| CARVIEW |
During my recent hibernation, as I was browsing through my cable movie channels ,I happened to catch the latter half of the movie The March of the Penguins. This award winning documentary film chronicles the poignant saga of the penguin’s quest of fulfilling nature’s sacred and unwritten rule – the preservation and propagation of the specie. Every specie on this earth is innately programmed to propagate its own. The rites and rituals can vary in many ways, sometimes strange and inexplicable, much like the landlocked North American salmon that die once it has spawned. But we humans are touched when we see animals such as the lowly and sluggish penguin exhibit strikingly similar social and emotional characteristics as us.
The penguin mating scenario is highly unusual. In the midst of the extremely cold and icy environment penguins trek to the high ground and choose their partner for the mating season. It may look shockingly promiscuous to us humans but the relationship albeit temporary is a monogamous one where both partners exhibit genuine dedication to the mission of propagation, the caring and nurturing of their offspring. Father and mother penguin take turns to feed itself and bring food for the young while one of them does the baby sitting. It may take days or even weeks for the partner to return from the hunt. In one scene in the film, a baby penguin dies of cold after a harsh winter storm when the mother wasn’t able to provide enough body heat from her bosom. Distraught at the loss of her young, the grieving mother tries to snatch a fellow mother’s baby whereupon the rest of the penguins intervene and quell her indiscretion in her moment of insanity. It is amazing how such display of love and affection can touch the human heart. The reproduction ritual happens annually in the grueling sub-zero temperatures between fall and spring. The weather, lack of food and ample shelter are the rude challenges to the penguin’s tenacity and unflagging energy.
One might be all praise and awe at the penguin’s character but there is an astonishing twist which happens the tail end of the breeding cycle (14-16 months). At this stage, their offspring are now bigger, still sporting some fur in their bodies but clearly hale and able to ambulate on their own. As soon as the ice breaks exposing the sea and the sun starts to light up the gloomy skies of the frozen land, the mother penguin who at this stage takes responsibility of feeding the offspring begins to manifest a bizarre character. As the chick grows bigger and incessantly harass mother penguin for food, the latter becomes severely overworked with the non stop demand and the stress triggers a defense mechanism , that of self-preservation. The adult penguins begin to rush to frolic into the open sea feasting on fish, swim across to the other side of the water, unmindful and oblivious of their offspring. It is at this point that the adult penguins sever their ties with their offspring permanently, behaving as if the latter never existed. The adult penguins appear intent in moving on to a new page in their lives. They would look forward to another mating season where they would select another partner and start the reproduction cycle again. The young penguins are left to huddle amongst themselves. They begin to jump into the water to learn to swim, hunt and fend for themselves. They are now responsible for their own survival. The mother penguin’s task is fulfilled. She had propagated the specie and brought her offspring into a stage where it can survive on its own. The penguin like most animals is not subjugated to a life-long task of caring and sustaining their offspring. The “unburdening” phenomenon does confirm to a some extent the functional, sensible and equitable design of nature’s intrinsic life cycles and processes. The unburdening also makes every member self-reliant thereby creating an animal kingdom that moves collectively and predictably towards its expected life cycle.
One may ask the question – why is it necessary for every animal to survive on its own ? Why has mother nature programmed animals this way? Is it because their brains don’t possess enough intelligence to organize a family unit and rely on each other for survival ? The penguin kingdom seems to function flawlessly with every adult penguin taking care of itself and every mother penguin supporting its young. Is it possible to envision a penguin kingdom with mother penguins supporting their adult offspring? What would such kingdom look like ? Such penguin kingdom is non-existent because it is not the blueprint of mother nature. If young penguins do nothing to support themselves after their parents leave they would die. That would be tragic and the recipe for self destruction. The survival of the specie is in peril. Are we humans any different than penguins in terms propagating and preserving our specie ? At what point in our lives do we tell our offspring – you are on your own ?
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Jobs – isn’t this what everyone yaps about these days, politicians, businessmen and proletarians alike ? Jobs, jobs, jobs seems to be the theme of every candidate of any political stripe these days. Elect me and I WILL CREATE JOBS. Jobs is the magic word. It is supposed to be the catalyst that sparks economic growth. Create more jobs so that more people can have money to buy goods and services and enhance their quality of life and yes, pay taxes lest we forget. Taxes fatten the government coffers. Robust consumer spending makes corporations profitable. The pattern becomes a virtuous circle. More taxes allows the government to modernize public infrastructure creating much needed jobs. Corporations tend to expand and increase production output as the result of increased revenues, hiring more workers in the process. This is not what I am blogging about though. We all know that jobs can be created with the proverbial albeit controversial government stimulus spending. We also know that corporations never stop finding ways to invest in new products and services to spark consumer spending. What disappoints me is when jobs are to be had, people start bitching about the environment – pollution, carbon emission and what not and the holier than thou amongst us start bitching about the social consequences of jobs, its long term psychological effects on people, on families…yadada. Try constructing an oil pipeline these days and you would be bombarded with endless criticism from die hard evironmentalists, accussing you of endangering the planet by inviting a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions in event of an accidental spill. Try building a casino complex with the intent of employing thousands of people and you will be met with stiff opposition from the holier than thou crowd, accusing you of potentially destroying people’s lives and breaking families apart with the culture of gambling. Try buying modern, quiet, energy efficient small jet planes to replace noisy and sluggish propeller planes to improve service of a small airport by a downtown lake and you will be accused of polluting the environment. So where the hell are we going to get these much needed jobs to stimulate the economy, if we can’t compromise but bitch and moan and oppose every proposal because of our lofty ideals ?
