Snow Leopard!

My package arrived 11:30 am today and I got my Snow Leopard upgrade from Apple Singapore! Yay!

Here's my new system updated.







Expose feels a lot faster, like Tiger was before Leopard slowed it down. That alone makes it worth the 29 dollars. Will check out other upgrades throughout the day. I just love receiving packages in the mail!

Dare Devil

My Dad's favourite comic book character was Dare Devil.

Dare Devil was from a place called Hell's Kitchen, a crime infested suburb of New York that his secret identity wished to clean up. It was a poor area which the gangs run with impunity.

His regular persona was a blind lawyer (blind justice I guess) which later became Dare Devil with supersonic hearing who fought crime like Batman except he made pleadings in his spare time.

I guess that's why my Dad liked the comic. Deep down he wanted to clean up his home town and one way or another, make a difference. He wasn't jumping from building to building, but when he went against his Kingpin, he was able to send him to jail, even if it eventually cost him his life.

It was his passion to make right what apathy had allowed to make wrong.

I wonder how many other Dare Devils we have in law school today.

Bar Ops

The bar starts in september. Starting sunday next week, hundreds of potential law students take the test over a span of four weeks. Hopefully they become lawyers.

Hmm.

Will post something later that may be a bit interesting.

Law Sports

Last sunday Ateneo Law had a sportsfest. We were given some bonus points for some very hard mid-terms.

Hopefully this will let me concentrate on my other subjects. haay.

So so tired

Hoping for inspiration.

Unlearning etiquette

I've spent my whole life learning how to be polite. Giving a hand to a new person for a shake during an introduction.

It's suppose to be polite, and a sign of goodwill.

How ironic that now, in post graduate studies, the culture actually implores men to shake hands only with those they already know (well at least in law school public).


Life has a funny way of moving.

Its nice to breathe outside law

I was going nuts only breathing law school day in and day out.

Glad friends were able to come over and play mindless 4 player (although we were five) Call of Duty and Halo.

Whew. Pictured is Ton and the rest of us seated on the couch.

Will think about school later again.

Dismayed

Double thinking law school. We already have lawyers, I'd rather be doing business.

Top Gear Police Car Challenge

The folks at Top Gear do it again with this hilarious cop car challenge. This is part two but its the better half.

What Do Koreans Name their Parks?

Passed by the Ayala Park yesterday while picking up Miggie and wondered, do koreans name their parks after people?

What happens if they end up naming the park, "Park Park?


Ok its inane, but funny.

Difference of being hopeful, optimistic and pessimistic

Philosophy 103 was one of my most memorable classes in college or University for the European folk.

Andrew Soh was my professor and he gave one of the most articulate discussions regarding Marcel's Phenomenology of Hope.

He summed up the difference by giving the anecdote of a dying man in a hospital with 3 children.

The optimistic child goes up to his father and says that everything will be alright, he'll be fine and starts planning for his dad's next birthday party. The optimist does not take part in resolving the problem, but just blindly waits for a positive outcome, thinking it will happen without need for him to work on it. The optimistic child just starts saying that things will be fine. The outcome will be good.

The pessimistic child goes up to his father and starts thinking of the funeral plans, starts wondering how life is going to be without his father and just hopes that his father dies without pain, anyway, its going to happen no matter what he does.

The hopeful child goes up to his father and says "no matter what happens dad, I'll be right here for you".


Hope, true hope, must be distinguished from blind optimism. Sometimes they may be confused for being one and the same, but true hope, hopes in the process. It does not look at the product of the process, because that would be wishing.

True hope takes part in the problem, constantly finding and integrating oneself in finding the solution, being part of the process. It does not hinge itself on the outcome, but on the idea that being part of the process is what matters. When you have true hope, failure is not a bar to moving forward, hope is what keeps you moving toward your goal. It's the process, not the outcome.

True hope must be distinguished from wishing in the outcome, because when some wish for something, like when one wishes he would win the lottery, and in fact, he does not win, he opens himself to despair. He hinges his whole being on some tangible thing that can easily be destroyed by another human.

This lecture was the bridge for reconciling philosophy with religion. In a nutshell, when one hopes, to protect oneself from despair, he should hinge his hope on something or some being that cannot be destroyed, a higher being that cannot be simply stolen like a lottery ticket or destroyed by an aircraft carrier or the change of time. That way, you will never let go of the process, because you will know that your cause is something that can never be destroyed.

Hope Floats

Is it better to be self righteous or peaceful and apathetic?

