MikeLigalig.com

i came across this on the internet:

Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of The Philippines

it carries a warning about bogus ‘Islamic Bank’.  (it claims it is the one and only.)

i like their blurb:

"Some Banks are Interested In What You Have.  We Simply Look at What We Can."

their website says:

Here at Islamic Bank, we are changing the face and ways of banking. Gone are the days when you worry about fluctuating interest costs of losing entire properties due to default in payment obligations resulting from business failure in a volatile economy. We don’t believe in confiscatory banking because banking is about Partnership in its purest sense- about caring for each other… about building the future. Together.

addresses: 

Makati Executive Office
G/F â€" NDC Building 116 Tordesillas St.,
Salcedo Village, Makati City
Tels. 816-42-58/893-43-50
Fax: 819-52-49    Head Office

Lucia Chiong Building
Gov. Lim Avenue, Zamboanga City
Tel : (062) 991-4158
Fax : (062) 991-2030


sigh.  kalayo ba uroy nila.  not accessible for me. 

i find this interesting, tigs...

What is Sharia Banking?

London is the leading Islamic banking center in the West, and the Netherlands is seeking to overtake London in this regard. Wall Street is becoming enamored with Islamic banking (also known as Sharia banking) and this banking model is rapidly gaining acceptance in the Western world.


Unlike the traditional banking model most Westerners are familiar with, Islamic banks are managed according to Sharia law. The main difference between Western banking and Islamic banking is the Quran prohibits the collection of interest in all monetary transactions, charging fees (and donations) for services provided in lieu of charging interest on loaned capital.

Islamic banks are also governed by a Sharia Advisory Board, which is comprised of Islamic scholars and clerics who are responsible to ensure all of the bank’s activities are in strict compliance with Sharia (Islamic) law. Those in favor of Islamic banking believe the Islamic banking system is superior to the capitalistic model of the West, because it is structured around a “strict code of ethics” (based on the Quran) and is prohibited from “exploitative practices” (including the charging of interest).

According to Islamic banking proponents, this allows banking to be an integral part of a moral society (governed by the Quran).

In contrast, they believe capitalism is solely focused on money (profit) and this incites greed and the exploitation of others, which leads to the social problems in the West, including the division of classes and unequal distribution of wealth. They also believe the Islamic banking model would rid the West of these social problems and bring about a more equitable and fair society.

http://www.educationnews.org/

holy cow!

praying may not be limited to humans, after all.  (there's the praying mantis, for one.)

usahay bitaw, di masabtan ang man's cruelty to man. 

and may the angel gabriel take them to heaven on his ethereal wings.

have we stopped believing in miracles?  was anyone blamed for lazarus? 

for all we know, at some level that's beyond our ken, the twins have communicated and, with our creator's imprimatur, have agreed on who of them shall live.

twin 1:  if i went, my energy will be better used by you.  i feel i have to rest this early because i see myself matching bernie madoff's ponzi scheme in the future... i would break our parents' hearts...

twin 2:  okay, sis, i'll try my best to breathe again.  i'll miss you.  we could have grown up together...  i see you dominating me throughout our lives though.  you even try to steal my husband from me...  oh, well, thanks for helping me go on with this earthly life.  with god's blessing, i hope our decision does not create much of a stir with these crazy adults...
   

padaplin na ko dinhi... manggawas na gani ang balak gikan sa house of the rising sun, andam na lang tag bendisyon.

(naa ko ig-agaw nga laki taga-dimiao.  babylou iyang ngan.  this here tb land's own babylou must be a girl.  am i right, babylou?  see yah!  or read yah.)

Jack Kern, father of Timothy Kern, looks at a photo of his
missing son in the kitchen of his Massillon, Ohio home
between taking calls from the media and FBI Tuesday,
Nov. 22, 2011. Timothy Kern's vehicle was recovered
from an Italo's Pizza parking lot on in nearby Canton, Ohio.
Kern has been missing for over a week after responding
to a Craigslist help wanted ad. He is believed to be the
third victim of a robbery scheme linked to the employment.
(AP Photo/The Repository, Scott Heckel)

http://news.yahoo.com/

other related headlines, also from yahoo:

Medical examiner: Body found in Ohio is identified as missing man who answered Craigslist ad
2nd body identified in Ohio Craigslist ad scheme
Body ID'd as Ohio man who answered Craigslist ad

more than one diay intawon ang mga biktima.  how sad.

at least, assured ta nga wa magsayal ang goat.

Father: Son answered Ohio ad to provide for kids

By ANDY BROWNFIELD | AP â€" 16 hrs ago


COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) â€" The father of an Ohio man found dead after answering a Craigslist help-wanted ad says his son sought the job in order to better provide for his three children.

Timothy Kern was found dead on Friday, buried near an Akron, Ohio, shopping mall.  The Summit County Medical Examiner's office said he was shot in the head.

