Nowadays the Supreme Court has been made the center of attention in the headlines because of the impeachment trial of Chief  Justice Renato Coroina.  But recently another member of the Supreme Court has made headlines, not connected to the impeachment trial but because the video became and instant hit and became viral in a matter of days and has been feasted upon by Netizens.

Atty. Midas Marquez, spokesperson of the Supreme Court has a popular video circling around the internet.  No, Midas is clearly not gay, he is married and has two kids. As to why his reaction in the video was somewhat “gay” well only he can explain that. Some say he is quite a funny a guy and constantly makes faces off cam, so most probably he was just making fun of the situation. Some people say that you will know somebody is gay the way they react to abrupt situations. I really don’t buy that argument. I’d say somebody is clearly gay if they wear equestrian boots and dress like a woman or if they have relationships with the same gender.

Here is the funny viral youtube video of Atty. Midas Marquez. Watch the last part where the microphone fell.

Looking  for movie re-runs to watch, I came across one of my favorite movies, TRUE LIES starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and  Jamie Lee Curtis. It is an action packed filled comedy movie that is both strong in terms of action and comedy. I love watching this film. When I watched the movie the second time, I was intrigued as to what music was used in the last scene and the one where Arnold was dancing a marimba, I mean a Tango with Tia Carrere.

Doing some internet search, I found out that the song is entitled Por Una Cabeza which means “head of horse” in Spanish. It  is one of the most famous and popular tango songs by Carlos Gardel (composer) and Alfredo Le Pera (lyricist), written in 1935.  The song is quite popular and has been used in several movies including  Planet 51, Schindler’s List, Scent of a Woman, Delicatessen, All the King’s Men, Bad Santa and several T.V series.

I can’t seem to get the tune out of my mind. I listened to it over and over again in youtube. Here’s the best one I could find

I’d like to greet all readers of this blog a Happy New year and officially welcome the year 2012. Looking back at 2011, it was such a challenging year, but we’ve all managed to survive it by God’s grace.

On a personal note, business wise the Lord has been good. After the turmoil we’ve been through in 2010, I’ve always considered 2011 as an adjustment. But now that such is over, I see 2012 as a year of growth in all businesses that has been entrusted to me by the Lord. With regards to my online businesses, 2011 was a year of expansion so the dividends on the capital investments I’ve made online will probably be reaped in 2012 and in the next 2 to 3 years by God’s grace. I’m glad to have finally finished the final chapters in some cases I’ve been handling. Although the stock market seemed to be going nowhere in 2011, we’ve posted a small gain, and that is all right, but hopefully I look forward to a more exciting and brighter market in 2012.

In terms of ministry, we’ve received a lot of spiritual blessings and have been further inspired by recent events to continue doing the work that the Lord has entrusted to us. Oh by the way you might want to check out our church annual report. Click here to read The Master’s Community Fellowship annual report 2011.

On a much more personal note, I’ve lost weight and will hopefully continue to do so in 2012 albeit the setbacks during the holidays. (I still can’t stop thinking about all those crispy lechon and shiny glazed hams that has been served during the holidays) I’ve read a lot of books but didn’t have much progress in terms of my online theology classes. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to it this year. We’ve also done a lot of traveling within Southeast Asia in 2011, and will be looking forward to doing more traveling in 2012. We did some major renovations in our house such that it has become more eco-friendly and expanded our kitchen. I’ll tell you all more about it soon.

As another year has passed, I realized that I am getting older and I hope I am getting wiser because wisdom does not always come with age. But my prayer to God is that he would help me live life to the fullest, learn, love and leave a legacy all for Him. Once again Happy new year to all and hope we leave all the bad memories of 2011 in our memory foam mattress  and look forward to a brighter more prosperous new year !

Tropical storm Sendong has become the deadliest cyclone to hit the Philippines in the last 12 years. To date the death toll has reached more than a thousand surpassing that of 2004’s typhoon Wennie, considered to be the deadliest before Sendong with causalities of only 893.

The worst hi were the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities in Mindanao. Other areas hit are some parts of the Visayas especially the southern part of Negros. Flood waters washed away houses with families inside in coastal villages in these areas. The typhoon has affected and displaced more than 65,000 families. Infrastructure was wiped out, big businesses and small business with small business equipment lease and others really lost a lot.

This is such a sad event for all of us as a nation especially considering that its Christmas time and it will be a very sad Christmas indeed for families who have lost loved ones or who lost their homes. Christmas is after all a time for giving so for those who haven’t scheduled their Christmas parties or bought their gifts, why don’t you spend a part of your budget for these events to donate to victims of Typhon Sendong ? Here are some way on how you can contribute and where you can give.

