Left Flank

Like the American Right, the American Left cannot stop from WW2 allusions, in this case to the Nuremberg trials.

It's another reason to drink black tea rather than coffee.

But now the team of scientists led by Professor Les Baillie from Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University and Doctor Theresa Gallagher, Biodefense Institute, part of the Medical Biotechnology Centre of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute in Baltimore, has found that the widely-available English Breakfast tea has the potential to inhibit the activity of anthrax, as long as it is black tea.

Anthrax - a potentially fatal human disease - is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. A very serious and rapidly progressing form of the disease occurs when bacterial spores are inhaled making anthrax a potent threat when used as a biological warfare agent.

Published in the March issue of the Society for Applied Microbiology's journal Microbiologist, Professor Baillie said: «Our research sought to determine if English Breakfast tea was more effective than a commercially available American medium roast coffee at killing anthrax. We found that special components in tea such as polyphenols have the ability to inhibit the activity of anthrax quite considerably.»

The study provides further evidence of the wide range of beneficial physiological and pharmalogical effects of this common household item.

The research also shows that the addition of whole milk to a standard cup of tea completely inhibited its antibacterial activity against anthrax.

Add to this what Graeme Wood terms black tea's "subtler" defense against terror, why not toddle today?

With only one group claiming responsibility, a non-event no one takes seriously, the most generous conspiracy, the Glorietta mall bombing as boon for the Arroyo administration meme, is hardly a compliment for Filipino politics.

(View photos at Glorietta Blast.)

Only slightly less appealing are either the «fire insurance» theory:

Does that mean that the government set the fire itself? Not necessarily, it would be premature to conclude that. However, the situation today can be likened to a case where you have roaming bands of arsonists. Given that terrorist threats are commonplace today, any President in a pickle and interested in self-preservation can simply relax his/her vigilance and let the terrorists do what comes naturally to them, knowing full well that the political windfall would go to him/her. He/she knows that in matters involving National Security where secrecy is involved, negligence is hard to detect.

Or, the puppet-master theory (a version of which Manila Bay Watch espouses, too):

It is more believable to suppose that another force is trying to exploit the growing rifts between President Arroyo and Speaker Joe de Venecia.

From my observations of the country?s political scene, it is clear that the aim of the bombing is the turning of the political crisis currently enmeshing the nation into real chaos.

This kind of situation has more benefits to terrorist groups or ultra-Rightists.

The goal of these groups is to hasten the polarization of the different political forces.

But, it's war-gaming as usual for US troops, even if shopping is curtailed.

«It will not affect our exercises. We will continue with the bilateral relationship that we have established. We will continue to do things in a normal fashion and continue our training,» Colonel Ben Mathews II, commander of the Marine Aircraft Group 36 and Talon Vision 08 exercise co-director, said on Saturday.

«Again, it was sad that this occurred but I don't think this should stop the continuing exercise,» he said.

«My concern is, of course, the welfare of my marines and sailors and our Philippine counterparts. We will take appropriate measures. We need to ensure we are safe and that we continue to do our bilateral exercise,» said Colonel John Mayer, commander of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and amphibious landing exercise co-director.

The venues of the exercises as well as humanitarian missions -- held inside the Clark and Subic freeports, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Crow Valley reservation in Tarlac, Ternate in Cavite and Laguna -- are not going to be changed.

US troops based in Clark will be restricted within the economic zone during the 15-day exercise until October 30 but this, said Mathews, has always been the policy from the start of ground-air integrated training under Talon Vision.

Asked if he was allowing any troops to go out of Clark, he said: «Well, no. We are keeping our marines and sailors here in Clark. But we have been doing that since the start.»

«There are so many opportunities for our marines and sailors here to buy things and to eat at the nice restaurants and to enjoy the facilities that we don't really see the need for them to go out,» Mathews said.

Yet, the FBI is helping Philippines authorities nonetheless. Such official nonchalance in itself could be significant.

The most ridiculous commentary on Filipino politics, though might be this: «An alternative theory in the investigation into the Makati bombing is that it was accidentally set off by incendiary material inside the building.»

Make that clumsy employee president!

The Arroyo administration is blaming Abu Sayyaf for a bomb blast at a upscale shopping mall in Manila because of an investigation revealing the presence of a military-grade explosive, RDX. Speculation is increasing, including plenty of theories and eyewitness accounts from MLQIII and Postcard Headlines.

Caffeine Sparks also has plenty of eyewitness videos.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

My heartfelt condolences go out to the families of the victims.