I Don't Know What To File This Under

The Assasination of Benezir Bhutto for Dummies

Bhutto's entrance in to Pakistan has casued chaos the last couple of times, this time she's been murdered. I believe that the White House has always preferred stability over democracy with Pakistan. In my opinion, a dictatorship in Pakistan is neither here nor there as far as the U.S. is concerned, regardless of what they're forced to say in the media. I think that their private take on the matter is that Bhutto actually caused problems. At least with Musharaff, Bush has got an ally and things were stable. I really believe that "democracy" is a side issue that's front and center because of this administration's constant talk of it regarding Iraq.

I don't know if this incident will cause further instability in Pakistan because Bhutto hasn't even been there for years. Unless her supporters, who are considered moderate, suddenly go hog wild, then I would think that things would return to the status quo.

Who knows, though...

Our Family Life

Octopus with Lego

I saw a documentary on this exhibit somewhere...I don't know where, but everyone had cute brit accents. Anyway, this was an octopus exhibit where the poor big octopus was bored.

Then the caretakers put in a big stack of legos he could take apart and other toys. He got busy and happier. Pretty soon he was all over the tank and the glass, whereas before this, he just sat and stared at the kids on the other side of the glass, like "Why am I alive?"

I thought that was interesting.
I want to write a longer entry, but I gotta go.

Vinnie Quits OCC

This here blog has gotten HUNDREDS of hits, people searching for Vinnie quits OCC, American Choppers. Every day, more hits, more hits, more hits. I feel bad, because I only have this one blog entry about it back in October that gives virtually NO information about the topic.

I searched for the topic on Yahoo and pages upon pages of this came up. When I searched it back in October, there was only one message board that came up.

Anyway HERE is a link that I consider to be one of the best for the info and includes a link to Cody and Vinnie's new shop. Enjoy. More About Vinnie and Cody.

I guess there was a show on it that I haven't seen, and I guess Senior made the comment "Anyone can be replaced." WOW, Sr. You're the jerk that I never knew you were. KAT from LA Ink should fly in and do some V FORCE tatoos. Which is hilarious for me to say, I'm totally against tatoos.

I mean, all that Vin meant to the shop AND THE SHOW *ahem!*, he deserved more than he got. I mean OCC loves their show, and they had to realize that Vin was a huge part of the fan base.

Vinnie always acted like he was going to kill Cody, so I hope that Cody is ok with his new partner. Watch your back Code! Ha ha.

Manny Pacquiao- The Boxer

Well here he is, the legend. Here in the Philippines this guy is like Michael Jordan was a few years back when you just couldn't get away from him. I really can't stand boxing, it makes me feel like I'm from another planet because I just don't get it. If I was a human being that was from around here, I'm thinking that I would see boxing and be like, "oh yeah, I can totally see how people do that". Alas, this is impossible for me, and I've tried pretty hard to do some mental acrobatics to fool myself into understanding it. The closest I get is: "It's a guy thing." But I want to back off of that because I already think that men are so evil, they just don't need anymore bad press in my brain, so I fall back to- 'I must be from somewhere else.'

Manny endorses ANYTHING and everything, including alcohol. When those commercials would come on, my son said things like, "I drink this, and then I can hit people really hard." It's funny, but you have to be there.

This guy is everywhere. I have been startled more than once by a life-size cardboard cut out of Manny in a shopping aisle. ME: "Ack! Ohmai...sheesh* get out of here!" Punch. No, I never punched one.

So my son said today, whenever pac "the pacman" (clever!) loses...the commercial for the next fight says "Justice will be served!" or something like that.

The best I can hope for is that big thick-boned head of his keeps his brain safe. I hate to see these guys later in life with all the problems they develop. I mean, it's not surprising but it sure is sad.

Amazing Race Asia

Picture: The Deaf Team
Let's start with the complaining. Season One of this show was great. This season, I've got a beef.

As usual, the season starts off with a show introducing the teams, and this year I was livid. The show picked elite, spoiled model- tv star types that DON'T need to be in the Amazing race, and it seemed like they didn't even choose a variety of people to boot.

They've got models and actresses and people who were able to have apartments in Hong Kong and jet set around. Give me a break. It's maddening and boring. There's a team of housewives with rich foreign husbands who live in resort style luxury.

There is one team that I'm rooting for. AXN found a deaf person and partner to go on the race, very interesting. They are also wealthy, but at least they are interesting. There is also a brother and sister team from Japan. At least there's a different country represented there. Where are the South Koreans? India? Come on!

I want more "real" people...for lack of a better term,I mean, all these people are real people their parents would assure me. The team that angered me the most is Marc and Rovilson. I can actually see Marc on commercials here in the Philippines all the time. I mean conceivably, I could be watching the Amazing Race, and then see Marc again on one of the commercials during the show. And Rovilson is the editor in chief for Maxim in Asia. GIVE ME A BREAK. Yeah, he needs MORE money and experiences.

And the guy that produces the show said, Oh we just had SO MANY entries, it was SO HARD to choose. There's no excuse for this then.

And I told myself, Theresa, get your anger out now before the show starts, because you know you're going to end up liking all these people. And it's true. I like all the teams, they're fun to watch. A couple of the girl teams are regularly making me smile. And Marc... he is just HOT. Really. Last episode he took his shirt off for one of the tasks. Hm.

But the suggestion stands. I want MORE real people, like the husband and wife couple. Black American husband, and Philippina wife. She seems really American to me. I've been here in the Phils for two years, and I've never met anyone like her out here. I've met plenty in the US, though. They're called American women. Ha Ha. She's a Loud-mouthed tantrum throwing you-know-what. I love it. This week they're last, but I'm hoping they move up.

