Enhancing Egos

Enhancing Egos

When one would think of Harvard, one would say that it is the cream of the cream of the crop. Any other superlative adjective can be attributed to it. College education is one of the marketable investments. Accordingly, it seems to be the most elusive goal, since an average American Citizen is bombarded with superficial promises of the corporate world even without college education. Some people may consider admission in Harvard as an odyssey. Harvard seems to evaluate every applicant in the lens of an electron microscope.

In the midst of the application hardship, there is a way to get in Harvard that can be considered a tie breaker. One would call it as Legacy Admissions. Legacy Admissions seems to be simple. The requirement would be that Mom or Dad should be alumni in Harvard, and Mom or Dad should have donated wads of cash to Harvard.

In a recent documentary from BBC’s “The Changing World,” it was reported that 10% of College admissions in Harvard are legacy admissions. In this way, the children who were born

with silver platter on their mouths can arguably be admitted to one of the finest universities in the world. As a result, egos of the rich people are enhanced. Accordingly, people should support legacy admissions. In fact, Harvard President Lawrence Summers states: “"Legacy admissions are integral to the kind of community that any private educational institution is.” One can infer that from the quotation, one can work hard for grades and integrity, and a legacy kid can just be ahead of the game in terms of Harvard admissions.

One alternative to this inequality is people should study in Finland. One can say that there are no legacy admissions in Finland. Moreover, Finland claims to have the best education system. The same documentary communicates that Finns starts formal education as late as seven years old. Children start in mid August, and by December, 90% of the children can read. When average 1st graders are asked if they like school, one can almost always expect that the responses would be alienation towards school. One can correlate alienation towards school due to the fact that American starts early. As opposed to Finns, since they start formal school at an arguable later age, their enthusiasm towards learning can be contagious.

Arguably, American college graduates are bombarded with the myth that after they graduate: only the best should be for them. As a result, they have an over-inflated sense of confidence. Such confidence is ingrained to them since childhood, so as not to ambush their self esteem. For instance, when a child is playing baseball, most parents would hold him as the best player, event though he can not even score a home run. Most parents shield children from the fact that there will always be children smarter and better than them. As a result, when a child (lavished with the myth) grows up and finished college, and have his spirits broken by problems, loans, bills and competition, the problems would be too much for them to take. There is a great likelihood that most of them would go to a shrink….. For the purposes of…. Enhancing their egos.

Source:

Will Bush truly renounce privilege in admissions?

Terrific Thanksgiving- repost

Terrific Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seems to be a terrific holiday. Three categories can be associated with the word thanksgiving: lies, ethnocentrism, and dummy following. Every year, this particular holiday promotes the aforementioned nouns. Since thanksgiving perpetuates those things, it is reasonable to say that it is a terrific holiday.

Lie. Most people are perceive the first thanksgiving as an amicable holiday through its roots. Most people know this history:

“In 1621 The Pilgrims and the Indians sat down and had a nice, friendly meal together. No fighting was allowed on that day. Everyone sat down at the Plymouth Plantation to a meal of turkey, corn, fruit, pumpkin pie, apple cider, and potatoes. There was a big Horn of Plenty in the middle of the table. In fact, the Pilgrims and the Indians started that whole Horn of Plenty tradition on that first Thanksgiving Day. An Indian named, Squanto, was one of the guests. The point of the dinner was to celebrate the bountiful harvest and prove to the Pilgrims and Indians that they could live together in peace.”

Unfortunately, Richard J. Maybury finds this as a far cry version from the truth. He writes: “The problem with this official story is that the harvests of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves.”

Carol Barbieri would seem to support what Maybury posits. She states: “The first winter for the Pilgrims was devastating. Of the original 102 Pilgrims who came to America on the Mayflower, only 46 Pilgrims remained. Quite simply, the Pilgrims were outnumbered by the Wampanoag Indians two to one. The Pilgrims thought it best to keep the Indians on their “good” side, until more Pilgrims could arrive.”

This is one of the many lies that the Thanksgiving holiday perpetuates and proliferates. Every year, people would engage in such lie and consider it to be true. Since thanksgiving perpetuates lies, it is reasonable to say that it is a terrific holiday.

