Still, Wake-Up, You Haven't Died.

First thing in the morning. Spreading through the opaque glass windows, the morning sun landed on the book's yellowing pages. I acquired it years ago, proving that even if it takes years, book backlogs are justified. Enthralling, entertaining first chapters. My son and daughter in bed with me, two drowsy sleepyheads already tinkering their devices. My wife is already in the other room, working from home.

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I wrote this a decade earlier, and today, I. who turned 10 recently, reads the words that I dedicated to him and his party guests.

A few days ago, I made a fart joke, to which he responded, "That's gross. How are we even related?"

It's been days, and we're still laughing.

It's been a decade. Happy Birthday, I.

Wake Up, You Haven't Died.

This pandemic, combined with a corrupt government, is literally twice as deadly. It gets into our bodies, numbs our minds, crushes our spirits.

The doublespeak seems to be part of the new norm.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/744862/ntc-stops-abs-cbn-from-operating-channel-43-which-airs-tv-plus-programs/story/

Malacañang on Tuesday maintained that the government has disproved the projection of experts that the country's COVID-19 cases will reach 40,000 by the end of the month. During his virtual briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque happily exclaimed that the country proved the forecast of the University of the Philippines wrong, with 36,438 recorded COVID-19 cases as of Monday noon.

This man, a former human rights lawyer, has opened his eyes, only to be blind again. And now blinds so many others.

Whatever's evil is winning. That's for sure.