Kern's father, Jack Kern, said Sunday his son responded to the ad because he wanted the best for his boys.

A Norfolk, Va., man was found dead in Noble County in Ohio after answering a similar Craigslist ad in what police say was a robbery scheme.  Two suspects are in custody.  Another body was found Friday in Noble County, and has not been identified.

Authorities have not said whether the three deaths are linked.

http://news.yahoo.com/

nalingaw kong mag-imagine nga naay nag-bike padung sa impiyerno, hahaha!

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”.  That requires too much compromise.  If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being.  It may seem odd for me to tell you this.  You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation.  That is false.  Modern society is anti-love.  We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings.  It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise.  Rejection requires only one reason.  Love requires complete acceptance.  It is hard work â€" the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for want of a better word, we call happiness.  In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way.  We learn the true worthlessness of material things.  We celebrate being human.  Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person.  Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor.  It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming.  It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find that when you have someone to love, the face is less important than the brain and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated.  You are not doing it to be loved back.  Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone.  You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology.  It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work.  Avoid telling the truth.  Be hated.  Love someone.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth.  I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds.  Do you know anyone who hates you?  Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated.  In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions.  It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions.  Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average.  That cannot be your role.  There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself.  Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do.  By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills.  The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork.  That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill.  But it can also kill you in more subtle ways.  If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left.  A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary.  You will meet people working at miserable jobs.  They tell you they are “making a living”.  No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity.  Work makes you free.  The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps.  Utter nonsense
.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort.  You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job.  Instead, play.  Find something you enjoy doing.  Do it. Over and over again.  You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often.  Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language.  So, I became a litigator.  I enjoy it and I would do it for free.  If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction â€" probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche.  I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard.  By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do.  In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions.  By this time you should know what your obsessions are.  If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession.  Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm.  If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication.  To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth.  I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things.  The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth.  Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating.  There is also great skill.  Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences.  It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it.  That requires great frankness to yourself.  Never fool the person in the mirror.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

What you should prepare for is mess.  Life’s a mess.  You are not entitled to expect anything from it.  Life is not fair.  Everything does not balance out in the end.  Life happens, and you have no control over it.  Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment.  Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything.  Erase all life expectancies.  Just live.  Your life is over as of today.  At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look.  This is as good as it gets.  It is all downhill from here.  Or up.  No one knows.

What does this mean for you?  It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free.  Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go.  Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news.  Read the papers.  There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old.  Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation.  They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this.  Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average.  And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations.  You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family.  You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you.  And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself.  You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people.  I have nothing against average people.  But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on.  You know the sort of people who tell you that?  Teachers.  Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest?  They are in the business of learning, after all.  Where would they be without you?  They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over.  It is gone.  That may come as a shock to some of you.  You’re in your teens or early twenties.  People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old.  That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy.  We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people.  But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy.  We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino.  It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long.  We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless.  There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup.  Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years.  Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

Don't work. Be Hated. Love Someone.

Written by Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook (1988), who was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony. This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.


I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address.  It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation.  I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one.  She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living.  She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator.  Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are.  I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home.  That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life.  Some of you may already be married.  Some of you may never be married.  Some of you will be married.  Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times.  Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation.  The end of education.  You’re done learning.

http://kalamagz.multiply.com/

Many of the workers are like Mark, 26, who answers tech support calls from employees of an American chemical company. He studied engineering but dropped out of college to support his parents and two younger siblings. He now makes 26,000 pesos ($600) a month, about the same as his father, who has a small school-bus business. (The average Filipino family earns 17,000 pesos a month.)

He spoke on the condition that his full name and the name of his employer were not revealed because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. His office is in a new development known as Eastwood City, east of Manila that, locals said, used to be fields a few years ago. Now, it is home to companies like I.B.M. and Dell, and has McDonald's, Starbucks and bars where happy hour starts at 6 a.m. for call center workers who want a beer after their shift.

Mark is trim and has sharp features. He wears stylish canvas shoes and a striped shirt. His accent is more middle America than eastern Manila. He said his parents made him watch American movies and TV shows, read English books and speak the language starting at age 5. Still, he said he was fired from his first call center job after just two weeks because customers said they could not understand him.

"Sometimes, they would insist on being transferred to an American agent," he said. "After a year, I was able to speak in an accent that they would like to hear."

But now he is tiring of answering phones and is thinking about trying his hand at acting because he has a little money in the bank and his siblings have college degrees and are working.

The call center boom has also benefitted his country, previously a laggard among Southeast Asia's tiger economies - its most popular exports were nurses. Last year, revenue from outsourcing, which also includes things like health insurance processing, animation development and software programming, totaled $9 billion, or 4.5 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product, up from virtually nothing in 2000. The government has tried to support the industry with tax breaks and subsidies.

