by the government. All these years, I've managed to avoid using government elevators by taking the stairway. The fear springs from my impression that government buildings in the Philippines are poorly maintained, if at all. There is no budget for that or if there was, it was used for something else or by someone else.Thus, government elevators are rickety, shaky and noisy -- you can almost hear the cables snap. I dread government elevators so much that I had gone as high as the sixth floor using the stairway. Unfortunately for me, the NFA office is in the 10th floor and I don't think I'm physically fit for that kind of action.
But I sincerely hope that this stint will be spiritually fulfilling. As I reported for work this week, for example, I was just in time to help out in a case that involves millions of government money -- these are millions of pesos that would be use to buy cheap rice for the people -- not a bad way to start this budding career, isn't it? Not bad at all. I hope that compensates for all the cruel things I have done as a commercial law and labor litigation lawyer -- like firing hundreds of people. I regretted that so much that I'm beginning to think that there is a special place in hell for labor lawyers who fired poeple for a living -- something like a government elevator that keeps going up and down with an operator with a radio that keeps on playing Ted Ito songs. Maybe being in government is my salvation. It is just queer that it looks very much like the hell that I imagined.
We have recently been appointed as legal consultant for the National Food Authority. The appointment allows for free practice outside the NFA; thus, we will be insulated from the financial constraints usually associated with a government job. It does not mean, however, that it is going to be a free ride. There is much work to do. We have to help run the law department of a PHP 7 Billion corporation that controls the food supply of the Philippines. On top of these, we have to deal with stuff like protocol -- i.e., before we can talk to Mr. C, we have to talk to Mr. A and then to Mr. B-- and a resident auditor from the Commission on Audit. Well, that will keep us honest.
It is quite interesting to know that in spite of the fact that the pay is low, being in givernment requires having to deal with regulations as expansive as outer space -- from rules that prohibit the use of photocopying machines unless your bring your own paper to laws that require the filing of a statement of net worth the violation of which can send one to jail.On top of that being in government compels me to do the thing I dread the most -- riding an elevator run by the government. All these years, I've managed to avoid using government elevators by taking the stairway. The fear springs from my impression that government buildings in the Philippines are poorly maintained, if at all. There is no budget for that or if there was, it was used for something else or by someone else.Thus, government elevators are rickety, shaky and noisy -- you can almost hear the cables snap. I dread government elevators so much that I had gone as high as the sixth floor using the stairway. Unfortunately for me, the NFA office is in the 10th floor and I don't think I'm physically fit for that kind of action.
But I sincerely hope that this stint will be spiritually fulfilling. As I reported for work this week, for example, I was just in time to help out in a case that involves millions of government money -- these are millions of pesos that would be use to buy cheap rice for the people -- not a bad way to start this budding career, isn't it? Not bad at all. I hope that compensates for all the cruel things I have done as a commercial law and labor litigation lawyer -- like firing hundreds of people. I regretted that so much that I'm beginning to think that there is a special place in hell for labor lawyers who fired poeple for a living -- something like a government elevator that keeps going up and down with an operator with a radio that keeps on playing Ted Ito songs. Maybe being in government is my salvation. It is just queer that it looks very much like the hell that I imagined.
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
Businessweek's Idea No. 23 is called "Don't Kill All the Trial Lawyers" written by Mike France. His thesis in this article is given that regulators and politicians have failed in their duty to protect the investing public from corporate crooks, it is up to the lawyers to put the hurt on corporate miscreants.
Reading this article made me realize how powerful the legal profession is in society. While the lawyers have contributed much to the corporate mess that the US is experiencing nowadays, it is also the lawyers who have the power to put some order into it. That is why history has this sort of love-hate relationship with lawyers. Nowadays, it is on the love side because the lawyers are the ones pushing corporate America to reform (what with the hundred of class action suits being filed left and right and the threatening millions of damages). But people seem to have forgotten that it was also the lawyers (along with the executives and accountants) who conceived and implemented the grand scale fraud in the Enron scam.
Why is this so? In the Ateneo Law School where I studied, there was an attempt to teach law along with Christian values. They thought this was possible by adding some one unit subjects like Theology and the Law and Social Philosophy to the regular law curriculum. The academic thinking is that the law is merely a technical tool, which is value free. Thus, value education should be separately taught through a separate subject.
The idea had some sense. Unfortunately, there was an open resentment to it because the one-unit subjects were eating up the students' time for the law subjects that students believed were more important. Further, the professors could not teach values on a one-hour a week format. I do not know what happened to the Ateneo after that but I know what happened to me.
In my almost seven years of practice three things I've learned as a lawyer trying to make sense of chaotic legal order:
1. A lawyer cannot be rigid about his values.
The Philippine system is so corrupt that if one were to be strict about his values, he'll never accomplish anything. One of these days, some values have to waiver. To achieve legal purposes, one favor or another that will compromise one's value has to be made. That's how it is.
2. A lawyer should know the limits of compromise.
There is a hierarchy of values and lawyers must always make sure that this hierarchy of what is more important is firm in their minds. For example, I am willing to part with some cash just so my case would be set early in the court calendar, but I am not willing to pay a judge for my client to win. That is where I draw the line. The logic is simple; my client will have no use for me if my case is always at the bottom of the heap. I owe the client that much to make sure my case gets priority. But I am not going to pay someone to win. I don’t play that way.
3. Hope.
How can one tell that he has compromised too little or too much? No one can tell. Very often in making the moral decisions that have the interplay of the two principles above, the lawyer will be faced with a dilemma. Failure, morally and financially, is a nagging fear. A lawyer's only salvation is his hope that he is doing the right thing.
Relating the principles above calls to mind the story of St. Thomas More. A successful lawyer in his time, his biographers took note of his practical shrewdness and his being responsible for, among others, the banning of heretical books and the execution of authors who had heretical beliefs. But Thomas found occasion to draw his limits when he was made to choose between loyalty to his king or his God. The stakes were high. King Henry VIII wanted to validate his second marriage to Anne Boleyn. To complete the King's desire to do this, he needed Thomas to take the Oath of Supremacy which meant that the King of England was supreme in the Church of England. More's dilemma was to take the oath that would have repudiated papal supremacy over the Church of England or mince the words of the oath to please King Henry VIII and retain his power and wealth like what the rest of England did. But to Thomas, what was being asked from him was more than just an oath but a repudiation of his own conscience and the truth. All Thomas had to do to retain this power and glory was to profess the King of England as the head of the Catholic Church in England. But to Thomas the obvious fact was that only the Bishop of Rome had the sacred mandate from Christ Himself to run the Church, through succession of Peter. Thomas knew as fact that only God could appoint the head of His Church and this had already been done once, there could not be two heads. Thus, he refused to take the oath. To him, this one oath that the King wanted him to make did not have a price. The King convicted him of treason and had him beheaded.
St. Thomas More is considered the patron saint of all lawyers. Reading and writing about him makes me proud to be a lawyer. The Ateneo simply should have taught us the life of St. Thomas More and it would have solved the problem of values education in law school. Values in lawyering? St. Thomas More's last words said all that was needed to be said, "The King's good servant, but God's first."
Monday, September 16, 2002
THE "S" WORD
Businessweek's Idea No 2 is called "The Mea Culpa Defense" written by Mike France. The article is straight forward in suggesting that businesses should be ready to admit liability if they have committed a wrong. The boxed summary says it well, "The instinctive reaction of executives in times of scandal is to deny, deny, deny -- then clam up. In many cases, the smarter response is a heartfelt apology." .
After reading the article, I remembered the dozens of cases that I've handled that shouldn't have reached my desk had the client only thought of saying the "S" word. Unfortunately, common business sense looks upon the "S" word as a sign of weakness that precludes any semblance of defense in the event of litigation. This is, of course, legally sound as an apology can amount to a confession of liability and no lawyer would be happy to accept a case where he has little room to maneuver a dismissal.
