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Friday, 25 November 2005

NOVEMBER 24, 2005
happy_thanksgiving!

happy thanksgiving to one and all!

in the spirit of the holidays, i just wanted to issue an annual publication of the thanks i've accumulated in my thoughts and prayers in the last 365 days:

- the men and women here and overseas who are giving their lives to this country and to our security (and no, that's not just the soldiers).

- the various friends i've newly met, rediscovered, and even permanently lost. you all have made a lasting impact in my soul.

- my professors and many mentors at BC who helped to strengthen my spirit for the oftentimes merciless 'real world'. for teaching me truth and nobility, and the virtue of perseverance, in my vocation.

- my mother and father who have been nothing but patient with all of the unpredictable and oftentimes incoherent things that i do. for having an heart's eye open that the Lord does indeed His work in mysterious ways on people.

- to you special ones in houston and chicago (you know who you are!) who are nothing less than family in my eyes. for the constant joys that you give to me, even at 5 in the morning.

- to my students at st. peter's. for their continuing inspiration to me to be a better educator, to be a better person day in and day out. for their never-failing reminder that we all are, in the end, beloved children of God.

- to my girlfriend, miss bou. for being the sister, the best friend, the most wise mentor, the living breathing soul-saving angel, the best half i never thought i could have. there are not enough words for prayers, nor enough days for me to say them, nor enough heavens for them to fill, nor enough angels to usher them onwards to the Lord's ears...there simply is not enough to show you just how much you mean to me. quite simply and completely, i love you. thank you for the person that you are.

Thursday, 20 October 2005

OCTOBER 20, 2005
good_answer

Q: "What do you say to the people of the world who have typecasted Filipinos as nannies?"

A: "I take no offense on being typecasted as a nanny. But I do take offense that the educated people of the world have somehow denegrated the true sense and meaning of what a nanny is. Let me tell you what she is. She is someone who gives more than she takes. She is someone you trust to look after the very people most precious to you - your child, the elderly, yourself. She is the one who has made a living out of caring and loving other people. So to those who have typecasted us as nannies, Thank you. It is a testament to the loving and caring culture of the Filipino people. And for that, I am forever proud and grateful of my roots and culture."

- - a hoax (of the winning answer by Miss Philippines in Miss International 2005), but a good answer nonetheless...

Friday, 09 September 2005

SEPTEMBER 9, 2005
our_nation_at_its_best

Source: Brown's Resume and Background Under Scrutiny (AOL News)

When President Bush nominated Michael Brown to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2003, Brown's boss at the time, Joe Allbaugh, declared, "the President couldn't have chosen a better man to help...prepare and protect the nation." But how well was he prepared for the job? Since Hurricane Katrina, the FEMA director has come under heavy criticism for his performance and scrutiny of his background. Now, an investigation by TIME has found discrepancies in his online legal profile and official bio, including a description of Brown released by the White House at the time of his nomination in 2001 to the job as deputy chief of FEMA. (Brown became Director of FEMA, succeeding Allbaugh, in 2003.)

Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management, according to his bio posted on FEMA's website, was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." The White House press release from 2001 stated that Brown worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., from 1975 to 1978 "overseeing the emergency services division." In fact, according to Claudia Deakins, head of public relations for the city of Edmond, Brown was an "assistant to the city manager" from 1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no authority over other employees. "The assistant is more like an intern," she told TIME. "Department heads did not report to him." Brown did do a good job at his humble position, however, according to his boss. "Yes. Mike Brown worked for me. He was my administrative assistant. He was a student at Central State University," recalls former city manager Bill Dashner. "Mike used to handle a lot of details. Every now and again I'd ask him to write me a speech. He was very loyal. He was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt."

In response, Nicol Andrews, deputy strategic director in FEMA's office of public affairs, insists that while Brown began as an intern, he became an "assistant city manager" with a distinguished record of service. "According to Mike Brown," she says, "a large portion [of the points raised by TIME] is very inaccurate."

Brown's lack of experience in emergency management isn't the only apparent bit of padding on his resume, which raises questions about how rigorously the White House vetted him before putting him in charge of FEMA. Under the "honors and awards" section of his profile at FindLaw.com — which is information on the legal website provided by lawyers or their offices—he lists "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University". However, Brown "wasn't a professor here, he was only a student here," says Charles Johnson, News Bureau Director in the University Relations office at the University of Central Oklahoma (formerly named Central State University). "He may have been an adjunct instructor," says Johnson, but that title is very different from that of "professor." Carl Reherman, a former political science professor at the University through the '70s and '80s, says that Brown "was not on the faculty." As for the honor of "Outstanding Political Science Professor," Johnson says, "I spoke with the department chair yesterday and he's not aware of it." Johnson could not confirm that Brown made the Dean's list or was an "Outstanding Political Science Senior," as is stated on his online profile.

Speaking for Brown, Andrews says that Brown has never claimed to be a political science professor, in spite of what his profile in FindLaw indicates. "He was named the outstanding political science senior at Central State, and was an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City School of Law."

Under the heading of "Professional Associations and Memberships" on FindLaw, Brown states that from 1983 to the present he has been director of the Oklahoma Christian Home, a nursing home in Edmond. But an administrator with the Home, told TIME that Brown is "not a person that anyone here is familiar with." She says there was a board of directors until a couple of years ago, but she couldn't find anyone who recalled him being on it. According to FEMA's Andrews, Brown said "he's never claimed to be the director of the home. He was on the board of directors, or governors of the nursing home." However, a veteran employee at the center since 1981 says Brown "was never director here, was never on the board of directors, was never executive director. He was never here in any capacity. I never heard his name mentioned here."

The FindLaw profile for Brown was amended on Thursday to remove a reference to his tenure at the International Arabian Horse Association, which has become a contested point.

