MikeLigalig.com

Looking at these pictures, I wonder how it would be like to hang-glide from the cliff edifice.

ah, hahahaha!

A willing victim eh?

Sir Gec, your sacrifice is for the good of all, eh?
Haha, that a man!

*hand salute*

Quote from: -<GEC348>- on May 04, 2008, 08:35:45 PM
I'm a little teapot, short and stout
This is my handle and this is my sprout
When the water boils you'll hear me shout
Lift me up and pour me out.

Sir Gec, did you act this out when  you were in elementary school, as well? This song still resonates in my mind.

Hickory, dickory, dock

Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
And down he run,
Hickory, dickory, dock.



'twas my favorite when I was in Kindergarten. I would sing this song during recess. 

Pease Porridge Hot!

Pease porridge hot!
Pease porridge cold!
Pease porridge in the pot
Nine days old.

Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot
Nine days old!

Therapeutic. This site has been very therapeutic for me, do you guys feel the same way as well?

Just to express feelings, to release anxiety. To be heard. So simple, but its healing power is undeniable.

Hahaha, Sir Gec, perhaps you can enlighten us on the Jedi.

My knowledge on the Jedi has always been weak at best. I've always been fond of the Sith Lords

Darth Vader, Darth Tyrannus and Darth Sidious were my favorite.
Alas,

How is that, GEC? I need to catch up on these shows.

This is a real-world example of inter-species competition.

You have two apex predators; 1) Homo Sapiens sapiens (Human) and 2) Stegostoma fasciatum (Shark Family) who are vying for the same resource predation. This includes large pisciverious species such as Tuna, Salmon, Ray, Eels, and sometimes even Seal.

With human population rising in assymetrical levels, which complies with the theory of Malthus by the way, and with limited natural resources--and its algorithmic replication, there will be a clash of apex predators. With humans increasing fishing fleets around the Atlantic and Pacific, ever intruding into the home basins of large predatorial sharks such as the Basking Shark, Whale Shark, Great White, Bull and Tiger, there will be inevitable inter-species contact. Which usually results in fatality either for sharks or humans.

So long as human population grows, and the demand of fish, crab, lobster, etc drives fishermen to hunt ever more fish, man will eventually displace sharks from their natural environment. Even as so far as driving them towards heavy human areas.

The family of Stegostoma fasciatum is an aggressive family. Sharks are natural born killers and will feed on anything in their way--if driven.

Ah, how could I forget about them. I shall gather some information on them. Next time na pood.

A) Mr. Brando Lorenzo "Rico" Lucino Sr, P.E., R.N





B) Mrs. Liza S. Lucino, R.N


(in red)


Remark
When my father declared that I would be named his Junior, it was so. Not just by name, but by physical. Even our voices are similar, which is scary on my part. Whenever his friends and my Maninoys and Titos tell me that I look like him or even mistaken me for him, I just nodd. I have my mother's temperment tho. At least I have that, lol!

Next person!

Share a picture of your mother and father. Who do you resemble most?

And with that, are you considered your look-a-like's "carbon cop"?

hmmm 

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.
~Uknown

"The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running. "

~Author unknown, in reference to Ecclesiastes 9:11, "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.

Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them. 

-J.W Gardner

Out of the many things that I learned from my tenured stay in Tubag Bohol, one thing that struck me is the humility and genuine nature of Boholanos.

Admittingly, I recognize my impudence in the past, I had little knowledge of Bohol, its history, its people. Aside from the fact that I had familial ties. This site, with all of its intellectual minds have provided vivid discourse on the topics revolving Bohol, the Visayas, the Philippines, Internationalism and the like. There is not one day that I am ever dissatisfied with the commentries of the membership. Overall, the entirety of the membership, of the collective minds that make up Tubag Bohol, is brilliant.

What I like the most about this web site, and the members within it, is the presence of accountability, responsibility, ability, legitimacy and humility. All in one.

The decorum of this site is professional, to say the least. Quite professional. It distinguishes itself from many other websites. That is what I like, and am sure many others share the same view. It is why we keep on coming back. To debate, to teach, and to learn.

Urit enim fulgore suo qui praegravat artes Intra se positas; extinctus amabitur idem.

Transl:That man scorches with his brightness, who overpowers inferior capacities, yet he shall be revered when dead.

-Horace

Rob, this past week has been very emotional for us all. In fact, I don't know if I can remember a time where I was crying so much. Talking to old friends and reminiscing old memories of days long gone; during freshman year. Talking to Don, Dom, Bryant, Kurt, Ali, Awter, Mindy, Dave, Steve, Devin, Dustin, Paul, Phil, Lisa, Summer, Anne, Jack, Bill, Jenny, Kristin, Alice. Ha, who would've guessed that I would be the sentimental type, eh? lol. Sure, I guess I never showed it to you and my close friends, but I'm pretty sentimental, with graduation looming, and talks about the upcoming 5 year anniversary and 10 year, 15 year, so on so forth, has been resounding in my head. 

I was talking to Don and Bryan about coming back and meeting up some years from now. Haha, would you even believe that I was talking about sending my children to Allegheny? Many years from now, that is. Talking about being 30, 40, 50, years upon years from now.

And it brought me to the memory I had when I was talking with you some many moons back. I don't know if you remember it or not, but it was in our sophomore year. I was coming out of Dr. Shapiro's office after talking to him about peer leading and grading some students' papers. Sorry for taking too long as I knew you were waiting outside of his office, haha. You know me, I tend to get carried away with specifics and the details of things. Thanks for waiting for me, despite it took me almost an hour to get details out, lol. We talked about future plans, medical school for me; and you talked about law school and possibly graduate school in journalism. When you talked, Rob, you always seemed to captivate those who listened to you. Full of life, full of vibrance, details, and future plans that was ready to be conquored. Claimed.
You asked me if I would be sending my kids to Allegheny, if given the chance, in the future. I told you that I didn't know. But you know, after many years of thinking about it, after all the experiences I've had here, the good and the bad, I'd have to say that I would send my kids to Allegheny. To receive a fine education from one of the finest private colleges, and to make life-lasting, life-affecting friends. I mean it.

It brings me to tears man. Brings me to tears that I won't be able to see you anymore, to never hear your voice again and hear of your future plans, your dreams, aspirations. What ever happened to our plan to meet up during our 30th anniversary in Allegheny College?

My only fear, Rob, is that you will be forgotten. That the world will forget you. That your memory will be as if it was for nothing. I refuse, with all my heart, to acquiesce to that. You existed, you were one of my good friends. And you had dreams, bro. Such rich and vivid life expectations. Plans. God only knows how far you could have gone in life. You were stolen at such a young age, Rob. Too young, at such a prime age. If only the world could have known the person you were, knew you through my own eyes.

I miss you man. You have my prayers, my brother.

Go With God. May He have Mercy on You. Christ Have Mercy.

For you, whoever you are. 

The cold has a voice
it talks to me

Still-born by choice
and it airs no need to hold.
Old man feels the cold
oh
baby
don't

'cause I've been told:

Stay on these roads
we shall meet
I know

Stay on
my love
we shall meet
I know
I know.

Where joy should reign
these skies restrain

Shadow your love
- the voice trails off again

The voice trails ofF again.
Old man feels the cold
oh
baby
don't

'cause I've been told:

Stay on these roads
we shall meet
I know

Stay on
my love
you feel so weak
be strong.
Stay on
stay on
we shall meet
I know
I know

I know
my love
I know.

Feel the cold
winter's calling on my home
yeah.
Stay on these roads
we shall meet
I know

Stay on
my love
we will meet
I know

So stay on! I know!
Stay
my love
stay on
we will meet
I know
I know!

Performed by A-Ha


[mp3tube]adf21ca94601d8560c72bc5c5e38c3ec[/mp3tube]

Performed by Linkin Park

[mp3tube]576655abe9dc6760812605037131ce2a[/mp3tube]

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus:]
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus]

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

[Chorus]

performed by Evanescence

[mp3tube]f9c4fbd6e1d41fa02068e6fe901ceb11[/mp3tube]

Eloquent. Submissively Soothing.



[mp3tube]d73c393929d1c63bfa273813a36321fb[/mp3tube]

Por donde vayas ire
con una venda en los ojos..
lo que decidas haré
el amor cuando es verdad es uno solo.

Tiziano ferro
No me preguntes por qué
he sido bueno contigo,
solo se que eres mi religión
que me importa si lo llaman fanatismo...

Coro
Sin ti yo no soy el mismo,
eres mi credo,
pedazo de cielo abrázame fuerte,
mi trébol de buena suerte;
prefiero morir junto a ti a no verte

No me preguntes por que
he sido bueno contigo,
solo se que eres mi religión
que me importa si lo llaman fanatismo...

Sin ti yo no soy el mismo
eres mi credo,
pedazo de cielo, abrázame fuerte,
mi trebol de buena suerte;
prefiero morir junto a ti a no verte (Se repite)

ohhh mi trebol de buena suerte
prefiero moirir junto a ti a no verte

por donde vayas ire (5)

Performed by: Pepe Aguilar y Tiziano Ferro


[mp3tube]0fab3dc7914eada72d9f5c77d5a332b2[/mp3tube]

performed by Bruno Aguilar

[mp3tube]2d33294fcc4fb5ab204dc77bfaa50cde[/mp3tube]

For your sacrifice for the Philippine Republic.
For those  who gave up their lives, their chance for happiness, All for the Republic. And for the Good of the Republic.

Know that you WILL NEVER be forgotten. We may have our problems in politics, but I and many like-minded citizens of the Republic of the Philippines sing praise for the Filipino Fighting Man.

Long Live the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Philippines!
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NA0FfqwETIc&feature=related

hahahaha, ooo, 'te! Intawn pood si Clyde boy he's very sleepy jud. Baby pa man gud siya, always jud ni siya mo nap-nap.

When i was carrying him he was moaning, then ingoon si Ashley that he was hungry. He's still teething so he doesn't have alot of teeth sa ba-ba. Mo inom pa na siya ug bottled milk, lol.

Super cute ni siya. Furball intawn.

This little furball is only 6 weeks old! aguy! aguy!
My friend Ashley just got him last week! I wanted to steal him and keep him for myself, hahaha!
Cute na cute!

(Clyde is a border collie puppy)   


Learning how to play with his chew toy, aww


hmmm


Playing with Ashley's legs, lol


Clyde ran away from me. Come back Clyde! 


awww he came back. lol!


haha


the little guy fell asleep when i was petting him. LOL


ahaha, Mr. Cute sleeping


!

Dr. Yamazaki, M.D successfully passed his USMLE 1,2,3 boards and will be completing a Family Practice Residency in Georgia.

Quote from: slackware on June 18, 2007, 03:11:35 AM
nah!kaliwat diay ta mga ilokano! mortal enemy raba gyud na mga ilokano ug mga bisaya dire sa amoang lugar!

We are all Filipinos, instead of calling each other mortal enemies, we all should be mortal friends, mortal brothers.

I don't believe in these stereotypes.

A BIG Congratulations and Salutations to Dr. Kiyoshi Yamazaki for successfully finishing his 4th year in the University of St. Eustatius School of Medicine! Class of 2008!

Kiyoshi! Congratulations, Good luck on your medical residency! And most of all Congrats to your Engagement!!!

More power to you, Dr. Yamazaki!







Kiyoshi! Thanks for all the advices, bro!
Congrats, Doc! 

Hey 'Doy,

I want you to know that I'm very proud of you for getting into this extended learning program. Make sure you have enough sleep for the big day ahead of you, stay focused, stay sharp, and most of all do not be afraid to speak your mind. If you know something about a particular organism, particular sample that the other students do not know, pounce on the opportunity and show your intelligence to your peers. Never be afraid to speak your mind, and don't you ever be scared to show your smarts. It is with grace that you are given such a strong whit and humility at the same time.

Like what I always tell my little brothers whenever they engage on a project or an academic endeavor, it is this: Give it your complete all, strive for the best and do not be so reserved in your abilities. Conquor all that is in your way and in the end, you will look back and see the rising sun shining on your back.

For such a young kid, I'm amazed by your keen interest in the sciences, particularly I am impressed by your wonder and strengths in your Kuya's favorite subject: Biology. 