FINDING A JOB
It is not impossible to find a job these days. What is difficult is finding the right job with the right pay. It is even more difficult when we lose our good paying jobs. Finding a job with the same salary becomes a real challenge. Most people hate the idea of starting again. Talking about Pinas now – how many well schooled people do you know who simply gave up of finding a job just because they don’t have the fortitude of starting from an entry level salary ? How many people do you know who can’t find a job on their own and rely on other people to find a job for them ? How many people do we know who simply gave up on the idea of supporting his own self become totally reliant to family for the rest of their lives ? How many people waste money by going to special courses upon finishing decide to stay at home, waiting for jobs to come to them ? How many people dream of working abroad yet never had the guts to try working to gain some experience ? If you can’t mingle and work with your compatriots in your own country, what makes you think you can easily work in another country with a different culture, a different language ?
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Last holiday season we got invited by a family friend to a Christmas cantata at her church. After the wonderful evening of singing with a great choir and watching well produced skit plays we had a sumptuous dinner at the house of one of our close friends who were likewise invited to the event. What a great way to end a wonderful and memorable event for all of us. Memorable in the sense that beyond the usual perfunctory yuletide theme of peace it packed a message that surprisingly kindled a spark that lingered a bit longer, certainly longer than the exit from the car park ā let peace begin with me.Ā With the tragedy of the massacre of the innocent children of Sandy Hook still fresh in our memories, how proper and fitting the message could be, as if shaking you up and saying ā why donāt you do something ?Ā Come to think of it, are we not sick and tired of all the gang wars, drug wars, religious wars and all the violence and senseless killings that never ever resolve anything ? Ā And hey, I will not be arguing about control here. Where I live I canāt own a handgun unless I am a member of a gun club nor a rifle unless I have a license to hunt. These licenses arenāt rights but privileges subject to passing mandatory government safety courses and extensive background checks. I can only carry my handgun when I travel from my house to the gun club ā nowhere else. I have no right to lug the gun around for self protection. Perhaps numbers could speak for itself. The metropolis where I live with a population of some 4M has less than 100 murders in a year. This could sound laughable, but my wife and my ex-wife (if I had any) will have to affix their signatures of approval on my application for a firearm license. Absence of such approval with result in rejection of the application.
Governments and religious fanatics who live for prophetic fulfillment are the main reasons why the killing continues. It somehow justifies their existence, of protecting people from the imaginary evil that supposedly lurks everywhere threatening to take over. Maybe our brains could overpower the machinery that perpetuates this paranoid thinking. Maybe we can focus on minding our own business, be less adversarial and be a bit more patient, tolerant of the simple mistakes of others. Maybe we could be less envious and hateful of the success of others. Maybe we should stop feeling too special demanding extra attention from others. Maybe we could tame our egos and start mingling with people and genuinely enjoy their company. If I start behaving this way, I could probably make my home and workplace a bit more peaceful
Hereās one man who started a simple handshake to an enemy of his countryā¦
OK, letās just say that all of us are gullible victims of information technology in that 8 out of 10 we donāt really need the gizmos and gadgets that we possess right now. It is nice to own a smart TV but it is not nice when you shell a grand for a middle of the pack model. The same goes with our personal computers and laptops. They become near dinosaurs in 3 years only to be packed in a balikbayan box and sent to a relative back in Pinas so we can justify buying a new one . How many of us would love to lay his hands on a neat Windows 8 touch screen laptop these days but cringe at the high price. Well, thereās good news from the open system world. For 60 bucks or even less – if you chose to buy from China via Ebay and save on shipping charges- you could score an Android PC on a stick and beat the crap out of the smart TV and at the same time have a PC that could provide your basic computing needs ā multi-media, browsing, email, document creation and decent gaming. Invest in a decent 20 inch HDMI monitor, a cheap 4 port USB hub, a webcam and you can build your own set top box that will allow you to do everything the PC does, including watching movies from online streaming services. Add a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to give yourself mobility to hop on your large screen HDTV in the living room and convert it into a super smart TV
It is utterly shocking to learn that women could be banned from wearing trousers in Sudan. In Egypt, women resort to the use of fake hymen to “restore” their virginity before marriage so their future husbands don’t divorce them. The re-virgination is also a way to prevent their very own family from embarrassment and avoid the dreaded and feared “honor killing” on them. The Egyptian government wants to ban the product and punish those who import and sell them to the public. We Pinoys cringe at the thought of such restrictive and oppressive practices of other cultures and pride ourselves with the freedoms we enjoy in our country. Yet for a long time we harmed ourselves the opposite way, by our government’s inaction and lack of political will to confront the most serious threat to our country today, the problem of overpopulation and its tragic consequence of poverty. At last, after more than a decade of debate, the RH bill is finally put to law. There is reason to rejoice. The approval of the RH bill in both legislative houses is an epiphany, a profound pronouncement to the world that Pinoys live in the present and not the medieval times. The approval is well timed to complement the country’s plan towards economic prosperity. Today, Pinas’ economic numbers are solid and the country is now an acknowledged emerging “Tiger Cub” economy of Asia poised to break out in the next 3 decades as the 16th largest economy in the world. The government needs to create a long term plan to ensure that the momentum gained is maintained and sustained in the long haul.
