Three Question Discussion on Sociology

Poverty, Philippines

For SO 101. group yourself in a team of 4 members. Plot the date in one Manila paper. Do be submitted and presented on 18 & 19 Novermber.

Please plot in a line graph with a year and percent axis the following data: "thereafter, the following poverty episodes, all statistically significant, are visible in the SWS surveys (quarterly since 1992): the trend in the percentage of Self-Rated Poor (SRP) was downward from 1985 to only 43 percent in early 1987; upward till early 1994, reaching 70 per cent: downward till early 1998, going to 57 percent; flat till mid-2001; downward till mid-2004, to 46 percent; upward till mid-2006, at 59 percent; and downward till the end of 2007, to 46 percent again. It spiked up in 2008, to 59 percent again; and downward till the end of 2007, to 46 percent again. It spiked up in 2008, to 59 percent again; and, most recently, settled down to 53 percent in September 2009. Ref: Social Climate, Mahar Mangahas

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

It is worth the time to read our Universal Declaration of Human Rights which have roots in the French Revolution. Click the colored link.

A fresh look at religion by Karen Armstrong

Listen to Karen Armstrong on a fresh look at religion and the launching of the Charter of Religion. The final text of the Charter of Compassion will come out this coming 12 November. Please click on the link below, watch and listen. If your are around Metro Manila, Philippines, and is interested in group discussion about the text please get in touch. My mobile is: 0917 856 6747.

http://www.tedprize.org/karen-armstrong/

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. Tomorrow, we will meet our students in an extradordinary time. I know I must sharpen my listening skill because everybody has a story to tell.

2. Today I took pictures of newspapers headlines that has something to do with Ondoy. I was not able to read newspapers for several days because we are busy cleaning the house.

3. A co-teacher of mine said that he plans to take a housing loan and have a three floor building for his family's use. He is damn tired cleaning his house when flood waters reaches his abode.

4. Some people do not want to revisit the past because they have felt that it can be a burden to them.

5. After Ondoy's wrath, any heavy rain we will be experiencing will be communicating to us to listen to its fall. I pause and listen and time the length as to its downpour.

6. True, Ondoy devasted a huge swath of land, it has made a deeper impression to the consciousness of people who have been affected by it. Our contours of thinking has drastically been altered when rains fall even a gentle one.

7. People should be demanding to their government accuracy of weather reports, which means PAGASA should have the necessary instruments at their use.

8. Our memories are the places that we inhabit at will. We can go in and out of it. We can learn from the import of its joy and pain. It is a special place. To some it is a sacred place. I think, this is the reason why it is important that we remember.

9. Night bath, a good book by Randy David, a night to sleep. This is what I need.

10. At last you are married to your spouse, in due time your will realize "You cannot escape your in-laws".

11. In our modern society the mind will constantly seek its own home. Some say it is a "homeless-mind". Others, will rest in the comfort that the mind is a perpetual seeker. Thus, it wont find a home of its own.

12. There is no (magician) to be discovered in yourself. You have to create that (magician). That requires new imagination about your life, new strategies, new vocabularies and metaphors.

13. Typhoon Ondoy brings out the best and the worst in us. We saw the see of humanity volunteering to help the flood victims. On the other hand, refugees vandalized a school and a report that some robbed the students when the school opened.

14. According to BBC weather report, we will be experiencing sunny days up to Wednesday. I will now have time to clean our concrete slab and apply elastomeric paint.

15. Photos are being dried at the roof. Some photos are now relegated to a tearful goodbye. I simply can't reconstruct them. It's totally destroyed.

16. Do you know the value of those photos that have been washed by an un-welcomed typhoon? God, its priceless.

17. With those photos gone, my memories about them may go with it. It unburdens me with the past but my grand daughter and the generations that will come may be burdened by such a loss.

18. Mr. Rod Stewart, of the Great American Songbook, is now entertaining my evening as I type my postings in this little box of significance.

19. Sorry if I am not responding to request on remembering my birthday. I am off the calendar and I dread high numbers these days.

12. Our concrete slab that acts as our roof is now painted with elastomeric elements. We are now planning to have the second floor fixed for habitation. In case of another Ondoy type we have a place to evacuate.

13. Night is for sleeping. And we value it for what it is.

14. "An Inconvenient Truth" communicated by AL Gore, the media, and other scientists brought to us an understanding of global warming. The recent typhoon that visited us surely says that the weather we are experiencing will never be the same again.

15. I just finished re-tiling part of our living room floor. It is a social labor.

16. "Work is a slice of your life. It's not the entire pizza" - Jacquelyn Mitchard

17. "Few things move as quickly as the future" - Bern Williams

18. "Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them." John Updike

18. "Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away." - Tom Brokaw

19. "It's never too late for a happy childhood" - Gloria Steinem

20. "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything". Alexander Hamilton

21. We can't live in the past because the present is a daily offering. It should be lived now.

22. "All of us have something to gripe about, but for how long and to what extent will we be trapped in it?" - Ernest Tan, How to atttract love.

23. There is also this human possbility to be able to care, love and be with others. It also promises the possibility to enjoy them.

24. I will be having a Magic for Beginners seminar this coming Saturday 24th October from 10:00 to 5 pm. Interested please ask for details. It will be held at our house at 137-B. 20th Ave. Quezon City. Near Ali Mall.

25. The language of love may not be in the words that you read, rather in the actions that you see.

26. When a person informs you that he/she has changed her number, that person is making you a part of his/her world.

27. School graduation is a modern idea. It is an idea of a life transition that is shaped by a high value on knowledge. There is a time in human civilization that ignorance is the better value than knowing. Hundreds of years ago there is no sense for the vast population to be going to school. Theres no need.

28. Our lives is a constant project of overcoming.

29. Not all overcoming can be good to our life. Sometimes it brings us to more troubles. Remember some people who wants to overcome the raging waters of Ondoy?

30. "What is important is that a recollection of the past should always strengthen rather than weaken one's resolve to face the future." - Randy David, sociologist.

31. Still I find Noynoy Aquino to be a stranger to me. Except that he is the son of Ninoy and Cory and that he is a senator. He seems to be in the background and cultivates public invisibility. His giant parents continues to overshadow him and this is a problem he has to overcome. A proclamation to run as a president is different from the actual accomplishment done in the past.

32. When I post my ideas in this portal it is open to be attacked or supported by readers. Some can make a comment on it.

33. Please do not put my birthday on your calendar. I don't do birthdays today except when I am performing a magic show.

34. A mystic (then) asserts in the first place that knowledge is not attained only by the senses or the intellect or the normal processess of consciousness, but that the highest is attained, and can only be attained by this spiritual sense of intution. - A mystic statement.

35. From a mystic, "God decided to make our soul-spirit its home."

36. When I am hurt, I always withdraw to a place of my own, being alone, feeling the pain, writing about it. Somewhat, I am thrown in a place that is strange to me, trying to know the fabrics and contours of that place to that I will be able to communicate with it.

37. Some people give lame excuses for not showing up as promised. Then you tell yourself that you are not like that. That shapes your behavior in the future.

38. I performed a magical show last 20 September at the Center for Migrant Youth at East Fairview QC. This is the residence of Fr. Ben Villote, a long time and very good friend of our family.

39. From a boyhood friend of mine who posted the following: "I believe in miracles. I see a lot of stupid drivers on the street. It's a miracle they are still alive and to have even passed the driving tests, sheesh!"

40. Still working on my 55 canvass just like a work of art.

41. Nice to have known May Sarton from York, Maine. She opens door for me. She is a poet at Eighty.

42. But May Sarton passed away in 1995 of cancer at Maine. She has published lots of books. I am now reading her book, Poems, Coming into Eighty.

43. The first duty of love is to listen. - Paul Tillich

44. The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory but progress. Anonymous

45. Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous human interest in what is being told us. - Alice Duer Miller

46. What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten and replaced by a new dish. - W. H. Auden

47. "We cannot love that which we do not understand. We can't protect that which we do not love." A quote from an envronmental activist.

48. "Day begins. I only have my body. Aching from comfort. I wait, for some kick-starting-mechanism. Be they hunger or purpose, relief, a job to do. Or, a wife's call for coffee".

49. "A day can be laid out like a canvass. What work of art shall I do today? How shall time wrap me with it sweet and bitter embrace?"

50. "Without music, life is a mistake". - Friedrich Nieztche

51. "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd preferred to talk." - Doug Larson

52. Of course one of the modern addictions that we are developing and spending most of the time is our engagement with Facebook. In the post-modern paradigm face-to-face encounter will be valued highly.

53. I am happy because we have a country, whatever its in there.

54. "Day begins. I only have my body. Aching from comfort. I wait, for some kick-starting-mechanism. Be they hunger or purpose, relief, a job to do. Or, a wife's call for coffee".

55. A soldier will always believe in the just cause that his country is fighting for. But when his leaders are the one that becomes a traitor to the country it is time to switch the direction of the gun.

56. Still many of this night are rabidly running away from their real problems, that they feel, they are being consoled and comforted by their own nightly distractions.

57. Any event that happens, that has been decided upon, will have their own ramifications in the future. That is inevitable.

58. Humans will always be living in a society far from its satisfaction. This is why we have religion.

59. Without love, our souls would be likely a dried prune.

60. What is achieved when we experience pain? We learn how to experience it alone.

61. The strength of belief is in the belief itself.

62. A politician will now have to struggle in plugging the holes in his political life boat. It will take sometime to undo a decision that is within a web of relationship. Given the present political contour, such a decision will be judge if it is foolish or wise.

63. Dreaming, sleeping, eating, procrreating, these are the myriad activities our ancestors engaged in. To this day, we are still doing them.

64. A faith can be overwhelming eventhough it disregards the truth.

65. The reason why corrupt officials are likened to crocodiles is that crocodiles did not change for the last million years. They will continue to be so for the next million years. Their predatory tactics will still be there practiced highly.

66. We are shaped by the truths that we live by, not knowing those truths may well be un-truths.

Charity show for you.

Announcement: We are a group of magicians, professionals and amateurs. Out of our goodness, we want to pay back society by giving charity shows for your event. At this time we are accepting invitations from hospitals for their children's ward. Keep in touch for details.

On Human Dignity

On Human Dignity

by Jonathan Granoff

The human being has the capacity to demonstrate that which is most worthy of praise: the indivisible unity of being. It is realized through the divine attribute of love. The expression of this capacity is through intrinsic dignity, realized through the nurturing of inner character and the kind of knowledge that emerges from that effort, which is often called wisdom. This uniquely human capacity leads to the clear perception of the inner connectedness and inter-connectedness of all life. It manifests as ethics based on the Golden Rule.

