“Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.”

“… you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.” – Efren Peñaflorida

Efren Peñaflorida receives the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year 2009 award

You can’t be proud enough! He is not Manny Pacquiao. He is Efren Peñaflorida. He may not be the King of the ring like Manny Pacquiao but he fights with a heart, determination, grit, dignity and love for his Kababayan.

Manny may have fought for the country, as he claimed but that’s too far to compare to what Efren did. While Manny fights for big money and fame, Efren fights the most devastating of foes, IGNORANCE.

Manny inspires Pinoy while accomplishing his task of fighting inside the ring where material benefits go to his pocket win or lose, Efren on the other hand, not only inspire,  he educates young people, pulls and raise them up from the morass.  He helps them to be a better Pinoy with no material benefits in return.

Efren Penaflorida INSPIRES people not to be famous and rich instead he gives our poor kababayans the CHANCE, the HOPE and the LIGHT to help them get  out of darkness called  Ignorance. He EMPOWERS them. In the process, they regained the DIGNITY that have been put aside or lost due to abject poverty.

Manny Pacquiao’s legacy may last forever and  boxing history books will be full of it but,  Efren Penaflorida’s legacy is written on the hearts and minds of those poor Pinoy kids he helped.

And heaven knows which legacy is far more important and worthy of great praises.

Mabuhay ka Efren. You are truly and definitely Pinoy!

Read CNN’s full story here and visit Efren Peñaflorida’s Dynamic Teen Company.

“We know this is going to come but we never expected it to happen this  fast and so soon,” my activist friend wrote me.

And that exactly what it was few weeks ago and it is still what it is right now in Cordillera and parts of Northern Luzon in the Philippines.

In what was previously confined in every environmentalists, activists and experts’ imagination and graphical presentations, the picture perfect scenarios of the things that are forthcoming, happened exactly the way they are presented, GRIM!

Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng efficiently delivered the GRIM message that caught everyone by surprise, right where it mattered the most, inside the houses and communities of many Pinoys.

GRIM is for helplessness, pains, hardships, agonies, tragedies, destruction and deaths. GRIM is a word to describe the effects of Climate Change which, Mother Nature wants us all to know and understand.

GRIM is a word that tells us that Climate Change is not just a buzzword or something that is written on air, on top of the  flowing waters of the Pacific Ocean and China Sea or a smoke that will disappear but rather a reality.  It is a looming catastrophe that we created and whether we like it or not, it will destroy us all. Perhaps not today or not tomorrow but surely it will, anytime.

And just like what my friend wrote me, “We know this is going to come but we never expected it to happen this fast and so soon,”

* * * * *

In my country at this very moment as I write this:  While the blame game continues, while politicking thrives, while many of those affected Filipinos are still struggling and trying to make sense out of the desperate situation they are into and, while you are scratching your head figuring out what i am saying here, you, who were spared but who have seen a lot of these devastation through the different media outlets, cell phones and internet; you, the one who is reading this, I want to ask you the same few simple questions that my activist friend asked me a couple of years ago.

Honestly, what have you done to Mother Nature lately?
Did you Help PRESERVE or did you Help DESTROY it.

You may or may not answer me by writing your comment here but just the same, thank you so much for your time. And before you go away, I am sharing with you this interesting and beautiful video. I am afraid that one day (perhaps sooner or later), everything that you will see here (including this video) might be gone forever. So, please watch carefully and remember everything.

Enjoy watching.

I do not want to tell you what you must do because I am not an expert on Climate Change but I know THAT you know what will happen.

This is my post for the Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change that is happening today.

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

Climate change affects us all and it threatens more than the environment. It threatens to cause famine, flooding, war, and millions of refugees.

Given the urgency of the issue of climate change and the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, we think the blogosphere has the unique opportunity to mobilize millions of people around expressing support for finding a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.

Sumagot ako sa kausap ko:

Sabi ni René Descartes, “Cogito ergo sum. – I think, therefore I am.”

Ang sabi sa akin ng kausap ko bago ako sumagot:

Pinoy ka nga!

madaling magbago,

madaling makalimot sa gustong pagbabago…..

Obviously,.. obviously not?

I am Just asking.

*** You click, therefore you check Rene Descartes – ito thought ko. ***

Here is my son’s take on what to do with our country’s situation.

While studying for history, I am growing more and more to the inclination of the acceptance that this country has been fucked up for such a long time now. It appears in my readings that the country progresses indefinitely.

Why? Well because sometimes it doesn’t. In fact, it appears that the only progress the country had for the longest time was Erap, which actually and really says more about the nation’s social divide, process of thinking, and star preference rather than its growth as a nation-state. What amuses me though is that the basic premise of all these screw up-ness (corruption, etc.) has been long in existence and yet, no change is happening.

Are we that stupid?

But let’s not be all too pessimistic. Maybe there is change happening, some sort of Machiavellian turn on the current system somewhere out there; something the tax was rightfully spent on as opposed to the new status quo of self-serving governance. After all, we managed to screw up this country thus far, maybe we can screw up on screwing this country too. Change has to come from somewhere, and by the looks of it screwing the screwed should not be passed up.