THE CHURCH AND STATE
There is no doubt that a large population creates a strong consumption economy but it is only strong when such population collectively contribute to “creating” the economy and not becoming a wholesale encumbrance, a liability to the government. Creating human beings isn’t the goal. Rather, creating human beings that won’t wallow in abject poverty and sub-human conditions should be the goal. A country’s exploding population that outruns economic growth exacerbates poverty. At some point it has to slow down, not totally stop and prudent population control strategy is the right approach. The RH bill will provide the much needed sex education to prevent teen pregnancy and help parents right size their families, to that which they can financially support. This kind of strategy is a necessary ingredient to any country’s social program, that is if such country believes that it no longer exists in the medieval times. It took 14 years for the bill to get passed. In the the end the state was able to sail through turbulent waters – the church’s incessant meddling and fear mongering. The reason for the separation of church and state in the constitution is express and unambiguous – to guarantee and maintain the secularity of government in the context of democracy.Ā In short, the law of the land not the law of religion is in force to rule the country. Unless we are prepared to run democracy with its core principles intact, we better return it to the Americans.
RH BILL MOMENTS
The RH bill created a passionate debate amongst Pinoys where the pro and con supporters take a stab at the issue whenever they can, sometimes in a humourous, satirical fashion. I watched Ann Curtis diss Andy Eigenmann who in the movie A Secret Affair played the role of the slutty woman who was desperately trying to snatch lover Derek Ramsey from her – “ I wish the RH bill was approved long time ago so a slut like you could have been prevented to come into this world “. It sounded a tad gaudy and clumsy but hey, we hear the point 
Of course who could have missed that Iskul Bukol moment in the Senate when Sen. Sotto, a staunch opponent of the bill, asked what he thought about contraceptives for men said “ Is there such a thing ? If so then it’s the women’s turn to protest about it “ I have never been a fan of Sen. Miriam Defensor. This pugnacious and scrappy lawmaker, an outspoken supporter of the RH bill, is an acquired taste for most people but I thought she put the kibosh on the accusation of heresy when she compared herself to Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th century astronomer whose theory that the earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around as believed by the Catholic church was condemned as heretical. Science proclaimed Copernicus’ discovery to be true, years after he posited his theory. Copernicus body was reburied in 2010 and proclaimed a hero 500 years after lying in an unmarked grave. He was never given a Christian burial because the church denounced his work until the day he died. You can trust I am with you on this one Miriam And who could forget Cong. Manny Pacquiao, who said that the 2 minute slumber he experienced from that Hulk Hogan punch courtesy of Marquez made him appreciate the sanctity of life even more, hence his NO vote for the bill. He obviously forgot the Incredible Hulk punch he delivered on Ricky Hatton’s head in 2009. It laid the poor guy motionless on the mat for 4 minutes. 
LOSING WITH DIGNITY
In the aftermath of the bill’s approval, it is not uncommon for people to be disappointed when the result isn’t what they expected. But that’s the essence of democracy lest we forget – the rule of the majority takes precedence. The CBCP is extremely upset with the result. How dare the flock lend a deaf ear to its leaders ?
“I never thought of losing, but now that it’ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life”.Ā Muhammad Ali
Perhaps the bishops and cardinals must ask themselves the question – why have we failed ? What did we do wrong ? The result is crystal clear. It is not Pnoy nor the legislators. The church has clearly failed to connect with its people. In retrospect, the church, along with its anti RH bill supporters trumped their chance to win with their lame, fear mongering tactic of labeling contraceptives as abortifacients. In a way, they shot themselves in the foot with such idiocy. This scare tactic was meant to garner support from the bottom of the social ladder, the impoverished and the most ignorant among us. Contraceptives are already legal and available at the pharmacies to those who can afford a doctor’s prescription. When the government proposes to make contraceptives available to the poorĀ – freeĀ to those who cannot afford, all of a sudden they’re abortifacients ! Since when ? If they are dead serious about their abortifacient pitch, why not lobby to take these pills out of the drug store shelves NOW ?
