A White Fall: The End of the White Men's Ascendancy in the US

 

Obama's acceptance speech highlights @ Yahoo! Video

VIEW THE COMPLETE SPEECH

It's amazing how a speech delivered with so much heart and sincerity could summon the tears from a person's eye to fall even without actually having personal attachment with the person giving the speech.

This was what I felt while I was watching USA's President-Elect Barack Obama delivering his acceptance speech in Chicago after I opened my internet browser's homepage (which had strictly yahooed every significant details of the US Presidential Election on their page), not intending to keep abreast with the political hubbubs happening on the other side of the globe. He, indeed, from the very first time I have learned that this man of negro descent is the Democrat's fish for the highly-revered seat at the White House, is the most worthy successor of the highest position in the world's most powerful country.

I must admit that I share the same sentiments with the "people with colored skins" in the US for being maltreated and inhumanely prejudiced by some of the white men before, or probably even until now, who think of themselves as the only people who deserve the land for which, in the first place, no one but the native Americans, who by nature are one of those "colored" people, truly deserve.

Even until now, most oftenly not in the United States though, the white men still highly consider themselves as if they were the only race who were blessed for being so wealthy, healthy and mighty, or so they think, and that people of colored skin are inferior to their direful beings. 

If you haven't heard yet of the case of a Pinoy celebrity who, although was born to a father belonging to a white race in a powerful country in Europe, still experienced discriminatory acts from people around him, which he could have probably treated as good friends, then I might say you're oblivious of this fact. Even more, and which is much obvious among us, the whites imposed upon us the false belief that a white skin spells beauty, wealth, sophistication, cleanliness and acceptance while a brown or black one is a dire remonstration of the "good" things brought about by being white. How disgusting!

Going back to the case in the US, apart from the native Americans who should have been the sole owners of the American soil, the African Americans, who endured centuries of slavery and discrimination, have long clamored for a country which truly embody the ideals of the forefathers of the US - peace, justice, equality, liberty and all other terms which sum up a unified and democratic nation.

Sadly, for centuries, these were only good in paper and were not actualized even under the influence of a religion which teaches its people to consider their neigbor as his brother or sister, much like being a people who share the same flesh and blood but devoid of color, race, language, culture and creed.

Time has witnessed the violence and inhumane treatment of the whites among the "colored" ones, specifically the descendants of the American slaves. History books have exceedingly chronicled these dark ages in the American history, which somehow, indirectly affected other people around the globe. I guess now, it's payback time - not in the same way the whites did those wrongs before though, but in a way where these kinds of people would learn to reflect on their cruelty by way of showing them how good things written on paper which is enforced to realization could create a dynamic, peaceful and loving people, which is somehow reflected on Obama's acceptance speech as the leader of the most powerful and influential country on the face of the planet. Jiayou, President Obama!

We're in the Deadliest Time of the Year! (Typhoons in the Philippines)

Dr. Romulo A. Virola, the Secretary-General of the National Statistics Coordination Board has published a witty article with regards to his statistical analysis of typhoon occurence in the country from 1947 up to 2007.

Alarmingly, his analysis revealed that the fourth quarter of the year (October - December) may not have been the most visited months of the year in terms of typhoons, (it's the third quarter, July, August, September that's most visited) but it's the period when the DEADLIEST ones occur and make landfall in the Philippine shores.

The five deadliest and strongest typhoons that made landfall in the country actually crossed the Bicol area, going north westward to CALABARZON-REGION 3 area toward the NCR before successfully drifting to the South-China Sea.

His analysis further revealed a dramatic increase of typhoon activity beginning last decade, the 90s up until today. Coupled with the high number of typhoons, the typhoons with the highest recorded winds as well as those which are classified as most destructive, deadliest and costliest typhoons occured from 1990 to the present. Could this be the result of the radical change in global weather? Is this the outcome of global warming?

Hence, its the high time for us to brace ourselves with stronger and deadlier typhoons in the future - those which are far more than what we might expect and those which would break all the records of disaster in the world and in history of mankind.

Try seeing his article yourself in this website: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/headlines/StatsSpeak/2008/081108_rav_typhoons.asp

My Idea of a Perfect Girl

I have always wanted to write about an article which discusses the type of girl who would best suit to be my better-half or otherwise my permanent partner in life not that I'm publicly announcing it for someone to bid for the position, which, I doubt any well-bread woman would do but only for the sole purpose of reflecting on the specific criteria which I need to set for me to be assured whether she's the right one for me or not.

I believe many men, if not all, have their own standards of an ideal girl apart mostly from the most obvious one which is more of a physical judgment with women (one that has a "coke-like body," one who's mestiza, with long black shiny hair, etc, etc. etc..). Of course, I can't deny that women having such qualities are sexually appealing for all Adams and I would regard it to be even nicer and a great blessing if my "soul mate" would possess such qualities as well as a similar degree of beauty within.

