December 31, 2007

What If



My relationship in 2007
It started so peacefully, loving, passionate and idealistic but those were only a chameleon and the truth was about to explode in a controlling jealousy that is 24/7
A woman that I respect and love became in rage of a text that even a kindergarten student can forget after a piece of gum is chewed and spitted after the taste was dull.


She was the flowers of Baguio, a smell of a country side, the plains of Nueva Ecija and the mountains of Pangasinan combined.

But the smell of baguio became polluted and the plains of Nueve Ecija became a desert of frustrations and the mountains of Pangasinan exploded like the mount of Saint Helen but it can be tame but when.

December 29, 2007

Tedy Bruschi - A Filipino in Boston

Bruschi is of Filipino and Italian descent. He is an accomplished saxophonist and has played with the Boston Pops. Bruschi resides in North Attleboro, MA with his wife, Heidi, and their three sons Tedy Jr., Rex and Dante.

In 2007 Bruschi wrote a book about his experience with his stroke and his recovery, entitled Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFL.
In his memoir, Bruschi speaks with candor about how his family confronted the reality of his life-threatening affliction, of his initial plans to retire from the NFL, and of the moment he told his wife he was ready to return to football, earning him a share of the Comeback Player of the Year Award and full ownership of the prestigious Ed Block Courage Award. His book was published by John Wiley & Sons in August 2007.

December 27, 2007

Democracy Can't Be Perfect for the Bhutto's

French, Polish, Spanish, and Swiss documents have fueled the charges of corruption against Bhutto and her husband. Bhutto and her husband faced a number of legal proceedings, including a charge of laundering money through Swiss banks. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, spent eight years in prison on similar corruption charges. Zardari, released from jail in 2004, has suggested that his time in prison involved torture; human rights groups have supported his claim that his rights were violated.

A 1998 New York Times investigative report indicates that Pakistani investigators have documents that uncover a network of bank accounts, all linked to the family's lawyer in Switzerland, with Asif Zardari as the principal shareholder. According to the article, documents released by the French authorities indicated that Zardari offered exclusive rights to Dassault, a French aircraft manufacturer, to replace the air force's fighter jets in exchange for a 5% commission to be paid to a Swiss corporation controlled by Zardari. The article also said a Dubai company received an exclusive license to import gold into Pakistan for which Asif Zardari received payments of more than $10M into his Dubai-based Citibank accounts. The owner of the company denied that he had made payments to Zardari and claims the documents were forged.

Bhutto maintained that the charges leveled against her and her husband were purely political. "Most of those documents are fabricated," she said, "and the stories that have been spun around them are absolutely wrong." An Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) report supports Bhutto's claim. It presents information suggesting that Benazir Bhutto was ousted from power in 1990 as a result of a witch hunt approved by then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The AGP report says Khan illegally paid legal advisers 28 million Rupees to file 19 corruption cases against Bhutto and her husband in 1990-92.

The assets held by Bhutto and her husband have been scrutinized. The prosecutors have alleged that their Swiss bank accounts contain £740 million. Zardari also bought a neo-Tudor mansion and estate worth over £4 million in Surrey, England, UK.
The Pakistani investigations have tied other overseas properties to Zardari's family. These include a $2.5 million manor in Normandy owned by Zardari's parents, who had modest assets at the time of his marriage. Bhutto denied holding substantive overseas assets.

Bhutto and her husband until recently continued to face wide-ranging charges of official corruption in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars of "commissions" on government contracts and tenders. But because of a power-sharing deal brokered in October 2007 between Bhutto and Musharraf, she and her husband had been granted amnesty. If it stands, this development could trigger a number of Swiss banks to "unlock" accounts that were frozen in the late 1990s. The executive order could in principle be challenged by the judiciary, although the judiciary's future was uncertain due to the same recent developments.