Marc and Rovilson. Sorry, but I hope you get ELIMINATED. Now, how much do you want to bet that Marc even auditioned for the host part when it came up in Asia? He looks like the host.

The AXN site for this show is pretty funny. It says on there that the host this season is going to be injecting his own edgy style into program this time around.

Ha ha. WHAT edgy style? He's exactly the same. My son and I joke about it every time he's on the screen. He did wear an interesting jacket one day. Was that it?

Anyway, I do love this show.

Pirate Master Death

AXN shows Pirate Master out here, and at the very end of the series a message flashed on a black screen "in memory of..."

Cheryl was one of the first Pirates voted off, but she came back in the end. Ben picked her to run the final expedition and their team ended up winning. This meant thousands of dollars for her. I found the following news blurb on the net.

A local celebrity and Deputy District Attorney has died.
35 year old Cheryl Kosewicz was found dead in her home on Friday just two months after her boyfriend took his own life.
Kosewicz was working as a Deputy District Attorney in Reno focusing on the prosecution of sexual abuse cases.
Kosewicz also starred in a survivor spin-off show called Pirate Master on CBS.
Officials told Kolo-8, the death is believed to be a suicide but is still under investigation.

I wonder if her job was too depressing. Of course, her boyfriend's suicide isn't so great, but she seemed like someone so tough who would despise that ending for herself. I understand all suicidal people, but she didn't fit the type at all, it seems to me...from my limited perspective.

Hope to see you in the new world...Cheryl.

Relations

Yes, Louis Theroux is Paul's son. Anderson Cooper is Gloria Vanderbilt's son. BUT Gary Tuchman is not related, it appears, to Barbara Tuchman. That's too bad for him, but really I'd be surprised if he was. It seems like he'd be a bit...brighter if he was. Sorry Gary.

Sorry!

Sorry guys! It's just that things have been so hectic with Daniel and well the Meades in general, and you know all the crazy things that have been happening at Mode...it's all over the news.

Wait, that's not me...that's Ugly Betty. I need to get out more.
But yeah, I have been not able to get on the computer at all and I feel like a gigantic loser. I'm pretty bummed lately, because things just aren't going the way I would like them to.

Interestingly, I'm becoming a better person all the time and I just didn't think that was possible. Ha ha. I just wish I could be a honed individual without all the pointed experiences.

I keep coming back to this: the end of everything is...be good to eachother. I mean that's really what everything boils down to.

Connections

The connection here in the internet cafe is really slow. It's pretty discouraging. I found this great song on You Tube by a band that our family used to listen to, especially on Sundays. All the LP records came out. It turned out, years later I found out that one of my closest friends KNOWS this band and they used to go to her house and stuff, I guess I was just never around. It's so weird! I love this song and this band.

Autistic look at the world

I know that this is in part how my son views things, even though I can't really communicate with him. He talks all the time, but...about "nothing". His brain catalogues things and then he wants to repeat his lists. Part of this ritual includes me or his brother. We HAVE to respond with certain words at certain times or he starts all over again, or throws major tantrums. I think that he sees himself as a machine- person. He's been obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, I think he really relates to a machine with rigid clean lines and functions, but then it has a human face. My son is also quite lovey and wants hugs a lot. They are on his terms, though. Kind of the way a cat is.

Donald Trump One Of The Most Awesome Interviews I've Ever Seen

This is one of the most awesome interviews I've ever seen. Catharsis.

Belly Laughs

This still makes me laugh SO hard. It's worth watching.

I have more

to say about teaching and experiences here. However, I'm currently mourning the end of my job. So I think about it and then I'm like...nyah. Not yet.
Here's a song for you...I know I'm in the Philippines and not Thailand, but it reminds me of being over here and it's fun.

See the next post down for where I am lately.

If you miss me...

Go to My Generation Museum, I'm over at my other blog posting stuff.

My Generation Museum

One More Reason

That I can't/won't marry Brad Pitt. I guess he's banned from China because of that Seven Monkeys in Tibet movie, or whatever it was. I'm the quintessential China Girl, so...no way Brad. My other reason was that...I had a fear if I got together with him he would dump me for someone else. These are the things that keep me up at night.

Awesome video. Bowie!

Leave Dog Alone

I'm just checking in really quickly, here. Nothing much new going on. I did just spend a whole day out talking to people and visiting them in a beautiful area here with lots of animals and such. Very nice.

Stuff from the news, one: Leave Dog the Bounty Hunter alone. He's fine. If all rednecks in the US were like him, it'd be a near perfect place.

Two: Dr. Phil, your show is not the center of the universe, get over yourself. Dog has been through a lot. You spring a show on him and he's supposed to show up suddenly to appease you. Whatever.

Three: People who criticize Steve Irwin don't have two brain cells to rub together. Also: people who think Jeff Corwin is gay don't have two brain cells to rub together either.

Four: Jerry Seinfeld...love your show. We're a family that buys all the dvd sets of Seinfeld and watches all the extras and stuff...message for you: You came off like a big jerk on Letterman and Larry King in my opinion. There's no reason for you to call the author of the other children's cook book "a wacko" who's "coming out of the woodwork". I was ashamed for you.

And that's about it of late.

Love Song

...kind of debating on whether I should tell the story behind this or not...

Yes!

Answer to questions: I'm staying here in the Philippines until I close a deal. Who knows when...and the blog and MySpace are "forever". This week I've been at home under the weather and we've had a couple of power outages and no running water for a bit. So the blog has sat for a few days, but you know I'm the mad updater...so don't worry.

My Sentiments Exactly

So I call Sean Hannity an Asshat, but I guess I'm no radical there. Here's a funny clip.

Frasier on Voyager

My son will love to see this- two of his favorite shows combined!