There is a story, however, of a Filipino immigrant in the US who was a victim of medical malpractice that caused him to lose his two fingers. He approached a lot of lawyers in the US who declined to accept his case allegedly because no doctor would testify against a fellow doctor. Yet, he struggled to find that lawyer, knowing deep in his heart that there is someone who can fight his just cause for him in that foreign land. True enough, after a long time, his son found the doctor-lawyer who was even willing to take it on a contingency basis. After months of litigation, they were awarded a hefty sum for the malpractice. The man felt vindicated not only because he succeeded in his quest to find justice for his predicament but also because he was able to prove that all the previous lawyers he consulted were wrong about his case.
Then right after the decision was handed down, the guilty doctor approached his former patient and said, "I'm sorry."
And then the patient cried, "All these years, that is all that I wanted to hear from you."
Until now, as the story is being recounted to me by the man, he gets misty eyed.
This is concrete proof that the "S" word is not really a bad idea. In the world of torts, the apology is the wild card that can throw a quick spin in any litigation. If things work well, the case can be settled with not a penny spent because of the apology. If things don't, then the apology can be a blank check payable to bearer. It takes character and a strong sense of justice to make that decision. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find any man of that make nowadays.
Businessweek's Idea No 2 is called "The Mea Culpa Defense" written by Mike France. The article is straight forward in suggesting that businesses should be ready to admit liability if they have committed a wrong. The boxed summary says it well, "The instinctive reaction of executives in times of scandal is to deny, deny, deny -- then clam up. In many cases, the smarter response is a heartfelt apology." .
After reading the article, I remembered the dozens of cases that I've handled that shouldn't have reached my desk had the client only thought of saying the "S" word. Unfortunately, common business sense looks upon the "S" word as a sign of weakness that precludes any semblance of defense in the event of litigation. This is, of course, legally sound as an apology can amount to a confession of liability and no lawyer would be happy to accept a case where he has little room to maneuver a dismissal.
There is a story, however, of a Filipino immigrant in the US who was a victim of medical malpractice that caused him to lose his two fingers. He approached a lot of lawyers in the US who declined to accept his case allegedly because no doctor would testify against a fellow doctor. Yet, he struggled to find that lawyer, knowing deep in his heart that there is someone who can fight his just cause for him in that foreign land. True enough, after a long time, his son found the doctor-lawyer who was even willing to take it on a contingency basis. After months of litigation, they were awarded a hefty sum for the malpractice. The man felt vindicated not only because he succeeded in his quest to find justice for his predicament but also because he was able to prove that all the previous lawyers he consulted were wrong about his case.
Then right after the decision was handed down, the guilty doctor approached his former patient and said, "I'm sorry."
And then the patient cried, "All these years, that is all that I wanted to hear from you."
Until now, as the story is being recounted to me by the man, he gets misty eyed.
This is concrete proof that the "S" word is not really a bad idea. In the world of torts, the apology is the wild card that can throw a quick spin in any litigation. If things work well, the case can be settled with not a penny spent because of the apology. If things don't, then the apology can be a blank check payable to bearer. It takes character and a strong sense of justice to make that decision. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find any man of that make nowadays.
Thursday, September 05, 2002
LIVIN' LA VIDA LAWYER
Businessweek's New Idea No. 19 is called "Rethinking the Rat Race" written by Diane Brady. The idea is to give the workers more flexible time at work, to focus more on the results and not on hours spent on the office. Given that new technology has given everyone the opportunity to be productive even if he is at home with the family, the idea of allowing the worker to balance his time with work and life will result in more productivity. In addition to this, the idea is also to give workers more vacation time to allow them to refresh more often and not be overburdened by work.
I think this is the best idea in this Businessweek series. I am particularly concerned that I may have become too workaholic to enjoy life. My typical day usually starts at 5:30 am to check email, do routine paper work and pleadings. I do this at home with our home computer. I have breakfast with the kids and my wife at 8:00 am and I'm off to work at 9:00 am. If there are hearings I have to attend, everything gets pushed back so I can be in court at 8:30 am.
The entire morning is then spent either on hearings or meetings. Lunch gives me time to grab a magazine or surf the web while eating, assuming that there are no lunch meetings with clients. Then, I'm back on my desk at 2:00 pm for what I call the "Assault from All Sides". This is because I have to juggle with phone calls from the land line and the cellular phone, follow up from bosses and co-lawyers barging in through the front door, email popping in through the LAN, and text messages being received by my GSM cellular phone.
Everything subsides at around 5:00 pm when I take a break for snack. At 5:30 pm onwards, the real hard paperwork and research is done. If I'm fast, it's all over at 8:30 pm during which I go home to have dinner with my wife who often has already eaten by that time. If, however, work is still not finished by 8:30 pm, the time extends all the way to the wee hours of the morning. I only break off for an hour so I can go home and finish the work in our home computer.
In the last three years, the longest break I took was seven (7) working days on Paternity Leave to take care of my newly born second son Hans. Although we are allowed 15 calendar days of leave with pay every year, I haven't used it at all. I don’t know why. I guess I'm enjoying myself too much.
You think I have a problem? Take a look at the other lawyers of the Firm. Some of my co-lawyers work all the way to 11:00 pm or midnight on a daily basis and are back at 8:00 am the following day. Most have not taken longer leaves than I have. In my seven years in the Firm, I was able to take short breaks to date, court my wife-to-be, get married, and have kids. Some guys here have not found time to do that. As a result they've gone past their forties and they're still single and unattached. This is not to say that they are unhappy or are less of a human being than anyone. This is just to say that this is the kind life the lawyers in our Firm live.
But looking at how I've been all these years, I know I've missed a lot of things with my family because of work. My favorite grandmother died two weeks ago. My deepest regret is that I didn't find time to visit her in the faraway province of Calatagan Batangas in all the three years that she wished to see me with my kids when she was still alive. When she was buried last weekend, I brought my kids along to witness the interment. But I guess she's no longer around to appreciate that.
It is true, nobody in his deathbed ever wished to have spent more time in the office. Life is short. We can't spend it all working. We can't spend it all having fun either. That's an awful deal. But it doesn’t get better than that.
The old work paradigm is to spend most of our quality hours at work. Who was it who said that life is like a game of cigars. If you smoke the most number of cigars, you win and your prize is a box of cigars. Isn't that much like the work ethic that we have lived? Work hard in the game of life. If you win, you get more work.That doesn't sound like a fair game, does it?
Now in the information age, the "in" thing is to spend more quality time with our families. Who cares if you've won the biggest case in the world, if you can’t even play with your kids (worse if you can't even have time to have a kid?) What is there to be happy about at the end of a long day when all you come home to is still your work? Work hard. That's ok. But live life. That's the only way to play this game. I am a non-smoker but if you have to compare life with a game of cigars, I think the object of the game is not to smoke the most number of cigars. And the prize is the game itself.
Businessweek's New Idea No. 19 is called "Rethinking the Rat Race" written by Diane Brady. The idea is to give the workers more flexible time at work, to focus more on the results and not on hours spent on the office. Given that new technology has given everyone the opportunity to be productive even if he is at home with the family, the idea of allowing the worker to balance his time with work and life will result in more productivity. In addition to this, the idea is also to give workers more vacation time to allow them to refresh more often and not be overburdened by work.
I think this is the best idea in this Businessweek series. I am particularly concerned that I may have become too workaholic to enjoy life. My typical day usually starts at 5:30 am to check email, do routine paper work and pleadings. I do this at home with our home computer. I have breakfast with the kids and my wife at 8:00 am and I'm off to work at 9:00 am. If there are hearings I have to attend, everything gets pushed back so I can be in court at 8:30 am.
The entire morning is then spent either on hearings or meetings. Lunch gives me time to grab a magazine or surf the web while eating, assuming that there are no lunch meetings with clients. Then, I'm back on my desk at 2:00 pm for what I call the "Assault from All Sides". This is because I have to juggle with phone calls from the land line and the cellular phone, follow up from bosses and co-lawyers barging in through the front door, email popping in through the LAN, and text messages being received by my GSM cellular phone.