Ethnocentrism. It is defined as “the belief or feeling that a group¹s way of life, values and patterns of adaptation are superior to those of other groups. It may manifest itself in attitudes of superiority or hostility toward members of other groups and is sometimes expressed in discrimination, proselytizing, or violence.” Thanksgiving would seem to promote this attitude. It can be traced back to its history. In fact, James L Loewen, author of “Lies my teacher told me,” writes:

“The civil ritual we practice marginalizes Indians. Our archetypal image of the first Thanksgiving portrays the groaning boards in the woods, with the Pilgrims in their starched Sunday best next to their almost naked Indian guests. […]The silliness of all this reaches its zenith in the handouts that schoolchildren have carried home for decades, complete with the captions that they served pumpkins and turkeys and corn and squash. The Indians had never seen such a feast.” Arguably, the very action of the Pilgrims viewing themselves as superior to the Indians would seem to perpetuate the concept of ethnocentrism. Since thanksgiving promotes ethnocentrism, it is reasonable to say that it is a terrific holiday.

Fans of thanksgiving can be reasonably called as “DUMMY FOLLOWERS.” This is very unfortunate because most of these fans were misdirected from the truth. It can be attributed to the careless history book writers. Moreover, it can be attributed also from people who has reckless disregard for the truth and repress “unpleasant memories” to proliferate a lie. Since thanksgiving promotes such disservice (dummy following), it is reasonable to say that it is a terrific holiday.

Work Cited:

Loewen, J. (1995). Lies my teacher told me. 1st ed. New York: Touchstone.

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax by Richard J. Maybury

Lemonade Stand by Carol Barbieri

Photo Source

An Exultation of Larks

An Exultation of Larks

KBPS.org recently held a contest for collective nouns for “A Way with Words.” The title phrase is one of the winners of such contest. Year has passed before I was re-introducing to collective nouns. As far as I can remember, one can consider me a logophile when I was in sixth grade. At first, I find delight in spelling polysyllabic words that no one tends to use or hear. In the years to come, I was impelled that knowing vocabularies will help one person survive in the corporate world.

Refocus on collective nouns…. I can remember come examples: bouquet of flowers, flock of geese, gang of elks, and tribe of monkeys. I find the exultation of larks exquisite. One might say that the use of collective nouns is scarce in the mainstream language. In fact, when I listen to commercial radio stations and local TV stations, the usage of language are on the process of dumbing down (I emboldened commercial because NPR is station with IQ and the only sensible station in the Frequency Modulation). One plausible premise is that they mostly cater to people with a reading level of a 3^rd grade. I do not denigrate the 3^rd graders. In fact I flatter them because their language level is being used by college graduates in the media for the sake of global understanding. As a result, the consequence is dumbing down.

In the spirit of Halloween, maybe this is the time to fear for our language. Maybe this it that people should promote the garnishment of sophisticated language in a moderate level. I would rather take the risk of being called a pompous smart-mouth, than to be in the lines of dumb and dumber. Perhaps, such are the possible times when the larks may exult.

Homesickness, Vacation and AutoLoad

Homesickness, Vacation and AutoLoad

“To state it on a romantic level, I go there to further my roots, to look again at old, familiar places, to listen to a language I rarely use. To be pretentious about it, I go there to refurbish memory; it is this memory, collective in nature, which, after all makes a nation. In plain words, I am just homesick.” --- F. Sionil Jose “Why are we Poor? (Termites in the Sala, Heroes in the Attic)

The verdict for Erap’s plunder case may have been the completion of the gradual process of disillusionment towards journalism. One of the many reasons why I have been fascinated with the works of journalists during my callous teenage years was because through journalism: I will be able to voice out my opinions towards the infamous leader. I realized that journalism is not just an eloquence and articulation. It is also about politics and marketing. In fact, most audience today prefers journalist/model/celebrities. There seems to be a merging of the news division and the entertainment division. This is one of the realities in journalism. I could also mention ageism, where network executives are terminating old news anchors in placed for the youthful looking models/journalists/celebrities.

