I shall now begin my brief summary of this event. This isn't a strictly accurate thing of how it is conducted, but more or less there.Yesterday was my sister's Teng-Hun or her traditional 'official engagement ceremony'.It begins with representatives of the family from both sides being present to witness the occasion along with a few honored family friends.The groom-to-be enters the wife-to-be's home with gifts and wedding baskets (sin-ah) who have a meaning which escapes me at the moment.

After they are seated at their appropriate places (husband at the left and wife at the right), the wife's family have a few of the younger.members give candies and juice to the principal guests (husband's family and other honored guests). I was one of the juice givers. These are given according to age/importance, beginning with the eldest member of the husband-to-be's family, followed with the wife-to-be's.

After this welcoming part is done, the wife-to-be is brought forth, walking backwards toward her betrothed.This signifies her transition from her family to the other, or something like that.Following this, there's an exchange of wedding gifts. I recall 3 things in particular: exchange of rings, exchange of watches and exchange of these gold coins, which are hung on necklace chains (of course, gold as well). This is all done in front of a 'dowry' of sorts that is displayed for the wife-to-be's family to see, which has been provided for beforehand by the husband's family.

After the exchanges are done, there is a tea-serving ceremony, where the betrothed serve the families of their respective spouse.Calling them by their appropriate (chinese) titles, as per family relationship to that family member. For example, I was called "Sho-Ti" orYounger Brother.

After the tea serving, the honored guests and the principal family members of the husband and wife ('adults' only, for the wife) are served with misua, eggs and other food which have special meanings that also happen to escape me at the moment. That is, for the most part, the teng-hun.

However, my mother went the full 9-yards and more.

We had a post-teng-hun lunch at the Marco Polo Davao, with a full multi-course traditional Chinese banquet, complete with pigeons which my mom imported from Hong Kong. She has a thing for pigeons, so that was her piece of extravagance. There was a program, involving her Bible Study Group dancing to the tune of 'Nobody' and live singers.

The Outlanders {Gangrel}

6 Assamite, 3 Brujah, 10 Gangrel, 7 Malkavian, 4 Nosferatu, 5 Toreador, 4 Tremere, 4 Ventrue, 7 Lasombra, 1 Tzimisce, 5 Setites, 3 Giovanni and 5 Ravnos!

Global Recession & the Philippines

The Global Recession Crisis is one of the most daunting problems to affect us in recent times. While natural disasters might greatly impact a region by the sad loss of lives, and that is certainly of deeper impact than losing a job, this recession nonetheless has a much larger and widespread effect on people. It is important to know what it is, what it means to us and how it affects us, not just on the global scale but to us Filipinos as a people and a country.

These are what would be among the purposes of the 2008 Christmas Year-End Briefing, conducted in the Li Seng Giap Auditorium at the UA&P on November 26^th and 27^th. The briefing was divided into 4 sections, the first entitled “Sailing Smoothly amidst the World Economic Tsunami” by Ronilo Balbieran, the second “Philippine Provinces and Cities: Resilient?” by Dr. Ramon M. Quesada, the third “World Economic Recession” by Victor Abola which was accompanied by a reaction by Jose Cuisa, the CEO of PhilAm Life, and the last entitled “The U.S. after the Elections and the Philippines before the Elections”, by Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas.

The opening presentation by Ronilo Balbieran seemed to be geared as a basic start to the entire briefing. It outlined some important points which would be the main discussions in succeeding presentations, namely the nature of the Global Recession and how it came to be, and its effects on the Philippine economy. What went wrong in the global economy, it was said, and that driven by generally positive growth and prosperity there was an overflow of too much ‘easy’ money. This presence of surplus funds was among the factors which led to the source of the crisis: the Subprime problem.

It was illustrated to us that the entire global recession could be found in a simple ‘crisis flow’, starting with the Subprime crisis. This is as follows:

Subprime Crisis – Real Estate Crisis – Financial Crisis – Real Sector Crisis – Recession – Global Recession

An illustration was shown as well, how the method of real estate loans, albeit simplified, is conducted.

It begins with the ‘Borrower’, who seeks to purchase a $1,000 House and Lot which is normally beyond his means to purchase. Seeking the finances to buy his desired House & Lot, he approaches the Bank, who agrees to lend him the money with interest. The Borrower agrees to pay $1,100 by the end of 10 years. With this agreed upon, the Bank then pays off the Real Estate holder the amount of $1,000, who then releases the title and deed for the House & Lot to the Borrower, who now owes the Bank $1,100 to be paid in 10 years but now has his desired House & Lot.

The essence of the subprime issue can be found here. It is explained to us that the problem arose due to ‘derivatives’, or additional steps to the otherwise ‘simple real estate loan’. What occurs then is that these additional schemes of investment and added-value eventually compounded, with one scheme resting on the previous one, until a large size rested on the otherwise shaky foundation of the subprime loan scheme, which assumes that these borrowers who are buying beyond their means, so to speak, could reliably pay their debts.

