The Loneliest Person: The man of the hole

14Dec09

“YOUR friends and family are gone. Everyone else you have ever known has vanished. Forever. The loneliness seems unimaginable. But this is reality for one solitary native Brazilian Indian living on a small island of Amazon rainforest amid a sea of cattle ranches and soya plantations.” –excerpt from a New Scientist article.

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Tags: brazil, man of the hole, tribe massacre

COP15: UN Climate Change Conference starts tomorrow

06Dec09

THE CRUCIAL CONFERENCE--The ambition of the Danish government is that the COP15 conference in Copenhagen will result in an ambitious global agreement including all the countries in the world.

World leaders have this habit of coming together in one place to discuss—in very beautiful and intricate language—important global agenda such as the global economy, world peace, energy, food security, and other things that affect how the world spins. Between December 7 and 18 of this year, they will be at it again. This time they’re meeting in Copenhagen to craft a new international agreement on climate change.

What happened to the old one? That’s the Kyoto Protocol which was signed in 1997—and it’s expiring in 2012. It aimed to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-related) interference with the climate. It did this by getting countries to pledge cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the agreement. Developing countries also got a boost through the introduction of mechanisms that would help them come up with greener technologies.

While the Kyoto Protocol was a landmark international agreement among 187 countries in response to climate change, its momentum was marred by controversies from certain countries. The most notable controversy belongs to the US for withdrawing support by not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.

The abstention of the US from the agreement is best described by a former cowboy leader of theirs whose presidential term ended not too long ago. This is what George W. Bush had to say about the Kyoto Protocol:

This is a challenge that requires a 100% effort; ours, and the rest of the world’s. The world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases is the People’s Republic of China. Yet, China was entirely exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. India and Germany are among the top emitters. Yet, India was also exempt from Kyoto … America’s unwillingness to embrace a flawed treaty should not be read by our friends and allies as any abdication of responsibility. To the contrary, my administration is committed to a leadership role on the issue of climate change … Our approach must be consistent with the long-term goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”

Bush was not without reason. The Clinton administration had predicted that if the US pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions, it would suffer heavy economic losses. Kyoto was not going to be healthy at all for the American economy. To reinforce their opposition stance, Bush would cite uncertainties in the scientific evidence regarding climate change.

Why the climate change conference in Copenhagen promises to be another clash of world players after the cut.

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Tags: Climate change, Conference, COP15, Copenhagen, Philippines

Electric Trikes in Ateneo!

05Dec09

I’m really excited for this! I cannot wait to ride an electric tricycle. The thought of switching from motor to electric trikes has always been something I wanted Ateneo to do, but I never thought I would stay in college long enough to see them actually do it.

I’m going to ride one of these on Monday. Take me around the school. I don’t care. As long as I get to test ride this!

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Tags: Ateneo, electric tricycle, electric trikes

Plant-based air filters for the home!

30Nov09

My mother always complains that my room smells weird. That’s because the window is always closed. With the street–along with all the noise, car exhaust and insects–just outside my room, I bet you would keep it closed too.

So imagine my nerdy delight after seeing this on Treehugger.

What is it? It’s an indoor air filtration system based on plants!

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Tags: air filter, ANDREA, plant filter

We Can Be Heroes

30Nov09

By Cess Celestino. First posted on November 30, 2009.

TODAY IS THE PERFECT DAY to reflect on heroism — on the day of commemoration of Andres Bonifacio’s courage and nationalism, especially at an extraordinary year that introduced us to a gamut of inspiring acts of nobility amidst challenging and dismal events that stapled 2009.

