For to us a child is born, to us a son is given

Mother Mary and Jesus.

     It's that time of year again. We are in that special season of the year, a season of joy, of peace and of great tidings

     The true meaning of Christmas is love. It has nothing to do with either Christianity or Islam. The real Christmas story is the story of God's becoming a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. Why did God do such a thing? Because He loves us! Why was Christmas necessary? Because we needed a Savior! Why does God love us so much? Because He is love itself. God loved His own and provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him. He gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins. He paid the price in full, and we are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of love.

     Christmas is also about togetherness. Being with the people you love, laughing, sharing a meal, sharing happy memories.

Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities, Progress for All - A Prerequisite

     I would like our country to be the kind of place where any citizen can access the resources they need to develop their potential if they are willing to work hard at it. This means there would be equal access to education up through a 2 year technical college program. Financial contributions to education after they reach 18 would not be based on parent's income, but on their own resources if they are living independently of their parents. Parents can no longer afford P 50,000 a month costs for tuition, room and board for each child who wants to go to college. Parents have negative home equity, they've lost 1/2 their retirement savings, and have parents of their own in similar circumstances to worry about.
     People should not be allowed to inherit vast sums of money that provide them lifetimes of leisure. Every member of society should contribute the effort required to support themselves and those unable to support themselves due to sickness or deficient physical or mental capabilities. We should resume inheritance taxes that do not allow this tier of society to form, instead providing incentives for the wealthy to do good works with their wealth and only pave the way for their families and friends to receive the best possible care in the event they are legitimately disabled. In short, people who are able to work for the good of society ought not be allowed to avoid this obligation by birthright.
     Obviously people should not be restricted from access to jobs or public goods by virtue of race, creed, sexual orientation or any other factor that is unrelated to their performance as a member of the work force or good citizenship. No reverse discrimination either. 
     Much of what we need people to provide to their fellow citizens they will provide willingly, but if this is not the case, we must ask that people contribute proportional to their ability to contribute.
     To sum things up. A 'Right' is a prerequisite to a peaceful societal existence that cannot be denied to any member of the society due to any factor whatsoever; be it gender, age, class, race, nationality, religious or political affiliation, etc., etc..
     A 'Right' is not dissimilar to 'Freedom'; freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of access to education, information, or political affiliation; freedom to practice any religion that one so chooses; and so on and so forth.
      It is not akin by any interpretation to a 'privilege', as a privilege is accorded to members of the society that meet certain criteria or conditions; thus, it is class-specific.

     'Equal', on the other hand, needs no further interpretation, as it is what it is 'equal' = what one is, so is the other; like for like.
     "Equal rights", therefore, means 'the freedom to engage in any and/or all forms of social, cultural, political, and religious activities by any and every member of the society', the limit of which shall not be restricted in any form or any manner.
      This, however, must conform to societal norms and the judicial codes, whose wide interpretations I dare not trespass in just the few words I can afford here.

Saving the Future Drop by Drop

                The intricate and strangely unpredictable climate and weather has stunned our minds for millennia, yet up to now, we have still only scratched the surface of the shell that is hiding the knowledge to fully comprehend our atmosphere’s system. It distresses me though that this “scrape” that we acquired is not being put to the climax of its utility.

                We now know that our climate is fast shifting for the worse. Cataclysmic alterations to our environment are happening before our eyes, yet we act as if nothing is wrong. We act as if the existence of the human race is not currently in the line. Life is lived so completely to the top that we forget our tasks for the protection of the Mother Earth. We neglect our responsibilities. We forget to discipline ourselves of destroying the future.  

                In just a few centuries, the very air we breathe now would turn, from the ingredient that keeps us alive, to the deadly toxic that will keep killing our kind if we keep our bad ways. We will not be alive then, but we need to consider the forthcoming generations. Probably so, several will endure the products of the mistakes we are making today. Some will certainly survive, but how will their lives be? When you try to survive, you fight not to die; however, when you try to live, you fight to have a life.

                

My 2nd Quarter at Cagayan De Oro City

                The second quarter of the school year was an emotional rollercoaster. A lot of crappy stuff happened and I got fed up with too much I could handle and I hurled.

                When I went to Cagayan De Oro City for the YES Planning Conference, I had no idea what was in store for me. I had no idea I’d get bent. The National Federation of Supreme Student Government Officers election was held there, and we had no clue.

                I never expected the election to happen then and there. It caught me really off-guard, which led to a bit of my downfall. I was targeting the national presidency, but I guess God had other plans for me for I was the auditor. But I not being president was not the most intense thing that happened there, it was me breaking. I had a panic-attack and I did not know what was happening. It was inexplicable.

                The reason on why I broke is still a big mystery for me today. But my other friends in the CDO said it was probably because of the too-much pressure and stress that was laid upon my back. If you sleep at three in the morning and wake up at six for three consecutive days and on the fourth day you find out that you are about to elect the NFSSG Officers, which is a very huge thing, at 10 PM and they evaluate you until three in the morning and they announce the result at four you’d get stressed too, right? That, not including the feeling of self-doubt and if you really deserve to be there is enough to format your mind. As I said, no exact words can explain the feeling I felt.

                The experience definitely was one of the most intense I’ve had in a long time. But thanks to the life-changing experience, I learned a lot. “You should never get too serious. You should loosen up.  You need to remember that life is only a game that needs to be enjoyed. For if you don’t have fun along the way, what is the point of living in the first place?”

Upholding English Proficiency for Communicative Competence

                One of the things that separate humans from each other is miscommunication. So in order for our unity to be completely absolute, we need to make the way we communicate uniform. But the chances of that happening is very slim – near impossible. Still, we should not give up for it is, even with all odds, still possible.

                The first part of achieving a uniform communication for the humanity is choosing what medium of communication – language – we are going to use; and as of today, the most “one” language in existence is English.

                Have you ever wondered why you have to study the English language?

                It’s because of the above mentioned sentences. It is the most used language; and therefore, makes a great candidate as the medium of communication Homo sapiens might one day exclusively use; therefore, it also implies that we need to uphold our English proficiency to be communicatively competent.

Scientricity: Energizing Science Clubbers for Sustainable Energy

                Nowadays, it’s no longer s big surprise when a kid does something inexplicably huge. The youth of today are more capable than one may think. We, the youth, are now very capable in the modern world. We exemplify the phrase, “Nothing is impossible.”

                Energy conservation is one of today’s most debatable topics and the voices of the youth about this is ear piercing. We are not only expressing our thought sand ideas about the energy conservation, we are also moving to do the actual action. We produce things such as investigatory projects and some other more (need I say it) tedious stuff adults do. So it’s not just about the things oldies can do. It’s about what we can do too.

the voice of the youth is loud!!!

                

What makes a superhero?

                Have you ever noticed that the superheroes Batman and Ironman don’t actually have superpowers unlike superman? So, out of the notion, one question arises, “What are the bases of calling someone a superhero if not considering its superpowers?” In order to answer this question, let us take teachers as our main example.

                I know you’ve at least heard the phrase, “My Teacher, My Hero.” And probably more than less, you know what it tries to promote. It promotes the significance of teaches in or society and economy. And as literal as the phrase says so, it promotes teachers as heroes.

                So why do some see teachers as heroes? Well, it’s because of one main thing; without teachers, every profession known to man in the academic and curricular world is non-existent.

                You need not have superpowers to become a superhero. The significance of a person’s contribution to the latter is what defines one’s heroism.

                That answered the first question, right?