Brain Contour

Mar Roxas and Noynoy Aquino

Why is Manuel A. Roxas or Mar Roxas trailing behind (or might lose to) Jejomar C. Binayin the Philippine Vice-Presidential race? In the past months before the May 10 elections, Mar Roxas had been leading in most, if not all, electoral surveys for vice-presidents. His lead was not even near to his closest opponent, Loren Legarda. Mar Roxas was leading by 2-digit points. Where was Jejomar C. Binay? He was lagging behind, in the pathetic third.

The Aquino-Roxas tandem was believed to have been the duo to beat. Both were seen to have the appeal for the Filipino people. But when the votes were counted and tallied, only Ninoy “Noynoy” Aquino made it to a sure seat, commanding a big lead from the second candidate in the tally, former Pres. Joseph Estrada. What happened to his teammate Mar Roxas?

PCOS Election Machine

A TV host said that the Filipino ingenuity came out in the ongoing Philippine national election. Why? Being the first ever election to be automatedusing the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) election machine, the fear of malfunctions happening in poll locations around the country is high. And the widespread fear seems to be coming true, even at the time of this writing. There are already reports of the machines being clogged and not working properly, and that manual voting has been implemented in many precincts.

The initial goal of the poll automation was to speed up the count of some 50 million voters and help avoid human error or rigging. Now what — is this what we call speeding up election results through spending 7.2-billion pesos (US$149 million) for a project that seems to fail?

Lt. Col. Terry Lakin

Thanks CNN’s host Anderson Cooper for showing to us that Terry Lakin, a U.S. Army officer who refuses to follow President Obama’s orders, has no brain at all. Pardon me, but that is how I see it after watching an episode of CNN last night.

Lakin did not answer simple questions from Anderson Cooper CNN interview. Rather, he hid behind his lawyer, who by the way, was so disrespectful by butting in all the time.

All I ever wanted to hear was a single thought from Army physician, Terry Lakin. I did not get it. The guy is coward. If he knows what he is fighting for, he should say at least a single viewpoint!

What do you think?

Philippine Flores de Mayo

I was surprised to see a celebration of Flores de Mayo(Flowers of May) at the St. Thomas More Parish in Brookings, SD during the first Sunday of May. Little kids were bringing flowers to the image of the blessed Mother Mary near the altar. It was just a short event done after the Sunday mass.

In the Philippines, May is not complete without Flores de Mayo, a gentle and esthetically pleasing, four-week long festival celebrated in honor of the Virgin Mary. It is gathering kalachuchi shoots and sampaguita buds. It is filling the reed trays with petals of all kinds carrying baskets of: camias, santan, sampaguitas, lerios — the flowers of May.

It is the same celebration as many years ago. It is on how the churches observe and celebrate it and how the people look at it that make the difference. Many people I know say that they offer flowers to Mary for prayer intercession and as a form of thanksgiving.

Delaney Brothers

I am very critical when it comes to music. Blame it to my addiction to almost anything about the art. I am probably one of the few non-Americans who monitor and follow each American Idol episode, check the billboard charts, blog about American songs and new MTVs, and scrutinize every musical guest performance on late night TV shows.

Tonight, I hopped into Cottonwood coffee shop in Brookings, SD for my dose of mocha. I had no intention of staying late. However, my attention was caught by the brothers duo – Evan Delaney and Tristan Delaney – who were performing inside the shop for the annual open-mic event. Both brothers could play the guitar and sing beautifully at the same time. I mean, they do not possess ordinary-sounding voices, but something more of recording-quality that may give pro singers a run for their money. Listen to the blending of their voices and it will make you thirst for some more.

I could not believe my eyes to read in this week’s issue of the South Dakota State University (SDSU) Collegian newspaper that last week’s plagiarism incident was only considered a mere mistake. I was told by the Collegian editor-in-chief, Ms. Poppinga, in one of our email exchanges last week that “we will take these concerns very seriously and will do what we feel is appropriate to rectify the situation.” I believe the necessary action taken this week is the one called “very seriously.” The “appropriate action” taken to rectify the BLUNDER was to publish a correction note in this week’s issue. It says:

SDSU Collegian

Three years of writing for the SDSU Collegian Newspaper is already an achievement for me as an amateur writer. But the sparkle each article brought to my eyes was not all-bright every time. The months of making stories and publishing them on paper and online rendered more frowns than smiles – more what-ifs than yes-I-can. I may not be a real newbie to writing columns (with credits to Cebu’s Sun-Star Weekend Magazine), but catering to a different set of readers other than Filipinos, almost always on release day, a new Collegian copy on the table at the basement of Wecota hallwould send shivers down my spine. The audience here is varied, so varied that their opinions posted in response to my articles online could easily signal a raising of the white flag on my part. Majority of the comments criticized (not my way of writing, by the way) my viewpoints about life and living in which my columns usually revolved.

My inclinations to writing religious articles and sharing spiritual miracles had awakened the unbelievers in many ways than one. For countless times the judgments posted were too personal. But I had devised a strategy to not read them verbatim so as to lessen the hurt. The less painful and the few uplifting comments were the needed push to keep all my articles coming each and every week. The avid readers of my columns may have already painted the story of my life, as articles tackled the bits and pieces of my existence and those around me — everything shaped in words, English words, a Filipino, me, hoped to convey.

I am the kind of reader who does not stick to just one type of book. I may be a fiction lover, but I also have a collection of self-help, inspirational, and religious books. “The Vertical Self” by Mark Sayers that I just finished reading, will stay on top of the pile for 1.) making me discover a new way of living the faith and 2.) having a nice study guide at the end of the book.

Will you wallow in your own worldly desires or step into a journey of God-filled life? This is what “The Vertical Self” tries to tell the readers. There is a horizontal self that people usually give importance to. This is the selfish side of man. And there is a vertical self too, the holy side that people often neglect.