In spite of its recent growth, the Philippines is a much smaller destination for outsourcing more broadly - India earns about 10 times as much revenue from outsourcing. That is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future given India's 1.2 billion people, 31 percent of whom are 14 years old or younger. (The Philippines has 93 million people, about 35 percent of them 14 or younger.)

Executives expect the Philippines to continue growing at a fast pace and move up to higher-value services like accounting or the processing of insurance claims. But, like India, companies are grappling with higher costs and losing their best workers because of high domestic inflation and a shortage of skilled professionals. In the last two years, the Philippine peso climbed nearly 10 percent against the dollar, to 42.14, before weakening recently.

If the peso appreciates to 35 to the dollar, many of the call centers in the Philippines will not survive, said Narasimha Murthy, president of HGS USA, the American arm of an Indian outsourcing company that employs 4,000 people here. But things look upbeat for now, and Mr. Murthy was recently in Manila with a prospective American client.

Five years ago, he said, many clients would ask him if customer calls could be handled in the Philippines. "From that," he said, "it has gone to 'How well will you do it?' "

http://www.ndtv.com/

This year, for instance, US Airways stopped outsourcing customer service to Manila and hired 400 agents in Arizona, California and North Carolina as part of an agreement with the Communications Workers of America union.

Some American companies like Delta Airlines have said they moved call centers back to the United States to appease angry customers who wanted better English. Entry-level American call center agents earn about $20,000 a year, about five times as much as similar agents in the Philippines and six times as much as Indian agents.

Nevertheless, the financial benefits of outsourcing remain strong enough that the call center business is growing at 25 to 30 percent a year here in the Philippines, compared to 10 to 15 percent in India, according to Salil Dani, research director at the Everest Group, a firm that tracks the market.

American outsourcing or back-end companies like I.B.M., Accenture and Convergys along with Indian firms like Aegis, Infosys and Tech Mahindra have thousands of employees working from gleaming glass towers and even inside malls, which executives say young workers prefer so they can be close to shops and restaurants.

In addition to language skills, the Philippines has better utility infrastructure than India - so companies spend little on generators and diesel fuel. Also, cities here are safer and have better public transportation, so employers do not have to bus employees to and from work as they do in India.

http://www.ndtv.com/

Executives say the growth was not motivated by wage considerations. Filipino call center agents typically earn more than their Indian counterparts ($300 a month, rather than $250, at the entry level), but executives say they are worth the extra cost because American customers find them easier to understand than they do Indian agents, who speak British-style English and use unfamiliar idioms. Indians, for example, might say, "I will revert on the same," rather than, "I will follow up on that."

It helps that Filipinos learn American English in the first grade, eat hamburgers, follow the N.B.A. and watch the TV show "Friends" long before they enter a call center. In India, by contrast, public schools introduce British English in the third grade, only the urban elite eat American fast food, cricket is the national pastime and "Friends" is a teaching aid for Indian call center trainers. English is an official language in both countries.

The Philippines has "a unique combination of Eastern, attentive hospitality and attitude of care and compassion mixed with what I call Americanization," said Aparup Sengupta, chief executive of Aegis Global, an outsourcing firm based in Mumbai, India, that acquired Manila-based People Support in 2008 and now employs nearly 13,000 Filipinos. American companies are reluctant to discuss their outsourcing strategies, but privately some executives acknowledged that early on, they focused primarily on saving money. But as they gained experience in different countries, they realized that was not the best strategy.

"Certain phrases people use and idioms are important," said an executive at a large American company that handles service calls through the Philippines. He spoke on the condition that he and his firm not be identified. "We are getting better at it, but of course it is still a hot button."

Analysts said call centers in the Philippines appeared to have helped American businesses respond to complaints from consumers who said they could not understand Indian agents. But it is unlikely to satisfy critics who say outsourcing is sending too many jobs abroad as millions of Americans struggle to find work.

http://www.ndtv.com/

Philippines overtakes India as hub of call centers

Vikas Bajaj, New York Times
November 28, 2011 11:32 IST

Americans calling the customer service lines of their airlines, phone companies and banks are now more likely to speak to Mark in Manila than Bharat in Bangalore.

Over the last several years, a quiet revolution has been reshaping the call center business: the rise of the Philippines, a former United States colony that has a large population of young people who speak lightly accented English and, unlike many Indians, are steeped in American culture.

More Filipinos - about 400,000 - than Indians now spend their nights talking to mostly American consumers, industry officials said, as companies like AT&T, JPMorgan Chase and Expedia have hired call centers here, or built their own. The jobs have come from the United States, Europe and, to some extent, India as outsourcers followed their clients to the Philippines.

India, where offshore call centers first took off in a big way, fields as many as 350,000 call center agents, according to some industry estimates. The Philippines, which has a population one-tenth as big as India's, overtook India this year, according to Jojo Uligan, executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines.