If the country does manage to do that, then let’s “problematize” the obvious moral degradation it will need and cause. But with the way things are, how much moral really is there? But that’s for a different day.

For now, I dare say, let’s focus on screwing up the screwed way of things. Act right. I should probably start with stopping my procrastination right now.

Medyo Related: I am a Filipino! Who am I?

Here is an interesting e-mail from Humane Society International about the journey of the endangered leatherback turtle accross the Pacific Ocean.

Watch the Great Turtle Race II and help save turtles

June 6, 2008

The race is on! Humane Society International is supporting the Great Turtle Race II, a two-week online event highlighting the epic 6,000-mile journey of the endangered leatherback turtle across the Pacific Ocean.

Having survived since the days of the dinosaurs, rare leatherbacks are now endangered. The number of sea turtles caught as bycatch each year — estimated at 250,000 — by boats fishing for swordfish, tuna, and shrimp is staggering. How can you help? Visit the Great Turtle Race website and get involved.

Eleven sponsored turtles have been equipped with satellite tags and are “racing” toward the International Dateline from nesting beaches in Indonesia and feeding areas along the United States’ West Coast. This online event will raise funds to protect leatherback turtle nesting areas in Indonesia and raise awareness about what individuals can do — on both sides of the Pacific Ocean — to help protect sea turtles through our daily actions.

I hope you will visit the website today to learn more about these amazing animals and get involved.

• Choose a favorite turtle to cheer during the race and follow her journey.
• Learn about the obstacles the leatherbacks will face along the way: fishing lines and nets, plastic bags that look like jellyfish, and changing ocean currents.
• Take the Seafood Pledge and avoid tuna, swordfish and shrimp during the race.

Together we can protect leatherback turtles and other endangered species.

Thank you for all that you do to help animals.

Sincerely,

Andrew Rowan
Chief Executive Officer
Humane Society International

Photo by: Doug Perrine/Seapics.com

I received an e-mail from an employee of the company that I hate and like, or like and hate depending on the situation I am into.

I like the company because it has given me the means to spend big bucks without having to carry bundles of cash inside my pocket. (As if I have a lot to carry around, LOL)

I hate the company because some people there were cheaters and stupid enough to spend a lot of money to contribute to global warming by wasting glossy papers just to tell all customers and prospective customers that they will bring the lucky one to the edge of the earth, which of course is a BIG LIE, A BIG LIE and THE BIGGEST LIE EVER!

And so, NOBODY won because there wasn’t any at all – A FARCE, a shameful promotional gimmick by a prestigious company!

Well, forget about the BIG LIE of the prestigious company that I like and hate. Let me just share the lines printed at the bottom page of that e-mail that says:

“Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail – Save paper.“

I tell you this made me smile today because this simple statement could or would [perhaps] make a difference.

So, let me repeat the statement  with my favorite line added to it.

Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail – Save paper. Help Save Mother Earth.

Perhaps some of you would wonder why? I know, I am always like this, magulo. But, don’t mind me please, just continue reading and please consider these:

How many sheets of paper come from a single tree?

Some Typical Calculations [Read more.]

• 1 ton of uncoated virgin (non-recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees
• 1 ton of 100% virgin (non-recycled) newsprint uses 12 trees
• A “pallet” of copier paper (20-lb. sheet weight, or 20#) contains 40 cartons and weighs 1 ton. Therefore,
• 1 carton (10 reams) of 100% virgin copier paper uses 0.6 trees
• 1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets
• 1 ream (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly!)
• 1 ton of coated, higher-end virgin magazine paper (used for magazines like National Geographic and many others) uses a little more than 15 trees (15.36)

An Urgent Problem: [Read more]

Pulp and paper production, consumption and wasting have many negative environmental and social impacts. The pulp and paper industry is among the world’s largest generators of air and water pollutants, waste products, and the gases that cause climate change. It is also one of the largest users of raw materials, including fresh water, energy, and forest fibers. Forests that are essential for clean air and water, wildlife habitat, climate protection, spirituality, recreation and indigenous peoples’ cultural survival—including old-growth and other ecologically important forests—are being logged for fiber; in many places they also are being cleared for replacement by plantations that have reduced ecological value and employ toxic chemical herbicides and fertilizers. The pulp and paper industry also has negative impacts on the health, well-being and stability of local communities. In North America the majority of paper products are buried in landfills or burned in incinerators, resulting in substantial pollution, forest destruction and major climate change impacts. Industrialized nations, with 20 percent of the world’s population, consume 87 percent of the world’s printing and writing papers.

PAPER: IT’S CHANGING THE CLIMATE [Read more]

One of the most significant, and perhaps least understood, impacts of the paper industry is climate change. Every phase of paper’s life cycle contributes to global warming, from harvesting trees to production of pulp and paper to eventual disposal. It is estimated that 42% of the industrial wood harvest is used to make paper—a sobering fact given that forests store roughly 50 percent of all terrestrial carbon, making them one of our most important safeguards against climate change. Old-growth and mature, second-growth natural forests store much larger amounts of carbon than newly planted stands and once logged, require decades to recover the original amount of carbon they contained.

