Friday, December 28, 2007

Economic Illusion

Hello everyone! I'm finally back to this white space to fill in with ideas.

I'm currently in the United States having a good vacation. I bought the new iPod Nano which has a video player on it. Kinda excited. I already have that then i just bought a LeBron James Team USA jersey and a Gilbert Arenas jersey. I also already have a number 3 and 5 wood for golf. Happy shopping holidays everybody.

After some time here in the Los Angeles County, we went to San Diego. I spent my Christmas there with my cousins.

After that we went to Las Vegas, and it took us 9 hours to get there just because of traffic! The movie "I Am Legend" on my iPod was really not enough as it ran for only 1.5 hours. The next day we got back here again in LA county. It was a much shorter drive at 4.5 hours.

I'll just write a little about "I Am Legend". I love the movie and I thought Will Smith did another good job in acting. This time it was a difficult job because he was alone, so he'd either talk to his dog and some mannequins. I liked how he put out emotion when he was choking Sam, when he said "please talk to me" to a mannequin and when he explained about God's plan. I liked the story and all in all the movie was plain wicked. I liked the way Robert became a legend.

On the 30th, I'll watch a game in the Staples Center, the Lakers hosting the Celtics. I think it's gonna be a good game, especially with Bynum's synergy with his teammates rising, then you've got Kobe too, facing the new Big Three. Here's a rundown of my schedule here in the US.

December 21-22 LA county
23-25 San Diego
26-27 Las Vegas
28-January 1 LA county

Economic Illusion

Our currency here in the Philippines has "improved". From $1:P50+ it has become $P1:41+. Most countries have probably "improved" their economies as well, but notice how I used improve. It's contained in " ". So the title, Economic Illusion, kind of gives you an idea. Economies are not exactly rising. The United States economy's experiencing a very quiet freefall.

Our countries most probably have not (1) undergone better allocation(a sort of budgeting natural resources) and (2) natural resources do not sprout out of nowhere.

Number 1 isn't true unless your country has had a new administration or your government has found new ways to do allocation. It is most probably not true because for a lot of countries to have done that? I think not. The Philippines is a good example. We have the same government since 2001. Number 2 is naturally true. You don't pick up oil and gold like you pick apples and oranges.

Most people would say that is virtually impossible because the United States is an economic superpower. We know it, they're rich, got a powerful military force, and they generate all sorts of technology and then inject it to most countries in the world to westernize them.

We also know how most countries run to them for employment and a better life. This however is, to me(therefore this is an opinion), says why the United States is slowly climbing down the ladder. People above 60 usually from all sorts of countries go there to stay for an easier life. I also heard the US has taken in 6 million immigrants over the last 7 years from all over the world. That is true because I know, my relatives have gone there. The Philippines like it there. Me being here in the US, I witness most of it here in the West Coast, especially in California. I've seen Mexicans, Chinese, Filipinos and people from El Salvador(sorry I don't know what to call them). Of those 6 million people, a good percentage can give America benefits by giving medical service and the like, but a good percentage also contains the aged, those who are nearing the stage of not working.

People who reach 60 might not want to work anymore, so if people come here at the age of 57, they work for a while, put cash in the bank and wait for interest. Dont' get me wrong, that's good for money circulation. After 3 years of working then wait for citizenship. Once these senior citizens receive the pension, they won't work anymore because they have money they stored in the bank and money from pension.

If they don't work, the US will not be able to benefit from them anymore, but they will of course benefit from the pension. The US gives them pension, but the US doesn't get anything in return, meaning the government is bringing money out but they get so much less.

How will the Unites States fix this? The elections are coming and this is a good chance for the US to gradually recover from this freefall. The people must choose a president who will fix immigration. A good system is that the government must allow only young couples, families with children to go in, or not too old skilled workers, whether blue or white collar. Why? If you have a family going in the country, and there are young children, these children will of course study. Once they finish and work there, that's a big thing because educated people will be in you system. Not too old skilled workers can immidiately contribute to the system. Young couples can end up like the families.

