Ondoy Updates and Aid Needed for Victims

I want to take this chance to thank every one of you who helped out, whether in the form of donations, volunteering, or communicating aid to others. Now is not the time for divisions but a time for bayanihan. Magtulungan po tayo.

---
Helplines and hotlines for Typhoon Ondoy victims (Constantly updated) « Random Salt

Source: randomsalt.wordpress.com

World pours aid into the Philippines

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

MANILA, Philippines - Responding to the appeal of the Philippines for help, several countries and groups have donated or pledged food, money and technical assistance to avert a humanitarian crisis following the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana).

Philippine Floods: Why Wasn't Manila Prepared? - TIME

Source: www.time.com

Torrential rains over the weekend triggered the worst flooding the Philippines' capital has seen in over four decades, submerging more than 80% of the city and leaving at least 246 people dead. What could authorities have done differently?

Donating to Manila from abroad « moongirl

Source: moongirl.wordpress.com

Update: A million thanks to every single person who has forwarded me info. Many of them are in the Comments below, or on Facebook. This list is being updated constantly – please keep ‘em coming.

EU gives €2M for Ondoy victims - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos
Source: globalnation.inquirer.net
MANILA, Philippines — The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has given 2 million euros (about P140 million), so far the biggest amount of disaster relief assistance for the victims of typhoon Ondoy.

OFW 'abused' after mistaken Facebook post on Ondoy | ABS-CBN News Online Beta
Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
A controversial statement allegedly made by a Filipina overseas worker in Dubai that mocked Filipino victims of tropical storm Ondoy sparked negative reactions among many Pinoys here and abroad.

Facebook, Twitter to the rescue in Philippine flood disaster
Source: www.canada.com
MANILA - Amid the chaos of the Philippine flood disaster, Twitter, Facebook and mobile phones have proved to be life-savers.

THE PHILIPPINES IN A STATE OF CALAMITY

The rainfall brought by typhoon ONDOY to Metro Manila and nearby areas in a span of six hours on Saturday was the most in recorded history, surpassing the previous record for the metropolis in 1967. Hurricane Katrina dumped over an inch of rainfall in Louisiana for 3 hours and another 0.5 inches per hour over the next 5 hours on August 29, 2005. Ondoy dumped an average of 2.24 inches per hour for six hours and is still going.

Philippine man loses own life after saving dozens from floods

Source: www.theage.com.au

An 18-year-old construction worker braved rampaging floods in the Philippines to save more than 30 people, but ended up sacrificing his life in a last trip to rescue a baby girl and her mother who were being swept away on a styrofoam box.

Philippine National Red Cross - Ways To Donate

Source: www.redcross.org.ph

How to help ‘Ondoy’ victims - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

FLOODED MANILA 9.26.2009

by: Jeremiah Reyes

Ondoy

I want to know if everyone is safe? I'm thankful that my town was spared but it's heartbreaking to see how so many others were gravely affected by the unexpected floods. No one saw it coming. A day's worth of rain did all that? Unbelievable but true. Neither the rich nor the poor were given mercy. Cars and two-storey houses underwater, families separated, people trapped in malls or on their roofs distraught from hunger and fear, and so on. My father grew up in Quezon City and he says this never happened to them before.


I'm attaching a Facebook album with a few pictures from yesterday. Truly, pictures speak louder than words.

I hope all of this humbles the country and the rest of the world. Admit it, we did this to ourselves. The clouds and the rivers merely reacted to our folly.


Facebook album: here.
Want to help or need help? See here and here.

HOW TO DONATE FROM AMERICA:
Generous souls in the U.S. who wish to help in the rescue and relief operations, you may donate through the American Red Cross. Call 1-800-435-7669.

Glossary of Philosophy, Etymology Dictionary, Skeptic's Dictionary, Coming Out Asexual, Paradoxical Gays in Phil Media

Today is Share-a-Link Day. The following were bookmarked this past week over at my Delicious page:

1. Wikipedia's Glossary of Philosophy

2. Online Etymology Dictionary

This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.