The CBCP’s call for civil disobedience and the exhortation to Catholic voters to defeat the pro RH politicians in this coming election is a clear violation of its statement of faith, a throwback to its mission as mediator and pacifier of men and a clear insult to the democratic processes and principles it must uphold, respect and promote. It is tragic that the church has engaged in the game of dirty politics to compensate for its shortcomings. It has failed to understand that genuine faith has to come from the heart – not coercion. Sadly is has behaved like the church of the days of the Inquisition, intent to destroy and burn those who contradict its views. It has refused to accept defeat in a democratic exercise blaming the heretics for the failure and not itself. Poor loser is such a heavy word. There is dignity in defeat. My wife’s response to the RH bill was bluntly simple – ” they could enact any law they want but the decision still rests with the woman, right ? ”
Archbishop Tagle said it best :
“It is tragic and unfortunate but we do not take it as a defeat of truth for the truth shall prevail. We call on all Filipinos to work towards healing, and journey together humbly and justly as children of God.“
Now that’s the mark of a truly enlightened leader. I wish there are more church leaders of his mold.
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I was speculating that the 4th fight with Marquez could be another yawner like the Bradley fight, where the Pacman rested like an exhausted bull for 2 minutes then gored Bradley with impunity in the last minute of every round. He did damage but the strategy failed to impress the judges, at least 2 of them. It was untypical of the Pacman DNA, where he is known to gobble up his opponent at the sound of the bell. The last minute barrage strategy was a bit of a surprise. The Pacman was clearly conserving his strength with such economy of movement. Might it be that he was nursing his inflamed calf which had been bothering him with cramps in the late rounds since Mosely fight ? With the Bradley fight, the Pacman fought good enough to win on points but the strategy was plain unimpressive, so un-Pacquiao like that the perception altered the already precariously Alzheimer-laden brains of 2 elderly judges to full dementia. It was a gross decision. It was like – “well, he didn’t, look like Manny Pacquiao at all so I gave the win to his opponent” kind of thinking.
The 4th fight with Marquez
In the judges’ book, Pacquiao was winning the fight until the lucky punch in the 6th round. It was startlingly vintage Paqcuiao out for a quick kill and looked well on his way to exact a stoppage on Marquez. Perhaps the Pacman wanted to end it early because he didn’t want the leg cramps to bother him in the late rounds. Had it gone for 2 more rounds, Marquez, who looked like he was fighting on pure instinct because of the punishment, could have been a goner had he not served the asteroid like punch. But that’s boxing and I admire the Pacman for being a gracious loser. A lucky punch can happen as long as the clock is still ticking. It’s not over until its over. Is Pacquiao’s career over ? Not quite in my opinion. Although the KO was devastating, it wasn’t like the Hatton loss. Hatton was overpowered and totally outclassed by Pacquiao from the opening bell. Hatton retired because he found out he couldn’t compete with the best, the elite of boxing, being KO’d by both Pacquiao and Mayweather. Hatton better quit giving lame advice to Manny to hang up his gloves. Give Pacquiao the respect he deserves.
TO FIGHT OR NOT TO FIGHT
Manny Pacquiao has to do some serious soul searching for his next step. Only he knows his body and skills best. The hunger for revenge for his wounded pride must not be the sole determinant to a go fight decision. I disagree with him when he said that “boxing is my job and what I do for a living“. Not quite. Being a member of the congress is his day job lest he forget. With his new found faith, he should not make a mistake of etching the inspirational Philippians 4:13 verse (I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength) on his back or boxing trunks like what mindless other boxers do. Knocking out your opponent’s brain for fame and fortune isn’t glorifying God at all. At this point in his life where he had seemingly accomplished his boxing goals, Manny should convince himself of the true reason why he needs to continue or quit fighting. It has to be for his and his family’s sake – not the fans, not Freddie Roach nor Bob Arum.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is defined as “an act or instance of closely imitating the language or thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of the author’s work as one’s own, as by not crediting the original author”. Sen. Tito Sotto’s pertinacious refusal to apologize for allegedly plagiarizing quotes of U.S. president John F. Kennedy to embellish his senate speech on the pitfalls of contraception was for the most part, consistent of his understanding ( or misunderstanding) of what plagiarism means. Sotto explained that he took some ideas from the article, put his own spin on it, expressed the thought in another language hence no longer a instance of the original, therefore the act does not necessarily smack of plagiarism. He further added that the owner of the article should be proud because ” imitation is the highest form of flattery”. Not entirely wrong, woefully out of context but can’t argue much at such Iskul Bukol logic can you ?
With the proliferation of the internet these days, people are quick to fish for knowledge from huge data bank of information available at the click of their fingertips. How are we going to effectively filter or sanitize to the tee the originality of information supplied to us ? There are net tools available to audit plagiarism but should we waste our time sleuthing the source of every info we receive ? We really shouldn’t if all of us adhere to the decorum of respect and professionalism by giving credit when credit is due. Squabbles and wrangles about plagiarism is such a distressing scene and has no place in the halls of our legislature such as the Phil. Senate, where professionalism and respect is held with the highest regard and where every member must adhere and comply and maintain the dignity of the esteemed institution beyond their personal gain and convenience.
