Pres. Erap Convicted Of Plunder; Acquitted On Perjury - Sept. 12

Unlucky "12" for the the ex-president who despise being called the "13th President"

On the day before the unlucky "13", Former president Joseph Estrada was found guilty by the Sandiganbayan's Special Division of plunder charge and sentenced him to life imprisonment (reclusion perpetua) while also barring him from running for public office again.

On the case of perjury, Estrada was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Japan's PM Abe Quits

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Wednesday, Sept. 12, that he is relinquishing his post to give way for political parties to approve the extension of its naval mission now currently rendering military service in Afghanistan as part of a US-led coalition.
He also said in his televised conference that he is resigning because of his party's humiliating defeat in parliamentary elections conducted last July 29.

Indonesia Hit By 7.9 Quake

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia on Wednesday at around 6:10 pm with its epicenter in Sumatra, the United States Geological reported. The earthquake caused a small tsunami in Padang, the capital and largest city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. As this developed, local authorities issued a tsunami warning on most parts of the Indian Ocean area. The quake was felt across Jakarta. As of press time, authorities said that several civilians were injured with one killed in the said disaster.

Prior to this, two moderate earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.5 and 4.9 rocked the town of Situbondo last Monday, September 10.

I MISS YOU

If I were only a poet, you will be my world in my poetry.

Myriad of stars heavenly beaming in the sky have
Imprinted incalculably its canticle of anguish as it
Sits imperturbable upon the vast darkness
Silhouetted with torments of deafening silence

You are so beautiful I just kept
On loving you, though my love remains
Unspoken...

Robert Schuller's Thoughts On Failure

Failure doesn't mean you are a failure;
It means you have not yet succeeded.

Failure doesn't mean you accomplished nothing,
It means you have learned something.

Failure doesn't mean you have been a fool.
It means you had a lot of faith.

Failure doesn't mean you've been disgraced.
It means you were willing to try.

Failure doesn't mean you don't have it.
It means you have to do something in a different way.

Failure doesn't mean you are inferior.
It means you are not perfect.

Failure doesn't mean you've wasted your life.
It means you have a reason to start afresh.

Failure doesn't mean you should give up.
It means you must try harder.

Failure doesn't mean God has abandoned you,
It does mean God has a better idea!

2007 Nursing Board Passers

To see the lists of new Filipino nurses who passed the June 2007 Nursing Licensure Examination click here.

Prop

Kamay mo’y puno na ng kalyo
Buhok mo’y puting – puti na
Mga kuto mo’y nagsipagtandaan na
Dating dal’wang mata, ngayo’y apat na
Ngunit ika’y di pa rin suko sa pagtuturo

Maraming panahon na ang lumipas
Maraming magandang pagkakataon na ang pinalagpas
Maraming inumpisahan na ngayo’y nagwakas
Marami nang pinagdaanang siphayo
Ngunit ika’y di pa rin suko sa pagtuturo

Ilang ulit ka na nga bang nabigo?
Ilang ulit na bang napag-iwanan ng kalendaryo?
Di lang iisa, di lang makasampung beses
Taghoy ng damdamin ay wala ng boses
Ngunit ika’y di pa rin suko sa pagtuturo

Ah…Prop napakadakila mo!
Ng dahil sa tawag ng tungkulin,
Sariling kaligayaha’y hindi tinimo
Ang pagtuturo sa iyo’y isang bokasyon
Hubugin ang mga kabataan, at wag sumuko sa pagtuturo!

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Toasting And Testing My Site For Web 2.0! (Part 1)

For bloggers wanting to know if their site is Web 2.0 or at least wanting to be one, here is one cool site that would do the validating for free. The site http://web2.0validator.com is a must-visit site for anybody curious enough to know their site's standing. Anyway, since I wanted my site to be hip (yo ma man, are we cool?), I tried a little experimentation by giving positive responses to the following benchmarks:


1. This site rocks out to the dance noise sound of Chinese Forehead.
2. This site denies the existance of Rocky V.
3. This site uses python. (Nah, I don't think I can get away with this! The only python I know is Colt Python and I learned it while playing Grand Theft Auto Vice City a few years back.)
4. This site uses inline AJAX. (Ha ha I'm trying to push my luck again here. In reality, I don't even use AJAX laundry soap "in line" with my God-knows-how dirty linens.)
5. This site is in public beta. What? Oh well, since I'm still doing some finishing touches, it is safe to say that this site is indeed in public beta. But let me remind you that this site is continuously updating both its design and content, whatever is pleasing to the God (read: webmaster/blogger)of this Kingdom come. So for now be contented with beta, perhaps tomorrow it will be VHS, DVD or Blue-Ray.
6. This site uses moo.fx. Yes, I love Selecta Moo, day in, day out as a chaser for beer! Honestly, I used and experimented a lot of fx tools for this site but never moo.fx. (Hmm...I wonder how will the validator respond to this two-sided answer...)
7. This site is shadows-aware. As far as I know, even stupid people are aware of their shadows. How about you? Stupid or shadow-aware? Tough question for tough people. Et tu, Brutus?
8. This site mentions tag clouds. Of course, I have to. My friend and colleague, the Christopher De Leon of DGP Cinema, Rey Beduya (sorry guys, I know most of you won't get the catch of my French on this one)has given me lotsa Cloud 9 chocolates yesterday but I wasn't able to reciprocate that kindness even with a small thank you. So now let me do this: tenk yu 4 d clouds of 9.
9. This site uses the prefix "meta" or "micro". Ok, I have a lot of meta tags in the html source but I really do not know if that is the target. So to be safe,I'm going to use it here. a) METa lergy - a fatal allergy acquired when directly hit by a coMET. Thanks heaven, the probabality of catching one is very remote. But presuming, you are the unluckiest of us all, I don't think it would still matter to you by then - you're dead anyway, moron! b)MICRO soft - small and soft, no more no less. Rumors abound that Melissa Gates actually coined the word "Microsoft" to describe Bill's you-what-i-mean during one of their fights. Is it true? I couldn't care less. Let Bill say "hi" to both Monica and Hillary Duff!
10. This site mentions Neowin.net. Gotcha!
11. This site attempts to be XHTML Strict. Yeah, at first the Document Type Definition is strict but after some sabbatical leave, I decided to make it transitional. But then again, I may revert to strict definition again. Blah!Blah!Blah!
11. This site appears to be web 3.0. Not only appears to be exact, I'm designing the site with web 3.0 in mind.
12. This site uses tags. Funny, but the validator's answer is "no". HTML/XHTML are all made up of tags. Now if that is not counted then here it is: TAGS TAGS TAGS TAG TAGS TAG TAG TAG TAG TAG TAG TAG
12. This site has favicon ? No. I have to accept defeat on this one. Actually, I already created three favorite icons (favicons)- two of them my pictures way back high school. To my amazement, my monster computer always crashes whenever I try uploading it eventhough the file is only around 20kb. I guess, I need to create a new favicon - perhaps a picture from Aphrodite, Venus or Helen of Troy would do. Or maybe picture of ...forget it.
13. This site uses Google Maps API. Sorry, I won't, not now, not ever.
14. This site mentions "less is more". The current expression for web 2.0 is acceptable to me in principle but not in principal terms.
15. This site mentions startup. Well, I did.
16. This site uses Cascading Style Sheets.
17. This site HAS NOT received a cease-and-desist from CMP Media or Tim O'Reilly. Who are they, Gods? Even if that will be the case, no one can keep my mouth shut. Writers' believed that the "pen is mightier than the sword". What if it is a gun? Well, that's another story.
18. This site mentions an "architecture of participation".
19. This site refers to the Web 2.0 Validator's ruleset. Hello, are you there? I just did it.
20. This site uses the word meme. I like him because he is an honorable enemy, a fighter unafraid to say the truth - Meme Pementel for Precedent! Meme na meme.
21. This site makes reference to Technorati. Yes, I have a backlink for technorati and a proud member of it.
22. This site appears to use RSS. This site is using an RSS feed, an atom feed and a headline animator courtesy of feedburner.
22. This site refers to Flickr. Of course, off course!
23. This site mentions Nitro. There you go.
24. This site mentions Cool Words. What is that?
25. This site mentions Ruby. Yes, we've been looking for her since birth. Ruby are you ok? You might have been hit by the smooth criminal.
26. This site mentions The Long Tail. There you go again.
27. This site appears to be built using Django. Actually, I think Django Bustamante is good in billiards but not as a web designer.
28. This site links Slashdot and Digg. The first two designs carried digg but since I have redesigned it, the digg codes were removed.It will be back soon probably after three light years.
29. This site mentions Wisdom Of Crowds. Again, again, again...
30. This site has Creative Commons license. Works are licensed for use to people with creative common sense.
31. This site refers to web2.0validator. Scroll up!
32. This site mentions Neurogami and Web 2.0.
33. This site actually mentions Web 2.0.
34. This site links to validator. What do you think, fool?
35. This siter mentions RDF and the Semantic Web.
36. This site mentions a blog.
37. This site appears to have Adsense. That's a priority, it's where the money came from.