Everything subsides at around 5:00 pm when I take a break for snack. At 5:30 pm onwards, the real hard paperwork and research is done. If I'm fast, it's all over at 8:30 pm during which I go home to have dinner with my wife who often has already eaten by that time. If, however, work is still not finished by 8:30 pm, the time extends all the way to the wee hours of the morning. I only break off for an hour so I can go home and finish the work in our home computer.
In the last three years, the longest break I took was seven (7) working days on Paternity Leave to take care of my newly born second son Hans. Although we are allowed 15 calendar days of leave with pay every year, I haven't used it at all. I don’t know why. I guess I'm enjoying myself too much.
You think I have a problem? Take a look at the other lawyers of the Firm. Some of my co-lawyers work all the way to 11:00 pm or midnight on a daily basis and are back at 8:00 am the following day. Most have not taken longer leaves than I have. In my seven years in the Firm, I was able to take short breaks to date, court my wife-to-be, get married, and have kids. Some guys here have not found time to do that. As a result they've gone past their forties and they're still single and unattached. This is not to say that they are unhappy or are less of a human being than anyone. This is just to say that this is the kind life the lawyers in our Firm live.
But looking at how I've been all these years, I know I've missed a lot of things with my family because of work. My favorite grandmother died two weeks ago. My deepest regret is that I didn't find time to visit her in the faraway province of Calatagan Batangas in all the three years that she wished to see me with my kids when she was still alive. When she was buried last weekend, I brought my kids along to witness the interment. But I guess she's no longer around to appreciate that.
It is true, nobody in his deathbed ever wished to have spent more time in the office. Life is short. We can't spend it all working. We can't spend it all having fun either. That's an awful deal. But it doesn’t get better than that.
The old work paradigm is to spend most of our quality hours at work. Who was it who said that life is like a game of cigars. If you smoke the most number of cigars, you win and your prize is a box of cigars. Isn't that much like the work ethic that we have lived? Work hard in the game of life. If you win, you get more work.That doesn't sound like a fair game, does it?
Now in the information age, the "in" thing is to spend more quality time with our families. Who cares if you've won the biggest case in the world, if you can’t even play with your kids (worse if you can't even have time to have a kid?) What is there to be happy about at the end of a long day when all you come home to is still your work? Work hard. That's ok. But live life. That's the only way to play this game. I am a non-smoker but if you have to compare life with a game of cigars, I think the object of the game is not to smoke the most number of cigars. And the prize is the game itself.
Monday, August 26, 2002
PROFIT WITH HONOR
Businessweek came out recently with a special edition entitled "25 Ideas for a Changing World". The issue is very interesting so I was quick to get my copy and read the pages with the thought that the thing can give me enough material to blog about for the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the website edition is gone. So I can’t link to it.
Nevertheless, Idea No. 1 is called, "After Enron: The Ideal Corporation" written by John A. Byrne. According to the article, with the Enron fall out, corporations will go back to the values of trust, transparency and accountability. Corporations will acknowledge that a company's viability now depends less on making the numbers at any cost and more on the integrity and trustworthiness of its practices.
Well, frankly speaking, I didn't know that this is a new idea. The Enron culture was and will always be considered an anomaly in corporate governance and investor relations. The values have always been there, except that unscrupulous individuals have gotten away with messing up with it for a few years. But now that the law caught up with them, we are quite happy to know that values have been affirmed. For indeed, what every corporation boils down to is that other people's money are entrusted to certain people in order that they can make it grow. In every relationship involving that sort of transaction, we are talking about not just making that money grow but also doing it with the knowledge that it should be done with the values of trust, accountability and transparency.
I didn't go through business school (my college degree is one for philosophy and my law degree is not exactly a business degree although now I only practice mostly commercial law). However, I imagine that every business course should have a course on Business Ethics -- and I am not just talking about how not to pirate business.
Business Ethics should always be grounded on the maxim "Profit with Honor." In the Philippines, sadly only one company used to live this ethos -- San Miguel Corporation in the time of the late Andres Soriano, Jr. During his time, San Miguel Corporation was never involved in any tax case and it did not have labor problems. Its investors were happy - in fact too happy that it was too hard for the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos not to resist to acquire it through a forcible takeover during martial law.
Profit with Honor. That means money through honorable means. No deception. No misrepresentation. Full disclosure. No cheating on your workers. No cheating on your investors. No cheating on your consumers. What's so new about that?
Businessweek came out recently with a special edition entitled "25 Ideas for a Changing World". The issue is very interesting so I was quick to get my copy and read the pages with the thought that the thing can give me enough material to blog about for the next few weeks. Unfortunately, the website edition is gone. So I can’t link to it.
Nevertheless, Idea No. 1 is called, "After Enron: The Ideal Corporation" written by John A. Byrne. According to the article, with the Enron fall out, corporations will go back to the values of trust, transparency and accountability. Corporations will acknowledge that a company's viability now depends less on making the numbers at any cost and more on the integrity and trustworthiness of its practices.
Well, frankly speaking, I didn't know that this is a new idea. The Enron culture was and will always be considered an anomaly in corporate governance and investor relations. The values have always been there, except that unscrupulous individuals have gotten away with messing up with it for a few years. But now that the law caught up with them, we are quite happy to know that values have been affirmed. For indeed, what every corporation boils down to is that other people's money are entrusted to certain people in order that they can make it grow. In every relationship involving that sort of transaction, we are talking about not just making that money grow but also doing it with the knowledge that it should be done with the values of trust, accountability and transparency.
I didn't go through business school (my college degree is one for philosophy and my law degree is not exactly a business degree although now I only practice mostly commercial law). However, I imagine that every business course should have a course on Business Ethics -- and I am not just talking about how not to pirate business.
Business Ethics should always be grounded on the maxim "Profit with Honor." In the Philippines, sadly only one company used to live this ethos -- San Miguel Corporation in the time of the late Andres Soriano, Jr. During his time, San Miguel Corporation was never involved in any tax case and it did not have labor problems. Its investors were happy - in fact too happy that it was too hard for the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos not to resist to acquire it through a forcible takeover during martial law.
Profit with Honor. That means money through honorable means. No deception. No misrepresentation. Full disclosure. No cheating on your workers. No cheating on your investors. No cheating on your consumers. What's so new about that?
Friday, August 16, 2002
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Rx for hiding your wealth
1. Why?
A. You're afraid of the taxman.
B. You don't want your spouse to know.
C. You don't want your creditors to know.
D. You've got many cases filed in court.
E. You don't want kidnappers to know.
E. Some of the above.
F. All of the above.
2. How?
A. Put your wealth in a friend's name -- Efficiency rating: Ok. Risk rating: Poor. Your friend can die on you. Also, your friend can forget about you.
B. Put your wealth in a relative's name. Ratings: same as above. Additional disadvantage, you can't sue your mom.
C. Establish a holding company. Ratings: Your best bet. No risk. You are your holding company. Corporations can outlive you. No loss of efficiency. You sign your company's checks. Creditors at your door? Just sign your endorsement at the back of the stocks, enter in the books and its free from credit vultures.
Recommendation: Personal holding company
Do it yourself: www.sec.gov.ph
1. Why?
A. You're afraid of the taxman.
B. You don't want your spouse to know.
C. You don't want your creditors to know.
D. You've got many cases filed in court.
E. You don't want kidnappers to know.
E. Some of the above.
F. All of the above.
2. How?
A. Put your wealth in a friend's name -- Efficiency rating: Ok. Risk rating: Poor. Your friend can die on you. Also, your friend can forget about you.
B. Put your wealth in a relative's name. Ratings: same as above. Additional disadvantage, you can't sue your mom.
C. Establish a holding company. Ratings: Your best bet. No risk. You are your holding company. Corporations can outlive you. No loss of efficiency. You sign your company's checks. Creditors at your door? Just sign your endorsement at the back of the stocks, enter in the books and its free from credit vultures.