Switzerland

On 23 July 1998, the Swiss Government handed over documents to the government of Pakistan which relate to corruption allegations against Benazir Bhutto and her husband. The documents included a formal charge of money laundering by Swiss authorities against Zardari. The Pakistani government had been conducting a wide-ranging inquiry to account for more than $13.7 million frozen by Swiss authorities in 1997 that was allegedly stashed in banks by Bhutto and her husband. The Pakistani government recently filed criminal charges against Bhutto in an effort to track down an estimated $1.5 billion she and her husband are alleged to have received in a variety of criminal enterprises. The documents suggest that the money Zardari was alleged to have laundered was accessible to Benazir Bhutto and had been used to buy a diamond necklace for over $175,000.

The PPP has responded by flatly denying the charges, suggesting that Swiss authorities have been misled by false evidence provided by Islamabad.
On
6 August 2003, Swiss magistrates found Bhutto and her husband guilty of money laundering. they were given six-month suspended jail terms, fined $50,000 each and were ordered to pay $11 million to the Pakistani government. The six-year trial concluded that Bhutto and Zardari deposited in Swiss accounts $10 million given to them by a Swiss company in exchange for a contract in Pakistan. The couple said they would appeal. The Pakistani investigators say Zardari opened a Citibank account in Geneva in 1995 through which they say he passed some $40 million of the $100 million he received in payoffs from foreign companies doing business in Pakistan.

In October 2007, Daniel Zappelli, chief prosecutor of the canton of Geneva, said he received the conclusions of a money laundering investigation against former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Monday, October 29, but it was unclear whether there would be any further legal action against her in Switzerland.


Poland

The Polish Government has given Pakistan 500 pages of documentation relating to corruption allegations against Benazir Bhutto and her husband. These charges are in regard to the purchase of 8,000 tractors in a 1997 deal. According to Pakistani officials, the Polish papers contain details of illegal commissions paid by the tractor company in return for agreeing to their contract.It was alleged that the arrangement "skimmed" Rs 103 mn rupees ($2 million) in kickbacks. "The documentary evidence received from Poland confirms the scheme of kickbacks laid out by Asif Zardari and Benazir Bhutto in the name of (the) launching of Awami tractor scheme," APP said. Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari allegedly received a 7.15% commission on the purchase through their front men, Jens Schlegelmilch and Didier Plantin of Dargal S.A., who received about $1.969 million for supplying 5,900 Ursus tractors.

France

Potentially the most lucrative deal alleged in the documents involved the effort by Dassault Aviation, a French military contractor. French authorities indicated in 1998 that Bhutto's husband, Zardari, offered exclusive rights to Dassault to replace the air force’s fighter jets in exchange for a five percent commission to be paid to a corporation in Switzerland controlled by Zardari.

At the time, French corruption laws forbade bribery of French officials but permitted payoffs to foreign officials, and even made the payoffs tax-deductible in France. However, France changed this law in 2000.


Western Asia

In the largest single payment investigators have discovered, a gold bullion dealer in the Western Asia was alleged to have deposited at least $10 million into one of Zardari's accounts after the Bhutto government gave him a monopoly on gold imports that sustained Pakistan's jewellery industry. The money was allegedly deposited into Zardari's Citibank account in Dubai.
Pakistan's
Arabian Sea coast, stretching from Karachi to the border with Iran, has long been a gold smugglers' haven. Until the beginning of Bhutto's second term, the trade, running into hundreds of millions of dollars a year, was unregulated, with slivers of gold called biscuits, and larger weights in bullion, carried on planes and boats that travel between the Persian Gulf and the largely unguarded Pakistani coast.

Shortly after Bhutto returned as prime minister in 1993, a Pakistani bullion trader in Dubai, Abdul Razzak Yaqub, proposed a deal: in return for the exclusive right to import gold, Razzak would help the government regularize the trade. In November 1994, Pakistan's Commerce Ministry wrote to Razzak informing him that he had been granted a license that made him, for at least the next two years, Pakistan's sole authorized gold importer. In an interview in his office in Dubai, Razzak acknowledged that he had used the license to import more than $500 million in gold into Pakistan, and that he had travelled to Islamabad several times to meet with Bhutto and Zardari. But he denied that there had been any corruption or secret deals. "I have not paid a single cent to Zardari," he said.

