Kyoto Protocol

I never really took much notice of it until now. It was a bookmark given to me by Cherie some time ago. She is working for an environmental NGO based inside Ateneo. The NGO is called Klima and they describe their organization as a climate change center.

The bookmark contained information about climate change. It said that Climate change is a potentially dangerous shift in climate caused by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels. This phenomenon is characterized by global warming, sea level rise, changes in rainfall, wind, and ocean patterns.

That is all well and good… But something inside me stirred. I asked Cherie who was providing the funding for their work. As expected they were receiving foreign funding, they were being funded by USAID. That instantly got me worked up. I think I said something like “what hypocrisy!” if they (the US) want to do some good towards preventing climate change all they have to do is sign the Kyoto Protocol. She was surprised that I knew what the Kyoto protocol was and she did agree with my out burst that signing the treaty would be the best thing the Americans can do. She however took comfort in the fact that Russia recently signed the agreement.

That was several months ago and this bookmark reminded me of that incident because the Kyoto Protocol recently came into force. But you are probably asking what the hell is the Kyoto protocol???

The Kyoto Protocol is an International agreement requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide (CO2) that causes climate change. The protocol was adopted in 1997 in the Japanese city of Kyoto, thus the name.

It came into force on February 16, 2005 after Russia signed the agreement in November of 2004, it was the crucial moment making the treaty legally binding. Russia's entry was vital, because the protocol had to be ratified by nations accounting for at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions to become valid.

So far 141 countries, accounting for 55% of greenhouse gas emissions, have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2% by 2012.

The problem is that George W Bush abandoned the agreement as one of his first official acts after assuming the presidency. The US says the changes would be too costly to introduce and that the agreement is flawed. They pointed that it placed too much of a burden on developed countries and that large developing countries including India, China and Brazil are not required to meet specific targets.

This was not really surprising because the Bush campaign was bolstered by interest groups from the Power, Automotive, and Oil Industries. The US is the world’s biggest consumer of fossil fuels and also the world’s biggest polluter.

Its ironic that the US would fund NGOs who work towards preventing climate change in the Philippines or stop the destruction of the rain forest in Brazil. They are willing to throw away some cash as along as nobody bothers them and their way of life. They really love those huge gas-guzzling SUVs.

Valentines Day

February 14, 2005

The noise dies down
Politics is slowly erased
Ideology becomes meaningless
Reasons are blurred
The dead rests in silence
While the living is haunted

Monologue

I know I often fall in that trap of writing non sense that I probably at one point think is something of interest or important. I don’t want to appear like I am trying to pass my self off as a deep thinking intellectual. Nor do I want to appear like a passionate poet of some kind because I'm not.

Cliché, we often hear these things but never really get tired of it. We try to look for meaning out of some very innocuous lines. Profound we say, but in reality the exact opposite may be equally true.

Existential angst used to be in fashion but it took too much effort to think about why we exist. It is just easier to be a romantic and just crave or yearn for those things we cannot have. It’s easier to wonder about some silly idea and pass it off as brilliant and profound. Besides, some chicks really dig that. Pretenders that is all we are.

I sometimes think how much of my effort goes into trying to impress other people. Am I doing the things I do to make my self seem a bit more interesting than I really am? Maybe impress some unsuspecting girl and make her believe that you are smart, intelligent, sincere, passionate, and try to get her phone number and eventually get laid.

I want to get laid. No! I want to make love… I don’t want to go through life with a series of meaningless liaisons nor do I want to settle for anything less than true love. Yeah right…

First things first… you have to find a girl… a beautiful girl…

Fall in love… Then what?

Buy her flowers, chocolates… date… ahhh! This takes a lot of effort. Why can’t it be simpler?

You should wait until after Valentines Day so you wouldn’t have to spend too much on a fancy date, flowers, and all that stuff. Damn! I’m cheap.

If you’re a girl you are probably saying “what a cheap stupid Neanderthal!” come on… men bashing is a favorite pass time for a lot of girls. I can’t really blame you, having to live in what feminists would call a patriarchal society that frowns upon women making the first move must be a bitch. Reality bites! Ooopps another cliché…

So what are you afraid off? Do you really care what other people think? You shouldn’t worry about that too much, besides a lot of girls are really good at making their desires known in a very subtle manner and still retain plausible deniability.