The problem then is not that the defaults in the subprime loans in themselves caused an economic crash, but that so many successive investment plans or loaning schemes which had the subprime loans within their structure began collapsing as well. Simply put, it was akin to a house built on partly unsound foundation.

The Global Recession was covered, showing the current outlook of things. One major course of action being done is the many government intervention plans being executed. Another side effect of the crisis is the drop in commodities, such as oil and food. These things show that many of the advanced economies are in a state of being rescued and supported.

The ‘Bathtub Model’ of economics was used here to illustrate the importance of capital flows and government intervention in the economy.  It is said that the bathtub represents the entirety of our economy or national capacity. Understanding this, the ‘water’ within the bathtub then represents economic activity in the country; this is divided into four interrelated aspects: production, employment, income and spending.

The difference then between the ‘water level’ within the country and the bathtub’s maximum capacity can be said to be the level of ‘Unemployment’, while the instances of overflow above the capacity can be said to be ‘Inflation’ levels. From the tub there are three ‘drains’ which lower the ‘water level’ within the economy: savings, graft & corruption and taxation. These are ways whereby money is either removed from the economy or rendered non-performing.

The last section of the Bathtub model is that of the inflow, or ‘water faucet’. The ‘faucet’ is composed of three parts, namely investments, government spending, and the exchange rate & international trade. These are the three primary methods for external infusion of ‘water’ (money or economic activity) into the country’s economy.

As we can see here, the aspect of “Capital Flows” or investments, as well as the exchange rate & international trade are likely to decline. With a possible tendency of people to hoard their money into savings, and assuming the other two ‘drains’ constant, the overall level of the ‘water’ in the economy is going to drop. It is up to government spending then, to replenish the supply of economic activity in the tub, until general economic conditions once more pick up or improve.

Here we also have what is called the ‘Importance of being Young and Happy’. While at first glance this may seem out of place in an economic review, if one pays it closer examination, it reveals that much of the financial crisis and the actions being taken stem from human distrust within each other. Government stimulus and rescue packages to banks and financial institutions with the intention of this money being used for lending and financial movement are instead being frozen.

A certain degree of optimism and robustness is then necessary for consumers and businesses to continue operating. The key aspect of economic expenditure is vital and necessary, for without spending, the money within an economic system cannot flow and will result in the stagnation of the country’s economic state. It is therefore important to maintain a level of energy and positive attitude on a personal basis as well, to continue to support the institutions and commercial activities within our country, to combat recession.

Tempering this attitude however, are statements that banking crises normally take 3 or more years to recover, and that the impact of it on the Philippine economy is undoubtedly going to happen and we should be prepared to face it. The affected sectors are among others, the aspects of national exports, the tourism industry, the finance industry, BPOs and OFW remittances.

General divers in the industry, in varying levels, are predicted to be that of:

-          Mining

-          Tourism

-          BPOs

-          OFWs

-          Construction (except for government funded)

-          Education (for BPO/OFWs)

Dr. Ramon Quesada picks up the baton and continues in his briefing on the resiliency of Philippine Provinces and Cities. His discussion basically displays the figures of income and its spread among the various places in the Philippines and the skew of income classes among certain areas. For example, the crowd of the AB income class in Metro Manila is found to be roughly 43% while that of Davao is merely 11.2%.

In particular during Quesada’s lecture was a focus on the numbers displayed regarding OFWs. It is shown that roughly 57% of OFW remittances come from North America. While at first glance this may seem to be a scary fact, especially considering the US financial crisis, it is noted that a vast majority of the US-based remittances come from those holding permanent residences, have key positions within their sectors or are simply routed through US institutions from other parts of the globe.

It is also stated that performance-wise, Filipinos generally tend to match or outperform other overseas workers, thanks to a generally more amiable nature and character. The strength of OFWs and the unlikelihood of their being sent back to the Philippines was illustrated in a parody of “Troy”, when the image of a ‘thousand ships’ was used in relation to the entirety of our OFW seamen, which numbers over 266,000.

The demeanor of the Philippine side of the economy was that of general resiliency, with a good chance of riding over the coming ‘tsunami’ in 2009, so as long as the local businesses, industry and national government act accordingly.

The segment of Victor Abola followed, displaying figures on the “World Economic Recession.” Much information was given regarding the state of the world and global trends in the coming year. The GDP growth from 2007 to 2009 (projected) was shown.