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I am back after a long recess. My brain is a little rusty. The reason for twiddling my thumbs and procrastinating for my comeback post was insanely simple ā I couldn’t drum up a good title. I am serious. One thing I’ve learned is that a long lay off makes you lazier to write. Maybe the excellent summer weather or the relocation of my office to another city had to do something with it. I had such a terrific summer that I couldn’t muster enough gusto to write. I am disappointed that I could only whip up a measly 10 posts or less this year. Driving 1.5 hours one way ( more depending on traffic) may have contributed to my remissness. My early morning ritual at the driveway is like going to an excursion or fishing trip. My laptop bag, gym bag for the workout , lunch bag plus the usual 3 fruit a day combo, my holy trinity of fruits ā banana, apple and orange – my tall coffee mug filled with extra large brewed java, a breakfast to go cereal bar takes me a couple of trips back to the house before finally slamming down the trunk of the car. At the height of summer I would have to throw my golf clubs in the trunk every now and then. After work a short trip to the driving range or a quick 9 hole at late twilight ( 5pm) at the nearby golf course extends my work day until sunset, except that in summer the sun sets at 930pm here. I had to watch TV too. Blogging had to take a back seat.
It’s autumn , getting a little colder therefore things move a little slower. No more golf, no more fishing, no more picnics, no more backyard bbqs. People seem to have a bit more time to recoup and focus on things they have missed during the busy summer season. You see I have a whole slew of topics I’d like to blog about but they’ve been sitting idle in my smartphone’s memo pad for months. I have no excuse for not having any ideas to blog about. It’s just plain laziness.
WARRING POLITICIANS
When I did my last post in April, Barack Obama was president. I was kinda speculating that in my comeback post he might not be the president and a republican would take over. I’m glad Obama won. I’m not American so I can’t vote but Barack Obama bailed out Wall Street and that’s the reason why I still have a job. I work for a Wall St. bank outside the US of A. Like the US auto workers who were bailed out by Obama, I would have no second thoughts of voting for the man. If he saved my job – he gets my vote. Prove me figging wrong – or can you ? No brainer eh ? Politicians fulfill the saying – you cannot establish a reputation by telling people what you are going to do. Yep, all the crap talk and the lies included. I shake my head knowing that Mitt Romney unequivocally opposed the bailout of the auto industry, yet in his campaign he trotted around GM, Chrysler and Ford counties asking for their votes and promising the world – a glaring testament to the two-facedness of politicians at its best on display here.
Now that Obama got re-elected, the republicans are saying they need to imperatively work with the president to fix the worsening state of the fiscal cliff. Hello, what were they doing 1 year ago ? Of course, refusing to collaborate, doing everything to stymie Obama’s plan so he will look bad and lose the election. As usual, partisan politics takes the front seat and the country’s ills relegated to the back burner. Democrats and republicans need to compromise to get things done. There are democrats whose principles are a little bit left of center just like republicans who are a bit right of center therefore a compromise isn’t a distant possibility contrary to what people think. Could the ultra right facist party ever compromise with the ultra left communists ? See what transpired in Greece when both parties had a face off in front of public television. No wonder why Greece is in the doldrums , in a state of malaise as we speak.
A HAIRY SHOW
Here’s a case of a woman who was so brutally honest when asked at a live TV game show, what different parts of her body she could apply a shave. The question is borderline vulgar and tawdry for it could lead you to your anatomy you’d prefer not to talk about. But, yeah – a win is a win, and darn it, push them to their wit’s end and they will find a way to snatch the booty.
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Austerity was the most searched word in 2010 according to theĀ Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Not a real surprise because the global community was at the crest of an economic crisis short of the Great Depression that year and ordinary folk may haveĀ encountered the word “austerity measures” a little too often both in both print and TV media. Austerity comes from the root word austere which means “rigourously self disciplined and severely moral”. When applied to economics, it translates to ” financial belt tightening”. In short, if the house is in severe financial stress it needs to cut expenses to pay off a mounting debt. Everyone must make a sacrifice by spending less, curtailing whims and spendthrift habits, holding off on unecessary purchases to keep the books in order. The government being the catalystĀ of the economy must keepĀ its financial houseĀ in even keel amidst the tempest and austerity measures isĀ a provenĀ recipe to keep it afloat . Politicians are known to act slow on austerity measures for fear that reducing expenses and social services would ruin their approval rating and therefore risk not getting re-elected. When people are pissed with the economy, they show their vengeance at the polls. Take the case of Greece. It is so unbelievable that the country was going bankrupt if not for the Europen Union bailout that saved it from doom. The bailout wasn’t without strings attached though. The EU demanded that Greece shrink the size of its government, reduce expenses by a certain percentage to keep its book in order else the bailout won’t be granted. Citizens who feared losing their government jobs or pensions took to the streets and rioted, burned buildings, cursed their politicians and demanded a status quo – no changes. It boggles my mind how people react to dire situations. How in the hell can you get out of bankruptcy if you don’t give up something ?? This reminds me of a quote of Albert Einstein ” We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them ”
PINAS
Enter Pinas. Do we ever complain – burn buildings, stage riots because we are fed up with the government ? Do we ever punish politicians at the polls ? No. Why ? Well, first of all there are millions of us who are either freeloading with relatives or engaged in the underground economy and don’t pay taxes and never get any service from the government – so why give a rat’s ass anyways ? And, we don’t vote for performance. We vote for emotional reasons – we like the person or the family name – period. At the end of the day, our elected politicians possess that sense of entitlement to do anything they want while poverty increases and guess what – we just keep quiet and suffer in silence. Austerity ? We know what that word means. We’ve been stretching it out for many decades now. Who needs social services when we have family to bail us out ?