Of the Constancy of Change

Though mankind has started making fiction stories into scientific realities, most people are not aware yet that the progress being made in science and technology will trigger a domino-like effect.

Most people are unaware that technological boom will be bane for some. In the United States, for example, millions of workers are packing their things as new technology replaces them to assume their line of duty. This reality is even truer in industrial establishments where robots are steadily replacing human operators in manning assembly lines.

A closer and objective scrutiny of facts, however, will lead us to believe that there is no immediate need to halt any technological progress. New technology may displace some people, but it may also pave the way for new jobs to spring up that may ultimately need highly trained personnel to accomplish work. Adaptability, therefore, will be the keyword in dealing with the unforeseeable future.

The world of Internet is one classic example of this kind. A few years back, no one never really imagined that World Wide Web would go this far, save perhaps for few weird teens who made it as haven for entertainment.

Now the story is different. The internet has become a very important tool in the day-to-day affairs of many educated people like businessmen and professionals. Not only that. The Internet has spawned new jobs such as broadband network installer, e-commerce entrepreneur, html programmer, Internet lawyer, new media director, perl and java programmer, and website designer – careers that were unheard of just six or more years ago. Again, adaptability may yet be the keyword in the next millennium as new technologies will soon make a headway.

The Journalist's Creed by Walter Williams

I believe in the profession of Journalism.

I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of lesser service than the public service is a betrayal of this trust.

I believe that clear thinking, clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.

I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true. I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.

I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one's own pocket book is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another's instructions or another's dividends.

I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.

I believe that the journalism which succeeds best-and best deserves success-fears God and honors man; is stoutly independent; unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power; constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of the privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance, and as far as law, an honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship, is a journalism of humanity, of and for today's world.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sow; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war; and a time of peace.

Thomas Carlyle Thoughts About Work

There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work. Were a man ever so benighted, or forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in him who actually and earnestly works; in idleness alone is there perpetual despair. Consider how even, in the meanest sort of labor, the whole soul of a man is composed into real harmony. He bends himself with free valor against his task; and doubt desire, sorrow, remorse, indignation, despair itself, shrink murmuring, far off into their caves. The glow of labor in him is a purifying fire, wherein all poison is burnt up; and of smoke itself there is made a bright and blessed flame.
Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness; he has a life purpose. Labor is life. From the heart of the worker rises the celestial force, breathed into him by Almighty God, awakening him to all nobleness, to all knowledge. Has thou valued patience, courage, openness to light, or readiness to own thy mistakes? In wrestling with the dim, brute powers of Fact, thou wilt continually learn. For every noble work, the possibilities are diffused through immensity – indiscoverable, except to Faith.
Man, son of Heaven! Is there not in thine inmost heart a spirit of active method, giving thee no rest till thou unfold it? Complain not. Look up, wearied brother. See thy fellow-workmen surviving through eternity – the sacred band of immortals!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

In preparation for its official launching this Sunday, July 28th ,this blog will have its major construction starting 9pm Friday night. Broken links will be checked as well as other bugs; content will be updated and be defined; site will be tested for various browser compatibilities; and other nitty gritty which I cannot divulge in the name of national security (Green berets are all over my house! Gonna call the Ghostbusters and the Autobots!). To cut the crap, may I request readers to refrain from browsing the site starting at 10pm till 10pm the next day. This is to avoid any inconveniences on your part by the mere fact that such construction will be done on the fly (see the mosquitoes swirling around the monitor?). Anyway, the time stated above is of Philippine time so I suggest that readers from other countries most especially from Canada (yes, Virginia, we have hits from that country if feedburner is to be believed.). Thank you for your patience. Now, I need a friendly hug, a friendly kiss, and a lovely girlfriend. I need a friendly hug, a friendly kiss, and a lovely girlfriend. I need a friendly hug, a friendly kiss, and a lovely girlfriend...