Whether the tree grew in a mature forest or industrial tree plantation, climate change impacts multiply after it is harvested. The pulp and paper industry is the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases among manufacturing industries, and contributes 9 percent of total manufacturing carbon dioxide emissions. The biggest greenhouse gas releases in pulp and paper manufacturing come from the energy production needed to power the pulp and paper mill.

The climate change effects of paper carry all the way through to disposal. If paper is landfilled rather than recycled, it decomposes and produces methane, a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide. More than one-third of municipal solid waste is paper, and municipal landfills account for 34 percent of human related methane emissions to the atmosphere, making landfills the single largest source of such emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified the decomposition of paper as among the most significant sources of landfill methane.

The climate benefits of reducing paper consumption are significant. If, for example, the United States cut its office paper use by roughly 10 percent, or 540,000 tons, greenhouse gas emissions would fall by 1.6 million tons. This is the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road for a year.

Paper use is one of the greatest drivers behind deforestation worldwide. Every year, over 15 million hectares of Earth’s forests are destroyed.

“We all know I am not perfect, but I have worked hard everyday to achieve positive and lasting change for the nation,” said Gloria Arroyo.

Okay, fine, whatever. As far as I am concerned, I do not see what you are saying about the positive and lasting change. Perhaps, YES to a lasting change that benefits the few in this nation and a big NOTHING for the common good.

Yes, for the first time I believe you. You are not perfect. Who else is perfect? Even us Pinoys are not perfect. Imagine, allowing you to stay this long committing all those stupid and misguided change you said you want for us.

Yes, we all know that.

We all know that you are not perfect. Physically you have a neck and a shoulder problem. That is according to your classmate and friend (Undersecretary of something with blonde hair) from the Assumption. (I am glad, my Lola did not go along to support you.) Mentally you are imperfect too. You always seemed to have lapses in your judgment.

Who would ever forget your famous “Hello Garci” and later your “I am Sorry” for nothing.

What about the fertilizer fund and the good and bright Joc joc Bolante who wasted his life and soul serving you and your so called government?

What about signing a flawed contract with China for that NBN project? What took you so long to correct your stupidity? Why have you waited for Joey de Venecia, Romulo Neri and Rodolfo Noel Lozada, Jr. to talk? Damn goodness! How many consultants and technocrats have you been paying to make all these mistakes!

What about putting this country on top of the list of the most corrupt governments in the world? What about the human rights violations your government committed and is being committed continuously against our youth and students, the members of the press, your political opponents and most especially to the million Pinoys who are deprived of their basic needs as human beings? Are all these part of your not being perfect and these are results of your effort to put the nation in right direction?

And what else? What other things are there (tightly hidden) under your skirt?

The ongoing propaganda on TV and newspapers where you are always shown as a very kind, religious and prayerful person would do nothing to erase the truth that you are really not perfect. You really are imperfect. And you are as far as Romulo Neri and Joey Saleceda are concerned.

“I am not perfect!” You said it right!

We, the Filipino people have given so much kindness to you, your family, your friends and your allies because we know you are not perfect. This time please give us a break. Please end our suffering, the result of your being not perfect. STEP DOWN and bring with you your friends and corrupt politicians.

I do not think I am asking too much from you. I am just asking you to give back my dignity that I fought hard to keep before, during and after EDSA 1 People power revolution.

Related Posts:

• Ang Tanging Ina Nyo!
• Bayan Ko!
• The Filipino is worth dying for
• I am a Filipino! Who am I?
• Deal or No Deal
• Memories of EDSA Revolution
• Dear Ms. President
• Gloria has a dream
• About Gloria, politicians and us
• My thought zigzags
• Who knows?
  
• The people in your neighborhood
• What is politics

The Greenpeace Name-a-whale competition is now on its final round. Out of the 11,000 entries, the names are just down to 30 possible whale names.

One of the entries that landed on the final 30 is Malaya which (we all Pinoys know) means Free in our (Filipino) language.

Malaya as of this writing has one percent (1%) total votes.

The voting ends on the 30th of November 2007 at 17:00 Amsterdam time.

So please vote for Malaya. Who knows, with all the Pinoy votes from all over the world, we might have a chance to call a humpback whale that is travelling on the Great Whale Trail as MALAYA.

Do not miss this chance of a lifetime. Vote for Malaya now and get our kababayans to vote too.

Thank you for voting Malaya.

Ako ay nayayamot kay Liza Masa, party-list representative mula sa Gabriela. Napanood ko sya sa balita noong nakaraang gabi, isang araw makalipas bombahin ang Philippine House of Representative. Sa kanyang pahayag sa isang reporter ng ABS-CBN Channel 2, meron syang mga insinuations na pilit nyang inuugnay ang House of Congress bombing sa mga taong nasa poder, kesyo yon daw ang gabi na pag dedesisyunan ang Pulido impeachment complaint laban kay arroyo kaya ito daw ay paraan para takutin ang mga Tongressmen, para daw ilihis ang atensyon ng samabayanan at kung ano ano pang ek ek na walang kwenta.