GDP Growth	World	Advanced Economies	Emerging Economies
2007	5.0	2.7	8.0
2008	3.7	1.3	6.6
2009	2.2	(0.3)	5.1

 

We can see here that the recession has affected the Advanced Economies of the US, Europe and Japan the worst, while affecting the emerging economies of China, India and ASEAN to a lesser extent. While this may paint for us a rosier picture for the future in relative comparison to other world economies, there are nonetheless expected slowdowns ahead.

The cycle of Bearish Markets were shown to us in the up and down cycles of stock markets. It was shown to us that bearish swings could last anywhere from 13 to 18 years at a time.

Jose Cuisa, CEO of PhilAm Life proceeded to make some reactions on the notes of Victor Abola. His discussion focused on the impact of the recession on the capital market. In particular were mentioned the decline in interest rates overall, but with the expectation for corporate bonds to grow. It appeared that there was a tendency in US T-Bills and Bonds to gravitate towards short term, low yield bonds. Additionally, most foreign companies in the country appeared to be selling off assets to achieve liquidity.

All these were signs of US-based and other foreign corporations seeking to tighten their belts and adopt more cautious methods of putting their cash out. Estimates for the world recession were cited as resulting from the crisis, which are as follows:

-          $30 trillion reduction in stock market capitalization, worldwide

-          $10 trillion in housing wealth losses

-          $40 trillion in credit default swaps still outstanding

Much of this was centered in the advanced economies, which explains their actions and current policies in countries around the globe. The actions of the US and EU governments were also mentioned here, with the US Government spending $700 billion in the TARP bailout fund and $350 billion being spent in capital injections for European Banks.

The last presentation shown was that of Dr. Bernardo Villegas, who spoke about the state of the US after its elections and the Philippines today, pre-elections. He spoke of the confidence in the US to overcome the crisis it was facing today, and cited favorable comparisons with the Japanese recession. The US team assembled by Obama, he mentioned, is far more dynamic and likely to execute proper responses to the current crisis.

Furthermore, unlike in Japan, the general demographic of the United States is far younger and more likely to rebound quickly as opposed to the then-older and more conservative Japanese populace during their recession. Another difference, he stated, which makes a Great Depression unlikely, is that this time around there is great government influence and the adoption of Keynesian methods of stimulus.

This was also similarly related to the Philippines, in the sense that government spending and pump priming of certain economic sectors, namely agriculture and infrastructure, would not only impact positively in keeping up economic growth for the duration of the crisis, but would help in building a bigger economic foundation for the country.

The effect this has on our businesses then, as entrepreneurs, must not be discounted. Even though the scale of most of businesses within the country may be small, the shifts in policy and economic drives are to be taken note of and taken advantage of. The drop in price in commodities and the expectation that foreign corporations will seek to reduce costs are opportunities we should be poised to take advantage of.

As a low-cost country, especially in comparison to the standards of advanced economies, we have the chance to be able to offer products and services at a vastly lower cost than compared to those found in advanced nations. This extends not only to manufacturing and the well-known BPO industries, but also to tourism and medical tourism options, which are known to be quite attractive.

Already we have a large, well-trained service force, a fact which certainly can help international corporations reduce their operating expenses. It is the service industry, in the forms of OFWs and BPOs which is most likely going to help us carry the slack which might occur in terms of exports, much of which goes to the foreign countries in North America and Europe.

Finding other markets for our products and services is also a challenge we need to prepare for, as is a drive to develop our internal markets and resources to attain better self-sufficiency and increase global competitiveness.

We are blessed to be among the countries in which a growth rate of 5% or better is considered a ‘recession’, and this is something that must not be forgotten or a fact to be abused. Instead, it is during this time of crisis that we should, as a nation, be able to rally together and push ourselves to come out ahead after the ‘tsunami’ has passed.

Happy Holidays!

During this season of festivity, one of the best ways to enjoy is by letting ourselves and our loved ones indulge in delicious treats.

Swiss Gourmet presents to you three excellent ways to feast this Christmas Season!

"Impleo" (P750)
- Sandwich Ham
- Frankfurter
- Smoked Farmer's Ham
- Hungarian Sausage
- Veal Bratwurst
- Schublig

 

"Divitiae" (P1300)
- Cheese Hungarian
- Sandwich Ham
- Smoked Farmer's Ham
- Frankfurter
- Veal Bratwurst
- Hungarian Sausage
- Vienna Sausage
- Schublig
- Cervelat
- Chili Sausage

"Opulentia" (P1600)
- Cheese Hungarian
- Sandwich Ham
- Smoked Farmer's Ham
- Frankfurter
- Veal Bratwurst
- Vienna Sausage
- Chili Sausage
- Pepperoni
- Cervelat (2x)
- Schublig (2x)
- Hungarian Sausage

Any interested buyers can make their orders at 632-9640 or 632-9649.

