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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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January 22, 2018
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When Black Friday comes
I stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor
When Black Friday comes
I collect everything I’m owed
And before my friends find out
I’ll be on the road
When Black Friday comes
I’m gonna dig myself a hole
Gonna lay down in it ’til
I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me
The Archbishop’s gonna sanctify me
And if he don’t come across
I’m gonna let it roll
When Black Friday comes
I’m gonna stake my claim
I guess I’ll change my name…
– Donald Fagen and Walter Becker aka Steely Dan
AND YOU think this is all about that pathetic attempt of a rally Friday last week, Jan. 19, at the Boy Scouts’ memorial on corner Tomas Morato and Timog in Quezon City, well sort of.
The rally was organized by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines or NUJP, Anakbayan and that “property development and investment company” that fancy themselves as a media entity Rappler.
The pathetic rally failed, of course, to generate the mass the organizers were hoping to achieve as in its peak there were about 200 of the usual Frappuccino-infused trendy wannabe anarchists.
Moi is not surprised as right in front of where this motley crew gathered is Starbucks, just perfect for them in case the caffeine high goes down; all they have to do is cross the street for a refill and it’s “ibagsak ang regimen facista US-Duterte” again, which is kind of stupid as the rally was in support of that “property development and investment company” aka Rappler which is funded and controlled by two American companies, Omidyar Network, Inc. and North Base Media.
The rally was ostensibly a fight for “democracy and press freedom” when it was just another boring attempt to bring President Duterte down.
In case you forget, Rappler the “property development and investment company” that fancy themselves as a media entity just broke the law, specifically the constitutional limit for foreign ownership on media companies, after it granted control and ownership to foreign firm Omidyar Network Fund LLC.
Rappler violated the strict constitutional provision on 100 percent control and ownership of mass media as the Constitution requires that control for any Filipino media entity should be 100 percent.
Of course, the battle cry at that Friday evening mini-rally was “attack on press freedom” and “democracy and press freedom is dead,” which makes one wonder what the hell are they doing there brandishing those placards and shouting till their Frappuccino-infused throats were hoarse, if indeed “democracy and press freedom is dead.”
Was that rally violently dispersed and the rallyists arrested as what usually happens if “democracy is dead?”
“This evening’s Black Friday Protest for Freedom, organized by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, is a testament that freedom is alive and democracy is alive in the Philippines,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
“The Palace position on the matter remains clear and consistent: We allow public displays of constructive criticism as part of full exercise of the protesters’ rights to express their grievances,” he added. So there.
Moi is sure that after they got bored fighting for “press freedom” they all went back to Starbucks to claim their planners, of course with all the double stickers earned from buying all that Frappuccino needed to fuel the rally.
It is not surprising but rather expected that NUJP is in bed with the “property development and investment company” aka Rappler as practically almost all the officials of NUJP are from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN Television Network.
In case you missed it, the editorial policy of these two media entities is “anything as long as it’s against President Rodrigo Duterte,” which makes them and Rappler “twins from different mothers.”
The ridiculous thing there in that rally was the presence of Anakbayan who claims to be a leftist organization fighting against fascist US imperialism. What was it doing there supporting a US imperialist-funded and controlled organization?
Time to segue to Steely Dan’s “Black Friday”, from Songfacts.com:
Long before the term came to denote the shopping frenzy on the day after Thanksgiving, Steely Dan released this song about the original “Black Friday” when on Friday, September 24, 1869 a failed ploy left many wealthy investors broke. The investors tried to corner the market on gold, buying as much as they could and driving up the price, but when the government found out, it released $4 million worth of gold into the market, driving down the price and clobbering the investors.
As far as how it became a retail reference, sometime in the 60s, the term was bandied about to indicate the key day in the holiday shopping season when the stores would be “in the black” meaning making money as black ink indicates profit, red ink indicates loss.
In all indications that should be called “Red Friday Rally” as that “property development and investment company” claiming to be a media entity aka Rappler just lost it. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com)/PN
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