I see alot of myself in you, Kyle. Keep the fire burning within you. Take it from me, and burry that deep in your heart. Take it with you in this educational trip; take it with you in junior high school, in high school, in college and beyond.


I am very proud of you, Doy.

-Kuya

Addendum:

I will not be able to bring these books to the Philippines with me as each of them weigh at least 5 lbs. They are large hard bound text books. Still in good condition, personally owned.

I have some pages highlighted but aside from that, in very good condition.

The Body Snatchers, authored by Jack Finney.

Quite erie, rivetting, and most of all based on a true story.
Set in early 19th century during the age of Science and Anatomical Explosion.
Grave diggers murdered people, dug up the deceased in order to sell the carcasses to medical institutions for anatomical dissection; for teaching purposes.

Based on the true story of Burke and Hare.

A must read for the medical reader. Or for the intense-action genre lovers.

This is addressed primarily to college students who are science majors.

I have some used subject books namely:

Microbiology
Organismal Biology
Organic Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry
Biochemistry
Biogeochemistry
Quantum Physics
Metaphysics
Crystal Physics
Molecular Biology
Genetics and Evolution
Animal Physiology
Comparative Anatomy


To save space, I will be selling these books to the college book store by May 11, 2008.
However, if any of you want them, please email me at lucinoa@allegheny.edu
as soon as possible if you want some of these books.

Reply immediately or as soon as possible as I cannot guarantee that I will have them.
I already have some students here opting to purchase some of them.


-Bran Lorenzo

A grade of 90 is, in my opinion, adequate enough. That is considered a B+ in many colleges here in the United States. I was even thinking about increasing the requirement to at least a 93 (an A-).

A 90, in my opinion, is doable. It is not hard to maintain an average of B+.

Maybe we can increase the monthly stipend. p1000.00 is, in my opinion, too little. Perhaps we can increase it to p2000.00 (around this?)

Boholanos are naturally smart. I have confidence that we can find above par student candidates quickly.


Best,
Bran Lorenzo

I saw this

This is the Mandarin (Chinese) version of Anak.
It is entitled Wei Sha Ma or "Child"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SHxwSG-q28&feature=related


I can picture my Lolo Mariano singing this song to his parents..

For all the stories that were never to be told,
Back to a time when I was a boy so long ago,
I knew a man whose kindness touched the hearts of many,
And he would often be the first to lend you his last penny,
Yes his heart was pure gold forged from out of love,
Right from the hands of the almighty who sits high above,
There were times I must of drove him crazy as if he were my toy,
With all my “want to’s” and “why not’s” when I was a boy,
He loved and cared for all those that he knew,
His family, friends and most of all you,
Many happy memories I carry within my heart,
Vowed never to forget and never to be apart,
As a boy I would look up to this man with great awe,
For you see he was my friend and he is my Lolo Ciano

one sad cold night
a boy sat in his chair
picked up a gun
as he ran his fingers through his hair
he sat and cried as he thought
everything that’s happened
has all been my fault
he said if I was gone
this would all be better
an he told her
"I love you now more than ever"
he said "trust me
this is for the best
you will see
cause after I'm gone
no more fighting, you'll be free"
he grabbed a bullet
an put it in the gun
said, "I love you so much
but now I have to run"
he said "I sorry I cant take this no more.
I've let down so many people
I wish I could go back to before"
he hung up the phone
an pulled the trigger
looked down at his chest
as the pain grew bigger
his eyes filled with tears
they started to pour
as soon as his family ran in
he fell to the floor





Don't you see? It wasn't for the best, it was for the worst.
Because we're all here, still alive, and still hurt.
Why? Why? I can't fathom why. No message. No goodbye.
Why?

Trying to let go of these memories of sorrows
which are trapped inside of me,
where I feel alone, no one sees me crying.
I close my eyes and I see my dreams,
Dreams of tomorrow, the way I want things to be.
Angel, keep watch over me.
The memories keep control of me,
The bad storms and cold weather rain
which fall from the heavens.
Angel, wash away these memories which are inside me.
I want to cry, I want to cry,
Tears from heaven falling from my eyes,
Wash away the pain which keeps control of me.
Angel, sing, sing the song
which will bring the dreams of tomorrow,
Of sunshine, not of rain,
Letting go of the memories
Which trap my sorrows inside of me

LOL, dude! Remember when we scotched taped Dom's dorm door? hahahaha! I was talking to Paul and Don about that the other weekend. God I still remember Dom's screaming down the hall way, "Who did this? who who who? " hahaha!

Shitt, I'm crying again.

Dude its 3:34 AM right now, Im in the bio building studying for molecular finals and reviewing statistics. Its the dead of the night, looked at my watch and noticed that today is the 3rd of May. Dude, has it been almost 6 months since we last talked? I can't believe it man, I can't believe that its been half a year since we talked. You know I still have that dumb email you sent me about Bush's idiocy about starting the war in Iraq, lol. But yea man, its literally 8 days from our graduation, BRO. Rob, we literally have only about a week's time left in our stay in Allegheny. Its been too fast, bro. Time passes too fast, don't you think? Shoot I still remember when it was still August 25, 2004--when we all were still freshman; innocent still and untouched by the powers of college, lol. I was talking to Kurt several weeks ago during my symposium in bio; yea. I'm in the bio building--and I have strong mix emotions right now. One, I'm so happy to be getting the hell out of here, lol! I still can't believe that we're paying 40k a year to go here, hahaha! You were right you know, this is on way of going into debt hahaha.

Robbo, I miss you man. Just wanted to let you know that.

Watch over me, will ya, Robbo?

Always,
Al

[mp3tube]073fa7d4780ae81f8d68fe5b8a8e96bf[/mp3tube]

Performed by: Five for Fighting

[mp3tube]f988bafa51a570f42a3b5dac44563dab[/mp3tube]

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you?re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...
I'm 99 for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
15 there's still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you're on your way
Every day's a new day...
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live

Professor Licayan,

Students beckon your presence. Please do not give us a deaf ear. Teach us, teach us!



A student,

2007 Surgical & Medical Mission focused on serving the needy in Metro Manila partnering  with  Danny Paragas, Rotary Club of Pasay MIA and  Joint Effort of Pasay Rotary Clubs (Jeprocs) and Makati City. FAMI also partnered with  Maj. Raphael J. Ronas, President, PAFR Philippine Eaglecom Society with Dr. Philip Cruz coordinator a day clinic in Liam Batangas. FAMI Surgical Partner is Makati Medical Group headed by mission veteran Victor Gisbert.

In our 9th mission, FAMI served over 6,500 patients and performed 81 major and 120 minor surgeries (including Batangas). FAMI brought equipment, medical supplies and medicines almost a million dollars including cardiac monitors donated to charitable institutions.  The major surgeries were as follows Thyroidectomy â€" 29, Hernia Repair â€" 15, Gall Bladder Surgery â€" 5, Major GYN TAH / BSO â€" 3, Mastectomy â€" 2, Breast Mass Excision â€" 2, Cleft Lip Repair â€" 2, Parotidectomy â€" 13  Fistula Repair â€" 5, Hemorrhoidectomy - 5.



Our major recipients of our equipment, medicines and supplies are: Manila Adventist Medical Center , Rotary International District 3810 (as conduit), Ospital Ng Makati and Philippine Eaglecom Society Inc. Other recipients include: Mu Sigma Phi of College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines , Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Medical / Dental Missions, Luyahan Barangay  Health Committee, Barangay Maugat in Batangas, REYES H.E.L.P. CENTER , Locsin Foundation. Arroyo Foundation, Muntinlupa Prison through Ms. J. Elizalde  and Makati Medical Mission .

FAMI with veterans and inspiring leader Niles Perlas with her dedicated board, Gayle Lara, Bennie Muldong, Sony Mabacquiao, Ignie Ocampo, Romeo Reyes, Linda Gamboa, Amy Piquerra, Dr. Lestrino Baquiran, Miriam Kho, , Maria San Agustin business executives who are also administrators for FAMI Leus Perlas and Tony Lara had everything under control.,

FAMI volunteers included Dr. Sharon Barlizo, Joanne Coronel, Judy Echavez, Todd Fogel, Dr. Adam Fox, Amelou Ivory, RN,  Dominique Ivory, Anita Mani, PA, Crispina Nabua, RN, Teresita Pastrana, Alexis Perlas, Dr. Tyler Phillips, Kevin Pittman, Dr. Thomas Quinn, Tara Quinn, Justin Quinn, Hanzel Sering, Louise Strickland, Sharon Udy-Janczuk, RN, Delia Baquiran traveled from the US.  FAMI Philippines included Marietta Santos, Maite Santos, Irene Carpo, Mario Rocha, Arlene E. Carranza, RN, Aurora D. Soyangco, RN, Yoly Salvatiera, RN, Lucila Agustin, RN, Pamphie. Quiazon, RN, Aida Mudlong, RN, Dr. Judith Llorin, Mila S. Reyes with UP Team of Dr. Philip Cruz; Dr. Jhonas B. Aguinaldo, Dr. Arthur E. Alban, Dr. Ryan Albert N. Boquiren, Dr. Omar John B. Mejia, Dr. Gerardo M. Briones Jr.,Dr. Michael Vincent C. Saniel, Dr. Hans Erich Pediapco, Dr. Catherine Teodoro and Baby FAMI Dr. Ovidio De Leon, Dr. Rene Luce, Dr. Adamar Alvarez completed the team.

Our surgical team included Victor Gisbert and the Makati Medical Group Names with Dr. Mike Padlan as the coordinator.

The Medical Team
Medical Team 2007   

Board

Niles D. Perlas, CRNA (Team Leader)

Benedicta Muldong, RN (OR)

Asuncion Mabacquiao, RN (Medical Team)

Amelia Piguerra, RN (IC OR)

Rome Reyes Velayo, BSTM

Maria Linda Gamboa, RN (OR)

Ma Ignacia Ocampo,  BSMT

Gayle Lara (OPD Control)

Dr. Lestrino Baquiran

Marietta Santos (Phil Coordinator)

Miriam Kho, RN

Maria San Agustin, PA

Administrators

Leus Perlas

Tony Lara

Team

Dr. Adam Fox

Dr. Thomas Quinn

Dr. Sharon Barlizo

Dr. Tyler Phillips

Kevin Pittman, CRNA

Delia Baquiran, RN

Joanne Coronel, RN

Amelia Piguerra, RN

Amelou Ivory, RN

Crispina Nabua, RN

Hanzel Sering, RN

Louise Strickland, RN

Sharon Udy-Janczuk, RN

Anita Mani, PA

Teresita Pastrana, MT

Judy Echavez

Todd Fogel

Dominique Ivory

Alexis Perlas

Tara Quinn

Justin Quinn

Philippine Team

Maite Santos

Irene Carpo

Mario Rocha

Arlene E. Carranza, RN

Aurora D. Soyangco, RN

Yoly Salvatiera, RN

Pamphie. Quiazon, RN

Aida Mudlong, RN

Dr. Judith Llorin

Dr. Philip Cruz

Dr. Jhonas B. Aguinaldo
Dr. Ryan Albert N. Boquiren
Dr. Gerardo M. Briones Jr.
Dr. Michael Vincent C. Saniel
Dr. Melvin J. Sanicas

Dr. Catherine Teodoro

Dr. Ovidio De Leon

Dr. Rene Luce

Dr. Mael M. Cautiver

Erlinda V. Bunoan

Josie U. Soriano

Aodrigo S. Trapane

Dr. Adamar Alvarez

Patrick Perlas, SN

Ruby Mayo (Phar)

http://ifami.com/missions.html

Sir, salamaat kaayo for your wise planning and objectives. I salute you and those of men of your caliber who initiated this conference. If it is in my ability, I will attend.

If not, then I hope that Providence will grant me the ability to attend in the not-too-distant future.

Once again, congratulations on this step. To you and your like-minded scholar colleagues!

Cheers,

Adorable kaayo imung apo, Beth.

I can trace his facial resemblance to his lolo. They have the same obicularis oculi formation. Ang nose bridge. Very cute boy indeed.

Are you teaching him some bisaya?

God Bless your beautiful family.