The growing preference for the Philippines reflects in part the maturation of the outsourcing business and in part a preference for American English. In the early days, the industry focused simply on finding and setting up shop in countries with large English-speaking populations and low labor costs, which mostly led them to India. But executives say they are now increasingly identifying places best suited for specific tasks. India remains the biggest destination by far for software outsourcing, for instance.

http://www.ndtv.com/

hinaot unta nga naay steel fabricator sa cebu nga mohimo ani.  magpahimo gyod koh.  i truly love r2d2.

Quote from: Bambi on November 28, 2011, 05:55:42 PM
Ms. islander, maayo pay imo tong gipabaylo naho!  Bitaw, can`t help you or give you any idea. sorry!

hehe, morag akoy angay moutang nimo da, bams.  euro, anyone?

Quote from: taga tigbao on November 28, 2011, 05:22:21 PM
Unsa ning bangkoha Te?

Sa dormancy period, the industry practice is 1 year jud. Kung way transaction ang imohang account for one year then, ideclare na na nila nga dormant.

Were you informed of the increase in the maintaining balance level?

As to the charge on your account for it being under the maintaining balance level, policy na jud na sija. And you have agreed to that when you opened your account with them kay usa na sa ilahang policy.

Pero from the looks of it murag over ang pagpanamas tamas sa imohang account Te. Unsa ning bangkoha kay atong sunogon! Hahahahaha. Ipatransfer na lamang na sa laing bangko Te. Diria, for OFW's naa mga bangko na NO MAINTAINING BALANCE ang policy for OFW. For Metrobank, the lowest maintaining balance now is P2,000 ra.

thanks, tigs.  here hear the accountant speak...

sure, makasabot ko nga ilaha nang policy.  it's a policy that's pro-bank and anti-depositor.  they will always claim that they send notices or that they post policy or maintaining balance changes on the internet, anyway.  that's what they told me before.  caveat emptor!  maayog gukdon ko sa ilang mails nga medyo gatikang-tikang man kog lain-lain nga countries.  hinoon, di man na ilang fault.  i just hate this policy on unilateral maintaining balance increases.

anyways, pilay charge nila ug below their required maintaining balance?  200 a month.  pilay interest on a 50k deposit?  90+ pesos.  estoryaheeeee!

ambot qualified ba ko nga ofw depositor.  pangayoan unya kog job contract, wa koy ikapakita.  i'm not gainfully employed.

yes, i've been a metrobank client for about a decade now.  it's a conservative bank, but i can say i have no problems with this bank. 

to be honest, kalami na lang kun naa tay sharia bank nga very accessible.  sharia banking is the best, believe me.  di gyod ka matutyo.  its quite unlike the greedy western style of banking.  (wall street, anyone?)

sharia (ergo, muslim) banking is honest-to-goodness safekeeping of one's money because usury for islam is a no-no.  consider that other religion some of whose adherents are deemed in world history and literature as the usurers of note.  (my apologies.  no religious slur intended here.  i honestly can't imagine banking with religious undertones.) 

this bank that i'm so disappointed in because even their services are more expensive than others?  it has my identity, i.e., islands, in its name.

yes, once i get to cebu, sirhan nako ni nga account.  tsura lang nila.

Quote from: Mike Ortega Ligalig on November 27, 2011, 12:46:32 AM
islander, unsa man na nga bangko, rural bank? sa metrobank, dili man ingon niana. I would suggest that you report this matter to the Central Bank complaint desk/bureau.

i will,  mikey.  apilon pa nako si senator serge osmena nga chairman sa committee on banking and finance. i know my kind is just a mere squeak compared to the banking lobby (a voice in the wilderness) pero maayo na lang nga makapahungaw. 

this is not the first time this bank did this to me.  my previous savings account was totally annihilated in less than a year because of the change in the maintaining balance (i wasn't in the country then, but i wrongly felt assured that my account was just there, until someone tried to deposit to it and was told that no such account existed).

nganong wa ko motagam?  maayo kaayo akong amiga nga bank branch manager "namugos" nako to open an account with them.  shot ko sa tadjaw.  karon siya mismo di gani kaibot nako gikan sa ilawom sa tadjaw.

6. Obviously older cats will already be litter trained, likely spayed/neutered and have had their full shots so vet bills will be minimal unless you’re a real hero and adopt a cat with medical issues.



7. If you already have an older cat, adopting a kitten would be too stressful for them. I have often thought that getting a kitten would help keep my older cats younger (and thinner) but always on further thought, I couldn’t bring myself to do it because of the stress that it would cause them. They don’t have the patience anymore for babies and in Jazz’s case, I think she might actually eat kitties for breakfast.

8. An older cat has already developed his or her personality so you know what kind of cat you’re getting before you bring them home. This makes it far easier to match your personality to your cat so you know you will be compatible.

