The Philippines has “the kind of diversity that most people associate with the Galapagos Islands,” according to Dr. Lawrence Heaney, the curator and head of mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Created by volcanoes and located some 972 kilometers west of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands vast number of endemic species, not found anywhere else on earth, inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution. Citing the fact that 25 previously unknown species of mammals were recently discovered in the country (Heaney) a renowned authority on island ecosystems. Since the early 1980s, Heaney has teamed up with Filipino biologists to conduct field studies on small mammals like bats, rats and mice throughout the Philippines. Based on this research, he concluded that the Philippines were one of the world’s premier natural laboratories for understanding biodiversity.
The island of this archipelago are 10 or even 100 times better for observing the kind of diversity that most people associate only with the Galapagos Island. Understanding a bit of geological history could help explain how the Philippines became such a wonderful laboratory. Traditionally, people were taught that the Philippines were connected by land bridges to Borneo, Taiwan and other nearby areas. It is now wide accepted that except for the Palawan group, which was very likely part of Borneo at one time, the rest of the Philippines was not attached to any major land mass.
The discovery of a “dwarf cloud rat” last year in the Mt. Pulag national park in Benguet was amazing; adding that the last time anyone saw such creature was in 1896. The dwarf cloud rat was a previously unknown relative of the “giant cloud rat.”
There were, however, many threats to maintaining this biodiversity such us rapid growth of population, illegal logging, climate changes, etc…
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Coral Triangle Initiative was originally proposed by Indonesia. The term "Coral Triangle" refers to the geographical are enclosed by the Philippines, the May and Indonesia archipelagos, and Papua New Guinea, which is the world's center of marine biodiversity, that is, the area where the greatest number of species of marine organisms are found. J.C. Briggs (1974) a zoo geographer identified this triangular area of archipelagos in his book, Marine Zoo geography, as the world's center of marine biodiversity. Now it has become a rallying point for marine biodiversity conservation.
Indonesia has the largest area of coral reefs in Asia. It is not surprising that it initiated the Coral Triangle regional program. The Philippines with ca 25,000 square kilometers of reefs is second to Indonesia, which is probably 80,000 square kilometers of reefs. Coral reefs in Indonesia are in a similar degraded condition as those in the Philippines. These two countries should learn form each other how to manage and protect coral reefs and associated ecosystems. The regional Coral Triangle Initiative presents an opportunity for such a collaborative effort.
One of the features of DENR national program is the establishment of large areas of no-take marine reserves consisting of reefs, sea grass beds and mangroves. This is an improvement of existing community based initiatives, which are concerned mainly with small marine protected areas managed by local government units and local communities. The disadvantage of small areas is that their benefits to society are also small. It is time to protect large areas of coastal ecosystems, including deep seas, that would protect not only smaller fish but also large species of pelagic fish and other large marine vertebrates. Thus far, deep protected areas are rare.
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5,000 BC: Estimated earliest recorded instance of drug use by humans. Studies show that the Sumerians used opium as suggested by their ideograms.
9: Number of types of legal drugs, as classified by online substance abuse treatment program eGetgoing.com. Includes alcohol, prescription narcotics, cough preparations, tranquilizers, sedatives, soma, prescription amphetamines, over the counter drugs and OxyContin.
100+: Number of illegal drugs listed in the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002” or RA 9165 per the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as Amended by the 1972 Protocol.
200+ million: Estimated number of persons between 15 and 64 years old who have used drugs at least once over the years 2006 to 2007, according to the same UN report. The figure is nearly 5 percent of the world’s population of persons aged 15 to 64.
6: Percentage of persons aged 15 to 64 who reportedly abused amphetamines in RP in 2004, according to the same UN report. This prevalence rate is the highest in the Southeast Asia.
19: Number of years that the World Health Organization has celebrated “World No Tobacco Day.” This year’s 20th year celebration will be on May 31.
30: Percentage of people who seek treatment for sex addiction in America who are women, according to Don Serratt, director of Life Works, which offers sex-addiction treatment in the UK. (2008)
200: Minimum dose of caffeine in milligrams needed to increase anxiety ratings and induce panic attacks.
1 in 100: Estimated ratio of people addicted to exercise against the number of people who rarely exercise.
20: Number of items on the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) by the Center for Internet Addiction. The online test measures mild, moderate, and severe levels of Internet addiction.