Por dyes por singko naman Liza Masa, anong klaseng mga pananalita at pag-iisip yan? Alam na alam mo naman na bago pa ang okasyon na ito, nag walk out na kayong mga tinatawag na oposisyon at inabandona na ninyo ang inyong responsibilidad isang araw bago maganap ang bombahan. At saka, siguro naman may isip ka at matalino ka rin at alam mo na sa walang kwentang kongreso na kinabibilangan mo, lahat ay numbers game lamang. At kayo, ay walang bilang. In short, kahit na ano pa ang gawin nyo, there is no way that the Pulido impeachment complaint against Gloria will prosper, may bomba man o wala.

Common sense tells us that Gloria has plenty of Tuta in the Tongress and Gloria is dead sure that the Pulido impeachment complaint is weak and already dead before it even reached the house of Tongress. As matter of fact, weeks before, Gloria and her cohorts made extra sure that Tongressmen will trash the complaint by inviting these Tongresmen for a gift giving event inside the Malacanang compound.

And on 14 November 2007, the expected result was announced; the Pulido impeachment complaint lacked substance and form, the confirmation of its second and final death.

So, ano ngayon ang basehan at silbi ng insinuations mo na isa ito sa pamamaran para matakot kayo at ilihis ang atensyon? Eh sigurado naman si Gloria na makaka-isang taon na naman sya sa pinagkakadikitan ng pwet nya sa Malakanyang? Gago ba sya na bulabugin pa ang isang tungalian na siguradong-sigurado sya na sya ang panalo?

Kahit sinong tao, may pinag-aralan man o wala, maliban sa uri mo at pag iisip mo Liza Masa, ay di na kailangang mag-isip o gumawa ng kaguluhan kung alam nyang panalo na sya bago pa man ang labanan.

Only desperate persons who needed some time to delay or thwart the imminent or impending defeat do desperate acts.

Common sense lang po! Wag lang puro pa picture sa TV tulad ng mga tradpol. Naturingan ka pa namang progresibong babaing pulitiko eh bulok din pala ang kalikaw ng mga ugat sa utak mo.

Please lang, we are not all stupid not to understand what is going on. We can see things beyond the things you see and think.

Wag mo kaming igaya sa mga kasamahan mo dyan sa tongreso. Wala ng saysay ang natutunan mong stratehiya at istilo ng propaganda na lagi na lang ginagamit ng mga makakanan at makakaliwang grupo at mga bulok na pulitiko at media. Ang mga Pinoy na mulat ay di na nakikinig sa ganitong ka-ek ekan.

Sa totoo lang, hindi ka nakakatulong sa balisang mamayan at lugmok na bayan natin. Nakakadag ka pa sa kaguluhan. Mas mabuti pa, damayan mo ang mga pamilya ng mga inosenteng nadamay sa mga katarantaduhang ito.

Inis ako kay Gloria at gusto ko ng mawala sya sa palasyo, kay Erap, sa mga pulitikong pulpol, sa official na mandurugas, sa mga mararahas na pulis at militar, sa mga negosyanteng swapang, sa mga Pinoy na walang pakialam sa kapwa at bayan at ganon din sa mga taong tulad mo na imbis makatulong ay lalo lang pinagugulo ang sitwasyon at isipan ng sambayanan.

Liza Maza, kailangan pa bang i memorize yan? Gumising ka na at magpakatotoo ka!

Pahabol: Siguro bulok din ang pag-iisip ko kasi bakit ba binibigyan pa kita ng pansin.

Related Post: Jun Ducat, Cayetano, Coseteng and Ermita

I have been watching a lot of TV shows lately. I must admit that at some point, some were entertaining but honestly, many of them were just like flashes of light that after snoring several times, you can not remember what was it that you have watched.

Fortunately though, there was one (two or three more) that got into my brain cells. And thanks God, my memory is still working. I remember this song .

Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
Say, who are the people in your neighborhood?
The people that you meet each day

Well, they’re the people that you meet
When you’re walking down the street
They’re the people that you meet each day.

Who really are the people in our neighborhood? Let me enumerate few of them:

Alicia and Lovely Pascual

Weeks ago, ABS-CBN’s Nagmamahal Kapamilya featured a story of Mother and daughter Alicia and Lovely Pascual.

Alicia the mother is in prison at the Philippine Women Correctional serving a sentence for an Estafa case which she said, napagbintangan lang sya. Because she lacked money to pay for a good lawyer, she was convicted. She already spent 10 years and still counting. Her family disintegrated when she was imprisoned.

Lovely, the daughter, one of the two children who stayed in the family is now a struggling student in high school. Despite her condition in life, she is determined to finish her studies. She has been doing odd jobs to sustain her education.

The situation of both Alicia and Lovely may appear normal or a common condition in the poor segment of our society however there is some kind of twist, an ironic twist, something like you have me, but you can’t and you are near me and yet you are so far.

The twist:

Lovely’s house is just besides the correctional. From the prison’s window up several floors from the ground, mother and daughter can see and talk to each other everyday but they cannot be together physically as the great divide, the prison fence and wall separate them.

Mother’s love for her children knows no barriers; it passes through and goes out to the kids she loves.

For the last ten years, Alicia would gather food inside the prison. When the quantity is good enough, she would wrap them in plastic carefully and pass it to her children below through the same window.

