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Filipinos Test Catholic Clout: Family-Planning Policies Urged To Help Strengthen the Economy. By JAMES HOOKWAY, Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2008 (Thanks, pq.)

“For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has exerted its influence on the Philippines like it has in few other countries. That includes lobbying against the kind of family-planning policies that have slowed population growth elsewhere in recent decades. But now, as rice and gasoline prices reach records and the world’s population is expected to strain resources further as it swells to seven billion by 2012, population-control advocates are coming out in greater numbers here against what they see as the Vatican’s efforts to hold back the country’s economic potential…

“The Church is having none of it. Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, the spirited spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, argues that the reason the country is poor isn’t because it is overpopulated but because corruption and sloppy economic planning have made it poor. “And poorer countries produce more children,” he says, especially mostly agricultural economies, where having more children means more hands to till the soil and a better chance of family support in old age.

“Growing populations can help create markets, build industries and add to a country’s economic output, as long as the right policies are in place to allow that growth spurt to take place. Japan, for instance, supports about 130 million on a similar-sized land mass to the Philippines, which is home to 90 million people, most of whom are still supported by a fragile, agricultural economy.

“In many ways, rapid population growth is a sort of multiplier of bad economic policy…And in the Philippines, policy — especially its failure to root out corruption and create an efficient agricultural sector — has been bad…”

Hulk neat tale about how military-industrial complex always trying to invade academe and turn scientific research into weapons. Everybody need research grant but be careful who gives it to you. Hulk has clever cameo by Stan Lee, posthumous TV appearance by Bill Bixby, and guest bit by Lou Ferrigno who should be in Dancing With The Stars. Best superheroes are always nerds. Now that I think about it, Edward Norton perfect for Hulk. Norton’s breakthrough role as altar boy who turns into monster in Primal Fear. If Marvel making Avengers movie, is Thor next? Thor not nerd. Thor Norse god with hammer and probably gay stalker Loki.

George Carlin is dead at 71.

Here are the Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television.

Jerry Seinfeld paying tribute to Carlin: “You could certainly say that George downright invented modern American stand-up comedy in many ways. Every comedian does a little George. I couldn’t even count the number of times I’ve been standing around with some comedians and someone talks about some idea for a joke and another comedian would say, “Carlin does it.” I’ve heard it my whole career: “Carlin does it,” “Carlin already did it,” “Carlin did it eight years ago.”…I know George didn’t believe in heaven or hell. Like death, they were just more comedy premises. And it just makes me even sadder to think that when I reach my own end, whatever tumbling cataclysmic vortex of existence I’m spinning through, in that moment I will still have to think, “Carlin already did it.””

Rex Libris, originally uploaded by 160507.

“We have few badass librarian stories. Joss Whedon gave us Rupert Giles, who can swing a sword as well as shelve a tome. Kelly Link introduced us to Fox, the gorgeous and similarly sword-wielding librarian in the story “Magic for Beginners.” The husband of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time-Traveller’s Wife takes care of Special Collections as his dayjob. The orangutan librarian of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is not to be messed with. Infinite librarians inhabit Jorge Luis Borges’s very small story, “The Library of Babel. “

“This is a fine company of heroes, but, given what we owe librarians, it is still an insufficient tribute. Librarians were among the first to stand up to the Patriot Act. They safeguard the sum of our knowledge and keep it findable. They let us read books for free. They spend their days battling forces of darkness and ignorance, and now they have Rex Libris to demonstrate this to the world.

“James Turner’s square-headed, noir-ish, immortal survivor of Alexandria’s famed library is a marvelous creation. He wears a dark suit and speaks with the accent of a hard-boiled tough guy. He fights demons and villains and alien warlords. He carries weapons and equipment in his notebook by “fictionalizing” them first. He’s read everything ever written, and he knows where to find it all. . .” From a review by William Alexander in Rain Taxi.

Sold!

I’ve spent a lot of time in libraries, but I’ve never met an inspiring librarian, much less one who could tell me how to slay demons. All they ever said to me was “Sssh.” They shushed Me, the nerd who sniffed books! Well there was the nice nun at St Theresa’s, but I don’t remember her name.

Beastly beastly beastly beastly beastlybeastly weather. And I usually like pouring rain, lashing wind and gloom, but not when it comes with a power outage. I am working on generator power which, given the rocketing cost of diesel and the state of the enviroment, is not good.

Otsu and I saw Get Smart yesterday and laughed and laughed. It’s hilarious in a nerdy-deadpan way, viz the exchange between Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) and Siegfried (Terence Stamp): “If I were Control, you’d already be dead.” “If you were Control, you’d already be dead.” “The fact that neither of us is dead means I am not Control.” Otsu’s complaint: Ken Davitian who played Azamat in Borat is sorely underused as Kaos’s number two. My question: Why is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson not a bigger star? He’s good-looking, funny, self-mocking and a gifted actor, as anyone who’s seen him play Kirsten Dunst’s cheerleader in Bring It On knows. Dwayne stars in Southland Tales, one of most reviled And praised movies of 2007; he’s excellent.

I’ve never seen Grey’s Anatomy, but I can see what the fuss over Patrick Dempsey is about, so I went to see Made Of Honour. Big mistake. Dempsey plays a guy who’s just ten years out of college, so he has to look and act younger than his real age. There’s a reason why he’s a star now, in his 40s, and wasn’t in his 20s: he projects better as the older guy. He’s more attractive when slightly mournful. Then Kevin McKidd, who was Vorenus in Rome, turns up as his Scottish opponent. Patrick is very pretty, as the late Sydney Pollack points out several times in the movie, but I’d pick the guy who can throw a tree while wearing a skirt.

I don’t watch TV at home—I don’t need the 24-hour news networks to remind me that the world’s going to hell in a handbasket. There’s nothing like being extremely up to date on current events to make one feel powerless. If the news is really vital, someone will text it to me. Like, “The good news is, the ransom for Ces Drilon has been paid and she will be freed. The bad news is, the 10M will be passed on to Meralco consumers as a systems loss charge.” I’m happy Ces is free; I’m not happy that politicians are using her release for their tawdry propaganda.

When I’m not at home I watch the BBC. Taliban prison break, massive flooding in Iowa, the energy crisis, the food crisis, Mozambicans setting themselves on fire in South Africa—talk about feeling powerless. Yeah, I know reducing my carbon footprint will help in the long run, but that makes me feel virtuous, not powerful. I can’t even yell, “Hey Luca, the goal is over there!”

The Hong Kong news post-flood is about the fear of a bird flu outbreak. HK magazine ran a hilarious piece called 28 Chickens Later. “Day 17: Faced with a dearth of safe eateries, people flock to fast food outlets in the conviction that whatever they’re serving, it can’t be chicken.”

One rainy afternoon I thought I’d go to the Peninsula for tea. On the sidewalk outside the hotel, I saw a dead bird, its wings outstretched. Maybe it wasn’t dead, just tired out after a long squawk or pining for the fjords. Maybe it crashed into a building. Maybe a cat jumped it. But the first thought that popped into my head was “Bird flu!” and I walked away very fast.

Bonus question: Some historians believe that Alexander the Great was stricken with West Nile virus or malaria, poisoned by enemies, or unwittingly made to OD by his own physicians. But the histories say that just before Alexander became fatally ill, he saw birds falling out of the sky in great numbers. Any chance it was bird flu that got him?