Razzak claims that someone in Pakistan who wished to destroy his reputation had contrived to have his company wrongly identified as the depositor. "Somebody in the bank has cooperated with my enemies to make false documents," he said.
By Wikipedia

Benazir Bhutto


Today is the saddest day for Democracy in Pakistan.

Democracy is now in jeopardy

for the 2nd largest Muslim population in the world.

Benazir Bhutto was killed today by terrorist. I have been following Benazir Bhutto since 1989 when I first saw her on the evening news.


She reminded me of Margaret Thatcher and Corazon C. Aquino .

A true democratic fighter for the 21st Century. I hope the people of Pakistan will not blame President Musharraf for the chaotic event that will take place in their country.

Musharraf is the only one left to restore a true democratic Pakistan that will fight Terror and create peace for the world.

Pakistan is half way around the world but the assassination of Benazir Bhutto will affect every democratic nation on this planet.





December 24, 2007

Red Sox 2007 Champs

The Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series champion.
The controversy about the human growth hormone used by some professional baseball players can be a rhubarb.
A punchout, a pickle and a whiff.
Touch em'all with twin killing
can be a great victory but it could be fake.
Uncle Charlie can be hit by Varitek with great ruthian but almost a run-down.
A set up man can be Dice or just slice.
The future of this sports will be a tater.

Pasko Ko Na Naman Muli (X-mas Again)

Philippine Christmas Lantern
Pic taken by Maryan54


Christmas 2007


It is December 2007 and it's a very long cold winter in New England. This would be my Ninetenth year in America celebrating Christmas alone with nobody to give gifts to and no one to celebrate with.


Unintentional circumstances that I cannot explain.


To celebrate Christmas alone without my parents, relatives and friends.

In the Philippines when I see poor kids banging their home made Christmas instrument made of cans and old bottle caps to make rhythm with their out of tune Christmas carol.

When I see Christmas lantern in every houses in the city, but the ring a ding is missing in my life. I don't usually attend an early mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.


I grew up apart from my parents. Celebrated each Christmas with different people and different style.


My true love is hanging on the Christmas tree but might never come down to celebrate Christmas with me.


Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

December 18, 2007

The Circle of Pain


After the project the traffic really never stop and it got worst than before because when you enter Storrow Drive the cars merge from different directions.

At least I can watch the park under that circle.

Well, it's not there yet.

Here it is


The Former Central Artery
I hated this artery took almost an hour to get to the airport.
This photo was taken probably early 90's but the project really started during Governor Michael Dukakis administration.

In The Beginning of the Weng Bridge


The start of the most expensive construction project in the United States.
The Infamous Big Dig

The Making of Zakim - Bunker Hill Bridge

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that carries eight lanes of the Interstate 93 and U.S. Route 1 concurrency, plus a two lane access ramp, across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts.
The bridge was built as part of the Big Dig, the largest overall highway construction project in the United States.
The entrance to the Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Tunnel, another major component of the Big Dig, is at the bridge's southern end, while north of the bridge I-93 heads toward New Hampshire and US 1 splits from the Interstate and travels northeast toward Massachusetts' north shore, crossing the Mystic River via the Tobin Bridge.
The bridge replaced the Charlestown High Bridge when it opened, and is the world's widest cable-stayed bridge. The bridge is now a major landmark and major piece of the Boston skyline. It has been featured in several films recently including the 2005 version of War of the Worlds and Martin Scorsese's The Departed. It can also be briefly seen in the opening credits of the television show, Boston Legal and often serves as a backdrop for interviews.
I was being lazy so I let Wikipedia do the talking.

December 14, 2007

Philippines Circa 2007

In 1976 the exchange rate of a dollar was P4.00
There were curfew in Cebu, Davao and Manila.