In a sense, I still enjoy writing. However, I would not consider it as a source of livelihood. Such notion would be against my pragmatic side. I am glad I chose nursing. I told Arriz, one of my college friends in the University Of Santo Tomas (UST), that my attitude towards nursing has undergone its reformation. During my freshman in UST, I was not a staunch and a supportive nursing student. As I am saying, the disillusionment on journalism was gradual. I went for a drive on my Alma Mater: UST. It was 11 pm, but I can see how a school can change in six years. Arriz told me that there are rumors that UST hospital was bought by a German-based company, and one could only ask on how the charity purpose of the hospital would still push through .Parking structures is a bleak phrase for improvement. The parking structure near the engineering building was constructed, and there are already in-campus establishments and restaurants (KFC, chowking etc.). Arguably, corporate based commercialism have inched their ways towards scholarly institutions.

The days of my vacation on the Philippines are fleeting. It seems to be trickling down the drain. I do not dread to work back. in the hospital. I maybe compared to a child who is having separation anxiety. The attachments to my roots, and to the extended family I am leaving behind are galvanized. In the 6 years that I have live in the United States of America, I realized that an incontrovertible sense of Filipino identity and culture is much more important. Acculturation to some of the American Culture is important under the banner of conformity.

I consider my trip to SM Mall of Asia to be disappointing. I heard great comments and advertisements about it back in the US. I was dashed. It is seemed to be structured like any malls in the US. I find it similar to Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga: the same exquisite but overpriced establishment and goods. I thought it would be representative and specific to the Pinoy culture on Malls, such as the mall I grew up with: SM North Edsa. I find the Trinoma Mall to be Pinoy Culture Specific. Pinoy culture specificity refers to the notion that you can go to malls even if you are just there to hang out and window shop. The money one could have is just enough for the public transportation fares and the budget meals in Jollibee and McDo. Pinoys can find happiness on such simplicity.

I bought a Globe SIM for P65. Cellphones, specifically, text messaging has been part of the Pinoy culture. Abraham Maslow may have to modify his hierarchy of needs and put text messaging on the bottom of the triangle as it applies to Filipinos. For instance, some teenagers argue that it is easier and affordable to text message and deliver snippets of affection, than to date, and deal with the traffic and expensive public transportation fares (P7.50 is the minimum jeepney fare as of press time).

I am enjoying every minute of my vacation. I now like wet humidity. As I go through the days of my fleeting vacation, I realized that the sages were correct: cultural identity is the key.

Beliefs are Just Labels

Beliefs are Just Labels

Bob Barnes, an ex CIA agent, said that the Suicide bombers would seem to take objection on being called as such. Suicide bombers would like to call such act as martyrdom, hence, they want to be called martyrs. This is one of the many example that one may consider that beliefs are labels. Euphemisms and cacophony may make labels justified or nullified.

I recently watched Wicked the Musical. One may find it amusing to include pop culture references to the role of Glinda. Audience can see the depiction of a typical stereotype of a blonde and the use of up-talk. Up-talk is a manner of speaking in which declarative sentences are uttered with a rising intonation as though they were questions. This kind of talk is also utilized by mostly college girls who want to exude an upper-class stature. Unfortunately, others deem the use of up-talk as a sign of dumbing down of an individual.

A line from Wicked the Musical would appear to illustrate on how beliefs are just labels.

“A MAN'S CALLED A TRAITOR
OR LIBERATOR
A RICH MAN'S A THIEF
OR PHILANTHROPIST
IS ONE A CRUSADER
OR RUTHLESS INVADER
IT'S ALL IN THE LABEL WHICH IS ABLE TO PERSIST
THERE ARE PRECIOUS FEW AT EASE
WITH MORAL AMBIGUITIES.”

Wicked: A New Musical
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz

The quotation would seem to illustrate how authorities can label deeds. Deeds are neither good nor bad; labels personify every deeds judgment. Another tangential theme from Wicked is the villain-hood of Elphaba (wicked witch of the West) and its political overtone. For the sake of the Ozians, there must be a source of evil. There must be a scapegoat. Although the great wizard of Oz and Madame Morrible are the nefarious villains, Elphaba took the fall for Ozians to feel safe. One would realize that Elphaba is the most powerful wizard for she has a genuine talent for sorcery. The Great Wizard of Oz is a phony, and only hides in the mask of authority.

After seeing the musical, I see Elphaba in prism-colored lenses. I perceive that she is not wicked at all, and I would see “The Wizard of OZ” in a different light. She is an example on how authority can put labels to perpetuate a belief.

