Caped wonders with super powers have been created throughout history during times when people were in dire need of "heroes". They could fly or do a Houdini from the arch-rival's snare. But, these heroes stay on the comic book (or the silver screen). Hence, we in the real world face challenges ourselves--sans super powers. Whether it's families breaking apart or declining literacy in the country, it is we who answer the call from where we are, with what we have.
Showing posts with label social responsibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social responsibility. Show all posts
To give you a clearer idea of what the people in some parts of the Philippines have experienced in the last couple of days due to typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan), here are links to several reports, both posted on November 8 evening. The first is the day's episode of State of the Nation with Jessica Soho. Most affected areas are Leyte and Eastern Samar.
At least one church and several hospitals have been destroyed. And there is mounting concern over the dozen or so bodies so far found because even funeral homes have been destroyed. Public health could be at risk as a result.
Communications in many parts of the affected areas are still down as of this posting.
Prayers and practical help needed and will be deeply appreciated.
UPDATE / NOV. 10: I'm adding the following news report with footage, but it was posted on the network's website yesterday, Nov. 9. The report is in Filipino but the images tell the general story.
"Courage is the fruit of conviction," said the university president in the article. Diana Jimenez, a senior nursing student, certainly demonstrated that, and is being treated unjustly by people in authority who apparently refuse to recognize her freedom to inform others about the truth.
Diana reminds me of the nurses practicing in the United States who stick to their life-affirming convictions amid serious difficulties to be faithful to their principles. But Diana is still a student, and this early she is meeting opposition and threats for being true to the vocation of health professionals. She needs our support.
An excerpt from the article:
Associate Dean Hooper followed up Diana’s second infraction with a
letter threatening that if showed her signs a third time
the consequences for “rebelling against authority” would be she couldn’t
participate in commencement and would be banned from campus.
Meanwhile, Nurse Ratcheds exist in more than movies.
Diana’s dean of nursing decided to take matters into her own hands and
mete her own consequence. On May 22, Dr.Susan Elliott wrote a letter to all nursing faculty barring them from writing a letter of employment reference for Diana.
Roger Federer, whom sports analysts and even former tennis players consider the greatest tennis player of all time, sets his sights on other important things. The 31-year-old has a Foundation.
The times call for it, and the times have equipped us with much, much more than typewriters, the Pony Express, and even "snail" mail.
With all the means at our disposal, there aren't many reasons not to take part in Let the Women Speak. In a nutshell, the Philippine government is poised to force upon the people a proposed bill that will carry out population control by way of institutionalized birth control and a comprehensive six-year sex education program for all schools -- brushing off intense and massive opposition from various sectors. In the middle of all this are the women.
Now is not the time to be a mere spectator. Filipinas, wherever in the world you are right now, be counted! Gentlemen, please share the following with the women in your life (wife, mother, sisters, other female relatives, friends and colleagues...). Believe that your signature will make a difference -- then pass this on.
WE are women who believe that the Reproductive Health bill, in all
its past and present forms, is detrimental to us, our sex, our
marriages, and our families.
WE are Catholics and non-Catholics. We are women of faith, and we are also women of reason.
WE believe in true women’s health. We believe in respecting our
bodies and the natural processes with which we have been gifted.
Far from empowering us as women, the RH bill promotes our
objectification. It does not address the causes of exploitation and
violence against women at their roots. It does not solve the problem of
men seeing us as mere sources of pleasure. It does not promote our
inherent dignity as human beings worthy of respect. State-funded,
state-guaranteed access to contraception only empowers those who wish to
take advantage of us without having to worry about consequences.
WE do not believe in artificial birth control. Birth control does not
come free. As taxpayers we will be paying for it, and as women we will
be suffering its effects on our bodies. We will not tolerate the
deliberate dismissal of scholarly research that shows contraception’s
deleterious effects. We will not tolerate the trampling of our
Constitution that says life must be protected at all stages from
conception to natural death.
We will not tolerate the imposition of
governmental contraceptive programs meant to control the population and
to brainwash our youth. We do not want the long-term effects of the
sexual revolution brought about by a contraceptive mentality.