Another reason why the quiet freefall is occuring: Lack of natural resources. The United States isn't a natural resource-rich country anymore. They've spent a lot of it already. It also doesn't have colonies like Mexico and the Philippines already, so their control is not total anymore, it is quite more little but not totally gone, because contracts with their colonies are still ongoing and they still can get resources but not much really.

Actually, most people laugh at this country, but Kazahkstan, yes, Kazahkstan, that unknown country is producing millions of barrels of oil everyday and a barrel costs a hundred dollars. It is such an economic superpower. My days of laughing at the unknown country are over after I found this out. Hell, they speak english well too. How did I know these? It's a really big secret. I really couldn't laugh at it because we Filipinos can't do anything with our economy to improve it. Kazahkstan is a really powerful country.

The last reason is that there is no war. The United States is known for its advanced warfare and when there is war, countries will buy from them, resulting in them earning money and raising their economy. There's no war so they can't rely on this.

So, countries shouldn't be too confident if their exchange rate is getting better, it's an Illusion. America's slowly falling, your country might just be stagnant or falling slower then US is.

Trying the NBA: LeBron James

All I can say is that I am sorry for LeBron because of the Cavaliers' bad record. His teammates are inconsistent. I mean, how can they beat Dallas and not beat New York? LeBron consistently puts up big numbers but his teammates are not showing a consistent effort.

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

On Poverty

Hello again everyone! It took me quite a while to think of an idea and our Periodical Tests took too much of my time. Actually I thought about this only now. Hey, please answer the poll at the left side of the page. It isn't hard to find. Well, anyway...


Our class is going to do 2 music videos: 1 of which is going to tackle a social issue and the other is something "creative" or light. E-mail me at userneym@yahoo.com to suggest any ideas you could think of. We might just be able to use your skills on this kind of work.


If you visited my YouTube channel, you'll notice the five of us are kind of interested in doing our own Backstreet Boys music videos. If you happen to have time, visit it here. If you have any suggestions about any of their songs please tell me. Again, e-mail me at userneym@yahoo.com and voice out your opinions.

On Poverty

Here in the Philippines... We have a lot of houses practically made of... Rooftops. Yeah that's right, you heard me. ROOFTOPS. We also have townhouses beside railroads. Those are... Signs of Poverty. Poverty is best associated with the adjective Poor as in materially poor, not poor in spirit like what is written in the Holy Bible, not poor in mind like what boastful guys say. How are you materially poor?

1. You have no money
2. You have no properties to sell.
3. You don't eat 3 times a day.
4. You're struggling to get a job.

I'm not saying that poverty is only in the Philippines. It's practically everywhere. But how does anyone become poor?

In a country like the US, there are lots of job opportunities but somehow, some way, you'll find poor people. Here in the Philippines, there is this stupid mentality that when you have a lame job (i.e. janitor), you don't have the drive to work hard anymore because:

"Wala na tayong magagawa! Mahirap na tayo! Hindi na natin mababago 'yon!"

That's in our language, in English it's:

"There is nothing we could do! We're poor already! We can't change that!"

Most people would say that the reason people become poor is because of few job opportunities and little salary. Again, in the U.S., you don't have those problems. So what is the source of the problem? (This is the part where you think.)

Done thinking? (This is the part where you stop thinking even if you don't have an answer yet)

So let me tell you... It is the fault of the poor man himself. Why? Because he is lazy enough to not find a job. Or when he gets a job, he goes crazy and pities himself saying "Damn I'm so useless I'm poor I don't have a good job!" then stops working.

You must be saying now that I am heartless to not have pity for the less fortunate. I am a Catholic, so I should love them as they are the center of the teachings of Christ but these poor people are a prime example of one of the seven capital sins, Sloth. Not that I question the teachings, but Jesus wants us to help people who can't stand for themselves.

I am not blaming all the poor people, I blame the agents. Agents? Who are the agents of poverty? They are the ones who bring about poverty. I can classify the poor into two:

1. Agents
2. Purely poor

For example, an irresponsible but rich guy who still studies had sex with his girlfriend. And the bad thing happens. The girl's vommiting regularly. You know what this is. His parents find out then call him a disgrace and tells him to live responsibly, marry the woman and find a good job. The parents fund the marriage rites, but after that they practically disown him. He is left with no choice and resorts to a low earning job, as his wife chooses not to work.