The aspiration to our highest calling -- as a unique creature capable of knowing our uniqueness as well as realizing it -- should not be ignored. In this modern age, cynicism toward higher ideals is like a cancer. We hear so much about man as a beast and the great value of seeking the "bottom line." An appropriate bottom line is found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts our common humanity. Below that is where the law of power tends to overtake the power of law. When individuals allow power to overtake the rule of law, personal tragedy is the result. Human respect is corroded and relationships deteriorate. When societies seek power over respect for humanity through the law, war and tyranny ensue.

When nations pursue the Golden Rule and treat other nations as they wish to be treated, peace and prosperity result. When they pursue the quest for ultimate dominance, chaos always follows. One only need compare the result of post-World War I's punishing process and its results with the success of the post-World War II's Marshall Plan and the creation of the UN system.

I am not positing that the world can become heaven easily. I am proposing that when we follow the Lord's Prayer, which calls us to aspire to do God's will here on earth, much goodness results. It is also true that when too many fail to honor the calling to do good works, enormous suffering results. And what we never know is how our own personal commitments affect the whole. What we can know, however, is how such personal commitment affects us. This knowledge is based on experience rather than on doctrines.

We can never aspire enough to our personal highest potential, which might not have a limit. As it partakes of the divine, it certainly cannot be measured or quantified. But, then again, neither can self, consciousness, soul, or conscience. Only objects can be measured, not that which knows them.

We need not bemoan the fact that in our time pursuing the highest ideals, where dignity shines in sacred beauty, is not treated with appropriate respect. One need only look at the trials and tribulations of Socrates or Jesus to remember that those who honor truth above all else might stimulate the most undignified conduct by many. Yet Jesus reminds us that we can forgive all wrongs and preserve the greatest treasures of the spirit. Socrates knowingly gives up his own life fully aware that the law has been misapplied to his individual case but is nevertheless well worth respecting since it is an institution necessary to guide the conduct of many. He gives up his body because he has found something far more precious, the profound presence of divine love for the benefit of others. His actions manifest the presence of the sacred infinite mystery within the finite world.

Can we all attain these standards? Who knows? Can we strive to emulate them? Why not? Both of these men encouraged all to follow in their ways. Both asserted the presence of capacities for human dignity we all too often forget. I had the privilege of seeing this level of dignity in our time and thus have the responsibility of sharing it with you.

I was in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in 1974, and it was a very hot day. I was sitting at Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's bedside. He was very old, and his ashram was made up of a cement floor, a corrugated steel roof, and a courtyard ten yards from his bed with a variety of animals. There were goats, peacocks, dogs, cats, and a deer that had followed this gentle Sufi out of the jungles when he entered society to teach. I was struck by how the deer was always attentive when Bawa would sing and pray.

Bawa's day consisted mostly of sitting on his bed and giving advice on understanding the wonder and beauty of God. Because he was respected as a living saint, people attributed many things in their lives to him -- both good and bad -- sometimes, things that should not have been blamed on him.

One day a fellow came in absolutely shaking with rage and hatred. I was sitting right by the bed, and the man pulled out a short machete, the kind that one uses to cut bamboo. He was screaming. I understood that some tragedy had befallen his family and he was blaming Bawa. I was close to him, close enough that I could have sucker punched him. He wouldn't have expected it. He would never have seen me coming. But I thought, no, it's not for me to step in front of this sage. I'm here as a student, and it's not for me to intervene.

You must understand the kind of love that Bawa Muhaiyaddeen generated in me, so this was a profound position that I was in. But I knew, deeply, that I wasn't supposed to do anything. I was to watch and not engage.

Bawa attributed all beauty, goodness, wonder, and the miraculous events that happened in creation only to God. He never centralized any events on himself. He did not use miracles as a way of promoting wisdom. He promoted the supremacy of love and the knowledge of the nature of consciousness as the pathway to human realization.

Now Bawa opened his arms fully wide. He had no shirt on, and he leaned his head backward, exposing himself fully to this flood of violence. He looked with the most melting eyes of gentleness at his assailant and said, "My Brother, will taking my life give your soul the peace it is seeking?"

It was as if the molecules in the room began to scintillate and vibrate with the power of love. That love just filled the space we were in like a tangible presence, and the man with the machete became like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He collapsed on the ground and sat up gazing deeply into the sage's eyes. Bawa then embraced him with such kindness and motherly absorption, and said, "Go home and clean yourself, and come back, my child."

I bear witness to having seen somebody respond to ultimate violence with no concern for his own life but only for the well-being of the attacker. I saw the power of divine love in this world in action.

I learned the value of a true human being.

I am sharing with you a secret he told me: "If you treat other lives as your own life and live within the resonance of God's compassion, wisdom will dawn and you will know yourself. If you know yourself, you will know that God lives in you and you live in God."

A person with such knowledge shines with a light that guides others even without speaking. They do not protect the grace of God for they have surrendered themselves into God and reside knowing that God protects them. Thus, they express the grace of God as part of their own being. Such an expression is a unique human potential and the ultimate ground of human dignity.

For generations people who have attained this level of realization have been admonishing all who would listen to see the human family as one and to respect the mystery and sacredness of life. In this modern age -- when our reach is extended through science and technology to the point where we can shred the very fabric of the web of life by following the excessive quest for power through nuclear weapons or through greedily irresponsible business practices that hurt the environment-this admonition has become an imperative.

Persons who have chosen to pursue the secret inner treasure upon which real value is based are capable of presenting a different route. This route is based on nothing new or old. It is based on living to know and honor the Creator of the indivisible unity of being through the attribute of love. A life lived in such a fashion is resplendent with dignity. May we live to know this.

Jonathan Granoff is an attorney, author, and international advocate who emphasizes the legal, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of human development, nuclear disarmament, peace, and security. He is president of the Global Security Institute and a member of the National Advisory Board of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. Religion is not suppose to answer all the questions we pose about life, rather, it should give us the courage to answer them.

2. One of the strategies that we are going to employ is to finish our second floor area. Another is to prepare sandbags.

3. My main fear was to be caught in our house with rising flood waters. Thus, i sent an SOS to my friends in the Barangay office and in 15-minutes they plucked out my daughter, granddaughter and our assistant house manager. That event stabilized my mind.... I have to keep my feet dry and eat our lunch at the second floor. Lucky, I have my nephew around to help me out and both survive.

4. I do not think we can curse typhoon Ondoy. At best we could harness our energy to survive this event. Typhoon Ondoy do not recognize a name, a village, or a valued status.

5. One of the learning that people affected by flood, and they are around .5 million of them is that thought that a second floor will protect them from the next coming flood.

6. After Ondoy, when the accounting has been done, when the garbage has been thrown out, when things are back to "normal", will it be business-as-usual?

7. We just had our Post traumatic de-briefing session at Miriam College. I like to thank Dr. Roni Motilla, Dr. Grace Evangelista, the Guidance and Psychology department. It helped me a lot in dealing with my feelings and setting goals post Ondoy's ...whims. I think this can be cascaded to the barangay level.

8. My grand daughter and I will go to Ali Mall and SM Cubao, for our post-traumatic session due to the floods that hit our house here at 20th Ave.

9. We are now planning to have our second floor an added roof that will act as a laundry and sun-deck, evening view deck ( I hope to buy a telescope to see the stars closely), and of course an evacuation area in case a new Ondoy type of typhoon will come.

10. Today I took pictures of newspapers headlines that has something to do with Ondoy. I was not able to read newspapers for several days because we are busy cleaning the house.

11. A co-teacher of mine said that he plans to take a housing loan and have a three floor building for his family's use. He is damn tired cleaning his house when flood waters reaches his abode.

12. Some people do not want to revisit the past because they have felt that it can be a burden to them.

13. After Ondoy's wrath, any heavy rain we will be experiencing will be communicating to us to listen to its fall. I pause and listen and time the length as to its downpour.

14. True, Ondoy devastated a great swath of land, it has made a deeper impression to the consciousness of people who have been affected by it. Our contours of thinking has drastically been altered when rains fall even a gentle one.

15. People should be demanding to their government accuracy of weather reports, which means PAGASA should have the necessary instruments at their use.

16. Our memories are the places that we inhabit at will. We can go in and out of it. We can learn from the import of its joy and pain. It is a special place. To some it is a sacred place. I think, this is the reason why it is important that we remember.

17. Night bath, a good book by Randy David, a night to sleep. This is what I need.

18. At last you are married to your spouse, in due time your will realize "You cannot escape your in-laws".

19. In our modern society the mind will constantly seek its own home. Some say it is a "homeless-mind". Others, will rest in the comfort that the mind is a perpetual seeker. Thus, it wont find a home of its own.

20. There is no (magician) to be discovered in yourself. You have to create that (magician). That requires new imagination about your life, new strategies, new vocabularies and metaphors.

21. Typhoon Ondoy brings out the best and the worst in us. We saw the see of humanity volunteering to help the flood victims. On the other hand, refugees vandalized a school and a report that some robbed the students when the school opened.

22. According to BBC weather report, we will be experiencing sunny days up to Wednesday. I will now have time to clean our concrete slab and apply elastomeric paint.

23. Do you know the value of those photos that have been washed by an un-welcomed storm? God, its priceless.

24. At last you are married to your spouse, in due time your will realize "You cannot escape your in-laws".

25. In our modern society the mind will constantly seek its own home. Some say it is a "homeless-mind". Others, will rest in the comfort that the mind is a perpetual seeker. Thus, it wont find a home of its own.

26. There is no (magician) to be discovered in yourself. You have to create that (magician). That requires new imagination about your life, new strategies, new vocabularies and metaphors.

27. Photos are being dried at the roof. Some photos are now relegated to a tearful goodbye. I simply can't reconstruct them. It's totally destroyed.

28. Sorry if I am not responding to request on remembering my birthday. I am off the calendar and I dread high numbers these days.

29. It breaks my heart when I found out the submerged photos of the past. Its done and over with smudges and prints that can't be recognized. I may just depend on my aging memory to recall what can be recalled.

30. Our concrete slab that acts as our roof is now painted with elastomeric elements. We are now planning to have the second floor fixed for habitation. In case of another Ondoy type we have a place to evacuate.

31. I just finished re-tiling part of our living room floor. It is a social labor.

32. I just finished re-tiling part of our living room floor. It is a social labor.

33. "Work is a slice of your life. It's not the entire pizza" - Jacquelyn Mitchard

34. "Few things move as quickly as the future" - Bern Williams

35. "Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them." John Updike

36. "Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away." - Tom Brokaw

37. "It's never too late for a happy childhood" - Gloria Steinem

38. "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything". Alexander Hamilton

39. "An Inconvenient Truth" communicated by AL Gore, the media, and other scientists brought to us an understanding of global warming. The recent typhoon that visited us surely says that the weather we are experiencing will never be the same again.

40. Night is for sleeping. And we value it for what it is.

41. We are one who were traumatized by typhoon Ondoy. No control, helpless from the floods. Iba na ngayong ang dating ng ulan.