GREED
Last week, a strange event happened. Air Canada pilots surprisingly called in sick instantly stranding a total of 90 flights. Thousands of passengers missed their flights. Many people were aggravated because missed boat cruises, weddings, funerals, vacations tours – name it. Luckily, no one ran amok and burned a plane to the ground. A month ago, many passengers got stranded at the Toronto airport because of a walkout by the baggage handlers. Why do people take their union vs. management battle at the expense of the paying public ? I don’t understand it. These aforesaid walkouts are blatantly illegal and the government doesn’t seem to have the appetite to punish these unions. Greed and selfishness. As long as their wishes are met, they don’t care about the consequences of their actions. Unions are supposed to follow the rules of engagement when it comes to staging a strike. Yes, you have to provide a notice of strike – not just walk out of the job and aggravate the public who have nothing to do with your beef. Screw Air Canada. An hour more I could drive down to the Buffalo Airport in NY State and take my flight from there. And it will be a lot cheaper.
BORING AMERICAN IDOL
I don’t know about you but I find this year’s edition of American Idol very boring. I can’t seem to get glued for 2 hours on the Wednesday show. I am inclined to watch the Thursday episode to find out who gets booted out. This year’s finalists, good singers as they are, don’t possess that much needed charisma. The contestants have serious personality issues. In my opinion, only one of them – Philip Phillips possesses the personality to qualify as American Idol. He’s got a pretty good voice too but mimicks Dave Matthews a lot. If he’s booted out I may lose interest in the show.
When we coin an odd sounding term like āEducation Policeā we immediately conjure thoughts about the state and itās cane wielding cops chasing after truants and drop-outs, making sure they get back to the classroom. In a communist regime perhaps but as we all know, communism is no longer cool these days, if not totally dead. In this era of global democracy where people have the liberty to educate themselves to their own liking, the idea of Education Police unexpectedly sprung up in democratic South Korea on a completely different mission ā to prevent students from killing themselves from studying too much. In the land of Hyundai, Samsung and LG, competition for good jobs is tightening up that families are willing to bet their houses so their kids can get to the elite universities. Shades of Pilipinas eh ? You canāt get a good job in Pinas nowadays if youāre not from the elite schools . I heard stories of security guards rejecting applicants right at the door if theyāre not elite school graduates. Tough competition like Korea except that we donāt have global giant corporations like Hyundai, Samsung, LG to show for. We are twice as many in numbers as the South Koreans making jobs even harder to find. In short, weāre behaving like the South Koreans but we donāt have the industrial infrastructure to show for and we are increasing our population with total abandon as if hoping that one day, mannah will fall from heaven to quench our hunger and thirst permanently. I am completely befuddled by people who totally miss a crucial point in the population control debate, that in order for a country to be progressive, it has to produce a population of potential taxpayers and not freeloaders, wanderers and hobos.HAGWONS
Now that Iāve made my spiel 
, back to the issue. The Education Police was formed not by design but by force of circumstance, when the South Korean government discovered that students are spending too much time studying, going to āhagwonsā ā special tutorial academies – often times past midnight, so they could hone their brains and make it to the elite universities.The government became concerned of the stress and the health risks such an overload would induce to the students. The Education Police rove about the city, making sure that hagwons comply with the 10pm curfew set by the government. They even knock on doors and get inside the hagwons to ensure that students arenāt overstaying. The South Korean education minister is promising a reform, making education an enriching and enjoyable experience, not an ordeal. Perhaps he should make a trip to Finland to investigate how its educational system, touted to be the best in the world, works effectively with less stress and less classroom time.
“Ever since Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million that does not start formal education until age 7 and scorns homework and testing until well into the teenage years, scored at the top of a well-respected international test in 2001 in math, science and reading, it has been an object of fascination among American educators and policy makers.”
Interestingly, the Finns, in their own unique style , did justice to the term ā less is moreā. Kids start school at age 7 and finish high school at 16, spend 4 hours in school, remove their shoes inside the class and call their teachers by their first name. Finnish teachers are very well schooled and trained , considered consummate professionals, equal in esteem and income with doctors and lawyers. The Finns have shown how quality education can be achieved smartly ā less cost to the government, less stress to the students and parents, more time for everyone to enjoy life. Obviously the model wouldnāt work in every country especially those whose education systems are mainly driven by private enterprise but if it is a benchmark of exellence it is worthwhile emulating, at least parts of it, if we are serious in making a difference to the future of our children.