Nevertheless, I see it not a very good choice as I would surely need to share her beauty to some other men who are very much attracted to the physical attributes of a woman, all because I'm certain that she would be the object of desire of those freaks.

I have observed this many times when I'm at the mall or some other public place. You see, whenever I go to the mall, I always bring my sisters with me - both of them are truly blessed with a rare kind of beauty. Honestly, I couldn't take the way other men stare at them to the point that I become so angry and disgusted. I'm afraid I might do something crazy if that happens when I'm with my girlfriend because as I assess myself, I truly am very possessive. If other people find it as something to be proud of, well, it's the other way around in my case. So, I guess, having a goddess-like girlfriend in terms of her countenance is not a very good option. And besides, we are all aware that physical beauty is not permanent. All of us will have to face the truth that the greatest thing that humans could have in this world is the beauty that never fades - the so-called "inner beauty" manifested in our actions.

Once again, I say that we, the son's of Adam, have our individual and personal definitions of true beauty. What is attractive for one may not be so with another. If you ask me, the physical qualities of a lady is quite secondary or probably the last among all of my criteria of an ideal woman.

My foremost requirement (if that's the right term) is her ability to go beyond the boundaries of the natural understanding that a human could have. You see, I'm a busy person who generally prioritizes things which would give me long-term benefits. Thus, she should be the first person who would not bother me too much when I'm working out with something unless it's some matter which would truly need my earnest attention. She should be someone who would constantly encourage me to focus on what I'm doing because she understands that she is a good source of inspiration for the success of my work and that at the end of the day, we would still be together to celebrate our strong bond.

I don't really need an "accessory" type of a girlfriend (one who men only courts for the purpose of bragging about her appeal among his friends and peers). As all humans have their individual flaws, she should be honest to show who she is and not being pretentious about who she should be in front of my friends and family. She should, however, know how to control herself at a certain degree. She should also be knowledgeable about the proper etiquette of a woman because in the near future, she would carry my name upon marriage.

I do prefer someone who listens to what I want to happen or do but she should also know how and when to insist and to divert to follow her heart. She should know how to give her intelligent judgements because when we are already together, especially since we are living in an egalitarian society, family matters are best settled with two heads compared with one.

As it should be true in any relationships, she should accept my imperfections while trying to bridge certain gaps that might arise along the way. She should be a solution-maker rather than a fault-finder. When things get tough, she should better know that it could be best solve through a calm dialogue on the table rather than an unfriendly exchange of curse-words.

In any kind of relationships, money is believed to play a large part in its success. But in my case, I would like a girl who does not always expect a free breakfast, lunch, dinner, jeepney fare and some other things which would require me to spend for her. She should understand that she commited into a relationship not to have a milking cow but to have someone to share life's greatest moments with through thick and thin.

Likewise, she should know that she committed into a relationship not to have an instant manservant who would cook for her, clean for her, carry her things around for her or do some errand in my expense. No, definitely not. Although sometimes, she could do so through a nice request.

One reason why most relationships don't work is because one party keeps on nagging the other in the form of a phone call, text message or the like which could sometimes be really irritating. Therefore, the kind of girl I want should know how to limit her "hello's" and "I miss you's" because she should be aware that I also have to give time for my personal needs and works as much as she does. Furthermore, she should not always expect that we will be together, everyday, every hour, minutes and seconds of the day. She should know it perfectly well that there are matters that we both need to attend to if we want a better future.

Lastly, there is a saying that goes like - if you want to win the heart of a woman, you have to be better than her father. The same goes for me. I would be very glad if the woman I like is similar, if not better, to the qualities my mother possesses.

Tropical Storm Higos expected to directly hit Lucena City

UPDATE 1

As of 8PM, Philippine time, the latest tracks released by a significant number of Meteorological agencies point out the possibility of Tropical Storm Higos to cross the Quezon Province, particularly the city of Lucena, evening of October 1.

The tropical cyclone has the intensity of 85 kph near the center and moves at 26 kph. Signal number 1 is hoisted over the province of Quezon as well as other provinces surrounding the area.

Tropical storm Higos, if the forecasts are true, will be the second tropical cyclone to cross Quezon Province, next to Typhoon Frank which directly hit the city of Lucena last June. Comparing the strength of this two weather disturbance, the current tropical storm is far weaker than Typhoon Frank.

It is predicted however, that in the period starting September 2008 - December 2008, more and more tropical cyclones will enter the Philippine shores, most of which would ravage the Bicol Region, CALABARZON area and the NCR.

Watch out for more updates about this...

NOTE: Factual information was gathered from different meteorological agencies around the world. The assertions given above, however, MAY or MAY NOT actually describe the current or predicted condition of the present weather disturbance.