The Southern Philippines was the most hard hit for Proclamation 1081.

The Pandesal was popularized thru song and dance.
My Step-father left for Saudi Arabia, the first batch of overseas contract workers to be employed by the POEA.

My Step Father was so lucky because the economy of the Philippines was getting worst.

There were no jobs, no tourist and
No multi-national companies investing in the Philippines.
The dollar exchange rate was low but Filipinos were dying of hunger.
I had television in my bed room but there was nothing to watch
Just student canteen and the news about other countries,
But the news about my country can be seen,
When I peek from my bedroom window.

Our Breakfast was our lunch and our lunch was our dinner.
The food cycle can be changed depending on the budget.

10 years after 1976. The People Power Revolution suddenly influenced the entire world to resist the oppression and aggression of a government from the Iron Curtain, South Korean revolt and Tienanmen Massacre.

It is almost 2 thousand and 8 the peso is P44.00 against the almighty dollar.
There are multi-national companies investing in the Philippines.
Over Pass in Makati, Mandaluyong, Cubao and Roxas Boulevard.
One of the biggest mall in Asia was built.
Remittance is almost $1 Billion for 2007.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will give Bonuses to government employees.

The Philippines has changed but the minds of the Filipinos are still in 1976.

December 04, 2007

Boys Don't Cry

I miss the heart and soul of my existence.
The pinch that I'll feel if I'm numb.
The word love that I will not able to spell.
A love one that I might not see again.
The agony of defeat and the joy of victory is not about sports
but an everlasting cycle of love that I have to face for the rest of my life.

December 03, 2007

Pakistan


It's not true about him
(kuro-kuro lang)

President Pervez Musharraf is a good example for a democratic reform in the muslim world. A changed of his ideology from a Military Junta to a Totalitarian Democracy. A big move for the second largest Muslim population in the world.

Where War Lords still exist and muslim extremists are feeding the young hungry children with hatred for Democracy in the Hindu Kush.

Musharaf's path are unknown but I hope one of his path will lead to an open field without terror to ambush his caravan of democratic reform.

This man might changed the out come of the war in terror and create a
full democratic nation, A new Pakistan that will help stop the war in terror perhaps will save more Iraqi and American Lives.
I wish
(Sana Nga)

November 25, 2007

Advice For The Young At Heart

My Final posting for November.
I hope the world will be one and peace to all mankind.
Whatever religion we follow, we are the sons and daughters of the Almighty.

Buddhism

Buddhism is often described as a religion and a collection of various philosophies, based initially on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as Gautama Buddha.
To many, however, Buddhism is not a religion, nor a philosophy or a set of doctrines, but rather teachings to guide one to directly experiencing reality.
Budhism is also known as Buddha Dharma or Dhamma, which means roughly the "teachings of the Awakened One" in Sanskrit and Pali, languages of ancient Buddhist texts.
Buddhism began around 5th century BCE with the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in Ancient India, and is hereafter referred to as "the Buddha."
by wikipedia

November 24, 2007

Give Me Chance of Ric Segreto

I always remember Cebu City. It's an island where Religion is highly cherish and going to church is always been a part of the Cebuanos life.

Loving You by Nina

I first heard this song with Ric Segreto, when I was in Grade school in Cebu City.

November 22, 2007

Christian

Who is a Christian?

The definition of who is a "Christian" varies among different Christian groups. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestants define a Christian as one who is a member of the Church, which one enters through the sacrament of baptism. In these churches, infants who are baptized may be considered Christians.
Some denominations teach that adult baptism is necessary for salvation — the transition from non-Christian to Christian (see Baptismal regeneration).
They define a Christian as one who has been baptized as a repenting adult. Others, including many who use the term
"born-again Christians"
(John 3:3), believe that a Christian is one who believes and follows Jesus and repents of their sins.