PASSION FOR EXCELLENCE
Parents are obsessed with turning their children into potential Einsteins so that their kids can go to the best schools and attain the highest academic degree and last but not least, so they could brag about them It is not surprising therefore that brain enhancing products, and Iām not talking about drugs but revolutionary techniques in enhancing brain power and memory skills, proliferate the internet market these days. Want your kid to multiply 3 digit numbers in a jiffy ? With special brain enhancing techniques, it is doable ā so they say. So your child turns into a whiz kid with a terrific memory – does that make him/her genuinely academically superior ? Or has he/she found an amazing operational short cut method that beats the traditional system? What Iām saying is, if you can multiply 385 by 604 in your brain within 5 seconds, you better make darn sure that you are also able to do it by long hand. Our passion for excellence may have precariously turned into passion for excellent grades ā thatās the scary part.
GUARANTEED EMPLOYMENT
This boy is only 9 years old. Heās Japanese and youād be wondering if his parents will ask him to quit guitar playing, push him to the limit so he could make it to the elite school and land a job at Toyota, Sony or Mitsubishi Industries Heck this little guy at 7 years played lead guitar for Ozzy Osbourne at a concert! This kid is plain freaking awesome. Look at the Oz carrying him on his shoulders while heās belting off the riff to Crazy Train. His parents need not worry about employment for this kid. When he reaches 14, heād be getting job offers for a lead guitarist like you wonāt believe
There are times when we dread changes, especially those we can’t control and we are faced with a decision to opt out or bite the bullet. One such life changing event is when your office decides to move out of town and you are given the choice to tag along or part and seek employment elsewhere. The company promises a hassle free departure, without prejudice much like uncontested divorce, should you decide to part – so they say. Commuting 100kms return daily could be a bitch but your hands are tied when you’ve spent many years with the company. You could jeopardize your retirement in case you decide to leave for the sole reason of convenience. I have to make a crucial decision. I sure will my miss my express train and my crossword puzzle ( need to print the online version now ) I would be spending on gas this time, a bit more than my monthly train pass. But I could look at the positive side of things. I may miss my downtown walks and gigs with my officemates but I would be working in the suburbs where the air is fresh and golf courses are mere minutes away. I won’t need to pay for parking at the train station and bundle up myself from head to toe in winter. With a good jacket I could just climb into the heated comfort of my car and drive to my office. As they say, you can’t have everything you want in life. It is always a balancing act between the pluses and minuses. We shall see.
Our office celebrated our last Chinese New Year dimsum at our downtown location a few weeks ago. It’s been our annual ritual for decades. We have quite a number of Chinese folk in our division. Next year we will have to look for a suitable venue at the suburbs. Speaking of Chinese New Year, I am quite surprised at the way Pinas celebrates the event nowadays. It is so prevalent everywhere. Is it the manifestation of respect for the Chinese economic power in Pinas ? Heck, without Chinese industry and business acumen we would be in the doldrums right now. Kudos to Sy, Tan and Gonkongwei for keeping the economy afloat When I was growing in Pinas, the celebration was quite subdued, confined in Binondo with not much funfare in the media. BTW, did you watch the Pinas episode of Anthony Bourdain’s famed No Reservations culinary/travel show ? The first place he visited in Pinas was the Binondo Chinatown. Kinda odd to think that there’s nothing in Metro Manila we could show our culinary culture to the world other than Chinese food in Chinatown. I am not insinuating xenophopic notions now but Bourdain didn’t have to travel leagues of miles to sample a dish he could taste in his Hongkong episode or even in his home backyard – New York Chinatown 
They say Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic are the most difficult languages to learn, requiring about 88 weeks or 2,200 class hours to attain proficiency. That’s three times the time required to learn Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italian. A buddy of mine emailed me these phrases with their Chinese translations
Great – Fa Kin Su Pa
Stupid Man – Dam Fuk
Small Horse – Tai Ni Po Ni
Staying Out of Sight – Wai Yu Kum Nao
Did you go to the beach ? – Wai Yu So Tan
It’s Very Dark In Here – Wai So Dim
I bumped into a Coffee Table – Ai Bang Mai Fu Kin Ni
See Me ASAP – Kam Hia Nao
You Turn Me on – A Wee Pak Yu
No Longer a Virgin – Malou Wang
THE MAYWEATHER CIRCUS SHOW
Nope, this post isn’t about the highly anticipated Pacquiao-Mayweather fight which has now tragically turned into an ugly circus freak show. The clash of egos between protagonists and promoters alike made this fight of the century more of a soap opera than a sporting spectacle of the highest degree. Enough of this nonsense. Enough of Mayweather’s stupid ego. Enough of Bob Arum’s greed. Enough of Pacquiao’s meekness. I am a Pacquiao fan but it’s about time Manny quit the priestly, pussy talk and throw back garbage for garbage. Case in point, when Mayweather proposed a $40M guaranteed purse to Pacquiao but with no share of pay-per-view sales and other revenues which is tantamount to highway robbery, how did Pacquiao respond to the ultimate diss ? Pacquiao said ” How can he leave me out of the pay-per-view when I generate more than him in pay-per-view sales ? I am still praying that he gets enlightened because I believe I am not being unreasonable”. Ugh.. WTF ?? Are you praying so you could knock his brains out ? You really want results Manny ? You really want to fight him and make your millions to your satisfaction? All you need to do is tell him on air ” Shut the fuck up you coward, ugly monkey Floyd Mayweather. Get into the ring with me you son of a bitch and I’ll beat you up like you won’t believe”. Calling him a coward might just rile him up and climb in the ring with you. If not, at least you said your piece and we know that you are not pussyfooting and you want war. Enough of this “ it depends on my promoter yadadada..“. We need to know where you really stand – period.