I used to really hate self righteous people. They talk as if they were the only ones with the answer. They rise above everyone else and hold themselves holier than thou.

I used to think being the peaceful apathetic was the best way to go. Just relax and go with the flow. Let things move as they will and things will work out on their own.

Life doesn't just fix itself that easily. It may work out, but its because of a confluence of actions that may incidentally work in your favour, but still, there are actors and catalysts moving to make such things happen.

Now, the real issue would be, would you rather be in the sidelines waiting for that time others will work things for you, or would you rather be the catalyst that makes the difference for others?

Maybe the example I gave was too extreme, humans are not absolute and they have a propensity to change, but it only highlights the importance of choice, of positive action that every citizen must make in order to fulfill their idea of an ideal society.

It may be something as simple as voting in a democracy, and in a perfect socialized system with welfare and medical benefits, paying your taxes.

When you follow traffic lights at 3am, despite there being no cars on the road, it shows discipline. Its funny how in the Philippines, people look down at the importance of road safety, it may be the machismo factor of the regular filipino male, but this attitude nonetheless, strongly reflects our feelings of indifference. The stark contrast in traffic discipline when you enter a first world can reinforce a feeling that there is something missing in our home.

Just look at the pride the officers of Subic used to have when they could catch any erring driver when they did not follow their traffic rules. Road goers in Subic Naval Base had an air of self righteous "we are more disciplined and organized than you", and that is what made it great.


I guess what I'm driving at is that if you see this world as nothing but chaos and negativity, then the more you should take an active part in fixing society, because you may be the only hope there is left. If you see the world as good, then you should have no fear in helping as well, because this world will stand to gain either way.

Its just a question of character.

31 Abus, 23 troops killed in Basilan | The Philippine Star News Headlines

31 Abus, 23 troops killed in Basilan | The Philippine Star News Headlines

Shared via AddThis


This is horrible. I hate it when soldiers die here because they often are forced to join out of poverty. Add to that, they die often being left unnoticed.

The supreme sacrifice of brave men should never be forgotten. Brutality of the enemy should never be condoned.

I know both sides are guilty of the atrocities, but that does not make it right for anyone to be killed in war.

Just a salute to the brave men and women that die for a country that, because of its inherent poverty, must forget their sacrifice because of the overwhelming problems its citizens must also face on their own.

May peace finally be found at their journey's end.

Redemption? Random Thoughts

Can we redeem ourselves in this life?


Can failure be the end of our journey?

If you are religious and believe in the afterlife, can there still be redemption after death?

If yes, does that mean we always have time in life to redeem ourselves?

If no, does that mean we only have till right before we die to rectify our wrongs?


Random thoughts. Cera is just too cute! hehe

Why Communication is key

This is why communication is key. Hilarious situation.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

How do you assess one's success?

When you think of someone successful in society, you'll usually think of those who have reached the peak of their industry.


Being a Supreme Court Justice is the highest position (short of Chief Justice), when you're in the judiciary.

CEO or Chairman of the Board for those in a corporation is the golden standard.

For some, its as simple (but still easier said than done), as becoming the richest person in your community.

I asked my father once how to gauge someone's success. His reply, as usual, was reflective.

He told me that success is often associated with one's victory in life, but the true gauge of success of a person is seen when you observe the whole range of their life experience, from the darkest pits of their life to the highest triumphs they have attained.

You look at the ivy league man, born to a good family, and climbing up the corporate ladder to be CEO of a fortune five hundred company. Now, change the fact that he was born to a good family, and imagine that he was orphaned when his parents were murdered, had to take care of his siblings, yet, attained just as much money and the same position and stature in the end.

Think of the physically abused child who has overcome his fears and becomes a counselor who then helps other children raise themselves from their horrible experiences.

Some of this may seem rather holistic, not very worldly, but I believe that people inherently know that it is the struggles that one endures that builds his character, and eventually forms the mountain that shall be the monument of one's success.

Two days ago, I saw a feature on Ninoy Aquino on ANC. He spoke of his time in prison. He was kept there because of his opposition to Ferdinand Marcos. His isolation from his family and his friends was the darkest part of his life. It was when he reached his lowest point that he was able to see everything clearly, and walked toward his goal of a Philippine democracy.

Experiencing our life, from the lowest low to the highest high will give us the bigger picture of where we are, and hopefully, once we know that, will be able to understand where we are headed.

If you do not see them, are they there?

When you do not see good people around, does that mean they are not there?

We see criminals in the news and those with malicious intentions proudly displaying themselves in public.