Pop Quiz!

Who said this?

“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.”

Or this?
“I don’t know where he is. I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”

Or this?

“Deep in my heart I know the man’s on the run, if he’s alive at all…I just don’t spend much time on it, really, to be honest with you.”

And who disbanded the CIA unit dedicated to finding bin Laden?
Just Checking!
--------------------
I copy and pasted this text from Crooks and Liars dot com.

Remember the hostages?

If you look back in my blog, I have one titled "excuse me?" when some hostages were killed in Afghanistan, and I ranted about the liars in the Bush administration claiming that they are fighting terrorism "over there". When Bush wanted to invade Iraq...Lots of folks said, hey what about Afghanistan? Here's a little news clip to show how Bush supporters feel.

So Afghanistan is going swimmingly folks...by the way this is old...but that was their position. And Ann says there's no need to capture Osama Bin Ladin.

Um...I don't even know what to title this.

I was on You Tube watching clips of "idiots" and "dumbasses" on Wheel Of Fortune as they are called in the video titles. A couple of the clips feature black women. So of course, the caliber of You Tube commenters shines through: I'm reading comments like "Why are all the idiots black people?" Of course they get yelled at by other commenters.

Then I saw this gem! Tune in rednecks...this one's for you. And for what it's worth...this is by far more idiotic than all the other clips.

My Generation New Blog

http:/70s80skidz.blogspot.com

New blog. It's already got 20 posts. I post stuff from my generation.

More Funny Moments from The Office.

Best Show

Top 10 Jim and Pam moments.
Top 10 Jim and Dwight moments:

I Love Jamie Oliver

Such an American Hero:

Orange County Choppers American Choppers Scandal

Well, there's some video on You Tube about how the local union people feel about the Teutuls. I know that union stuff is controversial, that aside...I hope that all's ok with the family. I enjoy that show. I also heard that Vinnie quit to start his own bike shop...the enemies of the family are trying to make something of it...I don't know that Vin left on bad terms. My guess is...not. I hope all is well with all of them including the union, I hate to see this kind of thing.

HERE

Answer to North Korea- South Korea question.

One of my readers here asked me what my South Korean students think about their neighbors to the north. Here's You Tube video that captures the mood and sentiment of many, maybe even most. That's their family. Almost all want reunification. The only ones who don't only don't for pragmatic "it wouldn't work" reasons. Some picture the bloodshed and disturbance of the North's way of life that they are entitled to. Some say that they can't merge with them economically. But they tend to feel this way:


And that's their family, so they can critisize, but be careful what you say.
This video is from You Tube, and I was the first one to comment, if you want to go there and check it out, the poster of the video responded and said that she was just over there and the sentiment there was emotional for reunification (paraphrasing), if you want to see the exact comment, just go to You Tube. I think there's more than one of these videos, though. This one is called DMZ and Korea- A Nation Divided. One of the neat things about actually visiting You Tube is that related videos will come up on the screen, so if North Korea interests you, you can watch other things.

This next one is a "tour" of part of the DMZ zone...the Military guy is obviously American.

End

Well, I'm walking out of here for the last time, this is my last day. I'm trying to not be sad.

More later...

Crooked

Usually I don't talk about sports news...but almost HALF the referees in the NBA are gambling? WOW. That's all I have to say.

Idiot Day

It seems like today I'm running in to nothing but idiots. It's got to be partially me, right? I mean how could everyone around me be idiotic, but yet I'm fine. ?

No. I have this fear of turning into my grandfather. In his world, everyone was an idiot with very few exceptions.

I Love Ugly Betty

Here in Asia, they finally started showing this on Star World, and I've been meaning to get an Ugly Betty post up for some time.

I was blown away by the first episode, I didn't realize it was a Devil Wears Prada thing. This show is really well done, because people are caricatures, but they're real- how did they do that? It's good writing. There's a compelling mixture of comedy and drama. I had another blog about the TV show On The Lot, and in that blog, I already wrote about the absurdity that there are virtually no Mexicans on TV. Where are all the Mexicans? I lived in California and the idea of no Mexicans on TV is just so wrong and bizarre. The United states has more blacks on TV proportionally than in reality. (Did that sentence make sense? Percentage wise-)Good for them, I really don't care...I'm just saying where are the Mexicans? And I don't want some over the top comic parody of a Mexican that acts like a Puerto Rican. Make it real!
What about a family show? It's just so dumb and nonsensical that it's taken this long, even if two or three shows were to crop up tomorrow.

Korean Dreams

One of the blogs I read is http://belovedbabbling.blogspot.com
She's an American ESL teacher married to a Korean, used to live in Korea and has strong Korean ties. She's got scads of interesting links on the side of her page, where I found a link for 'Kimchi Mamas' blog. Recently, there was a short post on Korean dreams and so I've posted the URL here:
.Kimchi Mamas- Dream Entry

My students have talked to me about dreams and the very specifically Korean interpretations of these dreams. Pig= Money. If you dream about a pig it's good, and so on.

I do believe that our brains are hardwired to connect certain images with certain emotions when we are sleeping and our brain is de-fragging. I do not believe that people most of the time can properly interpret these things, or that one size fits all...or that one should attempt to predict the future with these images. But having said that, the brain fascinates me and so do dreams. I dream all night long. I know that this is abnormal, and truthfully, I think I'm a little bit crazy because of it. I'm not completely insane, but I'm like a person with perpetual sleep disturbance

The Pursuit of Happyness

This is a really good movie, you guys. When I was a kid in the 70's it seems like the movies were good like this...and then the 80's came along and it seemed like suddenly everything was Rambo and I wanted to die. I distinctly remember thinking, "what happened?"