Recommendation: Personal holding company
Do it yourself: www.sec.gov.ph
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
Lawyerly yours wins first disbarment case
I received today the ruling of the Committee on Bar Discipline dismissing the charges of unethical conduct filed against me by a rich businessman who lost a case that I worked on as a junior lawyer. I hate that guy. He filed all the cases he could file against my client and when there was nothing else to file, he filed a case against me.
Of course, there was no doubt on my mind that I would win that case. But I suffered from just the thought that I was being disbarred. This time I wasn't just the lawyer for the accused -- I was the accused. Days and nights I worried about the outcome of the case. I didn't know a thing outside of my profession. What was I to do if I lost? Worse, cheapskate that I am, I was my own lawyer. My boss (who was included in the suit) reviewed my work but since he was suffering the same anxiety I was suffering, I couldn't really trust him. I remember when the deadline for writing our answer approached, I couldn't write a single word. Gone was the legendary pleading writer that I fancied myself to be. I was the lawyer who could churn out pages and pages of law in a few minutes. I was the lawyer who quoted Shakespeare in his pleadings and got away with it. But for the case that involved my career, I was mute. I didn't know a single law. Indeed, the hardest pleading to write was the pleading I wrote for myself.
I'm glad I survived that -- and how. Now, it's pay back time. I am going to sue this guy and I will make sure he suffers the same ordeal I went through. See you in court you filthy businessman. May God have mercy on your soul.
I received today the ruling of the Committee on Bar Discipline dismissing the charges of unethical conduct filed against me by a rich businessman who lost a case that I worked on as a junior lawyer. I hate that guy. He filed all the cases he could file against my client and when there was nothing else to file, he filed a case against me.
Of course, there was no doubt on my mind that I would win that case. But I suffered from just the thought that I was being disbarred. This time I wasn't just the lawyer for the accused -- I was the accused. Days and nights I worried about the outcome of the case. I didn't know a thing outside of my profession. What was I to do if I lost? Worse, cheapskate that I am, I was my own lawyer. My boss (who was included in the suit) reviewed my work but since he was suffering the same anxiety I was suffering, I couldn't really trust him. I remember when the deadline for writing our answer approached, I couldn't write a single word. Gone was the legendary pleading writer that I fancied myself to be. I was the lawyer who could churn out pages and pages of law in a few minutes. I was the lawyer who quoted Shakespeare in his pleadings and got away with it. But for the case that involved my career, I was mute. I didn't know a single law. Indeed, the hardest pleading to write was the pleading I wrote for myself.
I'm glad I survived that -- and how. Now, it's pay back time. I am going to sue this guy and I will make sure he suffers the same ordeal I went through. See you in court you filthy businessman. May God have mercy on your soul.
Friday, July 26, 2002
No Hope in Concepts: The Reason I Stay Away from the Stock Market
I have to credit my metaphysics teacher Rev. Fr. Roque Ferriols, S.J., who instilled in me the habit of asking "Meron ba?" In English, the nearest translation I can think of is "Is it there?" Does it exist or is it just hot air? The habit is based on the principle that there exists a reality. And human beings that we are, we nestle in reality. That's where we live. But there are a lot of non-truths out there that deceive us in to believing what is not reality.
And these non-truths are not necessarily lies or accounting scams. Non-truths can be innocent things like concepts. Concepts are products of our minds. They come out of our minds based on our experience of reality but concepts are not reality. The function of concepts is to point us to reality. If we say moon, for example, we have a concept of the moon. But the word moon itself is not reality. The real moon is up in the sky. To be fascinated with the moon, is to be fascinated with reality. That looks okay. But to be fascinated with concepts -- such as earnings per share -- is to be fascinated with nothing. That is not okay.
The stock market is one place where everything is concepts -- and not just concepts but concepts of concepts of concepts. Take the concept of debt to equity ratio for example. It looks simple. Conventional wisdom tells us that a company with a high debt to equity ratio means it has more debts than capital. This means a large part of its costs will be interest payments. A company with low equity ratio is one with less debts than capital. Interest might not be eating up its profits that much. So which one has better prospect of making more profits?
Dig deeper and see where the labyrinth of concepts bring you. Debts: What does the company owe? Well -- loans from banks, advances from stockholders, bonds, commercial papers, promissory notes, purchases on credit, etc… still with me? What is capital? Money, property, goodwill? How do you value this money? Based on inflation? How do you value property? Based on market conditions? What is the market condition? Then, we realize a lot of things are not really clear. How does one classify, for example, between a debt and equity. Preferred shares -- is that equity or debt. Convertible bonds -- is it debt or equity. What about warrants or option contracts. Then we find out that a lot of the underlying items are based on opinions and opinions no matter where they are coming from are not truths. So we ask, is it really there? Meron ba?
Just look at the moon. No matter what the people say, you are sure it is there. Unlike the stock market, the moon is not susceptible to the whims of the crowd. In the stock market, if the crowd believes there is a value, everything goes up. If the crowd believes there is no value, everything goes down. Then, creative accountants and corporate honchos with appetites for large sums of money (and everyone in the stock market has that appetite) start playing around with the concepts and masquerade losses with profits until they are caught. Then, everything crumbles. People realize all they really had was concepts -- concepts of concepts of concepts.
I never thought of playing with the stock market crowd. There are many people way ahead me who drumbeat the perceptions of this crowd. No hope it putting one over them. No hope in concepts.
So, I stay away from the stock market. The truth is hard to find there -- with or without accounting scams.
I have to credit my metaphysics teacher Rev. Fr. Roque Ferriols, S.J., who instilled in me the habit of asking "Meron ba?" In English, the nearest translation I can think of is "Is it there?" Does it exist or is it just hot air? The habit is based on the principle that there exists a reality. And human beings that we are, we nestle in reality. That's where we live. But there are a lot of non-truths out there that deceive us in to believing what is not reality.
And these non-truths are not necessarily lies or accounting scams. Non-truths can be innocent things like concepts. Concepts are products of our minds. They come out of our minds based on our experience of reality but concepts are not reality. The function of concepts is to point us to reality. If we say moon, for example, we have a concept of the moon. But the word moon itself is not reality. The real moon is up in the sky. To be fascinated with the moon, is to be fascinated with reality. That looks okay. But to be fascinated with concepts -- such as earnings per share -- is to be fascinated with nothing. That is not okay.
The stock market is one place where everything is concepts -- and not just concepts but concepts of concepts of concepts. Take the concept of debt to equity ratio for example. It looks simple. Conventional wisdom tells us that a company with a high debt to equity ratio means it has more debts than capital. This means a large part of its costs will be interest payments. A company with low equity ratio is one with less debts than capital. Interest might not be eating up its profits that much. So which one has better prospect of making more profits?
Dig deeper and see where the labyrinth of concepts bring you. Debts: What does the company owe? Well -- loans from banks, advances from stockholders, bonds, commercial papers, promissory notes, purchases on credit, etc… still with me? What is capital? Money, property, goodwill? How do you value this money? Based on inflation? How do you value property? Based on market conditions? What is the market condition? Then, we realize a lot of things are not really clear. How does one classify, for example, between a debt and equity. Preferred shares -- is that equity or debt. Convertible bonds -- is it debt or equity. What about warrants or option contracts. Then we find out that a lot of the underlying items are based on opinions and opinions no matter where they are coming from are not truths. So we ask, is it really there? Meron ba?
Just look at the moon. No matter what the people say, you are sure it is there. Unlike the stock market, the moon is not susceptible to the whims of the crowd. In the stock market, if the crowd believes there is a value, everything goes up. If the crowd believes there is no value, everything goes down. Then, creative accountants and corporate honchos with appetites for large sums of money (and everyone in the stock market has that appetite) start playing around with the concepts and masquerade losses with profits until they are caught. Then, everything crumbles. People realize all they really had was concepts -- concepts of concepts of concepts.