You can help victims of typhoon Sendong by giving in-kind and or giving cash donations through TV stations, other businesses and other non governmental organizations. Drop-off donations such as bottled water, food, blankets, and clothes are welcome in the following places:

T.V Stations:

GMA 7

GMA Kapuso Foundation. 2/F Kapuso Center, GMA 7, EDSA Diliman, Quezon City. Check their website for info on how to make financial donations.

METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COMPANY (METROBANK)
Peso Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:3-098-51034-7

Dollar Savings

Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:2-098-00244-2
Code:MBTC PH MM

UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK (UCPB)
Peso Saving

Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:115-184777-2 or Account number: 160-111277-7

Dollar Savings

Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:01-115-301177-9 or Account number: 01-160-300427-6
Code:UCPB PH MM

BANCO DE ORO (BDO)
Peso Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:469-0022189

Dollar Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:469-0072135
Code: BNORPHMM

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK (PNB)
Peso Savings
Account Name :GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Numbe:121-003200017

Dollar Savings
Account Name:GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number:121-003200025
Code:PNB MPH MM

TV 5:

News5 Aksyon Center. San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. Please call 938-6393.

BDO Peso Account
Account name: TV5 Kapatid Foundation Inc.
Account No. 005310-410164

BPI Peso Account
Account name: TV5 Kapatid Foundation Inc.
Account No. 1443-05333-2

ABS-CBN

Sagip Kapamilya. ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. Mother Ignacia cor. Eugenio Lopez St., Diliman, Quezon City. Donations may also be made online at www.abs-cbnfoundation.com.

BDO Peso Account
Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya
Account Number: 39301-14199
Swift Code: BNORPHMM

PNB Peso Account
Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya
Account Number: 419-539-5000-13
Swift Code: PNBMPHMM

BPI Peso Account
Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya
Account Number: 3051-1127-75 (West Triangle, Quezon City)
Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

Drop Center in Metro Manila c/o StartArt Project. 10A Alabama st New Manila Quezon City. Tel. No. (0926) 711-2450

• Other private companies and NGOs wherein you can give in cash or in kind are as follows:

Philippine Red Cross
Cash or Check Donations
Account Name: Philippine Red Cross
Bank Name: Banco De Oro
Peso Account: 453-0018647
Type of Account: Savings
SMS Donations
Text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

7-11 Stores. Cash donations may be coursed through 7-11 stores without service fees. Official receipts will be provided for the donors.

Caritas Manila. Please call 563-9311 or 564-0205 for pick-up requests.

Civil Relations Office at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Call 912-6615 or (0917)247-1252.

Kaya Natin/Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila Quezon City. Donations are welcome from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. until Wednesday.

LBC branches worldwide. LBC will deliver your donations for free; please call 858-5999 to inquire about branches nearest you.

Iligan blogger’s society has launched “One for Iligan” for details on how you can help victims in the Iligan area click here to visit the “One for Iligan” site.

Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshops
Make a donation at any of the 1,500 Cebuana Lhuillier pawnshops nationwide.

This is the best list I can come up with, if you know of any organization that is focused on helping typhoon Sendong victims that you would like to be included here drop me a comment.

Last time in the post Paquiao vs. Marquez trilogy– Who is the winner ? – Part 1 I gave the first three reasons why Manny Pacquiao is the clearly the winner in all fights with Juan Manuel Marquez. Let me continue by giving you reason, facts and evidences numbers 4 to 7.

4.) The challenger must prove he is worthy of the challenge

Since Pacquiao is the reigning champion, Marquez being the challenger must be the aggressor and must exceed Pacquiao’s statistics to even claim that the fight was a close fight. Sadly this is not what happened and yet he keeps on claiming that he is the winner.

5.) Marquez went down

In two of their fights, Marquez went down two times and he never managed to do it to Manny Pacquiao. In their last fight, Marquez also went down once but that was ruled by judges to be a slip. Nevertheless the fact that Marquez went down clearly shows that Pacquiao’s aggression, speed and punching power overwhelmed Marquez. If Marquez went down 3 times on their last fight I bet he’ll have to be checked by an ecg to see if his heart is ok.

6.) Fight record show Pacquiao is the better boxer

Pacquiao has a total of 58 fights. He has sterling 53 win record, 38 of those by knock out and only 3 losses. In fact his last loss was still in 2005 and his next 14 fights sealed his title as the best “pound for pound” as he took on high prized fighter such as Mosley, Morales, Hatton, Clottey and even the great Oscar Dela Hoya. On the other hand Juan Manuel Marquez has a total of 60 fights, 53 wins, 39 KOs and 6 losses. Sure Marquez has his own share of victories against highly prized fighters and is a good and intelligent boxer but he can never match Pacquiao’s record.

