My Journey

World War III is a battle to preserve humanity from those who would like to completely destroy it

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 12:49:00 +0000

If it's the game of chess, nations are now key-positioning their pieces for a duel. No matter how well the game may be played and won, in the end it's a loss to humanity. A nuclear war would make our planet inhabitable for at least a thousand years.

I had just finished reading a news article about the latest conflict in Gaza between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants when I decided to write this post. It seems like every corner of the world today are in a state of chaos, not to mention the brewing conflicts or disputes in other parts of the globe that are feared to become major military flash points. The world, as things went, is on the brink of a great disaster.

The Syrian civil war, which already took more than 150, 000 lives, is now on its fourth year. Northern Iraq has been laid hostage to an extremist group called the ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Then there’s this plane crash of a Malaysian jet liner carrying almost 300 passengers thought to have been shot down from the ground with a Soviet-made missile held by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine’s eastern front.

China has become more assertive than ever in bullying and occupying territories of neighboring countries. North Korea is always a threat to the free world. The US is wary of Iran which it feared may be possessing weapons of mass destruction. Libya is showing signs of instability and might blow up anytime soon if security concerns there are not properly addressed.

Japan, India, and the rest of the South East Asian countries are building up and strengthening their military in preparation for a possible armed confrontation with China. Australia has considered about bolstering its submarine warfare capability to deter China’s growing navy. The only thing needed now is who would fire the first shot.

World War III is just around the corner. But as a human being, you have in your own hands the power to either prevent it from happening or to allow it. You must remember that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, as what Edmund Burke puts it, is for good men to do nothing.

Why are Israelis and Palestinians fighting against each other?

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 07:11:00 +0000

The latest conflict erupting in the Middle East between Hamaz guerillas in Gaza (Palestine) and Israeli forces is nothing new to us. Both historical and biblical accounts claimed about a feud between closely-related races of people coming from a partly the same lineage yet cannot seal a peace deal with each other once and for all.

The main reason for the conflict was land. Palestinians accused Israelis to have illegally taken and occupied their country. But it may have also been for a much deep-seated reason: Battle for dominance or rivalry.

Coming from the same Abrahamic bloodline

Israelis and Arabs are, in fact, cousins coming from the same Abrahamic bloodline. Abraham’s first born was Ismael through Hagar, an Egyptian maid servant. It was Abraham’s wife Sarah who instructed him to produce a child for her through the Egyptian maid servant as she was barren and, at that time, already old. And so Ismael, the father of the Arab nations, was born. But as the boy grew up, Sarah felt jealous of Hagar and hers son and so she sent the two away.

The birth of two nations

When Sarah was 90 years old, a miracle happened to her and she conceived in her womb a child. She gave birth to a son they named Isaac. Isaac had twin sons named Jacob and Esau. But they are twins who are very different from each other. Esau was a ruddy, hairy, energetic hunter while his twin brother Jacob, on the other hand, grew up to be a soft-spoken, rather conservative sheep herder.

Isaac favored Esau over Jacob because he would always have something to bring home from his hunting activity. But Sarah liked Jacob over Esau. When the two grew up to become young adults, Esau sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob in exchange of a bowl of red bean stew that he cooked. And not only that, Jacob had stolen, with the help of his mother Rebekah, Esau’s blessing from their father Isaac.

Esau was away hunting when Isaac called on his favorite son so he could bless him. Isaac was already very old and couldn’t see anymore. Rebekah took up Esau’s coat then and instructed Jacob to wear them. When Esau returned from the fields and upon learning that his brother deceived him, he was very angry and vowed to take his twin brother’s life.

The anointment of Israel

Rebekah sent Jacob away to his relatives in Haran. And while Jacob was on his way on a long journey to his mother’s place of origin, he reached a certain place by which he decided to spend the night for. He took up a slab of rock to serve as a pillow. But as the night went deeper, he was dreaming. He dreamed about a stairway to heaven with angels going up and down.

And just before the break of dawn when he woke up from sleep only to find out that he was already wrestling with a heavenly being. Jacob suffered a broken limb as a result of that but continued to fight yet until he prevailed. The heavenly being he has come to wrestle with pleaded to release him before sunrise. But Jacob demanded the heavenly being that he would bless him in exchange of his release. So he blessed Jacob and even changed his name to Israel.

Israel’s 12 tribes

In Haran, Jacob married his two cousins Leah and Rachel by whom he bore many children with. He also bore children with his wives’ handmaidens Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacob had a total of 12 children who became the twelve tribes of Israel namely: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali.

The term Israel only came to exist after Jacob. His father Isaac should not be called Israelite nor of his grandfather Abraham who came from the land of Ur in Mesopotamia area either. The term Jews should refer to the descendants of Judah, one of Israel’s sons.

10 lost tribes of Israel

Descendants of the 10 of Israel’s sons (also called the House of Israel occupying the northern kingdom) had been lost in the mists of history. They are called the 10 lost tribes of Israel. Bible scholars thought that these 10 lost tribes of Israel were mixed up in the nations emerging in what is now the modern Europe.

Israel then has only two tribes left: The tribes of Judah and Benjamin who were also called as the House of Judah occupying the southern kingdom with Jerusalem as the capital city. Esau’s descendants, on the other hand, occupied the southeastern most portion of Israel with some parts now belonging to present day Jordan. Most bible scholars would refer to Esau, whose name was later on changed to Edom, as the progenitor of the Turks.

Israeli diaspora

The Israeli diaspora began when the kingdom of Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah in 6^th century B.C.E. King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian ruler, ordered the destruction of the First Temple and took with him as many Israeli prisoners of war as he could take and as well as in the series of conquests by another powerful kingdoms after Babylon. This was how the Israeli population was scattered throughout the many parts of the world. Right after World War II, Israelis from the many parts of the globe decided to return to their homeland to rebuild it.

Are we now heading to the Straight Path of Aquino’s dictatorship?