2006: Year that Europe’s first-ever detox clinic for video game addicts was opened. The clinic, Smith and Jones Addiction Consultants, is based in Amsterdam.
P10,000: Estimated price of methamphetamine per gram in 2008, according to the 2009 international Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the US Department of State.
70+: Percentage decrease in the number of illegal drug users in the country between 2004 and 2008, according to the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB). The number of drug users in the country is now at two million about four million users less than in 2004.
P95,000: Fee for a three month program at the Life Management Foundation in Makati City , a treatment center for people with drug and alcohol problems. A six month program costs P165,000.00.
2008: Year that the cigarette ad ban in media was implemented. Effective July 01, 2008, all cigarette advertisements were banned on television, radio and print in accordance with the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 or Republic Act No. 9211.
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Mandy, less than a feet tall but with a big personality, Mandy knows how to cut hair and make people look beautiful, having worked in a beauty parlor in Bataan. Her husband’s meager earning as a jeepney driver and her desire for a better life for her children, prompted her to accept a job as a domestic helper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her agent promised quick deployment under a fly now, pay later scheme. In May 2008, upon their arrival in Malaysia, the women were made to ride in different vehicles. Mandy rode in a vehicle that took her directly to the boss of their local recruiter, a Singaporean who lived in a three story townhouse for two weeks until the agent was able to secure an employer.
She worked as domestic helper for a couple that owned three houses and had four children, with another baby due anytime soon. She worked from5:30 in the morning to 1 a.m. the following day. Her breakfast at 6a.m. consisted of a single piece of bread and a cup of coffee. Her next meal would be at 3 p.m., comprising of bowl of gruel. Unable to cope with the demand of her work, she asked to be retuned to her agent. She was not paid a singer cent for her labor.
After a week, the girlfriend of her agent said that Mandy would be working for a spa. Mandy said she would happy in her new job. Unfortunately, her employer decided to terminate her contract for fear of being caught violating immigration laws. Mandy was granted a visa to work in Malaysia as a domestic helper, not as a massage therapist. Despite services rendered, the petite Filipina was denied her monthly pay. Mandy was told she would not be earning money because she still had an outstanding debt to her Singaporean boss.
Upon her return to the townhouse, her foreign agent asked her to go up to the third floor. There, she was slapped 20 times by her agent. Sandy’s return meant a loss of income as her second employer was asking for a refund. The Singaporean big boss demanded that Mandy admit to stealing money, including customers’ tips that she supposedly should have turned over to the agent. Repeatedly, Mandy denied the allegation, and for every denial, came a slap across the cheek from her enraged six foot tall boss.
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Most of the time, performing our daily tasks at work may be a matter of routine, but on occasion difficult situations confront us and bring into play the principles we believe in. Such situations require us to take an ethical or moral stand, to review the personal and/or corporate principles that are supposed to guide us in our work, and to choose our action accordingly. Their weight upon our emotions and conscience depends on the gravity of the situation, and sometimes, they may even force us to question the value of being so principled.
It is not easy to keep our principles alive in the workplace in this day and age when more and more people would rather be practical and happy than correct but alone. Nowadays, principles seem to have become not only unfashionable but unrealistic as well. Many will tell us that our principles no longer work in our self-sufficient world, and because we do not want to be so conspicuously friendless or to be labeled a snob or a sourpuss we could be swayed into thinking our principles indeed have ceased to be relevant, particularly when even our superiors and others we expect to be principled are proving to the otherwise.
Being left alone to stand up for what we believe to be right could be a grave test of our maturity as responsible workers. If even the people we look up to are by their actions renouncing their principles in favor of expediency, we could begin to feel really odd and lonely.
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Minda enjoyed a comfortable living in Hong Kong. True, she was a domestic helper but her employers were kind and she was earning P40,000.00 a month. When her contract ended, she decided to come home for a brief vacation with her family in Palawan. She was offered a job by an illegal recruiter who promised her a good employer, a higher salary and quick deployment to Dubai, a place that she had heard good thins about.
She arrived in Dubai sometime in February 2006. Her first employer tried to sexually molest her. She complained to her agency, which transferred her to a different household. Her new employers included an indecent grandfather who kept trying ot open her door at 2 0”clock in the morning. Minda learned to slepp with a knife under her piloow and her bed against the door. Fearful for her life and honor, she called the Embassy to seek help but before it could send someone to rescue her, she was asked to pack and leave. Her agency ahd sold her contract and passport to another agency in Oman. Unwilling to go into prostitution and now having found the strength to assert her rights, her foreign agent in Oman decided to sell Minda to another agent, this time in Damascus, Syria.