7.) The difference in score in their last fight was substantial

The judges scored the fight 115-113, 116-112, 114-114. Only one judged score a tie, the other judge had Manny Pacquio leading by two points while the other one by 4 points. Now isn’t that substantial? It would have been controversial if in two judges scored a tie while one judge scored one point in favor of Pacquiao. But such is not the case. Clearly the judges score reflected the actual boxing statistics.

In conclusion, Pacquiao is the clear winner in all fights and the better boxer. There is clearly no controversy here. Marquez thought he won in the last fight because his corner told him that he was “leading” when in fact he was not as clearly shown by the statistics. Those who were initially biased in favor of Marquez before the decision was announced were clearly influenced by what they only saw on t.v and that was Marquez being seen on camera with some clean shots. However the statistics tell a different story and the judges scored reflected this. We could debate and voice our opinion and do a round by round analysis or even watch the fight all over again, but in the end it is the hard cold facts and evidences that show who is the real winner and that is clearly Manny Pacquiao.

As for Marquez ? Well he keeps on saying that he was robbed and that is the clear winner of all 3 fights. He’s just like the boy who cried wolf. In the end nobody will believe him. Heck even if he is KO’d by Pacquiao I bet he would even claim that he is still the winner! Bob Arum wants a 4th fight and without I doubt Pacquiao will still win, maybe by a wide margin as in fight number 3 or maybe by knockout who knows, but I bet Marquez will still say that he was “robbed of his victory.” Boooo Marquez and shame on you. Be a man and admit that Pacquiao is so much better than you !

Of course the answer to the question is obvious and to lay my cards down, I’m a Manny Pacquiao fan, not only because he is Filipino but because he is such a great fighter and one who is humble and has a good heart. But let me write something about the Paquiao vs. Marquez trilogy. I’ve been ranting in Facebook about this and its time about time that I rant on this blog to have a permanent record of my opinion in cyberspace (which I know other people don’t care about anyway, nevertheless I still want to voice out)

Marquez has been complaining for the nth time that he was “robbed” of his victory. He might as wall buy some wall speakers and play his continuous complaint himself. He has been constantly sour grapping, complaining and insisting that he is a better boxer than Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao critics and even so some so called boxing analyst support his claims. Let’s look at the evidence and see who is the real winner or who is the better boxer, Pacquiao or Marquez ?

1.) Manny Pacquiao has always been the clear winner all along

The first fight was a draw, in the second fight Manny won via split decision, in the third fight Manny won via unanimous decision. I’ve always been told that 1 plus 1 equals two. If you win two times out of three and in one of the fights it is a tie (not even a win for the other party) it is clear that you are the winner and the better boxer. Tell this to a 5 year old kid and ask him who won or who is the better boxer. Isn’t it obvious? Manny Pacquiao of course. Also take note that during the first fight According to Wikipedia, “one of the judges (who scored the bout 113–113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, having scored the first round as 10–7 in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard 10–6 for a three-knockdown round. If he had scored the round 10–6 for Pacquiao (as the other two judges did) the result would have been a split decision in favor of Pacquiao.” Now it is very clear that in the 3 fights Pacquiao was the winner all along.

2.) Boxing statistics show Manny Pacquiao is better than Marquez

In their last fight, according to CompuBox, Pacquiao has thrown 578 punches connecting 176 while Marquez had it 436 connecting 138. Pacquiao threw 304 jabs connecting 59 to Marquez’s 182 with 38 connects. Pacquiao threw 274 power punches connecting 117 while Marquez threw 254 with 100 connecting. These statistics are confirmed by other boxing statistics gathering sites. Clearly, Pacquiao out boxed and outclassed Marquez. The difference is clearly not negligible even if you include a plus/minus 10 % margin of error.

3.) Pacquio was the aggressor

In almost all fights especially the last one, Pacquiao was almost always the aggressor. Marquez just stood their waiting for his punches. They say he is a counter puncher, but is for me its shows his being wimpy. He’s afraid of Pacquiao that’s why he isn’t aggressive enough.

I will give four more reasons, evidences or facts that clearly shows Pacquiao is the winner and the better boxer than Marquez “Paquiao vs. Marquez trilogy– Who is the winner ? – Part 2”

I’ve been a Xenical user for several years now. But I am not a regular user because Xenical is expensive its about P 40+ per capsule, and if I regularly take it 3 times a day that would be more than P 120+ a day ! Of course if it weren’t so expensive I’d take it 3 times a day.