42. The high point of the floods was at noon time. The sofa is now floating, pails, garbage containers followed the natural course of the menu prepared by Ondoy. Outside the house on the street level was six fee deep. We have a creek that drains the wate...r on this natural funnel that we constructed our house. Some people decided to construct a building beside it. What do we got?

43. When the clear flood waters came in via our main entrance, it was somewhat bizarre that his flood happen to me on a personal level. The floods are there but what can I do? I was sure stamped with "Helpless". Thus, instead of fighting the flood I'd let it enter to see what would happen. It is just rushing water, but it can be fatal.

44. Natural flood waters has the capacity to tilt the way to handle things. When it is your first time, you turn to become a rookie. You estimate certain decisions that you wanted to be safe but in an afterthought, it could turn out to be dangerous.

Dry clothes outside your house.

They can now hang their clothes outside to dry. Click on link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/11clothesline.html?em

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. And as you enter the realm of the public, it demands that each one should live a moral life. It is in the realm of the public that one fully realizes who one is. The private realm is merely a rehearsal.

2. The private realm is one that the problematique because it is in this engagement that you are alone to yourself, a fact that you can't escape.

3. When you write "Ah", that may mean a hundred different interpretations.

4. When one posts his/her private thoughts at facebook, remember that thought was transformed into the public sphere. Your thoughts can be analyzed, decoded, interpreted and re-interpreted. The private magically becomes public.

5. Typhoon Ondoy is an interruption to our daily grind particularly in Metro Manila. It forced us to do things that we usually do not do. Then we discover something that we were capable of. Such discovery is an exercise of who we are as a nation. This s...hapes our collective self at a particular juncture of history.

6. Nature has no word if this is a tragedy or not, it simply dumps water that you have not imagined in your life.

7. Sometimes it is harder to believe that everything happens for no reason at all!

8. "More dreams die because we fail to seize the moment. Do it now!" - Tony Robbins. This is your time to respond to the disaster brought about by typhoon Ondoy. Go to your nearest volunteer recruitment center.

9. to Jim Paredes: "That is ok to have a break for being a Filipino. Our identities are shaped by culture. Cultures are inherently tentative. Our identities are defining moments, sometimes also a burden. As we are inserted into a historically conditioned society the malleability of identity is always achieved."

10. Our reflections about the recent national event should unite us even more in over coming the barriers that was brought by a typhoon. We now see barriers that prevents others from becoming human. There is a need to act to help other people.

11. There are around 200-dead people due to the effect of the typhoon. For sure if we are a prepared nation given this kind of natural-human disaster, the deaths could have been lessened.

12. Individually we will have to reflect on the events that is presently unfolding right now. As a collective community we will have to come to terms with a nation strategically located in a typhoon belt.

13. One plastic box full of wet clothing have been drained.

14. We will be mourning those who perished from this tragedy and we will be celebrating the birth of those being born with no memory of this event.

15. Still, this event raises the question, "As a people, how are we organized to confront a similar problem in the future?"

16. Even my granddaughter who is barely equipped with our language is trying to tell her story of how flood waters is going inside the house. She is 3-years old.

17. I guess will have to keep the learning and the bad memories go away with the receding flood waters. Typhoon Ondoy is a terror, terrible teacher.

18. Since this historical floods came rushing in we have to change our ways of thinking on how to cope when the next flood will come along.

19. Flood waters came inside our house last Saturday. We have been living here for the past 19-years. This is the first time flood came into our house. Books, magazines, documents came out wet. Some books have to be discarded. Around 80 kilos of magazin...es that I am selling as collectors items over the net have to go. An Italian painting magazine of 1960 got wet and turned into soggy shreds.

20. "Before I die, I want to make a movie that shows people over 70 having hot erotic relationship. I'd have to write the script myself." Jane Fonda on being 70.

21. When you age, you don't have to be perfect.

22. Governments given their power at their disposal cannot abolish religion. At best they have to cooperate with it.

23. Our shared experiences can be blocked by our failure or incapacity to communicate.

24. Silence possess a power that we grope for something tangible that the mind wants to produce, so that a stalled conversation can pick-up and continue its mandatory journey.

25. When we meet again people who are related to us and that means you are physically both far from each other, you want to overcome the silence that touches you in between your conversations. There is an attitude that wanting to search for a topic, an object of conversation to connect and to keep on conversing because a pause, a silence can be a felt pain.

51 best thing for being Pinoy

51 Best things for being Pinoy


50. Midnight madness, weekends sales, bangketas and baratillos. It's
retail therapy at its best, with Filipinos braving traffic, crowds, and
human deluge to find a bargain.

51. Merienda. Where else is it normal to eat five times a day?

52. Sawsawan. Assorted sauces that guarantee freedom of choice, enough
room for experimentation and maximum tolerance for diverse tastes.
Favorites: toyo't calamansi, suka at sili, patis.

53. Kuwan, ano. At a loss for words? Try these and marvel at how
Pinoys understand exactly what you want.

54. Pinoy humor and irreverence. If you're api and you know it, crack
a joke. Nothing personal, really.

55. Tingi. Thank goodness for small entrepreneurs. Where else can we
buy cigarettes, soap, condiments and life's essentials in small
affordable amounts?

56. Spirituality. Even before the Spaniards came, ethnic tribes had
their own anitos, bathalas and assorted deities, pointing to a strong
relationship with the Creator, who or whatever it may be.

57. Po, opo, mano po. Speech suffixes that define courtesy, deference,
filial respect--a balm to the spirit in these aggressive times.

58. Pasalubong. Our way of sharing the vicarious thrills and delights
of a trip, and a wonderful excuse to shop without the customary guilt.

59. Beaches! With 7,000 plus islands, we have miles and miles of
shoreline piled high with fine white sand, lapped by warm waters, and
nibbled by exotic tropical fish. From the stormy seas of Batanes to the
emerald isles of Palawan and beautiful Boracay--over here, life is truly
a beach.

60. Bagoong. Darkly mysterious, this smelly fish or shrimp paste
typifies the underlying theme of most ethnic foods: disgustingly
unhygienic, unbearably stinky and simply irresistible.

61. Bayanihan. Yes, the internationally- renowned dance company, but
also this habit of pitching in still common in small communities. Just
have that cold beer and some pulutan ready for the troops.

62. The Balikbayan box. Another way of sharing life's bounty, no matter
if it seems like we're fleeing Pol Pot every time we head home from
anywhere in the globe. The most wonderful part is that, more often than
not, the contents are carted home to be distributed.

63. Pilipino komiks. Not to mention "Hiwaga," "Aliwan," "Tagalog
Classics," "Liwayway" and"Bulaklak" magazines. Pulpy publications that
gave us Darna, Facifica Falayfay, Lagalag, Kulafu, Kenkoy, Dyesebel,
characters of a time both innocent and worldly.

64. Folk songs. They come unbidden and spring, full blown, like a
second language, at the slightest nudge from the too-loud stereo of a
passing jeepney or tricycle..

65. Fiesta. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow is just another day,
shrugs the poor man who, once a year, honors a patron saint with this
sumptuous, no-holds-barred spread. It's a Pinoy celebration at its
pious and riotous best.

66. Aswang, manananggal, kapre. The whole underworld of Filipino lower
mythology recalls our uniquely bizarre childhood, that is, before
political correctness kicked in. Still, their rich adventures pepper
our storytelling.

67. Jeepneys. Colorful, fast, reckless, a vehicle of postwar Pinoy
ingenuity, this Everyman's communal cadillac makes for a cheap,
interesting ride. If the driver's a daredevil (as they usually are),
hang on to your seat.

68. Dinuguan. Blood stew, a bloodcurdling idea, until you try it with
puto. Best when mined with jalapei's peppers. Messy but delicious.

69. Santacruzan. More than just a beauty contest, this one has
religious overtones, a tableau of St. Helena's and Constantine' s search
for the Cross that seamlessly blends piety, pageantry and ritual. Plus,
it's the perfect excuse to show off the prettiest ladies--and the most
beautiful gowns.

70. Balut. Unhatched duck's embryo, another unspeakable ethnic food to
outsiders, but oh, to indulge in guilty pleasures! Sprinkle some salt
and suck out that soup, with gusto.

71. Pakidala. A personalized door-to-door remittance and delivery
system for overseas Filipino workers who don't trust the banking system,
and who expect a family update from the courier, as well.

72. Choc-nut. Crumbly peanut chocolate bars that defined childhood
ecstasy before M & M's and Hershey's.

73. Kamayan style. To eat with one's hand and eschew spoon, fork and
table manners--ah, heaven.

74. Chicharon. Pork, fish or chicken crackling. There is in the
crunch a hint of the extravagant, the decadent and the pedestrian.
Perfect with vinegar, sublime with beer.

75. Pinoy hospitality. Just about everyone gets a hearty "Kain tayo!"
invitation to break bread with whoever has food to share, no matter how
skimpy or austere it is.

76. Adobo, kare-kare, sinigang and other lutong bahay stuff.
Home-cooked meals that have the stamp of approval from several
generations, who swear by closely-guarded cooking secrets and family
recipes.

77. Lola Basyang. The voice one heard spinning tales over the radio,
before movies and television curtailed imagination and defined grown-up
tastes.

78. Pambahay. Home is where one can let it all hang out, where clothes
do not make a man or woman but rather define their level of comfort.

79. Tricycle and trisikad, the poor Pinoy's taxicab that delivers you
at your doorstep for as little as P7.00, with a complimentary dusting of
polluted air.

80. Dirty ice cream. Very Pinoy flavors that make up for the risk:
munggo, langka, ube, mais, keso, macapuno. Plus there's the colorful
cart that recalls jeepney art.

81. Yayas. The trusted Filipino nanny who, ironically, has become a
major Philippine export as overseas contract workers. A good one is
almost like a surrogate parent -- if you don't mind the accent and the
predilection for afternoon soap and movie stars.

82.. Sarsi. Pinoy rootbeer, the enduring taste of childhood. Our
grandfathers had them with an egg beaten in.

83. Pinoy fruits. Atis, guyabano, chesa, mabolo, lanzones, durian,
langka, makopa, dalanghita, siniguelas, suha, chico, papaya,
singkamas--the possibilities!

84. Filipino celebrities. Movie stars, broadcasters, beauty queens,
public officials, all-around controversial figures: Aurora Pijuan,
Cardinal Sin, Carlos P. Romulo, Charito Solis, Gemma Cruz, Cory Aquino,
Emilio Aguinaldo, the Eraserheads, Fidel V. Ramos, Francis Magalona,
Gloria Diaz, Manuel L. Quezon, Margie Moran, Melanie Marquez, Ninoy
Aquino, Nora Aunor, Pitoy Moreno, Ramon Magsysay, Richard Gomez, San
Lorenzo Ruiz, Sharon Cuneta, Erap, Tiya Dely, Mel and Jay, Gary V, Kris
Aquino, Piolo Pascual, Papa Wilie "wowowie."