Sometimes we say we are in love when in fact all we want is not to feel alone. We want somebody to send us text messages, an occasional phone call (maybe more if you are both using Sun), have a hand to hold when you’re walking at the mall, somebody to watch a movie with, and of course have really good sex. But is that really love. I don’t know. Your answer is as good as mine.

I wonder if I had written a happy ending to that blog entry of mine entitled “just another entry” would anyone have reacted. You’d probably think I was bragging. Tragedies sell better than happy endings. Just look at Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, and Titanic. The search for the ideal love, the one that got away, and all those stupid clichés is inherent in all of us. People are so predictable…

So what is the point to all of this? Nothing! I’m wondering why anyone would even finish this whole thing. Maybe you need to get a life… don’t worry you’re not alone.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara

His face is probably very familiar and can be seen on a lot of t-shirts. It has become quite a fashion item despite the fact that the people who wear these shirts are often clueless about who this bearded guy really is. Its funny but hey, its none of my business so I didn’t bother. Until last week that is, we were in Batangas after descending from Gulugod Baboy. Teth, one member of our group, was wearing a Che Guevara shirt. So I asked her if she knew who the guy was. She not surprisingly, didn’t have a clue.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. He studied to become a doctor at the University of Buenos Aires. He participated in leftist movements in Guatemala and Mexico and became acquainted with Cuban expatriates in those countries. He joined Castro's revolutionary Cuban army in 1956 as a top commander and Castro's personal physician. He helped Castro topple the regime in Havana in 1959.

Guevara went to create new revolutionary movements and wage armed struggle in Angola in Africa and all over Latin America. In 1967 the fearless Che Guevarra became an even larger myth after he was captured and killed by Bolivian forces while trying to foster revolution in South America.

This particular shirt along with a Mao cap has become somewhat of a fashion statement for leftist activists and revolutionaries, until the whole thing was taken over by capitalism. Che is probably turning in his grave, since his face has been hijacked by fashion conscious people who have no knowledge of what he fought for.

Going back to the last week’s climb. I don’t really care about Che or his revolution nor do I care what people wear. But in the same way that military gear, uniform, or equipment should not be used or even brought during a climb, I think the same should apply for Che Guevara shirts, Mao caps, or maybe even leftist music. This is in the event that you encounter a Military checkpoint or patrol. I think we should be very careful and not risk being identified as NPA guerrillas. Better to be safe than sorry.

Gulugod Baboy

Life in the office can be quite a drag, suffocating the life out of you. Deadlines, issues, unpleasant situations… How do you deal with these?

You flee… Escape… Get away from it all even if only for a weekend…

We did just that on January 29 and 30. We went up Gulugod Baboy in Anilao Batangas. Relatively speaking Gulugod Baboy is an easy climb. It also has a spectacular 360’ view of Anilao. From there you can see the Batangas Pier. Maricaban Island, Sombrero island, Mt. Maculot, even Mindoro, Mt. Lobo and Mt. Manabo.

We specifically chose to climb this Mountain because we had a lot of first timers climbing, this being the first activity of the MSN Outdoor Group for this year. I also dragged some college friends along, namely: Aldous, Tuesday, and Conch. 21 people in all.




The tail of the group…That’s me, the proverbial sweeper.

One might ask why we climb mountains… Why suffer under the heat of the sun, risking injury, and lugging on your back an insane amount of stuff (My pack was around 50 lbs.) when you can instead just go stay in a resort where you have all the amenities you want. I ask my self that every time. I guess we do it for the sense of achievement that you feel after conquering a peak, not to mention the view is quite spectacular. What do we do once we get there? We take pictures of course.









Home away from home…



This is my tent. It can accommodate 3 comfortably, and you can probably cram 5 or even 6 people inside if need be. I had it all for my self because we had 12 tents even if there were only 21 of us. As the picture shows, my tent was a complete mess just like my room


My taped left foot…



I sprained my ankle four weeks before the climb and it had not really healed yet, I had to tape it to provide support and limit the movements that could cause further injury. I had gotten very good at taping sprained ankles, aside from the usual Closed Basket weave I’ve also added heel locks and other stuff that it now looked like my ankle had a cast on it.


Dawn…


Sunrise was much awaited. You can see our campsite abuzz with life waiting for that perfect shot.

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