9. Adult cats are much calmer and more likely to want to spend some quiet time sitting on your lap for strokes and purring. Studies have shown that cats can have a real health benefit for humans in reducing their stress levels and blood pressure. Kitties live to explore new worlds and will not be receptive to just sitting and being loved like an older cat will.

10. Einstein knew the truth about cats. The genius scientist Albert Einstein discovered an important relationship between mass and energy. He described it using the mathematical equation E=(MC)2. This equation means that your Energy level (E) is proportional to the Mass (M) of your Cat©, twice over. The equation basically shows that if you adopt a cat with more Mass, like an adult cat, your Energy level will be much higher than if you adopt a cat with a low Mass, such as a kitten. This is true because adult cats sleep more, play less, require less supervision, break fewer lamps, and don’t try to bite your toes through the blankets in the middle of the night. With an adult cat, you will sleep better, relax more, make fewer claims on your homeowner’s policy, and enjoy more Energy. There you have it. Are you going to argue with Albert Einstein? (Quoted from Pat Brody Shelter for Cats)




Summary: The Most Important Reason You Should Adopt an Older Cat

Simply because they deserve it and you may be their last chance at having a loving, secure home. Older cats don’t end up in shelters because they are bad cats. It’s usually because either their former owners have passed away or entered nursing homes, moved into homes that don’t allow pets or have been abandoned when their former family split up. Sitting in shelters waiting for someone special to come along to take them home while watching all the kittens get adopted first has to be the loneliest feeling I can imagine for an adult cat.

Adopt a Homeless Animal

Do the right thing for you and for the homeless older cats. Adopt an older cat today.

http://kencher.com/

10 Reasons Why You Should Adopt an Older Cat



1. Older cats are harder to find homes for than kittens and are therefore vulnerable to premature euthanasia at government funded shelters.

2. For an older couple or person - adult or geriatric cats make better companions because they are more mellow, laid back and less likely to be causing chaos around the house.

3. Young children can be rough with kittens but an older cat, even a young adult cat will have better luck escaping the clutches of little humans as well as being more likely to withstand the clutches if they are caught.

4. For a working family who are not home a lot, kittens left alone can and will cause mischief while you're away. Up on the curtains, clawing furniture and carpets and even dragging toilet paper throughout the house are only a few things kittens are known to do if left alone to entertain themselves. They are like children where everything that fits goes in their mouths. Older cats will simply sleep, lay in the sun and wait for you to come home.

5. Older cats are grateful for home, shelter and loving companionship. You may think this a silly point if you believe cats have no intelligence or thought processes. However I know this to be absolutely true from personal experience. I have seen cats literally blossom into truly happy beings after being with Ken and I for a few weeks and receiving love and attention they'd never experienced before. I will tell these stories in more detail later but for the purpose of this article, this may be the single most important reason why older cats are a delight to adopt.

http://www.squidoo.com/

on your eyeballs.  take note, your eyeballs.  don't think of your balls.  they may not even be there, who knows...

lesson number 1.

swerte ning imong idol, bai hubs.  iyang brief naay pataban itlog.

OMG [Oh, My Goat?]

Stupid guy hits girlfriend!

na, hala, suwayi kunog butang ning buhoka sa hulagway ni robert deniro o ni brad pitt.

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 27, 2011, 12:06:02 PM


Klaro nga kang Islander ning kittyha ni...

five?  mangayo kag five?  utangan pa gani ka nako... sorry, from my perch i can only give you a one.

Maggots in Humans

   Maggots are the larva stage of the common house fly, blowfly and various other species of flies. A maggot infestation in humans can be dangerous but also beneficial.


      This adult house fly developed from a maggot.

Identification

        Maggots are between 3 and 9 millimeters in total length. They are cream to white in color and spend approximately five days of their life cycle as maggots.   

Myiasis

        In humans, myiasis occurs when an adult fly is attracted to a human, most often due to an open wound where it will lay eggs. The eggs hatch within eight to 20 hours and begin feeding.
   
Intestinal Myiasis

        Myiasis can occur in the intestines when a person ingests fly eggs. Intestinal myiasis can cause severe damage to internal organs if left untreated.
   
Benefits of Maggots

        During the U.S. Civil War and World War I, doctors on the battlefield noted that soldiers who had maggots healed better than those without maggots. The maggots were eating rotted flesh and cleaning out bacteria.
   
Maggots in Hospitals

        Today, more than 200 hospitals prescribe maggots to treat infections such as bed sores, stab wounds, foot ulcers and post-surgical wounds. These maggots are grown in laboratories to prevent bacterial contamination of the maggots and the patients.

http://www.ehow.com/

Doctors Save Man’s Finger by Attaching It to Stomach

By MDeeDubroff on 22-11-2011

Making lemons from lemonade and the best of any situation is one thing, but a fingertip attached to a stomach is a horse of another color, as another old saying goes.

After accidentally sawing off the tip of his finger with an electrical saw, Yongjun Wang, a 20-year-old furniture worker in China’s Liaoning Province, was rushed to the hospital.

