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Many creative people want to be isolated when they do something. They need a space and time to focus and not be disturbed. It takes not just an hour, or day, to finish a project in mind, say,  authoring a book, or painting. Last night my daughter-in-law was upset that my son did not want to talk with anyone. A few weeks ago, he told me that he wanted to write a book and was thinking of putting up a small publishing house. So I advised her to just ask him if there was a problem and if there is none, then just give him a little time and space for himself. He is a composer, too, so he must be writing something. I know that his wife supports him. Cliff Martinez's words  "Composing demands a degree of isolation" must be understood more. Many people think that creatives are weird when they do not connect with others in the real world, or if they do, they cannot relate with them. But you know what? When alone, most of them connect to their inner selves and majority, with

Have you ever encountered a person who cannot control his/her anger due to other's provocation or maybe there is an enormous piling of negativity and pains inside him/her wanting to explode? There are those who are so-called war freaks, with an attitude to invite a fight. Even if you are right, you are wrong to him/her, if you are the target of that anger. This can be dangerous. How many are killed because of extreme anger? Only recently a 22-year old boy killed (chopped) his father, 48, due to a heated argument. There was a huge rage because the father always scolded him. (Read more here .) What is the best thing to do to defuse conflicts if you are the target of a difficult person or if there is an encounter involving a war freak? Verbal de-escalation is a technique used to prevent crisis resulting from such a situation. There are some related trainings on this normally conducted among professionals, particularly those in healthcare services. But even without a formal

My high school batchmate and friend was offered a very good job, with a very attractive salary and other benefits including visas for the family and free tuition fees for the children. For three (3) decades she has built a very good reputation in her chosen field in our country, and for our batch, she is a source of pride for her local and global accomplishments. She was very confident that things would go smoothly and by next month she could get herself out from where she was. Despite all successes, she was desperate to relocate and reboot her life. When she asked me to check the contract I noticed some suspicious items. I am writing some reminders briefly to guide the readers on what to do in case they experience the same. In the past, a friend showed me the same style of a job offer, and I saved him with my advice. There were differences, but in many things they were the same. 1.  Check the scanned job contract letterhead. If the logo and other graphical contents includi

The creation of many business opportunities is important for a government to implement its development projects in the covered territory and to retain its important assets:  human resources.  It helps to send local talented and skilled people to other countries to benefit from money transmittal, but there are many things that have to be sacrificed like brain drain, broken families, mental health problems due to depression of children longing for parental love and guidance, reduction of number of men to support and protect the families and communities particularly in case of emergencies, etc. Poverty is one main reason people leave their families and countries despite its rich natural resources. Minds even at an early are programmed to finish studies and work as an employee until the last day before retirement. If only many people will have the entrepreneurial mindset, the poverty rate will go down. The creation of many entrepreneurs will result in the creation of many job

When I went to the pharmacy to buy Mucosolvan syrup and sore throat lozenges as I suffered from flu and persistent cough for more than a month, the pharmacist recommended Mucosolvan tablets (3x a day) and  Blueberry Naturals  lemon-flavored lozenges good for two (2) months, 60 tablets. She said,  "One (1) chewable lozenge a day supports the immune system. It has Vitamin C and bee propolis, and gluten-free." The brand  website shows that zinc is an essential mineral that our body needs for immune support, growth and general health.  In the Products tab, there is a dropdown menu which asks "What are you looking for?" and it falls under Minerals . It further says that it  " supports bone and muscle function, and promote red blood cell production. " I checked the supplement fact and it shows 15mg of zinc (as citrate, gluconate). By the way, do not get confused. Blueberry Naturals is a brand, 'inspired by blueberries and its wholesome

Who does not love ice cream? I can't help smiling when I am to eat ice cream. Mike Manfredi said, It's fun. When people come in to buy ice cream, they're happy. It's a treat.  When we organized company-sponsored family events, we always had a little ice cream kiosks. Everybody felt like it was a big treat. During my childhood days, we had a dress shop in the old public market and I went there on weekends.  It was hot. There was a vendor with a mobile container of the so-called 'dirty ice cream' (homemade), and he used to stand for some hours near the station of jeepneys. Whenever I heard his bells, I jumped in joy. My mother would tell me that if I would sleep on the foldable  teheras (a cot or makeshift bed) for some hours she'd give me money to buy ice cream so I would despite all the noises. The ice cream business has evolved since then. Fast forward, now we see and taste yummy ice cream with different flavors and cones. Some ice cream parlo

