Standards of Beauty

 

Saw an image  (not the ones featured here) in FaceBook and its obvious intent was for people to notice that a black child was also beautiful and very good to look at.  It had hoped to dispel the current prevalent notions that one has to have fair skin and Western features to look desirable or beautiful.

 But the  common almost compulsive drive to look more Western I find is not uniquely Filipino.  Many other darker ethnicities also have it, like even among the African Americans in the US.

If so, then we could not attribute it solely as an unintended aftermath of prior colonization or coming from other recently acquired traits.

It would appear to reside deeper in the psyche of modern man, where we might hope to find his current notions and concepts of what would be considered beautiful, or desirable, or even good to look at.  As an example, maybe as elemental or ingrained as that the color white stands for good, while black for bad or evil.  As light versus darkness?

Or it could be what is innately perceived as symmetry of parts that exudes an observation of visual pleasantness or conformity to certain standards.  Like the almost universal preference for taller people rather than shorter ones?  More deep-set eyes and high-bridge noses?  Women looking more feminine with defined curves?  Etc.

A more honest conversation could lead to a better understanding or acceptance of what could be considered as today’s standards.

The lady featured is of mixed parentage, with a Romanian father and a Chinese mother.  She was born in Canada but is now a British subject and resident. This young 18-year-old is the current rage in women's tennis.  Her looks no doubt add to the mystique of her almost unexplainable popularity.

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Introducing the Cagayan de Oro City Hall Building

When we think CDO City Hall the image conjured is that of an imposing white-washed building standing sentinel beside the western approach of the oldest bridge of the city, Ysalina Bridge.

In reality it is now a complex of several high-rise modern-looking buildings adjoined to the side of the old structure and occupying a space many times bigger than the original.

At some point all of us ordinary residents will have to get acquainted with the maze of buildings and offices that now make up City Hall.

We all have to queue up for our annual residence certificates, payments of real property taxes, business permits, a multitude of clearances like police, health, fire, what have you, and a litany of chores and duties to confound the hardiest citizen.  We know we need to register with City Hall for every birth, but not many think that we also have to go through onerous routines when somebody dies.

Thus, in one of those trips, I found time to snap some scenes as I waited for my turn.  And one new detail learned:  Know that when you get your police clearance a 3rd party organization processes your clearance for which you are charged a fee, over and above the regular fee that goes to City Hall.  Part of public service outsourced to the private sector?

  Imagine also that all prospective employees have to have this, aside from the host of requirements and clearances that definitely would raise the hackles of the most patient individual.  And all of them with a considerable fee attached to each one.  Another sample of the burgeoning costs of government!

No wonder even the government’s physical structures have become so large, so expensive and so complicated.

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A Mortified Life:  An Oxymoron?

Because mortified comes from Latin, it could mean to kill or subdue.  But life is about living!

At first glance then, the term could be an oxymoron, which could translate as a killed life.

But over the ages, the noble and profound concept of mortification has taken on more significant meanings to our living of life.   Simply, it means living a life which is characterized by subjugation or “killing” of the human desires and inclinations which drive us away from our divine purposes.   Shorter still, it means controlling our concupiscence which is the innate legacy of our fallen nature.

A very pregnant thought with multi-faceted angles to ponder.

A Mother's Instinct

 

How one timely and prudent move of my late mother may have helped shape my future.  And more than giving it form and shape, may have saved it.

One clear manifestation of a mother's trove of virtues she critically needs in creating and growing her own family, to match the task's multitude of responsibilities.

For many adults the events of youth may be subjects of either happy reminiscences or rueful regrets, but in most instances we consign them to a remote segment of our minds after we attain maturity.  We are too preoccupied with adult life, we do not want to be bothered much by such puerile gestures like trying to  make sense of events in our reckless youth.

But at certain advanced stages, we cannot help but be prodded to recall early events to try and understand why certain things in our adulthood transpired as they did. Or were allowed to happen, or that one was lucky enough to be offered them.

Given such a listless and a bit chaotic childhood for me, I welcome this rehashing of my youth if only to understand my life better.  And better still, such revelation may assist my next generation in their own living of life.

So for these reasons, this little exercise in history is being undertaken.

In my own life in high school, one stark detail that sticks out is the growing aimlessness and listlessness I was experiencing not only at home but more pronouncedly, in school.