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:52:00 +0000

"Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others."—Niccolo Machiavelli

President BS Aquino's contentious stand against the Supreme Court is to show of what is a lethal combination of ignorance and arrogance. The Supreme Court has declared his Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional. Does the end justify the means here? The end here is unconstitutional, and so was the means.

The president is supposed to respect and protect the constitution of the Republic of the Philippines with a presidential form of government wherein power is equally divided among its three branches: the executive, judiciary, and legislative.

His bribery to some of the senators and congressmen in exchange for the impeachment of former chief justice Renato Corona was a classic example of usurpation of congress’s power by a president. He was using the DAP fund for that campaign.

The best weapon of dictatorship, as what Neils Bohr puts it, is secrecy, but the best weapon of democracy is openness. What president Aquino does in secret, he will insist to be right and for the good of the people when exposed. Transparency is what the Filipino people (whom he called boss) want no matter how good his intention as president.

His Tuwid na Daan (Straight Path) advocacy would have been most sincere if it was aimed at prosecuting corrupt government officials--they may be an opposition or an ally--and not for his personal or political vendetta. Ironically, he was even defending some corrupt government officials because they're allies. If he insists so that he will become someone who is above the law already, then goodbye constitution. Goodbye democracy.

Longevity is a choice and a decision

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 16:14:00 +0000

A vegan diet is the best diet. God instructed the first human beings in the persons of Adam and Eve to go vegan (Read Genesis 1: 29). Meat as food was only introduced after the Great Deluge in the time of Noah when all the green things were destroyed in the face of the Earth. Noah and his family had to wait until the plants start growing again so they could have them to consume as foods.

Diet matters

There’s a big difference in the life span of people living before the Global Flood and after that. Before the destruction of the whole world with water, people lived longer lives than the ones who came to live after. The difference is in the diet. Methuselah, the oldest human being to have lived at 969 years old (Read Genesis 5: 27), was eating the vegan diet in his entire life.

Moses, who was born in the post deluge era where meat has become an accepted food, died at 120 years old--a far cry from what was Methuselah’s almost a millennium.

But what about the vegans of today, would they also live for centuries because of their diet? I’m sure most of you, if not all, would disagree.

Longevity to consist many factors

Longevity is caused by a lot of factors and diet is just one of them. The human DNA may also play a very significant role. The human being may have been designed to have perfect DNA infused in the systems of Adam and Eve. Inbreeding may have caused for the genes to mutate and to represent less of what was the original with each generation. And as the human DNA becomes defective, it turns against itself. So that’s why there’s aging, degeneration, and decay in human beings as well as in other living organisms.

The climate may have also been a factor. Before the Flood, the Earth experienced no rain. But water comes out of the earth to water the plants. It was only during the actual flood that the Earth experienced rain for the first time. The atmosphere during that time may have been protecting the people from harmful cosmic radiation that can cause genetic mutations and abnormalities.

In Daniel 1:12, the choice of diet also brought best results. Instead of taking a portion of the king’s food to eat and wine to drink, Daniel has chosen the vegan diet. Daniel pleaded the head of the eunuch to only give him and his companion pulses to eat and water to drink in ten days period as an experiment.

Conclusion:

Vegan diet, moderation in everything, clean environment, healthy lifestyle, and living in righteousness--these and more--are the key to longevity. You may not live like Methuselah, but you would surely prolong your life a little more at that.

Why is China making waves in the East and South China Seas?

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 11:35:00 +0000

Regarded as the world’s second largest economy and with a growing military might, China is on a clear display of arrogance and conceitedness against her neighboring countries. She’s the one provoking tensions and her bullying tactics not only multiplied her enemies but also unite them all against her.

But why is China doing this? Is she out of her mind? Why is she grabbing territories based on a bogus claim? The so-called 9-dash-line claim of China is actually a work of fiction. What do China really wants?

SEEKING ATTENTION

China wants the world to recognize her as a super power state. She wants to feel how it’s like to belong in the top powerful nations of the world. She also wants to create fear among the smaller, weaker neighboring countries.

SHE'S DOING WHAT SHE'S REALLY GOOD AT--PSYWAR

The problem with China is that she won’t officially declare a war. We’re at war with her already. Her illegal occupation of our remote islands should be considered an invasion, or what else do we like to call it?

SHE ASSUMED THE WORLD WOULD CONSIDER

Chinese leaders think that the world would tolerate or allow her to do what she likes. She thinks the world needs her more than she needs the international community of nations. It wouldn’t come as a surprise though--that way of thinking.

PLAIN STUPIDITY

China is, unfortunately, governed by closed-minded leaders. And what can you expect out of these leaders? Plain stupidity is the main thing for them. I would like to make it clear that we’re not against the Chinese people here in general. But some of her leaders blemished it big time for whatever good reputations she had been keeping.

EXPANSIONISM MINDSET

It’s just a cover up for what is actually an act of greed. China wants to acquire more to sustain her growing domestic needs. If she can’t feed her people anymore, she will implode. Her house of cards would be revealed then.

CONCLUSION: No matter how much China is willing to spend to upgrade its military she will never ever surpass or even equal that of the U.S. Her peaceful rise as a nation depends much on her attitude. She must learn to respect if she wants to be respected; respect begets respect. Or she can do what she wants and take full responsibility for the consequences of her actions.

Philippines celebrates 116th Independence Day

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:07:00 +0000

Asia’s first republic, the Philippines, celebrates its 116^th Independence Day today, the 12^th of June. It was first declared in Kawit Cavite with General Emelio Aguinaldo as the first president. The Philippines has finally been freed from over 300 years of Hispanic rule. It was made short lived with colonial America taking over the islands.

Filipino-American war erupted until the capture of Aguinaldo by the Americans. The Philippines became America’s possession. During World War II, the Philippines served as America’s long standing, strategic ally against the imperialist Japan. Filipino and Americans fought side-by-side against the invading Japanese imperial army.

The Americans granted the Philippines its independence on July 4, 1946, a little over a year after the liberation of the Philippines and the surrender of Japan to the Americans. The Philippines became the first country in the world after World War II to have declared independence from the hands of its colonizers.