The child is born and then they are unable to give the child all his needs because he gets fired everytime because og his absences in work. The guy already moved from one job to the other.

The child grew up skinny, and his father still can't find a job. The child can't read or write, but he wants to study. His dad comes home late everynight with a bottle of beer. One day, his father demands that he begs.

Now you see? These children are who we see at streets begging. So let us identify the

1. Agents
-Parents, because they were rich yet they didn't give any support to their son and they disown him.
-Guy, because he was an a$$hole
-Girl, because she was a $lut

Sorry for the language.

2. The only Purely Poor is the child. He is the one affected most by what everyone did. He can't go to school, begs at the streets. He has no room for hius dreams anymore.

I said I blame the agents. Agents are those who will cause poverty with their combined effects. Pity not all poor, because there are only a few deserving. The agents brought their fate of being poor to themselves and to their descendants. If only all the Agents worked hard, they could have prevented poverty, but instead they pity themselves and believe they will not be able to do anything.

It's a big hit in relationships to say "It's not you, it's me".

So.. It's not really he job opportunities. It's not even the low salary. It's the Agents. Damn the agents who can only pity themselves. Damn the agents who care not fot their descendants.

Trying the NBA: LeBron James

LeBron is hopefully back on fire after his 31 point 8 rebound 5 assist night in double overtime in a home win against the Bucks. I just hate that his supporting cast isn't as good as Kobe's right now. I thought they improved after last season's deep postseason. I guess I was wrong.

That's all folks, thank you for reading.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

Hello everyone. Been thinking lately. Thinking a lot. Its already afternoon, what makes this afternoon pretty extraordinary is it only happens once a week. It's a Sunday afternoon. Kinda feels bad especially when you know you're going to wake up early tomorrow after a good 2 day break. One good thing is this weekend I finally set my mind on finishing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. After that on January I'll grab Assassin's Creed(Yes, that PS3 and X360 game) because it'll come out as a PC game sometime around January. Hey, not a bad time for gaming. After Assassin's Creed came out, and that PS3 dropped to $399.99, it's a good season for gaming. Enough of gaming. Should I move on to my topic? Well... Duh. I suppose I should.

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

Just this year we studied German Literature and so we have to find out a bit of their culture first. We discussed about unique traits and a very good trait was that they do that topic. The topic's in bold letters. No questions asked. What does this mean? Let's do an example...

John: Hey Mary, you want to go to the park and take a walk?
Mary: Uhhmmmm... Sure...
John: Are you sure?
Mary: Uhhhmmm... Yes?
John: Really?
Mary: Yes...
John: So let's go now?
Mary: Sure...
John: Are you sure you want to go?
Mary: Yes...
John: Okay, let's go now.

If they were not German, read the entire text. If they were, ignore the italicized text. Are you getting this? Haha. It's pretty simple. Once a German says something, they really mean it. I wish most people could be like that.

Well, that situation is connected to my topic, but it's not the exact topic. I want to stress the times we say we're okay. The times we say we're down with stuff. You know how most of the time when you want to say no you end up saying it's ok?

***Mary is extremely sad because of her failing grades. She is therefore crying.
John: Hey, you ok?
Mary: I'm ok.

Are we sometimes put in that situation? I think so. Most of us just say we're ok because of a few reasons:

1. You don't want anyone to pity you.
2. You want to make the person asking go away.
3. You have no choice but to answer that.
4. Majority thinks it that way.
5. You don't want to offend the person.
6. You don't want to make the person mad.
7. You care too much for the person.
8. You want to make the person happy.

Cany you think of other reasons? I think you can. These are a few I can name.

Sometimes people are too weak to step up for their own opinions and too shy to declare new ideas, so they resort with the "It's Okay" response. I'm like that sometimes. When people resort to that, when the end comes in an unhappy way, the same people who say "It's Okay" blames people out of nowhere despite saying that he agrees.

Usually, when I say I'm Okay, I'm really not. When I say it in a largely weak manner you should be a hundred percent sure - It's a No. There are even times when I try to say and force people to think I'm okay when I'm not. It's not always the case. To those of you who know me, take note of that.