Anyway, this is a must see. I know, I'm late for this...it's been out a long while, but I'll venture a guess that there's quite a few people out there that skipped it. Well, don't.

One thing about me is I hate sappy tear-jerkers. So far I have refused to watch 'I Am Sam' because everyone who's reported to me on that has said, "Oh I cried so much"...that's a sure-fire way to get me to skip a movie. This one's not like that. It's a delight to watch. I'm so happy with Will Smith's kid's performance. So happy. This is like what I remember. I hope there are more to come like this.

Strange Things Students Say

A student told me yesterday on his test (fill in the blank thing) that I am sexy. Hm.. He doesn't get a grade from me. Must be a translation issue.

Post Apocalypse Lobby

My first student of the day is Sun (only one in this class)...she's not here today. The head teacher here is Mr. Moon. I try to avoid him when the students are absent, because if he sees me, he's like "What no students? Where are they? Why?" he gets mad at them like they're skipping class. ME: I think that if a student is absent then they needed some rest or a break, or they're sick...whatever. Currently Mr. Moon isn't around, so I headed out of class and I thought hey...

There's no Sun and there's no Moon...so I'm going to interact with technology in the lobby.

Local News and Odd News

In Yahoo Odd News...San Luis Obispo women's prison worker (male) is in trouble for having inmates flash him. What an ass. Why do they have men working with female prisoners? Man can hardly work with women in a normal job.

And then in funnier news... Sioux City Iowa SUX. That's their new airport code...SUX...they didn't like it at first, but now I guess their "embracing" it.
So that's some nice news to start my morning with. I won't try to explain the SUX thing to the students...or maybe I will, I don't know. I'm hungry.

Star Wars Korean

Shin Neung-kyun, Korean name...American name Nelson Shin. He's a professor in South Korea, originally from North Korea. He invented the Light Saber in Star Wars. This was reported in the CNN show Eye On South Korea and it's also in Wikipedia. He's a famous animator who's done shows like The Simpsons and X-men...and more. So there you have it. He's handsome in my opinion- he looks like my grandmother.

Line up change in China

BEIJING - President Hu Jintao won a second five-year term as China's Communist Party chief Monday, heading a new leadership lineup that features potential successors yet could invite a divisive battle to succeed him.-By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer found on Yahoo news.

I don't really understand why the term "won" is used here. It's not like they're a democracy. I have to look more in to that. So, Hu Jintao...after his "win" made some leader changes in key areas. I'll be looking in to this more.

Penelope Cruz

It doesn't really bother me that Penelope Cruz is ugly, I mean who am I to judge...but I was disturbed to learn from reliable internet sources that she is possibly the worst person who ever lived. She's a bad person. Baby seal clubber is the only atrocity I'll repeat here, because this is a family blog.

Bomb in Manila-Makati

A bomb went off in the mall up in Manila in the Makati area. That's the finance area where all the foreign investment is. So I thought, makes sense...but today on the news I saw that some army guy here is being investigated because he said the government did it...um does this guy value his life? Bizarre. You'd be better off blaming Al-Queda, dude. Shut up.

WOW

I can't believe how many people have hit my page here because of that Cheney-Obama cartoon. Trip out.

And one of my buddies has let me know that they have completely reversed their right-wing political views and are going for Obama 08. I said, hey is that just an 'I hate Hilary' thing? He said, no and he hopes that Hilary picks Obama as a running mate. I'm like... wow ...what planet is this? Am I still on earth?

It's one of those things where I was like...wow this guy is really smart and funny, but he's right wing...I don't get it. Well, now I don't have to 'not get it' anymore. He's changed.

Haim and Feldman No Longer Friends

SHOCKING COREY NEWS!--<--This is a link

Ok, this just kind of made me chuckle and I was going to write a little blurb about it...but on the OMG web page, the comments at the bottom are so hilarious, I had to post the link- go check it out.

If any younger people wonder why Lisa Simpson (of The Simpsons hee) is in love with a "Corey" it's because of these guys. I love that episode where she gets addicted to calling his recording and Marge has a coronary when she sees the phone bill. I remember my sister's HUGE crush on Corey Haim back in the day...and we called a number just like that and paid HIM to leave him a message. Yeah.

And here's my two cents about this important news...Haim is a spazz, but who's spazzier...him, or Feldman's high-maintenance witchy wife? All these people are borderline retarded and they need to read some books. Have they gone to college? Becuase they might enjoy that. They should go. Another reality show, The Coreys Have Class.

Hilarious Cheney Obama Cartoon

This cartoon of Cheney and Obama has me rolling. Good stuff from Bill Schorr!
And in case you haven't heard: They're distant relatives. Fox news has been trying a long time to get an Obama- Muslim connection going. This development wasn't what they had in mind, I'm sure. Ironicly, I wonder if *this* will hurt Obama! LOL as they say online. ["It's funny because it's true!" ha ha]

Dear Josh Grossberg,

Open letter to Josh Grossberg:
Dear Josh Grossberg,

I hope you google yourself (ew!) and find this. I just read an article about George Lucas' TV projects that you wrote, and I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your writing! Perhaps you're a fan? [Um, not of yourself...I mean of Star Wars] I realize that I might lose all credibility when you see my screen-name is 'jedimasterbooboo'...but I loved the article- thanks!

I tried to find a picture of you for this entry. I used Yahoo search and clicked "images" Wow! I didn't know you were a changling. I couldn't decide which one to use, you take on so many forms.

More Photos

Wherever they went, they rode on top of the vehicles. Rain or shine. There's Abel. And there's an interesting sign.

A Couple of Photos From Gyu and Abel's Adventures

I have a bunch more, but I'm concerned about loading my page with photo after photo and making it hard to load. In the second picture, those are hanging coffins on the side of the cliff.

