Grey Skies | Silver Linings

(March 5, 2016) I never imagined that I would think about death as often as I did these past couple of weeks. It’s certainly not the most pleasant feeling in the world. But it’s actually quite sobering to pause every once in a while and ponder your place on this earth, while simultaneously telling yourself that your stay here probably won't last very long. And as if this wasn’t already unusual enough, I was surprised to find some degree of solace in the midst of my reflection from – of all things – a random pair of dogs. It started with a few clicks on my Facebook timeline one February morning as I learned about the passing of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia . (I realize he is a relative unknown to most people living on this side of the globe, so bear with me for just a minute.) His name rang a bell because he was the butt of many jokes by the comedian John Oliver in his satirical news program that I watch every week. The first time I heard of him was two years...

In light of the passing of former Chief Justice Renato Corona , I thought it would be appropriate to publish an old draft that has been sitting on the virtual shelf of my Blogger site for quite some time. First written in May 29, 2012, this was originally meant as an amateurish commentary on his trial and the unprecedented verdict handed down by the Philippine Senate who sat as an Impeachment Court. But given the state of affairs in our country today, and since the national elections are now a week away, I find that it is important for us to look back on this period of time in our recent history and realize how much has changed since that fateful May afternoon. . . . (May 29, 2012) Photo credits: gmanews.tv After 44 hearings which spanned 5 months, occupied hundreds of pages on the newspapers each day and countless hours of TV time each week, and elicited reactions from Filipinos both on the street and online, the verdict has been laid down on now-former Chief Justice...