I was immersed practically in my own little world, though surrounded by many people composed not only  of many siblings but companies I kept away from home.  Found himself drifting to a less real and more fanciful world.  A world of carefree living, with reduced responsibilities and complete freedom to roam and idle. And of course, with no serious thought of the future.

And this I was experiencing as I was approaching the end of high school.  Though I may not have been aware of it, or maybe was not capable to comprehend situations that I had no prior knowledge, I now think that maybe some people around where I lived may have noticed it.  From telltale signs that taken together could spell disaster.  Like little missteps in school that could be signs of graver issues.  Or the school administrators may have gone above me and reported it to my mother who was the guardian at home.

In hindsight I now  judge that had there been no intervention my downward slide could have gotten worse, who knows to what nadir.  To a point of no return?

Anyway, after a year of college in the same school I did high school, I was suddenly whisked off to Manila to live with my father and a couple of elder brothers who were not only living there but also studying.  And the trip somehow jibed with another issue that needed immediate attention in Manila.  Our youngest sister needed medical attention for a skin problem on her neck that she was born with.  So what better opportunity for me to accompany her on a long and slow boat trip to Manila.  As I understand it, it was my mother who had insisted that I be sent to study in Manila.

That change in scenery and environment I now believe was the turning point of my young life.  The 3 years spent there had given me valuable insights and accommodating knowledge that allowed me to change my outlook and attain the maturity that would later on me serve me creditably in life.  Because after 3 years and graduation from an undergraduate degree, I would be sent back to the old hometown and to start a new life.  Or really to pick up from where I left off.  The changes were mostly inside, with few visible changes in the outside.  Save for such petty stuff as beaming that I could afford to dress with the latest trends brought from Manila, which would be quite an improvement from the local fashion. 

And from henceforward my life had completely taken a different turn.  This time a serious and expectant one.  I had become quite serious with my further studies and was actually thinking about my future and its prospects.

So one wonders what would have happened had my mother not taken the action that she did.  God only knows.  But it would not be farfetched to surmise that that was the rightful decision during that time. And it was not because Manila offered a better place to live or continue school.  Just that the change itself was the trigger that sparked the transformation to maturity.

In life sometimes earlier blessings we received are not known and acknowledged until we are almost through with life. But we get to it before it is too late.

Just A Potpourri Of Thoughts and Opinions

 Just A Potpourri Of Thoughts and Opinions

Those in the business of parsing every Duterte rhetoric and its delivery are having a field day.

He has provided them with the perfect storm, everyone being literally inundated with a phalanx of seemingly incoherent statements and out of this world ideas on how to govern amidst an overly-sensitized world. And the presses are grinding with dizzying speed, laying out ink on the whys and wherefores of all those “unacceptable” statements.

It would appear that he is singularly attempting to “upset” the world order, both locally and globally, with his unexpected pronouncements.  I daresay the world order that has been thrust at us and grudgingly accepted or tolerated as normal in our own lives.

  And just as solicitous are the multitudes of defenders, a number of them could be adjudged overly aggressive and blindingly partial, but dominated IMO by those who are earnestly trying to understand this man who has over time shown in the past all the way back to his stints in Davao City, his genuine paternal concern for the people and his single-minded tack to bring good governance to his constituency.  Which to this day has now become the entire country.

And last time I checked we are still holding up and in one piece.  Maneuvering rudder every which way to right the ship and keep all of us afloat.  Except for the hurts and bruises, sadly inflicted by a number of our own fellow shipmates.

 Helmsmen and mates, to the masts and ballasts with eyes peeled and muscles taut for the continued rough ride ahead!

We shall overcome!

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This local movie has garnered so much attention and following lately.  The reviews are largely and inspiringly positive, though a number are casting doubts on the complete authenticity of events depicted in the movie.  Like it was a history book, or something.

But I take a much different tack on this subject movie.  Because, yes, it is just a movie, though about historical events.

Movies are meant to entertain and be interesting to the audience.  Thus, it will of necessity have to avail of romanticism and other cinematic tools to make them so.  One emphasis for example could be how emotions as expressed are magnified in each role to bring out loud and lasting impressions on and consequently lasting connections with the viewers.

Thus, all things considered, if we want to learn more and give due respect and honor to our heroes, I suggest we be encouraged to use more traditional methods of doing so.  Like reading serious, historically accurate, and unvarnished accounts of them.

   And let movies about them take side roles that simply play as catchy introduction, especially for the younger generations reeling in wanton dearth of relevant models to emulate and follow.   Apart from the youthful and nubile movie celebrities who crowd our interminable sessions with the TV and Internet.