Lovely has to be a good catcher while Alicia has to be a good thrower else miscalculation on both sides, may mean waste of precious food as it would be entangled at barbed wire over the fence or it will fall and splatter on the ground

Joseph Erap Estrada

The former president of the Philippines, very rich, powerful and very influential, is a convicted felon like Alicia. Although they are both criminals (estapadora at plunderer), Alicia is in prison while Erap is under house arrest in his vacation house in Tanay enjoying almost all the comfort of a free man. And perhaps, he may never ever feel, see and smell a real prison cell. (He wouldn’t! Gloria released him few days ago. What a shame!)

His children from different women will not disintegrate because they are all well off. No way they will ever be like Lovely who needs to do odd jobs to earn money or catch the food collected by his mom from the prison for her to eat.

Gloria Arroyo

The president of the Philippines, very rich, powerful and influential, is not yet in the league of Alicia and Erap. In years to come, she may or may not end like them – criminals.

Like in Erap’s case, her children will not go separate ways for survival because they are all well off too and no way they will ever be like Lovely.

Also, Gloria does not need to do what Alicia has been doing for years to feed her children and, in case she becomes a member of Alicia and Erap’s league, she probably would be enjoying her life very much like Erap. As things are going now and just like Erap, there are a lot of people around her who are very much willing to do some dirty jobs for her. For one, her husband will be there for her to say “You Back Off!”.

And do not forget Gonzales and the rest of his kinds.

What would you do if Gloria and Erap are your neighbors? Just asking.

Note: This is one of the many posts I kept as draft for quite some time. My unposted items are becoming like a series of spam mails that needs to be cleaned up.

I received a WHALE MAIL from Greenpeace the other day. It was about Name a whale contest. Personally, I believe that coming up with a great whale name is worth your time, effort and creativity.

My entry for this contest is The Green Earth Whale. A fellow Filipino – Rain Cafirma from Ilocos suggested “Nam-nama” which according to her means “hope” in her native dialect.

If you are interested, please check the whale profiles here . To give you an idea of what others have suggested as the name of the whales should be, please click here.

Here is the full text of the Whale Mail:

Hi!

Do you have a great name for a great whale?

We just launched the ‘name-a-whale’ competition and before we could email you about it, over 100 people have already visited the website and suggested possible whale names.

Pamela from Ireland thinks the name Saoirse (soar-sha) would be a great name for a whale because it means ‘freedom’ in Gaelic. Lindsay from the US wants to name a whale Ali’ikai as it is Hawaiian for ‘Queen of the Sea’. Allison from Brazil would like a whale to be called Rafaela which is her daughter’s name and Gustav from Denmark chose the name Asger after his best friend. Whilst Andi from Indonesia feels that Khanti is a great whale name as it means ‘patience’ in Indonesian.

Other names suggested are Riya, Picasso, Fred, Lola, Melville, Felipe or Lucky.

Do you have a great whale name? Click here to enter your whale name in the competition.

Whale location update:

One of the whales from the Cook Islands has traveled 1,500 km (about 930 miles) to American Samoa. Will the whale begin to head south now or travel onto Fiji, another 1,000 km (620 miles) to the west? Check out the map to keep up to date with all the latest whale travels.

Thanks,
The Whale ‘Tag Team’

Good Luck and Happy Weekend to everyone. Maraming salamat po!

Today, October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind – the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. - Blog Action Day

In my own little way, I am posting here my simple sketch that says something about our environment. This is my little contribution to this unique endeavor. I hope you get the message.

Sometimes I wish I was conscious about our environment since birth. In being so, I would have avoided adding burden to Mother Earth. But with its current state, I’d rather dream that I have not contributed to its destruction. One way or the other I did because I opened my eyes a little bit late . And we all are guilty, somehow.

Related Post: Letter Written in the Year 2070

Everything that happened and anything that is going to happen in our country, there is always someone out there who calls the shots and whatever actions or directions he or she takes, the whole nation is affected. Whether we die sad, we die happy, we live comfortably or we live miserably, our chosen leader without a doubt brings us somewhere.

For decades, we have seen many leaders come and go. These so-called leaders, past or present, has brought us from somewhere to nowhere and as always the condition in that nowhere often changes with time. And that is from bad to worst.

The latest development in the senate has proved once again that our politicians and our government officials are just out there for themselves and that their main concern is to protect their interests.

One thing is clear to me though. THEY NEED MORE MONEY TO create POVERTY, HARDSHIPS and DEATH to its people whom they say they want to serve.

I wish I could write an out of the box powerful open letter to our leaders and politicians. I wish I could make a song out of it and sing it too like Pink.

But I am not Pink! I am also unsure if I can still carry a tune without getting angry. So, I would just let Pink sing the song that she wrote for the President of her country.

Dear Ms. President, wherever you are, this is for you too and I hope you are listening.

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let’s pretend we’re just two people and
You’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
They’re all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know nothing ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You’d never take a walk with me.
Would you?

This song goes to you. You needed some cookies and I have given you mine . Yes, I know that you are the cookie thief but I do not mind. I just have to understand that you are and accept you for what you are.

I wish that you, as this song says, “Just look into your heart my friend” and listen to it. “That will be the return to yourself. The return to innocence.“ Do not be afraid. “Be yourself don’t hide.”