Sad

This is a Korean actress who's father is American. I guess people in Korea recently found out about this and now her life is bad. I don't know the details because I can't read Korean, but one of my students told me the news story says that sometimes she wants to die. Nice.

Students read my blog now and again, so I won't be completely candid about how I feel. End Entry.

They Rule

www.theyrule.net

Go here, it's a flash program from 2004 that can map connections between corporations. It's TRIPPY.

I was on that site, I didn't really understand how it worked...I clicked "find connection" on the side and two boxes appeared allowing me to choose two companies from a list of hundreds. I randomly chose Ford Motor Company and Dow Chemical.

It quickly came up:
Ford Motor Company-Ellen R. Marram- Eli Lilly-Martin S. Feldstein, PH.D. -HCA- Harold T. Shapiro- Dow Chemical.

This is ...what? 5 degrees of separation?
Go play with it. Of course, know that it's from 2004 and all these board members and associates change constantly. In fact, the path that they move along is fascinating in itself. Some of them will wind up on government boards and committees, into fox/henhouse situations.


Then I found this- my old job is connected to Exxon

Exxon Mobile- Wells Fargo- Target -UPS
There's a person in between each company.

Then we have
Exxon Mobile- Pfizer- Time Warner

That's interesting.
I'm going back to play with it.

I'm back...

So here's a quick post that reminds me of me circa 1999, 2000. I don't have a whole lotta time to re-visit all this stuff, but I wanted to check on my good ole friend Monsanto and see what they've been up to. I found this information linked to it.

Corporations richer than countries- Here's the link. Here's the info:

Of the world's 100 largest economic entities, 51 are now corporations and 49 are countries.

(It looks like this info comes from 2000 and I'm wondering what it looks like now.)

Rank Country / Corporation GDP / sales ($mil)
1 United States 8,708,870.00
2 Japan 4,395,083.00
3 Germany 2,081,202.00
4 France 1,410,262.00
5 United Kingdom 1,373,612.00
6 Italy 1,149,958.00
7 China 1,149,814.00
8 Brazil 760,345.00
9 Canada 612,049.00
10 Spain 562,245.00
11 Mexico 474,951.00
12 India 459,765.00
13 Korea, Rep. 406,940.00
14 Australia 389,691.00
15 Netherlands 384,766.00
16 Russian Federation 375,345.00
17 Argentina 281,942.00
18 Switzerland 260,299.00
19 Belgium 245,706.00
20 Sweden 226,388.00
21 Austria 208,949.00
22 Turkey 188,374.00
23 General Motors 176,558.00
24 Denmark 174,363.00
25 Wal-Mart 166,809.00
26 Exxon Mobil 163,881.00
27 Ford Motor 162,558.00
28 DaimlerChrysler 159,985.70
29 Poland 154,146.00
30 Norway 145,449.00
31 Indonesia 140,964.00
32 South Africa 131,127.00
33 Saudi Arabia 128,892.00
34 Finland 126,130.00
35 Greece 123,934.00
36 Thailand 123,887.00
37 Mitsui 118,555.20
38 Mitsubishi 117,765.60
39 Toyota Motor 115,670.90
40 General Electric 111,630.00
41 Itochu 109,068.90
42 Portugal 107,716.00
43 Royal Dutch/Shell 105,366.00
44 Venezuela 103,918.00
45 Iran, Islamic rep. 101,073.00
46 Israel 99,068.00
47 Sumitomo 95,701.60
48 Nippon Tel & Tel 93,591.70
49 Egypt, Arab Republic 92,413.00
50 Marubeni 91,807.40
51 Colombia 88,596.00
52 AXA 87,645.70
53 IBM 87,548.00
54 Singapore 84,945.00

55 Ireland 84,861.00

56 BP Amoco 83,556.00
57 Citigroup 82,005.00
58 Volkswagen 80,072.70
59 Nippon Life Insurance 78,515.10
60 Philippines 75,350.00
61 Siemens 75,337.00
62 Malaysia 74,634.00
63 Allianz 74,178.20
64 Hitachi 71,858.50
65 Chile 71,092.00
66 Matsushita Electric Ind. 65,555.60
67 Nissho Iwai 65,393.20
68 ING Group 62,492.40
69 AT&T 62,391.00
70 Philip Morris 61,751.00
71 Sony 60,052.70
72 Pakistan 59,880.00
73 Deutsche Bank 58,585.10
74 Boeing 57,993.00
75 Peru 57,318.00
76 Czech Republic 56,379.00
77 Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Ins. 55,104.70
78 Honda Motor 54,773.50
79 Assicurazioni Generali 53,723.20
80 Nissan Motor 53,679.90
81 New Zealand 53,622.00
82 E.On 52,227.70
83 Toshiba 51,634.90
84 Bank of America 51,392.00
85 Fiat 51,331.70
86 Nestle 49,694.10
87 SBC Communications 49,489.00
88 Credit Suisse 49,362.00
89 Hungary 48,355.00
90 Hewlett-Packard 48,253.00
91 Fujitsu 47,195.90
92 Algeria 47,015.00
93 Metro 46,663.60
94 Sumitomo Life Insur. 46,445.10
95 Bangladesh 45,779.00
96 Tokyo Electric Power 45,727.70
97 Kroger 45,351.60
98 Total Fina Elf 44,990.30
99 NEC 44,828.00
100 State Farm Insurance

This says that these are the 100 largest economic entities in the world. It seems hard to believe that there aren't other countries that would be in the top 100 besides Bangladesh and The Philippines. I guess they're not doing too bad overall (?)
Sources: Sales: Fortune, July 31, 2000. GDP: World Bank, World Development Report 2000
I was surprised at where Ireland sits.
So yeah, I listen to the nuts that scream about corporate responsibility. I think it's interesting.

