Hỏi Gì Cũng Biết - Sự Kỳ Diệu Của Cơ Thể Người tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Farah Nadhiera fnadhiera — Jan 2, 2011 Jan 22, 2016 Donated

Jana Koudelková _ae_e — Most Filipinos still look up to America as their savior. This was rooted on the fact that the US was the one that liberated the Philippines from the Japanese during World War II. The US granted the Philippines its post-war independence on July 4, 1946 in the Treaty of Manila. However, the military bases treaty was rejected by the Philippine Senate in September 1991 and so the dreams of many young men to have a chance to join the US navy just ceased. My brother was one of those who were fortunate to get the nod of the navy screening officers in July 2006, six months after the 1986 EDSA revolution. We grew up loving everything American. I still remember that during the 70’s and early 80’s, we used to eat California apples and oranges only during Christmas. My grandmother’s third husband served in the Fil-Am military during the war so she was allowed to go inside the military bases. Part of her visits to the bases was to purchase PX goods (means import-restricted grocery items) from the bases’ commissary stores. I used to look forward to those trips to the bases because those were the only times I could have some Pringles, marshmallow, corned beef and other imported goods that were not available outside the military bases. Part of that love for everything American was not only limited to their grocery items. We also imbibed their culture: music, fashion, books and even films. Even up to now, we flock to the bookstores during the release of famous American books or still stay tuned to National Book Awards or Pulitzer and buy and read their nominated and winning books. We still look at the list of New York Times Bestsellers that one of the bookstore chains in the country visibly posts in their outlets. We still watch Oscar-award nominated and winning movies. Oh I loved Hollywood. Watching the Oscars used to be the most-awaited annual event for me while growing up. This includes watching everything they create including gangster films. In 1967, for example, Warner Bros., Seven Arts’ Bonnie and Clyde was one the 5 nominated films for the Best Picture then a couple of years after, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also got the jurors’ nod. Of course, the 70’s was dominated by the Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather's first two parts and was capped by the final part sometime in the early 80’s. The three parts of the series made a record in the Oscars as the only trilogy that each part was nominated in the Oscar Best Picture award. Only the first two won. I loved those gangster films. I still vividly remember how Bonnie and Clyde looked like in that movie and the final scene before they died. I enjoyed and held my breath while watching Butch and his partner got cornered and died. I watched countless times the Godfather series then I bought their copies in all formats: Beta, VHS, VCD, DVD and last year, Blu-Ray. This book, Public Enemies chronicles the founding and the rise to power of the most-admired and most-feared (by the criminals) organization in the US – the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). No history of FBI, of course, can be said without mentioning its first director, J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972). He was appointed in 1924 to head the Bureau of Investigation and he founded FBI in 1935. He was still its chief when he died in 1972. He had some excesses and it is for this reason why FBI directors now are limited to 10-year terms. We all know about the Depression Era in the 30’s. We were shocked to read about this – in relation the the Dust Bowl - in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March and Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust. The characters in those works suffered a lot because of poverty: lack of job, lack of food. Some resourceful elements in the society, on the other hand, did not wait for them to die hungry. Pretty Boy Floyd (1904-1934), an American bank robber, was said to be have only been a victim of hard times. The Depression era gave birth not only to Floyd but to a flurry of criminal gangs carrying out large numbers of bank robberies especially in the Midwest. They outran and outsmarted the FBI organization, while in its infantile stage, by having superior firepower and fast getaway cars. For example, the book says that Bonnie was not good in handling guns, what made him escape the police each time was his excellent driving skills. Alvin “Creepy” Karvis (1907-1979) known for his alliance with Barker Gang and his being the last public enemy to be taken. However, the most prolific of them all, based on this book’s narration, was John Dillinger (1903-1934). He crossed states (that made his crimes, federal). He was charged for a murder of a police office but was not convicted. He was jailed twice but escaped twice too. He and his partner, Baby Face Nelson (1908-1934) are on the centerfold in this book and I could not help myself be in awe and admire the clever moves and thinking of this duo. I know that doing those crimes is unlawful and not worthy of admiration. However, the little boy inside my old man’s body still sometimes craves for fast-paced car chase, ear-shattering bombs, body-pulverizing armalite shootings and blood-splattering murders. Then having those well-made films really completes the picture of this boyhood fantasy because they appear more sincere than the computer-enhanced camera tricks that we see in action films nowadays. Filipinos had neither Dust Bowl nor Depression Era in its history (because we are always depressed). However, we also had gangster movies like Nardong Putik, Waway, Boy Pana, Totoy Bato and Totoy Mola ha ha. I wish somebody make an indie film that will include all those boyhood crime heroes and let them kill each other carambola style.

Kiwi 007 kiwi007 — PS3569.E314 H65 1997