Wang was lucky enough to encounter Dr. Xuesong Huang, a very enterprising physician, who was concerned by the gravity of Wang’s amputation.

All of the muscle and skin from the end of his finger had been sheared away and only the bone remained.

“We had to make a quick decision or he could have lost his finger. We decided to cultivate a new fingertip on his stomach,” the doctor told the press.

In order for the body to repair itself and new skin and muscle to grow around the injured finger, blood circulation had to be restored to the damaged digit.

Totally disgusting to behold, nevertheless, the surgery was a complete success. Wang will have a brand new fingertip on his hand that will then be separated from his stomach within a month.

It would appear that the fickle finger of fate shall live to point again!

http://www.weirdasianews.com/

Quote from: statesville on November 22, 2011, 11:58:34 PM

  maggots.....

loa loa pa ba ni?  mora man ug luod luod na...  of all the terrible pictures i've seen, this for me is the most terrible.  ahat ug daghang nanggimaw sa akong nawong ug ulo.  is this possible?  ngano man ni siya nga gi-worms na man nga buhi pa man unta?  whatchamatta here?

(hehehe, makaparang gyod ni bai hubs ni si sis states ug hinanggaway da.) 

a strong adherent to republic act no. 10054

di gyod ko mosunod sa motorcyclist nga ingon ana ang helmet.  mo-u-turn gyod ko.

upat man kuno ang di ingon nato (elementals) kada usa nga kahoy ug mangga...

alayn unta!

alayn!

afir!  (hubag and my kitty.)

wall only?  uy, nakasuway kog hubog (mao nga never again kay purya gaba), naalsa nako ang kalibotan mora kog si atlas.

never gyod kong makasabot aning kabuanga.  maayo pay lubot ibugsay.

bai hubs, sa inyong family album kuno ni...

wa lagiy nitubag nako... nauwaw na hinoon ko. 

mangiti ba sad kaha gihapon ni sila kun ma-freaked out?

human ug tinan-aw ug pinili aning mga hairstyles, kinsa man god intawon ang di lubat-lubatan...




(all photos, so far, from http://photos.ellen.warnerbros.com)

i know, i know, islander's hair isn't blonde...

shhhh, it's okay, kiddo.  half of that picture is your mom and the other half is your dad...

aaahhh, like mother, like daughter...

this time, i'll go for the teeth...

more, more and more!





time pa ra god, di ba ni matawag nga child abuse?

more, more!

more!

take your pick of these latest hairstyles, tblanders!

that's the most intelligent answer i ever heard from a human being.  (my dog missed the correct answer by one bark.)

si bill gates, taga balingsya?  siya ba kaha tong nakadungan nakog panginhas sa gagmay pa mi?
 

hahaha!  makawat lang nang tsinelasa kun apilon ug kawat ang biseklita ug ang kural.

thrilling ni da.  i'd like to know the ending of this allegory.  abuse of authority?  kun tinuod man galing nga gikumot ang baba sa bata, na, akoy ginikanan, mokiha kog atras-abante, apilan pag dagkot sa simbahan.
 

hahaha!  wa na hinoon motungha si babylou ug balik.  ikaw man god, baghu...

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 26, 2011, 09:33:29 AM
Obviously, the distance is short from the agony of obscurity to the ignominy of ridicule...

did he, by chance, hoped for ecstasy instead of ignonimy?

naa ba ninyoy niduslit ug kandila sa camel?

wakwak kikik ug mays melsa ug malik-malik man ko anig katawa uy.  namuang na man tingali ko...

bawot-bawot man pod ni nga proposal sa ka-bright sa proposal sa ato nga ilisan ang EDSA name to cory aquino avenue...

baked lugod?  now that's something.  wa gyoy makaako ug sundog ana.

Grandson cool to renaming EDSA after Cory

abs-cbnNEWS.com
11/24/2011


MANILA, Philippines -  A grandson of the late President Cory Aquino is cool to the idea of renaming Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) after the late president.

Jonty Cruz, son of Ballsy Aquino Cruz, tweeted, “I'm good with calling it EDSA thanks. :)”

Cruz's tweet came after Bohol Rep. Rene Relampagos proposed to rename EDSA after the democracy icon in honor of her role in the 1986 People Power revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos.

Relampagos filed House Bill 5422 to change the name of Metro Manila’s 24-kilometer long main circumferential road and highway, which was formerly known as Highway 54.

