The Framed 1’s Life

Mark Twain Home, An Anti-Imperialist, New York Herald [New York, 10/15/1900]

I left these shores, at Vancouver, a red-hot imperialist. I wanted the American eagle to go screaming into the Pacific. It seemed tiresome and tame for it to content itself with the Rockies. Why not spread its wings over the Philippines, I asked myself? And I thought it would be a real good thing to do.

I said to myself, here are a people who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ourselves, give them a government and country of their own, put a miniature of the American constitution afloat in the Pacific, start a brand new republic to take its place among the free nations of the world. It seemed to me a great task to which we had addressed ourselves.

But I have thought some more, since then, and I have read carefully the treaty of Paris, and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem.

We have also pledged the power of this country to maintain and protect the abominable system established in the Philippines by the Friars.

It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.1

1http://www.historywiz.com/primarysources/marktwain-imperialism.htm

I’ve a thing for following news worldwide in hopes of capturing trickles of data worth more than Gold. Today, I caught one VERY big information that finally settles where the new trend is going : ONLINE. Well, in the USA anyway. That’s why I see such tremendous opportunities here in the Philippines — a labour force with tremendous talents, ok infrastructure and facilities and a market (though limited) ready to jump into the newest things. Ahhh, you gotta love globalization!

Yes, the Philippines still has a lot to do to catch up, and the amazing thing is that the entrepreneurs are SUPPOSED to do it (hallelujah for Capitalism!) Unfortunately, it’s our age-old aversion to risk and, frankly speaking, our islander mentality that’s holding the Pinoys back. I’ve noticed through my travels and travails that the Philippines IS insulated in terms of our market and our culture. After all, there are only two nations in the world that are archepelagos: The PH and Indonesia, and the system we’re using ain’t exactly optimal since we’ve pretty much copied the mainlander’s system.

Anyway, here’s a snipet of the article from businessweek.com:

“…Senior Retail Analyst Kimberly Greenberger says she expects a strong online shopping season, given what Web shoppers have seen so far. “It looks like more and more consumers are migrating to online purchases,” says Greenberger. “We suspect that the numbers are going to get even stronger as we progress through the holiday season.”

Greenberger believes online shopping will do well, regardless of any weakness seen at some of the brick-and-mortar stores, because shoppers are shifting more of their purchases from mall stores to Web sites. It’s a trend bolstered both by the increased convenience of shopping online, thanks to comparison sites and better-designed store Web pages, as well as the breadth of products available online…”1

1http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061128_710744.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_today%27s+top+stories

The Jonker facts:

The Jonker was first considered a "freak of nature." Its frosty exterior posed a great challenge to the diamond cutter. After studying the diamond for months, Lazare Kaplan cut it into several diamonds. The largest diamond, which retained the name "Jonker," originally weighed 142.9 carats and was cut with 66 facets. To create greater brilliance, the Jonker was recut to 125.65 carats, with 58 facets. The Jonker is considered the most perfectly cut gem in existence.

http://www.brazwriter.com/jewelry.html

The Jonker diamond was discovered in an alluvial deposit near the Premier Mine. The Jonker is the finest-quality large diamond ever found.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761557986_2/Diamond.html

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Quick facts on Diamonds:

1. In Western culture, diamonds are the traditional emblem of fearlessness and virtue, but have also often associated with power, wealth, crime and misfortune. Today, diamonds are used to symbolize eternity and love, being often seen adorning engagement rings and sometimes wedding rings as well. The popularity of this modern tradition can be traced directly to the marketing campaigns of De Beers, starting in 1938. Prior to the De Beers marketing campaign, engagement rings had no one particular stone associated with them.
2. The first diamond engagement ring can be traced to the marriage of Maximilian I (then Archduke of Austria) to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.