I never thought of playing with the stock market crowd. There are many people way ahead me who drumbeat the perceptions of this crowd. No hope it putting one over them. No hope in concepts.
So, I stay away from the stock market. The truth is hard to find there -- with or without accounting scams.
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
OOPS SORRY. Aceron.net is on back up mode pending re-installation by our regular service provider cyberwings.com.
If your are looking for aceron.net email please go here.
If you are looking for Jerryl's site, please come back later. It is currently off-line.
If you are looking for www.ilovetoread.net please also come back later as it is likewise in offline mode.
What you're reading now is my site www.aceron.net/~marvin.I am one of the members of the Aceron Family of Oriental . Mindoro, Philippines.
If your are looking for aceron.net email please go here.
If you are looking for Jerryl's site, please come back later. It is currently off-line.
If you are looking for www.ilovetoread.net please also come back later as it is likewise in offline mode.
What you're reading now is my site www.aceron.net/~marvin.I am one of the members of the Aceron Family of Oriental . Mindoro, Philippines.
Friday, July 05, 2002
LAW IS A RELIGION BUT AN INFERIOR ONE AT THAT
Just to clarify my earlier post that would seem that I am professing some sort of cult for lawyers, I believe that even if law is considered a religion it is an inferior one at that. Why? Simple -- it bears no message of hope. Law is confined to the hear and now. Law has no answer if you ask about the after life. I remember in civil law class, our eminent Prof. and former Court of Appeals Justice Hector Hofilena asked if the body of a deceased can be considered property? We were all aghast at how casually the law would classify things between property and non-property. Death means you become a corpse susceptible for appropriation. Law offers no salvation beyond the here and now.
Which brings us to the point: why do we tie our lives to the law when it has no message of hope? Why do we insist that our legal system be free from religious color when by doing so we offer our citizens nothing to look forward to but the cold concepts of classification and segregation.
It is a sad society that has nothing that binds itself but the religion of the law.
Just to clarify my earlier post that would seem that I am professing some sort of cult for lawyers, I believe that even if law is considered a religion it is an inferior one at that. Why? Simple -- it bears no message of hope. Law is confined to the hear and now. Law has no answer if you ask about the after life. I remember in civil law class, our eminent Prof. and former Court of Appeals Justice Hector Hofilena asked if the body of a deceased can be considered property? We were all aghast at how casually the law would classify things between property and non-property. Death means you become a corpse susceptible for appropriation. Law offers no salvation beyond the here and now.
Which brings us to the point: why do we tie our lives to the law when it has no message of hope? Why do we insist that our legal system be free from religious color when by doing so we offer our citizens nothing to look forward to but the cold concepts of classification and segregation.
It is a sad society that has nothing that binds itself but the religion of the law.
Saturday, June 29, 2002
Law is a Religion
Recently, a US Federal Appeals Court ruled that the US Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because of the addition of the phrase "under God" in 1954 by Congress which makes it an "endosement of religion". The full CNN story is found here..
The ruling stems from a provision of the US Bill of Rights that can also be found in the Philippine Bill of Rights which states something like "No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In layman's terms, it simply menas that the state should not favor one religion over another and neither should the state prohibit the exercise of anyone's religion. There is a history that went with the crafting of this provision. But the bottomline is the conviction that in the modern society no man should be killed for believing that the world is round.
But what is religion? My theology and philosophy teachers used to say that the word comes from the latin term "religare" which means to be tied down to something. Thus, you can say religion is what one believes he is tied down to. This involves a creed -- what one believes in. For Catholics, this is the Apostle's Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth...
Religion has a code --the moral behavior expected from a believer of the creed --e.g., no premarital sex, practise monogamy, Thou shall not steal, etc. And religion has a cult -- the rituals that the believer goes through everyday of his life to nurture his creed and code. Go to mass. Go to confessions. Take Holy Communion, etc.
Going through this definition, law qualifies as a religion. It's creed is the constitution, the supreme law that defines the principles that society believes will make it happy. It's code is the various statutes that seek to enforce the supreme law of the land in the everyday detail of life. Law encompasses every aspect of life that there is no way to run away from it. You won't believe it, but there is even a law governing cockfighting. Law is cult -- everyday thousands go to the court room -- the church of the law -- to hear judges and lawyers preach about what the law means to ordinary people. We have ceremonies that signal the effectivity of the law, the signing of the bills, the banging of the gavel, the implementation of lethal injection. Law is a religion. Society is tied to the law.
So the joke is on this US Federal Court. By upholding the non-establishment clause of the US Constitution by prohibiting the US pledge of allegiance, it unwittingly violated the same clause by establishing, as it were, the Religion of the Law.
Recently, a US Federal Appeals Court ruled that the US Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because of the addition of the phrase "under God" in 1954 by Congress which makes it an "endosement of religion". The full CNN story is found here..
The ruling stems from a provision of the US Bill of Rights that can also be found in the Philippine Bill of Rights which states something like "No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In layman's terms, it simply menas that the state should not favor one religion over another and neither should the state prohibit the exercise of anyone's religion. There is a history that went with the crafting of this provision. But the bottomline is the conviction that in the modern society no man should be killed for believing that the world is round.
But what is religion? My theology and philosophy teachers used to say that the word comes from the latin term "religare" which means to be tied down to something. Thus, you can say religion is what one believes he is tied down to. This involves a creed -- what one believes in. For Catholics, this is the Apostle's Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth...
Religion has a code --the moral behavior expected from a believer of the creed --e.g., no premarital sex, practise monogamy, Thou shall not steal, etc. And religion has a cult -- the rituals that the believer goes through everyday of his life to nurture his creed and code. Go to mass. Go to confessions. Take Holy Communion, etc.
Going through this definition, law qualifies as a religion. It's creed is the constitution, the supreme law that defines the principles that society believes will make it happy. It's code is the various statutes that seek to enforce the supreme law of the land in the everyday detail of life. Law encompasses every aspect of life that there is no way to run away from it. You won't believe it, but there is even a law governing cockfighting. Law is cult -- everyday thousands go to the court room -- the church of the law -- to hear judges and lawyers preach about what the law means to ordinary people. We have ceremonies that signal the effectivity of the law, the signing of the bills, the banging of the gavel, the implementation of lethal injection. Law is a religion. Society is tied to the law.
So the joke is on this US Federal Court. By upholding the non-establishment clause of the US Constitution by prohibiting the US pledge of allegiance, it unwittingly violated the same clause by establishing, as it were, the Religion of the Law.
Sunday, June 23, 2002
GOOD NEWS
It is now possible to incorporate online. Check out SEC.gov.ph. Click here.
Who needs lawyers?
BAD NEWS
It's so difficult. Not even this lawyer could do it.
People still need lawyers ( he he he)
It is now possible to incorporate online. Check out SEC.gov.ph. Click here.
Who needs lawyers?
BAD NEWS
It's so difficult. Not even this lawyer could do it.
People still need lawyers ( he he he)
Monday, June 17, 2002
CNN.com reports that after a six-week trial and 10 days of deliberations, jurors convicted Andersen for obstructing justice when it destroyed Enron Corp. documents while on notice of a federal investigation. Andersen had claimed that the documents were destroyed as part of its housekeeping duties and not as a ruse to keep Enron documents away from the regulators. This ho-hum defense was thrown out by the jurors as they voted to convict Andersen of the crime. Thus, Andersen now faces up to 5 years probation plus a $500,000 fine. But the worse is yet to come as a class action suit is underway to compensate thousands of American investors who have suffered damages for Andersen's actions.
Full text of the news here.
Monday, June 03, 2002
Thanks to Renaissance Girl for sending some traffic to this site. Unfortunately, my current workload prevents me from making any good blog probably for the next few weeks. Check out the archives for our past blogs if you have time to kill. For useful links to legal sites on the web, refer to the list on our left margin. Happy browsing!