Brown's FindLaw profile lists a wide range of areas of legal practice, from estate planning to family law to sports. However, one former colleague does not remember Brown's work as sterling. Stephen Jones, a prominent Oklahoma lawyer who was lead defense attorney on the Timothy McVeigh case, was Brown's boss for two-and-a-half years in the early '80s. "He did mainly transactional work, not litigation," says Jones. "There was a feeling that he was not serious and somewhat shallow." Jones says when his law firm split, Brown was one of two staffers who was let go.

With reporting by Jeremy Caplan, Carolina A. Miranda/New York; Nathan Thornburgh/Baton Rouge; Levi Clark/Edmond; Massimo Calabresi and Mark Thompson/Washington

Thursday, 08 September 2005

SEPTEMBER 7, 2005
american_media

All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values
Marshall McLuhan

Source: FEMA Tries to Restrict Photos

I think the Secret Asian Man cartoon explains this as clearly as it can be possibly explained. And I wholeheartedly agree with it.

Although the cartoon is referring to a different scenario, the underlying principle still stands: America is an arrogant pretentious bitch of a country. It ain't even about "protecting the dead", cuz if it was, it would hold the same standard for every nation it reports on out there (except for Iraq and shit of course cuz WE'RE involved there). It's all about protecting her "perfect image". Plain fucking arrogance.

But fuck that. As Mr. Marley and many before and after him had said, in effect: EMANCIPATE YOURSELVES FROM MENTAL SLAVERY.

Just because "the dead" are dead, especially those in Iraq and now those in the South, does NOT mean their voices are. They all still cry out for a certain truth that we, the living, NEED to hear, that we NEED to know, if ever certain wrongs in this fucked-up, supposedly democratic and free system were to be right!

So, for this another atrocious act, here's another FUCK YOU to America and Uncle Sam. What do YOU think?

THIS MAN IS DEAD

THIS WOMAN IS DEAD

AIN'T IT SOME "SEE NO EVIL" SHIT?!?!?!?

SEPTEMBER 3, 2005
mothers_know_best

so yeah, it is now 4 days into the month of september. in the days prior, i just about rejected all of my prospects for teaching (formally teaching) for the upcoming schoolyear for one reason or another, explanations of which i choose to omit here in order to save my fingers the energy (to summarize it, it came down to evaluating "cost and efficiency", and that's all i'm gonna say about that). thus, closing off those oh-so-juicy opportunities has left me, in a sad sad word, jobless. there was ultimately however one reason, a window of opportunity in the concrete prison that i just built for myself, which led me to shun my passion for teaching...at least temporarily. that reason being, Mama V...my mother.

ok, so how does a compassionate, ever-so-caring, ever-so-sincere, and must i mention still-young-and-beautiful-looking mother go about to influence her son to hold off on several juicy opportunities? simple, cuz she can. she's had that kind of power over me since i can remember. mothers know best, they say. i've always thought that they were right. and so far, in my 23 years of life and living, she has never been wrong. so, once again, especially at a most crucial time in a young adult's life, i'm gonna go with Mama V on this one again.

it sounds crazy though, right? you would think any other mom would push her son or daughter to get the first job available out of college in order to, what else but, pay off the mounting college loans; in order for her to finally switch to you as the primary nameholder for that car you've been driving; in order for you to finally pay your own cell phone bills; among other reasons. but nooo, this particular mom is intent to have her son go on finding what really suits him - what makes him and consequently everyone around him the happiest - even if it will take him years to do it. yeah, it's unheard of for me too, i know...until i was born of course.

so yeah, apart from me already doing all those stuff that i said up there on my own (minus the car cuz i don't have one), and so having no immediate need to jump into a career and feel immediately trapped (as is 90% of the time with college graduates), my mom simply laid out a simple option for me which i've always pondered about but never really seriously considered, nevermind put into action. and that option was (drum roll please..........): have fun. is that it!?, you ask? yep, that's it. "have fun." "experiment." "do what you want to do." basically, "ENJOY LIFE." "as long as you know, acknowledge, and meet your responsibilities, you can do anything you want in your life."

what better career - no, life - advice is there than that?

so, as some of you may already know, most of you not, i've taken nursing to heart and am planning to begin my new adventure come spring semester. being the social work aficionado that i am, i figure nursing is the closest you'll ever be "social" without actually having to physically dig in, cut some vein here, attach an artery there, and voila there you go all nice and new. if not anything else, this particular experiment will be one good hell of a ride. and Lawdy Lawd knows just how much i love me my rides. side note: being herself a nurse, Mama's first suggestion of course of what i should look into was nursing...haha. hmmm, come to think of it....i'm beginning to wonder if all her speech about enjoying life is just that: a speech, a schpiel, a ploy assigned to her by some secret Covert Nursing Recruitment Organization that she has to carry lest her license is revoked.

Hmmm, I wonder.........NAAAAHH!!

I LOVE YOU, MA...SIMPLY AND COMPLETELY! THANK YOU AGAIN AND ALWAYS...FOR EVERYTHING

---------------------------------------------

i think i was going insane when i wrote the above entry: i started to think of The Sound and Music (how Maria had to find a place in the world also), and then all of a sudden, the playful "I am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen" song by Leisl and Rolf in the pagoda started playing in head.....except with these words:

   i am 23 going on 24
   still needing a career
   teaching or nursing
   anything, something
   s'long as it pays for beer
   totally unprepared am i
   to face the world of work
   timid and shy and scared am i
   to ask if i'll get perks
   i need someone like an adviser
   telling me what to do
   i am 23 going on 24
   i should've stayed in business school

and then where Leisl and Rolf were chasin each other at the end of the song, i pictured myself being chased by doctors, lawyers, teachers, retail store managers, artists, guitarristas.

strange. so strange.