Enigma – Return to innocence

I hope you like it and you get my message very clearly. Happy days ahead of you.

Simply me,

Kulas

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Enya – Only Time

Who knows? Only time… Who knows? Only time…

Few minutes after my tennis game last Friday in the ongoing All Filipino Tennis Tournament, a Kabayan approached me. He told me that I could probably be the right guy who could give him tips on how to invest in U.S. stock market.

I have no idea where he got the information that I am connected to this type of service, that I could be of help and the right guy. Am I?

While resting and enjoying my sweet victory, he enumerated with passion the reasons why he is interested in investing in the U.S. stock market:

• he learned from his friend that investing in stock market is one sure way to make money.
• he has some cash that he can use to play in the U.S. stocks.
• he too can do what his friend does – making money from U.S. stock market. “Kung kaya nya, kaya ko rin.“

Few minutes have gone by, notwithstanding my not-so-encouraging remarks, I noticed that the guy is hell-bound, este hell-bent on following his friend’s investment tale. The idea that he can make money easily on stock market is so great that (I presumed) his clear thinking is overwhelmed by his emotion. Being the case, with this type of investor (as always), no amount of logical explanation will suffice and whatever rational discussion is just a waste of time.

Without dampening his spirit and me, avoiding the typical side comment “na suplado mo naman, parang di ka Pinoy“, I, true to the form of a modern day hero and who, like all other super heroes out there with a mission to save the human kind from evil forces on earth, I had him my one hundred percent, full-proof recommendation that is Garantisado and Aprubado!

My recommendation: Invest your money in McWhortle Enterprises.

This company has, for the longest time, never failed any of the potential investors in their quest for happiness in stock investment adventures.

I am sharing with you here some interesting facts about this company which I took from their official website to support my recommendation above. I have underlined the salient points for you to read and analyze carefully as well. Please click the link to the company’s website at the end as this maybe your chance of a lifetime to learn something.

About the Company

McWhortle Enterprises was created 35 years ago by Thomas James McWhortle, III. The company markets exclusively to the world’s largest corporate enterprises, providing the best protection from all terrorist bio-hazard attacks. So confidential are its products that major corporate customers have asked that McWhortle not reveal their names. Suffice to say that they all involve multi-country operations in areas where security is a must.

Pre-IPO Investment Oversubscribed!

McWhortle Enterprises has had to stop accepting investors for Stage 1 of its Pre-IPO investment after the program was over-subscribed by nearly 200%. Because of the enormous demand, we will, for a very limited time, accept new investors into this program.

The Stage 2 share price means that current investors have already made an average 217% annualized profit! (Dividends have been excluded from that calculation.) Bidding is now accepted for Stage 2 of the McWhortle Enterprises Pre-IPO offering. Estimated share value is approximately $10, which will, upon conclusion of the IPO offering in three (3) months, be worth more than 400 times the initial investment.

To bid on these shares, you must quickly e-mail us the number of shares you wish to purchase, together with your major credit card number and social security number (for identification) so we can reserve your slot.

More About McWhortle Enterprises

To increase production capacity to satisfy anticipated demand levels, McWhortle Enterprises is, for a limited time, offering a small number of prudent, thoughtful people the chance of a lifetime to invest in this ground-floor opportunity.

With major financial backing from a top-tier investment banking firm (the name of which will be revealed to those who invest), McWhortle easily raised in its January initial public offering the $64.2 million dollars it needed to build additional production capacity.

Those lucky few who were able to invest early in this venture pre-IPO saw the value of their investment increase by many multiples overnight. Yet opportunities still exist to get in on this unbelievably good opportunity, before the Bio-Hazard Detector is released to major chain stores throughout the United States. Your investment in McWhortle stock is absolutely guaranteed to at least triple your investment.

For more information visit McWhortle Enterprises’ official website.

MUNI-MONEY:

In my long years of meeting and talking to almost all kinds of prospective investors, I could tell, even without asking the typical blah blah blah questions like investment objectives, the risk and etcetera, that the guy is an Aunt Millie type and a potential and willing scam victim.

Why? If you are following his statements, it is very clear that he has no clear idea of what he is going into except that he learned from his friend and that he can do it also like his friend. It is also very evident that what is driving him to invest is based on emotion, and not based on careful study using whatever mental faculty he has.

A good, prudent or intelligent investor does not believe easily on someone else’s incredible tales and usually does the thing they call due diligence before and after taking his money from his pocket. For all we know, “our guy or our friend” is just boasting but in reality never put his money where his mouth is.

As they say, “when it is too good to be true, it is 99.99 percent untrue.” Chances are, it is a SCAM and you will be SCAMMED if you allow your emotion to bring out the greed in you.

Somewhat related: A stock that could make you a millionaire

Twenty-four years ago yesterday, four gunshots were heard. Then, shouts and commotion followed. Amid the chaos, two persons lie dead at the tarmac of Manila International Airport. One was Rolando Galman, the other, a bullet pierced through his skull, was Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, the man who said,”The Filipino is worth dying for.“

source:http://www.youtube.com/user/AquinoFdn

IF ONLY, we understood well and took these words of Ninoy, “The Filipino is worth dying for.“, into our hearts and minds, perhaps, our country would have been the greatest nation on earth. No Filipino would ever equate his or her worth to pieces or bundles of these.