The road runs in a semicircle around Manila and passes through the cities of Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Caloocan.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, however, dismissed the idea and said Relampagos should pick a road closer to Hacienda Luisita or Tarlac.  (With a report from RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News)

kita na ko.  arang guwapohang ondoy uy.

makanta ba kaha ning balak ni fr chic?  mora pod kog matintal nga mokanta ug babycake ala chubby checker (aka butsikik ni yoyoy villame) aning balaka da.  okay lang, babylou?

di ko ana.  motingog ana ang detector sa airport.

i have both insomnia and internet connection.  sigh.
 

hahaha!  unsa na man neh?  tinuod ba ni o gi-photoshop?  this is very cute!
 

wow!  what lovely dogs.  what lovely sunlight. 
 

comments from netizens on this renaming proposal (from http://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/):

So this is how our taxes are being used.  -idiot lawmakers are abundant, Nov 25, 2011 - 2:59pm


another useless and baseless bill... aquino republic naba ang pilipinas ngayon corrupt congressman?! sino ba etetch na bobong congressman from ang walang kawentang kwenta nagpasa nito..ESTORYAHEE!!!  - pink panther, Nov 25, 2011 - 2:25pm


come to think of this, guys

NAIA: named after his father whom we all consider as a hero. Now, the worst airport.

EDSA: a congressman is proposing to reaname it, honoring tita cory. This hi-way is damn congested, criminal -infested, and effing polluted.

Now, what god-forsaken place are they going to name under noynoy's?a public urinal?..LOL  -  bertingil, Nov 25, 2011 - 9:37am


Bakit d na lang kaya maglaro ng video games si Relampagos kasama si Noynoy at si josh...hehehehe - satanas, Nov 25, 2011 - 3:41 am


Bakit d na lang buong Pinas ipangalan natin kay Cory..mas ok yon dba?hehehehe - augustto,
Nov 25, 2011 - 3:38am


ay sows, wala kasi magawa at hindi mapansin....

Tongressman Relampagos, magkamot ka na lang ng itlog sa Kongreso... tama na ang pagiging epal... Nakakasawa na...

Napakaraming kailangan ng batas, iyun pang walang kasilbi-silbi ang inaatupag.... - mephistu
Nov 24, 2011 - 7:53pm

aaarrrggghhh!  and i thought there are better things to legislate on...

sipsip! 

Solon wants EDSA renamed Cory Aquino Avenue

November 24, 2011


MANILA, Philippines - From Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), a lawmaker wants Metro Manila's main circumferential road renamed Cory Aquino Avenue.

Bohol 1st District Rep. Rene Relampagos said his House Bill 5422 is in honor of the late President Corazon Aquino, democracy icon and the first woman president of the country.

Relampagos said that the former president is the leading figure in the historic 1986 People Power Revolution that restored democracy in the Philippines and a true icon of democracy.

The highway was constructed during the presidency of Manuel L. Quezon and named 19 de Junio or June 19 after the birth date of the country's national hero, Jose Rizal.

It was later renamed Highway 54 and renamed again in 1959 after Epifanio de los Santos, a noted Filipino historian.

Relampagos said the measure also seeks to repeal Republic Act 2140 changing the name of Highway 54 in the province of Rizal to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in honor of Don Epifanio de los Santos, a Filipino scholar, jurist and historian.

Relampagos said EDSA has become synonymous to the People Power Revolution or to democracy. The people's revolt is also dubbed as EDSA 1 as the historic ouster of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos happened on the main highway, which connects the six districts of Metro Manila.

"From being a simple housewife, she eventually became the nation's mother as she served as President. President Cory oversaw the promulgation of a new constitution, which limited the powers of the presidency and established a bicameral legislature," Relampagos said.

Relampagos said Cory's administration gave strong emphasis to civil liberties and human rights and her economic policies centered on bringing back economic stability and confidence and focused on creating a market-oriented and socially-responsible economy.

"President Aquino gained the respect, and certainly, the admiration, not only of the citizens of our country, but also of the world. She earned certain citations and was recognized internationally as a woman who helped pave the way for the restoration of democracy," Relampagos stressed.

Relampagos said one cannot think of the 1986 EDSA Revolution without thinking of Corazon Aquino. She lived her life fighting for democracy, as she goes out of her way to fight for justice and truth, peace and democracy.

"It would be a fitting tribute to former President C. Corazon Aquino, a woman of courage and valor, that EDSA, an avenue that became testament to the country’s love of democracy, be named after her," Relampagos said.


http://www.philstar.com/

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 25, 2011, 09:17:57 AM
Kalami sa tambok nga medyo sunog!

payts pod ko ani.  mahiluna lang akong kag kun naay andam nga anti-tambok like xenical.

Quote from: Lorenzo on November 25, 2011, 01:38:31 AM
Gwargz, welcome back! Hehe you are right, my friend, i am sure that all of us men would be staring at this beautiful nurse.

We might have to hold Isles' hand tho, else she might try to slap the nurse. Moingon sigoro si Isles nija, "Ikaw bajihaa ka ha! Nano naa man ka diri? Don't you know i am the prettiest here?" ha ha ha. Joke joke lang isles ha.

the truth is, my shadow is the prettiest.