Upon her arrival at the airport, immigration agents threw her in a detention cell for entering Syria without a visa. What she saw during her one-night stay in the immigration cell would stay with her for the rest of her life. On dingy walls, were SOS messages crudely written by desperate Filipinos. She also say a disheveled Filipino woman, with signs of mental illness, being mocked and played with by the guards.
The next day, Minda was released upon the intercession of a foreign broker who the sold her to a Sri Lankan. The Sri Lankan dispatched her to work as a domestic helper for a couple with six children. She was fed mostly kubos, wafer like bread that is staple fare in may Syrian households. She worked from dawn to dawn, doing everything from cutting tree branches to cleaning the entire house and feeding the children. Minda was hungry all the time, and would often buy a piece of bread when instructed to go to the market. After sealing the piece of bread in a plastic bag, she would hide it in the garden. When her employers went to sleep at night, she would sneak out of the kitchen door to get the bread hidden behind the bushes and eat it behind the locked door of the bathroom. Despite her hands bleeding from cutting tree branches and doing housework, every time Minda tried to collect on her salary, her employers would reply that they already paid $3,000 to her agent just to have her.
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In life don't think about the pain
you went thru but the lessons it tought,
not how much you cried but how much you smiled,
not how much you were hurt but how much you were loved.
when you find a dream inside your heart don't ever let it go.
for dreams are the tiny seeds from which beautiful tomorrows grow...
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Dreams visit us when we are asleep,
but God is truly wise.
He wakes us up each day and gives us
every chance to make out dreams come true.
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The Bataan Death March of World War II was the forced march on thousand of Filipino and American soldiers captured by Japanese forces upon the surrender of Bataan onApril 09, 1942. The fall of Bataan resulted in up to 100,000 prisoners of war (POW) in the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army, which had few provisions and vehicles to accommodate them all. The POW’s were made to walk most of the way from Bataan to Camp O’Donnell, the biggest POW camp in the Philippines, located in Capas, Tarlac.
The POWs started walking in Mariveles, where they marched 55 miles (88km) to San Fernando, Pampanga. They were then forced into steel boxcars and taken by rail to Capass. From there, they walked the last eight miles (13km) to Camp O’Donnell.
The POWs marched under the scorching sun, without food and water. Many suffered from untreated wounds. While some were able to escape to the jungle, many collapsed by the wayside and died. Those who could not keep up with the march were beaten and shot.
Historians have had difficulty estimating the number of casualties of the march. Approximately 54,000 reached the comp. Around five thousand to 10,000 Filipinos and 650 Americans were estimated to have died along the way. Another 15,000 Filipinos were estimated to have died in the prison camp.
After the war Gen. Homma Masahura, Japanese commander of the invasion forces in the Philippines, was charged with war crimes in the Philippines, including responsibility for the march. He was tried by a US military commission in Manila, convicted, and executed on April 03, 1946
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Whatever you ask in My name, that i will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Five year old Randy wanted a toy stagecoach for Christmas. While shopping with Mom, he found just the one he wanted. It was about 6" long and had cool wheels and dark brown plastic horses pulling it. "Mommy, I want this one. Please!" he begged. As young children sometimes do, he threw a tantrum, insisting that he get that stagecoach fdor Christmas. Mom said, "We'll see," and took him home.
Randy was sure he'd get waht he asked for. Christmas morning came, and he opened that package confidently. Sure enough, it was the stagecoach he had begged for. He was so pleased. But then his older brother said, "You really did a dumb thing to insist on getting that coach. Mom bought you a much bigger one, but when you begged for that little one, she exchanged it!" Suddenly the small stagecoach didn't seem so appealing.
Sometimes we're like that with God. We pray about a specific need and tell Him how he ought to answer. We beg and plead and God may even give us exactly what we ask for. But he may have had something better in mind. Do not presume to know what's best when you begin to pray; but say to God, "Your will be done," Then trust hsi perfect way.