85. World class Pinoys who put us on the global map: Lea Salonga, Paeng
Nepomuceno, Eugene Torre, Luisito Espinosa, Lydia de Vega-Mercado,
Jocelyn Enriquez, Elma Muros, Onyok Velasco, Efren "Bata" Reyes, Lilia
Calderon-Clemente, Loida Nicolas-Lewis, Josie Natori, Charice, Manny
Pacquiao.

86. Pinoy tastes. A dietitian's nightmare: too sweet, too salty, too
fatty, as in burong talangka, itlog na maalat, crab fat (aligue),
bokayo, kutchinta, sapin-sapin, halo-halo, pastilyas, palitaw, pulburon,
longganisa, tuyo, ensaymada, ube haleya, sweetened macapuno and
garbanzos. Remember, we're the guys who put sugar (horrors) in our
spaghetti sauce. Yum!

87. The sights. Banaue Rice Terraces, Boracay, Bohol's Chocolate
Hills, Corregidor Island, Fort Santiago, the Hundred Islands, the Las
Pinas Bamboo Organ, Rizal Park, Mt. Banahaw, Mayon Volcano, Taal
Volcano. Palawan Underground River. A land of contrasts and
ever-changing landscapes.

88. Gayuma, agimat and anting-anting. Love potions and amulets.. How
the socially-disadvanta ged Pinoy copes.

89. Barangay Ginebra, Jaworski, PBA, MBA and basketball. How the
verticaly-challenge d Pinoy compensates, via a national sports obsession
that reduces fans to tears and fistfights.

90. People Power at EDSA. When everyone became a hero and changed
Philippine history overnight.

91. San Miguel Beer and pulutan. "Isa pa nga!" and the Philippines'
most popular, world-renowned beer goes well with peanuts, corniks, tapa,
chicharon, usa, barbecue, sisig, and all manner of spicy, crunchy and
cholesterol- rich chasers. Iba ng may pingasamahan!

92. Resiliency. We've survived 400 years of Spanish rule, the US
bases, Marcos, the 1990 earthquake, lahar, lambada, Robin Padilla, and
Tamagochi. We'll survive Gloria.

93. Yoyo. Truly Filipino in origin, this hunting tool, weapon, toy and
merchandising vehicle remains the best way to "walk the dog" and "rock
the baby," using just a piece of string..

94. Pinoy games: Pabitin, palosebo, basagan ng palayok. A few basic
rules make individual cunning and persistence a premium, and guarantee a
good time for all.

95. Ninoy Aquino.. For saying that "the Filipino is worth dying for,''
and proving it.

96. Balagtasan. The verbal joust that brings out rhyme, reason and
passion on a public stage.

97. Tabo. All-powerful, ever-useful, hygienically- triumphant device to
scoop water out of a bucket and help the true Pinoy answer nature's
call. Helps maintain our famously stringent toilet habits.

98. Pandesal. Despite its shrinking size, still a good buy. Goes well
with any filling, best when hot.

99. Jollibee. Truly Pinoy in taste and sensibility, and a corporate
icon that we can be quite proud of. Do you know that it's invaded the
Middle East, as well?

100. The butanding, the dolphins and other creatures in our blessed
waters. They're Pinoys, too, and they're here to stay. Now if some
folks would just stop turning them into daing.

49 Best things about being Pinoy

100 BEST THINGS ABOUT BEING A PINOY (First 49)



01. Pakikisama. It's what makes people stay longer at parties, have another drink, join pals in sickness and health. You can get dead drunk and still make it home.

02. Sing-a-long and videoke. Filipinos love to sing, and thank God a lot of us do it well!

03. Kayumanggi. Neither pale nor dark, our skin tone is beautifully healthy, the color of a rich earth or a mahogany tree growing towards the sun.

04. Handwoven cloth and native weaves. Colorful, environment- friendly alternatives to polyester that feature skillful workmanship and a rich indigenous culture behind every thread. From the pinukpok of the north
to the malong of the south, it's the fiber of who we are.

05. Movies. Still the cheapest form of entertainment, especially if you watch the same movie several times.

06. Bahala na. We cope with uncertainty by embracing it, and are thus enabled to play life by ear.

07. Papaitan. An offal stew flavored with bile, admittedly an acquired taste, but pointing to our national ability to acquire a taste for almost anything.

08. English. Whether carabao or Arr-neoww-accented, it doubles our chances in the global marketplace.

09. The Press. Irresponsible, sensational, often inaccurate, but still the liveliest in Asia. Otherwise, we'd all be glued to TV.

10. Divisoria. Smelly, crowded, a pickpocket's paradise, but you can get anything here, often at rock-bottom prices. The sensory overload is a bonus.

11. Barong Tagalog. Enables men to look formal and dignified without
having to strangle themselves with a necktie. Worn well, it makes any
ordinary Juan look marvelously makisig.

12. Filipinas. They make the best friends, lovers, wives. Too bad
they can't say the same for Filipinos.

13. Filipinos. So maybe they're bolero and macho with an occasional
streak of generic infidelity; they do know how to make a woman feel like
one.

14. Catholicism. What fun would sin be without guilt? Jesus Christ is
firmly planted on Philippine soil.

15. Dolphy. Our favorite, ultra-durable comedian gives the beleaguered
Pinoy. Everyman an odd dignity, even in drag.

16. Style. Something we often prefer over substance. But every
Filipino claims it as a birthright.

17. Bad taste. Clear plastic covers on the vinyl-upholstered sofa,
posters of poker-playing dogs masquerading as art, overaccessorized
jeepneys and altars--the list is endless, and wealth only seems to
magnify it.

18. Mangoes, especially Cebu Guadalupe mangoes. Crisp and tart, or
lusciously ripe, they evoke memories of family outings and endless
sunshine in a heart-shaped package.

19. Unbridled optimism. Why we rank so low on the suicide scale.

20. Street food: Barbecue, lugaw, banana-cue, fishballs, IUD (chicken
entrails), Adidas (chicken feet), warm taho. Forget hepatitis; here's
cheap, tasty food with gritty ambience.

21. The siesta. Snoozing in the middle of the day is smart, not lazy.

22. Honorifics and courteous titles: Kuya, ate, diko, ditse, ineng,
totoy, Ingkong, Aling, Mang, etc. No exact English translation, but
these words connote respect, deference and the value placed on kinship.

23. Heroes and people who stood up for truth and freedom. Lapu-lapu
started it all, and other heroes and revolutionaries followed: Diego
Silang, Macario Sakay, Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini,
Melchora Aquino, Gregorio del Pilar, Gabriela Silang, Miguel Malvar,
Francisco Balagtas, Juan Luna, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Panday Pira, Emilio
Jacinto, Raha Suliman, Antonio Luna, Gomburza, Emilio Aguinaldo, the
heroes of Bataan and Corregidor, Pepe Diokno, Satur Ocampo, Dean Armando
Malay, Evelio Javier, Ninoy Aquino, Lola Rosa and other comfort women
who spoke up, honest cabbie Emilio Advincula, Rona Mahilum, the women
lawyers who didn't let Jalosjos get away with rape.

24. Flora and fauna. The sea cow (dugong), the tarsier, calamian deer,
bearcat, Philippine eagle, sampaguita, ilang-ilang, camia, pandan, the
creatures that make our archipelago unique.

25. Pilipino songs, OPM and composers: "Ama Namin," "Lupang Hinirang,"
"Gaano Ko Ikaw Kamahal," "Ngayon at Kailanman," "Anak," "Handog,""Hindi
Kita Malilimutan, " "Ang Pasko ay Sumapit"; Ryan Cayabyab, George
Canseco, Restie Umali, Levi Celerio, Manuel Francisco, Freddie Aguilar,
and Florante--living examples of our musical gift.

26. Metro Aides. They started out as Imelda Marcos' groupies, but have
gallantly proven their worth. Against all odds, they continuously prove
that cleanliness is next to godliness--especial ly now that those darn
candidates' posters have to be scraped off the face of Manila!

27. Sari-sari store. There's one in every corner, offering everything
from bananas and floor wax to Band-Aid and bakya.

28. Philippine National Red Cross. PAWS. Caritas. Fund drives. They
help us help each other.

29. Favorite TV shows through the years: "Singing Bee," "John and
Marsha," "Deal or No deal," "Ryan, Ryan Musikahan," "Wowowie," "Public
Forum/Lives, " "Banana Split," "MMK." In the age of inane variety shows,
they have redeemed Philippine television.

30. Quirks of language that can drive crazy any tourist listening in:
"Bababa ba?" "Bababa!"

31. "Sayang!" "Naman!" "Kadiri!" "Ano ba!?" "pala." Expressions
that defy translation but wring out feelings genuinely Pinoy.

32. Cockfighting. Filipino men love it more than their wives
(sometimes).

33. Dr. Jose Rizal. A category in himself. Hero, medicine man, genius,
athlete, sculptor, fictionist, poet, essayist, husband, lover,
Samaritan, martyr. Truly someone to emulate and be proud of, anytime,
anywhere.

34. Nora Aunor. Short, dark and homely-looking, she redefined our
rigid concept of how leading ladies should look.

35. Noranian or Vilmanian. Defines the friendly rivalry between Ate
Guy Aunor and Ate Vi Santos and for many years, the only way to be for
many Filipino fans.

36. Filipino Christmas. The world's longest holiday season. A perfect
excuse to mix our love for feasting, gift-giving and music and wrap it
up with a touch of religion.

37. Relatives and kababayan abroad. The best refuge against
loneliness, discrimination and confusion in a foreign place. Distant
relatives and fellow Pinoys readily roll out the welcome mat even on the
basis of a phone introduction or referral.

38. Festivals: Sinulog, Ati-atihan, Moriones, Parol Festival and
Street Dancing of San Jose Occidental Mindoro. Sounds, colors, pagan
frenzy and Christian overtones.

39. Folk dances. Tinikling, pandanggo as ilaw, kari?as, kuratsa,
itik-itik, alitaptap, rigodon. All the right moves and a distinct
rhythm.

40. Native wear and costumes. Baro't saya, tapis, terno, saya,
salakot, bakya. Lovely form and ingenious function in the way we dress.

41. Sunday family gatherings. Or, close family ties that never get
severed. You don't have to win the lotto or be a president to have
10,000 relatives. Everyone's family tree extends all over the
archipelago, and it's at its best in times of crisis; notice how food,
hostesses, money, and moral support materialize during a wake?

42. Calesa and karitela. The colorful and leisurely way to negotiate
narrow streets when loaded down with a year's provisions.