Alternatively, to those who know me, you can reach me via my cellphone, email or YM. :D

Among the problems facing our country is the issue of poverty and overpopulation. It has been argued that one of the reasons for our state of unemployment and poverty is that there simply are too many people for our economy to support. Therefore, based on certain studies, there are those in our government who conclude that the solution to this problem is to impose methods of population control.

The Reproductive Health Bill (RHB) is the proposal by which they endeavor to place control over the reproductive acts and habits of Filipinos.

Certainly there would be those who either oppose or support the RHB, for a variety of reasons. Those in favor of the Bill may have reasons ranging from agreement that people need a way to control population, that we as people deserve the right to exert most forms of control over our reproductive habits, that the various laws within the bill are needed to ensure the prosperity of our country, and what have you. On the other end of the spectrum, most people who argue against the RHB often raise up concerns based on religion and beliefs, ideas that many might consider as conservatism. Others may say that supporting contraceptives is something that leads to support unnatural practices.

Regardless, each one is of course entitled to their own opinion.

On November 12, a symposium was held at the Li Seng Giap Auditorium entitled ‘Debunking the Population Myth”. This was composed of a mock debate on the RHB, two presentations on population and economics, and one speech.

The symposium began with the mock debate, in which three different points were presented. These are, in abbreviated form:

a.     All contraceptives and reproductive health services must be provided by health care centers; under pain of a penalty of P10, 000-P50, 000 or 1-6 months imprisonment.

b.     Health care providers can be penalized on refusal of voluntary ligation or vasectomy; on grounds of lack of spousal consent or authority

c.     Mandatory reproductive health education begins from Grade 5 to 4^th Year HS, including sexual rights, attitudes, etc. (Including information regarding abortion, the dangers of it, and other topics)

The mock debate between both parties struck me as being rather appropriate for the mindset of the average college-level student or young adult, each side defending their assigned viewpoint with most of the common reasoning for either being pro or anti for these particular sections of the RHB.

It felt to me, in short, as a quick sampling of the two sides that the mind a young Filipino can reason out. It does show also, that the average young educated Filipino, which this Bill will be affecting far more than older generations, can understand at the basic level what this Bill is and where it is taking us.

This mock debate was followed by a speech given by Mrs. Lora Tan-Garcia, a graduate of UA&P. Her speech is that of a mother, educated and certainly still among the younger generation of adults, and shows her concerns with regards to the RHB.

Her speech tackled the reasoning that we have our rights. But we must question how far should we exert our ‘Right to Choose’. Does it not go too far when everything becomes negotiable, just so that we can speak of our right for something? We have the freedom of choice. But this freedom should be exercised in a manner that is prudent, in a way that we should know whether something is right or wrong.

            She expressed a viewpoint as a parent

There are many other things that she mentioned as well, which I sadly have to admit that I cannot recall well. However, some of the more striking things that I recall are:

“Do we not have the right to enjoy love naturally? Should we not work with the natural flow of sex, rather than against it?”

“In the use of contraceptives, does it not give an example to our children that since mom and dad cannot wait, they too should not?”

“In supporting contraceptives, does it not show that we do not trust our daughters and sons to be able to be people of integrity?”

“Sexual education must and should be conducted at home.”

“Imagine a well-meaning teacher attempting to teach this intimate subject to a class of fifty-odd, similarly embarrassed children.”

“Sexual education should not really about the technical aspects of sex.”

“In the 70s, the contraceptive was hailed as a miracle for sexual freedom. It was believed that these would reduce STDs, result in happier marriages, and reduce abortion and teenage pregnancy. But look at the numbers today. We have more divorced couples than ever, STDs are prevalent, and abortions and teenage pregnancy is still on the rise.”

Most of these points I will admit to a certain degree of paraphrasing, but then again I hope that some of the genuine message is retained. It is a speech made more on the emotional, though still well reasoned, side of things. I find that for the most part, I agreed.

What is important about the speech is that it brings to the surface that perhaps the Bill itself may or may not cause certain social, moral or ethical repercussions, and must be examined more closely with its effects on society and us as people.

But still, we are faced with an issue. Perhaps we are given the thought the that the RHB may need to be more finely tuned to avoid causing other problems in our society, especially as it pertains to social values and mores. But these are discussions which while no less important to us, may lead to less relevant trains of thought, away from the RHB.

The main issue remains: overpopulation and our economy.

Attempting to address these concerns, two presentations were shown to us. One by Dr. George von Winternitz, and one by Mr. Bernardo Villegas, both educated experts in their respective fields of demographics and economics.

Dr. Winternitz shows us certain facts. We were shown that in a country’s population, certain cohorts (or age groups) serve different functions. In a normal, healthy population, this would give us the appearance roughly of a pyramid. The youngest and oldest cohorts are supported by the middle. This means basically, that the majority of the working population (21-65) supports the majority of the elderly (66+) and younger (0-20) populations.