Scientific Proof of the Existence of God
An interview with Amit Goswami
by Craig Hamilton

Before you read any further, stop and close your eyes for a moment. Now consider the following question: for the moment your eyes were closed, did the world still exist even though you weren't conscious of it? How do you know? If this sounds like the kind of unanswerable brain teaser your Philosophy 101 professor used to employ to stretch your philosophical imagination, you might be surprised to discover that there are actually physicists at reputable universities who believe they have answered this questionâ€"and their answer, believe it or not, is no.

Now consider something even more intriguing. Imagine for a moment the entire history of the universe. According to all the data scientists have been able to gather, it exploded into existence some fifteen billion years ago, setting the stage for a cosmic dance of energy and light that continues to this day. Now imagine the history of planet Earth. An amorphous cloud of dust emerging out of that primordial fireball, it slowly coalesced into a solid orb, found its way into gravitational orbit around the sun, and through a complex interaction of light and gases over billions of years, generated an atmosphere and a biosphere capable of not only giving birth to, but sustaining and proliferating, life.

Now imagine that none of the above ever happened. Consider instead the possibility that the entire story only existed as an abstract potentialâ€"a cosmic dream among countless other cosmic dreamsâ€"until, in that dream, life somehow evolved to the point that a conscious, sentient being came into existence. At that moment, solely because of the conscious observation of that individual, the entire universe, including all of the history leading up to that point, suddenly came into being. Until that moment, nothing had actually ever happened. In that moment, fifteen billion years happened. If this sounds like nothing more than a complicated backdrop for a science fiction story or a secular version of one of the world's great creation myths, hold on to your hat. According to physicist Amit Goswami, the above description is a scientifically viable explanation of how the universe came into being.

Goswami is convinced, along with a number of others who subscribe to the same view, that the universe, in order to exist, requires a conscious sentient being to be aware of it. Without an observer, he claims, it only exists as a possibility. And as they say in the world of science, Goswami has done his math. Marshalling evidence from recent research in cognitive psychology, biology, parapsychology and quantum physics, and leaning heavily on the ancient mystical traditions of the world, Goswami is building a case for a new paradigm that he calls "monistic idealism," the view that consciousness, not matter, is the foundation of everything that is.

A professor of physics at the University of Oregon and a member of its Institute of Theoretical Science, Dr. Goswami is part of a growing body of renegade scientists who in recent years have ventured into the domain of the spiritual in an attempt both to interpret the seemingly inexplicable findings of their experiments and to validate their intuitions about the existence of a spiritual dimension of life. The culmination of Goswami's own work is his book The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World. Rooted in an interpretation of the experimental data of quantum physics (the physics of elementary particles), the book weaves together a myriad of findings and theories in fields from artificial intelligence to astronomy to Hindu mysticism in an attempt to show that the discoveries of modern science are in perfect accord with the deepest mystical truths.

Quantum physics, as well as a number of other modern sciences, he feels, is demonstrating that the essential unity underlying all of reality is a fact which can be experimentally verified. Because of the enormous implications he sees in this scientific confirmation of the spiritual, Goswami is ardently devoted to explaining his theory to as many people as possible in order to help bring about what he feels is a much needed paradigm shift. He feels that because science is now capable of validating mysticism, much that before required a leap of faith can now be empirically proven and, hence, the materialist paradigm which has dominated scientific and philosophical thought for over two hundred years can finally be called into question.

Interviewing Amit Goswami was a mind-bending and concept-challenging experience. Listening to him explain many ideas with which he seemed perfectly at home, required, for me, such a suspension of disbelief that I at times found myself having to stretch far beyond anything I had previously considered. (Goswami is also a great fan of science fiction whose first book, The Cosmic Dancers, was a look at science fiction through the eyes of a physicist.)

But whether or not one ultimately accepts some of his more esoteric theories, one has to respect the creativity and passion with which he is willing to inquire. Goswami is clearly willing to take risks with his ideas and is fervently dedicated to sharing his investigation with audiences around the world. He speaks widely at conferences and other forums about the exciting discoveries of the new science and their significance, not only for the way science is done, but for society as a whole. In India, the country of his birth, he is actively involved in a growing organized movement to bridge the gap between science and spirituality, through which he is helping to pioneer a graduate institute in "consciousness studies" based on the premise that consciousness is the ground of all being.

Goswami is considered by some to be a pioneer in his field. By attempting to bring material realism to its knees and to integrate all fields of knowledge in a single unified paradigm, he hopes to pave the way for a new holistic worldview in which spirit is put first. In fact, as far as we know, he is the only new paradigm scientist who is taking a clear stand against the relativism so popular among new age thinkers. At a time when the decay of human values and the erosion of any sense of meaning has reached epidemic scale, it is hard to imagine what could be more important than this.

And yet, for all the important and valuable work he seems to be doing, in the end we are left with serious reservations as to whether Goswami's approach will ultimately lead to the kind of transformation he hopes for. Thinkers such as Huston Smith and E. F. Schumacher have pointed to what they feel is an arrogance, or at least, a kind of naiveté, on the part of scientists who believe they can expand the reach of their discipline to somehow include or explain the spiritual dimension of life. Such critics suggest that the very attempt to scientifically validate the spiritual is itself a product of the same materialistic impulses it intends to uproot and, because of this, is ultimately only capable of reducing spirit, God and the transcendent to mere objects of scientific fascination.

Is science capable of proving the reality of the transcendent dimension of life? Or would science better serve the spiritual potential of the human race by acknowledging the inherent limits of its domain? The following interview confronts us with these questions.

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interview

WIE: In your book The Self-Aware Universe you speak about the need for a paradigm shift. Could you talk a bit about how you conceive of that shift? From what to what?

Amit Goswami: The current worldview has it that everything is made of matter, and everything can be reduced to the elementary particles of matter, the basic constituentsâ€"building blocksâ€"of matter. And cause arises from the interactions of these basic building blocks or elementary particles; elementary particles make atoms, atoms make molecules, molecules make cells, and cells make brain. But all the way, the ultimate cause is always the interactions between the elementary particles. This is the beliefâ€"all cause moves from the elementary particles. This is what we call "upward causation." So in this view, what human beingsâ€"you and Iâ€"think of as our free will does not really exist. It is only an epiphenomenon or secondary phenomenon, secondary to the causal power of matter. And any causal power that we seem to be able to exert on matter is just an illusion. This is the current paradigm.

Now, the opposite view is that everything starts with consciousness. That is, consciousness is the ground of all being. In this view, consciousness imposes "downward causation." In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we really are acting with causal power. This view does not deny that matter also has causal potencyâ€"it does not deny that there is causal power from elementary particles upward, so there is upward causationâ€"but in addition it insists that there is also downward causation. It shows up in our creativity and acts of free will, or when we make moral decisions. In those occasions we are actually witnessing downward causation by consciousness.

WIE: In your book you refer to this new paradigm as "monistic idealism." And you also suggest that science seems to be verifying what a lot of mystics have said throughout historyâ€"that science's current findings seem to be parallel to the essence of the perennial spiritual teaching.

AG: It is the spiritual teaching. It is not just parallel. The idea that consciousness is the ground of being is the basis of all spiritual traditions, as it is for the philosophy of monistic idealismâ€"although I have given it a somewhat new name. The reason for my choice of the name is that, in the West, there is a philosophy called "idealism" which is opposed to the philosophy of "material realism," which holds that only matter is real. Idealism says no, consciousness is the only real thing. But in the West that kind of idealism has usually meant something that is really dualismâ€"that is, consciousness and matter are separate. So, by monistic idealism, I made it clear that, no, I don't mean that dualistic kind of Western idealism, but really a monistic idealism, which has existed in the West, but only in the esoteric spiritual traditions. Whereas in the East this is the mainstream philosophy. In Buddhism, or in Hinduism where it is called Vedanta, or in Taoism, this is the philosophy of everyone. But in the West this is a very esoteric tradition, only known and adhered to by very astute philosophers, the people who have really delved deeply into the nature of reality.

WIE: What you are saying is that modern science, from a completely different angleâ€"not assuming anything about the existence of a spiritual dimension of lifeâ€"has somehow come back around, and is finding itself in agreement with that view as a result of its own discoveries.

AG: That's right. And this is not entirely unexpected. Starting from the beginning of quantum physics, which began in the year 1900 and then became full-fledged in 1925 when the equations of quantum mechanics were discovered, quantum physics has given us indications that the worldview might change. Staunch materialist physicists have loved to compare the classical worldview and the quantum worldview. Of course, they wouldn't go so far as to abandon the idea that there is only upward causation and that matter is supreme, but the fact remains that they saw in quantum physics some great paradigm changing potential. And then what happened was that, starting in 1982, results started coming in from laboratory experiments in physics. That is the year when, in France, Alain Aspect and his collaborators performed the great experiment that conclusively established the veracity of the spiritual notions, and particularly the notion of transcendence. Should I go into a little bit of detail about Aspect's experiment?

WIE: Yes, please do.

AG: To give a little background, what had been happening was that for many years quantum physics had been giving indications that there are levels of reality other than the material level. How it started happening first was that quantum objectsâ€"objects in quantum physicsâ€"began to be looked upon as waves of possibility. Now, initially people thought, "Oh, they are just like regular waves." But very soon it was found out that, no, they are not waves in space and time. They cannot be called waves in space and time at allâ€"they have properties which do not jibe with those of ordinary waves. So they began to be recognized as waves in potential, waves of possibility, and the potential was recognized as transcendent, beyond matter somehow.

But the fact that there is transcendent potential was not very clear for a long time. Then Aspect's experiment verified that this is not just theory, there really is transcendent potential, objects really do have connections outside of space and timeâ€"outside of space and time! What happens in this experiment is that an atom emits two quanta of light, called photons, going opposite ways, and somehow these photons affect one another's behavior at a distance, without exchanging any signals through space. Notice that: without exchanging any signals through space but instantly affecting each other. Instantaneously.

Now Einstein showed long ago that two objects can never affect each other instantly in space and time because everything must travel with a maximum speed limit, and that speed limit is the speed of light. So any influence must travel, if it travels through space, taking a finite time. This is called the idea of "locality." Every signal is supposed to be local in the sense that it must take a finite time to travel through space. And yet, Aspect's photonsâ€"the photons emitted by the atom in Aspect's experimentâ€"influence one another, at a distance, without exchanging signals because they are doing it instantaneouslyâ€"they are doing it faster than the speed of light. And therefore it follows that the influence could not have traveled through space. Instead the influence must belong to a domain of reality that we must recognize as the transcendent domain of reality.

WIE: That's fascinating. Would most physicists agree with that interpretation of his experiment?

AG: Well, physicists must agree with this interpretation of this experiment. Many times of course, physicists will take the following point of view: they will say, "Well, yeah sure, experiments. But this relationship between particles really isn't important. We mustn't look into any of the consequences of this transcendent domainâ€"if it can even be interpreted that way." In other words, they try to minimize the impact of this and still try to hold on to the idea that matter is supreme.

But in their heart they know, as is very evidenced. In 1984 or '85, at the American Physical Society meeting at which I was present, it is said that one physicist was heard saying to another physicist that, after Aspect's experiment, anyone who does not believe that something is really strange about the world must have rocks in his head.

WIE: So what you are saying is that from your point of view, which a number of others share, it is somehow obvious that one would have to bring in the idea of a transcendent dimension to really understand this.

AG: Yes, it is. Henry Stapp, who is a physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, says this quite explicitly in one of his papers written in 1977, that things outside of space and time affect things inside space and time. There's just no question that that happens in the realm of quantum physics when you are dealing with quantum objects. Now of course, the crux of the matter is, the surprising thing is, that we are always dealing with quantum objects because it turns out that quantum physics is the physics of every object. Whether it's submicroscopic or it's macroscopic, quantum physics is the only physics we've got. So although it's more apparent for photons, for electrons, for the submicroscopic objects, our belief is that all reality, all manifest reality, all matter, is governed by the same laws. And if that is so, then this experiment is telling us that we should change our worldview because we, too, are quantum objects.

WIE: These are fascinating discoveries which have inspired a lot of people. A number of books have already attempted to make the link between physics and mysticism. Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics and Gary Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters have both reached many, many people. In your book, though, you mention that there was something that you felt had not yet been covered which you feel is your unique contribution to all this. Could you say something about what you are doing that is different from what has been done before in this area?

