By Butch Galicia
Someone once urged: “Go ahead. Do something stupid. I’ll bet no one will take heed.”
I tried and did a lot of stupid things, and they all backfired.
Forrest may have been a success, but that is Hollywood.
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Compensate a balding head by growing a moustache and a beard. Is that stupid?
The answer came soon enough, from my five-year old grandchild.
Putting down the army of princess dolls she was playing with, she approached me and stared at my face.
After careful study, she spoke: “Lolo, you are a wit.”
Even though I was at a loss on what she implied, I replied: “Really? Thank you.”
She got back to her dolls. A bit later, she implored: “Lolo, I’m hungry. Please make me a sandwit.”
So that was wit! I went to the WR (BR, CR or John to others) and had a clean shave.
In a jiffy, I was back beside her. She looked at me again and smiled: “Lolo, now you look like Lola.”
That was radical change! The stupid razor had a hasty nasty trip to kingdom come.
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Little boys and girls will, almost always, get away with and walk away from impish deeds and words.
But not so much among teeners and adults who are likely to get into trouble for devilish pranks and remarks.
However, I am doubly sure that a lot of seniors are very happy to be living a second childhood.
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Talk about radical change?
It’s done. The people of the United Kingdom (UK) have spoken.
A total of 17,410,742 opted out of European Union (EU) membership; while 16,141,241 chose to remain with the geo-political bloc established in 1993. Those who cast their wish represented 72 percent of the country’s voters.
The Brexit (a portmanteau blending the words Britain and exit) non-binding referendum was held on June 23, but the largely economic and political ripples of a people’s decision are still being felt worldwide.
Prime Minister David Cameron, saying the UK “needs fresh leadership,” is expected to step down in October.
Will the UK stand to gain more from its decision to leave the EU? It remains to be seen.
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A petition seeking for a re-run referendum has been lately going the rounds in London and in other major UK cities, where people strongly voted to retain EU membership.
There were also calls for the British Parliament to stop Brexit.
Will both post-Brexit moves get off the ground? It remains to be seen.
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The idea of radical change seems to amaze people from other European countries too.
As early as 2009, Greeks braced for a potential departure from the EU, amid state negotiations for a bailout during the debt crisis in the country. After Brexit, Grexit has come to the fore anew.
Released last May, an IPSOS poll showed that people in at least eight more EU countries wanted to do a Brexit-like referendum.
The poll asked two questions. “Do you think your country should or should not hold a referendum on its EU membership?” and “How would you vote if your country held such a referendum now?”
In Italy, 58 percent of those asked thought a referendum would be timely, and 48 percent would vote out of EU membership. In France, it was 55 percent and 41 percent; Sweden, 43 percent and 39 percent; Belgium, 42 percent and 29 percent; Poland, 41 percent and 22 percent; Germany, 40 percent and 34 percent; Spain, 40 percent and 26 percent; and in Hungary, 38 percent and 29 percent.
What then is the future of the 27-member strong EU, after the UK’s departure? It remains to be seen.
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Very soon, US President Barack Obama will have to vacate the White House.
Democratic Party presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Party presumptive nominee Donald Trump are battling tooth and nail for the top post of the land, as Obama’s successor.
At a time when many Americans feel out of touch with what is going on in the land of the brave, will they head to the polls on November 8 with radical change in their minds? It remains to be seen.
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DU30 on June 30!
As this was written on Balita’s June 26 deadline, I can only assume that Rodrigo Duterte has taken his oath of office as the 16th President of the Philippines, and has succeeded President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
I can only assume that the usual P.I.s have been stricken off his avowed five-minute inauguration speech, and that what has been said has been full of lean and mean ways that would help keep his 100 million Filipino constituents alive, safe and well-off on life’s necessities.
I can only assume that the brief recessional honors he gave for President Aquino has been most cordial.
I can only assume that the oath-takings of his Cabinet members were swift but sincere.
I can only assume that none of the 540 or so guests has frowned on the frugal snacks of maruya and juice.
I can only assume that the short entertainment from artist-supporters has been done in the best of taste.
President Duterte’s administration has begun. Congratulations!
What happens between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2022? It remains to be seen.
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At 71 years of age, Duterte is the oldest to have assumed the highest political post in the Philippines. Of Visayan roots, the president is the first to have come from Mindanao.
Incidentally, the second oldest Philippine President upon assumption to office was Sergio Osmena, at 65 years of age. He was the first to have come from the Visayas region.
Really, age is of no consequence to becoming a respected leader. As they say … the older, the wiser.
Will Duterte and his team prove that it is the performance that absolutely counts? It remains to be seen.
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One of the key campaign issues that made 16 million voters root for Duterte was the president’s vow to kill corruption, crime and drugs in the Philippines. A clenched fist was his political tickler.
Although controversial to his critics and detractors, people believed he could do it because he had a track record, as mayor of Davao City, of turning his territory from one of the riskiest places in the Philippines to one of the most peaceful and safest cities in the world. His methods to effect the change were, however, radical.
Eliminating corruption, crime and drugs in six months is a tough task for the tough-talking president.
Could he pull it off, after swearing to preserve and defend the Philippine Constitution, execute Philippine laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate himself to the service of the nation? Sir, no one wants to see the remains.
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Here’s another exit, although the academe calls it commencement.
“I am a promise. I am a possibility.” These were the first eight words of a song the children composing the St. Nicholas Catholic School Senior Kinder Class of 2016 sang during their short graduation ceremonies on June 7.
To this day, even if school was to close on June 29, my granddaughter Zarah loved to sing “I am a promise. I am a possibility … a great big bundle of potentiality” before she boarded the big yellow school bus with Ate Zoe.
Of course, that would be in between her favorites Finger Family melody and that tune about “no more monkeys jumping on the bed.” And she’s learning both in French.
Come to think of it. It’s never too late for politicians to pick up a good lesson or two from children’s songs. butchgalicia@yahoo.com