Although the Philippines became a self-governing state since the Americans had left, a Mutual Defense Treaty has been signed in 1951 to ensure or provide Philippine security from external threats. The Americans maintained two of its military bases, the Subic naval base in Olongapo and Clark field in Pampanga until Philippine senate voted for the rejection of these bases in 1991. These bases are considered the largest U.S. military installations outside America.

116years since Aguinaldo had first declared it for the Philippine nation, the question is: Have we been a free people at last? Have we got the freedom that our ancestors had been fighting for a long time ago?

It’s easy for anyone to say he or she loves the Philippines, but are you willing to die for your country? Are you willing to do everything to ensure her freedom? Are you willing to make her proud of you?

As long as we keep electing traitors, cowards, incompetent, crooked and corrupt government officials; to allow them to continue ruling us, we (as a people and as a nation) would not be able to free ourselves from bondage. But I would like to congratulate those living and unsung Filipino heroes of today who are more than willing enough to sacrifice everything, even to the point of risking their own lives, to make this nation as free as we can all imagine.

The resurgence of Miguel Cotto: There will be blood

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 15:01:00 +0000

Photo credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank.

By the time former Pacquiao foe Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto climbs up the ring to face middleweight champion Sergio Martinez on June 7^th, expect some fireworks to explode in a gut-wrenching war waged by these two modern-era gladiators of what will be their own version of brutal pugilism. There will be blood, yes more blood.

The champion in Martinez will be tested with fire the intensity of which never been introduced before in the battlefield he had dominated. Cotto will come out like a cowboy, all guns blazing, rampaging towards every space the champion occupies.

But there’s more to it. Once the cowboy hits the mark, he shifts shapes and forms almost immediately like what they were doing in the Transformers movies. The cowboy will now become the bull and that would be too much for Martinez to handle or play the Matador with.

Martinez will be caught (but not off-guard) with every vicious blow Cotto can throw. He will kiss the canvas not once, or twice, but three times till he call it quits. Cotto will be pronounced the new champion and names for possible opponents will be discussed.

A future fight with Golovkin will be hot and highly regarded. The middleweight division, once a deep well of talents until just recently was draining out, will slowly recover thanks to trainer Freddie Roach for the job well done. He has reinvented the Puerto Rican and added some lethal weapons into his arsenal.

Cotto will be dominating the middleweight division for a couple more years until he decides to hang up the gloves. Golovkin may be a threat, but he will suffer the same fate as Martinez if he trades leather with him.

A rematch with Pacquiao or Mayweather will be considered great fights. But it’s unlikely in a sense that the weight difference may be a big factor to keep it from happening. Cotto will be at his best in the middleweight, while Pacquiao and Mayweather should fight a battle for supremacy in the welterweight division, if it ever happens.

Rest in peace Maya Angelou: A poem

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Thu, 29 May 2014 12:28:00 +0000

I noticed why

My thoughts wander

In the still point

Of the sea and sky,

The strong current

Of your vitality

Exactly the distance

Of a sharpest focus

Found me in the eyes

Where words

Washed you up like music

Creating pulsing waves

In this graceful exit

Of the still beautiful,

Reverberating song.

How to keep 6 of the misconceptions about life from happening

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Mon, 26 May 2014 16:43:00 +0000

Life is not about perfection. That’s a given, as nobody’s perfect anyway. Everyone else commits mistakes. It is through these mistakes that we learn something from, for whatever lesson it must be.

But if getting wrong is something unavoidable, at least don't try to use life’s imperfection as an excuse to justify about such a mistake you have intentionally had devised to do so.

I’m very careful about giving advices to people especially with a topic that I know may, in one way or another, lead them to be in such a position by which they have to only choose between giving a nod and disapproval for a particular topic.

There is more to life than what you can just answer with a true or false from. But, then, this is my life and I am entitled to my own opinion just like everyone else to be also entitled of the same. So nothing could prevent me from doing what I am going to do with it. After all, life is all about making it all yours.

Life is more than just what measures it

When I was in my early 20s, I came across a book titled “How to achieve success” by Anant Pai. The book is all about motivating someone to be successful in life or in a particularly chosen field. It was filled with all the positive things the author could gather to lift a person’s spirit up.

I read it from cover to cover and all over again. I learned many good things from that book. But then one day, as if I woke up from such a deep sleep, I started to question about the validity of the message the book was trying to convey. Like in this phrase, for example, “if others can, why can’t I?”

I began to reason out that life is more than just what measures it. The phrase “if others can, why can’t I” is both a lie and a truth at the same time. It is true because it will encourage you to become your best potential in achieving something but, on the other hand, it is also a lie in a sense that each one of us is gifted with unique skills and talents.

You could not become Michael Jordan, no matter how hard you try, if you’re not gifted to be like him. But you could still become the best version of what it is you’re very good at doing. You only need to discover your talent and develop it the best way you can. No need to compare yourself to others who excel in their chosen fields. But, rather, you can reflect on their lives and make them your inspirations as you nurture your own gift.

So what’s the point in saying all these? I’m wondering if I’m making sense at all telling these things, but then it makes more sense to me to think about not really minding at all if I actually did or not. So here’s how to keep the 6 of the misconceptions about life from happening:

Misconception number 1: Life has to be fair

Your best take: Many people waste much of their time thinking that life has to be fair. The truth is it is not, or not always. You have to accept the fact that life is not always about doing you a favor all of the time.

Misconception number 2: Happiness is all about what you have achieved in life

Your best take: Many people think that material things and personal achievements could bring them happiness. But happiness is not about something you could link up with material things and events. You could never find satisfaction in everything material and the more that you desire for these things, the more that your dissatisfaction grows. Lead to live a balanced life, instead, and you'll get more than what happiness could bring and offer.

Misconception number 3: Life offers no reward in the end

Your best take: Some people consider life as the unrestricted celebration of the here and now. They don’t care about what will tomorrow bring or if it ever comes; their only concern is to do everything for what they can suck out of the moment, pleasures and all. The truth is life is like a computer. What you put in, is what will get out. What you sow is what you will reap. Do what it takes to be good and what is right. You will surely be rewarded for that.