AG: I'm glad that you asked that question. This should be clarified and I will try to explicate it as clearly as I can. The early work, like The Tao of Physics, has been very important for the history of science. However, these early works, in spite of supporting the spiritual aspect of human beings, all basically held on to the material view of the world nevertheless. In other words, they did not challenge the material realists' view that everything is made up of matter. That view was never put to any challenge by any of these early books. In fact, my book was the first one which challenged it squarely and which was still based on a rigorous explication in scientific terms. In other words, the idea that consciousness is the ground of being, of course, has existed in psychology, as transpersonal psychology, but outside of transpersonal psychology no tradition of science and no scientist has seen it so clearly.

It was my good fortune to recognize it within quantum physics, to recognize that all the paradoxes of quantum physics can be solved if we accept consciousness as the ground of being. So that was my unique contribution and, of course, this has paradigm-shifting potential because now we can truly integrate science and spirituality. In other words, with Capra and Zukavâ€"although their books are very goodâ€"because they held on to a fundamentally materialist paradigm, the paradigm is not shifting, nor is there any real reconciliation between spirituality and science. Because if everything is ultimately material, all causal efficacy must come from matter. So consciousness is recognized, spirituality is recognized, but only as causal epiphenomena, or secondary phenomena. And an epiphenomenal consciousness is not very good. I mean, it's not doing anything. So, although these books acknowledge our spirituality, the spirituality is ultimately coming from some sort of material interaction.

But that's not the spirituality that Jesus talked about. That's not the spirituality that Eastern mystics were so ecstatic about. That's not the spirituality where a mystic recognizes and says, "I now know what reality is like, and this takes away all the unhappiness that one ever had. This is infinite, this is joy, this is consciousness." This kind of exuberant statement that mystics make could not be made on the basis of epiphenomenal consciousness. It can be made only when one recognizes the ground of being itself, when one cognizes directly that One is All.

Now, an epiphenomenal human being would not have any such cognition. It would not make any sense to cognize that you are All. So that is what I am saying. So long as science remains on the basis of the materialist worldview, however much you try to accommodate spiritual experiences in terms of parallels or in terms of chemicals in the brain or what have you, you are not really giving up the old paradigm. You are giving up the old paradigm and fully reconciling with spirituality only when you establish science on the basis of the fundamental spiritual notion that consciousness is the ground of all being. That is what I have done in my book, and that is the beginning. But already there are some other books that are recognizing this too.

WIE: So there are people corroborating your ideas?

AG: There are people who are now coming out and recognizing the same thing, that this view is the correct way to go to explain quantum physics and also to develop science in the future. In other words, the present science has shown not only quantum paradoxes but also has shown real incompetence in explaining paradoxical and anomalous phenomena, such as parapsychology, the paranormalâ€"even creativity. And even traditional subjects, like perception or biological evolution, have much to explain that these materialist theories don't explain. To give you one example, in biology there is what is called the theory of punctuated equilibrium. What that means is that evolution is not only slow, as Darwin perceived, but there are also rapid epochs of evolution, which are called "punctuation marks." But traditional biology has no explanation for this.

However, if we do science on the basis of consciousness, on the primacy of consciousness, then we can see in this phenomenon creativity, real creativity of consciousness. In other words, we can truly see that consciousness is operating creatively even in biology, even in the evolution of species. And so we can now fill up these gaps that conventional biology cannot explain with ideas which are essentially spiritual ideas, such as consciousness as the creator of the world.

WIE: This brings to mind the subtitle of your book, How Consciousness Creates the Material World. This is obviously quite a radical idea. Could you explain a bit more concretely how this actually happens in your opinion?

AG: Actually, it's the easiest thing to explain, because in quantum physics, as I said earlier, objects are not seen as definite things, as we are used to seeing them. Newton taught us that objects are definite things, they can be seen all the time, moving in definite trajectories. Quantum physics doesn't depict objects that way at all. In quantum physics, objects are seen as possibilities, possibility waves. Right? So then the question arises, what converts possibility into actuality? Because, when we see, we only see actual events. That's starting with us. When you see a chair, you see an actual chair, you don't see a possible chair.

WIE: Rightâ€"I hope so.

AG: We all hope so. Now this is called the "quantum measurement paradox." It is a paradox because who are we to do this conversion? Because after all, in the materialist paradigm we don't have any causal efficacy. We are nothing but the brain, which is made up of atoms and elementary particles. So how can a brain which is made up of atoms and elementary particles convert a possibility wave that it itself is? It itself is made up of the possibility waves of atoms and elementary particles, so it cannot convert its own possibility wave into actuality. This is called a paradox. Now in the new view, consciousness is the ground of being. So who converts possibility into actuality? Consciousness does, because consciousness does not obey quantum physics. Consciousness is not made of material. Consciousness is transcendent. Do you see the paradigm-changing view right hereâ€"how consciousness can be said to create the material world? The material world of quantum physics is just possibility. It is consciousness, through the conversion of possibility into actuality, that creates what we see manifest. In other words, consciousness creates the manifest world.

WIE: To be honest, when I first saw the subtitle of your book I assumed you were speaking metaphorically. But after reading the book, and speaking with you about it now, I am definitely getting the sense that you mean it much more literally than I had thought. One thing in your book that really stopped me in my tracks was your statement that, according to your interpretation, the entire physical universe only existed in a realm of countless evolving possibilities until at one point, the possibility of a conscious, sentient being arose and that, at that point, instantaneously, the entire known universe came into being, including the fifteen billion years of history leading up to that point. Do you really mean that?

AG: I mean that literally. This is what quantum physics demands. In fact, in quantum physics this is called "delayed choice." And I have added to this concept the concept of "self-reference." Actually the concept of delayed choice is very old. It is due to a very famous physicist named John Wheeler, but Wheeler did not see the entire thing correctly, in my opinion. He left out self-reference. The question always arises, "The universe is supposed to have existed for fifteen billion years, so if it takes consciousness to convert possibility into actuality, then how could the universe be around for so long?" Because there was no consciousness, no sentient being, biological being, carbonbased being, in that primordial fireball which is supposed to have created the universe, the big bang. But this other way of looking at things says that the universe remained in possibility until there was self-referential quantum measurementâ€"so that is the new concept. An observer's looking is essential in order to manifest possibility into actuality, and so only when the observer looks, only then does the entire thing become manifestâ€"including time. So all of past time, in that respect, becomes manifest right at that moment when the first sentient being looks.

It turns out that this idea, in a very clever, very subtle way, has been around in cosmology and astronomy under the guise of a principle called the "anthropic principle." That is, the idea has been growing among astronomersâ€"cosmologists anywayâ€"that the universe has a purpose. It is so fine-tuned, there are so many coincidences, that it seems very likely that the universe is doing something purposive, as if the universe is growing in such a way that a sentient being will arise at some point.

WIE: So you feel there's a kind of purposiveness to the way the universe is evolving; that, in a sense, it reaches its fruition in us, in human beings?

AG: Well, human beings may not be the end of it, but certainly they are the first fruition, because here is then the possibility of manifest creativity, creativity in the sentient being itself. The animals are certainly sentient, but they are not creative in the sense that we are. So human beings certainly right now seem to be an epitome, but this may not be the final epitome. I think we have a long way to go and there is a long evolution to occur yet.

WIE: In your book you even go so far as to suggest that the cosmos was created for our sake.

AG: Absolutely. But it means sentient beings, for the sake of all sentient beings. And the universe is us. That's very clear. The universe is self-aware, but it is self-aware through us. We are the meaning of the universe. We are not the geographical center of the universeâ€"Copernicus was right about thatâ€"but we are the meaning center of the universe.

WIE: Through us the universe finds its meaning?

AG: Through sentient beings. And that doesn't have to be anthropocentric in the sense of only earthlings. There could be beings, sentient beings on other planets, in other starsâ€"in fact I am convinced that there areâ€"and that's completely consonant with this theory.

WIE: This human-centeredâ€"or even sentient-being-centeredâ€"stance seems quite radical at a time when so much of modern progressive thought, across disciplines from ecology to feminism to systems theory, is going in the opposite direction. These perspectives point more toward interconnectedness or interrelatedness, in which the significance of any one part of the wholeâ€"including one species, such as the human speciesâ€"is being de-emphasized. Your view seems to hark back to a more traditional, almost biblical kind of idea. How would you respond to proponents of the prevailing "nonhierarchical" paradigm?

AG: It's the difference between the perennial philosophy that we are talking about, monistic idealism, and what is called a kind of pantheism. That is, these viewsâ€"which I call "ecological worldviews" and which Ken Wilber calls the same thingâ€"are actually denigrating God by seeing God as limited to the immanent reality. On the face of it, this sounds good because everything becomes divineâ€"the rocks, the trees, all the way to human beings, and they are all equal and they are all divinityâ€"it sounds fine, but it certainly does not adhere to what the spiritual teachers knew. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna, "All these things are in me, but I am not in them." What does he mean by that? What he means is that "I am not exclusively in them."

So there is evolution, in other words, in the manifest reality. Evolution happens. That means that the amoeba is, of course, a manifestation of consciousness, and so is the human being. But they are not in the same stage. Evolutionarily, yes, we are ahead of the amoeba. And these theories, these ecological-worldview people, they don't see that. They don't rightly understand what evolution is because they are ignoring the transcendent dimension, they are ignoring the purposiveness of the universe, the creative play. Ken Wilber makes this point very, very well in his book Sex, Ecology, Spirituality.

WIE: So you would say they have part of the picture but that without this other aspect that you are bringing in, their view is veryâ€"

AG: It's very limited. And that's why pantheism is very limited. When Westerners started going to India, they thought it was pantheistic because it has many, many gods. Indian philosophy tends to see God in nature, in many thingsâ€"they worship rocks sometimes, that kind of thingâ€"so they thought it was pantheistic and only somewhat later did they realize that there is a transcendent dimension. In fact, the transcendent dimension is developed extremely well in Indian philosophy, whereas the transcendent dimension in the West is hidden in the cave of a very few esoteric systems such as the Gnostics and a few great masters like Meister Eckhart. In Jesus' teachings you can see it in the Gospel according to Thomas. But you have to really dig deep to find that thread in the West. In India, in the Upanishads and the Vedanta and the Bhagavad Gita, it is very much explicit. Now, pantheism sounds very good. But it's only part of the story. It's a good way to worship, it's a good way to bring spirituality into your daily life, because it is good to acknowledge that there is spirit in everything. But if we just see the diversity, see the God in everything, but don't see the God which is beyond every particular thing, then we are not realizing our potential. We are not realizing our Self. And so, truly, Self-realization involves seeing this pantheistic aspect of reality, but also seeing the transcendent aspect of reality.

WIE: In addition to being a scientist, you are also a spiritual practitioner. Could you talk a little bit about what brought you to spirituality?

AG: Well, I'm afraid that is a pretty usual, almost classic, case. The ideal classic case, of course, is the famous case of the Buddha, who recognized at the age of twenty-nine that all of his pleasure as a prince was really a waste of time because there is suffering in the world. For me it was not that drastic, but when I was about thirty-seven the world started to fall apart on me. I lost my research grant, I had a divorce and I was very lonely. And the professional pleasure that I used to get by writing physics papers stopped being pleasure.

I remember one time when I was at a conference and all day I had been going around, beating my own drums and arguing with people. Then in the evening when I was alone, I felt so lonely. And I realized that I had heartburn, and I had already exhausted a full bottle of Tums and still it would not go away. I discovered suffering; I discovered suffering literally. And it is that discovery of suffering that brought me to spirituality, because I couldn't think of anything else. I couldn't think of any other wayâ€"although I had given up the idea of God entirely and had been a materialist physicist for quite some time. In fact, when my young children asked me one time, "Are you an atheist?" I said something like, "Yeah." And, "Is there a God?" And I said, "No, I don't believe in God." That kind of thing was quite common for me to say. But in that era, around thirty-seven, that particular worldâ€"where God didn't exist and where the meaning of life came just from brain-pursuits of glory in a professionâ€"just did not satisfy me and did not bring happiness. In fact it was full of suffering. So I came to meditation. I wanted to see if there was any way of at least finding some solace, if not happiness. And eventually great joy came out of it, but that took time. And also, I must mention that I got married too, and the challenge of love was a very important one. In other words, I very soon discovered after I got married for the second time that love is very different than what I thought it was. So I discovered with my wife the meaning of love, and that was a big contribution also to my own spirituality.