Arrogant Self-Reliance

..at times I almost dream
I, too, have spent a life the sages' way,
And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance
I perished in an arrogant self-reliance
Ages ago; and in that act, a prayer
For one more chance went up so earnest, so
Instinct with better light let in by death,
That life was blotted out-not so completely
But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,
Dim memories, as now, when once more seems
The goal in sight again...

-Robert Browning
-Paracelsus

This kind of prose, I miss. It has been a long time since I have read a book of prose. Funny thing, I heard this excerpt in an episode of The X-Files called “The Field Where I Died.” This are the types of prose I missed reading since I was in high school. Thoreau, Emerson, and Browning would seem to occupy the whole Sunday Afternoon devouring their words of inspiration. Moreover, I have to read the Philippine Daily Inquirer, where we only buy the Sunday paper because of budget constraints.

Now, it seems that I have to adapt to the current generation today. Arguably, this is a generation where attention span is on its lowest of supply. In fact, MySpace seems to celebrate the plummeting of America’s attention span. MySpace TV recently released the Minisode network wherein it showcases the TV shows you love, only shorter. For instance, an episode of Partridge Family- See Here, Private Partridge- is shortened to a length of 4 minutes and 26 seconds. This would seem to bridge the gap of older generations who has a long attention span and new generation who has a short attention span.

One can infer that one of the purposes of the Minisodes is to have the older generation’s attention at par with the decreasing and mediocre attention span of the younger generation.

Mass Media must conform to the needs of society. Hence, if all people have short attention span, the forms of entertainment must be short and concise. There is no need to lament the plummeting attention span. It is one of the “COOLEST” traits to have.

Back to Browning, I miss those days of reading books in a carefree Sunday afternoons. As I grow older, it seems that I am pre-occupied to the series of tasks that are grown up stuff. The tasks are endless, and I am programmed to finish those, or else, productivity shall fail. I have to work every other weekend on the hospital. Hence, the 26 remaining Sundays would have to be reserved for chores, work, and schoolwork.

Perhaps, I am in the state of arrogant self-reliance. I now rely on unfinished tasks to control my weekend route. However, such arrogant self-reliance can also be used to deter the goals of minisodes and the evils of a decreased attention span.

Source:

Wrinkles and Reality

Wrinkles and Reality

It is with utmost ambivalence that I welcome the coming of age: the quarter of a century. Last year was denial. This is it is ambivalence. I am not sure if aging is a good thing. When I was little, I visualize myself to be a working professional, but I did not envision myself to have wrinkles. There are prominent wrinkles now on my forehead, and it seems premature because I am only turning 25.

When one laments how the generation today has erosion of values, it is a sign of getting older. “There is nothing new in the world, except the history you do not know,” as Harry Truman puts it. It would seem that my perception changes and social ills remain constant. For instance, the notion those corporations appear to be the collective few who win in real life. The world seems to be run by marketing.

Sometimes, it is reasonable to deduce that wrinkles are proportional to the realities a person may encounter. Like wrinkles, realities are visceral and palpable. Wrinkles are comforting and constant reminders that a person is aging. The inevitable and inescapable reality, when one is reminiscing the good old days, it just means that a person is getting older.

Affirmatively, there are methods to hide wrinkles. In reality, such action only proves that the more we hide wrinkles and reality, the more these viscerally palpable entities would persist.

Reality creation varies from place to place, even from country to country. One reality I learn living in the USofA: happiness tends to be materialistic in the land of the free and home of the brave. This claim hinges on the fact that lifestyle is regimented to work and compensation. I always find myself desiring new gadgets after a hard day’s work, and when new gadgets are purchased, I am in bliss. This is how the definition of drastically changes.

People might say that these musings are just misdirection from a wrinkled forehead. Maybe I am docile to regimen, but oblivious to the bigger picture.

The cynic birthday celebrator may borrow the words of Jerry Seinfeld: "Well, birthdays are merely symbolic of how another year has gone by and how little we've grown. No matter how desperate we are that someday a better self will emerge, with each flicker of the candles on the cake, we know it's not to be, that for the rest of our sad, wretched pathetic lives, this is who we are to the bitter end. Inevitably, irrevocably; happy birthday? No such thing."