Misconception number 4: Life is meaningless

Your best take: If life doesn’t mean anything at all to you, then you’re no better than the lower form of animals which only had an instinct to rely with. Only a human being can think rationally and along with it is the meaning of life he has to define. If you can’t quite find the meaning of life yet, be the meaning yourself.

Misconception number 5: Life is about waiting for something or someone to come in the right time

Your best take: It always has to start from you. In finding your soul mate, for example, you don’t only have to go and find that person but you should as well be the right person to come to his or her life. It’s most likely you would be able to find your soul mate in that way instead of waiting. Be the first to take actions, don't just wait.

Misconception number 6: Life is to expect something more from others

Your best take: You find it frustrating to find out that the people you were expecting to be more kind and generous are the ones doing the opposite. And the ones whom you thought were bad surprised you with their kindness and sense of humor when you got the chance to know them better.

You don’t need to live up to other people’s expectations in the same way that they are not obliged to live up to yours. As long as you’re doing the right things, aside from the good that you had, then life will be as beautifully thought as it was in the actual experience.

A balanced life is the foundation of joy

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 21 May 2014 07:25:00 +0000

What something that only offers you pleasure is not a sure guarantee for a happy, well-lived life. It is simply because pleasure is something a notch lower than happiness. It won’t substitute pure happiness for that matter. Joy is the highest form of happiness.

As for pleasure, you can buy it or acquire it as a gift for yourself. No one would really mind and it doesn’t really matter at all if who else will. You own it, so that’s yours.

But happiness is a more complicated thing to deal with than just plain pleasure. You have got to build it yourself. It has to be built. And you should have someone to share it with. As what Ralph Waldo Emerson had said about happiness to be like a perfume, which you can’t pour down on anyone else without getting some from yourself.

Of course, pleasure is a good thing. Hedonism is a way of life to some. It can bring you a temporary feeling of relief for what happiness can do something to complete such a feeling.

A balanced lifestyle is to simply just keep the balance in every area of your life

It is all about the harmony you had created for the physical, mental or intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of yourself. It is to do whatever it takes to keep each of these said areas of your life to receive equal amount of nourishment.

A balanced lifestyle is to simply just keep the balance in every area of your life and to maintain such a kind of balance. A person can only be happy if he finds satisfaction and contentment of what he has had and do. The way to sorrow, insecurity, and discontentment are through the imbalances in any of these areas of your life has to produce.

Joy as the ultimate goal

To be joyful is to feel the real happiness. It is the highest form of happiness. It is a state by which every little facet of the person that you are is in complete harmony with each other. It is not about what life gives to you, but rather it is all about what you are doing with your life.

Finding joy in the everyday has something to do with the balance you had been keeping for your life. Joy must be the ultimate goal.

Be thankful in everything

And above all, be thankful always. To yourself, for having given the chance to experience life; to the people around you, for having contributed, in one way or another, in the evolution of the person that you have become; to the world, for letting you see her natural beauty; and to God, for all the good things that He has done. Gratefulness is a good happiness-booster.

A well-balanced life: Live as if more is less and less is more

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Tue, 20 May 2014 17:30:00 +0000

It is important to keep your life well-balanced, or otherwise it will give you wealth gain problems to deal with.

When Aristotle Onassis married United States president John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline, it was, in my humble opinion, one of the most defining moments in his life. This Greek-Argentine shipping magnate was on the top of his world; he walks like a god.

What he wants, he gets. Life, according to him, is all about winning. He had this extremely compulsive desire to win in everything. So his winning of former U.S. first lady’s heart, among many of his other conquests, served to cement his mastery over such a mantra. Jackie was as popular as she was beautiful.

Winning is not everything

But what Onassis thought that winning was everything won’t always be the case. In the later part of his life, he was humbled down to embrace the facts of life not always going to his favor. He was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis which is an incurable disease of the nerves by which the body turns against itself.

On his grave, his closest friend Costas, lamented and was quoted as saying these words: “You taught me how to live. You taught me that the only thing needful in life is winning. We forgot we are not gods.”

Keeping the balance and moderation in everything is the best way to live

When you reached the point where your mind (intellect) is in total harmony with your physical self, then you were able to find your balance. It is in the way you handle life’s complexities and to replace them with a refined code of your own.

Winning is necessary only if it is aimed for the things that could nourish both the body and soul. Oftentimes, more people are motivated for the material and physical gains leaving the intellectual or spiritual aspect malnourished.

The math of life

What you will lack in quantity you will make up for in quality. But making it vice versa is optional. Quality should be the base by which the quantities (elements) of life revolve. So that’s the math of life, more is less and less is more.

No matter how expertly Onassis had amassed himself with enormous material wealth, yet he found himself wanting in the end. His existence became obese by neglecting the well-balanced life that he must have been living.

How to counter China’s psychological warfare in the South China Sea

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Mon, 19 May 2014 03:27:00 +0000

If you’re familiar with Sun Tzu’s Art of War, then you will know that what this communist China is doing in the South China Sea is a kind of psychological warfare.

To fight and conquer in all your battles, said Sun Tzu, is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence, according to him, consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

To win without fighting is something very strange but this military general, strategist, and philosopher of ancient China was able to successfully use such a tactic, by convincing and helping the king of his time, to win impossible battles.

Perhaps Sun Tzu’s greatest military achievements, in my humble opinion, should not be focused alone on what he did in actual combats that gained him victories, but in the important role he was playing to teach and provide military insights to the leaders, warriors, and conquerors of his time and in the generations that followed.

So the question is how you’re going to counter someone who uses a psychological warfare in a particular situation to advance his interests? And that’s aside from the fact that this someone who try to bully you is far bigger in size, and stronger than you are.

Counter psychological warfare with exactly just the same

So what if, compared to the Philippines, China is superior militarily, economically, and has the world’s largest population? Would that also mean that the world is giving her the license to disregard her neighbor’s sovereign right to co-exist?