Balot or Balut

Many have heard of Balot...a delicacy here in the Philippines. It's a partially formed baby duck. I don't eat this because there's blood in it.

Some students are grossed out by it, some try it. Some like it some don't.
Photo by Abel. This duck is 18 days old and you can see his little head in there.

More Dancing Philippinos!

This is video that my student Abel shot at Robinson's Mall.

People ask me if I'm in danger of terrorism here. I say no, but there's a danger of people breaking out into a spontaneous song and dance musical.

Vincent

This is Vincent, he wasn't one of the students that went spelunking this weekend, but he just gave me this photo so I had to post it.

Interesting! Cave Survivors.

I'm reading Yahoo news and one of the top stories is: "Student cave explorers are found safe."

That reminds me of my guys here. They saw alot of things this weekend, one of the most exciting was the cave tour. The cave was a real Indiana Jones type experience. (Actually their travel just to get to these spots was pretty Indiana Jones!)

At some points they had to crawl...at some points they were in water up to their chests holding their backpacks over their heads. Gyu said he saw a crab with no eyes. There were a gazillion bats (actual number)and meters of bet guano underneath. At some points the rock was so slippery that they had to crawl, so they got nice juicy bat guano on their hands.

Gyu was a bit concerned because the guide had a gas light that he held with one hand and nothing else. If that gas light hit the ground and broke, that was it they were in a pitch black cave miles from the opening. Hopefully the guide would have bat vision and super bat-guide skills if he dropped the lantern.

There was also a waterfall. The guide cost was 800 pesos, so 400 each, which is almost 10.00 dollars each. Pretty good. Their entire weekend cost each of them 60.00.

Oh, the hospital bill: Gyu just went to the hospital this morning because this weekend a bug flew into his ear and lived overnight at least and may have flown out the next day, we don't know. But the "damned insect" as Gyu calls it...may have laid eggs, so he's getting that checked out. That story was funny because I think Gyu thinks that the name of the bug is "damned insect"...because he says it without inflection and he says it every time, the whole time he's telling the story. "So I go hospital second class check damned insect. Damned insect may have laid eggs." "I sleep then at 4am damned insect started crawl." He was just relaying the facts.
At lunch maybe he'll update me on the damned insect.

UPDATE: It was still there. One of the teachers told me the doctor removed it. Gyu didn't save it, and they didn't film it! Rats!

Gyu is Alive!

Ok, major blog entry coming! Right after I wrote the previous blog entry and was sad... Gyu and Abel came in to school looking a bit worn but with huge smiles.

They took a very risky trip this weekend, and I wondered if they'd come back alive. He just spent almost two hours telling me about it. Abel has photos and video, I'm going to do whatever I can to tell the story and get the pictures up here.

A LOT of our students are not the adventurous types. Once in awhile we get the back packers in here and I love it. Them: least likely to complain, most likely to experience things here and then talk about it. Also: least likely to stare at you blankly during class. ME: I like them.

Once, Gyu took off to Manila by himself and ended up getting drugged and robbed by a local. That was an interesting story and proved all the other overly cautious Koreans here right. I found it strange because hundreds of students come and go, they do lots of things here and ride jeepneys freely, but this particular group is like; "Jeepneys not safe for Koreans.", I'm like: "What?" This particular group thinks they're going to get killed as soon as they walk outside. I roll my eyes.

So what happens? Ugh! Gyu, why?!? He ends proving them right (kind of). Anyway, that didn't deter him from planning other adventures.

Gyu and Abel went to the north of the Philppines to see the rice terraces and some caves, and it's something that the local teacher here said he wouldn't do. It's quite a story.

I love this picture...he's so tired, but it was all worth it.

Here's Abel.

People Die

I was reading some biographies of former high school classmates and I saw one that really made me sad. There's a girl from our graduating class that got married and had children and step children, then her husband got cancer and died last year. Now I have to go to class and I feel down. Death is a sad thing. Jesus cried when people died, he didn't say, "hey it's all my plan!" The bible says that death is the enemy. It's a horrible thing to go through and I feel for that person.

Evan Almighty- Ramadan

One of my students brought this movie in and we watched it in class. I thought it would irritate me because the ark was a huge box the size of a football field- not a boat- and yes there were pairs of animals, but 7 pairs of each...also God promised no more flood, he'd never do it again and he actually felt regret... that's what he promised with the rainbow covenant.

That's why when people said hurricane Katrina was a punishment from God, I was like...yeah you're full of KKKrap! and like all phony baloney religious types, the people saying that don't have a clue what the Bible says...

...and blah blah blah. But it was a pretty cute movie anyway. It was fun to watch with the students.

It's Thursday now, but tomorrow we have no school because here in the Philippines, Ramadan is a national holiday.

Ireland Abstains From Potato Vote

GMO HOT POTATO ISSUE
The European Union can't agree on allowing the new genetically modified potato to be used as animal feed. As usual, these stories don't provide enough information for the average person to get a feel for the whys behind GMO controversies. Around 1999 I did a bunch of research on this, and it's actually pretty interesting.

Several EU countries voted on the issue...
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Portugal abstained in the vote.

Also, if you love potatoes...go to www.potatonews.com

In related news
New potato chips from Golden Flake coated with caffeine
BIRMINGHAM (AP) — For a generation already buzzing on energy drinks, here's a new snack — potato chips coated with caffeine.
Potato Buzz

That doesn't sound good to me at all.

JC and Autism

So I walked in the door from work the other day and my oldest son said he saw Jenny McCarthy on Larry King Live and she said that Jim Carrey was her boyfriend and that he's got a knack for communicating with her autistic son. Doesn't surprise me.

