Educational toys that help PWD
Tahanang Walang Hagdanan (TWH) is a center that provides a shelter for people with disabilities (PWD). It was started in the 60s and is now a thriving community with development, educational and rehabilitation programs in place.
My parent’s house is situated very near to where TWH is located. I lived for years watching men and women cross our streets in wheelchairs. I vaguely remember even playing sports inside the gated community during those times wherein they sponsored the neighborhood basketball or volleyball games. The surroundings were quiet and clean and I used to wonder how it could flourish in such a chaotic neighborhood such as ours.
Countdown to the …
I used to reserve countdowns to occasions that mean a lot of eating and pigging out, but the US Presidential Elections is such an important event that it deserves its own hallowed place in my countdown list. I don’t give a damn about the global financial crisis because all my bank accounts add up to a grand total of 39.27 Philippine Pesos. Oh, I forgot to mention that I have only one bank account.
The Lehman Brothers, Freddie Mac, Freddie Mae and all those odd-sounding financial institutions may collapse like a deck of cards, yet I will be the least affected by this scenario. What is more relevant than the panicking traders in Wall Street is the US Presidential Elections on November 8, 2008. Two presidential candidates going by the names of Barack Obama and John McCain (in no particular order) as well as a slew of meaningless, obscure nuisances (is Ralph Nader in the mix?) vie for the much maligned position of American President in a world that has become more and more anti-American by the minute.
Yeah, good old Dubya will have to bid farewell early next year. Good riddance, Mr. Bush. We hope that your decision to send troops to Godforsaken places like Iraq and Afghanistan will bode well for America’s future and result in Osama Bin Laden’s foot soldiers getting a good a-whipping. We hope that your recent $700 billion bailout plan will help the world economy back on its shaky feet. You deserve a pat on the back for your earnest efforts. Only history will judge your performance as US President, but for the meantime, let’s place judgment on the two major presidential candidates who are looking for a 4-year lease on White House.
Read more…
Irrational
In another twist in the markets this week, the Dow rose to 401 points bucking negative economic news that hounded Wall Street investors during trading day. This came after the industrials lost 733 points the previous day. In this kind of market environment, no one seem to have the answers. Perhaps one can suspect that the only rational explanation for the rise is bargain hunting.
But does that mean that the market has already seen the bottom? Many of the so-called pundits are skeptical with the notion that the markets has reached the abyss and there is no way to go but up. With how the markets are behaving lately, what lies ahead looks even more daunting since any form of logic that was left has clearly been thrown out of the window.
As expected, the local markets followed Wall Street’s lead yesterday with the Phisix slipping to its 18-month low. The peso also breached the P48 to a dollar mark as dollar holders are keeping their greenback in hopes for a better opportunity to sell. A weakening peso holds off any significant reduction in prices of petroleum products here in the Philippines.
I believe any move by the Bangko Sentral to control inflation through monetary measures like increasing interest rates is absolutely counterproductive because it will not address the problem. On the political front, Congress must anticipate a recession next year and should allocate enough funding in anticipation for any pressure to the financial system.
Ednathan
MANNY VILLLAR OFW HELPLINE
Disclaimer: I am not a political analyst, promoter, nor related to politics and media. This blog is purely my OPINION and insights.
My aunt is a business woman here in our Province she had a great job, but personal problem came and she just had to go away for a while, not being rich the only escape was to apply as OFW abroad. It wasn’t a good option but it was a choice. She worked there for almost three years.
Just this morning, umuwi sya dito sa bahay for a short vacation, and we had a long long chat about her.
Cebu Forum
Enjoy interacting to Cebuano members on an online community forum. Go check it out and register!
Friendster Inspiring Comments
Friendster Inspiring Comments
Giving you a chance to share inspiring thoughts through Friendster – Instead of posting colorful comments, why not try these inspiring thoughts that would surely make your friends’, familys’, and relatives day more brighter. Still more to come!
Love of Siam
Through the ages of mankind, the topic of LOVE is always been a favorite preference of any piece or work of art! Be it romantic love, familial love or friendship love. It’s because LOVE is one of the foundation why we keep breathing and living in this world full of surprises. No matter what medium it is conveyed, the theme of love always moved people. It’s powerful and it’s domineering.
I stumbled one time reading comments on some sites and learned that many Rainbow advocates and supporters had watched the movie: Love of Siam. It is a Thai romantic-drama film. There is one scene that is a focal point of controversy (watch video below). Read more
To My Heart’s Discontent
Saturday, November 8, 2008
O Great Lights and Divine Spirits,
Today, I try to deal with my heart and soul’s ongoing dissatisfaction with my life. By others’ standards, I am a successful person. I have real estate investments, I have a loving, beautiful and intelligent girlfriend, my career is at its best, and generally speaking, I am at my personal best. And yet, something tells me there’s so much more. I seek to understand where this nagging voice comes from. A voice that affects my overall happiness. It’s like, everything I do or achieve is never enough.
The question has to be asked, “Is this unending yearning for more, healthy for me?” It certainly is necessary for… Click here and continue reading
President-elect Obama faces prospect of further economic decline as more jobs are lost
by Ednathan Thadeu Andrada
nathanandrada.wordpress.com
The new Barack Obama administration, which will start holding office in January 20th next year, is fast realizing that the very crisis that propelled them to election victory just a couple of days ago is now the top of its priorities. Just a few minutes ago, the Department of Labor reported 240,000 job losses in just the month of October up from September’s 159,000. This is worse than most people thought and it has certainly hurt confidence in the markets.
Although reports also today suggest that Obama will not yet be making personnel announcements regarding the people who will be helping him run the economy, calls on him to name an economic team as soon as possible is growing louder by the day. To even illustrate the pressing concern for the new president-elect, immediately after his election victory against Republican rival John McCain, Wall Street fell to its worst two-day loss ever.
Many believe that not since the 1930s when Franklin Roosevelt took over the reigns of a country that was experiencing a depression, that an incoming president will inherit an economy in such massive economic turmoil. Just as when many had thought the seemingly stable movements in the stock markets in the last two weeks would mark the end of extreme volatility, the dismal numbers in the jobs market has now reaffirmed fears that the credit crunch is now coupled with a major standstill in the real economy.
Media and the US elections: Who called it first?
by Ednathan Thadeu Andrada
nathanandrada.wordpress.com
The smoke has cleared and the United States just elected Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the 44th president and also the first-ever African-American to hold the Oval Office. I spent the entire morning watching the coverage of the US elections. My cable provider has CNN, Fox News, BBC, CNBC (NBC’s affiliate), and Al Jazeera, and all these media outfits carried the election almost every second most especially by the time the first polling station closed at 8:30am here in Manila.
I was mostly toggling between the American networks CNN, Fox News, and CNBC. It was amazing to see how CNN pulled off that hologram stunt streaming a female reporter from Grant Park in Chicago to the CNN headquarters in Atlanta just as if Wolf Blitzer and the reporter were just talking face to face. If you missed it, just remember Star Wars when Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi opened the device that showed the hologram of Princess Leia pleading for help.
Fox News made a few blunders when their election map proved to be unreliable at times and when they inadvertently called Ohio for Obama much earlier than they should. Fox News anchor Brit Hume was quick to recall the projection though.
NBC was for me, the winner of the election coverage as they were almost always the first to make a projection. Fox News comes at close second and CNN last. Despite their massive resources, CNN were a bit too risk-averse in making projections. It should be known though that despite the difference, all three simultaneously called the elections for Obama when the California polls closed at noon, Manila time.