43. Quality of life. Where else can an ordinary employee afford a
stay-in helper, a yaya, unlimited movies, eat-all-you- can buffets, the
latest fashion (Baclaran nga lang), even Viagra in the black market?

44. All Saints' Day. In honoring our dead, we also prove that we know
how to live.

45. Handicrafts. Shellcraft, rattancraft, abaca novelties,
woodcarvings, banig placemats and bags, bamboo windchimes, etc.
Portable memories of home. Hindi lang pang-turista, pang-balikbayan pa!

46. Pinoy greens. Sitaw. Okra. Ampalaya. Gabi. Munggo. Dahon ng
Sili. Kangkong. Luya. Talong. Sigarillas. Bataw. Patani. Lutong
bahay will never be the same without them.

47. OCWs. The lengths (and miles) we'd go for a better life for our
family, as proven by these modern-day heroes of the economy.

48. The Filipino artist. From Luna's magnificent "Spoliarium" and
Amorsolo's sun-kissed ricefields, to Ang Kiukok's jarring abstractions
and Borlongan's haunting ghosts, and everybody else in between. Hang a
Filipino painting on your wall, and you're hanging one of Asia's best..

49. Tagalog soap operas. From "Gulong ng Palad" and "Flor de Luna" to
today's incarnations like "Mula sa Puso"--they' re the story of our
lives, and we feel strongly for them, MariMar notwithstanding.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. “To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing." - Rabbi Harold Kushner

2. How will a nation commit suicide? When leaders have no vision of the future.

3. "You don't become happy by pursuing happiness. You become happy by living a life that means something." Rabbi Harold Kushner

4. Happiness is likened to a butterfly, when you want to catch it, it goes away from you. But when you simply just stay put and become who you are then it settles on your hand.

5. It is not dying that people are afraid of, it is not having lived at all.

6. I am constant, but not flawless.

7. Religion is not suppose to answer all the questions we pose about life, rather, it should give us the courage to answer them.

8. Sometimes our defining moment may be a burden in an unpredictable future.

9. It has been said that one of the "dangerous" books in the Bible is the book of Ecclesiastes. Read it and find out.

10. For some, the Philippines is a memory to return to. For those Filipino veterans who fought for recognition in America, died of old age and disease, the Philippines is a repository of their ashes.

11. Sometimes life isn't the party we hoped for, but since we're here, we should dance. Anonymous.

12. Death is more universal than life. Everybody dies but not everybody lives.

13. There are many dead in our society.They were given life but refused to live it.

14. Some of our institutions were built by our leaders based on their experience and perceived disappointments about human affairs.

15. Religion is not suppose to answer all the questions we pose about life, rather, it should give us the courage to answer them.

16. For some lying is a strategy to survive.

17. If we can't get what we like, let us enjoy what we have.

18. For some, truth is something not to look for, truth is something that has to be created.

19. The danger in running for the highest public office falls automatically into the trap that he is better than his opponents, worst he is better than other people.

14. Though people may vote for this particular candidate, the voters may end up bitter and frustrated to this leader whom they have voted into office.

15. Voters can seek protection from their leaders by knowing in public the candidate's program of government, of course we have no guarantee that a leader will stick to his program. It can change, just like the weather.

16. Ferdinand Marcos was able to cow millions of Filipinos when he declared martial law, save for those people who took to the mountains, organized resistance cells, defied curfew hours, grew long hairs and beard. Still, fomenting fear is a convenient t...ool available to political leaders. They can use it at will weakening our institutions that tries to promote a regime of certainties.

17. Our institutions are always built on a daily basis so that predictability of life's events are presumed to carry on.

18. Voting is a human right, as much as a job is.

19. If we canot love the person whom we see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see. - Mother Theresa

20. I will not say I failed 1,000 times, I will say that I discovered 1,000 ways that can cause failure. - Thomas Edison

21. If you win, you need not have to explain...If you lose, you should not be there to explain. - Adolf Hitler

22. If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they had never tried a new thing in their life. - Albert Einstein

23. In a day, when you don't come across any problems, you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong way. - Swami Vivekananda

24. The persistence of life is something we cannot deny.

Parenting, Carl Rogers

Does saying "I love you" to your child mean "Do as I do?". Parenting in modern time is a crux of the matter.

Our Unconscious, Karl Jung, analytical psychologist

The unconscious in which we are not familiar with is worth reading. Click on the link.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. I feel comfortably terrified with Jean Paul Sartre's ideas on existentialism. It means we have to create our on self. That's difficult.

2. How do we grapple humor? We grapple humor just the same as we grapple with absurdity.

3. Mass media sells entertainment. It employs instruments of mass measurements like prime-time viewership. Sometimes they end up deeply unsatisfied, worst doubting.

4. If organized religion aspire to conquer, what would be it's redeeming value?

5. We look for a society or a social arrangement that will and can satisfy our needs. But, by the looks of our infinitesimal needs, our needs can't be satisfied. Thus shall we deem society still relevant?

6. We are all born out of necessity, not out of choice.

7. We try to use symbols so that it would fit our own motivations.

8. Those who are presently employed are still living a nomadic life.

9. We have organized a society based on the idealism of the past but may not be able to work in the present human condition.

10 And what do we call a homeless family?They are the fulfillment of a life of uncertainty.

12. When a whistle blowers blows the State, the State will simply make the truth of the whistle blower dull and boring.

13. They say "The past is past". But the past is a steel anchor that drags itself to the present. The past is a sui generis or a being having a life of its own.

14. Our relationship with both the past and the present is mixed with complexity and a state of being bizarre. Somewhat we are confronted with how to mix oil and water.

15. September rains will be a memorable event. We have hard working and patient rains.

16. As I have said I don't intend to retire. I intend to live.

17. "If you are not busy living, perhaps you are busy dying" - Bob Dylan

18. I live in an imperfect world (I have my notion of it). Lately I realized that I am part of perfecting that world of mine. One small effort at a time.

19. As you reach middle age, you have to take your battles one at a time. And be sure you have an estimate that you are going to win. If not, just leave.

20 There is also wisdom in surrendering.

21. Always remember that you have an inherent power that cannot be taken away from you. That power is indestructible. It will always be in your possession.

22. Friends will always be friends, but always know what are the intentions.

Stemcell treatment

For Your information. movement in stem cell treatment. Click on colored link.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. Identities, be they personal or national can be used conveniently as an excuse.

2. What I am doing may be trivial, but time will tell me to a certain degree of clarity what has been accomplished yesterday.

3. At this time, I seem not to connect my personal strivings to the growth of a nation.

4. I am not looking for the good life. I am simply searching for a meaningful one.

5. "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." - Albert Einstein

6. I think life is an endless search of seeking who you really are. We will be seeking who we are even at our deathbed.

7. We despair because life offers uncertainties, and we continue to negotiate how we get to know ourselves more. Such negotiations entails difficulties.

8. In life I know I made lots of mistakes, that is why I am not perfect.

9. It looks like that what we are going to leave in this earth is more of the legacy on how we lived our lives.

10. Bringing a digital camera strapped on my belt makes my life meaningful.

11. Sometimes you have to go to a bar with live band to search for the meaning of life.

12. I am working on my success.

13. For your delectation on parties, invite a magician.

14. I always bring my digicam to make life more meaningful.

15. If we are indeed lovers of life, we are able to embrace the past, the future and present and the pains that go with it.

16. We forget the past that burdens us. But we remember the past that says "Life is good".

17. I think the concept of retirement is against the so-called "gray population".

18. I do not intend to retire. I intend to live.

19. I think we should be wearing black ribbons for ten days to remember those who perished from this tragic event (Dona Paz sinking in 1987 "Asia Titanic".)

20. Should we treat our memories as guests?

21. Now for the monitor screens circa 2009, its either, CRT or flat screen. How these things change!

22. That green cursor was the precursor of a new term called "paper white" monitor.

23. One of the moment that I was delighted with is to see a monitor with a flickering green cursor.

24. There are religion that captures the human spirit in which the human spirit wants to be freed from what captures him.

24. True religion is the one that unites us to God and one that serves others.

25. It was Rumi the mystic and poet of the Eastern world was given the honor that his image be placed on the monetary bill of Turkey.

26. A gossip is likened to a feather pillow on a windy day. Once those feathers got out of the case it is doubly difficult to bring them back again. - Inspired from the film "Doubt".

27. Even a nun will lie to achieve her ends - From the film "Doubt".

28. Airport, a terminal. When it is your time, it's your time. - Daffinition

29. Umbrella, usually is kept at summer time. - Daffinition.

30. "Live fast, Love hard, lie about your age" - from a birthday card.

31. The beauty of life is that you can't avoid it. The beauty of death is that it is necessary.

32. Louis Pasteur said "Beyond is a limitless grandeur". We can only see Pasteur's Limitless Grandeur when we are part of that Beyond.

33. Dare to dream even if it will take an impossible dream.

34. An airplane is a place where you can touch the heavens but the pilot won't allow you. - Daffinition.

35. "If you feel God has abandoned you, could it be that you have abandoned Him?" Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ.

36. Facebook is a place where you really have to think on what you are going to say, and to say next.

37. Some people fill themselves with so many things thinking that they can find meaning in these things.

38. I pray that one day rains can wash away our loneliness.

39. The highest umbrella I can use against the sun are the clouds.

40. If you want to see evil, look for the one who delights in separation.

41. "God will not wipe away the tears we never shed. If we shed tears of compassion, it will become tears of love and of joy" - Fr. Guido Argulles SJ

42. Losing your life direction may be a way of finding it.

43. Escaping a problem may be fun for you. But with certainty, you can't escape yourself.

44. The heart of a lonely runner is the one that is nurtured by love.

45. The trip with students yesterday at Majayjay and Pila, Laguna, brought in me the majesty of the history. It is filled with a dead-weight past and an immense possibility for the future. This is a classic example of change and non-change. Humans will always have a choice.

46. I was delighted to know that "411" is the jargon for "information" It came from America. That is what you call cultural diffusion.

47. An American boy was called by the teacher and was asked "When was the United States founded"? The boy said, "9-11".

48. In the modern time we were able to create a word "hidden agenda". As if it is an esoteric word. Actually this hidden agenda, as "hidden" as it is, is always seen in the bosom of one's interests. it's like the Emperor's new clothes.

49. Leaders and their people always have a complex and bizarre, relationships. Power relationships draws the the line of difference and the safety of the gray area.

50. The political life of a nation will always affect our lives unless we pretend to be dead persons.

51. The earth does not care for us. We have to care for the earth so that it can care for us.

52. As we are experiencing underdevelopment, endless social conflict, corruption that becomes a collective nightmare, what we are seeing is a culture where we have no roots and sensitivity to others. We are creating rootless society.

53. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?

54. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?

55. I have nothing against giving the public information. But when this information is burned to our consciousness without let up, my, my, I think that is too much.