A reasonable price would be less than P 20.00 in my opinion. So I just take it when I eat fatty food. So far I am very satisfied with the product as it eliminates a certain percentage of the fat I intake. The evidence can be seen when you do your morning ritual. The more fatty food you eat the more you will this evidence, and if you are a Xenical user you know what I mean because sometimes the evidence manifest itself in the most awkward situations when this happens it might be advisable for you to wear some incontinence products hehehehe

About 2 or 3 months ago I saw an ad while I was browsing, it featured a site called “Club New you” which is of course backed by Xenical. I guess this is one of their marketing campaign and part of the social media marketing strategy. Being an internet marketer myself, I can truly appreciate what they are doing and I presume it is very effective.

According to their site, “Club New You” aims to serve Filipinos who are looking for a holistic and effective weight-loss plan. Once you become a member you will be given a FREE membership card, which you can use to avail the discounts & freebies given by merchant partners such as Netopia, Christ Sports, Mr. Jones, Reader’s Digest and other restaurants and shops.

So I immediately signed up, followed the instruction on the site and sent my 8 blister packs of Xenical. After several weeks, I got my package! Free 1 box of Xenical worth approximately almost P 900.00, my Club New You card and some informational material.

So watcha waitin’ for ? Sign up now and get your free Xenical. Be a member of Club New You and bring out the new you in you. Visit http://www.newyou.com.ph

(Note: This is not a paid post, I wrote this because I appreciate the free Xenical that was given to me and of course, the product works as I have tried it myself) 

Let’s get ready to rumble ! Can’t wait to hear once again Michael Buffer’s famous line this coming November 12, 201.The Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez may be well considered the fight of the year 2011.

The fight which is simply dubbed as “Pacquiao vs Marquez 3“ will take place at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. As almost all of Pacquiao’s fight are, this fight will be Sunday that time in the Philippines. This fight is kind of special for Pacquiao because according to news reports he considers this “personal” due to the fact that this is their third encounter. Both boxers want to prove who really is the best between both of them. If you can remember the first fight in 2004 ended in a draw. The second fight which took place in 2008 ended with Pacquiao winning the match. But in this fight, Pacquiao won over Marquez through a controversial split decision. Because of this, Marquez is insisting and is very vocal about it that he won those two fights. He is in fact asking for this third fight.No doubt the outcome of this third encounter will erase the doubt if any as to who is the better fighter.

So who will win this fight? Let’s go over the statistics. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has a total of 58 fights. He has sterling 53 win record, 38 of those by knock out and only 3 losses. In fact his last loss was still in 2005 and his next 14 fights sealed his title as the best “pound for pound” as he took on high prized fighter such as Mosley, Morales, Hatton, Clottey and even the great Oscar Dela Hoya. Obviously, Pacquiao is the most favored to win in this fight.

Juan Manuel Marquez on the other hand may not match Pacquiao’s record, but his 53 wins out of 59 fights might prove a challenge for Pacquiao. Add to the fact is that he is insisting that he won the first two of his fights against Pacquiao.

My money is obviously on Pacquiao considering the odds and considering that he is Filipino. So are you ready to rumble this November 12, 2011? Watch out for my posting here of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez free youtube video and free live streaming. If you want to view the live streaming for free, register with PLDT myDSL as early as now (You can only avail of this if you are a PLDT DSL customer) so that you can watch it using your toshiba regza 32rv635db.

If not you can pay and subscribe to pay per view or go to a movie house or restaurant to view the fight. While waiting for Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez free youtube video and free live streaming, watch this pre-fight youtube teaser.

Update: MANNY PACQUIAO WINS VIA UNINAMOUS DECISION ! MABUHAY KA MANNY ! Don’t listen to the critics.

Last year, I joined an essay writing contest sponsored by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public policy of the National University of Singapore and Time’s Magazine. The theme of the essay contest was “Asia Challenge 2020.”

The objective of the contest is to find out the thoughts of Asians as to what is the most important challenge facing Asia over the next decade? Why? What should be done about it? I along with other Asian essayist submitted essays of 3,000 words or less in response to these questions.

My essay was entitled “Solving  Asia’s Poverty Problem” where I made an argument that the greatest challenge that Asia will face in the next decade is poverty.