Counter psychological warfare with exactly just the same. If China sends her war ships in the Philippine claimed areas, the Philippines must as well send her best ships to warn or remind the invaders that they have had trespassed a foreign territory. That’s not a provocative action; that’s a self-defense and the right thing to do.

To think that by sending our war ships in the said area will only make the situation worse is such a foolish idea. The territorial dispute we had with China must be dealt in both the diplomatic and psychological aspects of it.

What will you do if a 240-pounder person breaks into your gate and put a marker in this or that area saying, these areas here are mine? Naturally, you will get angry. But you have to arm yourself with whatever is available to you at that particular moment, perhaps a big stick, and then to walk towards that person.

No matter how poor a household is, I’m sure it is still equipped with a kitchen knife or a bolo. But a big stick, in my humble opinion, is ideally a good one to carry so it would show that you’re serious and that he was badly messing up with you. You are going to speak softly to that person by asking: Man, what’s your problem?

Psychological warfare is just the beginning

You have to think of the situation as a game of chess. It is at that particular point of key positioning the pieces that a psychological warfare must be applied which is, of course, purposed for one’s own advantage. Once the psychological part is triumphed, it would be easy to achieve success in the actual combat when necessary.

So the Philippines must not give in to China. You, the ordinary Juan de la Cruz of the Republic of the Philippines, are in the right position; China is the villain here, the Rogue State. You have to do everything to defend what is truly yours. You have to do what it takes, and what you can afford to do, to resist China’s illegal occupation of your sovereign lands and waters.

If China is going to use force and starts sinking Philippine Navy commissioned ships within Philippine waters, it will surely backfire on her. The international community will condemn her barbaric act and she will be taught a very hard lesson. She will not do that, but you must be ready.

I was dreaming about Jesus and his angels walking down the stairway

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 14 May 2014 12:47:00 +0000

Dreaming about Jesus and his angels

Early in the morning, with just a few minutes left before waking up, I dreamed about Jesus Christ surrounded by angels walking down the concrete stairway. He looked a lot like one of those pictures I often see depicted by artists about him except that, in my dream, he has had a reddish brown hair and beard than the blonde and dark colored hair ones version we often saw in movies. I also noticed he was wearing a white-crimson combination priest vest but I can’t quite remember if he was wearing anything for his feet or if he was walking barefoot.

The location looked like somewhere in the middle of the desert and I can’t tell exactly if it was during twilight or some few seconds before sunrise. Everything in that particular moment looked a bit ruddy. From the color of the clouds, the concrete walls and stairway, the background and more were all crimson-themed, although a little lighter.

They looked as if they were in a hurry and by the time they reached the ground level the one angel who was walking ahead of Jesus threw a wild gaze as if to scan the surroundings before turning his head upward to the sky. The angels accompanying Jesus as he walked down the stairway, to my best estimate, could number from 15 to 20.

The angel who walked ahead of Jesus had the same light brown hair and beard like the rest of them. He had a deep-seated, piercing eyes compared to the compassionate-looking eyes of Jesus. I thought he was the archangel Michael, but then I wasn’t really sure. He could also be the archangel Gabriel or any higher ranking angel.

Back to the real world

Just when I’m eagerly anticipating for what will happen next that I woke up from my sleep. How I wished it could have gotten extended for even just a few minutes or so so I can follow the dream. I had a great feeling that Jesus and his angels would be flying (or teleporting) next to some distant lands and that the walls and the stairway in the middle of the desert only served as the portal from which they were able to enter from the other dimension.

It was not the first time that I dreamed about Jesus. These dreams I have had, if I’m not mistaken, about him are getting closer to a dozen times already. The last time I saw him in my sleep, he was smiling at me. And yet there was also a time when he even talked to me in one of those dreams.

The significance of that dream

So what’s this all about? I would like to think that dreams usually don’t mean much of anything. And that these are just the result, as most of us would come to agree, of the rapid eye movement stage of a person’s deep sleep. But then, I know, it could mean something very special to me as well, though just a dream.

For God, as stated in the book of Job chapter 33, verses 14 in the Holy Bible, speaks not only once, but more than once, even though men do not regard it. One may hear God’s voice in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men while slumbering upon the bed, then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction.

How everything was in the end reached across by a wild gaze

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Mon, 12 May 2014 15:14:00 +0000

The picture in the right was originally taken by me last Sunday using a smartphone camera. The particular place where this picture was taken was Plaza Sugbu, Cebu City, Philippines during twilight. Inspired by Emily Dickenson's poem "The Brain--is wider than the sky--", I came up with my own original composition called "How everything was in the end reached across by a wild gaze":

If it was melody I’m trying to figure out at this juncture,

Then I would already know that glancing dully

Off the vastness of whatever spaces in between--

If anything caught in the trap

Brought into my view--would bridge the gap.

But there it flamed out taking a freakish alignment

Of variables running deep across

The visual flow that shapes the words.

It slips under my wild gaze

Only to be discovered: unfolds by itself.

The mindscape of what this enormous

Machination of the sky can only draw and pull.

If the melody reveals itself as the landscape

That can be captured with words;

To weave a coherent story

For what words can do best and more

Like an inventory of things.

Then I would imagine,

This equivalent fiction, the lateral distance

between two worlds linked by sight.

Summertime and the writing-itch syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 07 May 2014 13:10:00 +0000

Aside from the fatal heat wave and the most common of diseases that will pop up in the peak of summer season, there is a rare type of psychological disorder called the writing-itch syndrome that springs from an individual's excessive fear of hot weather. This will result to his or her choosing to be confined indoors to hide from the onslaught of the blistering heat of the summer sun. Such a phobia could trigger to activate a person’s creativity so that you will find him or her suddenly becoming a writer.

Summer is, for the idealist ones, the time of the year to explore the beauty of nature and to experience outdoor enjoyment. That could also mean braving the infernal heat of the sun. For these people, summertime is an opportunity to neutralize the suffocating effect of the urban jungle by enjoying the beautiful and natural scenery of the countryside. It is, for most of them, a sort of like a recharging of their batteries for another time to endure the usual life that awaits them the moment they return to their place of origins.