This has been an interesting year for the Philippines as we discovered “heroes” that gave pride to the country. Just a few weeks ago, legendary boxing champ Ricky Hatton was knocked out by GenSan’s very own Manny Pacquiao, whose remarkably untainted record earns him the recognition of being the Philippines’ ultimate sports hero of all time. A few weeks later, we celebrate the victory of 27-year-old Efren Penaflorida who won CNN’s Hero of the Year for his pushcart classes for the out-of-school youth, thanks to the Internet-clicking powers of Filipinos. This year, we also reminisced Ninoy’s life and the dramatic era of the People Power revolution at EDSA upon the death of Corazon Aquino, the first woman president of the Philippines who is considered by many as a heroic icon of democracy for her efforts to overhaul the oppressive institutions built by Marcos under Martial Law. Moreover, the disastrous typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that wreaked havoc last September gave all of us the opportunity to work together in solidarity as each of us did our part in helping to restore what Mother Nature had destroyed, which made us heroes overnight.

Indeed, it was quite a sight to witness everyone celebrate these victories that gave us a sense of oneness and hope. We have awarded Manny and Efren; we have worn yellow and remembered the Aquinos; we donated our old clothes and packed canned goods and bottled water for the typhoon victims; and we rejoiced in our country’s resilience and extreme intrepidness. After relief efforts have finally ended and the Ondoy hype have died, we went back to our old comfy routine with a fresh feeling of invincibility and a fascinating delusion of our self-proclaimed heroism. And as we intoxicate ourselves with this idea, people are convinced that we must simply let go and move on so that we may continue to bask in the title of our national gallantry and in our bright and shiny future.

I suppose this notion of greatness after surmounting challenges gives us an exhilarating feeling of hope. Of course, optimism amidst all the grim headlines that disappoint us every single day is not a bad thing. Yet when we perceive of such iconic idols and random heroic deeds as our ultimate Messiah, we tend to block off a political reality that cannot be simply avoided by trying to save the world from our backyard. It becomes dangerous when this hope creates an unrealistic illusion of a fictional future that hinders us from focusing on a wounded present that needs healing.

As we celebrated our heroism from our comfortable homes, almost 60 of our countrymen were brutally murdered in Maguindanao because of what we believe is violent political clanship, a product of decades of neglect for a persistent problem that has been deliberately pushed aside by administration after administration. This is only one out of many human rights violations that we have incurred in 2009, only to add to hundreds of unrecorded extrajudicial killings that some of our people have endured over the past years. These crimes persist alongside poverty and the debilitating state of health and education, as we continue to give selfishly at a bare minimum and create projects that prove to be futile in the end. Our distorted idea of heroism has hampered our minds from doubting and from dealing with questions that needs to be answered. It has deluded us into thinking that we are doing enough – that when we give away our worn out clothes and post news links on our Facebook walls, when we merely do without even stopping to think, we can sleep at night on our warm beds believing that we are heroes. And yet when it comes to analyzing complicated issues, to taking agonizing but necessary steps that require intellectual and physical effort, we dismiss these acts as merely “pamumulitika” that we must avoid and we just rely on impulsive quick fixes or worse – on due process alone.

To merely celebrate these little acts of so-called heroism and to settle at the lowest standard is heinous. It is an insult to these people who have dedicated their lives for the country – to Efren, to the legacy of Ninoy and Cory – to call ourselves heroes when we continue to be blind about things that matter. Our silent resignation from reality is a palpable disrespect to all victims of human rights oppression, of decades-long violence brought about by political clan wars, of poverty, of corruption, and of all other forms of injustices rooted in our history. Thus, hailing an imagined future and adopting an optimism that is divorced from reality without accepting our broken past is to show our complacency and apathy for what is. This dispels our democratic ideals and the essence of responsible citizenry, which is founded on the principle of continual social participation as we all strive to attain peace and equality for all.

Stories of modern day heroism serve as inspirations for all of us to emulate. It gives us faith, which is an essential element of motivation and drive to act nobly. Yet with these aspirations, we must not forget that hope must be anchored on the recognition and acceptance of what is. Let us do ourselves a favor and just admit the ugly truth for once– From where we are from, not all of us are heroes. Lying to ourselves and thinking that we all are becomes a form of escapism from the painful present that is dying to be confronted. But following the examples of our idols from 2009, coupled with the right mindset and awareness of reality, we can be heroes. And on this special holiday, may we continue to have faith and to hope not for a fictional dream that clouds our judgment, but for compassion and courage to step out of our comfort zones and to face a bleeding present that begs for our true heroism.