Let's say why we should say "No" and not "It's Okay" in the 8 reasons above. There's one primary reason: It's because the person you answered to really will think it's okay for you. He/She will take it as a yes. There are however reasons made especially for each number.

1. Someone should comfort you in your sadness because you can't always handle situations on your own. As long as there is someone who wants to help, that's a big bonus. And when someone pities you at least that person may understand how you feel.

2. Okay, you shouldn't do that if you want to make the person go away because that is BAD.

3. You always have a choice. We were born with freedom and it comes with the right to choose. there is no person that didn't make a choice his entire life.

4. That majority might think the same way you're thinking. If you express how you really feel, then maybe people may come out and say that they think the same way you do.

5. This is a good thing, but sometimes you have to offend people to make them improve. People have to know their faults and problems because it's a good start to fixing his wrongs. Knowing is always best for a person.

6. If you just don't want to make the person mad, that's a really lame thing because you yourself might hide your own bad feelings and it might result to an almost the same thing which is full of rage.

7 and 8. When you care too much and you want to make the person happy, time will come when you will realize that you have left little room for your own hapiness.

You should say how you really feel about something because you might end up blaming yourself for just the fact that you didn't say no. Time will come when this topic becomes a huge factor in your life. It's when you drop on your knees regretting the time you said "It's Okay". At this stage of your life it may seem like nothing but liek I said, and like most things, it will come.

So when a person answers you "It's Okay", think first before you judge it's really okay. "It's Okay" has recently meant the same as "No".

When you want to answer "It's Okay" and really fell like its a "No", think about what would happen when you answer like that.

LeBron is still recovering from his injury!

That is all, thank you for reading my blog. I hope you learned something.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Defending My Generation

I have a photo now! Hey everyone, it's me again. Duh. Who else would write in this blog? Haha. A bit bored now so I decided to write a new entry. I thought about my topic for about an hour now then we ate dinner and then, after dessert, I thought of a cool idea. That idea will be down there in a paragraph fashion. What a day it has been, all the wires. We made a parol today. I enjoyed it. Well, I also put the issue in Special Blog #1 away by the divine act of forgiveness and asking for it. Won't keep you waiting on another edition of my opinions, so here I go.

Defending My Generation

Every parent of the regular teenager today would say:

"Back in our day we used to climb trees, play outside. Now children are in their houses playing video games!"

Or something like:

"We didn't have those things when we were your age! You're too fast!"

They did say this though:

"The children are the future."

Tsk, tsk. How bad is that? They think that we teenagers are out of this world. Our parents and some other old guys think that we are immoral, lazy, indifferent, etcetera etcetera. But they say we are the future. They think we're not the way we're supposed to be. We are the liberal age. We don't live the old way. They say the old way is the right way, but I believe that they are just not thinking out of the box. We are the new people, and we try to discover new ways of living.

Sure, we have our flaws.

We have drug addicts, those who have too much problems and can't face them. The new generation of people just get into those stuff quickly. We have too many problems in too short a period of time. Maybe we think too much, maybe some of us just can't handle problems.

We also end up getting too lazy. Sometimes that's just the case, I really don't know why. Some of us also have babies at around 19, that's just wrong.

These are our flaws, but don't be lightning quick in judging that our generation is afterall one big mistake. We are yet to prove ourselves, and we will. Has our time come yet? No. Once our time comes, this world will see a new beginning, because we will change it.

Whatever you see of us now, it is not the real us. I mean, even Christ, God, answers to his mother in a somewhat rude fashion.

Here's a comparison. If you know the big brains of history, they were accused of being wrong as well.

Socrates was put into trial and then was punished by drinking poison. Athens was lost without him. Until now, his legcay lives. He has a lot of quotes too. He broke from the classical thinking.

When Galileo proposed that the in fact the Sun, not the Earth was not the center of the universe. Due to the fact that the Christians proposed in their teachings that Earth was the center, the people believed Galileo to be crazy. And, if it was proven that the Christians were wrong, that would lead to people not believing the faith anymore. The priests were using fear in that time to abuse their powers. Galileo was condemned, I think.