3. The Skeptic's Dictionary

The Skeptic's Dictionary is a website and a book. Each features definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies, and provides a lively, commonsense trove of detailed information on things supernatural, paranormal, and pseudoscientific.

4. Asexuals leave the closet, find community

David Jay, a 27-year-old San Francisco resident, put the movement in more personal terms, saying, "We need to know we're not broken. I've been told my whole life that people need sex to be happy."

Jay and his online community, which he said has 30,000 registered worldwide members, aren't seeking to create new civil rights. What they want is respect in a sex-obsessed culture.

5. The paradox of gays in Philippine media

The whole situation is just so frustrating to me because the Philippine entertainment industry has such a powerful hold over the people, and with mostly gay men in charge you would think they would be smart enough to use it to their advantage and change the way people think about gays. Instead they just keep on perpetuating the same old cliches about themselves. Sheesh.

Euripides: "The wisest men follow their own direction."

Note: I hereby declare Saturday to be my Share-a-Quote Day. Sundays will be Share-a-Link Day.

This Satuday's quote is from Euripides: "The wisest men follow their own direction."

This wisdom is perhaps one of the reasons why I was never attracted to the 'Good Shepherd' metaphor. To follow one's own direction is not an open invitation to anarchy nor does it confine oneself to one's own ideas only. And anarchy is not necessarily chaos. Who needs a government of idiots leading a herd of idiots? No, not me.

I have no shepherd. I am no sheep. Do not ask my faith, I do not give it blindly. Do not demand my trust, give me a reason why I should. Do not lead me, I shall not follow. But you may take my hand and we may talk. Like men, like companions, like friends. Like free thinkers.

What about you? What is faith and up to what extent should a person act on it? Is faith even a reasonable concept?

Convert or Die: Fact or Fallacy?

Just a few days ago, in one of the lists I'm subscribed to, a topic was raised about certain organisations aiding the poor and homeless if they 'transfer' their affiliations to the said groups. Quite bluntly, I am talking about several Christian foundations offering (more like pressing) aid to non-Christian peoples if they convert Christianity.

A few replies later someone brought up a hilarious idea that the pre-Christian peoples of Europe readily converted to Christianity. He went on saying that Christianity represented some sort of introduction to morality and civilisation, and that Charlemagne was a beloved and respected leader, a 'fact' that prompted his people (and his neighbours) to convert to Christianity.

What a load of bull.

Who marched into Saxony in the 8th century to cut down its most revered symbol, Irminsul, to wage war and declare conquest? Who provoked the Frisians and Saxons to war because they would not convert and yield their native land to the Christian Franks? Who issued several decrees to forbid aboriginal practices on pain of death? Who had several seid-men (Norse male-shamans) tied to skerries because they would not convert to the new religion of the king? Who shut down the temples that were of no business to him just because his god was not housed in those same temples? Who burnt the books and shut down the libraries? The list can definitely go on.

Wars have been with us since the dawn of time but, make no mistake, supremacist monotheism brought upon the world a halt to scientific learning and the unleashing of a new breed of violence called 'killing in the name of my god'. Pursuits unknown to the people they called 'barbarians'.

Whatever order or education the Christian institutions introduced to the aborigines, it wasn't something original; in fact, something adopted from the earlier pagan Greeks and Romans. 'Love thy neighbour' was neither original nor revolutionary. Far greater things had already been taught before the gospels were written.

I'm not saying the pre-Christian peoples enjoyed a 'Golden Age'. But whatever advancements the Christians brought in, it wasn't theirs, and whatever they created that was indeed theirs (such as the Crusades) was something one can hardly call a 'gift' to mankind.

Somebody put the love back in Christ, please. I'm sure there are many respectable and intelligent Christians out there who do the work of their master because they genuinely think it will better humanity (not just so they can earn tickets to 'Heaven'). May they multiply so they might outnumber their murderous asinine brethren.


Related reading:
http://alheithinn.blogspot.com/2009/08/myth-of-morality-upgrade.html
http://www.mosmaiorum.org/persecution_list.htm

Ze Plan For English

I thought this was too funny not to share. Apparently it's from a bloke named Gai Dennett. I think.