Within countries where Christianity is the historical majority religion, the term is also used by some in a casual generic sense to indicate that they are not members of nor affiliated with any other religion – therefore considering themselves Christians by default.
Wikipedia

November 19, 2007

What is a Jew from you and me

It's been a very good religion being almost massacred during WW2 and butchered by our Hypocrisy but tolerated everything to tell the truth about the Bible.

The Chosen People of God

What was the Religion of Jesus Christ when he was teaching to good words of his father?

Faith or just being Jew?



Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (ca. 2000 BCE), the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still in practice today. Jewish history and doctrines have influenced other religions such as Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.


While Judaism has seldom, if ever, been monolithic in practice, it has always been monotheistic in theology. It differs from many religions in that central authority is not vested in a person or group, but in sacred texts and traditions. Throughout the ages, Judaism has clung to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of the Torah, and the Jewish people are the descendants of the Israelites. The traditional practice of Judaism revolves around study and the observance of God's laws and commandments as written in the Torah and expounded in the Talmud.


With an estimated 14 million adherents in 2006, Judaism is approximately the world's eleventh-largest religious group.

Courtesy of Wikipedia and written by someone

24/7

We accidentally bumped each other on the net'twas twenty years the last time we met we were so young then minding our own lives never thought we'd fall in love after all these times; friends were excited to hear our story; the love we shared was long distance, sadly but we'd managed to get along smoothly we talked 24/7 on the phone like crazy you've tried to show your honesty to me but i was this child like who refused your sincerity lately i guess i was a headache to you prolly because we're apart, i was blue i've nothing much to complain about the love we'd shared the trying times in surviving this relationship were enough to end the hardship i've no regrets in loving you it didn't work 'cuz we both knew meeting eye to eye isn't really possible'cuz we both refused to look at the same direction i just wish you love and happiness and may you find your own success"you'll always be a part of me you shared this love with me i'll carry it always..."

November 15, 2007

Islam

According to the Qur'an all Muslims have to believe in God, His revelations,
His angels, His messengers, and in the "Day of Judgment"
Also, there are other beliefs that differ between particular sects. The Sunni concept of predestination is called divine decree,while the Shi'a version is called divine justice. Unique to the Shi'a is the doctrine of Imamah, or the political and spiritual leadership of the Imams.

Muslims believe that God revealed His final message to humanity through the Islamic prophet Muhammad via the angel Gabriel.
For them, Muhammad was God's final prophet and the Qur'an is the revelations he received over more than two decades. In Islam, prophets are men selected by God to be his messengers. Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claim. Islamic prophets are considered to be the closest to perfection of all humans, and are uniquely the recipients of divine revelation—either directly from God or through angels.Islamic theology says that all of God's messengers since Adam preached the message of Islam—submission to the will of the one God. Islam is described in the Qur'an as "the primordial nature upon which God created mankind",and the Qur'an states that the proper name Muslim was given by Abraham.
As a historical phenomenon, Islam originated in
Arabia in the early 7th century.Islamic texts depict Judaism and Christianity as prophetic successor traditions to the teachings of Abraham. The Qur'an calls Jews and Christians "People of the Book" (ahl al-kitāb), and distinguishes them from polytheists. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil
(Gospels), had become distorted — either in interpretation, in text, or both.

God in Islam
Islam's fundamental theological concept is tawhīd—the belief that there is only one God. The Arabic term for God is Allāh; most scholars believe it was derived from a contraction of the words al- (the) and ʾilāh (deity, masculine form), meaning "the God" (al-ilāh), but others trace its origin to the Aramaic Alāhā. The first of the Five Pillars of Islam, tawhīd is expressed in the shahadah (testification), which declares that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is God's messenger. In traditional Islamic theology, God is beyond all comprehension; Muslims are not expected to visualize God but to worship and adore him as a protector. Although Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, they reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, comparing it to polytheism. In Islamic theology, Jesus was just a man and not the son of God; God is described in a chapter (sura) of the Qur'an as "…God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."
Courtesy from Wikipedia

Brigham Circle