56. Digitized condemnation. In our society when a person wishes to condemn an act of one, he can go to launch a campaign via the internet and those who will join the chorus can be counted to the last detail.

57. One of the amazing realization as one ages is the knowledge that one can have more fun in achieving one rational goal.

58. One of the amazing realization as one ages is the knowledge that one can have more fun in achieving one rational goal.

59. Somebody told me that it is good to bring flowers when you visit your loved ones because they can see, touch and smell it. But when they are consigned to the earth nobody is going to tell you a sweet appreciation. Enjoy being alive. There's plenty of time to be dead.

60. Our rage, anger, cannot bring back the life of a loved one who met the creator. This is the reason why we should mourn. We should be able to say goodbye to our loved one, that is the purpose of mourning. In a way it should help up to attain peace.

61. When one has a possibility to experience the goodness of life and it is cut short by death, I think that is a tragedy.

62. A news last night that a three year old child was run over by a bus at EDSA causing her death. This makes me really sad. It makes my stomach turn upside down.

63. Eternity is life lived fully on earth.

64. Eternity cannot be thought of as bounded by space and time. It has no dimension. Eternity is the unworded experience of life lived in totality.

65. It is true when Kris Aquino lied to Cory. It is never "ok" when your loved one is finally going to bid you goodbye. There is this infinite pain that needs to be healed by love not just by time.

Magic SOMA phone act

Cory A, Eleanor Rigby, Apo Hiking

Parasol Magic

Final Exam, SO 101, Film Analysis

1. This is your final semester exam.
2. You are to group yourselves into 3 person per group. You can do an individual work or in tandem.
3. You are to select a film of your choice (to be approved by your teacher) in which you are going to analyze the film and using sociological terms that you have understood in our discussion.
4. A minimum of 25 sociological terms and maximum of 50 will be used in your film analysis.
5. Parts of your work: A - Title Page which contains the groups member's names, section and schedule. B - One page summary of the film. C - Film Analysis an essay tackling the film's theme, the problem or conflict involved or how was it resolved. D - Individual reflection of the members on how it is to work with group mates. E - Trivia of the film. F - Expenses in coming out with the production of the film analysis.
6. You can select any English or Tagalog film available at the market. The CD will be submitted with the film analysis and will not be returned. Thus purchase a CD that is affordable.
7. Deadline of the film analysis will be TTh - 1 October, WF 2 October.
8. Ask for the model of the film analysis from your teacher. It is available for you to view.

Philippine election

Philippine election 2010, probable candidates sign pacts. Click on link below.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090831-222802/No-cheating-in-2010-poll-aspirants-vow

Field Day

Vivaldi

Credit card holders, Read!

Credit card holders, read this.

Furor over gender

Caster Semenya of South Africa won her gold medal from the women’s 800 meters competition. Now some are questioning her gender. She is 18 years old. Click on the colored link.

Vision of Presidentiables? Are there any?

No, no, Noynoy

By Antonio C. Abaya

Written on Aug. 17, 2009

For the Standard Today,

August 18 issue

Reader Vida Royal Manigsaca emailed me on August 8 that “I have questions regarding the sorry state of our country that I want you and your generation to enlighten me about.
It is difficult for me to express them because I don’t want to be regarded as unfair and disrespectful to my elders. Please bear with me. Here they are:

1. Why did our elders fail?
2. How did they fail?

My reply, which was electronically published in my “Reactions to ‘Damaged Control’” was as follows

“Our generation – your elders – failed because we did not produce a Lee Kwan Yew, or a Mahathir Mohamad or a Park Chung Hee. Instead we had a succession of mediocre, insipid, even stupid leaders who could not see beyond their noses and had no economic plan to build a prosperous society. The two who had the brains and could have made a difference – Marcos and Arroyo – turned out to be irremediably corrupt and wasted their time and talents trying to stay longer in power so that they could steal even more.

“Your generation does not show much promise either. Look at those positioning themselves to be president: Manny Villar, Joseph Estrada (again), Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, Noli de Castro, Bayani Fernando, Gilbert Teodoro, Ronaldo Puno, Noynoy Aquino, Among Ed Panlilio, Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Jamby Madrigal, Nicky Perlas, Grace Padaca, JC de los Reyes…..and tell me if you can see in any of them even the faintest resemblance to a Lee Kwan Yew or a Mahathir or a Gen. Park. “

My answer, of course, is that none of the above has the makings of a Lee Kwan Yew or a Mahathir or a Gen. Park. And yet it is someone who has the qualities of these three foreign leaders that the Philippines badly needs in order to overcome decades of consistently poor governance, restore our badly battered self esteem, and draw for us a credible vision of what we want our country to be.

We need someone like Lee Kwan Yew who was/is personally incorruptible and at the same time was/is so conversant with economics and international relations that he could speak ex-tempore and defend his policies before an assembly of multinational CEOs and diplomats and made/make solid sense, whether they agreed/agree with him or not.

In addition we need the strong sense of nationalism of Mahathir Mohamad who in the 1980s drew a vision – Malaysia Vision 2020, that sought and seeks to transform Malaysia into a fully industrialized country by the year 2020 – that he was able to convince the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-religious people of Malaysia to embrace as worthy of their national loyalty, beyond the narrow appeals of their tribes and ethnic groups. No mean feat, considering the catastrophic demise of equally multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious federal Yugoslavia in the 1990s that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

Mahathir’s nationalism also expressed itself in his readiness to fearlessly fire back at other countries, other world leaders, as well as international agencies whenever he felt they were trampling on the national self-interests of Malaysia.

We also need the single-minded determination of Gen. Park Chung Hee to transform his impoverished, resource-poor and inconsequential Republic of Korea from 1961 to 1979 (when he was assassinated) into a fully industrialized country that is now one of the ten biggest economies in the world.

Compared to these three giants, most of the contenders for the Philippine presidency in 2009 are mere pygmies, bereft of any national vision aside from having themselves installed in the highest office, and devoid of real substance, like puffed-up balloons, the products of clever political marketing through self-serving infomercials, generous praise releases from hyperactive PR technicians, and lavish but undeserved hoohahs from mercenary columnists….. and not much else.

Noynoy Aquino is only slightly different from the rest of the pack. His sole claim to fame is that he is the son of Ninoy and Cory and the brother of Kris. Through many years in the Lower House and in the Senate, he has not succeeded in establishing his own political persona. Perhaps he has not even tried, content as he may have been to bask in the reflected glory of his forebears and his famous sibling.

Are these the attributes of a revolutionary leader? No. And yet this is what the Philippines needs, a leader who can start and lead a revolution, a peaceful one, as much as possible; a violent one, if necessary.

I do not know what Noynoy has accomplished nor what he believes in, that I must vote for him for president. What have you done and what do you propose to do if you were to become president? The same rule-of-thumb by which I measure others, especially Chiz Escudero and Gilbert Teodoro, two young men in a hurry to become president, but without any solid accomplishment to their credit, without any clear idea of what they would do if and when they got there.

It is not enough that you have a glib tongue in criticizing the many shortcomings of the Arroyo administration (Escudero), or that you went to Harvard Law School and was a bar topnotcher (Teodoro). What have you accomplished, and what do you propose to do if you were to become president?

By the same token, it is not enough that you are the son of Ninoy and Cory and the brother of Kris, Noynoy. What have you accomplished and what do you propose to do if you were to become president?

If his endorsers hope to connect Noynoy subliminally with his mother Cory Aquino’s People Power “Revolution” of 1986, then they would be making a mistake. By many accounts, including mine, the most notable thing about that “Revolution” was that it did not result in anything revolutionary, aside from removing the over-staying dictator.

For all her many admirable attributes, Cory Aquino was no revolutionary. She looked backward, towards restoring our polity to its pre-1972 configuration. She had no vision for the future, for building a New Jerusalem.

We cannot afford to have another backward-looking president, who wants to restore our polity to a pre-Arroyo configuration. That would be nothing less than – Holy Mother of God! – an Erap restoration.

We need a forward-looking president, a truly revolutionary president, someone with the attributes and visions of Lee Kwan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad and Gen. Park Chung Hee.

That is why Noynoy (and Chiz and Gibo) must tell us what he and they have done and what they propose to do if he and they were to become president.

No, no, Noynoy. Being the son of Ninoy and Cory and the brother of Kris are not enough to reward you with the presidency. You must develop your own political persona, and part of that persona are your accomplishments in the past and your vision for the future.. *****

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. If prisoners are said to be un-free, can they look at the sky with freedom? can they freely express their opinion? can they brush their teeth freely?

2. As a nation, do we want our president to eat in a hamburger stand?

3. Info-mercials are new to our modern world. We have to read the message or multiple messages that they are purveying. Communication experts agree on this. Now who benefits and who pays for it, that is one thing we should know.

4. Again the deaths of soldiers and so called rebels are a waste of lives. Lives that cannot be brought back. When shall the killings stop?

5. I guess the reason why babies keeps on arriving in this planet is to give hope to this planet bereft of hope.

6. I think Sen. Miriam Defensor is correct in saying on the info-mercials, "Don't force your faces on us". I think one of the best way is to turn off the TV and talk to your children. Anybody have heard, "Invasion of privacy?"

7. I have nothing against giving the public information. But when this information is burned to our consciousness without let up, my, my, I think that is too much.

8. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?

9. As we are experiencing underdevelopment, endless social conflict, corruption that becomes a collective nightmare, what we are seeing is a culture where we have no roots and sensitivity to others. We are creating rootless society.

10. The political life of a nation will always affect our lives unless we pretend to be dead persons.

11. Leaders and their people always have a complex and bizarre, relationships. Power relationships draws the the line of difference and the safety of the gray area.

12. In the modern time we were able to create a word "hidden agenda". As if it is an esoteric word. Actually this hidden agenda, as "hidden" as it is, is always seen in the bosom of one's interests. it's like the Emperor's new clothes.

13. I was delighted to know that "411" is the jargon for "information" It came from America. That is what you call cultural diffusion.

14. An American boy was called by the teacher and was asked "When was the United States founded"? The boy said, "9-11".

15. When is a statement considered to be, "half-true" and "half-false"?

16. The heart of a lonely runner is the one that is nurtured by love.

19. Escaping a problem may be fun for you. But with certainty, you can't escape yourself.

20. Losing your life direction may be a way of finding it.

21. Only the forgiving heart can melt a heart of steel.

22. "God will not wipe away the tears we never shed. If we shed tears of compassion, it will become tears of love and of joy" - Fr. Guido Argulles SJ

23. Only the man of greed is the one who can turn dreams into spectacular nightmares.

24. If you want to see evil, look for the one who delights in separation.

25. If you want to see evil, look for the one who delights in separation.

26. An email is a reminder that once we use papers to write letters. Placed them inside envelops, sticks the collectors item called stamps.