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Tags: Andres Bonifacio, Bonifacio day, heroism, maguindanao, politics

The Weather Store Turns 1!

30Nov09

It was exactly a year ago when I posted the first blog post in The Weather Store. When I started the blog, I just wanted to do something that would help my writing develop. A blog seemed like the most logical place to start because it seemed like a writing commitment. What would I write? I just wanted to write about anything.

And that’s exactly what happened. I ended up writing about history, science, technology, environment, weather, politics—the breadth of topics I have covered in the past year has been so vast—sometimes too vast.

I don’t really know what to expect after this blog turns a year older. But I hope to be able to continue to develop my writing and explore issues that affect me and you. So happy birthday to The Weather Store!

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Bringing Thanksgiving from the assembly line to the table: How it’s done

28Nov09

This is not my family's dinner. We don't celebrate the holiday. Just a Thanksgiving dinner photo I googled. Photo by my_soul_insurance2004 on Flickr

Filipinos don’t celebrate Thanksgiving because our history has nothing to do with it. But because Filipinos love to eat, some people make it an excuse to have turkey, cranberry sauce and all those other delicious foods that add a few inches to the waistline and leave them smug with a satisfied “MMMMmmmmm… Good food” sensation

Regardless of whether you actually celebrate Thanksgiving or just do it for the food, many people don’t realize what kind of science has gone into processing the stuff eaten on Thanksgiving. We just eat and eat because it’s good. But science has done all sorts of things to be able to mass-produce the food so that more people can celebrate Thanksgiving dinners. You just might be one of them.

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Tags: food chemistry, industrial chemistry, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner, thanksgiving philippines

Berde: Eco-warrior or E-waste?

22Nov09

While setting up an environmental responsibility blog affirms the message of the administration's commitment to the cause of the environment, it needs to reconsider its communication strategy if it wants to capture a majority segment of Ateneans who would probably like to be environmentally responsible but don't find it very practical to do so.

If there’s one thing I want to say right now, I would have to talk about the Ateneo Environmental Management Coalition (AEMC).

Together with the Sanggunian and ESS, they’ve just launched a blog that posts announcements about environment-related news on campus. I’ve only checked it once since it was launched. I can’t really say that the announcements are particularly useful for me. Though I appreciate knowing that the new library is a green building, there’s nothing in the website that’s going to keep me coming back for more updates.

Is BERDE an eco-warrior or e-waste?

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Tags: AEMC, Berde, Sanggunian

Run for the Pasig River

02Nov09

more about “Pasig River Marathon plug“, posted with vodpod

I hope everyone would consider running in this marathon because it’s for a river that has run through Manila for as long as the city has existed. The Pasig is the reason why Manila became a settlement in the first place, and now it’s very state of existence is in peril as a result of poor water use and sanitation practices.

I would like to run this one even if my pace is slow compared to more experienced runners.

Everyone knows the Pasig River is dirty. But it wasn’t always so.

Not everyone knows how to rehabilitate the Pasig River. But this is our chance to show support for the river that brought life to the city. Maybe one day the river will breathe and inspire life again instead of choke us with its stench and unsightliness.

Everyone knows the Pasig River is a mess. But it doesn’t have to be so.

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Tags: kapit bisig, kapit bisig para sa ilog pasig, Pasig River, pasig river marathon

Storm Warning: Typhoon Remil (INT’L: Lupit)

19Oct09

From Weather Underground

PAGASA Public Weather Forecast posted this message yesterday afternoon.

At 4:00 p.m., today, Typhoon “RAMIL” was located at 1,150 kms East Southeast of Aparri, Cagayan (17.4°N 133.8°E) with maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph. It is forecast to remain almost stationary.

While it may seem like a good thing that the typhoon will remain stationary, it’s really a potentially dangerous scenario. Typhoons gain strength over water and weaken as they travel over land. Of course, the problem with the Philippines is that it’s surrounded by water–we live right in the middle of typhoon alley.

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Tags: NDCC, PAGASA, typhoon, typhoon lupit, typhoon remil