What is your compass?
I was working on drafting the contents of a training manual cum user guide for one of my projects today when I suddenly wished I was in possession of a how-to guide on how to live the life of a wife and mom. Of course I would have to say rather, how to live successfully as a wife and mom. Add to that being a daughter, a neighbor, a colleague, a mentor, a sister, a friend. Don’t you think that would be simply awesome?
Twilight Saga……….. — Twilight Philippines
I just read Stephanie Meyer’s 2nd book, NEW MOON and I’m almost finished with her 3rd one, ECLIPSE. Soon, I will be caught on her 4th book, Breaking Dawn. I think I have found a new drug that is making me addicted! Reason that I have not kept a balance diet in taking my breaks to munch something edible. Read more here…
Loving Twilight amid the Hoopla, Teenage Emo and all — Twilight Philippines
By now almost everyone may have read and known about Twilight from your girlfriends, sisters, wives, teenage daughters, high school-ish office colleagues, etc; you know, the one helluva vampire – mortal smashing love story of Edward and Bella which has created a lot of stir it has gone so mainstream that even kids know about it.
Read more here..
Online Burol: Thinking out of the (Box) Casket
Habang nag babasa ako ng dyaryo, nadaanan lang ng mata ko sa obituary section ng Philippine Star ang isang advertisement, “Online Burol”, napaisip tuloy ako, seryoso ba yung Ad na yun?
Well seryoso nga sila, Online burol nga! “e-burol” ang tawag ng St.Peter Memorial Chapels (www.stpeter.com.ph) sa service nila. May web cam sa loob ng kwarto ng burol at free internet access pa! Target market syempre ang mga may kamaganak overseas. Para nga naman maka-attend parin ng burol yun mga kamag-anak or kaibigan na hindi kayang pumunta sa burol.
To Mooon and Back with the Pakalistas
The Pakalistas checked out Asiatown I.T. Park’s “The Walk” and dined at Mooon Cafe. This Cebu Restaurant offers spicy Mexican dishes that captured the Cebuanos’ discerning tastebuds.
Visit www.diningcebu.com and join the Pakalistas as they share their experiences on Cebu Restaurants, Cebu Food, and Cebu Delicacies, One Bite at a Time!
Click here to read the Mooon Cafe review: Cebu Restaurants
Is the TARP turning into a huge joke?
I was appalled to see the latest headline on CNBC.com that a Netherlands-based insurance company Aegon is looking to buy a small Maryland thrift company just to gain access to bailout funds from the TARP amounting to US$1 billion. It gets me thinking perhaps I should set up my own company as well because guess what, I also need a bailout.
Let me just offer a refresher. This crisis broke out a couple of months ago when Lehman Brothers opted to declare bankruptcy that led to a domino effect in the financial sector. The US Congress, through the insistence of the Treasury department, pushed the panic button and declared to infuse US$700 billion of taxpayers’ money to the faltering industry.
However, it proved to be that the devil is in the details since companies that were never intended to receive the funds initially can now have access to it if they change the nature of their business or if they have friends in the Democratic-controlled Congress like the Detroit auto giants GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s shift in position last week that offers bailout for non-bank institutions even made it more possible for party crashers to cash in into federal funds. There is a joke in Wall Street that coffee-chain giant Starbucks in also asking for a bailout. Good for them.
But the latest move by the Dutch insurer is just mind boggling. Americans taxpayers have no business bailing out non-US companies. There has to be some order on how these funds are allocated. Because so far there has been little of it.
Nathan Andrada
nathanandrada.wordpress.com
adsense – online ad earnings stopped, no growth, in q3 2008
Online ad revenue for the top US players in online advertising; Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL has stopped in its tracks for Q3 of 2008. Less money for them means less money to be dispersed to bloggers and other ad-revenue based websites. Numbers wise, online ad growth from Q3/Q4 2007 was recorded at 12%, where as Q2/Q3 2008 was <1%.
http://blog.socialtalkr.com/adsense-online-ad-earnings-stopped-no-growth-in-q3-2008/
On the OFW Phenomenon, Mail Order Brides, Prostitutes, and More
Domestic helpers. Mail-order brides. Exporters of human labor. Scammers.
These are how people the world over have come to know us, Filipinos. And sometimes, I can’t blame them. For though it’s not completely true that these are what constitute us as a people, it’s not completely false either.
Our main export product is our people. A big chunk of our population — roughly ten percent — are Overseas Filipino Contract Workers (OFWs), many of whom are working abroad either as domestic helpers, construction or factory workers, nannies, and health workers, among others. The government calls our OFWs “the modern-day heroes,” because they have saved the country’s economy many times over through their remittances. Without our OFWs, our economy would have long gone under.
Liverpool dumps Bolton as race with Chelsea gathers steam
I missed most part of the game because my wife and I spent extended hours for the second tranche of our gift buying for our nieces and nephews for the holidays. As soon as we got home, we both raced for the television and we had a huge sigh of relief when the scoreline showed Liverpool were two goals ahead of Bolton Wanderers. It stayed that way until the final whistle and the victory put them at the top of the table in the Barclays Premier League with 32 points which Chelsea would match a few hours later with a predictable victory over Stoke City.
The game involved a Dirk Kuyt goal in the 28th minute off a feed from Fabio Aurelio. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard also got into the score board in the 73rd minute after a terrific cross from striker Fernando Torres. More scoring opportunities were given for Liverpool where Robbie Keane could have made it two-nil before halftime and Xabi Alonso and Torres missed their respective chances for a third goal for the Reds. But in the end, there was no need for it.
There were some scare for the Liverpool defense especially in the second half as Bolton showed some physicality. A header goal by Bolton’s Gary Cahill that was disallowed offered a few controversies in the match to the dismay of the local supporters at the Reebok Stadium.
Liverpool will face dangerous Fulham this Saturday while Chelsea is set for a huge showdown with Newcastle United as both clubs vie for some more breathing space between them and inconsistent Manchester United and faltering Arsenal.
Nathan Andrada
nathanandrada.wordpress.com
G-20 leaders in DC in hopes of finding the answer to the global economic riddle
Leaders of the world’s 20 industrialized and developing nations met this weekend in Washington DC with one thing in their agenda–how to solve the global economic crisis. Hosting the momentous event is the place where it all began, the United States. Just after Asian and European leaders met a fortnight ago to tackle the issue, this event has a much broader participation which includes the Americans and rising stars Russia and Brazil.
Some sectors are drawing parallelism for this summit towards Bretton Woods, a post-Second World War conference among Allied nations that laid out most of the world’s economic system that are currently in place.
The Washington summit plans to promote government spending as primary source to boost declining economic activity. It also reminded participating economies to stay wary of protectionism as an easy escape route. And finally, a more rigid global financial regulation must be enforced in place of the current ones being used.
So far, the markets are not too impressed with the consensus made in DC. The Dow futures as of this writing (Monday evening Manila) are pointing deep south indicating a tough start in Wall Street this week. Economic news around the globe are not too encouraging either. Japan just announced they are officially in recession and Britain will have the same recessionary outlook next year, seen to be the worst in 20 years.
Nathan Andrada
nathanandrada.wordpress.com