Image courtesy of www.typhoon2000.com

Onward the Teaching Career

As a final requirement to my course, this afternoon, I had my final teaching demonstration. Everything went well all because of the encouragement of everybody. It truly is nice to have friends like my classmates...

I guess that's all for now as I still am not in the mood to write... Thank God that ordeal is over.

JULY 18 PHILIPPINE QUAKE, A FRAUD

There is this rumor that is circulating by word of mouth that there will be a magnitude 8.1 quake that would hit the country come July 18.

I became curious and found on the net that it was some Jucelino Nóbrega da Luz who predicted the disaster. The aforementioned person is reputable for predicting events which have truly happened, as some of my sources have attested BUT, fortunately, I found his website which contained all his prophecies for this year.

Before I give the website, try reflecting on this. He mentioned that last February, the Philippines experienced a big flood which killed and injured many people. never heard of such, as I recall. However, his prediction about big floods caused by hurricanes in the country in June might be true because of typhoon Frank.

But here's what's notable HE DID NOT EVEN MENTION THE SPREADING RUMOR THAT THE PHILIPPINES WILL BE HIT BY A BIG EARTHQUAKE IN JULY 18.

Try to see it yourself:

http://www.jucelinodaluz.com.br/previsoes_2008_english.htm

WAIT, WAIT WAIT

IT DOESN'T HURT TO BE PREPARED. EARTHQUAKE OR NO EARTHQUAKE, just take the necessary precautionary measures. OKAY?

PAGASA's Forecasts on Franks, Proven Unreliable

On the last weather bulletin of PAGASA before typhoon Frank ravaged the Southern Tagalog region, they insisted that the typhoon will cross the Mindoro-Palawan area, making residents of the region to be assured of their safety.

Hours passed until Frank's strength had been felt over the area. By then, nothing is heard from the local weather bureau about other possible tracks of the typhoon. Electricity were cut down before midnight and residents of Southern Tagalog, partcularly those in Lucena City, where I reside, remained unaware about the looming danger brought about by the typhoon that was about to pass, which is relatively contrasting to the announcements of PAGASA. Before electricity was cut down, Quezon province and nearby provinces remained at signal number 2.

What is irritating over this matter is that two international weather bureaus namely Japan Meteorological Agency and Hong Kong Observatory have predicted the typhoon to pass the Southern Tagalog region during the time that the typhoon was already in Romblon (that was before PAGASA's 5PM weather bulletin, June 21) compared to the Mindoro area which PAGASA expected.

With the local weather bureau's last forecast before electricity went out, residents of Southern Tagalog region went to sleep devoid of any anxiety caused by the approaching typhoon only to wake up early midnight with winds and rains cruelly thrashing and destroying everything on their way. Because of their failure to prepare, many unfortunate residents whose houses have no match for the typhoon was left with no other choice but to leave their place without a "good fight" with the tempest. Roofs flew, houses and belongings were left drenched by rainwater.

The point is, if PAGASA would have announced the possibilty of another track, residents would have been at least given the chance to make a little preparation to save their lives and property. But what they did is to stick to what they see as the most probable track of the typhoon.

I don't know if they mentioned about some possibilities of another track with the media which they might have failed to pay a little attention with; but I guess, if they did, somehow, the media would have warned the public firsthand.

Another thing, given that PAGASA failed to warn the residents of Southern Tagalog region before electricity went off and before they went to sleep, I expected the local government units to have made a house to house announcement of the possibility that the typhoon might cross the region together with some help they could offer if that time comes. [Of course, they would have done something if and only if PAGASA or the National Disaster Coordinating Council alerted the LGUs] But the typhoon came and went, yet I never heard anything from these government agencies - that is, in Lucena; I don't know if other town officials became more responsible.

This is actually strike two for PAGASA, because as far as I recall, with regards to typhoon Mitag, they predicated it to pass the direction of Albay, Quezon and Manila, but it ended up making landfall in Isabela, which, long before the weather disturbance earned a typhoon status, all international weather bureaus as well as international news networks such as CNN and BBC forecasted it to travel the same way as it actually did.

I do not intend to degrade PAGASA, but what I want to say is that if they would have announced other possible paths that the typhoon might trail, residents would have been alerted and necessary preparations would have been created. I would be happier than frightened if they announced that a typhoon will travel right over our place but ends up to other places that waking up with your house unroofed and your property, or worse life of family members gone. By the way, there's no harm with being ready, am I right?

Typhoon Frank to hit LUCENA and MANILA

UPDATED: June 21, 2:00 AM
Note: The next update will be around the morning before noon. CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE THEM CLEARLY.