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as 'Euro-English'.

In the first year, 's' will replace the soft 'c'. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be dropped in favour of 'k'. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome 'ph' will be replaced with 'f'. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent 'e' in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing 'th' with 'z' and 'w' with 'v'.

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vords kontaining 'ou' and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

Tabloid On Telly

I don't know how 24 Oras gets all its media awards. Their news items are shite! And when they aren't quite shitty, they report them like shite. Sure, they can masquerade unimportant news as gold and degrade important news to crap, I'll give them that. But they shouldn't be claiming that they're doing it for the people. 'Serbisyong totoo', my arse. If they intend to be tabloid-on-telly, they should say so and leave the serious reporting to a group that can truly 'represent'.


Tonight, they made a hype out of a group of plain monitor lizards in Thailand claiming they were giant common lizards the size of crocodiles. In Mike Enriquez's exaggerated Batangueño: "Mga higanteng butiki, kasing laki ng buwaya?!"

Bayawak 'yun; alam ng tao kung ano ang bayawak. At ano naman kung may bayawak sa Thailand e mayroon din naman tayo nun dito? (It's a monitor lizard; people know what a monitor lizard looks like. And so what if they have monitor lizards in Thailand when we have them here just the same?)

In all fairness, though, I think most of these fucktards on telly are rating-maniacs. They don't care what kind of rubbish they feed the people, as long as they get attention and rake in the dosh/dough. They should do the populace a favour and kill themselves before they infect the children.

Now, to some of you, I'm probably just over reacting. To be honest, I'm in a war. ;)

Bottled Water For 3 Pesos? Come On!

This deserves the blog. I just had a very unpleasant experience with a very arrogant American customer. (I feel that his nationality is important to mention because he seemed to think so.)

You see, earlier today, an American ordered 2 bottles of distilled water. We told him that they cost 10 pesos each.


He said: "But these things only cost 3 pesos." (I am oblivious as to where he got that ridiculous idea. I think I, a native, would know it better than him as to how much our products normally cost.)

We said: "No, they cost 10 if chilled. I can give them to you for 8 pesos but in room temperature."

He said: "You're only charging me 10 because I'm an American."

Amused, we said: "No, we charge every one 10 pesos."

Unconvinced, he said: "Then you won't see me buying here anymore."

Shocked but calm, we said: "Okay! Then don't."


What a godawful man. Thinking that we would overprice him just because he's American? Thinking we would overprice at all! What an arrogant, judgmental, common sense deprived wanker. Latak ng kanluran. Hindi ka na magtataka kung bakit isinusuka sila ng Europa kung saan sila nanggaling.

I shall not say he is a shame to America. I leave that to his fellow citizens.

Dahil Sobra Na!

I'm officially deaf. Someone just used "sobra" five times in the same sentence. And as if that wasn't enough, another celebrity had to say it all over again. In a commercial! One of the most vile purveyors of rubbish to the unsuspecting masses.

"Sobrang bilis... sobrang affordable."

In English: Too fast, too affordable.

Has it not occurred to these sobra-abusers that sobra means "too much" and not "very much"? And we all know that anything in excess is rarely a good thing. Kapag sobra, pangit na.

The correct word for "very much" is napaka or ubod ng. If you happen to come from Cavite, you would know d'ang, as well. But sobra is not the word, I'm sure. In Spanish, unsurprisingly, sobra also means "over" or "surplus".

What is happening to your Tagalog, o' youth? Change, yes. Advance? Hardly.

National Mother

I am touched and moved. And I am getting goosebumps. Teary eyed, to add.

I admit that, for a long time, I knew little of her as I was only a foetus when she helped overthrow the Dictatorship and restored our Democracy. But I believe the people who were there, and all the people who mourn now, that she was not only a President, she was a National Mother. I raise this cup to her: the plain housewife and shy widow who became President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Today, we bury your body. Your spirit, we shall remember for ever. You who dwell now beneath the earth and above the stars, continue to enrich our world with your liberated spirit...