This seems simple enough to understand. It is also another simple conclusion then that we can say that a healthy economy relies on a healthy proportion of working people, which needs a healthy overall population, assuming all other external factors equal.

Now, we are presented then with some other statistical facts of our country. We understand that our population has indeed ballooned since 1975 to the current date of 2008, leading to support of the conclusion that we are in a state of overpopulation. However, taking a closer look at the numbers we are presented with the figures that since 1975, overall birth rates have actually decreased from roughly 30%+ to 20%+. If that is the case, where does our apparent explosion of population come from? The answer it seems is also rather simple. Our death rate since 1975 has dropped from around upper 20%+ to around 17%.

Our overpopulation is therefore not really a product of us bearing so many children, but that our older cohorts aren’t dying as much as they used to. But it would be rather insensitive and boorish to suggest that we tell the old people to go and die so our population becomes healthy, of course. Leaving the simple numbers of birth rate and death rate aside, we were presented with yet another bit of information: the Total Fertility Rate.

The concept of the TFR (Total Fertility Rate) was given to us as a number which shows basically how fertile in childbearing our country is. This is a simple formula shown by this:

TFR = # of babies born/ # of childbearing women

Now another piece of information to remember is that for a country to have zero growth rates, its TFR must be approximately 2.1. This means to say that for every 100 childbearing women, there should be around 210 babies born to achieve Zero Population Growth. The Philippines’ TFR, incidentally, was in 1975 at a height of around 6. Today in 2008, our TFR is roughly 3. It is projected, with trends being what they are, that our TFR in 2025 will be around 2. These are things we will certainly see in our lifetime.

Other fun facts to know: in most of the European nations, their TFR is below 2.1, and they are in essence a slowly dying race. Eventually, most Europeans will perish from the face of the earth, unless they do something about it. Their population cohorts were also shown to resemble a diamond, rather than a pyramid, with most of their population becoming more and more unwilling to produce children.

The importance of a healthy population cannot be discounted. Singapore, for instance, has heavy government support for its people to bear children. The United States, although suffering economic turmoil, can also be considered to be a richer country than the Philippines. They are also shown to have a healthy population base, although it is also noted that their population base is derived not from the local White population, but from the mix of other races. China, known for its 1-child policy is already starting to face the problem of being an economy that is projected to get older before it gets richer, and is confronted with the issue of having too many males to females.

We are shown then, that historically, countries who achieved a level of strength and economic success all had healthy population growth rates.

Supporting these facts of demographics and history, are the information given by economist Bernardo Villegas, who presents the names of various other academics who state that economic development or the state of poverty has been shown to have little to no correlation with overpopulation. These academics are also shown to be non-Christian, showing them as being uninfluenced by ‘religious bias’ and the like.

These studies are also shown to have been conducted over a greater spread of countries (118) and over a larger timeframe of 30 years, and as all who’ve studied statistics know, having a greater representative sample size and longer period of time leads to more accurate and realistic results. These findings, it was said, clearly contradict those findings of certain other economists who used a smaller sample of merely 8 countries and a timeframe of only 20 years. A rather myopic analysis, one might be lead to believe.

What is shown to have a high correlation with economic growth however, is the level of secondary education within a country. A story was mentioned here, of a young scholar from a lower income family, studying in St. Benilde, confronting a congressman who was there to support the RHB. In this (true) story, the scholar put forth the question that instead of spending the billions of pesos on contraceptives and other such necessary material for the proper implementation of the RHB, wouldn’t the money be better spent on education and the provision of scholarships?

Certainly this was something brought about by a surge of emotion, but nonetheless, the young scholar’s impassioned words struck something that was true.

A study on the East Asian Miracle (Singapore, Hong Kong, etc.) cited various key factors in their rise to economic development. These included:

·         Education

·         Agricultural Development

·         Political Stability

·         Economic Stability

·         Infrastructure

There was pointedly no reference to the factor of population control.

Mass poverty then, in the Philippines, Dr. Villegas proposed, is the product of inward-looking industrialization, neglect of export promotion, underdeveloped agricultural sectors and a lack of infrastructure. It goes without saying that proper education is needed.

One must then ask, if the principal cause of poverty is not overpopulation as we are led to believe, what then is the purpose of the RHB? If the RHB runs the real risk of causing ethical and moral instability, should we still implement it? If mass poverty has already been shown to be unaffected by population control, should we still pursue the RHB?

Now, what I am trying to say here may not convince people to go against the RHB or it might. It may even convince people to try to prove me wrong and make them become supporters of the RHB. But at the end of it all, that is not the goal of this bit of writing. The only thing I expect or wish to come out of this writing is that it may cause some people to rethink the RHB and examine it more closely, to re-assess things and decide once again what they chose to support, for whatever reasons there might be.