Thursday, May 23, 2002
Teacher displays porn during exams
BBC reports that in the UK a teacher who was conducting an exam unintentionally displayed porn pictures to his students. Apparently, the invigilator, math teacher Richard Jowett, was looking at the material on his personal computer, forgetting it was linked up to the monitor that could be seen by everyone. Full text here.
BBC reports that in the UK a teacher who was conducting an exam unintentionally displayed porn pictures to his students. Apparently, the invigilator, math teacher Richard Jowett, was looking at the material on his personal computer, forgetting it was linked up to the monitor that could be seen by everyone. Full text here.
Monday, May 06, 2002
JOKE FROM THE MAIL
Pinoy Hell
A Pinoy dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a
different hell for each country.
He goes first to the German hell and asks, "What do they do here?" He
is told, "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they
lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes
in and whips you for the rest of the day."
The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on. He
checks out the USA hell as well as the Russian hell and many more. He
discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell.
Then he comes to the Filipino hell and finds that there is a very
long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed he asks,"What do they do
here?"
He is told "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then
they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Filipino devil
comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."
"But that is exactly the same as all the other hells - why are there so
many people waiting to get in?"
"Because there is always a blackout, so the electric chair does not
work.
Somebody stole all the nails to sell it 'por kilo'. And the devil
used to be a public official, so he comes in and punches his time-card,
shakes hands with all the people waiting there and then goes back home... "
Pinoy Hell
A Pinoy dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a
different hell for each country.
He goes first to the German hell and asks, "What do they do here?" He
is told, "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they
lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes
in and whips you for the rest of the day."
The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on. He
checks out the USA hell as well as the Russian hell and many more. He
discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell.
Then he comes to the Filipino hell and finds that there is a very
long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed he asks,"What do they do
here?"
He is told "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then
they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Filipino devil
comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."
"But that is exactly the same as all the other hells - why are there so
many people waiting to get in?"
"Because there is always a blackout, so the electric chair does not
work.
Somebody stole all the nails to sell it 'por kilo'. And the devil
used to be a public official, so he comes in and punches his time-card,
shakes hands with all the people waiting there and then goes back home... "
Friday, May 03, 2002
NEWS
Sixth Grader Suspended for Stick Figure Doodle
CNN reports that a Pennsylvania school suspended an 11-year-old girl for drawing two teachers with arrows through their heads, saying the stick figures were more death threat than doodle.
Becca Johnson, an honor-roll sixth-grader at Mellon Middle School, drew the picture on the back of a vocabulary test on which she had gotten a D.
"That's my way of saying I'm angry," Becca said, adding she meant no harm to the teachers.
The stick figures, on a crudely drawn gallows with arrows in their heads, had the names of Becca's teacher and a substitute teacher written underneath. Another teacher spotted the doodle in the girl's binder Tuesday and reported it, prompting the three-day suspension.
Did this Pennsylvania school go over board on this one? The answer appears very uncertain. This is an academic community where punishment is imposed not only as a form of retribution but also as a way of reforming wrongful behavior. In other words, the punishment is part of the education that children get from a school. Thus, nobody can argue against what the school believes as the right punishment because it's part of the school's academic freedom.
Yet, surely looking at the offense, one can sense a great disproportion. The punishment appears to be too much for a simple childish behavior of doodling. I once did this to a Social Science teacher in high school and all I merited was a smile from my teacher. Why should anyone be suspended if I happen to stick an arrow on the doodle?
Sixth Grader Suspended for Stick Figure Doodle
CNN reports that a Pennsylvania school suspended an 11-year-old girl for drawing two teachers with arrows through their heads, saying the stick figures were more death threat than doodle.
Becca Johnson, an honor-roll sixth-grader at Mellon Middle School, drew the picture on the back of a vocabulary test on which she had gotten a D.
"That's my way of saying I'm angry," Becca said, adding she meant no harm to the teachers.
The stick figures, on a crudely drawn gallows with arrows in their heads, had the names of Becca's teacher and a substitute teacher written underneath. Another teacher spotted the doodle in the girl's binder Tuesday and reported it, prompting the three-day suspension.
Did this Pennsylvania school go over board on this one? The answer appears very uncertain. This is an academic community where punishment is imposed not only as a form of retribution but also as a way of reforming wrongful behavior. In other words, the punishment is part of the education that children get from a school. Thus, nobody can argue against what the school believes as the right punishment because it's part of the school's academic freedom.
Yet, surely looking at the offense, one can sense a great disproportion. The punishment appears to be too much for a simple childish behavior of doodling. I once did this to a Social Science teacher in high school and all I merited was a smile from my teacher. Why should anyone be suspended if I happen to stick an arrow on the doodle?
Sunday, April 28, 2002
Joke from the mails
TOP TEN REASONS WHY THERE WOULDN'T BE A FILIPINO-AMERICAN PRESIDENT
10. White House is not big enough for in-laws and the relatives.
9. Not enough parking spaces at White House for 2 Honda Civics, Toyota
Celica, 1985 Mercedes Benz Diesel, BMW (big mean wife) and MPV (My Pinoy
Van) and the jeepney owner..
8. Dignitaries generally intimidated by eating with fingers at state
dinners.
7. Too many dining rooms in the White House (Where will they put the last
supper picture?
6. White House walls not big enough to hold giant wooden spoon and fork.
5. Secret Service staff won't respond to "psssst, psssst."
4. Secret service staff uncomfortable driving presidential car with rosary
hanging on the rear view mirror or the statuette of Santo Nino on the
dashboard.
3. No budget allocation to purchase karaoke machines on every White House
Room.
2. State dinners do not allow "Take Home".
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON
1. AIR FORCE ONE does not allow overweight balikbayan boxes.
TOP TEN REASONS WHY THERE WOULDN'T BE A FILIPINO-AMERICAN PRESIDENT
10. White House is not big enough for in-laws and the relatives.
9. Not enough parking spaces at White House for 2 Honda Civics, Toyota
Celica, 1985 Mercedes Benz Diesel, BMW (big mean wife) and MPV (My Pinoy
Van) and the jeepney owner..
8. Dignitaries generally intimidated by eating with fingers at state
dinners.
7. Too many dining rooms in the White House (Where will they put the last
supper picture?
6. White House walls not big enough to hold giant wooden spoon and fork.
5. Secret Service staff won't respond to "psssst, psssst."
4. Secret service staff uncomfortable driving presidential car with rosary
hanging on the rear view mirror or the statuette of Santo Nino on the
dashboard.
3. No budget allocation to purchase karaoke machines on every White House
Room.
2. State dinners do not allow "Take Home".
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON
1. AIR FORCE ONE does not allow overweight balikbayan boxes.
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
NEWS
Robot cameras 'will predict crimes before they happen'
The Independent News of the UK reports that scientists at Kingston University in London have developed software able to anticipate if someone is about to commit a crime. The software, called Cromatica, works by examining images coming in from close circuit television cameras (CCTV) and comparing them to behaviour patterns that have already programmed into its memory. It can then mathematically work out what is likely to happen next. And if it is likely to be a crime it can send a warning signal to a security guard or police officer. Full text of the news here.
These scientists are still at their inductive logic. "If you look like a criminal, act like a criminal, then you are a criminal."
The thought sends me the shivers. Many times I love play acting on the street.Sometimes I imagine myself as a communist cadre about to drop off some important document from the politburo to an innocent looking trash can in the middle of Cubao. Can't do that anymore, I guess.
But really, how many folks out there seem to act like a criminal when they actually are not? It's probably a small percentage of this 60 Million ++ people which still translates to a couple of thousands. Indeed, this way of thinking "you are mathematically what you appear to be" is a real menace. The margin of error is not at all marginal if these scientists will only realize that they are talking about human beings who might as well be their own wives and children. Well, that's the UK. That's their worry. This is the Philippines where the most advanced computers cannot mathematically tell the police from the robbers.