But the realists, on the other hand, saw it plain and simple. Summertime could do nothing more than just another day of survival but with the added heat which can only make the situation worse. The realist would rather spend his or her entire day making a living than to try to divert his or her attention to things he or she considers to be just a waste of time.

Whatever way a summer is viewed, it is important for us to know the difference between something we can get from it and something we can give in return. The idealists are making a point in using the elements of nature as something that can invigorate their every being, while the realist ones as well are making a big decision to choose to see things as they are and doing what it takes to incorporate these things in the real world.

We have to admit that the summer of 2014 is a lot different from the summer of 20 to 25 years ago. What we have now is an extreme weather condition that could be felt all over the world. Having fun under the sun is one best way to release stress and as a method of relaxing the body but could as well turn into a lethal weapon aimed at anyone who dares to face the risk.

Doing more to lessen the effect of climate change is one best solution we could find so we could bring back the less harmful summer of the decades past. We could start it right now by conserving water, planting more trees, disposing properly of our waste products and garbage, and going as natural as it can get and be.

Let us make the discomfort of summer as our motivation to do something to find remedies. And just like the writing-itch syndrome to infect a person in this particular time of the year, the intense heat that a summer brings should as well serve as a disease that will stimulate such a positive change we like to see in things.

Come what may for May

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Tue, 06 May 2014 13:35:00 +0000

The month of May is, in the Roman Catholic majority Philippines, the month of festivals. Festivals or fiestas, by the way, are so much intricately interwoven in the Filipino culture and faithfully observed and transferred from one generation to another. Mostly of these festivals were mixed up with religious rituals so that the majority of Philippine festivals of today could be seen as the links between the cultural aspect of the people and the touch of religion. Festivals define Filipinos.

Also in the month of May, Filipino Catholics celebrate the Flores de Mayo or “Flowers of May” in English translation. It is a festival of flowers. During the celebration, the faithful devotees collect and gather the flowers of May and to sprinkle the petals in the altar where the statue of the Virgin Mary is.

Santa Cruzan is what will highlight the Flowers of May festivities. It is a religious procession, the final and last of the nine-day Flores de Mayo to honor Reyna Elena of Constantinopole. It was believed that in the year 326 A.D. she (Reyna Elena), together with her son, had successfully launched an expedition to search for the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. They have brought the Holy Cross with them to their own place of origin and in the city capital of Rome, which was also the capital of the Roman Empire at that time.

May 2014 is one searing summer heat I’ve never had been experiencing in a long time. The moment you step outside your dwelling place, at daytime, is like walking into a giant oven. Is the once colorful month of May that it used to now become a metaphor for hell? There is something unusual about the weather and it’s going for both the extremes. It’s about time we reconcile with Mother Nature dear, before she strikes back upon us big time. Or otherwise shall I say come what may for May?

Spiderman and the Skyscraper

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 16:09:00 +0000

The last time I watched a Spiderman movie was in 2004, a decade ago. It was one of the most awesome things I had done for myself when I decided to watch it alone. Inside the movie house, everything turned out surreal. Or was it just my rich imagination allowing me to express my own story in special effects and, as what was Peter Parker was best at doing, to swing away from one skyscraper to another.

One good thing I’ve learned from watching that movie was that, as cheesy as it may sound though, it was able to provide me with a sort of connection by which I had all the freedom to turn the fiction into a non-fiction. The movie was about the struggle between living the superhero's own normal and ordinary life as Peter Parker and the big responsibility that he must answer as the Spiderman. When the plot thickened up on him and the conflicts were only adding more loads to the burden, swinging between skyscrapers seemed like one best alternative that will remind him of the superhero status that he has had and will always be. Spending time with his girlfriend at that very particular moment of confusion would only highlight in either way.

If there’s a battle Spiderman needs to win, it must be the battle against his own self; something within him. In real life, Spiderman could be just like everyone else, dealing with a tough issue. The best remedy I could find, though, is for him to use the power of his imagination to influence his emotions. Once he has settled with that kind of thing, he becomes invincible.

It never ceased to amaze me how the imagination can play a very important role in the daily life of a person. Like when the stumbling blocks of life are thrown in someone’s path, there would always be an easy route towards finding comfort in things imaginary; the knight in a shining armor to the rescue. But that’s just the good thing about it. Imagination is such a powerful tool to use for one’s own advantage. It could be a source of positive transformation you like to see in things, people, the world, and yourself.

Defending an ally

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Will the United States defend ally Philippines in case the islands nation is attacked by a foreign military? No matter what the skeptics may be saying, treaties and pacts are formed and aimed to benefit all parties involved. The Philippine-United States Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951 shall be fully enforced for what it was in theory or otherwise what’s it to continue to exist for? The Treaty was signed between the United States and Philippine delegates in Washington D.C. on the 30^th of August 1951. Under such Treaty, an attack against the Philippines by a foreign country, will be understood an attack against United States of America and vice versa.

The Philippines, considered by many military strategists and historians as America’s strategic and long-standing ally, will once again become a major hub for American troops and hardware aimed at keeping track of the stability and balance in the Asia-Pacific region as the two nations came up with a new deal by signing the 10-year Enhanced Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Former U.S. president Gerald Ford saw how important it was to keep maintaining the American presence among Asian allies and for the decades to come, during his Manila visit in December of 1975, as he was quoted as saying in one of his public speeches that “world stability and our own security depend upon our Asian commitments.”

Visiting U.S. president Barack Obama clearly stated in a speech he addressed during a state dinner with Philippines president Benigno Simeon Aquino at the Malacanang Palace that “through our treaty alliance, the United States has an ironclad to defend you, your security and your independence.” That should be understood a clear message to China should it continue with its expansionist program by grabbing lands of neighboring countries.