WIE: It's interesting that, while you turned to spirituality because you felt that science wasn't really satisfying your own search for truth, you have nevertheless remained a scientist throughout.

AG: That's true. It's just that my way of doing science changed. What happened to me, the reason that I lost the joy of science, was because I had made it into a professional trip. I lost the ideal way of doing science, which is the spirit of discovery, the curiosity, the spirit of knowing truth. So I was not searching for truth anymore through science, and therefore I had to discover meditation, where I was searching for truth again, truth of reality. What is the nature of reality after all? You see the first tendency was nihilism, nothing exists; I was completely desperate. But meditation very soon told me that no, it's not that desperate. I had an experience. I had a glimpse that reality really does exist. Whatever it was I didn't know, but something exists. So that gave me the prerogative to go back to science and see if I could now do science with new energy and new direction and really investigate truth instead of investigating because of professional glory.

WIE: How then did your newly revived interest in truth, this spiritual core to your life, inform your practice of science?

AG: What happened was that I was not doing science anymore for the purpose of just publishing papers and doing problems which enabled you to publish papers and get grants. Instead, I was doing the really important problems. And the really important problems of today are very paradoxical and very anomalous. Well, I'm not saying that traditional scientists don't have a few important problems. There are a few important problems there too. But one of the problems I discovered very quickly that would lead me, I just intuited, to questions of reality was the quantum measurement problem.

You see, the quantum measurement problem is supposed to be a problem which forever derails people from any professional achievement because it's a very difficult problem. People have tried it for decades and have not been able to solve it. But I thought, "I have nothing to lose and I am going to investigate only truth, so why not see?" Quantum physics was something I knew very well. I had researched quantum physics all my life, so why not do the quantum measurement problem? So that's how I came to ask this question, "What agency converts possibility into actuality?" And it still took me from 1975 to 1985 until, through a mystical breakthrough, I came to recognize this.

WIE: Could you describe that breakthrough?

AG: Yes, I'd love to. It's so vivid in my mind. You see, the wisdom was in those daysâ€"and this was in every sort of book, The Tao of Physics, The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Fred Alan Wolf's Taking the Quantum Leap, and some other books tooâ€"everywhere the wisdom was that consciousness must be an emergent phenomenon of the brain. And despite the fact that some of these people, to their credit, were giving consciousness causal efficacy, no one could explain how it happened. That was the mystery because, after all, if it's an emergent phenomenon of the brain, then all causal efficacy must ultimately come from the material elementary particles. So this was a puzzle to me. This was a puzzle to everybody. And I just couldn't find any way to solve it. David Bohm talked about hidden variables, so I toyed with his ideas of an explicate order and an implicate order, that kind of thingâ€"but this wasn't satisfactory because in Bohm's theory, again, there is no causal efficacy that is given to consciousness. It is all a realist theory. In other words, it is a theory on which everything can be explained through mathematical equations. There is no freedom of choice, in other words, in reality. So I was just struggling and struggling because I was convinced that there is real freedom of choice.

So then one timeâ€"and this is where the breakthrough happenedâ€"my wife and I were in Ventura, California and a mystic friend, Joel Morwood, came down from Los Angeles, and we all went to hear Krishnamurti. And Krishnamurti, of course, is extremely impressive, a very great mystic. So we heard him and then we came back home. We had dinner and we were talking, and I was giving Joel a spiel about my latest ideas of the quantum theory of consciousness and Joel just challenged me. He said, "Can consciousness be explained?" And I tried to wriggle my way through that but he wouldn't listen. He said, "You are putting on scientific blinders. You don't realize that consciousness is the ground of all being." He didn't use that particular word, but he said something like, "There is nothing but God." And something flipped inside of me which I cannot quite explain. This is the ultimate cognition, that I had at that very moment. There was a complete about-turn in my psyche and I just realized that consciousness is the ground of all being. I remember staying up that night, looking at the sky and having a real mystical feeling about what the world is, and the complete conviction that this is the way the world is, this is the way that reality is, and one can do science. You see, the prevalent notionâ€"even among people like David Bohmâ€"was, "How can you ever do science without assuming that there is reality and material and all this? How can you do science if you let consciousness do things which are 'arbitrary'?" But I became completely convincedâ€"there has not been a shred of doubt ever sinceâ€"that one can do science on this basis. Not only that, one can solve the problems of today's science. And that is what is turning out. Of course all the problems did not get solved right on that night. That night was the beginning of a new way of doing science.

WIE: That's interesting. So that night something really did shift for you in your whole approach. And everything was different after that?

AG: Everything was different.

WIE: Did you then find, in working out the details of what it would mean to do science in this context, that you were able to penetrate much more deeply or that your own scientific thinking was transformed in some way by this experience?

AG: Right. Exactly. What happened was very interesting. I was stuck, as I said, I was stuck with this idea before: "How can consciousness have causal efficacy?" And now that I recognized that consciousness was the ground of being, within months all the problems of quantum measurement theory, the measurement paradoxes, just melted away. I wrote my first paper which was published in 1989, but that was just refinement of the ideas and working out details. The net upshot was that the creativity, which got a second wind on that night in 1985, took about another three years before it started fully expressing itself. But ever since I have been just blessed with ideas after ideas, and lots of problems have been solvedâ€"the problem of cognition, perception, biological evolution, mind-body healing. My latest book is called Physics of the Soul. This is a theory of reincarnation, all fully worked out. It has been just a wonderful adventure in creativity.

WIE: So it sounds pretty clear that taking an interest in the spiritual, in your case, had a significant effect on your ability to do science. Looking through the opposite end of the lens, how would you say that being a scientist has affected your spiritual evolution?

AG: Well, I stopped seeing them as separate, so this identification, this wholeness, the integration of the spiritual and the scientific, was very important for me. Mystics often warn people, "Look, don't divide your life into this and that." For me it came naturally because I discovered the new way of doing science when I discovered spirit. Spirit was the natural basis of my being, so after that, whatever I do, I don't separate them very much.

WIE: You mentioned a shift in your motivation for doing scienceâ€"how what was driving you started to turn at a certain point. That's one thing that we've been thinking about a lot as we've been looking into this issue: What is it that really motivates science? And how is that different from what motivates spiritual pursuit? Particularly, there have been some people we have discussedâ€"thinkers like E. F. Schumacher or Huston Smith, for exampleâ€"who feel that ever since the scientific revolution, when Descartes's and Newton's ideas took hold, the whole approach of science has been to try to dominate or control nature or the world. Such critics question whether science could ever be a genuine vehicle for discovering the deepest truths, because they feel that science is rooted in a desire to know for the wrong reasons. Obviously, in your work you have been very immersed in the scientific worldâ€"you know a lot of scientists, you go to conferences, you're surrounded by all of that and also, perhaps, you struggle with that motivation in yourself. Could you speak a little more about your experience of that?

AG: Yes, this is a very, very good question; we have to understand it very deeply.

The problem is that in this pursuit, this particular pursuit of science, including the books that we mentioned earlier, The Tao of Physics and The Dancing Wu Li Masters, even when spirituality is recognized within the materialist worldview, God is seen only in the immanent aspect of divinity. What that means is: you have said that there is only one reality. By saying that there is only one realityâ€"material realityâ€"even when you imbue matter with spirituality, because you are still dealing with only one level, you are ignoring the transcendent level. And therefore you are only looking at half of the pie; you are ignoring the other half. Ken Wilber makes this point very, very well. So what has to be done of courseâ€"and that's when the stigma of science disappearsâ€"is to include the other half into science. Now, before my work, I think it was very obscure how this inclusion has to be done. Although people like Teilhard de Chardin, Aurobindo or Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophy movement, recognized that such a science could have come, very few could actually see it.

So what I have done is to give actual flesh to all these visions that took place early in the century. And when you do that, when you recognize that science can be based on the primacy of consciousness, then this deficiency isn't there anymore. In other words then, the stigma that science is only separateness goes away. The materialist science is a separatist science. The new science, though, says that the material part of the world does exist, the separative movement is part of reality also, but it is not the only part of reality. There is separation, and then there is integration. So in my book The Self-Aware Universe I talk about the hero's journey for the entire scientific endeavor. I said that, well, four hundred years ago, with Galileo, Copernicus, Newton and others, we started the separatist sail and we went on a separate journey of separateness, but that's only the first part of the hero's journey. Then the hero discovers and the hero returns. It is the hero's return that we are now witnessing through this new paradigm.

http://www.wie.org/j11/goswami.asp?page=1

Why are they so violent? Even before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Moros would ransack and attack Visayan villages. Hoarding thousands of Visayans off in their ships to sell as slaves.

When the Spaniards came, they built lighthouses to warn of the incoming Moros.

It is a shame that Spain was unable to fully christianize the south. Now we have the effects of their violent jihadist nature.

Things to Consider


Once you're ready to ask the question, "does God exist?" here are a few observations to consider as you begin your search for an objective answer:

    1) Discoveries in astronomy have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the universe did, in fact, have a beginning. There was a single moment of creation.

    2) Advances in molecular biology have revealed vast amounts of information encoded in each and every living cell, and molecular biologists have discovered thousands upon thousands of exquisitely designed machines at the molecular level. Information requires intelligence and design requires a designer.

    3) Biochemists and mathematicians have calculated the odds against life arising from non-life naturally via unintelligent processes. The odds are astronomical. In fact, scientists aren't even sure if life could have evolved naturally via unintelligent processes. If life did not arise by chance, how did it arise?

    4) The universe is ordered by natural laws. Where did these laws come from and what purpose do they serve?

    5) Philosophers agree that a transcendent Law Giver is the only plausible explanation for an objective moral standard. So, ask yourself if you believe in right and wrong and then ask yourself why. Who gave you your conscience? Why does it exist?

    6) People of every race, creed, color, and culture, both men and women, young and old, wise and foolish, from the educated to the ignorant, claim to have personally experienced something of the supernatural. So what are we supposed to do with these prodigious accounts of divine healing, prophetic revelation, answered prayer, and other miraculous phenomena? Ignorance and imagination may have played a part to be sure, but is there something more?

Proof of God - Intelligent Design

What would constitute objective proof of God? Well, consider the following self-evident and universally recognized truth: Concept and design necessitate an intelligent designer. The presence of intelligent design proves the existence of an intelligent designer. It's simply cause and effect. In our search for proof of God's existence, we could examine the various claims of supernatural occurrences, determine whether or not these are legitimate experiences, and build a case for the existence of the supernatural, which would be a step towards identifying a supernatural Creator God. Or we can just apply what we already know and search for signs of intelligent design within creation itself.

We know that design necessitates a designer. In fact, in accordance with this fundamental axiom, design detection methodology is a prerequisite in many fields of human endeavor, including archaeology, anthropology, forensics, criminal jurisprudence, copyright law, patent law, reverse engineering, crypto analysis, random number generation, and SETI. And how do we recognize intelligent design? In general, we find "specified complexity" to be a reliable indicator of the presence of intelligent design. Chance can explain complexity alone but not specification -- a random sequence of letters is complex but not specified (it's meaningless). A Shakespearean sonnet is both complex and specified (it's meaningful). We can't have a Shakespearean sonnet without Shakespeare. (William A. Dembski, The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities, 1998.)

Proof of God - Nature

So where's the proof of God's existence? In accordance with our familiar axiom and in light of the tremendous advances we've made in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics and information theory, the proof of God is all around us!

Through the microscope, we observe the E. coli bacterial flagellum. The bacterial flagellum is what propels E. coli bacteria through its microscopic world. It consists of about 40 individual protein parts including a stator, rotor, drive-shaft, U-joint, and propeller. It's a microscopic outboard motor! The individual parts come into focus when magnified 50,000 times (using electron micrographs). And even though these microscopic outboard motors run at an incredible 100,000 rpm, they can stop on a microscopic dime. It takes only a quarter turn for them to stop, shift directions and start spinning 100,000 rpm in the opposite direction! The flagellar motor has two gears (forward and reverse), is water-cooled, and is hardwired into a signal transduction (sensory mechanism) so that it receives feedback from its environment. ("Unlocking the Mystery of Life," video documentary by Illustra Media, 2002.)