Dialectal Differences

I just had a rather amusing experience today at our mini grocery. I can't help but share!

Customer: Isang kahang Fortune ho. Sigisteen?

Me: Po?

Customer: Sigisteen?

Me: Ano po 'yon?

Customer: Sigisteen!

Me: Ah... (realising he probably means 'sixteen', I confirm the brand) Fowchoon?

Customer: Ha?

Me: Fowchoon?

Customer: Ano 'yon?

Me: Fowchoon! (hands over his pack of fags and says) Thank you, come again!


LMAO. At least, mine is a legitimate pronunciation!

Misplaced Familiarity

Nurse [age 25] says: Magandang umaga, 'Nay! (Good morning, Mum!)

Patient [age 35] responds: Magandang umaga rin. (Good morning to you, too.)

Nurse: Kamusta pakiramdam niyo, 'Nay? (How are you feeling, Mum?)

Patient: Maayos naman. (I'm doing well.)

Nurse: Nakainom ka na ba ng gamot, Nanay? (Have you taken your medicine, Mummy?)

Patient: Close tayo, 'te?!!!


I find it annoying, don't you? Western readers may have difficulty understanding this (as I do not think this happens a lot in Anglophone countries), but a dreadful trend of misplaced familiarity has risen in the Philippines lately. These days, many professionals - most of whom are city-dwellers; supposedly more educated than their provincial counterparts - are wont to address their business contacts as if they were close kin. Senior familial names such as NANAY (Mummy) or TATAY (Daddy); 'NAY (Mum) or 'TAY (Dad) are now being commonly used to address a patient, a tindera (vendor), or a mamimili (customer). When has it ever been appropriate to call a total stranger something so intimate as 'Mummy' or 'Daddy'?

Some call it affection, sure. But know that not every one is open to your assumption that they are fine with your intrusive and misplaced affection. Use what is sensitive and appropriate. Use MISS, MA'AM, or SIR. In Tagalog: ALI or MAMÂ. KUYA (elder brother) or ATE (elder sister) is usually safe to use but it is not entirely advisable, either. Believe me, I have heard quite a few respond with "kapatid ba kita?" (are we siblings), and I do not blame them.

However, I am willing to accept this breaking of social borders for harmony's sake. Only and if only it makes sense. I mean, really, a lady 10 years your senior cannot be your Mummy.

Popular Stupidity

Soap opera star: Hindi pwede mangyari 'to!

Me: Nangyari na...

Soap opera star: Hindi totoo 'yan!

Me: Totoo, andiyan na eh.

Soap opera star: Nagsisinungaling ka!

Me: Bahala ka sa buhay mo...

Soap opera star: Hindi, hindi...

Me: Oo, oo...

Soap opera star: Hindi pwede mangyari 'to! Hindi, hindi!

Me: Ay kuya, nasabi mo na 'yan... paulit-ulit ka na.

Some radio announcer: May ganun?!

Me: Oo! May ganun! Marami!


Uso pa rin talaga sa telebisyon ang tanga, 'no? Kailan kaya mauuso ang matalino?

If Only Spam Had This Much Wisdom

Since I am still unable to process my thoughts into coherent sentences right now, allow me instead to share a chunk of quotes from some of my admired human beings.

Don't forget to share yours, eh!

---
There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. -- Socrates

One way alone does not suffice to attain so great a mystery. -- Symmachus

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. -- Erma Bombeck

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. -- Ray Bradbury

I cannot accept God as the Good-Surgeon-in-the-Sky. Whatever tumors He may be removing, He has also planted there. -- Anne Roiphe

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. -- Noam Chomsky

The Gods will not do for Man what Man must do for himself. -- Delphic Maxim

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. -- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. -- source unknown

The creed whose legitimacy is most easily challenged is likely to develop the strongest proselytizing impulse. -- Eric Hoffer

Everything is alive. What we call dead is an abstraction. -- David Bohm, Quantum Physicist

In the end, antiblack, antifemale and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing -- antihumanism. -- Shirley Chisholm