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RIP - Steve Jobs.  I was quite fortunate to have resided in the very same vortex that created the tech boom of the late 80's up to late 20th century.  And was thus only a short ride away from the valley where many of the big companies like Apple and Intel got their starts.  Today Steve Jobs name is synonymous with the name of Apple, but we know that there were others just as significant in making Apple what it is today.  Names like partner Steve Wozniak who is credited for making the early Apple computers realities, or even less known Ronald Gerald Wayne, or a Mike Markkula who provided needed financing early on.

But today it is Steve Jobs day and Apple is Steve Jobs.

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At this time we recall the death anniversary of Apple’s Steve Jobs.

Many post quotes he made while living.  This one attached is a popular one.

The premise is undeniable.  Life is indeed short.

But the succeeding resolutions differ in form and meaning.

Jobs said not to waste it living somebody else’s life.  But more popularly, people will reflexively say:  to enjoy and make the most of it.

Thus, many cramp as much pleasurable activities in their lives while still able – taking travels, vacations, visits to relatives and friends, attending gatherings, etc.

Clearly  as revealed by their actions what the saying specifically means for them.

You think Jobs shared this interpretation?  As reflected in his own life, which was cut short so abruptly?

Did he mean that because life is short, he would spend his few remaining years or months, dropping everything he was doing for Apple, and attending to his personal life and family?

Rather than continuing his life’s activities that could influence or benefit more people?

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Philippine Politics 

Certain developments challenge my admittedly limited understanding of local party politics.

This Philippine president coming into the presidential fray was thought of and considered the most outlier of all the perfumed and scripted candidates who cavorted around the political stage.  Assumed generally as not adept in politics, he never toed political party lines, and though allied never really needed anything from the party, not even publicly pretending to need anything.  Was never part of any cabal nuanced to both the clandestine nature and the shallow niceties of politics, instead speaking and acting his mind without any filters of even feigned courtesies. And a quite dirty and pedestrian mind and mouth he has, alarming and shaming both the high and mighty of society, and the lowly masa.  The powerful RC clergy especially is in a tizzy, practically condemning his every utterance.

 But more people obviously wanted him since he got elected, warts and all.

How come this?

So now his political detractors have considered him an accomplished masterful tactician and manipulator of other branches of government.  He now has pocketed as his rubberstamp the twin houses of Congress.  Many sow fear broadcasting in obtuse ways that the uniformed sectors of government now kowtow to his whims and caprices.  Has he also captured and mesmerized the vaunted judiciary?

So how come one solitary non-politician, one almost without ideological partners, getting only a handful of votes as many claimed, and not really considered knowledgeable to the intricacies of big and bloated government, now being touted as wielding so much power and influence over such entrenched bureaucratic segments of government? 

Hands are flailing away in confusion and surrender.

A Brief Autobiographical Sketch

 

 

When the new decade of 1980 rolled in, our family plans had already been firmed up, ready for execution.

The entire family had decided that our migration to the US, to unite with the rest of the family of the wife would go into full swing. And so as the new year commenced, everybody immersed themselves in the preparations for the long, arduous and historic trip away from the old homeland.  Away from the familiarities, expectations, and standards we had all been used to since birth.  Away from the security and comforts accorded by the old homeland.

Since the move had already been decided much earlier, there is then no need to delve into the whys and wherefores for the migration.  After a long and thorough thinking and weighing of all possible implications, it was the decision to migrate that finally came out.

The initial step taken would be securing our passports and visas for the trip.  And so photos were taken and the one above was precisely the one used in my initial passport.  It showed  a rather pensive guy, obviously burdened by the manifold ramifications of such a move. The attendant fears and insecurities  weighing  heavily on my shoulders as we embarked as a family of six, with 4 minor children with ages ranging from 11 to 6 years, in a long journey of thousands of miles

Like a well-prepared soldier, I looked neat, fit, and in the pink of health even though already past my 30's.  I had reasonably managed and controlled my prevailing physical health issues,  from my pared-down thyroids to the congenital heart condition that I had been carrying since childhood.  So here I was ready for the expected rigors, and this shared by the rest of the family.  Visits to the doctors and dentists already done early on.  Financial affairs marked and winded down to the last t.  Proper clothing for the changing environment noted and secured.  Etc.