When we apply the general principles of detecting specified complexity to biologic systems (living creatures), we find it reasonable to infer the presence intelligent design. Take, for example, the bacterial flagellum's stator, rotor, drive-shaft, U-joint, and propeller. It is not convenient that we've given these parts these names - that's truly their function. If you were to find a stator, rotor, drive-shaft, U-joint, or propeller in any vehicle, machine, toy or model, you would recognize them as the product of an intelligent source. No one would expect an outboard motor -- much less one as incredible as the flagellar motor -- to be the product of a chance assemblage of parts. Motors are the product of intelligent design.

Furthermore, the E. coli bacterial flagellum simply could not have evolved gradually over time. The bacterial flagellum is an "irreducibly complex" system. An irreducibly complex system is one composed of multiple parts, all of which are necessary for the system to function. If you remove any one part, the entire system will fail to function. Every individual part is integral. There is absolutely no naturalistic, gradual, evolutionary explanation for the bacterial flagellum. (Michael Behe, Darwin's Black Box, 1996.)

The bacterial flagellum (not to mention the irreducibly complex molecular machines responsible for the flagellum's assembly) is just one example of the specified complexity that pervades the microscopic biological world. Molecular biologist Michael Denton wrote, "Although the tiniest bacterial cells are incredibly small, weighing less than 10-12 grams, each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery, made up altogether of one hundred thousand million atoms, far more complicated than any machinery built by man and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world." (Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, 1986, p. 250.)



Proof of God - His Fingerprints are Everywhere
Where is the proof of God? If we're willing to open our eyes, we'll see the fingerprints of God all around us and all throughout us. Our very existence proves the existence of a Creator God.

Is there any scientific proof of God?

Before we can discuss the existence of scientific proof of God, we need to identify what we mean by proof. Also, to know what type of evidence supporting the existence of God would be considered by science, we also need to know which definition of science applies.

The definition of science has changed within the last century from an overall search for truth to a more limited scope of natural explanations of natural processes. Using the current narrow scope definition, there is not any scientific proof of God. The truth or untruth of this statement is not based upon evidence or lack of evidence, but by definition alone. Even though there is extensive, solid evidence for God’ s existence, none of that evidence would be admissible in the science court of law using the current definition.

Consequently, to know what evidence really supports the existence of God, we need to base our statements on the old classic definition of science to eliminate the disqualification of the evidence. The kind of evidence we need to consider is the same type that would be admissible in a court of law.

The level of proof is different in a criminal court than a civil court. In a civil court the prosecution only needs to prove that the preponderance of evidence tips the scales in their direction. Alternatively, in a criminal court a higher level of proof is required. The prosecutor needs to provide evidence that proves the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

What types of evidence are admissible in courtrooms? These include direct evidence such as fingerprints, DNA, or eyewitness accounts. Also, circumstantial evidence is normally admissible unless it is abnormally weak. Although circumstantial evidence is indirect, it can be powerful evidence to prove guilt or innocence.


Scientific Proof of God â€" The Evidence

    * First, the non-existence of God cannot be proven. One cannot prove a universal negative. Alternatively, the existence of God is provable.

    * The concept, design, and intricate details of our world necessitate an intelligent designer.

    * Both direct and indirect evidence for God’s existence are well known and well documented. Nothing in history is better known or better documented than the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We even use the year of His birth as the basis for our calendar. He perfectly matched the over 100 unique Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament regarding His birth, life, death, and resurrection. The laws of probability cannot give us a reasonable explanation for either the Messianic predictions or the resurrection, let alone both by the same person.

      Jesus’ miracles were witnessed by many and were documented redundantly for additional corroboration. He was seen by at least 500 people after His resurrection. He was seen ascending into heaven. His transfiguration was seen by Peter, James, and John. His wisdom in dealing with many circumstances was astounding. He never promoted Himself or His miracles. C. S. Lewis stated that He couldn’t have just been a good teacher. He was either a liar, lunatic, or Lord. He didn’t even come close to meeting the profile of a liar or lunatic, so He had to be God.

    * Jesus Christ also supported the truth of the Old Testament and quoted it many times. Consequently, with Jesus Christ, we have an eyewitness to the truth of the Old Testament. This gives credibility to the creation account and God’s interaction with man. The entire Old Testament account is about how God is trying to have a relationship with man while man is separating himself from God by sin. It tells how God is long-suffering and merciful and ultimately how God sent His Son to die for our sins so God could ultimately have a relationship with us.

God’s interaction with man in the Old Testament was often and powerful. Some of the main interactions included Adam, Cain, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, the Israelites, the prophets, and the kings. In addition to Jesus’ testimony to the truth of the Old Testament, ancient manuscripts, archaeology, and internal consistency also testify to its truth. Consequently, much direct evidence including eyewitness accounts and indirect evidence corroborate the existence of God and the truth of the Bible.

http://www.allaboutcreation.org/scientific-proof-of-god-faq.htm

Think about it.  

Quote from: kiamoy` on May 02, 2008, 11:11:01 PM
naa man gane..


da isi winsi ispayder cam up da watir outttt
down came da rainbow and wash da ispayder outt
up come sa sunshine an dray them ap agenn
an da isi winsi ispayder cam up da water out..

eh??



Thats truly a Filipino-esque rendition, eh Bems?

lol

Quote from: michael-ligalig on January 07, 2008, 08:23:47 PM


Anda, Bohol
Photographed by Michael Ligalig

Wow na Wow!

Man, you have no idea what American college students are missing out on. Instead of going to Mexico or Florida or the Bahamas for Spring Break, they should go to Bohol.

And bask in the waters of Anda, Panglao etc.

He is known by many American boxing fanatics as the "Filipino Beast from the East"

He seems calm and reserved at first. But put him in the ring, and he will destroy those in his way.
Mexicans, Filipinos, Americans alike; they all fear the so called, "PAC MAN"

True, sometimes, lol

The next person loves the taste of coco.

The Knights of Columbus is a fraternal Knighthood, developed originally in the United States. It became world reknown for its humanitarian efforts and faith-related projects. Its membership has spread to Canada, UK, France, Germany, the Philippines, Mexico, Argentina, most of south and central america and all over western europe.


The original knights that protected the Holy Church were the Swiss Guards. The original order of Swiss Guards came about during the 15th century--where Swiss knights volunteered to protect the Papacy against those who would circumvent the power of the Papacy. Namely the mounting armies of Spain, France, and Holy Roman Empire (Germany).

The Swiss Guards
In Defense of the Pope, and the Vatican, the Holy Magesterium.











Acriter et Fideliter. En Deius, En Pacem, En Sacrimentum, En Patris, En Fili, En Spiritus Sancti
In translation: Honor and Fidelity. In God, In Peace, In the Sacraments, In the Father, In the Son. And In the Holy Spirit

More power to Tubag Bohol. First ABS-CBN, next Fox News, CNN and BBC World!

Okey ra pood to drink soda here and there, so long as it is in moderate levels. Always detoxify your system with a nice glass of water before you sleep.

I watched this video again and I cannot help but smile in hearing President Arroyo's voice. Her binisaya is perfect.

I loved it when she said this, "guapo kaayo atong karsada karoon, atong pantalan, guapo kaayo ang Bohol"

haha. Go Bohol! Go Philippines!

Thanks for the link, pare, I never knew about the Global Filipino Conference. I must say that their mission and goals are nothing short of inspirational and motivational. Glad to read that there are likeminded Filipino scholars who are allocating resources for this.

O man, this video brought me to tears when I listened to it today. Its been a while since I was able to hear this song in church, beautiful kaayo.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6BhDuCnmNNY

Lyrics

I am the bread of life, all who come to me shall not hunger
All who believe in me shall not thirst
No one can come to me, unless the Father beakon

And I will raise you up, and I will raise, you up, and I will raise you up, on the last day!
Unless you eat of the flesh of the son of man
And drink of His blood, and drink of His blood, you cannot have life within you

Yes, Lord, I believe, that you are the Christ, the son of God who has come into the world.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35

I am that bread of life.  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

John 6:48-58

Quote from: simplylee on May 02, 2008, 02:17:02 PM
daghan salamat ninjong tanan. God has been and always will be giving His grace provisions to me and my family maybe not financially but with friends like you and social prosperity. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Amen, Tita!
Warm regards na lang. Ajo-Ajo.

Hopefully our Chinese brothers will engage in fair and honest business.

Like my Lolo Mariano; he was an honest and fair Chinese businessman.

haha, palamuut man diay ka, lol.

Sige, regards

Quote from: grazie7y on May 02, 2008, 05:25:16 PM
Dong, apil ang Knights of Columbus ani?

Yes, 'te. The Knights of Columbus is a Fraternal Knighthood based on the character of chivalry, religious order, and the protection of the Catholic Church. The KOC was established to increase the faith, and most of all, to protect the Church. Knights of Columbus are not used to fight, its main goal is to spearhead the needs of the church in the communities it is located in. Where there is hunger, they help to fight it, where there is need, they help to alleviate it. They assist in church activities and protect the parishoners who come to visit the House of God. Provide safety for those who come to church in their weekly pilgrimage to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Knights of the Sultanic Majesty
Soldiers of the Islamic Caliphate


The Caliphate was Vast. And Powerful. Let that be known.


The power of the Caliphate stretched across all of Northern Africa, the Middle East and even parts of southern Europe

The Arabic Knights that were hired by the swords of sultans and by the Caliph were as fierce as their European counterparts. They were masters of the horse, and speed was their main priority. The only difference was the style of armor. Arab knights preferred light armour, and did not utilize large shields as that of European knights. Arab soldiers preferred horse-back artillery using archery and camel-based archery. Their swords were bent and arched, effective for cavalry-based attacks. Generally, Arab Cavalry was effective against European cavalry when the numbers favored the Arabs. European heavy cavalry was basically unstoppable. Specially French, Spanish and German ones. When it came to infantry-based warefare, the Arabs had the advantage. Utilizing siege weaponry and a larger infantry horde.

They were brave soldiers, brave knights, nonetheless.


The romanticized Arab Knight


Arab Cavalry


Sultanic Herald


Light Arabic Cavalry (scout)


Arabic Heavy Infantry
-Taking the walls of Jerusalem


Arabic Heavy Infantry
-Massive Armies
-The Army of the Caliphate was said to have numbered over 250,000 amassed.
-They were said to have dried up entire rivers when they marched.


Arabic mastery of Siege Units
-The Trebuchet Unit was used by Arabs
-Later the same concept was exported back to Europe; where it was popularized

The Knights of France

The French were notable chivalric Lords. Their bitter struggle in defending their borders against multiple powers, namely against the Feared Spanish Empire, the English, and the Holy Roman Empire (German Empire). The presence of three major enemies brought prestige to France for Her ability to hold her own ground against these powers. France' monarchy utilized multiple barons, who had control of hundreds of knights. In order to control and unify Avignon, and the Parisian plain, French monarchs married their daughters to powerful French Noble Lords to guarantee the loyalty of knights.

France, with the use of her knights, would eventually kick the English out of Normandy, and would chase the Spaniards out of Bordeaux and back to the Pyranese mountains, where Spain remains to this day. French knights were used in the late 16th to the early 17th centuries to mount pressure on the Italian principalities for dominant control of Italia and the Vatican.

When Spain focused her interest in the New World and Her newly claimed Philippine Islands, Spain acquiesced its claims to the Netherlands and to Sicily. This led to a conflict between France and Germany to strive to control the Italian peninsula. As a result of this intense rivalry against the Germans, France developed one of the largest Heavy Cavalries in Western Europe.

The armour of French Knights illustrates this discourse.