It is my personal opinion that many of those who are pushing for the Bill, especially those outside the government, are likely basing it off the reasons stated earlier. With the information presented also here, I am hoping they seriously give it more thought before casting their support again. It is also my opinion that there are a lot of people within the clockwork of the government who are pushing for it; because there’s a wealth of opportunity to be found in ‘implementing’ the RHB, regardless of whether they may or may not really believe in the Bill. But that’s normal for our country anyway, isn’t it?

I digress.

I conclude thus: there are many aspects of the RHB which needs to be edited or snipped out, because both of the dangers it poses to society in the long-run and because of its ineffectiveness in really affecting our nation. Right now, what we need to do is plow our money back into educating our people and in building infrastructure, to best help us as a nation ride out the tide of the coming global economic recession, and ultimately, for our own lasting benefit.

 

Just some notes from my last church service. XD

Reading: John 3:3

Born Again
- In Greek, 'Anoothan' (?) has three meanings:

1. Completely and fully
2. Second time
3. From above (eg. God)

Birth - Mode of entrance into the world; With the potential equipment or capability of adjustment to the world.

Born Again - A transformation of a person, so that he is able to enter another world.

To Belong to a heavenly kingdom, one must be born into it.

"New Birth" is:
- A necessity, an imperative
- Spiritual Birth
- A true experience (it will show)
- Belief in Jesus

Nicodemus, "He who came by night" (as to identify a particular Nicodemus)
- did not understand
- did not receive the message
- did not believe

This was the result, after Jesus attempted to explain to him.

Other notable passages:
1 Peter - "Pay evil with blessing."
Romans 3: 23
1 John 5:4 - "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world - our Faith."

Am-I-Dumb.com - The Dumb Test

Today, on the 22nd day of the Month of August in the year 2008, I have begun to rally against the insidious tide of darkness known as 'Plurk'.

Henceforth, this cause shall be known as the Anti-Plurk Liberation Front.

I have embarked on a righteous crusade against this darkness, consuming productive time all across the internet. Already, it has consumed the lives of many of my comrades-in-arms and respected enemies on the world of Novus.

But behold! The Light has come in this shadow war, against this entity that attempts to pose itself as a social network. This sword shall be raised to liberate the masses against the need to raise their so-called 'Karma' that Plurk has infected them with. It shall shatter the chains of bondage and break their stupor.

We must work together, united, to sweep from the minds of these poor, entrapped people, the delusion that Plurk improves their social lives and ability. It is a lie that is cloaked in the trappings of cyberspeak and e-marketing.

Hear ye! I call upon all respectable, well-minded networkers across the fabric of internet reality, to join the cause against: Plurk.

Hail, to the APLF!

GLORY IN FREEDOM!

[Chill. For Entertainment purposes only.]

Your Existing Situation

The situation is difficult and he is trying to persist in his objectives against resistance. Finds it necessary to conceal his intentions as an added precaution, in order to disarm the opposition.

Your Stress Sources

Strives for straight-forward relationships, founded on mutual trust and understanding. Wishes to act only in conformity with his own convictions. Demands freedom to make his own decisions without being subjected to interference, outside influence, or the necessity of making compromises.

Your Restrained Characteristics

Feels trapped in a distressing or uncomfortable situation and seeking some way of gaining relief. Able to achieve satisfaction through sexual activity providing no turmoil or emotional agitation is involved.

Your Desired Objective

Hopes that ties of affection and good-fellowship will bring release and contentment. His own need for approval makes him ready to be of help to others and in exchange he wants warmth and understanding. Open to new ideas and possibilities which he hopes will prove fruitful and interesting.

Your Actual Problem

Feels restricted and prevented from progressing; seeking a solution which will remove these limitations.

Your Actual Problem #2

Intensely critical of the existing conditions which he feels are disorganized or insufficiently clear-cut. Is therefore seeking some solution which will clarify the situation and introduce a more acceptable degree of order and method.

A thunderous roar echoes in the canyons
My breath quickens, knowing what lies down behind me
Cold grips my heart, spurs me on to run
Run, I tell myself, don't think about it and run

My footsteps are faint as I hurry on, seeking an exit
I see a faint hope in the distance, the markings of an old path up
Beneath my feet the ground trembles and the dusty begins to rise
Against the stone I rush into and look upwards

My eyes see handholds up to another path, so it seems
For a moment I pause, knowing that the rushing force is moments away
In my rush I leap high and my hands clutch at the handhold
Fingers grip around it and I feel a blossom of relief

For an endless time I hang and slowly realize my peril
What I held onto was not the right one to the path I'd seen
From here it was a distance barely beyond my capacity
So I lunge, desperate to try and catch onto the true ledge

Painfully I scramble to stay and try to bring myself above
But as my fingertips slip on the rocks, I fall
I fall into the ice cold waters that rage now
Crashing into it with a splash that is but one among the many

It swirls around me as for an instant I sink in
White foam and the debris of the ground surround me
Just simple, unavoidable reactions to my arrival
I float for an instant as a thousand memories flicker

It is what I should've faced long before
What I should have accepted to pass
I gasp as my breath turns into bubbles
And I am swept along in the course of nature 

Though far astray the cosmos may sway, all will return to its proper course.