And so after countless preparatory moves, the actual dates came into view with the trip being divided into 2 phases.  In June of the same year, the wife and the 2 elder children were first to go.  And they would then stay with my mother-in-law in San Francisco.  A few months later, I with the twins left behind would follow suit.  And as planned, by the end of August, the entire family was reunited, now in the cool environment of the famous city of San Francisco.

As expected, the initial months and years would be periods of great challenges, sacrifices,  and some frustration and regrets.  Many of our unresolved fears would come into fruition and my innate timidity would offer more obstacles to our eventual assimilation into the local community.  But we did all persist and were able to survive all the impediments thrown at us.

And this allowed us also to be creative in our approaches to the goals that we had wanted to attain.  For one we threw aside a number of perceived impediments that migrants like us were said to be subjected and thus would not be able to surmount easily or expeditiously.  And because of this, many in turn were amazed and surprised at the early achievements that we had garnered.  One big one was our ability to own our own house barely going 3 years into our stay there.  This ability opened a lot of doors for us to improve our economic and financial status.  As more doors for profitable investments were opened for us.  This in spite of having 4 minor kids to also care for.

To make a story short, that migration took a lifespan of  over a quarter of century before it was decided to relocate back to the old homeland.  And that we did, except all the kids and their new families are still there, all gathered together in the great state of California.

More Musings

 Way before his death, savant Carl Sagan wrote this eerie prediction.

“Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."

The US today as forecasted by Carl Sagan above.

1. "Becomes a service and information economy." 

(Google, Instagram, Facebook, etc. are now the biggest and most powerful entities.)

2. "Nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries."  

(Steel, shipbuilding, consumer appliances, vehicles, etc. are now essentially manufactured abroad, like in China.)

3. "Awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few." 

(Like Google, Facebook, Instagram, they now are able to manipulate and sway elections and laws in manners not witnessed before.)

4. "No one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues." 

(Listen to the politicians, the biased media, the deep state operatives from the different bureaucracies, the military top brass, etc., they could not be seen  as divorced from their assigned goals as they are today.)

5. "The people losing the ability to set their own agendas, or knowledgeably question those in authority."  

(Watch how from the president down they have completely forgotten why they are holding their exalted positions and who put them there. All this aided by media and academia. thus, we have mandates galore and an administration essentially avoiding dialogue with its constituents.)

6. Many people unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true.  

(Wokeness and cancel culture persist and gain grounds, again aided and assisted by media, academia, big business, etc.)

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Marking a milestone!

Time is a Man-made Construct

God is eternal.  Man is immortal.  And yes, a regular year is 365 days, a day of 24 hours, the hour of 60 minutes.

All part of accepted conventional wisdom, which upon closer scrutiny cannot rest on the bedrock of credibility.  This is so because our narrative of time is anchored on a false premise.  For us, temporal time is our own construct of measurement.  It is nothing more than a marking of the movements of heavenly bodies against the vastness and inky darkness of an unknown universe.  Thus, a day is nothing more than the measurement of the earth making a complete turn on its axis; while the year of the earth’s travel around our sun.

It appears logical until we run head on against the concept of our Creator, who exists apart and separate from time, our concept of time.  He is not just simply eternal, He simply is!

Being such, everything He does or touches also exists apart and separate from any temporary constructs man has initiated and implemented.

When sentient man enters into an act, a promise, or a commitment that transcends the temporal, it is timeless!

Our earth-bound measurement of time becomes meaningless.

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Here is a thoughtful topic on elections in general. If you ask the “experts” they would undoubtedly come up with these premises and rationale.

If the contest is between an incumbent and a newcomer, typically the contest will be a referendum of the incumbent and his record of accomplishments. So votes cast will be either for or against the incumbent, based on his record. The against votes would be popularly referred to as protest votes.

However, if the contest is between two newcomers to the position, meaning neither one is incumbent, then the contest will be decided on who voters believe can better serve or is a better fit for the position being vied for.

If one turns to the experts again, they would readily qualify that those above-described premises are not always so. There will be times when both contestants having been so exposed publicly whether in public service or in the private sector, that both their records of accomplishments could become critical measures to determine their viability and electability. Thus the election would not necessarily be a referendum of the incumbent but a contest of electability based on records of both.

Thus in prognosticating, we assume (to a degree) voters decide like text-book voters, that is, they base their decisions on which candidate is a better fit for the position, which we would agree is for public service and the pursuit of the common good. Rather than based on personalities, level of erudition and/or eloquence, or even likability, etc.