We could come up with hundreds of motivational quotes on happiness, talk and rationalize about them our entire lifetime but one thing is sure – each of us would have already dealt with the pursuit of happiness on our individual , unique ways from the moment we knew we existed. There are times when we would be in a state of quandary, not fully understanding what happiness really means, more so when abrupt, life changing events punctuate our journey. As we move on in life, happiness increasingly behaves like a variable not a constant. Often times it is gives us the illusion of being perpetually elusive and unreachable, much like a Shangri-la. Happiness is like a chameleon that perhaps we can’t precisely define what it really is but we can certainly experience what we may call our personal versions of it.
āHappiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existenceā …Aristotle
This sounds so amazingly simplistic and it does pack a big punch. Do I have the right to my own individual happiness ? No ifs and buts about it – you bet I do, much like everyone else. How about people who curtail if not abandon their own personal pursuits and aspirations for the sake of others, loved ones most especially, so that they could be happy ? Have they missed the real purpose and meaning of life ? An example would be the dude who works overseas in a western country, perhaps even illegally, lives in a cramped rented bedroom and thrives on cheap canned food so he could send all his earnings back to Pinas so his wife and kids could buy a new car and take tours to Hongkong and Singapore. I bet you many would say ā itās noble, commendable, inspiring, etc.. The dude is doing a noble thing indeed. But if his family has any clue of what gratitude means and really care about their father, they should rid of the selfishness, make good use of the stipend received to improve their lives, finish school, get jobs and extricate themselves from the dependency bind expediently so that Dad could take a break and enjoy life himself. If happiness is indeed “the meaning and the purpose of life and the whole aim and end of human existence”, Dad shouldn’t be the sacrificial lamb. If his family truly cares about him, he shouldn’t be the oxen pulling the yoke his entire lifetime carrying everyone in the family until his last breath.
YOU’RE RICHER THAN YOU THINK
One of the local banks here devised an interesting ad that sort of inspired a lot of people The ad says ” you’re richer than you think “. It is not a ruse meant to delude people but the catch is quite simple. It encourages folks to visit any of their branches for a quick financial consultation and credit worthiness assessment. It is clever way of getting people, especially the un-initiated, strictly cash folks to get in debt and stretching the limit of those who are already in debt but have good credit history. Some people are surprised that they could get a loan beyond their expectations
āWe tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.ā Frederick Keonig
Most people acquire things so they can genuinely enjoy them. Some however spend money buying things so that they can show off. It is logical to conclude therefore that the lesser friends and neighbors you have, the less obsessed you would be in acquring stuff to boast about 
I know of people who openly and unbashedly declare that they are not living a happy, fulfilled life because they haven’t attained what they long wanted and dreamed about. You’d be surprised that when a person vocally expresses such frustration for an unfulfilled dream it has to do more with satiating the ego – in short, ego tripping. The consequence of living in frustration is bitterness and we all know that bitterness kills because it generates negative energy and gradually erodes and destroys the remaining good vibes that is dwells in the person. There is nothing wrong with dreaming but happiness naturally comes forth when we start to appreciate, enjoy and cherish what we have.
THE GRAND ESSENTIALS FORMULA
If we couldn’t define happiness at least would could probably identify the ingridients that constitute happiness. In my private moments I always mull about the things that make me consistently happy that if I have them all the time I would stay mentally and physically healthy. I try to focus on me and reduce my dependecy and expectancy on others. I’m a person that has taken care of my needs well and expect others, my loved ones included, to do the same for themselves. But we always fear the loss of our happiness because the element of uncertainty acts like a dark cloud of doom threatening to cause turbulence, making our journey so unclear. As one saying goes ” The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will beā.
“The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for… Allan K. Chalmers
If happiness has a formula the aforesaid quote may just cut it, not quite to a tee but perhaps close enough because it somehow trumps the uncertainty encumbrance. Happiness is relative. It matters not if you haven’t got fame and fortune as long as you have something to do, something to love (it doesn’t say someone) and something to hope for you could be a happy man. Since these three conditions are essentials, just like a recipe or a formula, if one ingridient is missing the entire concoction does not work.
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