Unfortunately I did not win the contest. But I’m glad that they turned our entries into a book. I was just informed this week that the book is out, the title of the book is “Through the Eyes of Tiger Cubs: Views of Asia’s Next Generation”

The book is described in the Amazon website as follows “What will Asia look like ten years from now? Find out by taking a look through the eyes of the next generation of business leaders. Following economic booms in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—the four Asian Tigers—attention has shifted to success stories in other Asian economies. However, a number of challenges have also emerged that could threaten the region’s development over the next decade. Through the Eyes of Tiger Cubs offers a unique glimpse into the younger generation’s view of Asia’s future. It draws on the perspective of hundreds of visionary young Asians, who have identified the key issues and who see innovative solutions for areas as diverse as society and demographics, energy and the environment, business and labor markets, education, and healthcare. This fascinating insight comes from a collection of think-pieces from a broad range of young Asians—the result of a competition organized by Time magazine, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and the Asia Business Council.”

I just obtained a copy of the book in kindle edition and have skimmed through it, I will read it later on. It is quite interesting how the authors masterfully managed to summarize our work and referred to and quoted from our essays from time to time.

All the proceeds for the book will go to charity. If you want to purchase the book and read the summary of all the essays, you can do so by clicking on my Amazon book below. Instead of buying Christmas Cards for your loved ones this December, why not buy them a copy of the book ? That way you get to support a charitable cause and read about what Asia’s next generation think about the challenges of the next decade. If you would like to read my essay which I have divided into four parts for posting in my blog read part 1 here: “Solving Poverty in Asia – Part 1”

All work with no play makes John a dumb boy, all play no work makes John dumber. This is what our parents and their parents taught them and all throughout the decades and centuries, the traditional view of playing games is that its childish, useless and done just for fun and that nothing good will ever come out of it except that it is done by children as part of growing up.

Enter the 20th and 21st century with the advent of the internet, personal computers, mobile devices and gaming consoles, playing games has now evolved online. Parents frequently lament that their children are addicted to video games online and majority of psychologist say that it is not healthy for a child to play video games for long periods of time. Just recently there was a news item that a teenager died because of playing on a game console for more than 20 hours straight.

So is playing games, especially sitting whole day on a hickory furniture and playing online games completely useless? If this is the case we should ban the playing of all games and ban all play for games free online sites. But such is not the case.

Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry. Instead of criticizing games and convincing children that they should stop playing games, we should look at the bright side and instead even considering cashing in on the gaming craze.

The completely none sense and useless game, plants vs. Zombie might not look like much when you play with it in your mobile device, but this completely non sense useless game became such a smashing hit that its maker PopCap also the maker of popular game “Bejeweled” was bought out by EA Games for $750 million. Another stupid game which is now a hit is “Angry birds” which has been the cause of much anger and ire of parents because their children cannot stop playing this “stupid” game. This seemingly simple game has raked in US$70 million in profit for its maker Rovio.

You might say these are corporations that made these games and that you could never rake in millions of dollars like these corporations, well consider the story of Ephren Taylor. Being a game fanatic at 12 years old he created video games. Then he went on to web design, and by the time he reached 17, his job-posting company, GoFerretGo.com, had grown to multi-million-dollar status. Now he runs City Capital Corporation, making him the youngest African-American CEO of any publicly traded company in history.

A 14-year old boy from Spanish Fork in Utah, created this year’s hottest free application for the Apple iPhone. Game designer, Robert Nay an eight-grader says, that he was able to design and develop the said application by doing his research at the Spanish Fork Public Library. In January 2011 his game “Bubble Ball” was downloaded for about 400,000 times as it edges Angry Birds as the number one free apps for the Apple iPhone. He might not have made any money out of it as of now, but I believe he is on his way there.

Games not only make you money, in September of 2011 online gamers stunned scientist by cracking the AIDS enzyme puzzle in just three weeks. Scientists has been working their asses off for the past 10 years to figuring out the structure of protein and enzymes that is vital for understanding the causes of many diseases and developing drugs to block them. A microscope gives only a flat image, whereas pharmacologist insists that they need a 3-D picture that “unfolds” the molecule and rotates it in order to reveal potential targets for drugs. Scientist and AIDS experts have been stumped by this puzzle for a decade. A game called “Foldit” which is a fun-for-purpose video game in which gamers, divided into competing groups, compete to unfold chains of amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — using a set of online tools was created by the University of Washington to help unravel this mystery. To the astonishment of the scientists, gamers who have no background in biochemistry produced an accurate model of the enzyme in just three weeks!

Gaming takes a second look although admittedly if done in excess may not be good, but it has its advantages, and we should not turn a blind eye towards it. That’s why I’m jumping in the gaming bandwagon by putting up my own free gaming site. I’m hoping to get a slice of the huge revenues of the gaming industry pie. So why don’t you head to www.playgamesonlineforfree.info right now and spend some time to play games online for free there? Who knows, you might just discover the cure of AIDS or find out how to search for life in other planets more effectively. As they say all work no play makes you a dumb boy.