On Disaster Management and Lawmakers with Disaster of a Hairstyle (not to mention Bills)

On the frontpage of newspapers today is a certain Congressman from Quezon City named Winnie Castelo "urging the President of the Philippines to hold the post of 'Disaster Management Czar'". For a while, I thought he was a 'she' because the two Winnie's that I know, Winnie Monsod and Winnie Santos (Ate Vi's younger sister, in case you don't know) are both she's, but upon googling (is it officially a word now?), I confirmed that he is a 'he'. Anyway, I'm digressing. Uhmmm, pwede pong mag-Tagalog muna ako? Mas maganda kasi ang Tagalog kapag asar ka eh. I marvel at the logic of this man (mahirap tagalugin ito, so sorry). Ito ang balita sa Inquirer:

"The President can synchronize all moves to restore normalcy in emergency situations, and prevent infighting among public officials on search and rescue, relief and post-disaster rehabilitation operations, Castelo told reporters on Saturday.

The proposal was made following reports that officials of the two cities could not agree with initiatives undertaken by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Although Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, names the defense secretary as NDRRMC chair, the key player is ultimately the President, Castelo said."

Teka muna, hindi ba ang Secretary of Defense eh tao lang ng Presidente? Ang Presidente ba eh walang power "synchronize all moves to restore normalcy in emergency situations, etc., etc.? So bakit kailangan pang gawing opisyal na 'Disaster Management Czar' ang Presidente? So paano kapag nagkaroon ng rice crisis, gagawing syang 'Rice Crisis Czar'? Paano kung nagkaroon ng 'Common Sense Crisis' sa Pilipinas (o sa Quezon City, for that matter), gagawing syang 'Common Sense Management Czar'? And so on and so forth.

This is the same lawmaker who filed a bill called 'The Anti-Planking Act', basically a bill that will incarcerate people who are lying face down, and another bill that would require a lotto winner to give up 20% of his winnings to charity(?). The only thing I know that can beat this in terms of magnanimity is the Anti-Farting Bill of Malawi. I don't know if he has other bills or jokes but I am interested in exploring. I'm a sucker for good jokes.

It is one thing to say something wrong or tactless candidly and later regret about it but is another thing to have all the time to think about it and yet still say the wrong things, or worse, propose a law.

In case you are wondering who this stand-up lawmaker is, here is a mugshot of him:

If there is one law this country needs, it's a law outlawing bangs for all men.

If I remember it right, Herbert Bautista, now Mayor, used to sport such hairstyle, but he has moved on. So has Justin Bieber.

And if you happen to live in Quezon City, be careful about sleeping in public places in prone position; you might wake up inside the city jail.

Bagyong Sendong, Produkto ba ng Climate Change?

After the shocking devastation left by typhoon Sendong, in terms of humans lives and properties, one has to wonder, what is happening to the weather. Imagine, a strong typhoon with that amount of rainfall, in mid-December, in Mindanao? The main reason for the high casualty was the surprise causing the unpreparedness as much as the surprisingly high volume of rainfall. I believe it was the first time the Mindanaoans experienced such freakish weather event. Everyone was caught flat-footed, so to speak. The fact is, Mother Nature, for a long time now and recently,had been displaying its whimsical nature, with destructive results. Of course, Mother Nature had always been whimsical but it's like all of a sudden, she decided to get a little naughtier. Or was it US who caused her to act like that. Was it our love for things mechanical and electrical? Our love affair with SUV's? Our penchant for beef, pork and chicken, coming from animals whose collective fart can single-handedly melt the ice in North Pole? Just a few weeks ago, Bangkok was inundated for a long period. October this year, New Jersey was covered in snow. And who could forget Ondoy? Katrina?

I strongly believe that climate change is a reality. A reality that we have to face, try to mitigate, and prepare for. The polar ice caps are melting away, experts predict a 2-degree Centigrade rise in temperature in the near future, 9 degrees by mid-century, hotter and more frequent heat waves are expected and the list of Nostradamus-esque events goes on.

Which begs the question: What do we do?

You are an artist

You don't need a fine arts degree or attend painting lessons. You are an artist because you make an art of what you do; whether you are a mechanic, jeepney driver, a cook, a teacher, a programmer or a housewife. You can find creative ways to express yourself, to do your job and to live your life, and for that you are an artist.

Google+: Facebook-Killer?

I have just created my Google+ account. Nothing much there yet and I don't even know what's in there at the moment. Nonetheless, given that Google is the biggest Internet company in the world, I am pretty sure that Mark Zuckerberg and his posse at Facebook are on their toes now. Time will tell if this new Google "communication backbone", as one writer puts it, becomes the Facebook-killer, the way Facebook rendered MySpace and Friendster irrelevant to so-called netizens.

Amir Khan Loses to Peterson

Amir Khan Loses to Peterson!

Ganda ng laban. It was a surprising victory for Peterson as he got the nod of the judges with a very slim margin in a majority decision. Khan started strong but Peterson was able to adjust his game as the fight went on. Khan threw more shots but Peterson unleashed heavier punches to the head and body of Khan. Khan should have moved more but apparently he also ran out of gas with his continous movements to evade the advancing Peterson. It was definitely an upset as Khan was heavily favored to win. Khan should work more on his inside fighting and add more power to his punches.

Congratulations to our own Hawaiian Punch, Viloria for his win against the Mexican Segura.

This is so COOL! You should get one.

The Water Jetpack
Move over sliced bread, the Water Jet Pack is officially the greatest thing ever...more>>

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Woman commits suicide in Niagara Falls

Woman commits suicide in Niagara FallsPhoto Credit: LiveLeak.com

Cotto - Margarito II

Just saw the fight and what a fight it was! The fight was eerily similar to the first fight with Cotto winning the earlier rounds, rounds 1 to 5, and Margarito starting to win later rounds, although this time, Margarito, at least in my score card, won only rounds 5 and 7. There were more lateral movements for Cotto, unlike in the first fight where he fought toe-to-toe against the more powerful Margarito (or was it something in the hand wrap?). Plaster or no plaster, I believe Margarito punches a bit heavier than Cotto. Cotto's advantage were his lateral movement, combinations and hand speed. Margarito had trouble with the hit-and-run tactic of Cotto. Also, Cotto, I think has better conditioning and stamina this time.

So Cotto won with the doctor stopping the fight and finally avenged his brutal loss against Margarito. I would love to see him fight Saul Alvarez, Victor Ortiz or Sergio Martinez. All of them. Mayweather? It would be intriguing but it won't be the slam bang fight that most boxing fans like to watch. Juan Manuel Marquez at 147? Too risky for him because a loss to Marquez would diminish his reputation and marketability but it is another intriguing and action-packed fight. Bob Arum had enough of JMM, for the moment, I think, as JMM nearly shred Pacman's cloak of invincibility.

Who's Who in SEO and Important Links about SEO

A list of influential and important people in the world of Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing(SEM) and resource pages if you want to learn more about the practice:

Bruce Clay(www.bruceclay.com)

wdfm.com

useit.com

Search Engine Optimization Service in Manila, Philippines

Hello. My name is Alex M. Lapis and I am a search engine optimization professional. If you have a website that needs to be findable in the Internet, that is, it needs to rank high in Google and other search engines' list, then I can help you.

What is SEO or search engine optimization? According to Wikipedia, "Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users."

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Name: Alex M. Lapis
Mobile Number: (+63) 9175660127
Email Address: alexmartinlapis@gmail.com

Skillset:
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Alex Lapis follows the SEO Code of Ethics as outlined by Bruce Clay of BruceClay.com(www.bruceclay.com).