George Clooney on witness list for Berlusconi trial

November 24, 2011 01:05 PM


MILAN (AP) â€" George Clooney and his ex-girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis are among more than 200 witnesses accepted Wednesday by a Milan court in the trial of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

Clooney has said he was approached by Berlusconi's team to testify about "bunga bunga" parties at Berlusconi's villas, but says he only visited the premier's residence once to seek aid for Darfur and declined an invitation to stay.

Berlusconi's defense lawyer Niccolo Ghedini told reporters that Clooney and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo are on the defense list because an important prosecution witness cited them, the news agency LaPresse reported. Ghedini said they want to dispute the witness's testimony.

Clooney said in an interview with Time magazine posted online that he was willing to testify, but added: "I wasn't at the bunga bunga party."

"I went to speak about Darfur. ... It was a very interesting conversation to say the least, that became a very different kind of event than anyone ever thought."

At the end of the meeting, Clooney said he was invited to stay for a party. The actor said he responded: "No, I gotta go."

The witness list also includes Karima el-Mahroug, the Moroccan teen who is alleged to have had sex with Berlusconi in exchange for money. Both she and Berlusconi, 75, have denied a sexual relationship.

Also slated to testify are three former aides being tried separately for their alleged role in organizing sex-fueled parties, as well as Mariano Apicella, who has put out four CDs with Berlusconi and often entertains at his residences, and two members of Berlusconi's defunct government, ex-Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and ex-Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini.

By accepting the witnesses, the court agrees their testimony is relevant, although either side may decide later to reduce the number of witnesses or not to call someone because their testimony is no longer needed. Furthermore, Italy has limited power to compel witnesses living abroad to appear, although courts often arrange video testimony for the convenience of potential witnesses.

The court also allowed transcripts of wiretapped calls to be entered as evidence, while a record of phone calls between Berlusconi and a police official won't be admitted.

Berlusconi is also charged with using his influence to cover up the crime of underage prostitution by personally intervening to win el-Mahroug's release from police custody when she was picked up on suspicion of theft.

Berlusconi denies the charge and says he sought to get her out of custody because he believed she was the niece of the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Ghedini said the exclusion of the phone call records was a "serious problem" for the defense, because it proves there was no abuse of influence, but he said that will be made clear through the police official's testimony.

The trial continues next week with the first witnesses, including police investigators.

http://www.philstar.com/

syalan ba si e... nag-agi diay si bolbuhol ug ka-bibi?  abi nakog nidiretso pagka-pato...

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 24, 2011, 06:24:28 AM
Bwahaha! And you Princess Leia are?

bin ich amidala ich bin.

not me.  i've graduated from being a teenage mermaid.  i'm now an adult alien.

Quote from: Lorenzo on November 24, 2011, 03:14:48 AM
True story:

Last year, I visited Southern Leyte to visit family relatives from my father's side. When I arrived in Maasin, Southern Leyte, I was stricken with fever. I was coughing, sweating, temperature was high. When I arrived in Pintuyan, Southern Leyte, a local healer came to the residence where I was staying. He gave me the traditional massage to remove panuhot, but in addition, whispered prayers (intelligible words) to my ears as he massaged me. After 1 hour of massage, i kid you not, my fever was gone. Totally gone.

Interesting experience.

this kind of treatment had always been my choice for fevers as i am not too keen on swallowing pills if i can help it.  my understanding is that it works only for fevers brought on by the cold, sudden changes in temperature, tiredness.  it cannot treat fevers caused by real infections; unless the root cause of the fever is treated, one can experience only temporary relief because the fever is bound to return. 

sadly, there aren't too many "hilots" of this kind and more often than not, they are not accessible from where i am most of the time.  i haven't tried the kind that includes unintelligible prayers, though. 

all i know is that these "hilots" know which part of the body the fever's "head" is located  (usually in one's joints).  once they get hold of the "head", they press ("kill") it until it disappears.  it's painful, and i guess the pain itself is the relief because right after, the patient sweats and the fever's gone.

Quote from: Lorenzo on November 24, 2011, 03:11:00 AM

And did they cure any of your ailments, Isles?

many times, though i couldn't say outright which kind of treatment it was that cured me.

fact 7:

The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

mas ngilngig akong bag kay SAMSONGITE.  nakurat gyod hinoon ko sa tsinelas nakong bag-o.  HAWANAS ang brand.  bigat.  whew!
 

hahaha!  i know pa lamang... hubs and bolbs of students yoda are.

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 22, 2011, 03:51:43 PM
Bwahaha! Ang pus-on is well below the stomach, ma chérie, mao nga di ni magsakit bisan unsa pang ulcer diha.

P.S.: Ajaw ko dodonga kay I'm a septuagenarian na...

magbuot diay kag octogenarian ko nga maka-dong-dong nimo?  magbuot sad diay kag sa akong tinan-awan ang imong pus-on nisaka sa imong tiyan?  ikaw rong itloga ka...