I never understood the theologies which would absolve God of earthquakes and typhoons, of children starving. A God who is not God the Creator is not very real to me, so that, yes, it certainly is God who throws the lightning bolts. -- John Updike

Enforcing gender conformity is not, and will never be, a corporate social responsibility; ending discrimination is. -- BB Gandanghari

A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. -- Bertrand Russell

Most men are straight as spaghetti... till they hit the water. -- Latter Days (film)

A gentleman never runs to catch a train. It is undignified. He should not have been late in the first place. It is unacceptable to do a second undignified thing in order to try to fix the first. -- source unknown

Thou shalt not employ sarcasm with idiots. For they tend to take it seriously. -- Aldrin

Decide no suit until you have heard both sides speak. -- Hesiod, "Precepts of Chiron"

Nothing ever truly dies. The universe wastes nothing. Everything is simply, transformed. -- Klaatu, The Day The Earth Stood Still

We are what we protect; what we stand up for. -- Sophie Neveu, The Da Vinci Code (film)

Ultimately, it's not what we believe that counts but how we use those beliefs; how we conduct our lives. -- Aldrin

The fools either claim there is a god or there isn't. The wise admit that we may never, ever know for sure. -- Aldrin

When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one. -- Epitaph of Leonard P. Matlovich, 1988

People who don't read good books have no power over those who don't know how to read them. -- source unknown

The fact that no one understands you doesn't make you an artist. -- source unknown

Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common. -- Dorothy Parker

Nature is the source of all true knowledge. She has her own logic, her own laws, she has no effect without cause nor invention without necessity. -- Leonardo Da Vinci

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love. -- Mother Theresa

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. -- Mother Theresa

Man's inherent nature is to be curious, gentle, intimate, responsible, enthusiastic, sensual, tolerant, courageous, honest, vulnerable, affectionate, proud, spiritual, committed, wild, nurturing, peaceful, helpful, intense, compassionate, happy, and to fully and safely express all emotions. When will we stop training him to be otherwise? -- Gordon Clay

Daniel Radcliffe is the new generation of heterosexual male (if those identifiers are even relevant anymore). Not only celebrating the spectrum of sexuality across the population but within himself. Is there anything stronger or more masculine than that? Brilliant. -- notingdavid.org on towleroad.com

We all grow old; do it with dignity. -- Rafe to Astrid, Blood & Chocolate (film)

Sit down! Proud, empty, hollow things that you are! -- Prince Nuada to the humans, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Celsus had some rather catty things to say about that; he remarked that Christianity appealed to the base and ignorant in society, and their motto was "Don't think - just believe!" -- Sannion

There are a thousand ways to say something. Pick the best of the lot. -- Kaye/Aldrin

By using the right words, you hit home, your points weigh heavier. -- Jeff Uy

I like being weird. At least I'm not like every one else. Who would want to be so ordinary? -- Aldrin

I would rather live there [in hell] with my honourable ancestors than go to heaven with a parcel of beggars [his enemies, the Christian Franks]. -- King Radbod of Frisia to Wolfram

All stories are true. Some of them actually happened. -- Ron Wetherington

Remember also that every rational animal is your kinsman, and that to care for all men is according to man's nature. -- Marcus Aurelius in "Meditations"

The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of an eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

The only jobs for which no man is qualified are human incubator and wet nurse. Likewise, the only job for which no woman is or can be qualified is sperm donor. -- Wilma Scott Heide

Religion should be a process of discovery and exploration. When you've got all the answers, that only means you're not thinking deeply enough about stuff. -- Sannion

In violence we forget who we are. -- Mary McCarthy

Instead of telling [Iranian] girls to cover their hair, we should teach them to use their heads. -- Shirin Ebadi

The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off. -- Gloria Steinem

Frustrated Farmer

Why hasn't the Watcher been updating the blog lately? He's busy in the farms. Seriously. He wishes they could be real farms, though. Aren't farms just bloody lovely?!


I promise to blog something more socially relevant very soon. But for the while, you may check out my FarmVille photos on Flickr. Good on us all, us fur-footed, green-thumbed hobbits!