Granting that the secular government is not beholden to the Catholic
or Christian faith, attempting to speak for us women via a socialist
agenda destroys the very fiber of democratic breath we have as a people.
Doing this undermines our freedom to adhere to something Good, Moral
and Ethical. Recognizing our “reproductive” rights as women should not
include FORCING us to discard our right to freely believe in morality
and goodness and if we choose to, our religious tenets and doctrines.
No one speaks for all of us on these issues. We stand with the
Catholic bishops and all leaders, religious and otherwise, who recognize
the truth of life-affirming teachings with regard to sex, marriage and
family. We call on President Aquino and our Representatives in Congress
to heed the voice of all Filipino women, not just the loudest ones. We
call on all our leaders to continue to allow us to freely witness to our
faiths and beliefs in all their fullness.
Please send your name, address and occupation to the person who sent
you this message, or to thefilipinos4life@gmail.com or to
thefilipinosforlife@gmail.com. Thank you!
“It was the vision of hope and change that convinced us four
years ago to support then-Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain.
Today, there is little hope in how another four years of an
Obama administration would swiftly and effectively lift our country out
of its economic doldrums, and there is little change in how Washington
operates.”
“The president has shown little understanding of how his
failures are affecting the nation, and he hasn’t offered any tangible
proposals to change course.”
–Reno Gazette-Journal
“More pointedly, we are disappointed in the tone of Obama’s
relentless insinuations that wealthy Americans refuse to pay their fair
share. That tone is divisive and damaging for the nation and for our
economy. It creates villains and victims, and unfairly so.”
“Some of the warnings about Obama’s lack of legislative and
leadership skills have come true over the past four years. It is not
worth risking the state of our economy for the next four years to see
whether his learning curve really is behind him.”
Okay, I was logging out of some sites to get ready to watch Get Smart, a movie I had seen before but which I find really funny. And then I again remembered that election day in the US is only days away. What does that have to do with me since I'm halfway around the world from that country? A lot, since political developments in the West have a way of almost dictating the course of events to take place in the Philippines. In other words, my country is not spared from the ripple effects of what goes on in America.
Let me share some links to relevant materials that deserve consideration, if you'd like to be better informed before casting your vote on November 6.
First, the televised debates -- you can watch the full vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan here while the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is here.
This one is a pretty new editorial that dwells on the Libya issue which blew up on the anniversary of 9/11. An excerpt:
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans died
in a well-planned military assault on their diplomatic mission in
Benghazi seven weeks ago, the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
So why are details surfacing, piecemeal, only now?
The Obama
administration sat by doing nothing for seven hours that night, ignoring
calls to dispatch help from our bases in Italy, less than two hours
away. It has spent the past seven weeks stretching the story out,
engaging in misdirection and deception involving supposed indigenous
outrage over an obscure anti-Muslim video, confident that with the aid
of a docile press corps this infamous climax to four years of misguided
foreign policy can be swept under the rug, at least until after
Tuesday's election.
Then related to this development is the following video, uploaded Oct. 24:
Oh, and did I mention that I think the current US president is not presidential at all? I won't even go into his administration's foreign policy, economic programs, or the developments in education because I know very little about that -- more importantly, because even before dwelling on those matters, a nation needs a leader who is first and foremost a decent person. What kind of person believes that only some human beings are entitled to human rights while others do not deserve these at all? Talk about discrimination! I'm referring to a piece of legislation he struck down four times, when the measure was formulated to provide protection to babies who were victims of abortion but managed to survive the procedure. Here's part of a previous piece I posted on that, titled When the future looks bright...:
I think this year's March for Life takes on an even deeper significance
because the United States's new leader is one who seems to discriminate
against some persons as far as recognizing and respecting their
dignity is concerned. It is very saddening.
I find it quite
disturbing that the person occupying the highest office in that country
advocates allowing a newborn to die instead of being given life-saving
medical attention, if the baby happened to survive an abortion. In
essence, that's what Pres. Obama said when he -- as a legislator --
repeatedly struck down the Born Alive Infant Protection Act,
which extends legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed
attempt at induced abortion. For him, the law should let a baby who
survives an abortion be left alone to die.