They boast of their power and strut as if they were invincible. They taunt those they feel are weaker or those they can take advantage of.

Terrorists abroad like to intimidate their enemies by saying they far outnumber or are stronger than those who oppose them, hence, they entice the weak to join them out of fear.


So should one cave and give in?


If criminals sometimes must hide from the police to escape capture, we must also accept the reality that sometimes, the good guys have to hide in the shadow because bad guys will not let themselves be caught that easily.

Its not like a good cop can easily just announce his presence and all the bad guys will give up. If anything, he risks getting shot ahead of the commission of the crime to prevent him from stopping the crooks. He also risks the lives of those he loves.


So the next time you start losing hope because all you see is the bad, remember, there are good guys out there watching the bad guys, just waiting.

I'm a Cloud

I’m a cloud, I block all the sunshine

Blue and dark and round

Some see me as a bad sign



Some prefer, when I do not get in the way

Let the sun come through

So the children can come out and play



I’m high in the sky

Yet no one sees me

They see my tears fall down

I make them frown



I’m waiting for someone to bask in my rain

To enjoy the cold air I bring

To keep me company late night

While I gently blow music into her ears



I’m a cloud. I’m there. Yet, you never really see me.


I cry all the time and the only one there for me is the tree

It's branches reaching up to me

When my crying has stopped

The sun shines through


My colour will change to sky blue,

I'll be transparent, yet very blue deep down

waiting for you to come

and enjoy the rain that I can give

the cold wind you can breathe

Where do I go from here?

I don't know, I'm a cloud.

Why Do I Write?

I've been asked this by many, and have also asked myself the same question. Why do I write all these stories about my father?

What's in it for me? or for you?

Well, let me start by giving some background. My father was the late Executive Judge Voltaire Rosales. If you google him, you'll find out why for the background.

Knowing this, we can move on sometime in the future, or past, whichever way you want to see it.

We were at the De La Salle Professional Schools building where they gave my father the privilege of being the first Ka Pepe Diokno award as being a Champion of Human Rights. The Head of the Brothers of La Salle talked to me afterward and asked that I write down my memories of my father and make a book.

That was sometime ago, and so here I am, writing in the easiest medium I have with me, the net. So please, I beg your indulgences when i start posting very sentimental things aside from my usual jokes. One day, I'll probably look back at this and just laugh.

You Don't Need Connections to Live

Lining Up for My Driver’s License



You don't need connections to survive life.


My first Non-Professional license was an experience and a lesson from my father. Most of my peers in high school were excited to get their first Non-Professional License. In the Philippines, we have fixers at the LTO (Land Transportation Office). They supposedly "expedite" the acquisition of a driver's license.

Now, before computerization, this actually did make a difference. Back then, all the paper work was tedious and the fixers just had to pay the one registering to give you cutsies so that you could get ahead of non-paying applicants.

When I reached 17, my dad proudly wanted me to get my non-pro driver's license (in the Philippines we have 2 kinds of licenses, Pro and Non-pro, the former being for those who make a living driving their vehicle).

Of course, being the impish youth I was, I wanted my dad to get it for me by using his influence to get the local LTO to issue me one without having to appear or apply by myself. Seeing this, my father told me he'd accompany to the closest LTO that issues new licenses.

To make a long story short, when we got there, he made me do everything, from filling the form, taking the drug tests, the written and actual driving tests. I still remember the proctor for the written exam trying to extort money from me. He told me he could give me a questionnaire with the answers. I told him just to check it and I passed the test to his surprise. I then went downstairs where another man tested my driving skills with a manual transmission car.

The whole ordeal took five or more hours of my day, my dad's precious time and a lot of sweat, to receive a receipt for a license which did not properly state my address (right village but wrong province, it should have said Makati not Cavite). I ended up having to go to the main office in Quezon City (an even bigger hassle).

Was it worth it? Yes. In retrospect, I cannot deny the realization that you don't need a short cut for everything.

Cory Aquino

I'm sure everyone had a feeling she wanted to be reunited with her husband already. Yellow ribbons around trees are all over the village.

Not surprising, some politically associated families are nonchalant about it. I personally believe that being a past President of the Philippines, regardless of the opinions of her detractors, she deserves the high praise she is receiving.

Putting her performance in office aside, no one can deny that the return of democracy in the Philippines hinged on her personalty as the wife of Benigno Aquino. She was the rallying point for the Filipino people. Enough so to convince Doy Laurel to accede to being her 2nd in-line.

Her coiffure in the picture makes her look like Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

RIP