Taylor Swift, Liza Soberano And The Anti-Terror Bill

"Oh, there's oceans of tea
And years of TV
But I miss you
My trouble is
I miss you, my trouble
I miss you
My trouble is
I miss you, my trouble..

               Elbow, "My Trouble" 


      Thank God, today is Friday, 5th of June, 2020. The fifth day since General Community Quarantine (GCQ) was implemented by the government.

     What do international singer Taylor Swift and local celebrities Catriona Gray, Pia Wutz-, er, Wrut-, er, Wurtzback, er, Wurtzbach, Nadine Lustre, Liza Soberano, Heart Evangelista, Kathryn Bernardo, Solenn Heussaff,  Janine Gutierrez have in common. No, they’re not my ex-girlfriends. They are all protesting against the anti-terror bill that’s about to become a law (only lacking is the president’s signature), and these artists are usually apolitical and rarely comment on political issues, so to hear them protesting is a sign that something really horrible is about to unfold. The bone of contention regarding this bill is that everyone, by mere suspicion by the authorities that he or she is a terrorist or planning to incite or commit an act of terrorism, can be surveilled and arrested and detained and questioned without a warrant of arrest. It is the stuff that Martial Law is made of, yes.

     And to give this incompetent, fumbling, bloodthirsty government that kind of power is really scary.

     A cousin, who lives just across the street, made some Mango Graham Cake (yum!) and gave us some.

    `Learned today that Elbow has a new album, Giants Of All Sizes, and I'm trying to listen to it now.

     My sister, whose four-year old son recently received an Academic Excellence Award from his school, again proudly relayed to us some great news, this time, concerning her eldest son (a college freshman at La Salle taking up IT): the boy’s a Dean’s Lister, something that caught us by surprise as he doesn’t impress us as the studious type. The boy (who’s soft spoken and a young man of few words) is a gamer who always stays late at night playing computer games. In fact, on his last birthday, we gifted him with a gaming headset (as per his request). We were always concerned with his studies and would always ask him to lessen his gaming and focus more on his studies. He would always just smile and say yes, he’s not taking his studies lightly.

     So, really, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Lol.

     There are now 20,626 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, with 244 new cases today), while there are 987 total deaths (3 today) and 4,330 recoveries (82 today).

     There’s still no cure and vaccine in sight, so everyone still has to be very careful, although there are news (unverified though) that the virus is now losing its potency and is burning out and seems bound to be just a manageable disease.

    Keep safe.

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