Now, though the electoral process is not a religious thing, faith does and should figure in the decision-making process of any responsible citizen in electing his government leaders, particularly when religious liberty is clearly being threatened by the current administration's policies. Here's what I mean:
Not only is the incumbent the most pro-abortion president ever to
occupy the office, but he has also deliberately picked a fight with the
Catholic Church by requiring Catholic employers to participate in the
provision of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization
to their employees — all things the Church teaches are intrinsically
evil. This divisive and unnecessary infringement on religious liberty by
President Obama drew criticism from conservatives and liberals alike,
and it prompted bishops, priests, and deacons in nearly every Catholic
church in America to take to the pulpit in protest — an unprecedented
event in American history.
And all this while the ranks of America’s poor have increased to record levels on Mr. Obama’s watch.
Mitt Romney is the only presidential candidate in this election whom
Catholic voters can support while remaining true to their faith. All
allegedly Catholic arguments in favor of Mr. Obama rely on gross
misconceptions of Catholic doctrine.
Now, if all you have is one minute, I suggest you watch the video below. Really, decency in our times has become underrated. National leaders are meant to lead by example as they go about their duties in office; I don't know anyone in his right mind who would say the current president exemplifies the sound values that the next generation should strive to acquire, making him worthy of emulation.
Then here's something to give you an idea of the situation at a glance. The choice on Nov. 6 is yours.
It's not easy being green... I'm taking Kermit the Frog's word for it. If you're going to get a kick out of watching the muppet sing that song familiar to anyone who grew up watching Sesame Street, here it is:
Well, "green" as I'm blogging about it doesn't really refer to the color but that which characterizes lifestyles (or facets of these). "Earth-friendly" is how some call it. I simply see it as a way to prolong the "life" of what otherwise would have been thrown straight in the trash. "Reuse, reduce, recycle" is also something I hear a lot of these days; even kids are being ingrained with this habit to maximize stuff like paper and plastic containers. And now, you have really nice products made of such materials -- and the ones I'd like to tell you about are far from the ones with sky-high prices that you've probably seen in hotel souvenir shops or at shopping malls. My friend Petrufied has access to "green" bags that not only look great -- you end up helping women from poor communities when you make a purchase! Here's a sample -- the X-pattern banig weave bag with bronze trimmings:
In May 2010, actor and producer Eduardo Verastegui hosted a United for Life congress to benefit the construction of a pro-life medical center. An "oasis of life in the middle of a desert of death" was how he referred to the planned facility, since it was to be built in an area in which 10 abortion centers were located.
Now, the Guadalupe Medical Center is a 5,000 sq. ft-facility that caters to the needs of pregnant women and their unborn babies, in many cases providing pre-natal care services for free. The 10 abortion clinics are still there (within a one-mile radius of the center, to be more precise), but the presence of the pro-life facility has been responsible for hundreds of babies and their mothers being saved from the consequences of abortion, according to the director of a pro-life counseling center near Guadalupe Medical Center.
It's plain to see that Eduardo Verastegui is out to help make the world better for women and children. Read the story here
I can't pinpoint exactly what incident or event triggered it, or if it can be attributed to a single incident, but I've never been happier about the way the pro-life crusade has been going than how it has been the past several weeks. It seems that more and more people are getting involved, speaking up, and making their presence felt in the move to keep life-affirming principles prevailing in Philippine society.
Rallies and collective demonstrations are just among many ways to speak up, but the February 13 and the March 25 prayer rallies -- at the PICC grounds and the Quirino Grandstand, respectively -- indicate that the call to stand up for life and family and to reject the RH bill do not go unheeded! I have yet to post pictures of the two events, but I think this video produced by Filipinos for Life is more important as it shows just what the bill is about. It's always good to see the bigger picture.