PAGASA's 11PM forecast yesterday declared that the EYE of typhoon Frank is expected to cross Southern Luzon including the CITY OF LUCENA tomorrow afternoon, pouring its MAXIMUM STRENGTH over the inland waters of Southern Quezon, off to the aforementioned city and eventually the provinces east of Metro Manila.

Frank maintaned its strength to 140 km/h and gustiness of 170 km/h near the center. It is moving at a speed of 19 km/hr and is expected to be in Lucena by 12 noon today. By midnight, Frank would have crossed Manila and would be heading towards the provinces of Northern Luzon.

As forecasts of international weather beaureus claim, residents of southern tagalog region and western parts of the eastern Bicol region are expected to feel the most extreme possible winds and rains of Frank as it crosses the islands toward Metro Manila or, otherwise, Northern Luzon..

The Philippine weather bureau hoisted the provinces of Southern Quezon, Bicol Region, and Metro Manila to SIGNAL NUMBER 3 for the provincial disaster coordinating councils of the respective provinces to initially prepare for the most likely track of the typhoon. [for the updated typhoon warning, visit this website: http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/wb/wb.html]

The now-considered "most likely" track is contrasting to the previous forecasts where the typhoon, which made landfall in Eastern Samar, June 20, had been expected to pass the eastern ridge of the archipelago proceeding towards Taiwan and Southern Japan.

Meanwhile, PAGASA mentions that they are still looking for signs on the possibilities for a second scenario of the track of the typhoon, which could otherwise trail the track of Southern Quezon toward Northern Palawan or Mindoro provinces, instead of Metro Manila and Northern Luzon.

For more infos, plese see the following links:

http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/
http://www.typhoon2000.ph/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Pacific_Typhoon_Season

NOTE: This news item and update is restrictive only tothe Southern Tagalog Region. Once the region is officially free from the typhoon, only then will the updates be stopped.

International Forecasts were also considered and analyzed.

DISCLAIMER: The forecast on this weather bulletin may not be COMPLETELY concrete since details were gathered and analyzed through different weather bureaus. Images posted here were taken from websites of the different weather bureaus which freely allows online surferes to be accessed. If this be found illegal, I would be happy to be notified so that I could remove them quickly.

end of a long-time slumber

the days are already counted. The 2008 summer vacation in the Philippines is drawing to a close with the start of another school year by the tenth of June, some, at the 16th.

I wouldn't really mind it to ever end, had it not my last summer vacation as a student. I'm one step closer to being a professional educator because now I only need to endure the burden entailed by my course for about ten months, and presto, the diploma will be mine.

Right now, I can't quite figure out how my life would be like once I was released by the educational institution to the wilderness of the real world. The feeling is similar to a scenario like when you're taking an ideal bath, covered with bubbly soap and enveloped by lukewarm water then suddenly you're grandmother knocks on the door to demand that she really have to release that grueling tempest or else your house will suffer the fragrance of her poop. It's like you're stuck on a crossroad dwelling on a bittersweet situation, unable to decide whether you should go or not, thinking that no matter what you do, it will eventually strike naturally as expected.

I don't feel even a nick of excitement for it, but instead, grudge over a life i'm quite uncertain if i've spent befittingly. I hope time will not come that I regret anything I've left behind. And I'm certain there's too many.

Should I proceed? But of course, I should, right? But would I ever succeed? Now that's the big question. I don't know if I should really rely on the old adage that contends that destiny is not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice. It is something not to be taken but it's to be achieved. This makes me so much puzzled and anxious about the future.

I consider my childhood and teenage life as a long slumber to gain the right amount of energy necessary for an adult life labeled with success and happiness. My long sleep, I guess isn't sufficient yet to earn me a good adulthood, but I expect to grow on the process. By the way, they say life starts at 40. Right now, I'm half-way to that age. Hence, a great number of experiences is still piling up ahead until that time comes.

Bahala na si batman.

I Need Your Support

I was officially accepted as a candidate "rafter" at rafterjumpon.com which would soon open doors for me to be accepted as a freelance writer/ correspondent to a media website which will be launched this year.

But for me to be accepted, I need your support by GIVING ME A THUMBS UP, leaving a comment on the page or BY JUST VISITING MY ARTICLES.

Here's the URL

http://www.rafterjumpon.com/view_rafters.php5?id=1960
http://www.rafterjumpon.com/view_rafters.php5?id=1960
http://www.rafterjumpon.com/view_rafters.php5?id=1960
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I wouldn't mind if your feel my write-ups aren't worth a thumbs' up. In which case, I would like to hear what I need to improve about. Thanks a lot, friend.

I would even be happier if you'd mind telling this to your friends. Thanks...

If you also feel that a writer's blood is running through your veins, don't hesitate to apply. A considerable amount awaits those who become an OFFICIAL RAFTER.