French Heavy Cavalry


Heavy Infantry--Artillery Unit



Royal Armour-Worn by French Lords, French Princes, French Kings


Heavy Infantry--Halberd
-Deployed for anti-cavalry purposes
-Utilized the halberd behind them to cleave horses and to knock off heavy Cavalry


Royal French Armour



Typical Royal Armour worn by French Kings
-Note the King's Royal Insignia on the crown of the helmet
-Note the Royal blue colors

The Knights of Spain:
Los Soldados Real de la Imperium Hispanidad

The crusade to drive the Moors from Spain, four hundred years of almost constant warfare interspersed with skirmishes and short periods of armed peace, was not only the longest of all European wars but was the only crusade to achieve its objective. The role played by the knights of the Military Orders was a crucial one; their monastic structure, the harsh discipline and the devotion of the knights to the cause of liberating their nation from the invader, gave them an unmatched strength of purpose. By granting key strategic fortresses to the knights, the Iberian Kings of Castille, Aragón, León and Portugal were able to establish border outposts in newly conquered territories whose boundaries were continually pushing back the areas controlled by the Moors. With the success of the Reconquista and the expulion of the Moors, the four Orders lost their independence from secular authorities when they were put under the "perpetual administration" of the Spanish Crown. They then found a new role as an elite corps of the nobility, maintaining their castles and estates as commanderies to provide incomes for those who had distinguished themselves in the service of the Monarch. With the loss of their estates in the nineteenth century their role became purely honorary and the Republic attempted to suppress them entirely, although this was contrary to Canon Law under which they were regulated as Religious-Military Orders founded by Papal Bull. Restored under the present Monarchy, they have been maintained as exclusively Catholic, Noble Orders dependent on the Crown. Spanish knights would not only conquer moorish lands, but lands in the new world. They are forever known in Western History as Los Coquistadores Majestad, colloquially "The Majestic Conquerors".


Royal Standard Herald;
A light knight, armed with chainmail and royal banner to signify the arrival of an Army.
Spanish Armies deployed multiple Royal Heralds to pronounce the arrival of a Corp Commander,
or to signify and announce the arrival of the Royal Army, commanded by the Spanish King Himself.


Standard Men-at-Arms. Suited in standard chain mail.


Spanish standard infantry. Normally, these soldiers would wear a banner over their armour.


Standard Nobility Armour. Worn by either Noble Barons, or members of the Spanish Royal Family.
Worn also by Commanders and officers.


Royal Spanish Heavy Infantry
-The shock troops of the Spanish Infantry.
-Spain utilized these troops to conquer the whole Iberian penninsula and also in Her campaign to control southern Italy and the Netherlands in the 15th and 16th century. German and French armies fell to Spanish heavy infantry.


Royal Armour.
Worn by high ranking princes, and by the Kings of Spain.
Usually, royal nobles would not walk, but sit on an armoured Horse and command heavy cavalry.
And would run down the enemy with the hooves of their horses.


Heavy Spanish Cavalry
-The Pride of the Royal Spanish Armies.
These horsemen brought fear and shock to French civilians, Germans, Flemish, and even brought the Vatican to Her knees when Spain took control of Sicilia in the late 16th century. And decimated the Aztecs, and Incans in the New World.


Imperial Spanish Conquistadores
-Standard outfit and armour of 16th centurian soldiers of the Empire.
-The curved helmet was effective in bouncing axe and heavy sword blows
-Its smaller allowing movability for soldiers who were sent to the jungles of South and Central America and the Philippines/Pacifica


Conquistadores con Caballo
-Standard Cavalry units that were sent to conquor the Aztecs, Incans and the Philippines


The Imperial Armour


Emperor Philip II the Great
-The absolute monarch of the Spanish Empire that conquored the new world
-Philippines is named after Him.
-Note his standard armour, it bears the royal insignia on the chest


Portrait of Philip II with full amour; made during his rise to the throne.
-The same year that 'Las Islas Filipinas' was named after him by Magellan in 1521.


Emperor Charles II's chest plate
-note the Imperial Spanish insignia


The royal banner


Imperial Helmet, worn specifically by the Emperor of Spain
-This same style was worn by Philipp II the Great
-Worn also by Charles II

For years, I've always had a secret love for the concept of the knight and knighthood. I've read into European knights, Arabian Knight errants as well as the Asian version of a knight errant, per se the Japanese Samurai, the Chinese soldier errant and Indian warlords.

So I'll be posting some information of knights from different region of the world. Pictures and information will be included.
Those who are interested in the subject matter, please feel free to contribute to the thread, post pictures or even ask any questions.

Draw your swords! Let us duel! 

'te di pood ko ana, the weight would be too much. We need someone stronger, resilient and as political as Pres. Garcia. I know there are many candidates in Bohol that would bring so much pride in our beloved Bohol and to the entire Republic.

When President Garcia was still president of the Philippines, the country was the 2nd richest country and highly developed nation in the Asian realm. Standard of living was high, distribution was high, education was admirable. And most of all, the military of the Philippines was second only to the United States in the region.

We will have this again. I know it.

The usual? Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and one time one thought I was calling to Bangla (east India) lol.

I know the local manager tho, Rajeet Singh. Good guy, we always have side conversations on asian politics. Buutan bitaw na ang mga Indians. They're cool guys in my book.

Quote from: B:) on May 02, 2008, 04:38:44 AM
hehehe yes Bran I did that too using phonecard. And I hated it, they don't seem to follow the exact minutes they tell you.
Like I said, when we switched to Cablevision for our landline, they have an offering of $19.95 flat fee to international calls with 250 minutes regardless what line I call either mobile or landline. So I took it and i'm very happy since then. If I exceed 250 mins.then they will charge me another 19.95 but so far I haven't done it yet.

haha, igsoon, tinuud bitaw!

I remember my parents always asked me to go and get the 'tellibabad' phone card from our local filipino store. Then one time when I bought it, dili ning work--apparently the company closed. lol! I was like wtf? Now we just get Smart Card or Call Asia card at the local Seven Eleven.

Man, i gotta love the indians who own the local seven eleven because they always ask me what country am i calling to. I joke around with them and tell them, "Guess". Hahaha. Yea I'm already digressing from the topic but hey! o well, lol.

Beth, those are really nice rates, man. Do they have like under the table surcharges or no? Thanks, igsoon.

Quote from: musiclover0526 on May 02, 2008, 05:55:48 AM
ilang minutes man pod na 5$ na card diay?

Depende, some cards that are $5 allow 50 minutes, then there are cards that allow only 30 minutes.
The card that we use only allows 30 minutes so we usually buy packs of cards, lol. The annoying part is that whenever we call home it takes forever jud to connect. At least 2-3 minutes is waisted just trying to connect.

But okey ra pood so long as we can get to hear our Lolo Ciano's voice
and ang mga pariente. Okey ra man.

Happiness is hearing my mommy's voice on the phone.

I am impressed by her binisaya skills, haha.

I think its time for another Boholano to sit on the chair of Malacanang. We need another Carlos P. Garcia as president. An honest President.

Ay, someday I hope that one of our youth will take the challenge.

Thanks for the video link, brod Mike. Lingaw-lingaw.

Happy Birthday, Ms. Lee!

On your birthday I wish you much pleasure and joy;
I hope all of your wishes come true.
May each hour and minute be filled with delight,
And your birthday be perfect for you!

Happy Birthday!

Warmly,

Quote from: Ginger on May 02, 2008, 12:55:22 AM
.....sa kabukiran! 

     


     


     

whaaat? Dude that's crazy, aren't they even afraid they'll fall off?

No way man, no way I'd do something like that. I'll stick to hiking mountains.

Crocodiles in Palawaan should be hunted down. These salt water crocodiles are not endangered, they are found all over the rich islands of the South Pacific. In Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.

There are old stories by Polynesian people of how giant salt water crocodiles would attack villages and consume dozens. These monster behemoths can grow up to and even longer than 30 feet. The salt water crocodiles in southern India are so large that they are known to attack even old elephants, hunting in packs and drowning even an Indian elephant. Then feast on its carcass.

In Indonesia, crocodile-attacks are also a growing concern because of the growing human population. Inter-species competition. As for Filipinos and Indonesians, we are aggressive fishers and are taking the salt water crocodile's natural food: the fisheries. Human settlement in Palawaan and the overall growing population is displacing many crocodiles from their natural habitat. They are forced into the "fight or flight response" position. Either to retreat or to fight for their territory. In this case, this giant salt water crocodile killed a human youth, either due to hunger or to fight against human encroachment.

As sad as the death of this boy is, it is very biological and ecology-oriented. We see alot of this same phenomenon in the animal world. When two apex species live next to each other and compete each other for the same valuable resource; it is inevitable  that they will clash. We see this in the Sarangheti of Africa. Hyenas and Lions clash with one another because both are apex predators who hunt the same prey. Hyena packs will attack lion cubs, and in response to that, Lionesses will hunt down an entire clan of Hyenas. There is a war-orientation to this because when Lionesses or an Alpha Lion male kills hyenas, they will not eat them. They kill them just to exterminate competition.

Humans, as the masters of the planet are in the highest echelon of predators. Lions, crocodiles, wolves, bears all fall prey to Man. It is natural that Man will clash with other apex predators. To kill or be killed.

In the long run, Man will always win. God has equipped us with something that other animals do not have. The Mind, and Human Logical thinking. It is what makes us pseudo-divine. Made In His Own Image.

Quote from: grazie7y on May 02, 2008, 05:44:28 AM
On the subject line, What's wrong with freedom of expression, there is nothing wrong with freedom of expression if we know our freedom to understand the limitations and our responsibility as decent people.

Point in case is the sermon of Jeremiah Wright.  I don't think he it is still exercising his freedom of speech. IMO, he is abusing already his power as a pastor. What he said is I think reprehensible.  It's just so sad that Obama is dragged in what Pastor Wright has been saying in the pulpit.

I feel sorry for Sen. Obama because of Rev. Wrights politically-based rants. He is only looking for media attention, at the expense of Sen. Obama.

Quote from: B:) on May 02, 2008, 04:24:24 AM
Bran, you're right about that. Actually not only that certain church you mentioned but there are many others too like in the west side.
That's why I don't understand what they mean about soooo conservative and sooo lovin God and yet what they do are so unrealistic concerning to other human being, I just don't get it.

Mike, what you are doing makes this forum site so unique with discipline, respect and traffic control in all of our "Freedom of Expression" way of posting, commenting and replies.
That's why everyone loves to keep coming back.

Amen, igsoon, Amen.

Last semester there were neo-evangelical recruiters on campus that came without the permission of our college administration (this is a violation of byrules and the words they were saying to students were downright harassment).

I was walking down to my Medical Psychology class in Carnegie Hall and I was approached by three individuals, one old man and two middle aged women who had a very dubious look in their faces. They surrounded me and my friend Bryan (as we both were going to the same class) and asked us questions.
The kinds of things they were asking and saying were rude and hypocritical. They asked me if I was christian, if I believed in Christ, and to all of these questions I answered yes-of course. Then started talking to me in scripture and then asked me what 'christian sect' I was part of. I proudly said that I was Roman Catholic.

Then out of nowhere one of the middle aged ladies started laughing at me. Calling me a follower of rapists etc. Telling me that the Catholic Church is a false sect, and that all catholics are doomed to hell, will burn etc etc. Telling me to convert or else I will perish eternal damnation. I was so disgusted by these old phonies; these wolves in sheeps clothing.

They were liars and decievers; bringing out scriptural text from the book of Leviticus, on reference to Sodom and Gomorrah. They did not know that I was well versed in scripture and refuted their arguments. Telling them that the arguments they were making were out of base, since they were old testament; and referred to Sodom and Gamorrah. Such judgement was made during the time of Abraham, thousands of years before the birth of Christ. I made specific reference to Matthew and called them hypocrites; for who are they to judge? The only one who can judge the soul of men is God himself, for if we judge others we make ourselves judges and above the law of God, but we are not. All are judged by God's law.

The old gentleman tried to give me a small blue pocket bible, I told him no thank you. As I have the Gospel in my own room. The completed Bible, the original Catholic Bible.

These evangelicals harassed many students that day and I was so disgusted what they were saying. Twisting the scripture of God for perverse meanings, and laughing at those who were different from them.
Christ tells us to beware of false prophets, and those who mock the word of God for perverse uses. To instill hate and to hurt. The word of God came to save, and to claim His Children.