Robot cameras 'will predict crimes before they happen'
The Independent News of the UK reports that scientists at Kingston University in London have developed software able to anticipate if someone is about to commit a crime. The software, called Cromatica, works by examining images coming in from close circuit television cameras (CCTV) and comparing them to behaviour patterns that have already programmed into its memory. It can then mathematically work out what is likely to happen next. And if it is likely to be a crime it can send a warning signal to a security guard or police officer. Full text of the news here.
These scientists are still at their inductive logic. "If you look like a criminal, act like a criminal, then you are a criminal."
The thought sends me the shivers. Many times I love play acting on the street.Sometimes I imagine myself as a communist cadre about to drop off some important document from the politburo to an innocent looking trash can in the middle of Cubao. Can't do that anymore, I guess.
But really, how many folks out there seem to act like a criminal when they actually are not? It's probably a small percentage of this 60 Million ++ people which still translates to a couple of thousands. Indeed, this way of thinking "you are mathematically what you appear to be" is a real menace. The margin of error is not at all marginal if these scientists will only realize that they are talking about human beings who might as well be their own wives and children. Well, that's the UK. That's their worry. This is the Philippines where the most advanced computers cannot mathematically tell the police from the robbers.
Sunday, April 14, 2002
Sick man kills self after long hours on the web
According to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a twenty-one year old man killed himself last year after spending long hours playing in Sony's Everquest gaming site. The report said that the 21-year-old Shawn Woolley was addicted to EverQuest. He sacrificed everything so he could play for hours, ignoring his family, quitting his job and losing himself in a 3-D virtual world where more than 400,000 people worldwide adventure in a never-ending fantasy. His mother blames the game for her son's suicide and has hired an attorney to sue the company in an effort to get warning labels put on the games. "It's like any other addiction," Elizabeth Woolley said last week. "Either you die, go insane or you quit. My son died." The full text of the news is here.
If this action were to be filed by somebody from the Philippines, it is very likely that it will not prosper. Philippine law considers the man old enough to know what he was doing and to understand that playing on the web to the point of addiction is harmful to himself. To even insinuate that there is a cause and effect between his suicide and his addiction to the online game may even be considered absurd.Was Sony negligent in not posting warnings on its site that playing can cause harm? That is another way of looking at it. Is it possible that Sony's Everquest drove the man to suicide? While in the US people can get rich making this sort of connection, it is not the same in the Philippines where murderers are even paraded as heroes. Yet, it would be interesting to know how the US courts will tackle this first ever action on web addiction against a big company.
According to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a twenty-one year old man killed himself last year after spending long hours playing in Sony's Everquest gaming site. The report said that the 21-year-old Shawn Woolley was addicted to EverQuest. He sacrificed everything so he could play for hours, ignoring his family, quitting his job and losing himself in a 3-D virtual world where more than 400,000 people worldwide adventure in a never-ending fantasy. His mother blames the game for her son's suicide and has hired an attorney to sue the company in an effort to get warning labels put on the games. "It's like any other addiction," Elizabeth Woolley said last week. "Either you die, go insane or you quit. My son died." The full text of the news is here.
If this action were to be filed by somebody from the Philippines, it is very likely that it will not prosper. Philippine law considers the man old enough to know what he was doing and to understand that playing on the web to the point of addiction is harmful to himself. To even insinuate that there is a cause and effect between his suicide and his addiction to the online game may even be considered absurd.Was Sony negligent in not posting warnings on its site that playing can cause harm? That is another way of looking at it. Is it possible that Sony's Everquest drove the man to suicide? While in the US people can get rich making this sort of connection, it is not the same in the Philippines where murderers are even paraded as heroes. Yet, it would be interesting to know how the US courts will tackle this first ever action on web addiction against a big company.
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
Sunday, April 07, 2002
NEWS
Sixth Grader Might be Expelled for Bringing a Knife to School
News 3 reported that a Madison, Wisconsin sixth grader faces expulsion from his school for bringing a knife.The kid claims he needed it for his science project -- i.e., to cut onions. But the school believes that it should enforce the "Zero Tolerance Rule " for weapons in school.
Chris Schimdt
The report states that Chris Schmidt is a straight-A sixth-grader. He loves school, music and sports, and went to the nation's Capitol as a member of the School Safety Patrol. However, the report said his background is irrelevant for the offense that he has committed. Ms. Valencia Douglas, assistant school superintendent says "We can't say, 'You're a good kid, so your mistake doesn't have as much force, or importance behind it as a kid with other issues,'"
The slant in the news report (full text here) seems to make it appear that the school is being unreasonable. Yet, it is quite possible that the kid intended to threaten somebody with the knife or just brought it for show. With kids these days, you'll never know.
Analyzing the issue further, however, it seems that the problem really is with the rule and not with its application -- assuming there is no other fact but for act of bringing the knife to school. The rule infers criminal intent just by the act of bringing any weapon or weapon-like utensil and punishes the act with a severe penalty. If the school insists on the strict application of its rule, this may be a potential case for violation of the constitutional right to "due process" on account of unreasonableness of the law.
Sixth Grader Might be Expelled for Bringing a Knife to School
News 3 reported that a Madison, Wisconsin sixth grader faces expulsion from his school for bringing a knife.The kid claims he needed it for his science project -- i.e., to cut onions. But the school believes that it should enforce the "Zero Tolerance Rule " for weapons in school.
The report states that Chris Schmidt is a straight-A sixth-grader. He loves school, music and sports, and went to the nation's Capitol as a member of the School Safety Patrol. However, the report said his background is irrelevant for the offense that he has committed. Ms. Valencia Douglas, assistant school superintendent says "We can't say, 'You're a good kid, so your mistake doesn't have as much force, or importance behind it as a kid with other issues,'"
The slant in the news report (full text here) seems to make it appear that the school is being unreasonable. Yet, it is quite possible that the kid intended to threaten somebody with the knife or just brought it for show. With kids these days, you'll never know.
Analyzing the issue further, however, it seems that the problem really is with the rule and not with its application -- assuming there is no other fact but for act of bringing the knife to school. The rule infers criminal intent just by the act of bringing any weapon or weapon-like utensil and punishes the act with a severe penalty. If the school insists on the strict application of its rule, this may be a potential case for violation of the constitutional right to "due process" on account of unreasonableness of the law.
Thursday, March 28, 2002
NEWS
Suit seeks billions in slave reparations
CNN reports that a former law student, who discovered evidence linking U.S. corporations to the slave trade, filed a federal lawsuit
in Brooklyn against these corporations for conspiracy, human rights violations, unjust enrichment from their corporate predecessors' roles in the slave trade and conversion of the value of the slaves' labor into their profits. The suit names FleetBoston Financial, the railroad firm CSX and the Aetna insurance company, and promises to name up to 100 additional corporations at a later date.
"These are corporations that benefited from stealing people, from stealing labor, from forced breeding, from torture, from committing numerous horrendous acts, and there's no reason why they should be able to hold onto assets they acquired through such horrendous acts," said Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit. Full text here.
Deadria Farmer-Paellmann: A case for overlawyered?
Is this case for overlawyered.com? Or is justice finally catching up after a couple of hundred years of delay? According to CNN, in response to the lawsuit, Aetna released a statement saying, "We do not believe a court would permit a lawsuit over events which -- however regrettable -- occurred hundreds of years ago. These issues in no way reflect Aetna today." For sure, the defense of prescription will be invoked -- that is, the cause action has already expired due to the lapse of time. And corporate lawyer that I am, I suppose this is the book solution to this case. However, this can hardly be classified as another case for the books. It involves the entire Amercian history, psyche and nationhood and a very insensitive treatment of this case can lead to riots like those which characterized the Rodney King trials.
Suit seeks billions in slave reparations
CNN reports that a former law student, who discovered evidence linking U.S. corporations to the slave trade, filed a federal lawsuit
in Brooklyn against these corporations for conspiracy, human rights violations, unjust enrichment from their corporate predecessors' roles in the slave trade and conversion of the value of the slaves' labor into their profits. The suit names FleetBoston Financial, the railroad firm CSX and the Aetna insurance company, and promises to name up to 100 additional corporations at a later date.