Tags: ninoy aquino, pinoy, Filipino, Philippines, August 21

Kahapon, nakatulog ako ng maaga at naiwanan ko ang aking TV na nakabukas. Siguro pagod ako o siguro boring ang palabas ng TFC. Pwede ring maganda dahil meron itong calming effect na nag induce para makatulog ako.

Sa kalagitnaan ng gabi, ako ay nagigising. At habang dahan dahan kong iminumulat ang mga singkit kong mata, napabaling ako sa palabas sa telebisyon.

Oras na pala ng Bandila at ang ipinakikitang news clip ay ang pagwasak ng labing-walong smuggled na sasakyan sa pag-gamit ng backhoe. Ito raw ay para sa walang kwentang anti-smuggling campaign ng Bureau of Customs.

Nakakatawa o nakakainis, matapos mawasak ang mga sasakyan at maipakita sa buong madla ang destruksyon, nagtalaga ng bantay ang Bureau of Customs with shoot to kill order sa mga taong gustong kahuyin o magnakaw ng ang mga skrap o pyesa na pwedeng gamitin at ipagbili.

Hindi ako eksperto sa batas ng customs o kung papapaano ito ipinatutupad sa mga kontrabandong bagay na nakumpiska ng ahensya, pero malinaw sa kin na sinayang lang ang mga ito. Para saan? Para sa ano? Palabas na walang kapararakan.

Habang sa tuwing ang mga kababayan natin ay nag dedemand ng mga basic services na dapat na ibinibigay sa kanila, ang karaniwang sagot ng mga tao sa gobyerno ay SORRY, NO FUNDS AVAILABLE pero heto, kahit saan silipin o kahit sino man ang tumingin, malinaw na pera, sinayang lang. Tulad sa kanta ng mga bata, “lumipad lang ang lobo, kung pagkain sana ang binili ko, nabusog pa ako.”

Pinipilit kung wag ng isipin ang rason sa pagwasak ng mga sasakyang ito pero umuukilkil sa aking maliit na utak na iisa lang ang gustong ipabatid ng Bureau of Customs, “WHO NEEDS THE MONEY ANYWAY.”

Sa dulo ng balita, sinabi sa report na the government fell short of their announcement that it would also destroy 14 other luxury cars due to unresolved legal issues. Have they come to their senses or someone powerful tells them to stop?

Only God and they know the answer.

Bago matapos ang balita sa Bandila, unti-unti namang bumabalik ang aking antok. At habang bumibigat ang aking mga mata, sumagi sa isipan ko ang mga kababaihan na kababayan natin na ngayon ay nasa pagkalinga ng Bahay Kalinga na pinatatakbo at pinamamahalaan ng Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) dito sa Riyadh.

Ang mga kababaihang ito ay mga distressed OFW’s, karamihan ay kasambahay na tumakas sa mga malulupit, abusado at mahigit pa sa hayop na amo dahil sa maltreatment, sexual abuse or non-payment of wages. Sila rin ang isa sa mga segments ng mga OFW’s na gumagamit ng AXE at Charlie cologne at mag-aamoy air freshener ka daw pag gising mo kung katabi mo ang mga ito sa eroplano, na tinukoy sa lathalang “From Boracay to Greece” ni Malu Fernandez, ang hayop sa lakas ng bilib sa sariling matabang babae, isang irresponsible at mapanlait na kolumnista ng Manila Standard Today at People Asia Magazine at may paniwala na ang panlalait nya sa mga OFW’s ay “acerbic wit“.

Sa kasamaang palad ang acerbic wit na ito ay kinonsente ng editors ng Manila Standard Today at People Asia Magazine.

Sa kasalukuyan, mga 106 ang bilang nila na nagdurusa at naghihintay kung kailan darating o umaasa na lang na darating nga ang kanilang repatriation tickets mula sa OWWA. Habang walang kasiguruhan ang mga tickets na ito, patuloy silang magdurusa kasabay ng kani-kanilang mga asawa, anak, kapatid, magulang at mga kamag-anak na nasa Pilipinas.

Kung hindi lang sana gago ang mga taong nag-utos sa pagsira ng mga smuggled na sasakyan at bagkus ibenenta na lang ang mga ito at ipinambili ng repatriation tickets, maraming distressed OFW’s ang makakauwi na at makakasama na ang kanilang pamilyang nawalay sa kanila ng matagal.

Hay gulay, madaling araw na naman! Habang hinahatak na ko ng aking antok at hinahatak ko naman ang aking kumot, naisip ko bakit kaya malupit ang mundo sa ibang tao? Bakit kaya may mga gagong opisyal ng gobyeno, may mga taong katulad ni Malu Fernandez at may mga lathalaing tulad ng Manila Standard Today at People Asia magazine na hinahayaang maglabas ng mapang-lait na panulat?

Sino kaya ang may kasalanan o sino ba ang dapat sisihin? Meron ba o wala?