The ambivalence regarding birthdays and aging may flummox wrinkles and realities.

De-fueling

De-fueling

Sometimes, I find myself in an array of disillusionment. Anticipating things to happen the way I visualize them to happen, and then alas… it was another disappointment.

Recent news regarding fuel alternative is on the hot seat, specifically, ethanol. After the documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth”, a clamor for nature loving and gas saving groups take on the stage. Back to the disillusionment, there is a research by Mark Jacobson from Stanford University that ethanol poses greater risk to people with respiratory diseases as opposed to gasoline.

According to Jacobson’s report, “under the base-case emission scenario derived, which accounted for projected improvements in gasoline and E85 vehicle emission controls, it was found that E85 may increase ozone-related mortality, hospitalization and asthma by about nine percent in Los Angeles and four percent in the U.S. as a whole relative to 100 percent gasoline.” If there is such risk, it is reasonable to search for other alternative.

What I don’t understand is that there seems to be viable alternative for fuel. Daniel Dingel, a Filipino inventor, claims that he runs his car with water for more than three decades now. “. An article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that Dingle built his engine as early as 1969. Dingel built a car reactor that uses electricity from a 12-volt car battery to split the ordinary tap water into hydrogen and oxygen components.” People would suspect conspiracy among oil producing countries. There is less publicity in this issue, and lack of acknowledgment of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Philippines can affirm such suspicion.

An inner cynic in oneself would hold onto the reality that the world seems to be run by greedy government enterprises. As a result, ordinary citizens can be disenfranchised of having their nature-loving and global-warming-hating ideals. Acting on those ideals may just result in anticipating disillusionment.

“The free energy world is a magnet for scams and gouging because there is so much money to be made in the free energy field when it finally breaks forth with a marketable product that will eventually replace most of the trillion-dollar petroleum and nuclear industry. The scamsters are not a reflection of the science, but of greed."

-- Sterling D. Allan
Feb. 1, 2003

Sources:

Stanford Daily

TxtMania

Nurse Scapegoats: Why are they important?

Nurse Scapegoats: Why are they important?

One of the most interesting cultures in nursing is scapegoating. One would say that this subculture would cause enchantment to the scapegoater and scapegoatee. According to the Scapegoat Society, “Scapegoating is a hostile social - psychological discrediting routine by which people move blame and responsibility away from themselves and towards a target person or group. It is also a practice by which angry feelings and feelings of hostility may be projected, via inappropriate accusation, towards others. The target feels wrongly persecuted and receives misplaced vilification, blame and criticism; he is likely to suffer rejection from those who the perpetrator seeks to influence.” In the healthcare industry, it is inevitable to deviate from standards of care and leadership. Scapegoating is one of the best ways to relieve the blame from oneself and blame the most vilifiable group. Such process is important to people in the places of position and leadership. It is also important to patients and nurses. Hence, it is reasonable to say that the role of nurses as scapegoats is vital.

One may have heard the expression of nurses eating their young. Nurses scapegoating on other nurses are also indispensable and irreplaceable part of the profession. For instance, the PICC line of a patient clogged. One of the many reasons of a clogged line is forgetting flushes on 10 cc saline. If the nurse has a preceptee, the most likely to be blamed is the preceptee instead of the nurse also assigned to the patient. The process of scapegoating is essential in this situation because this would mean that the fault is of the preceptee and not the preceptor. The preceptee must expect an incident report write-up. Since scapegoating would protect the more experienced RN and would transfer the blame to the preceptee, it is reasonable to say that the role of nurses as scapegoats is important.

One use of scapegoating is by physicians. For instance, when the equipment such as chairs, tables are inadequate in a unit, nurses would be the scapegoats. When the equipment is inadequate, the physicians will have no space to sit down and write orders. As a result, the physicians are outraged by the scarcity of chairs and blame the nurses. This is where it becomes creative. The physicians would argue that there is no space to sit down because the nurses are chitchatting and invading their space in the unit. Discredit the name: “nurses’ station.” The physicians have to write orders. This situation proves the role of nurses as scapegoats is important. In this process, the administration has not supplied enough chairs and enough workplace. As a strategy, such inadequacy must be distorted and the blame must be transferred. The nurses chitchatting would be the best rationale for not having enough work space and chairs. This seems to be a brilliant and methodical. Hence, it is reasonable to say that the role of nurses as scapegoats is important.