If you're not familiar with the personalities in Philippine politics, the individual photos show congressmen and congresswomen who are mostly pushing for the imperialist piece of legislation; one photo shows Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez, who is courageously defending life principles. A few images are of a head of a women's NGO, another advocate of women's rights at the expense of the rights of unborn people.
Learn the truth here:
YouTube may have banned the video several times already, but should you be unable to view the above in the future, go to Gloria.tv to watch it.
For a deeper look into the issue, see Population Research Institute's Steven Mosher's piece on LifeNews.
The two words "information" and "communication" are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through."
- Sydney J. Harris, American journalist and author (1917-1986)
What's great about information in this day and age is that it's not limited to the written word any longer. Those of us who are more visual in our tastes have the advantage of learning about things via videos. Check these out -- the first tackles the question about why people in some parts of the world are starving through a short but nicely done video; the second is a straight-to-the-point explanation as to why a statement such as "Contraceptives cause abortion" is not inaccurate at all.
I hope some communication takes place with this blog post...
Posting these two videos has made me rethink the whole matter of calling the birth control pill and other contraceptives "essential medicines" -- which proponents of House Bill 4244 or the so-called Reproductive Health Bill are insisting on as part of this piece of legislation. When one labels drugs and devices that have resulted in the death of unborn babies and in health problems for women as "essential," it does sound silly when one considers how the most basic of all needs -- food -- is lacking in many parts of the planet. And it's not because of overpopulation -- in itself a myth.
... why don't the pessimists simply wear shades? Why do they work to spread darkness around the world?
This seems to be what leaders of the "free world" have been doing for some time now. It's no secret now that the present US administration is consistently calling for universal access to the procedure in which unborn babies are deliberately killed. Can they not be satisfied with having their own babies killed? Must they now extend their reach to the lives of people living in other parts of the world?
A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope, said the late Pope John Paul II. I wonder how the current US president and his supporters regard the growing life inside a mother's womb. A blob of tissue or some other similar concept that defies science? But then why am I surprised? The president is known for having a low regard for the lives of others, betraying a hint of discrimination and an ignorance of the principle of equality. Here's an excerpt from an entry I wrote two years ago about the March for Life:
I think this year's March for Life takes on an even deeper significance because the United States's new leader is one who seems to discriminate against some persons as far as recognizing and respecting their dignity is concerned. It is very saddening.
I find it quite disturbing that the person occupying the highest office in that country advocates allowing a newborn to die instead of being given life-saving medical attention, if the baby happened to survive an abortion. In essence, that's what Pres. Obama said when he -- as a legislator -- repeatedly struck down the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which extends legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed attempt at induced abortion. For him, the law should let a baby who survives an abortion be left alone to die. And just now I learned from this 2002 article that Obama also "opposed measures to criminalize those who transport minors across state lines for the purpose of obtaining an abortion." Isn't this tantamount to protecting old men who prey on minors from arrest? I realize this article is six years old, but if it's accurate, and unless Obama has changed his stance on the matter, the time element is irrelevant.
This is the much-celebrated new leader of the "Land of the Free"?
To be sure, I'm not in a ranting mood. So what caused this post that dwells on the American president's anti-human-rights-for-pre-born-babies position? Well, while link-hopping to search for news and pictures of the just-concluded March for Life, I came across a striking statement. From the Jan. 22 article:
"President Barack Obama is marking the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision on abortion by calling the procedure a constitutional right he's committed to protecting."
With a leader like that, the country's citizens had better take to heart that adage which says that what's necessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing. Doing nothing ought not to be an option, and in doing what's right, it pays to look to a civil rights advocate for some guidance:
"The time is always right to do what is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Okay, good looks notwithstanding, this man is beautiful based on the kind of convictions he has been declaring in his testimonies since becoming more in touch with the essentials of life. He used to be quite superficial (his words) and didn't exactly make outstanding professional choices. Here he is relating an experience that changed his life.
He starts his storytelling at 1:04; you can go to that right away and skip the "fandom" footage that takes up the first minute :-)
erred to the planned facility, since it was to be built in an area in which 10 abortion centers were located.