It is a time of technology and power, where economic entities wield political power and hold the lives of countless thousands in their hands. Violent are the conflicts between two powerful factions.

This is a story between two rival families. Descended from the denizens of both heaven and hell, the two greatest entities rule the new world order. For a time things between them were at peace. But not for long.

War came to them.

War came to us.

This is the beginning of "Mahabharata 3, 6. 08", a Performing Arts project by EM2009. It is an adaptation of the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Originally composed of 18 books and up to 100,000 stanzas, this 'post-modern' rendition of the tale took place on March 06, 2008 at Telengtan Hall (5th floor), 5PM.

The road from Day 1 of the process that brought about the play began with no little amount of trouble. Quite a few sleepless nights and all-nighters were experienced by some of the teams. The script underwent no less than half a dozen revisions. Weeks of late night rehearsals became a fixture for the last half of our semester, culminating in 45 minutes of cultural reassembly.

All in all, things went fairly well.

There were a few pre-production hitches that marred the play, such as the lack of practice with lighting and the audio-visual accompaniment, but as usual the EM people rushed and managed to pull off a performance that tickled the fancy of most of the audience without sounding too (imo) gaudy and cheap.

Even during the play itself there were quite a few errors, which only heightened the comedy of the scene. The actors managed to carry themselves with aplomb despite unexpected mistakes, such as a certain crashing tray or a certain actor's rear-end being revealed to the audience. My sincerest apologies to the victims of these accidents. Nonetheless, it pushed through with unabashed bearing,

The in-your-face presence of stage hands and action-driving ninjas (aka, the extras and stagehands) were fun to play around with and helped elicit a positive response from the audience. Use of audio-visual projections helped to emphasize key points and scenes without the use of dialogue. These applications (shallow or no) of avant-garde ideas, the methods of presentation undoubtedly drew a few appreciative eyes.

All in all, it was good clean fun.

Hopefully, I'll be able to grab some movie clips and pictures to show what happened. Now, off to the endless work that is called life.

how blind are the proud
so insidious the sin,
forms both soft and loud,
taking ahold within

look deeper in your heart
for the mind may yet see,
through the confusing art
of pride's hidden decree

none are spared this blight
for it is man's greatest flaw,
to believe alone one's own right
alas, many hold as their law

it is a curse to overcome,
and there is a cure one might find,
the Lord's sight comes to some
but alas, I am blind

I just bought and finished the fourth book of Temeraire today, "Empire of Ivory" by Naomi Novik. Again I find myself pleasantly entertained by this rather exquisite take on Dragons. In a nutshell, the Temeraire series is about a British Captain and his Dragon during the Napoleonic Era, which is a rather nice twist on dragons and Napoleonic-era kind of books.

The main reason for this post though simply boils down to me not being able to find any other fans of the novel/series with which to talk with. Confound it! 

In any case, for anyone who likes dragons, this is a must read, and for those who are fans of alternative-fantasy/history, like the stuff that Harry Turtledove makes for example, this is a nice treat.

Novik's site: www.temeraire.org

The year has been one of the most interesting ones, I've had yet.  Much ill I've done, and yet from such things I know that the Lord cares for me. No little amount of trials and hardships, but hope lies in the next day as always. With friends and family, I've had relationships rediscovered and reforged or broken once again. Change is a wind that has carried me through.

Although I pay still for the sins of my mistakes, both great and small, I have nothing but thanks for the little lessons learned. And for the lessons I still have to learn and put into my heart and life. I pray that the Lord guides me throughout my next year, and blesses me with His unfailing hand and wisdom. And I hope that I should prove stronger and made of sterner stuff this year around.

Happy New Year, to all of you! Praise be the Lord.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were talking, chatting or whatever, plodding along what you were doing and trying to make the most of things, when suddenly a phrase comes out of nowhere and hits you? I can't remember how often that happens but it did. Hit me like a sledgehammer putting a bovine out of its misery, like a bullet slamming into your skull.

I felt a chill that wasn't cold at all blast freeze me when I read those words, my fingers just stopping in a message I was about to send (a message of encouragement), locking in the air as I stared at those dark letters that seemed to fill the screen. I could hear the fireworks crackling in the night from through my silent headphones (i dont know why I had them on) and the clatter of plates as on of the maids fixed up the kitchen about a dozen meters away.

