“Yes, I’ll have Philippine organic, please.” — Sometime in the (near) future, this will be heard from the mouths of coffee lovers around the world. And I know that this may come as a surprise to those who love their imported coffee. But efforts are being made to revitalize…

“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.” — Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (May 3, 1469 - June 22, 1527)

Today is World Press Freedom Day. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ‘everyone has the right to…

Mark your calendars for June 28, 2008 for the Manny Pacquiao vs David Diaz WBC Lightweight Championship Fight in Las Vegas. But wait! Something’s not right. I just read a news report that Pacquiao only started training yesterday, less than two months before the fight. And in his Abante column, our “Pambansang Kamao” was too busy talking about…

Friendship without self-interest is one of the rare and beautiful things of life.
— US government official James F. Byrnes (May 2, 1879- Apr 9, 1972)

LSD Joke… A teenager asked his granny, “Grandma, have you seen my pills? They are labelled LSD.” Granny replied…

Filipino celebrities joined the international campaign against foie gras (say FWAH-GRAH) by taking the ‘No Foie Gras’ Pledge organized by PETA Asia-Pacific. The Pledge states that they will never buy or eat foie gras because they ‘believe that force-feeding ducks and geese with long metal tubes is extremely cruel.’ The signatories of the pledge include model Isabel Roces, Senator Bong Revilla, and veteran actor Eddie Gutierrez. Let’s follow their lead and do an online pledge against foie gras here…

Our quote today comes from Ludwig Büchner, born today in 1824. He was one of the philosophers who popularized materialism and based his worldview on the facts and discoveries established by the philosophers of the natural world (science). He was a medical doctor by profession but he had to quit when…

Happy Labor Day to everyone! Here’s a little story about an entreprenuer who hates the internal revenue service…

37-year old Erik Spoelstra is making history with the Miami Heat. Not only is he the first Filipino to become a head coach of an NBA team, he is also the youngest head coach in NBA history…

Our quote today comes from St. Jean Baptiste De La Salle, a French educational reformer and priest, who was born on April 30, 1651. He put up schools in France as a way to help the plight of the lower class. He lived with…

Exactly fifteen years ago, the board of directors of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced that the World Wide Web (W3) would be free for anyone to use and to develop. And since then “the web” has been…

The Cheaper Medicines Bill was passed by the House of Representatives in December 2007. And after four months of discussions in bicameral(Senate and House) committee, it now finally ready to be ratified by Congress. Then it will be signed into law by President Arroyo before May 1.The long delay was caused by the stand-off between the Senate and the House contingents in the committee. The Senate members, led by Sen Mar Roxas, wanted to change two things in the bill…

Our quote today comes from Andre Agassi who turns 38 today. He dropped out of school and turned pro at 16. In his 20-year tennis career, he won 60 singles titles, eight Grand Slam crowns and an Olympic gold medal…

Today is the 26th annual celebration of World Dance Day. It is organized by the International Dance Council (CID) and it aims to focus the public’s attention on the art of dance. Dance Day events may include special performances, open-door courses, public rehearsals, lectures, exhibitions, articles in newspapers and magazines, dance evenings, radio and TV programs, visits, street shows, etc. Here’s a little story about a dancing duck…

Last week, Sen Aquilino Pimentel and 10 other senators presented Joint Resolution No 10 which seeks to change the Philippines to a federal system. With almost half of the senators co-sponsoring it, it should be…

Today is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. We remember the workers who died or got injured or got sick because of occupational hazards and accidents. This observance started in Canada where they celebrate Workers’ Memorial Day today. Here’s a story about a Mafia godfather, a laywer and a deaf bookkeeper…

Our quote today comes from US President James Monroe who was born on April 28, 1758. His family lived on a small farm and when he was a boy, he had to walk for several kilometers to get to school everyday. When he was his 16, his father died and…

Happy World Graphic Design Day! Check out the patron saints of graphic designers on this site. My favorite one is Saint Concepta…

Motorists in Makati and other major cities will be switching off their motor engines for a minute at exactly 8am on Monday the 28th of April as part of Earth Month celebrations in the country. The project is called Tigil Buga (Stop Smoke Belching) and it aims to raise awareness…

Our quote today comes from Ferdinand Magellan, the first explorer who dared to circumnavigate the world. He landed in the Visayan Islands in 1521 and demanded that…

Since the beginning of the Philippine nationhood in the early 1900s, the government has been unsuccessful in its attempts to implement genuine agrarian reform. Social analysts have been quick to blame the Philippine Congress for this failure - It’s common knowledge that our lawmaking body consists of legislators who have direct ties with the landowning families of the country. Another reason why land reform has been weak..

Our quote today comes from Spanish poet Vicente Aleixandre. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1977…

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said,”Someone may steal from it at night.” So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job. Then Congress said,”How does the watchman do his job without instruction?” So they created a planning department and hired two people…

DeBCC, a skin treatment cream that can help those who suffer from the skin cancer Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), is going global as it is set to conquer not only Asia, US and Europe, but also Australia and Canada. And it is poised to dominate the world market as it is the only one of its kind that treats BCC naturally. So now patients only have to apply DeBCC on the infected skin and they no longer need to have their skin tumors surgically burned. The formula of the treatment cream was invented and developed by Filipino inventor…

Our quote today comes from Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. He received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his contribution to the study of wireless telegraphs. He is famous for his bold idea…

Today in 1901, New York became the first US state to require automobile license plates, about two years after the world’s first license plate was issued in Paris. Here are some photos of vanity license plates…

Fitna is a disturbing Dutch documentary that openly speaks against the Islamicization of the world and the violence allegedly promoted by the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. The movie shows videos and news clippings of acts of terrorism and extremism that have…

Our quote today comes from one of the greatest Englishman who ever lived - Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. We all know him as the first leader to oppose Adolf Hitler. During the early stages of Nazism, many leaders including Pope Pius XII, did not protest against…

Today is also the third anniversary of the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Here’s a little story about the Pope who travelled…