But whether the United States will actually defend the Philippines or not in case of an armed attack by a foreign country, the Philippine government must use such Treaties to its own advantage. It is not always good to let other people come to defend or fight for you, but rather you have got to find ways to defend yourself. There must be a massive military build-up, upgrade, and modernization to take place while these Treaties are still in effect. In that way, the Philippines is in a win-win situation: building up its external defense capability while, at the same time, protected by a Treaty.

Obama is the seventh sitting US president to visit the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 20:41:00 +0000

Obama and Aquino. Photo credit: bigstory.ap.org

Obama’s Philippine visit on April 28, 2014, that’s today (Manila time), was only the seventh for a sitting US president. The two nations shared a deep and long history of struggle, commitment, friendship, and cooperation. Filipino and American soldiers fought side by side against the Japanese imperial army during World War II as well as in the Korean War several years later.

It all began with Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower who, 58 years ago, despite having spent several years in the Philippines as an aid to General Douglas MacArthur prior to World War II, pioneered for a sitting United States president to visit the former island colony and a long-standing ally. It was followed by Lyndon Johnson in the year 1966 who was in town to attend a summit with leaders from six countries: South Korea, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, and host country the Philippines.

Richard Nixon was the 3^rd sitting US president to visit the country on July 26, 1969, shortly after Apollo 11 carrying the three American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin landed on the moon. He was quoted as saying about his country’s historical ties with the Filipino people, in his arrival speech in Manila, “We went through World War II together. We have gone through Korea together. We now have a war in Vietnam.”

In December of the year 1975, Gerald Ford became the fourth sitting American president to visit the country and as part of his Asian journey by which he also visited China and Indonesia. Ford saw the importance of a role that the United States would be playing in maintaining the peace and instability in the Asia-Pacific region. He was quoted as saying in one of his public speeches that “world stability and our own security depend upon our Asian commitments.”

Bill Clinton was able to visit the Philippines twice while in office. First was in 1993 right after his election to the presidency. The second one was in 1996 to attend APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Subic.

George Bush became the sixth sitting US head of state to visit the country in October 2003. Former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo welcomed him and his delegates in the historical Malacanang Palace and the two leaders also addressed a joint session of the Philippine Congress.

Two popes made saints in joint canonization in Vatican today

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 20:45:00 +0000

The Roman Catholic Church has added two new personalities into its roster of saints in what was a double canonization ceremony in Vatican today, 27^th April 2014, presided over by the Argentine but of Italian descent Pope Francis himself. The two popes who were made saints and both shared the pope names of John were Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, as well as sharing the same real names of Joseph. Pope John Paul II was a Polish actor and also a factory worker in one of Poland’s chemical factories bearing the name of Karol Jozef Wojtyla prior to considering the priesthood while Pope John XXIII, on the other hand, was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli to a family of sharecroppers in Sotto il Monte in the Lombardy region of Italy.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world flocked to Saint Peter’s Basilica Square to witness the final step towards sainthood of two of the towering figures of the 20^th century Roman Catholic Church. At exactly 10:15 AM Vatican time, Pope Francis officially declared the sainthood of the two popes by saying, “We declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church.”

The date of canonization coincides with the feast of the Divine Mercy. It was during Pope John Paul II’s papacy that the first Sunday after Easter was officially declared as the feast of the Divine Mercy. The feast of the Divine Mercy was based on Faustina Kowalska’s diary, a Polish nun who was said to have had a face to face conversation with Jesus and by whom Pope John Paul II has canonized on 30^th April of 2000. It was not a coincidence but rather God’s will that he died on the day of the feast of the Divine Mercy on 2^nd April 2005.

Pope John XXIII championed the cause for calling an Ecumenical Council as a way of updating the church. He was the first Pope who were able to do so for the church since the Council of Trent some 500 years ago. His humility, generosity, and reconciliatory spirit made him one of the best loved popes of the 20^th century.

Chopped pig feet stew

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 17:45:00 +0000

This morning my wife cooked me a Filipino comfort food called Chopped pig feet stew. Like the rest of the Sunday mornings since my son Nathaniel was born almost two years ago would, more often than not, found me waking up very late into. The night before would be a session with my imaginary friend talking to me which could last till dawn--the Muse every writer would go crazy about.

I missed the early Sunday morning walks we had at the park before but if I can only bring back the early bird that I once was. But to my relief, though, I would always be served with what every Sunday morning comfort food my wife would be cooking. I’d sure be gaining more pounds for that but it doesn’t matter at all for as long as I’m going to see it as a sign of progress instead. I’d be hitting back the gym for as soon as it needs to be but, for the meantime, let me be just the hedonist. Anyways, here’s how the Chopped pig feet stew should be cooked (according to my wife):

Ingredients

1 kilo chopped pig feet

1 pechay sliced into three parts

1 raw ear of a corn sliced into four parts

1 tropical yam sliced into smaller parts

4 green peppers sliced twice each

1 lemon grass

1 onion chopped into four parts

2 tablespoons of salt

1 Knorr pork cubes seasoning

3 tomatoes sliced twice each

1 ginger (crushed)

potable water

¼ squash sliced into desired parts

Cooking procedure

Clean the chopped pig feet (already a dressed version ready for cooking) thoroughly with water. Put the chopped pig feet in a large cooking vessel. Add water to reach a little over the level of the chopped pig feet. Cook and wait until the meat softens. Normally, the water level will decrease due to prolong cooking. Add water again and allow it to boil.

Then add the corn, squash, and tropical yam and wait to cook for 2 minutes. Add ginger, onion, green peppers, lemongrass, tomato, and pechay. Wait to cook for another 2 minutes. Then add salt and Knorr pork cubes seasoning. Wait to cook for one last minute. Transfer in a large glass bowl and serve. Good for 6 servings.

Turning every single day of your life into a gift

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 03:48:00 +0000

To those who considered life as a gift will be able to find a lot more each passing day for as long as they live. Of course, life is not always going to be an easy ride and there are days when the hurdles on the road seem like too huge for you to overcome. The terrain may as well be, as unfamiliar as it is, like heading towards a hill.