Gospel tells us that God IS Love. And those who do not know love, do not know God the Almighty. Christ  IS Love. He is NOT hate, not envy, not wretchedness, not blame, not feeble, not wrong, not conniving. All of such bad traits are of the devil. Part of his lies that would turn the faithful to unbelievers.

REMEMBER this,
And I say also unto thee-that is, "As thou hast borne such testimony to Me, even so in return do I to thee."And I declare to you that you are Peter, and that upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the might of Hades shall not triumph over it.
-Matt 16:18

Beloved Simon Peter,I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
-Matt 18:18

This is a reminder for us to be open minded. Open our Heart. Christ Jesus was and IS open minded, FULL OF LOVE and MERCY. For HIS name is LOVE. Did he turn away Mary Magdalen, a sinner? Did he not heal those who were wretched and sinners? Did he not cast away the devils from the possessed? Did he not befriend Nicodemus, the tax collector? Did he not conquor pagan ROME through His Blood?
Christ Jesus tells us to live by his example. And to love one another and be open minded. Not to be like the pharisees Jewish Priests who condemned our savior. Calling him a blasphemer.

This is why I'm very sensitive to conversations with neo-evangelicals who twist the old and true meaning of scripture. I've had many a discussion with them in the past. Many of them are so closed minded.

haha, the turtle finally hatched out of his shell. Looking to the deep blue sea.

Kummusta man ka Nick!

Dali na, sud na sa balay kai na on raba ang AC.
Dali, tugnaw raba sa sud.

Pare, igsoon man ta tanan diri. We are all Bol-anons in here. You are now our Family Member, please don't be shy, ha? See you in the forum.

God Bless You,

Quote from: Macky Ferniz on May 02, 2008, 03:42:25 AM
On the brighter side, our electricity will dramatically go down because our state holds vast resources like the geothermal plant in Leyte and in Bohol alone we have hydro-electrict. Presently, Leyte's Electricity rate is the same as in Metro Manila, despite of their geothermal power plant. In principle, Leyte is paying the losses of Metro Manila due to its over use of electricity and inavailability of resources.

Federal system would exclude our Treasury and Budget system solely for Central Visayas. We will be functioning as an independent Economy.

With these Federal system, the Airport in Panglao would make a good sense. Bohol will not be over-burdenend with it's maintainance as Cebu, Negros, Leyte, etc. would contribute as one State.

Central Visayas State would be a strong state with the following:
1. Bohol - Tourism and Agriculture
2. Cebu - Industrial / Commercial
3. Leyte - Geothermal Powerplant (Energy). Also wind energy from the Pacific could be harvested.
4. Negros - Education (Home of Siliman University), Agriculture
5. Other smaller Provinces could also be developed for Tourism.
6. Small Islands - Tourism, Fish Farming, Seaweed farming, prawn farming, etc.

All these are great contributing factor that could make Central Visayas State an Economic Tiger.

A united Central Visayas would awaken the Philippines. I am looking forward to this and the revitalization of the Visayas. Perhaps, in the near future, the national tongue will be Bisaya.

God Bless the Republic of the Philippines!
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Isang diwa at Isang Bansa!

Taga asa man diay ka sa ato-a, pre?
Welcome to Tubag Bohol!

Welcome to Tubag Bohol! Salamat Kaayo for joining our growing and warm Tubag Bohol Family.

Where smart and brilliant minds coexist with each other and talk about anything!
So tell us more about yourself, Raldampong.
What brought you to Tubag Bohol?


Welcome to the Family!

Linkud na, kaon na ta. Naa raba'y chicken adobo, humbang baboy, diniguan ug pancit bihon sa table. Dali na, kaon na ta! 

Quote from: benelynne on April 30, 2008, 09:26:18 AM
Chinese struggle to orgasm, easier for Italians -poll

SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters Life!) - The Chinese might be top global performers when it comes to business, but during sex they appear to be struggling to reach their peak.

Couples from China and Hong Kong are the least likely to reach orgasm during sex, while the Italians and Spanish claim to have no problems climaxing, a global sex survey showed on Tuesday.

Less than a quarter -- 24 percent -- of those surveyed from China and Hong Kong were able to achieve an orgasm every time they had sex.

Italy, Spain and Mexico tied for top place, achieving orgasms 66 percent of the time, said the Durex Sexual Wellbeing survey, which polled 26,000 people in 26 countries.

The French, famous for their romantic overtures, came in at a middling 48 percent of the time -- the global average, the survey said.

Other Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore ranked poorly with those polled saying they only reached orgasm 27 percent and 36 percent of the time respectively.

Of those who manage to climax, the Japanese were the least satisfied with the intensity of the orgasm while Mexicans and Brazilians said they were the most satisfied.

Women climaxed less than men, with 32 percent saying they reached the peak every time they had sex, compared with 63 percent of men.

Factors that enhanced an orgasm included delaying climax, longer foreplay time and having a strong emotional relationship, the survey said.

The survey also found that while men preferred to orgasm with a partner, women achieved an orgasm more easily through masturbation.

"If you want to have an orgasm, it's important that you allow yourself to surrender to the good feelings you are experiencing," said Kevan Wylie, a sexual health expert, in a statement.

Hmmm, very interesting article.

If I can infer, couples should work on some acting before the act. lol. Stimulation before harvesting.

haha, Beth, I bet you're starting to plant veggies in your garden, ha?
I was talking to my mom the other day raba and she already mentioned her garden needing cultivation. I know full well that when I get back home, I'm gonna have to spread new top soil in her garden. She's been talking about tomatoes, and the green beens again. Ah, those blasted green beens that don't grow properly lol.

God, how I miss New Jersey. The land is so flat and the people are so warm.

Wow! A Ph.D student in astrophysics? My hats off to this incredible and honorable Filipino scholar!
Congratulations, yet another beacon of pride we Filipino students can look up to.

Wow, a summa cum laude in college and now she's a student at the prestigious Princeton University. An Ivy League university in the United States. What a brilliant mind Ms. Reinabelle Co Reyes must be. What intelligent children she will have in the future.

Let us march on, fellow Filipino student scholars! Let us bring pride to our Philippine Fatherland!

I didn't know that there were that many Salt Water crocodiles in Palawaan.





This is a typical salt water crocodile found in the remote islands of Indonesia and in the South Pacific. These behemoths grow as long as 30 feet and can weigh over 2 tons.

Looking at this crocodile's picture, it could surely 'swallow' a little boy as it did to the child.

Dios Ko, what a horrible event. I hope they find this crocodile and bring justice to the family.

My condolences to his family.

IRAN has handed a feminist a suspended sentence of 10 lashes and six months in prison, the Kargozaran newspaper has reported, in the fourth such punishment for a women's rights activist in Iran within weeks.
The sentence for Rezvan Moghadam imposed by Tehran's revolutionary tribunal is suspended for three years, meaning it will be implemented if she repeats the stated offence within that time.

Moghadam and 32 other women activists were arrested in front of Tehran's revolutionary tribunal in March 2007, where five feminists were being tried for taking part in a demonstration in June 2006.

The exact nature of the charges against her was not made clear.

In recent weeks the court has handed three other women's rights activists - Nahid Jafari, Nasrin Afzali and Marzieh Mortazi Langueroudi - identical suspended sentences for taking part in the same 2007 demonstration.

Iran has exerted mounting pressure on women's rights advocates, and in recent months several have been arrested for calling for changes to Iranian laws or for taking part in public protests.

The activists have been promoting the "one million signature'' campaign backed by Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi - an attempt to change Iranian laws that discriminate against women by collecting signatures online and in person.

The five feminists tried in March 2007 were accused of acting against national security for the June 2006 demonstration in Tehran's Haft-e Tir square, where 70 people were arrested amid allegations of police brutality.

Protesters demanded equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.

ARCTIC sea ice, sometimes billed as Earth's air conditioner for its moderating effects on world climate, will probably shrink to a record low level this year, scientists predicted today.

In releasing the forecast, climate researcher Sheldon Drobot of the University of Colorado called the changes in Arctic sea ice "one of the more compelling and obvious signs of climate change."

If that prediction holds true, it would be the third time in the past five years that Arctic sea ice retreated to record lows, the scientists said in a statement.

That retreat is caused by warming temperatures and the spread of younger, thinner, less hardy ice in the region.

Based on satellite data and temperature records, the researchers forecast a 59 percent chance the annual minimum sea ice record would be broken again in 2008.

In the past decade, Arctic sea ice declined by roughly 10 percent, with a record drop in 2007 that left a total minimum ice cover of 4.1 million square kilometres.

That represented a decline of 1.1 million square kilometres from the previous record low in 2005 -- an area the size of Texas and California combined.

Scientists measure ice cover at its low ebb at the end of summer.

"The current Arctic ice cover is thinner and younger than at any previous time in our recorded history, and this sets the stage for rapid melt and a new record low," Drobot said.

Overall, 63 percent of the Arctic ice cover is younger than average, and only 2 percent is older than average, he said.

If Arctic sea ice keeps melting, it could hurt local wildlife, including polar bears, walruses and seals, the scientists said.

For humans, however, larger areas and longer periods of open Arctic water could make for cheaper merchant shipping between Europe and North America.

Arctic sea ice helps cool the planet with its usually reliable stores of white, sun-reflecting sea ice.

Sea ice melts and refreezes seasonally, but recent years have shown a smaller area of maximum sea ice in the winter, which suggests it is more difficult to restock the supply of polar ice after a record summer melt like last year's.

MINSK, Belarus â€"  The Foreign Ministry in Belarus says a number of American diplomats have been declared persona non grata and must leave the country.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that charge d'affaires Jonathan Moore was summoned and presented with a list of diplomats who must leave.

The order is the latest spat between the ex-Soviet nation and the United States. Washington is a fierce critic of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The U.S. ambassador left last month under pressure from Belarusian authorities.

The ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial and research center in Jerusalem opened the annual memorial day for the 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. Hundreds of Holocaust survivors and other Israelis filled the main plaza on a cool evening to listen to speeches, prayers and music, including a children's harmonica band founded by Shmuel Gogol, a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto.

Restaurants and places of entertainment closed throughout the country on Wednesday evening. After a memorial air raid siren on Thursday morning, further ceremonies were to include the public reading of names of Holocaust victims at sites around the country, including the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

Speakers at Wednesday's opening ceremony repeatedly referred to Israel's military strength, asserting that it could prevent another mass catastrophe from befalling the Jewish people.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lashed out at Holocaust deniers.

"Historical accuracy doesn't interest you," he said. "You want to negate the moral basis of the state of Israel. (But) Israel was not created because of the Holocaust," rather as an expression of the right of the Jewish people to its homeland.

Peres, 84, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 and serves now as ceremonial head of state, observed that the Jewish people might have been tardy in setting up their state, too late to rescue Jews from Europe.

Peres charged that the world woke up too late to eliminate the threat of Hitler before he started a war that killed 60 million people, warning that the world must not let that happen again. "In history, it is forbidden to be late," he said.

"My heart shudders when I recall that there was a possibility that Hitler could acquire nuclear weapons," he said. "A leader who plans mass destruction, together with weapons of mass destruction. What would have been left of our world?" he asked.

Aides confirmed that Peres was comparing Hitler and Nazi Germany to Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, though Peres did not name either. Despite Iranian denials, Israel believes Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, and Ahmadinejad has called repeatedly for Israel's destruction.

"We will act on our responsibilities," Peres said. "The world must act on its responsibilities without delay," he added, in what aides said was another reference to Iran.

In his speech, Peres criticized the German people of the 1930s for electing and venerating a "crazy person," Hitler. "How is it possible that a people does not rise up in the face of murder in the streets, an army rolling on tank treads to destroy neighbors of yesterday and friends of the day before?" he asked.

About 270,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel, of whom about 80,000 survived Nazi death camps, according to Zeev Factor, chairman of a commission working on benefits for them. Many survivors live in poverty, and Factor said that despite Israeli government promises to increase their support payments, "nothing has been implemented yet."

In his speech at Yad Vashem, Olmert admitted, "We have not always paid our debt to the survivors."

The body that deals with German reparations and restitution, known as the Claims Conference, distributed or allocated $737 million to survivors in 2007, according to a statement. Some survivors charge that the body spends too much on education and research projects and not enough to help destitute survivors.