PLEA OF INSANITY: We almost agreed with our barber’s theory that former President Erap Estrada was laying the basis for a plea of insanity when he made the incredible admission on TV that, indeed, he signed those bank documents as Jose Velarde.

What could be more insane, he asked with a flourish of his razor, than throwing caution to the wind and admitting a major crime just to make an impression on a pretty TV interviewer?

Taking up the insanity angle, we called his attention to the stupidity of senators and congressmen making a big show of signing a resolution prodding the Sandiganbayan to allow their friend and benefactor to fly (read flee) to the United States for a routine kneecap surgery.

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SIGNATURES BACKLASH: By pressuring the Sandiganbayan with a resolution, the lawmakers actually achieved the opposite. They just assured the stiffening of the court, ever jealous of its independence, and pushing it to a corner where it would have no choice but to reject Erap’s petition.

Whoever spent for those signatures threw away millions for an enterprise that, by its stupidity, ensured its failure. In these parts, one making lakad has to work ever quietly to get the desired results.

But then, what depth and sophistication can you expect from Rep. Agapito Aquino and Sen. Loi Estrada, who were leading the signature campaign in the two conniving chambers?

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USELESS TALKING OF EXILE: It’s amazing why there are still some people talking of exile for Erap. His cases are already in court. Malacanang can no longer pluck them out and decide to send the former president to exile abroad.

The court itself cannot consider exile. In case of conviction, exile is not among the possible penalties awaiting the convict. So how is exile legally possible? Escape, maybe, but not exile.

With Erap deciding kunwari to dismiss his lawyers (actually they are still meeting and plotting, although they do not make court appearances) after admitting having signed bank documents as Jose Velarde, his predicament has become complicated.

It is obvious that Erap has grown desperate with his series of blunders. The problem for all of us is that he might try bringing down the entire nation with him.

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NAPOCOR DEALS: Reader Manuel C. Diaz, a US-based geologist, asks why the National Power Corp. is still involved in the procurement of coal for the independent power producers.

Where the IPPs get their coal or buy their generating equipment is their own business, so why are some people in Napocor still busy with their sticky fingers?

One does not have to be a genius to know the answer.

Another reader, a Napocor insider, tells us in another email that although the Napocor “former president” had resigned or had been replaced, he was just on a “leave of absence and only an officer-in-charge has been named to the post.”

Our correspondent reports that while on leave, the “former president” has been involved “in many sensitive activities in Napocor, such as the long-term coal supply contract that has been cornered by an Indonesian consortium in the guise of a government-to-government arrangement.”

He adds that “the deal was struck without bidding and it effectively created a monopoly in the long-term supply of coal, excluding other coal traders.” According to him, a close examination of the deal reveals that “it is actually not a government transaction but a private transaction requiring public bidding.”

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POWER SANS RESPONSIBILITY: Our correspondent says that the “former president” is also very much involved in the reorganization of Napocor into three companies, namely the Napocor (residual), Transco and the PSALM, which will absorb all the assets and liabilities of Napocor.

He reports that most insiders think it is a plot to get the right people (readtheir people) into the new entities and corner the privatization. All this the “former president” can do without the risk of being made respondent in any graft cases, he notes, as he enjoys authority without responsibility.

Then he asks: “Are Secretaries Vincent Perez and Jose Isidro Camacho who are in the forefront of the Napocor privatization aware of these goings-on? Are they part of the plot?” We hope to know from them the answers.

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INFOTECH NOTES: If you can afford it, you may want to shift from your older Microsoft Windows to Windows XP Home edition, which promises and delivers a new exhilarating experience in computing.

While you may have missed any visible change on your desktop when you changed from Windows 95 to Windows 98 and then on to the second or the millennium editions of Windows, this time from the screen alone you know immediately that XP is something new and different.

It is also faster and more efficient, and gives you a better organized work place.

The upgrade XP Home edition that comes in the box will cost you about P13,000. That’s why we said at the onset “if you can afford it.” There is the OEM version which costs only P3,700 while supplies last.

Naturally you would go for the cheaper version? Wait till we tell you some details.

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BOX VS OEM VERSIONS: One important difference between the Box and the OEM versions is that the Box XP will just overwrite or upgrade your existing Windows operating system without erasing your files and software already in your hard drive.

On the other hand, the OEM version will reformat your hard disk, erase everything and leave you only with your recycle (trash) bin. The trick, of course, is to back up beforehand all your important files and make sure the CDs of your favorite software are available for reinstalling.

The OEM version behaves that way because it is intended to be installed only in a new PC. It presumes that your unit is a newly assembled machine with nothing in it. It does not know that you’re trying to pull a fast one on Microsoft by buying the cheaper version.

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WHAT’S ACTIVATION?: Installation of Windows XP takes an hour more or less, depending on how fast is your machine and whether you encounter complications or commit errors in the process.

There is a step in the XP installation that may throw you off. It is called “activation,” which is different and apart from registration. You do not only install Windows XP; you also have to “activate” it within one month.

Activation is Microsoft’s countermove against piracy. Once you activate your newly installed Windows XP (via Internet, among other routes), you cannot use it anymore in another machine. If you attempt to activate the second (unauthorized) installation, Microsoft will simply deny activation and your second installation will be useless after one month.

XP can get installed again, but for one month an annoying message keeps popping up on your screen reminding you to activate your operating system. After four weeks, the pirated XP simply stops working.

Take our word for it, Windows XP is a new exciting experience. It is also less prone to trouble, especially after you update it online by downloading the refinements made since its first issue last year.