It is not just the people from the higher ups had perfected the craft of nurse scapegoating, but also the patient themselves. After the nurse has done the hardwork in maintaining the standards of care and working professionally for their therapeutic recovery, one can say that one appreciative token would be to blame the nurses for any inadequacy. For instance, the family of the patient cannot accept the new diagnosis of an ailment. The most likely tendency is to project those ill feelings so that the family and the patient can cope. Projection is one of the components of nurse scapegoating. Since nurse scapegoating will likely help the patient in coping, it is reasonable to say the nurses are helping unconsciously in the process. Hence, it is reasonable to say that the role of nurses as scapegoats is important.

No matter what, it would seem viable that scapegoating is essential to institution. Especially in an industry where fault and errors should be minimal, this would justify the subculture of scapegoating. Hence, it is reasonable that the role of nurses as scapegoats is important.

Work Cited:

The Scapegoat Society

Greatness in Diminishing Returns

Greatness in Diminishing Returns

People may have heard of useless greatness. For instance, when a person is too tall to play basketball; it is another way of saying does not play basketball at all. Sun Ming Ming is a basketball player, who is, arguably has the so called greatness in diminishing returns. Josh Levin argues: “He's probably the first basketball player who's too tall to play basketball.”

Standards of greatness are ostensibly arbitrary. People’s description of greatness is attributed to the capability to do one’s shortcomings. In a sense, greatness is commercialized. Businesses seem to capitalize on the allusion of greatness. What is wrong with being number two?

As aspirants to any field, many seem to ignore the fact that talents are distributed unequally. There would be the famous and the infamous. Scarcity of jobs and unemployment would remain. Coming from a third world country (and I am proud of it), this is the reality; A reality in which I became de-sensitized.

Once a person has been exposed to a reality in which no matter where people go, there will always be a person who is smarter and greater than you, no matter what you do. There is the lingering discontent and utter frustration that may emanate you. As an observer of educational institutions, they try to conceal the reality that greatness will always be overthrown by another person. Students come with the idealism that after they study in such institution, unemployment and joblessness would be exclusion to their career.

Furthermore, greatness is paired with uniqueness. When one would say that everybody is unique, it is another way of saying that no one is unique. I would say that greatness and uniqueness relative notions. Perception must take over reality in order to define these terms.

Back to the introduction, Levin proposes that Sun Ming Ming can be called greatness in diminishing returns. I think that he maybe correct or not. William Shakespeare puts greatness as: “"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." Well, this quotation summarizes that greatness is distributed unequally. Hence, the unequal distribution of talents does not trivialize greatness in diminishing returns; instead, such inequality explains it.

Work Cited:

Slate.com

In the Eyes of Ekang

In the Eyes of Ekang

Kara David, a journalist, hosts this episode of I-Witness. I have to comment on her writing style especially how contrast makes the introduction of the documentary “Sa Mata ni Ekang” thought provoking. She started on the family as the basic unit of society. Moreover, she seemed to ask a rhetorical question. What would happen if the light, guide, and the foundation of a home would be a hold upper, pimp, shabu runner, and an out of school youth? The documentary seems to expose how commonplace is poverty in the Manila slums. As a result, the morality compass would lean on “just doing a job” to provide scarce basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.

Aristotle states: “The mother of revolution and crime is poverty.” This assertion rings its veracity like a liberty bell. In regard to the documentary, poverty in the Philippines seems to trap its citizens to a life of survival instead of opportunities. The reason I liked the documentary is its truthful exposition. Not all news is good news, and it is the duty of the journalist to convey the truth, no matter how flagrant.

In the US, my powers observations try to differentiate poverty from the Philippines between the US. I know it may seem a futile attempt for comparison; however, I have to communicate noticeable difference. I do not remember the source of this story, but it tells about a beggar who was panhandling for food. The commuter tried to give a bowl of salad. The beggar vehemently refuses and says: “I am on a high protein diet.”

The moment I heard the story, I want to tell the panhandler: “Beggars can’t be choosers!!!!!!!” I could not imagine such refusal.