27. The highest umbrella I can use against the sun are the clouds.

28. I pray that one day rains can wash away our loneliness.

29. "Father why did you want to become a priest?" "Actually I was rejected to become a nun so I became a priest."

30. A dictionary is always a guide to the perplexed.

31. A dog is one who considers him/herself to be a member of the family.

32. A film is around 120-minutes of suspension of disbelief.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. To Hannah Arendt, a 20th century philosopher, we live by the choices we make. Such choices makes who we are. But still I wonder, why was not I able to choose my own family? This is a human mystery.

2. We may not have a perfect life, but we can love perfectly.

3. The World Wide Web is based on relationships. Without this concept of relationships I guess the concept of the web simply collapse. I consider Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the WWW as one of the iconic hero of this planet.

4. As I have said to my students in Sociology, "You cannot resign from your family, because a family, is a family, is a family." You only have one family, that's all you've got in your one life-span.

5. Every family has a flaw in it. No family is perfect. Everyone tries to correct such flaws but such flaws keeps coming back. I guess one of the identifying mark of a family is their flaws in it.

6. When one decides to keep physically fit, one should not forget to be fit internally. Thus, we have to remove those traces of hate, guilt, bitterness about our-self and others.

7. I have been at the edge of the Catholic church, but this Sunday as I attended Mass at the Transfiguration church, it looks like it is in its music as its salvific...

8. "Prayer does not make God aware of our needs. He already knows them. When we pray, we become more aware of our own needs. Prayer is for our benefit, not God's" - Peter McCall

9. I guess the Church is going to save my soul from burning in hell through its beautiful music and songs.

10. Irma Sonnenberg Menkel is 100 years old last 1997. In an article that appeared at Newsweek, being assigned as a Jewish barracks leader at Bergen-Belsen she was able to talk to Anne Frank and saw her die. When Anne Frank was in a coma, Irma didn'...t know that she was very sick. Irma said, "[at the camp] you did not have feelings anymore. You become paralyzed." We have known the humanity of Anne Frank (continued).

11. We have known the humanity of Anne Frank. We have known the inhumanity of her captors. Irma kept this terrifying story for so many, many years. Knowing her twilight years she decided to tell a horrible past.

12. If I lose my life shall I also lose my identity? Or is my identity the only personal thing that I can leave in this disturbing and lovely planet?

13. "When we understand what love is, we realize that we give up nothing when we love. Love is not a bargain. We never lose anything when we love. All that happens is we become more lovable" - Peter McCall

14. "There can be no authentic healing without forgiveness." Peter McCall

15. We think of eternity when eternity cannot be thought of. Eternity resides in our heart.

16. It is true when Kris Aquino lied to Cory. It is never ok when your loved one is finally going to bid you goodbye. There is this infinite pain that needs to be healed by love not just by time.

17. Eternity cannot be thought of as bounded by space and time. It has no dimension. Eternity is the unworded experience of life lived in totality.

18. Eternity is life lived fully on earth.

19. A news last night that a three year old child was run over by a bus at EDSA causing her death. This makes me really sad. It makes my stomach turn upside down.

20. When one has a possibility to experience the goodness of life and it is cut short by death, I think that is a tragedy.

21. Our rage, anger, cannot bring back the life of a loved one who met the creator. This is the reason why we should mourn. We should be able to say goodbye to our loved one, that is the purpose of mourning. In a way it should help up to attain peace.

22. A friend sent this message: 1. If you can't solve it, it's not a problem. It's reality. 2) Sometimes nobody really cares if you are miserable, so, you might as well be happy.

23. Continuation... 3) Enjoy being alive. There's plenty of time to be dead.

24. Somebody told me that it is good to bring flowers when you visit your loved ones because they can see, touch and smell it. But when they are consigned to the earth nobody is going to tell you a sweet appreciation.

25. One of the amazing realization as one ages is the knowledge that one can have more fun in achieving one rational goal.

25. Digitized condemnation. In our society when a person wishes to condemn an act of one, he can go to launch a campaign via the internet and those who will join the chorus can be counted to the last detail.

27. If prisoners are said to be un-free, can they look at the sky with freedom? can they freely express their opinion? can they brush their teeth freely?

28. As a nation, do we want our president to eat in a hamburger stand?

29. Info-mercials are new to our modern world. We have to read the message or multiple messages that they are purveying. Communication experts agree on this. Now who benefits and who pays for it, that is one thing we should know.

30 Again the deaths of soldiers and so called rebels are a waste of lives. Lives that cannot be brought back. When shall the killings stop?

31. I guess the reason why babies keeps on arriving in this planet is to give hope to this planet bereft of hope.

32. I think Sen. Miriam Defensor is correct in saying on the info-mercials, "Don't force your faces on us". I think one of the best way is to turn off the TV and talk to your children. Anybody have heard, "Invasion of privacy?"

33. I have nothing against giving the public information. But when this information is burned to our consciousness without let up, my, my, I think that is too much.

34. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?

36. As we are experiencing underdevelopment, endless social conflict, corruption that becomes a collective nightmare, what we are seeing is a culture where we have no roots and sensitivity to others. We are creating rootless society.

37. "The beginning and the end of all Christan leadership is to give your life for others" - Henri J. Nouwen

38. The earth does not care for us. We have to care for the earth so that it can care for us.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1.

1. One of the best "weapon" in life is the perpetual thought that it is always possible that one can do good.

2. One of the best mornings I've ever had is walking around and knowing who I am.

3. "Do not yearn after immortality, but exhaust the limits of the possible" - A Greek lyric poet born year 5 before the Christian era.

4. I am against death penalty because society has imposed to the condemned to cease self-discovery.

5. I am very much afraid in my life finding out that I cease to become who I am.

6. I have had no difficulty mourning the passing of my father in 2001. I guess I knew and have accepted that our parent will not be with us forever.

7. Our immortality does not happen to be triggered by death. Our immortality happens in what we do when we are alive.

8. We can't argue with life as much as with death. My only wish is that it will not be painful.

8. I think grand children are the one's who build the bridges to one's immortality.

9. I love to see my grand daughter grow and shower her with everything. Why is this so? I guess we do not share a past where scores are to be settled!

10. Smoking has caused untold suffering to many. Every 3 seconds, somebody dies due to disease related to the use of cigarettes. Thus, a cigarette is a WMD, Weapons of Mass Destruction. Funny, it is available in your neighborhood store and can be purchased by high school students.

11. Non smokers have the law behind them. RA 9211 protects non-smokers from second hand smoke. Inside jeepneys, inside restaurants as public spaces, smoking is prohibited. Thus, I have declared my house to be smoke free.

12. My death figure on smoking related diseases is based on a World Health Organization data. If you want to join the anti smoking movement you can join the Framework Convention Alliance Philippines.

13. Children and youth, including adults are vulnerable to second hand smoke. Thus, a law was enacted to protect them. Isn't it nice to go home without you smelling smoke all over your body. If your workplace is still a smoking area, you can talk to your supervisor about this problem. You can assert for a smoke-free environment.

Atomic collider delayed, sorry.

The 17 miles atomic collider somewhere at Switzerland and France will be delayed in operation. Physics guys have to wait.

Tribute to Cory

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. I still remember in 1991 when Cory visited Cabiao Nueva Ecija. Natapilok sya, (she sprained her leg, as she walked at the rice field coming out from the helicopter) but still she did what she has to do, to meet with the farmers.

2. There will only be one Cory Aquino.

3. Dear Betty, thanks a lot. Cory is etched in our history. May our people and the people of Nigeria forge a strong bond of friendship. Betty Akeredolu is a friend who is battling against cancer. She is a cancer survivor. In 1986 she was studying at Iloilo. She named her daugher "Corazone" and is taking up law. They live at Abadan, Nigeria.

4. Death that brings dread in each one has a totalizing effect. Sorrow and grief is a natural outcome of this event that each one has to grapple with.

5. Cory Aquino may have not said it but it seems her BFF (Best Friends Forever) is the Filipino people.

6. We all wished that when Cory was praying, we hope we were there with her. But because of death, now, when we pray for Cory and asking to be with us, without fail, she will be praying beside and with us.

7. The lesson that Ninoy gave us is "The Filipino is worth dying for". I think as a testament of Cory's life, she was saying "The Filipino is worth living for."

8. Kris Aquno's tears at the necrological service are tears that we will understand because all of us suffered a loss. First it was Ninoy, now it is Cory.

9. I have said that death is totalizing. The Marcoses' paying their last respect to Cory who overthrew their father. This may be bizarre but this is what death can make, we should be prepared for surprises.

10. Politics is basically doing good. The premise is that people are basically good and good deeds can be done. If it can't be done, perhaps we got the idea of politics completely wrong.

11. A sprain is limiting my movement now. I hope not my spirit. My sprain recurred. I encountered an accidental trip on a rainy 16 July. The sprain left after 2 days but it returned back tonight. I am now in total wonderment. The pain is creeping when I move. I am experiencing it, observing, listening to the pain.

12. A new song of Manoling V. Francisco SJ entitled Your Heart Today run a line, "Yet there are hearts I still can't move". This can be addressed to people in the social movement for change. We have to accept that there are people that we will find difficult, like stones.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

These thoughts were written last 1 August 2009. Our beloved former President faced death for what it is. It started with a thought on number one and trains of thoughts came in. I wish to share these thoughts in this public sphere.

This was first written at Facebook and I witnessed a surprising responses from friends.

1. Journey well Cory and hug for us Ninoy.

2. Let us be given new eyes to see death for what is does to us and to our love ones. Rather end but a beginning. Rather fear but courage. Rather despair but new hope. Rather separation but solidarity.

3. Let us see death not in weakness but a growing strength. Let not grief bury us in the selfish self, in the burden of the past, the toxic bitterness. Let death put in our lips "It does not matter" and let my arms hug life for what it is.

4. Let death humble our self-centeredness. For only in life that we can understand death. For only in death that we understand what it is to live. And what is it to you when we are confronted with a fellow clothed in poverty?

5. Our parents, our loved ones will not be there forever because life and death are our ultimate destiny. Let you and I create a home where everything and nothing exist.

6. We can only understand life if we live it. We can understand death by understanding the life of the one who passed-by by using the eyes where love dwells.

7. We are responsible for what we can attain, what we can achieve and what we are given by life. And, help from others, freely given, will always be a comfort thought.

8. Have we understood our loved one, when our loved one is inhabited by a perpetual regime of need, when these need has the power of a tsunami? And this tsunami can be deadly. Remember, we all have our own tsunami in life.

9. Let us be given new eyes. Accept that life is short and uncertain.

10. As much as success is achieved, failure is.

11. Our understanding of life is limited to our understanding of death. For if we see the nakedness of death, we will see the clothing of life.

12. In life, the ultimate liberation is ushered by death. Death is total, it frees us from an earthly existence whom we are stricken miraculously. Thus, life and death is only one.