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Hooray… here comes another version of Total War this time (Empire) that happened between 1700 and 1800 very interesting huh!.... I’ve been avid fan of Rome total war I’ve spend 5 to 6 hours just to play this game coz you can actually command a legion to conquer cities, empire, countries… Thanks to huge epic realistic battles and amazing music tracks that made the whole thing feel even more epic. Years later, Medieval 2 was released, thus improving an already epic game. And then, just when things looked like they could not get any better CA announced that they were working on Empire total war. And now that they long wait is over one can only ask him self: Was the wait worth it? Is the game as good as Rome or medieval 2?
They say the reason they have chosen this era (1700-18900) is because it allows them to recreate naval battles for the very first time and that does sound like a cool addition to the series. Especially as they are claiming to have taken into consideration every aspect of naval combat in the way the missions play. Wind conditions and weather and other things will have a big influence on how you choose the correct tactics to be the victor. You don’t have to be a sailing expert but it may help by the sounds of things.
All of the ocean battles and the already impressive land battles are going to look fairly fabulous too as the game is designed on an all new enhance engine that has allowed the developers to do so much more. If you look at the trailer you can see that the ships look brilliant and the water makes a beautiful backdrop.
Graphics are not all that has improved though using the new engine. In land battles in this title you will now have control of musketeers and canons. According to devs Creative Assembly you will have to master all new formations to use these to your best advantage tactically.
You can now also enter structures which is new and take cover behind things such as walls and rocks. I am particularly excited about engaging in a one on one pistol duel with a leader that is getting on my wick. All of the usual stuff is in this title as well so you can choose to be diplomatic rather than blowing his brains out or indulging in full scale war to get him back.
One thing that should have fans of multi player all excited is the fact that the real time naval battles that this title boasts so much about will be available in multiplayer. A perfect opportunity for you to show your mates that you would have made a much better sea captain than them. Sega seems to thing these battles are so involved that a basic knowledge of sailing may actually turn the game in your favor.
It sounds like this title has loads to offer especially if you are a fan of the genre or the franchise. It is available in stores today.
But one thing for sure, I will spend the rest of my day just to play the game…. I can’t wait to try it… I will explore the entire metro (internet shop) for that game only…
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Ariel Dominguez has been fishing for 16 years in waters considered to have the most diverse marine life on the planet. But because of climate change and its threat of rising sea levels and lower fish yields, the 42 years old fisherman from Nasugbo town of Batangas is thinking that he may eventually abandon his job, pack up his belongings and move to higher ground.
The ice (caps) in the North Pole are melting. He plies the waters of the Verde Island Passage, which has been called the "center of the center" of the world's marine biodiversity by the US Smithsonian Institute. But even there, the effects of global warming are starting to be felt.
According to a recent international study of seven countries in Southeast Asia, the entire Philippines ins considered to be among the "most vulnerable" areas to climate change in the region. "Based on this mapping assessment, all the regions of the Philippines... are among the most vulnerable region in Southeast Asia, "said the study "Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping for Southeast Asia," conducted by Arief Yusuf and Merminia Francisco.
Yusuf and Francisco are with the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (Eepsea), an organization that supports research and training in environmental and resource economics and funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) based in Canada. The study which covered the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam arrived at its conclusions after looking at the "exposure" and "sensitivity" to climate change of areas in these countries and their "adaptability" to these changes.
The Philippines unlike other countries in Southeast Asia, is exposed not only to tropical cyclones, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country, but also to many other climate related hazards especially floods, landslides, and droughts. It said the areas with the "highest vulnerability" are Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region and Bicol.
A shift of in the typhoon belt for the country with stronger off-season typhoons, there would also be shorter El Niño and La Niña cycles with an increase in "vector and water borne disease. Climate Change is happening right now....
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Slaying hordes of bad guys, the more the better if fast paced video games improves vision, a study published on Sunday showed for the first time. Far from being harmful to eyesight, as some had feared, action games such as Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, or Left 4 Dead provide excellent training for what eye doctors call contrast sensitivity.
Contrast sensitivity is the ability to notice tiny changes in shades of grey against a uniform background, and is critical to everyday activities such as night driving and reading. If often degrades with age. The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, revel a previously unsuspected adaptability in the brain, and could open the way to new therapies.
This is not a skill that people were supposed to get better at by training," said Daphne Bavelier, a professor at the University of Rochester in New York state and the study s lead researcher. It was something that they've corrected for at the level of the optics of the eye, to get better contrast detection you get glasses or laser surgery. What they've found is that even without this correction you can help your brain make better use of whatever information is received from your retina.
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