On 22 May 2019, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Republic of the Philippines proclaimed the 12 senators-elect who topped the recently concluded polls for the vacant seats in the House of Representatives. According to Rappler , it was the first time in 80 years that nobody won from the opposition, Liberal Party. Nine (9) out of 12 candidates who have allied themselves with President Rodrigo Duterte, head of the ruling party PDP-Laban or Partido Demokratiko Pilipino - Lakas ng Bayan, made it to the senatorial seats. It goes to say that for the remaining term of the president, his leadership advocacy will be more supported when it comes to the other powerhouse. The non-inclusion of any of the opposition candidates is an eye-opener for them to reassess the organization, the leadership, the connection with the people and their political campaign strategies. Wikipedia shows that 74.31% (47,296,44 of 63,643,263 voters) was the total turnout. The list of top 12 senators-el

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is -- ' What are you doing for others?'" Have we stopped for a while, even for some minutes, to ask ourselves? What are we doing for others? Are we helping others, despite our own storms, or are we hurting them because we are wounded inside? Are we peacemakers uniting people, or are we causing troubles, dividing them? Our biggest family, humanity, must have evolved as a result of many, many years of studies on human behavior. Recently with the new technology that introduced connectivity and big data, we must have been more humanitarian than ever before. But like a funnel, as we go down and deeper, the narrower it is, the more individualism there is. I am greatly touched by featured stories in the leading newspapers of the UAE (online version) showing unnamed philanthropists helping those in trouble particularly in the month of Ramadan. For one, the humanitarian care section

How many apps have you downloaded to your mobile phone or tablet? Did you download any app that required your permission for it to access your device, camera, contacts, and other information? Sometimes we think we can compromise our privacy and security, just because we feel that we need a certain app badly, maybe because many use it, or it is trending and we want to be in. When you download an app requiring your permission for such access to your information, device and other things, brace yourself as it is like opening your gate to a thief of peace and happiness. There are many cases of harms reported because of app downloading. I just wonder why the operators of platforms offering those apps allow their inclusion in their list despite the fact that the access requirement would be a gateway to the invasion of privacy. Techopedia online defines an app as 'a type of application software designed to run on a mobile device such as smartphone or tablet computer'.   It is

On 1 May 2019 article of Gulf News , the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government launched a renewable long-term residency visa  to following five (5) categories to qualified residents and expatriates, and their families (spouses and children) -- investors; real estate investors; entrepreneurs; talented people like doctors, researchers and innovators, and; outstanding students Twenty days after, there was an iconic transformation not only in the history of the UAE but in the lives of 6,800 investors. According to Gulf News on 21 May 2019 , His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai launched yesterday a permanent residency visa system which is called as "Golden Card" . The said beneficiaries' total investments amount to AED100B. Definitely, this move will strengthen the beneficiaries' commitment to pay forward in terms of creating more growth opportunities for the host country and

I Google-searched the phrase 'world conflicts' and it showed about 147,000,000 results in 0.61 seconds as of this writing, 21 May 2019 (1515H).  Then I did the same with the phrase 'world peace' and I got the figure of 1,420,000,000 results in 0.63 seconds. Conflicts as to peace is 1 is to 10, roughly, on web search results based on this. In reality, even if a certain so-called world conflict issue is just one (1) of ten, it can possibly annihilate the whole world considering the artificial intelligence thing.  There is no need for thousands of troops to protect a group of people, animals, places and properties. Just a button press and #$%@*! We must never forget the lessons learned from Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings .  ( See CNN article and photos. ) Yesterday my friend and I were discussing a certain travel advisory because of some regional conflicts.  I told her about my prayer for the situation not to get worse. She asked me, "Are you just imagining

My niece was upset with an officemate who was spreading a gossip destroying her reputation. She asked me what to do. I told her to talk to her, ask what her problem was, and ask also if she was prepared for detention or fine -- just in case she was not aware of the local laws. " Own your mind, " I told her, " and do not let it be occupied by offenses of other people. Just free it. " There are many people who want to talk of others and get joy from damaging the good reputation of someone they hate. They love to gossip.  The Cambridge dictionary online defines  gossip  as a  "conversation or report about other people's lives that might be unkind, disapproving, or not true". When they talk about other people in a negative way, it is not gossip for them. They think they have all the right in the world to discuss things freely even if they already go beyond the boundary line. But if their names are mentioned even if in the light of bitter truth, t

At the moment, what are the things that you badly need and/or want that seem to be impossible to get, achieve or reach? Is there anything that means life or death to you? When do we say that "Nothing is impossible"? It is very easy to say, right.  At this very moment, let us ponder on this. Put your right hand over your left chest, feel the heartbeats. You are alive. Is your heart willing to accept it -- that nothing is really impossible? John Heywood said, Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. So first there must be that willingness of the heart to accept that nothing is impossible. For Francois dela Rochefoucauld, "Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient, we should have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible." Oh, we know that we have insufficient resources or sometimes lack of some resources to get what we need/want. But as they say, the universe has