I chose this picture because this is my family's favorite Jim Carrey movie.
I don't really like reading things about Austism. It's the same stuff over and over again. Irony?

What?

Matt Damon went to Harvard? What?
I don't know anything about celebrities, and I think that Oceans is the only Matt Damon movie I've seen. But I saw him on Larry King once with Angelina Jolie. (I have never seen an Angelina movie by the way.)

They both act like uppity types. I thought wow, this room is big enough for both of them? I was surprised to hear Matt Damon talk, he used a LOT of words, and I love words and uppity-type things, and even I was like whoah, dude...

Trash

Let's talk about trash which is what the show 'Desperate Housewives' is.
Recently, they had a line in their show disparaging medical schools here.

Newsflash for everyone! Human beings in other countries have medical care, doctors, hospitals, etc. It's not a joke that someone went to med school in the Philippines, but what can you expect from a show like that anyway? Nothing but stupidity.

"MANILA (AFP) - Makers of hit US television series "Desperate Housewives" have apologised for a slur against Filipino medical workers that caused an uproar in the Southeast Asian country.
The apology was sent to Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN's bureau in the United States and aired in the Philippines on Thursday following protests by the Manila government.

"The producers of 'Desperate Housewives' and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere," cable news channnel ANC quoted the statement as saying.

"There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines," it said.

The episode showed actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asking during a medical consultation to check "those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."

The apology was made a day after chief aide to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said the line of dialogue appeared to be a "racial slur."

Philippine Senators said the apology was not enough, and urged their Foreign Affairs Department to lodge a formal protest with the US government.

"I am mortally offended by the statement because it betrayed the racial prejudice and denigrates the excellent performance of world-class Filipino doctors in the US," said Senator Miriam Santiago, whose sister is a doctor working in Los Angeles.

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It's not racial prejudice, it's prejudice against a country the US feels superior to.

Question From Students

A student asked me today, "Is tweety a boy or a girl?"
Um... Anyone...?

Finally!

Years ago I read about conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds and found the whole thing fascinating so I really wanted to see the movie when it came out. I knew what it was immediately when I heard the title. It's taken me a long time, but today I finally got to see it. Not the whole thing, we'll finish it tomorrow.

WOW, I love it. I like true stories. A lot. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the very best actors in hollywood, off the top of my head, I can't think of someone better really. His first movie was What's Eating Gilbert Grape and he played an autistic kid! My son is autistic and his portrayal is dead on. I remember telling my older son, the guy who plays "arnie" is an actor, he's just acting. Seems hard to believe. I don't swoon over Leo's looks, I just think that the range he has as an actor is amazing, he does a great job. So far I'm glued to the movie. I can't wait to finish it.

I own one diamond and I found it on the ground one day and tried to find the owner. I left my phone number with the building that I found it in front of...they just laughed at me. It fit me perfectly and my ring finger is really small. I wear it on my right hand, but it turns out that lots of guys are dyslexic or something and thought I was married on several different occasions. Yay ring! I hope nobody died for you.

They call this one...

"Cheney's Got A Gun". A while back in the news, it was reported that Dick Cheney shot this guy while hunting, and then the guy apologized to him. Kinda bizarre, but then...

It wouldn't be on my blog had I not found this super-cool lego replica of the incident.

It's Tuesday Now

Just keeping you updated.

There was another Wisconsin shooting among young people, very tragic. I don't have much to say about it. Peace out.
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From the story:
CRANDON, Wis. - A young sheriff's deputy who opened fire on a pizza party and killed six people reportedly flew into a rage when he was rebuffed by his old girlfriend, and others at the gathering called him a "worthless pig." - Yahoo News Link to shooting article.

Ok, I have a little something to say. The news keeps talking about how he was a "police officer", which...I don't think he really was. He was a little deputy trainee. His choice of occupation has very little to do with this tragedy, in my opinion. And I'm not one for giving cops a break.

More Evidence That It's Monday

I typed in "unicycle accident" on Yahoo, and this guy's picture came up. Whatever.

Monday

It's Monday here. I know for a lot of you out there, it's still Sunday. Well, I'm here on Monday, just looking around a bit...and...you can stay in bed if you want, there's nothing good going on here. Some grumpy people acting weird, some bad food, a sappy movie...

Tell your boss and loved ones I said you can sit this one out.

Friday

I don't know what this means, but that makes it cool.
My students on Fridays will do anything to watch a movie in class. So far today I've watched two movies halfway through. Our classes are long, but the students are coming REALLY LATE. They brought me Oceans 12 for the first period. I couldn't hear it because of the notebook computer volume...but if there's a movie that I can't hear...it's good that Brad Pitt is in it...something to look at.

Second period they brought me "The Holiday". It has Cameron Diaz and Jude Law, and I don't care for either of them. It's also got Kate Winslet and Jack Black. The first half of the movie is cute, but also reminded me how much I hate men, and how serious a problem it's becoming. Maybe Monday I can see the rest.

Next class will be a famous Korean movie called "Tatja" which is about gambling. Its English title is called "The Hoodwink".

My last class can't have a movie because it's got a certain format to it...they don't need one anyway.

YESTERDAY: So I'm laughing at my post from yesterday, as if NO NEWS can come from Marinette or Peshtigo...like it's just not possible! But beyond that I think it's pretty interesting that Hmong Chinese live there. I can't imagine how they do it. I know that they came from Laos, but I'm wondering what Chinese they speak, if it's Mandarin or Cantonese.

The only way I would ever ever ever ever even consider moving back there ....the only way I would allow that thought in my head for longer than 30 seconds is to think about the possibility of teaching ESL to the Hmong. That sounds interesting. I'd love it.