13. Since life and death are only one, its core message is "Do not be afraid".

14. As much as a birth touches us, we are all touched by death. But what happens in-between is up to us, to our choices, finally.

15. Our own mournings are simply trappings of a distant understanding and joy that is to come.

16. Perhaps Cory and Ninoy have now embraced each other, that we can only surmise or may not be sure of. But what we have now is the presence of our loved ones, whom we are able to hold hands, kiss and embrace. This is what we call the "Present".

17. In our green gate, I placed a Philippine Flag and two yellow ribbons. The monsoon winds blows the ribbon and the flag. May we learn courage as a nation to do good to each other.

18. It is appropriate that Cory should have a State funeral. Her death extricated her from Noynoy, Balsy, Viel and Kris. Cory, now, belongs to all of us.

19. Cory is likened to an un-fenced tree. A fruit bearing tree that anyone can take the fruits for free, for the tree does not discriminate identities.

20. For ten days we will be in mourning. We will be a nation in sorrow and grief. It is not just Cory's life that we are to reflect on but also we are going to reflect on our collective life as a nation. Whatever door that will open to us will be a choice we are going to make.

21. My daughter came in bringing a book "Cory, An Intimate Portrait" edited by Margie Penson-Juico. She also bought all the broadsheet paper dedicated to Cory. I took pictures of them for posterity.

22. Organizations, self-improvement books always called for us to be perfect. But we are not born with this jewel called perfection. We have our own flaws. Rather look into perfection why not just do something good to the next person who is in need.

23. There are friends who you ask to respond to you. But after a thousand years of waiting still they have not responded. What are you going to do? The late Karen Carpenter said in a song "they are friends who are hard to find."

Lost phone returned

A phone was lost at the sea, found floating, recharged and returned to owner.

Thumb 33 million YO

Look at your thumb, it might be 33 million years old (YO). Click on colored link.

Maira Kalman

If you are in New York set an appointment with Maira Kalman or buy her book, works. Google her.

Cory Aquino - New York Times

Corazon Cojuangco Sumulong Aquino 1933-2009.

Cory Aquino 76, 1933-2009

Follow the link on Cory Aquino by BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7324443.stm

No aircon, No novocaine

Some people in the US are practicing an unchiled life. Say if you have a bill of P105,080 for electricity ($2,100 x P50) what are you going to do?

Economics shape our responses to our environment.

Un-chiled life! click on colored link.

Sidney Bijou, child psychologist, 100.

Sidney Bijou, Child Psychologist, is dead at 100.

Click on colored link.

Eight Secrets of Success

Richard St. John poured years to study qualities of people who are successful. Mind you our society is inclined to achieve success than cultivate failure.

Watch TED.com Click the colored link.

Success according to St. John

Richard St. John talks about the secrets of success.

Good. But comments of the TED video clip gives us a critical view of the viewers about what is personal and and a view of a collective realm of success.

Resveratrol and the meaning of life.

Roger Cohen a writer of New York Times reflects on his life and experiments on rhesus monkeys. He traces on his father, mother and grand parents. The article somewhat struggles to explain how we live. Good reading.

Click on colored link.

Where does American money go?

Where does the average American consumer money go?

Visual Economics tells where it is going. Good graphics.

Where does Filipino money go? If they have one?

A genie being sued.

"Genies" as we know it comes from a vessel that when we shake it will come out and takes a form of human to ask us of three wishes.

In a country, a family decided to sue this "genie". Click on colored link.

Cory and a bit of history by Tony Abaya

Two Women: Cory

By Antonio C. Abaya

Written on July 08, 2009

For the Standard Today,

July 09 issue

One is apparently at the end of her biological life and has philosophically accepted it. She has in fact expressed the wish to be reunited soon with her martyred husband.

The other is almost certainly near the end of her political life, but she stubbornly refuses to accept it. She is in fact scheming to prolong it, by fair means or foul, because she believes that there is no life after Malacanang. Or, if there is, it could be in foreign exile or, worse, in statutory domestic exile in Muntinlupa.

*****

I first came face to face with Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino in late June 1985. My father had died on June 26. A few days later, Cory – a dear friend of my sister Gigi – came to the wake at the Immaculate Conception Church on Lantana Street in Cubao, to pay her respects.

Taking advantage of the encounter, I walked over to her pew, teasingly knelt in front of her and jestingly asked her “to please run for president.” At that time, the draft-Cory movement was still in its infancy. Her response, just as jesting, was a smiling rebuke: “You’re not my friend!”

But, of course, she did accept the draft in late 1985 and she did run for president in the snap elections of February 1986. And the rest, as they say, is history.

However, the results were not so clear cut. Despite the dramatic walk-out of its own computer programmers over alleged orders to fudge the numbers, the Comelec declared Ferdinand Marcos and Arturo Tolentino the official winners of the snap elections.

The slower, though more credible, tally of the citizens’ watchdog organization, the Namfrel, showed Cory winning by a slim majority over Marcos. But as the days dragged on, that slim margin became slimmer and slimmer.

With only 72 percent of the precincts accounted for, Namfrel abruptly terminated its tally, even as more results trickled in from the rural areas, traditionally the reliable bulwark of any administration.

Theoretically at least, with 28 percent of the (mainly) rural precincts still unheard from, even in the Namfrel count, it was possible that Marcos could have caught up with Cory and the tally could have ended in a statistical near-draw.

But all this became academic when Cory called her followers – mainly from the urban middle classes – to a mammoth rally in the Luneta, drawing an estimated two million supporters, and, supposedly on the recommendation of an American political adviser, unilaterally declared herself the winner.

Her self-declared victory found resonance among the urban middle classes, who were fed up with the conjugal dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda, no matter what the actual vote counts may have been.

The subsequent military mutiny led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Constabulary Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, drew sustenance from the prevalent anti-Marcos sentiment, and was actually saved from being crushed by Marcos loyalists, by the timely intervention of People Power multitudes rallied by Jaime Cardinal Sin .

The urban middle classes, some of whom shake in their designer boots whenever the R word is mentioned, should be reminded that Cory Aquino was elevated to the presidency, not by the results of the snap elections, but by a revolutionary turn of events.

That nothing revolutionary transpired during the Cory years was not the fault of Cory Aquino, It was more the fault of her political advisers, famously numbering 50, who should have known better but gave her poor advice. Such as mixing pro-Communists and anti-Communists in her Cabinet.

The pro-Communists were able to convince her to release Communist supremo Joma Sison from detention, which angered the anti-Communist military and led to several military putsches against her.

The ingrate Joma Sison, instead of being thankful to her for his freedom, went on self-exile to the Netherlands and waged a campaign to bad-mouth Cory Aquino before Europe’s generally leftist media, thus destroying her chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, for which she had been nominated in 1988.

The moral of the story is: the next time we have a revolution, it should be ideologically homogenous and not try to please all stripes of political opinion because, if it does, it would just wind up displeasing everyone. This is so commonsensical, it is a wonder no one thought of it in 1986-88.

The historical role of Cory Aquino was to dismantle the Marcos dictatorship. In this she was eminently successful, and the nation owes her a debt of gratitude for it. To her credit, Cory never thought that she deserved another term and never lifted a finger to seek it. No wonder she radiates an inner peace and the joy of contentment. ***** (To be concluded)

Let babies Make your day!

Rendition of Bach

Why Societies Collapse?

New teaching Math

Lets cook!

Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile

Time to cry, forgive.

Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile

Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile, Smile

What happens when you smile and when you not?

Click on the colored link

Sarkozy on Burka take 2

French President Sarkozy on the Burka, round of debates coming up.

How clothing can stir a debate.

President Sarkozy of France stirs a debate on the burka.

See also the different head dress.

What is that?

What is that? It is a short film that encapsulates our relationships with others, our father, our mother our loved one.

Gee, life can be simple and complicated.

But it can be over-come by what is quite familiar with us. Watch the 5-minutes film.

Weird festivals

Were you able to see a contest on who eats testicles the fastest?

A middle age man jumping over lines of infants?

Snorkeling in a bog?

Toe wrestlinng?

Weird festivals.

Thomas Friedman and the Middle East

Thomas Friedman an accomplished writer, columnist of New Your Times sometimes get his education at Facebook.

Read his analysis on the Middle East and the electoral behavior. Read how celphones, Facebook, electronic technology now available to young people are shaping the events towards democracy.

Be a follower of this blog.

Do Re Mi

Julie Andrews Do Re Mi, an interpretation.

"Life's for sharing"

This is about a surprising, constructed behavior. Watch.

Future Paris

Building a new city, down and up.

French Sarcozy's dream of Paris.

Is alcohol really good for you?

Alcohol and human body, do they really match?

Words to live by

1. Life is not fair, but it is still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job would not take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You do not have to win every argument. Agree to disagree..

7. Cry with someone. It is more healing than crying alone.

8. It is OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it would not screw up the present.

12. It is OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Do not compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you should not be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But do not worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that is not useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever does not kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It is never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, do not take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Do not save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Do not wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Do not take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or did not do.

35. Do not audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life is not tied with a bow, but it is still a gift."

Remember that I will always share my spoon with you!

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

A different car

Cars that runs on pressurized air.

Is this the car of the future?

From Reuters

Statistics to make you smile

Hans Rosling, presented once again how statistics can be appreciated.

He takes on the HIV situation in the global scenario and showed statistical visuals to provide meaning on how a phenomena like HIV can be understood.

Kaki King gives music to the world.

Kaki King, the first female on Rolling Stone's "guitar god" list, rocks out to a full live set at TED2008, including her breakout single, "Playing with Pink Noise." Jaw-dropping virtuosity meets a guitar technique that truly stands out.

English our second language

Jay Walker explains why two billion people around the world are trying to learn English. He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese students rehearsing English -- "the world's second language" -- by the thousands.

This is a TED video clip.

Debunking myths

Skeptic Society founder Michael Shermer dedicates his life to debunking myths, superstitions and urban legends, and also explaining why we believe them. Along with publishing Skeptic Magazine.

This is a TED video clip.

Chicken-a-la-carte

This is a powerful video image organized by the writer-director on a situation that started with ordering the ubiquitous fried chicken.

Click here: Chicken-a-la-carte

Web and Semantics

The stunning speed that the web internet is now approaching the speed of light.

Developers are moving from syntax recognition to semantics, the meaning dimension of the words. In the future computers will be taught to read through the words and create meaning.

The implication of this is that search engines are more adept in searching articles you want to read. This has also implications on other areas of development like travel, sports, lifestyles and other aspects of human activities.

Wonderful Nature

The relationship of bees and petals, enter velcro.

You may want to know: Air pilot get fatigue

Air pilot fatigue.

Plane pilots can get tired feeling like "drinking too much when one loses sleep".