Leonardo Da Vinci, a.k.a. Renaissance Man, had new ideas in his works, especially his paintings and discoveries.

The Period of Renaissance itself is a period of a lot of new things. These new things are the ones we adore today. Those discoveries, those men. Are we not parallel to their time? Are we not the ones trying to reach into what lies beyond what we already know?

Give us a chance. A chance to prove ourselves. On this blog entry, I say now that we will be the one to be adored in the future for our generation's new ideas. Do not judge us by what you see now, because you are all yet to see the greatness of our generation. We are going to overcome our wrongs and rise up. Here we are, the second coming of Renaissance.

I won't write on LeBron yet, he's still injured.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Some Changes, Martial Law and Antonio Trillanes IV

Hello everyone to another blog entry of mine. I've been trying to write about my nearing vacation and how good it feels to relax in the United States, but it's a few weeks away. I can't write nicely on it yet. So... I've made

Some Changes

I will not say anymore of "Next Time on My Blog".
I will not have definite sections in my blog.
There will be no definite time for me to write in my blog.

Ok, so that clears it. I had a difficult time following my own set rules. That makes it a lot easier.

Martial Law and Antonio Trillanes IV

The Philippines forever haunted by nightmares, and there was no more devastating nightmare than the Martial Law from 1972-1981. President Ferdinand Marcos extended his term 14 more years, until he is stopped by the historic bloodless revolution in the People Power movement.

In that 9 years was born arguably the Philippines' darkest age. I didn't get to experience that, I was born in 1991. Though I was not alive at that time, I know quite enough. History teachers in my school are good, and our Languages teacher in Filipino made us watch a documentary. People were framed up to be arrested and then killed. Everything was put under check by the President. The people he hated were arrested without warrants because of the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, which requires warrants before a citizen is arrested. Well, imagine that.

At the present day, it is not forgotten but is hardly felt until it lingered just a few days ago, November 29,2007, when Senator Antonio Trillanes IV walked out of his hearing in the Makati Regional Trial Court. After he walked out, he went to the Manila Peninsula in the business sector of Makati City, the center of the Philippine Economy. He invaded that hotel along with his Magdalo military friends, taking hostage with him the media and a few civilians. They were given a deadline of 3:00 in the afternoon to give up but they didn't. The Police opened fire. At night the problem was settled. Trillanes said he showed the nation how hungry the Administration is to get power.

Trillanes proved nothing. He was hostile and he was given a deadline to surrender but he didn't comply. If his goal was to open minds, it wasn't an effective way. Is he crazy? it's his fault anyways. None of this would have happened without him. If the administration was that hungry for power, all Oppostion party members would have been dying one by one, if not dead already.

He only paved the way for a second coming. What second coming? The martial law. This is the same with the reason Marcos put up Martial Law in 1972. Hostile attacks. In Marcos' time there was a chain of bombing of stores in Manila and thus Marcos said everything has to be under control so he put up Martial Law. He had right reasons which were probably framed up. This time around, the Magdalo military friends attacked a hotel, which is also a good reason.

Don't get me wrong, the Administration has its share of hunger for power. The president wanted a charter change that would change the system of the government to Parliamentary type, so that if she is not president anymore, she could assume the position of Prime Minister. Such power a Prime Minister would have. This is a chance they can capitalize on to have something close to a Parliamentary Government, Martial Law.

What am I trying to say? I am saying that Trillanes was stupid to contradict his beliefs, because with what he did, he only made the Administration closer to the power which they desire. It's like saying you don't want to go to school because you're already smart, but you turned off a Television by pulling the plug. Thank you.

Trying the NBA: LeBron James

LeBron James was stellar against Boston when he closed them out with his free throws. Not to mention his highlight reel moves. His blocks. his lay ups. My favorite was when he left Kevin Garnett to go to the basket for 2 points. He had 38 points, 11 in overtime, 13 assists and 4 rebounds. It's bad he was injured in the game against Detroit, where he had 15 points in the 1st half. At halftime the were down by 5, then when LeBron didn't enter the 2nd half, they were outscored by 30. That only proves that the Cavaliers' MVP is LeBron. I hope he heals in time for another game against Boston's big 3.

That is all for my blog entry. Thank you.