But all could agree that it is doubtful in reality that voters are beyond not consulting and/or relying on the latter criteria. Man is such an emotional creature that it is difficult for him to thoroughly divest himself of those when making choices.

Still, it is good to know not only where candidates are coming from, but also the voters who decide on who wins.

I myself will put on my thinking cap and start the mental exercise on the real election events unfolding.

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Just discovered another ugly wrinkle that surfaced in today’s chaotic world.

Unless it is self-evident or previously expressed, it is not right to impugn the character of another person because of probable or possible motives/intentions that that person may have against another.

It is not only outright baseless but irrational to do so.  It could then also possibly mean that there is some projection involved in making that judgment.

Judge a person on what he has actually done and what he has expressly said as his motive for doing so.  If not, it is considered prudent to withhold judgment.

But the following is an example where motives/intentions are not just express but written and thus not imprudent to cast judgment on those involved:

https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugy8TgcAQ9_gEgUi6ux4AaABCQ

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Be careful what you all wish for, they could all come true.

When Duterte won, I grudgingly had a wish that was both all-encompassing and straight-forward.

Given and based on all that he had represented and personified, my wish was that he would “upset” all the traditional values and traditions that we had accumulated over the years as a nation and people living free from any foreign domination.  Since I had concluded that those had gotten us nowhere.

So that every time he would be required to think, say, and act as expected  by his high office, he would set aside the protocols and promulgate his own based on values he had acquired not only for being part of the common man but more importantly because he self-identifies with their plaints, plights, and hurts.

 Remember it started with the manner of dress, the pomp and elegance of official gatherings, down to the elevation of the lowly “maruya” as part and parcel of official and stately repasts.

 Now it has been a series of issues concerning foreigners or foreign countries and organizations.  Before anything else, we shall pre-emptively declare that this cannot be stemming from any aversion or revulsion to anything foreign or extraneous.  Remember his marriage was that to a foreigner.

Anyway, now his detractors are steaming hot on the collar because of his strident and negative remarks about the US.

Reflexively, they point to the foreign aids and other giveaway goodies we might have to forget about because of this.  Or all the negative financial repercussions this affront will engender.  Like when he insulted the UN, immediately people started counting the coterie of assistance the country was receiving from that body, and the insinuation that the country may now have to kiss them goodbye.  And this financial angle appears to be quite likely to come out immediately when something negative like this comes out of the office of the president.

But isn’t our mendicancy slip showing all over the place?  As a country and as a people, is that what characterizes or is important to us?  Again, where has all this gotten us?  That ought to be the Square One that we always try to get back to.

For all his flaws and inability to amply verbalize his thoughts and ideas, I am thinking that in his jumbled rhetoric what he is trying to bring across is the good idea that at this point we should aim for something grander and harder.  What about trying to wean ourselves from the good graces and benevolence of other countries, which appear to always look upon us by default as needing extra help just to stand on our own?

Maybe what he is conveying is that we try to cut that damned umbilical cord and go all out to better our future, over and above just simply surviving.  To wean ourselves from foreign hands and crutches and lifting ourselves with our own bootstraps.  Such a success ought to truly be meaningful and sustainable for us.

If so, then, hey, it is not such a bad idea.

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He probably is the most unusual democratic president of all time (my time, at least).  One so unwilling, so reluctant at first, giving all excuses both silly and understandable, to assume the formidable burden of a rugged campaign and now the intolerable rigors of the office.

 The most consummate model of an outlier president any country could possibly enlist.

 A solitary outsider, having only limited his political career to local governance in the most southern part of the country, away from notice and fame.  A section of the country considerably isolated and different from the rest.  And not desiring any or having no political alliances or dalliances with the rest of the country, showing great reservations and impatience in such methods of governance.

And now he holds the reins of government, being buffeted on all sides because of his coarse and uncharacteristic ways.   Unfazed, he goes about parrying and deflecting blows, allowing those who understand him and his intentions to do battle for his avowed causes.

So now many of his detractors claim given the most recent  developments in high echelons of government, that we now have a dictator reminiscent of the Marcos misrule, a ruler bent on dominating and singularly acting on his own lonesome to steer the entire country forward.

A dictator not ruling by force and duress, but by the trust and confidence his followers and believers invest in his rule?

Such a unique despot.   Is this a fine sample of a benevolent tyrant?

Or maybe derisively, signs of mass hypnotism of a good part of the country?

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