It was one of those weird moments when i felt like one of those characters in a tv show that slows down to bullet time or one of those anime scenes where the character freezes and everything still keeps happening around him, only he's still there.

I could hear the throb and pulse of my blood in my head, that thud-thud that signalled that "yes you're still alive, get on with it" as I sat in front of my desk. Slowly I managed to move my fingers, hitting the Esc key to get rid of those words. To get rid of everything (including the other windows I had open). Somehow I managed to stand up, since at this point my bladder was telling me to go to the washroom. A few moments later I was there, standing and taking a whiz when i felt something hit me again.

Time moved on, and i felt a deep pressure seem to push itself against my back, just behind the chest. I made my way back to my computer and remembered why I had my headphones on (I had something playing), and stopped to think, to feel. "What?"

The question rang in my head for a second, ideas and thoughts bubbling through to the surface without reaching consciousness. And another thought reached out to me: "I miss some of my old self too..."

Upon the mountain called the Everburning Fount of Flames lies the immense citadel named the Kindling of Eternal Heat. Any mortal or such being of intelligence (or even those with not so much intelligence) would know to tread lightly upon the paths to that foreboding place. Not that the journey to it would be easy of course, for the Everburning Fount of Flames lies in the middle of a massive volcanic range with rivers of molten lava and falling, fiery rocks a constant threat, even on the few paths through the region.

But for what reason would someone create such a place in such an inhospitable place, well-nigh desolate of life? Or another good question would be, what sort of being would desire to dwell in that place, or have the power and disposition to thrive and make home the deadly, fiery ranges? Only the man called...Supreme Overlord!

And now let's take a look at a day in the life of Mr. Overlord.

Supreme Overlord: After months of labor, months of power grabbing and destroying my pathetic rivals, I have finally achieved dominance over the entire Black Ash volcanic region!

Supreme Minion: Of course your lordship!

Overlord: Of course, of course! Now as Supreme Overlord, we must get to making sure my retinue of minions are complete. No offense, Supreme Minion.

Minion: None taken, your lordship.

Overlord: Now! As overlord, I must have a supreme avatar as befits my status. You did get the egg, did you not?

Minion: Err, well...there are certain complex circumstances about the egg, milord...

Overlord: DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT GET THE EGG?!

Minion: I have the egg milord, but... (pulls a red, speckled egg out)

Overlord: Stop dithering, minion! I am the overlord, and you are the minion. So act according to your paygrade. Now give me the egg!

Minion: *whimper* (gives the egg)

Overlord: *cackles* Bwahaha! Now, the supreme epitome of fiery grace, power and dignity. My rivals may have chosen dragons for their monstrous avatars, but nay! I am not so foolish. After all, everyone knows that dragons get slain all the time. But I am too smart for that, my avatar is far better!

The Overlord sets the egg on a ceramic altar and steps back. He raises his hands up high and begins mumbling archaic sounding words of power.

Overlord: Yes, yes! I can feel the growing flame of life within the egg. The avian of fire years for freedom. But not yet, no not yet. More power must be channeled into my precious avatar of flame before I release you.

Minion: Sir, I really believe I need to mention somethi...

Overlord: QUIET! You interrupt my concentration!

Minion: ...

A swirl of flame and rippling heat begins to circle around the egg. Flecks of fire dance in the air in an even, spheroid shape around the pedestal. Then in a sudden flash of burning light, the fire, heat and energy seemed to be absorbed by the egg. The egg began to glow a bright red, growing hotter and brighter until it was a blinding pale white. A sudden crack of power sounded, and the air exploded in flames, sending even the Overlord and his Minion a few steps back, as fire and smoke covered the pedestal in the flaming avian's birth.

Overlord: Yes, yes! It is finished! And now I have the majestic Phoenix as my avatar!

With a confident smile, the Overlord steps forward and raises his hands up towards his new avatar.

Overlord: Arise my avatar, ye of the flame birthed! You who bears my eminent power, my divine embodiment of my mastery of the fire itself, oh arise, grand PHOENI...!

There are times I wonder, why can't people just hold themselves together and do the right thing. Sometimes its not hard. You just have to avoid doing something that's already been said as wrong. But no, people spit at the rules they agreed to follow (some due to wilfull ignorance).

Justice. I want it served. With great weight.  

Its interesting how much gets lost in communication via written word alone. A message is delivered across, but the intent and feeling behind them are either lost or misinterpreted. Occasionaly this is a good thing, but in my case I often get misunderstood in the wrong way. Its probably due to the manner in which I write and how I write, which often takes the tone of arrogance and a stiff, know-it-all attitude.

This is unfortunate, and I regret that it is so. Perhaps there may be ways to apply a more positive and warm tone to my manner of conversation. I wonder if there is such a case, for I certainly think that I do need some of that.