Marinette Wisconsin??!?!

I'm reading Yahoo news and I see a headline for Marinette? This is where I grew up! People are murdering eachother while hunting. This is a Hmong Chinese issue. The story is bizarre.
People killing each other near Peshtigo...Squirrel hunting!

James Nichols, 29, is accused of shooting and stabbing Cha Vang, 30, after the two got into a dispute while hunting separately for squirrels Jan. 5 in the Peshtigo Wildlife Area.

Vang's death rekindled racial tensions in northern Wisconsin, where a Hmong deer hunter fatally shot six white hunters three years ago.

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"fatally shot"...SIX hunters? How does one accomplish that?
I know some people from around that area read my blog. What's up? Do you know anything about this? Probably just what's in the news? I'm not reading local news, this came up in national Yahoo news.

The Following People Look Like Mick Jagger To Me

Yes, the middle one IS Mick Jagger, I'm just saying that these other people look like him, too.
On the left is Christine Amanpour, who I like, but she reminds me of Mick Jagger. I wonder what Jerry Hall thinks. That other dude has some silly name like..."Thomas Hayden Church" or something.

Amen

Yes, I wish women had more sense about the way they dress ( I know I've made some mistakes), but there's no accounting for taste. The taliban claims that women should be covered from head to toe, because if we're not it's like an uncovered piece of meat. I hate to say this, but American men act the same way, they just don't demand the head to toe burka with just the eyes showing. They do send the same message though. You know what? I'm not a piece of meat. I believe in the middle ground. Modest dress, but why should I bend over backwards either way- skanky or completely covered- for a species that considers me meat?

I've been around the opposite sex in situations that really made me understand why I might want to be completely hidden from head to toe with only eyes showing, and then...worry about the messages the eyes are sending...is the burden ALL on me? Can the opposite sex please stop, please understand?

Please, alot of us are people. OK, some of us aren't- but I can't help that a lot of women don't act like people. Please don't paint us all with the same brush. I'm a person, not a thing.

Commendations

I was checking out local news from back home, and I found this story. There's a lot of news lately, why put this on my blog? Because I think sometimes people wonder why I'm hard on police, and soldiers and the like.

It's because I've seen what happens when they do THE RIGHT THING. Outsiders tend to think that a police officer or a soldier always just does what they have to and if something tragic happened, oh well.

But really...this story shows a high level of competence and compassion that should be commended, regardless of what happens to the individual. It's possible he needs to be committed. It's rarely for certain whether someone should be murdered.

I believe that in another city, with the suspect being another race we may have seen another outcome. But I'm not complaining, just commending. This is a job well done.


Fake Gun or Look Alike?
The man waving a gun at a local grocery store on Friday gave everyone a scare. A local SWAT team worked to figure out if Ralph Provident had a real gun or a fake. This answer could make the difference between life or death for any suspect in a similar situation.
Police have only moments to figure out if a weapon is authentic before a potential disaster occurs.

Provident is now facing misdemeanor charges for the one hour spectacle which backed up traffic but didn't cause any injuries. Officials shot him with a bean bag after one hour of negotiations and finding out he had a pellet gun.
KEY NEWS Reporter John Palminteri speaks with law enforcement to figure out key signs to show if a gun is real or not.

------------------------------------

Good Stuff.
EDIT: OOOPS ACTUALLY, I FORGOT...THIS DID HAPPEN IN FLINT MICHIGAN, A BLACK MAN WEARING A CAPE, WHO CLEARLY WAS IN NEED OF MENTAL HEALTH HAD A PLASTIC RIFLE HE WAS WAVING AROUND AND THE POLICE JUST SHOT HIM DEAD AND THEN SNEERED ABOUT HIM TO THE CAMERAS. This was caught on film all by chance during the filming of "Roger and Me", which is a documentary about trying to talk with the CEO of General Motors. They just left ithe footage in the documentary because it was interesting.

Divorce

I'm really sad. My friend back home in the states just blurted out that she's getting a divorce. It seems like all these bad things are happening at once. I don't think people should think about divorce when they're angry. I'm sad, and headed back to class...gotta cheer up...

Mad as #$%%!

I've had it!
I just saw a video from the BBC World about a North Korean defector who has commit suicide. I'm so angry with all the tragic stories of these defectors, it's so unjust. What they go through is horrid. To put up this blog entry I searched for photos of "North Korean defectors" and I found this terrible photo of a woman in China trying to make it through the gates of an embassy and the Chinese gestapo, two of them pulling her down, one has her from behind, the other is blocking the gate. On the other side of the fence is her tiny little girl who made it through watching the whole thing. If you type in North Korean Defectors on Yahoo and click images you can see it, but I couldn't steal it for the blog, it didn't work.

That woman in the photo is likely dead now. She was sent back to NK, and usually there is an excecution. Yeah, I'm pissed at China, but they're quite open about their stupidity. I'm mad at South Korea which is where the defectors go to commit suicide after being treated like shit by South Koreans. I'm mad at the USA, but to know why one would have to follow the involvement of the US in the situation. South Korea is like the little brother who can't make a move without the US big brother, and big brother is kind of an ass. The US doesn't even treat South Korea with that much respect, especially when compared to Japan.

HELP these people...anyone...
I mean how much sense does it make to condemn North Korea if we don't Let The People GO!?!

Taegukgi

The students found a way to get this on their notebook computer WITH English subtitles. It's usually an ordeal here in the Philippines to download stuff.
ANYWAY

So I got to see this WOW! What a great movie, this is my first Korean film ever. Taegukgi means flag blowing in the wind...but the movie has a different English title, it's called The Brotherhood of War. One of the students said that this is the South Korean Saving Private Ryan. Um, it's really good.