The gift of the everyday could be found in the way you look at things and to change their effects on you for the better. It is to savor every single moment with the joy, wisdom, and beauty of what you’re capable of making that will lead to your deepest spiritual fulfillment. Every single day is an opportunity to help you discover the core values you will need for your life by becoming, in as much as it takes you to knowing who you truly are and can be, your own artist.

In reality, things can go very wrong, turns ugly and life can be, at times, rough and tough. But that’s when you have to find ways for what there may be in things you can do something about. The keyword is “attitude.” When things are just beyond your control, you can control your attitude towards them instead.

The gift of the everyday is also the giving of your own gifts in exchange. What are these gifts? The gift of sight that can go beyond superficial seeing, the gift of humility, the gift of contentment, the gift of sympathy, the gift of enthusiasm, the gift of love, hope, faith, and many more.

Turning every single day of your life into a gift is to fully experience life itself by which you have to appreciate the every little facet of what it can offer. It is about the transformation you could get by changing your consciousness for positive reasons. It is not something you have to wait for nor to let others do it for you. You have got to create the device yourself that will produce about such gifts.

Above all, you have to remind yourself that, when things and circumstances are blocking your way from finding them, you had the people close to your heart to treasure for a lifetime, the things that you do to connect you with the divine, and yourself--these are gifts worth keeping for every single day that you will never run out of.

If this must be a poem I’d like to avoid writing

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:43:00 +0000

It began with a choice. A newcomer set out to liberate a freak wave of thoughts that would later on form the ideas which could take a freakish sense of intent to permit that to happen. At least, at one instance, I didn’t have the time to think about it. There’s a certain amount of denial for what this craft can only pull for a lot of reasons.

In other words, if this must be a poem I’d like to avoid writing it is imperative to be in times like this to also create something different. Something which I would have written long ago only to forget what it’s all about. But yet, again, it comes back as the missing piece; the particularly the same amount of time I would have spent enduring, longing, and wondering.

That’s fine, that’s just fine.

Still, it’s hard to know when to stop once I started. Or perhaps to argue that it’s just the filling in the blanks of the page that has turned. It would read like suggesting a question to be raised in the minds of astute readers. No one else is expected to have all the answers though.

If this must be a poem I’d like to avoid writing, I’d be squeezing more juice out of the orange. Or perhaps a treat to a fascinating spectacle of a die-hard coffee drinker arguing that people must stop consuming tea anymore because it has fluoride as high as its antioxidants content would have rather given me a clue: The implicit assumption of facts that are, in fact, facts.

I might be wrong about it, if this must be a poem I’d like to avoid writing, as if similar thoughts expressed in different ways and for different reasons encourage you to read. Only then would it occur for you to read. And yet it was still not enough.

A closer look at the prism of love

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:47:00 +0000

This poem, of my original composition, aims to understand the condition of a love in its primitive form. But it’s also a hopeful attempt, on the other hand, at decoding the intricacies of one of the most powerful of emotions that, as one comes to fully comprehend of its very nature, will lead to go beyond the boundaries of what might be discovered. Love should emerge from the Light and Truth or otherwise it is not love yet.

Another way to fire those flares off from the cannons

Of your contemplative eyes would be a confused stream

Of the steady, the something that will come out from

Extreme angles asking me to look out: Through the glass

Sculpted in light in the drifting away of the moment--

Even with the mere act of keeping the important of our lives

Drift faster than the insignificant ones.

Can we not see where our visions fail?

Yet I’d rather be a window somebody would look out at.

Something in the chaotic state projecting enough light

To show the form that must emerge that will otherwise

Remain void, without pattern into these darknesses.

7 things incompetent managers do as a habit

noreply@blogger.com (my journey) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:53:00 +0000

Competence in the workplace should be looked upon as the result of individual responses to the authoritative implementation of sustaining such a required performance by a superior. It is the work of a competent manager to understand the difference between workplace performance requirements and workplace competence. The best part of every management job is to manage well one’s own self first before acquiring the difficult task of managing people. And while the "performance" thing may pose a very tricky question, managers should be gauged not by personal output but rather in the way they motivate their people to attain a desired result.These are some of the things incompetent managers do as a habit:

Working very long hours. They take delight, in an attempt to impress their subordinates, in projecting themselves as dedicated workaholics. They work long (sometimes unnecessary) hours and often had late nights and early mornings to keep busy with. A competent manager knows how to deliver exactly the tension between prioritizing a task and keeping things organized and focused. If they know how to manage themselves, working very long hours could be avoided.

Taking a task he or she had no core expertise with. Incompetent managers, more often than not, use displacement activity tactics to hide their incompetence. So instead of expecting them to deliver well of their duties, they will engage in smaller tasks to keep themselves preoccupied with.

Underestimate the importance of effective marketing methods. Incompetent managers consider investing in effective marketing campaigns as a waste of money. To think that in disregarding such a marketing strategy is to save money is, actually and in fact, a mistaken belief.

Insecure. Incompetent managers feel threatened whenever super-competent prospects surfaced. A competent manager must always have the confidence to accept the fact that some people are smarter than him or her and to appreciate for whatever positive things they can contribute.

Too bookish. They think that by cleaving to the rule of book would give them the license to become the always-right-person who matters. Excessive love of procedure is, actually and in fact, a recipe for disaster because it often affords one to fail to prioritize things that need to be.

Poor communicator. Incompetent managers are usually poor communicators. They don’t really seem to care what good communication is and, therefore, rejecting the influx of new thoughts and ideas that could have been formed and collected through proper interaction. A competent manager understands that good and effective communication is crucial to the success of all parties involved.

Inability to adapt. Incompetent managers are afraid of positive changes and they always find it very difficult to adapt to situations that require them to do something. It has been said that the key to success is the ability to adapt to any kind of situations. The same thing could be said as true for competent managers.

My conclusion:
A boss is a boss and the best way for subordinates to do in dealing with a superior of such a low caliber is narrowed down to these two options: Either you're willing to adapt or change a ship. Choosing to stay and adapt means taking the high road. So ride on it, ignore your boss's poor performance or bad behavior and focus on what drives you to be on top performance wise.