Pero kahit ganito kadilim ang aking pag-iisip, Masaya na rin ako dahil marami sa ating mga kababayang blagista ang hindi pinalagpas ang kalokohan ni Malu fernandez. Masaya rin ako, dahil kahit sa maliit na paraan, marami pa ring OFW’s ang marunong magmahal sa kapwa at walang sawang tumutulong sa mga kapos palad nating kababayan.

Dahil dito, meron pa ring ngiti sa aking mukha. Dahil kahit ano man ang mangyari, alam ko masarap maging PINOY. Ito ang dala ko sa aking pagtulog kagabi.

This is for you BIG ot Malu Fernandez from an OFW with wit and common sense.

Malu Fernandez is a columnist of The Manila Standard Today who had an article in People Asia Magazine titled “From Boracay to Greece“. This article smacks of bigotry, discrimination and elitist view of OFW’s “being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.“

In her response, she claimed that “the magazine got a few e-mails from people who didn’t get the meaning of my acerbic wit.“

Malu Fernandez is an unknown entity (in the net) until bloggers took notice of her bigotry. Google does not show any informations of who she is except now; all of which are from posts of Pinoy bloggers who are mad about her insensitivity and stupid view of OFW’s.

For more informations, please visit the following:

• Tingog.com
• SUPILIN SI MALU FERNANDEZ NG MANILA STANDARD TODAY
• Malu Fernandez – WordPress
• Malu Fernandez – Google

Tags: Malu Fernandez, Manila Standard, bigotry

Notice (24080330hrs): I believe that we have said what must be said and we have expressed what must be expressed to the the woman who caused us hurt. And perhaps, she already learned her lessons the hard way.

This blog has been very open and liberal in accepting all types of comment because this blog does not believe in any forms of censorship BUT, as well-meaning bloggers said, there are other actions and other ways to let them know our sentiments. So, I am now closing the comment box.

Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat. Mabuhay ang mga OFW’s at lahat ng Pinoy sa buong mundo.

Let us all move on.

So you are too busy. You barely have time for yourself. As always, time is not enough for you to do all the things you need to do in a day.

But hey, will you please stop for few minutes and do something very important to yourself starting this very moment today and every month onward.

Please check your breast. I repeat, please do check your breast. I am pretty sure this won’t take much of your time.

If you can’t do it or too busy, some horny guys are available to do it for you for free. If you cannot trust them, let me do it for you. Will you?

You may call me crazy or whatever but before you do that you might as well continue reading. I am sure you will thank me afterwards. If not, so be it. After all, they’re your breasts and not mine.

Please check this link for the easy step-by-step guide for  Breast Self Examination or watch this video here.

I beg you, please find time to do the screening yourself regularly. Sure, it would take a little of your time but it will …!

Now you decide.

According to reports, Philippines is the country in Asia with the highest incidence of breast cancer.

I AM HAPPY because Father Giancarlo Bossi is finally released. He may have his normal life again.

I felt extreme sadness for the families left behind by the soldiers who, somehow, indirectly paid their lives for Father Bossi’s safe release. They may never have their normal lives again.

I admire Father Bossi. He is human enough to cry for those dead soldiers. As he wept, he felt responsible for their deaths. Us, many of us do not even shed a single tear. We seemed to be as heartless as the kidnappers, the extremists, the communists, the politicians and most of our government officials.

I envy Father Bossi for his courage and love for our countrymen. Despite the ordeals that he went through, he never thought of anything but to be with the people of Payao. “I want to return to Payao to greet my people, tell them that I am well and above all embrace the children again. My heart is and will remain in Payao. They say that a priest must also be a father and so as the father of my community it is my duty to return to my people, to my children”. He wants to serve them again if his superiors “permit him” he will certainly “return to Payao: as soon as possible I will be among my people again”.

I am ashamed. Many among us would rather leave our country and get another citizenship when things in the motherland get rough. Given the worst circumstances that Father Bossi had been through, how many among us would stay?

I am angry. Most of our so-called leaders and politicians treat our own people as mere political objects that they can use to achieve their selfish motives the same way as the extremists or kidnappers consider father Bossi and the people in the communities they operate.

I am tired! Tomorrow, Gloria, the so-called president of our republic will have her SONA (State of the Nation address also known as Same Old Nuts Again) again. And while she goes on with her 99% re-hashed lies and litany of broken promises, the so-called oppositions and leftists along with our poor people will fight it out in the streets where civility or peaceful means is unknown and human brutalities and chaos are the norm.

After the mayhem is over, many among our own people will go home angry, wounded, humiliated and empty handed while their so-called leaders are all over the T.V. , their big mouths wide-open, full of lies, hate and non-sense (same egg as SONA), their faces still fresh, unscathed and no sweat at all. This has been the same way many times over – with the same cry, the same color, the same violence, the same smell of rot, the same bankrupt ideas or ideologies. again and again.

A question: Who has got the love that Father Bossi has for our own people? Well, I guess, many of them are not in the streets nor in the comfort of their homes or offices. They are definitely with the people who they love to serve.

Related Posts:

• Gloria has a dream.
• About Gloria, the politicians and us.
• Story with no end: Karen and Sherlyn
• Honey, I am home.
• Cry Me A River
• Fake Plastic Trees