A people's task

Fighting terrorism is a people's task.

I think terrorists are simply outliers in society and they just look for a vehicle to express their destructive impulse such as religion, ideology or social group e,g. fraternities

We tend to leave the fight against terrorism to our government but we the people have a role to root out who these potential terrorists are before they can even give vent to their madness.

Most of the time too, men seem to be at the forefront of fighting terrorism but we should realize that women too can play a greater role towards this end.

Tanim Bala Scam is Economic Sabotage

The 'Tanim Bala' scam is no ordinary crime. It is economic sabotage and its perpetrators must be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Those who hatched and engaged in this heinous activity thought so because they thought they can get away with it. But it is really up to government to show how wrong the crooks are.

Not to do so would show how feckless and weak the government is and how deserving it is of public derision.

Mar's problem

Mar Roxas said that he does not have to apologize for being born rich. I agree with him.

The problem though is  that his 'nyorito upbringing may not have prepared him to be the leader of a country where the life experience of the majority are vastly different from what he grew up with.

Thus when the people decide to pick a leader, they may not pick Roxas not because they are "unenlightened" but that their perspective is simply different from that of Roxas or his band of supporters.

If Roxas wants to become PNoy's successor, he should try to understand the people instead of expecting the people to understand him. And the way he will do so will show what he thinks of the people.

Fighting depression with exercise

For the longest time I have been struggling against depression - this hateful feeling of despondency, sadness and mental pain that I know is not normal and that I should not have.

Depression puts me in a state of hopelessness and prevents me from thinking clearly and being productive. I have become forgetful and unfocused and it has kept me from holding on to a job for a long time.

Still despite the temptation of taking medicine to rid me of this condition I refuse to take medication for fear of the drug's rebound effect which I fear may make my problem worse.

In my quest to find a non medical solution to depression I find the remedy that works for me is exercise and physical activity. Biking and walking a lot somehow makes me feel better. My problem with exercise though is how to get over the first few minutes of inertia and how to be consistent in exercising at least every other day.

I have even tried laughter therapy but I can not say that it worked for me. What I am sure of is that it made me feel silly. But I will not put this down completely. I read somewhere that in one psychological experiment, merely smiling, even when forced can already alter the brain and put a person in a positive frame of mind. Maybe I am just too impatient to wait for its beneficial effect.

Is it still safe?

Laguna de Bai has always been a source of food and livelihood for many people.

 But with the way we have over-exploited and abused this lake, I wonder if the food it provides is still safe to eat. Local scientists studying the lake have already warned of high heavy metal concentration in fishes in the lake.

It is unthinkable how we have allowed factories to dump their poisonous waste into this body of water that provides us food or land developers to slowly claim parts of its body. Instead of enhancing the beauty of the lake we have allowed it to be destroyed.

What consoles me though and gives me hope is the knowledge that what exists at present does not have to be permanent and that eventually we can restore this lake back to health and life giving grandeur.

Mother Nature's art and wrath

From afar, I thought that someone had simply drawn a white bell on the wall . But on closer look, it turned out to be a pattern on the wings of a moth.

We may not have time to stop and appreciate what mother nature has created and that may be fine with her. What is not acceptable though is when we continue to destroy the natural environment where we and mother nature's creation exist.

This is not merely a benign neglect. There is a steep price to pay and no one will be exempt from paying.

The Chickpea Project

Chickpea also known as garbanzo beans is delicious and can be cooked many ways. However, most chickpea consumed in our country is imported.

It is good to know that there is an effort by the Benguet State University(BSU) to grow this crop locally. Hopefully BSU succeeds in their objective.

To help encourage farmers to grow chickpea locally, I believe that there is also a need to ready a market for this crop should farmers begin growing and producing them.

My idea is to create a food enterprise selling various preparation of chickpea such as falafel, samosa, farinata, humus, etc.

Hopefully, I can convince the right people to take up this idea.

A thought about bright ideas

From time to time people think that they have stumbled on a bright idea only to realize later that the idea may not be so bright after all. Or that it will entail a lot of effort that may not be within the ability of the thinker.

But my realization is that unless one can execute this brilliant idea by oneself, this idea does not belong to him.

It is ok to dream and dream big. But we must also keep our feet on the ground and focus on the doable.

Year of the Poor...daw

I had no idea that 2015 is supposed to be the Year of the Poor until I saw this banner in front of a church.

But how do we observe "Year of the Poor"?  Do we simply think of them, give them alms and hope that they will not be poor?

For me poverty is the opposite state of being wealthy. People are poor because they do not generate the wealth needed even just for their survival or if ever they do, the wealth that they create is taken away from them.

If we want to lift people out of poverty, we must help make them more productive and ensure that they fully benefit from the fruits of their labor.

It is not enough to just remember them.

Fighting Procrastination

Just got this from the internet but may be worth trying.

1. Just get started
2. Break task down to easy doable steps
3. Count the micro cost of delaying things
4. Reward yourself