"These are corporations that benefited from stealing people, from stealing labor, from forced breeding, from torture, from committing numerous horrendous acts, and there's no reason why they should be able to hold onto assets they acquired through such horrendous acts," said Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit. Full text here.
Is this case for overlawyered.com? Or is justice finally catching up after a couple of hundred years of delay? According to CNN, in response to the lawsuit, Aetna released a statement saying, "We do not believe a court would permit a lawsuit over events which -- however regrettable -- occurred hundreds of years ago. These issues in no way reflect Aetna today." For sure, the defense of prescription will be invoked -- that is, the cause action has already expired due to the lapse of time. And corporate lawyer that I am, I suppose this is the book solution to this case. However, this can hardly be classified as another case for the books. It involves the entire Amercian history, psyche and nationhood and a very insensitive treatment of this case can lead to riots like those which characterized the Rodney King trials.
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
NEWS
CUBA BANS SALES OF COMPUTERS TO PUBLIC
The Cuban government has banned the sale of computers and computer accessories to the public, except in cases where the items are "indispensable" and the purchase is authorized by the Ministry of Internal Commerce. Minister of Internal Commerce, Bárbara Castillo of Cuba issued Resolution No. 383/2001 Article 19, Chapter II, Section 3 of which states that:
"The sale of computers, offset printer equipment, mimeographs, photocopiers, and any other mass printing medium, as well as their parts, pieces and accessories, is prohibited to associations, foundations, civic and nonprofit societies, and natural born citizens. In cases where the acquisition of this equipment or parts, pieces and accessories is indispensable, the authorization of the Ministry of Internal Commerce must be solicited."
According to Wired.com, "the rise of independent journalists in Cuba, who published articles on the Internet criticizing the Castro regime, may have something to do with it. The correspondents, who risk jail time for their "subversive" reports, send their stories by fax, e-mail or phone dictation to supporters in Miami." Full text here.
It is quite apparent that Cuba is in a state of paranoia. With the advent of new media, such as the internet and cellular telephones, Fidel Castro and his monolithic party will have their hands full in keeping freedom loving people from expressing their views to the world..Yet, how long can Castro put up with it? Not for long for sure.Not for long.
CUBA BANS SALES OF COMPUTERS TO PUBLIC
The Cuban government has banned the sale of computers and computer accessories to the public, except in cases where the items are "indispensable" and the purchase is authorized by the Ministry of Internal Commerce. Minister of Internal Commerce, Bárbara Castillo of Cuba issued Resolution No. 383/2001 Article 19, Chapter II, Section 3 of which states that:
"The sale of computers, offset printer equipment, mimeographs, photocopiers, and any other mass printing medium, as well as their parts, pieces and accessories, is prohibited to associations, foundations, civic and nonprofit societies, and natural born citizens. In cases where the acquisition of this equipment or parts, pieces and accessories is indispensable, the authorization of the Ministry of Internal Commerce must be solicited."
According to Wired.com, "the rise of independent journalists in Cuba, who published articles on the Internet criticizing the Castro regime, may have something to do with it. The correspondents, who risk jail time for their "subversive" reports, send their stories by fax, e-mail or phone dictation to supporters in Miami." Full text here.
It is quite apparent that Cuba is in a state of paranoia. With the advent of new media, such as the internet and cellular telephones, Fidel Castro and his monolithic party will have their hands full in keeping freedom loving people from expressing their views to the world..Yet, how long can Castro put up with it? Not for long for sure.Not for long.
WEB ADMIN
We finally registered ACERON.NET!. Thus, effective immediately we can be seen under the domain http://marvin.aceron.net. Our email address will also change to marvin@aceron.net. MBAceron.com will be retired by April 1, 2002. I was never at home with it anyway.
We finally registered ACERON.NET!. Thus, effective immediately we can be seen under the domain http://marvin.aceron.net. Our email address will also change to marvin@aceron.net. MBAceron.com will be retired by April 1, 2002. I was never at home with it anyway.
Saturday, March 16, 2002
NEWS
Saudi Police stop improperly dressed girls from fleeing burning school
BBC reports that Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers. According to the al-Eqtisadiah daily, firemen confronted police after they tried to keep the girls inside because they were not wearing the headscarves and abayas (black robes) required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam. Full text here
This is a perfect example of common sense giving way to obedience of the law. How stupid of the saudi police. But we might be surprise to know that they thought all the time that they were doing the right thing. They probably still do.
Saudi Police stop improperly dressed girls from fleeing burning school
BBC reports that Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers. According to the al-Eqtisadiah daily, firemen confronted police after they tried to keep the girls inside because they were not wearing the headscarves and abayas (black robes) required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam. Full text here
This is a perfect example of common sense giving way to obedience of the law. How stupid of the saudi police. But we might be surprise to know that they thought all the time that they were doing the right thing. They probably still do.
Sunday, March 03, 2002
Comment
Erap turns the tables on Govt.
What do you know? After committing a big slip on primetime TV by admitting that he is the one and only Jose Velarde, Erap (disgraced former Philippine President), dismissed his top caliber lawyers on the pre-text that he will not get justice anyway from the court trying his case. Now, everybody in the government is frantic that this new Erap posturing might trigger another attack from the Erap mob who lynched Malacanang Palace last May 1, 2001. There is no doubt Erap wants to go on exile.His political supportes are now agitating for it. (See INQ7 text here.) And Gloria -- slick politician that she is -- knows letting Erap go might be the political compromise of the century.
Okay, as for me, I'm just shaking my head as I type this. I am shaking my head. I will go about my business in this country just shaking my head.
Erap turns the tables on Govt.
What do you know? After committing a big slip on primetime TV by admitting that he is the one and only Jose Velarde, Erap (disgraced former Philippine President), dismissed his top caliber lawyers on the pre-text that he will not get justice anyway from the court trying his case. Now, everybody in the government is frantic that this new Erap posturing might trigger another attack from the Erap mob who lynched Malacanang Palace last May 1, 2001. There is no doubt Erap wants to go on exile.His political supportes are now agitating for it. (See INQ7 text here.) And Gloria -- slick politician that she is -- knows letting Erap go might be the political compromise of the century.
Okay, as for me, I'm just shaking my head as I type this. I am shaking my head. I will go about my business in this country just shaking my head.
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
NEWS
Computer Waste Polluting Asia
BBC News reports that old computers are being dumped in Asia where they are releasing toxic materials into the environment. The full text is here.
Piles of computer waste are found in Guiyu, China .
BBC cites a report, called Exporting Harm: The Hi-Tech Trashing Of Asia, which details a group of villages in south-eastern China where computers from America are picked apart and strewn along rivers and fields.
In the Philippines, old computers from the US are being resold with warranties at bargain prices by enterprising importers. While there are no reported dumping of old computers as of yet, it cannot be said for sure that the same mass dumping of old computers are not taking place in remote places of the country. Given the rising level of computer use in the Philippines today and the continuing problem regarding the disposal of garbage in general, it will not be long before the these old computers from the first world will find their way in Philippine rivers.
Computer Waste Polluting Asia
BBC News reports that old computers are being dumped in Asia where they are releasing toxic materials into the environment. The full text is here.
BBC cites a report, called Exporting Harm: The Hi-Tech Trashing Of Asia, which details a group of villages in south-eastern China where computers from America are picked apart and strewn along rivers and fields.
In the Philippines, old computers from the US are being resold with warranties at bargain prices by enterprising importers. While there are no reported dumping of old computers as of yet, it cannot be said for sure that the same mass dumping of old computers are not taking place in remote places of the country. Given the rising level of computer use in the Philippines today and the continuing problem regarding the disposal of garbage in general, it will not be long before the these old computers from the first world will find their way in Philippine rivers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)