Back to the Ekang introduction, I want to share that poverty creates a reality. Realities often have different versions, especially, when comparing a third world country to a first class one. I am not ashamed that I came from a third world country. I appreciate what I have now, and share some of the perks of being here. What I don’t usually get is how the US generates a lot of waste that when converted to a monetary value, it can help a third world country.

Food waste alone is such a surprising statistics. Food policy Institute states: “Federal statistics suggest that nearly 26 million tons of food wastes are generated annually in the U.S.” Had people been conserving and only eating what is enough, such wastes could have been converted to a monetary value. It may help the destitute, especially the Ekangs of the Philippines.

Work Cited

Food Waste Management

I-Witness the GMA documentaries

Sneaky Enterprise

Sneaky Enterprise

I usually listen to podcasts on my way to work. I came across a podcast from “Studio 360.” The topic was about American Icons. During that week, Superman, as an icon was the feature. Most parts of the show talked about the origins of Superman. There was even a segment where Superman is compared to the Exodus. Exodus is a chapter in the bible where baby Moses was escaping and let sail through the river by a crib made of leaves. The comparison with Superman was Kal-El (Superman’s native name in Krypton) escaped through Krypton by a high tech crib that blasted on Smallville.

One remarkable part of the show was how the lives of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster were manipulated by greedy businessmen in D.C. Comics. Siegel and Schuster created Superman. A biographer said that Superman was the consummation of their personalities. They were described as pop culture geeks during their teenage years. All they really have was their imagination during their adolescent years.

Jerry Siegel’s father died because of a shooting. The powers of Superman being indestructible by anything, even by bullets, are relatable in Siegel’s way of working through the pain of his father’s death. The adventures of Superman seem to be the creator’s way of saying if they only knew that we have more potential than this.

Siegel and Schuster sold the rights of Superman to D.C. comics for $10 a page, $130 total. Today, the market value would be around $2,000. The creators were so idealistic, and all they wanted to do was to tell and illustrate the stories of Superman. Little do they know that Superman will be a legendary icon?

During the 1950s, Siegel and Schuster tried to sue for ownership of Superman. They lost.

The Richard Donner film Superman in 1978 grossed $134218018. During that time, Siegel was working as a file clerk. It seems ironic that the Superman creators are living in the poverty, while greedy businessmen are reaping the benefits of their creation. Siegel and Schuster led the lives of artistry and idealism, only to be spoiled and exploited by moguls and conglomerates.

Perhaps, this is the side of the story that the media would not like the Smallville generations to dwell or know. This is the side where businesses get dirty, wherein exploitation and misuse of power are common societal and business creed. Joe Schuster died in 1992. Jerry Siegel died in 1996.

Boxoffice Mojo said that the total gross of Superman Returns: $200081192.

Work Cited:

Jewish Virtual Library

Boxoffice Mojo

Borderless Boredom

Borderless Boredom

I heard on the radio about theatrical plays. For instance, there is a 14-day run of a certain play. A performer should act the same way with the same feelings like the first night for the 14 consecutive days. I say to myself that this is a hard job.

After some rumination, I came to the conclusion that repetition robs the enthusiasm. One cannot promise to deliver the same emotions if the same lines are delivered for 14 consecutive nights. Looking forward, one can ague that this can be applicable also for people having jobs.

One veteran nurse told me that after 3 years, you will find nursing as the same old routine. The phrase: “Same script, different cast,” would beckon everyday as you do medication administration and clinical nursing care. When repetition robs the enthusiasm, an RN may not be fascinated with the science of nursing. He will only be fascinated with the monetary remuneration of the job.

Bertrand Russell justifies: “Boredom is a vital problem of the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it.” Arguably, this quotation may be very applicable and a hurtful truth about humanity. Boredom because of repetition may bring an employee to an unfortunate scenario: absenteeism, harsh novelty and mindless adventures.

When I was taking a boring subject back in school (although I am back to school again as of press time), people say that boring subjects/class tests character. In the near future, one might have a repetitive job and he would look back to the boring class he had. Right there, an epiphany would occur and say that most things are on relative degrees and coping with boredom can be the best solution.

As working professionals, they are all learning the ropes. An unfortunate consequence about learning is repetitive routine. Hence, when one finds himself on a boring situation, just look back on the boring class one took, and try to remember how he survive such class.