Friday, February 22, 2008

My letter to the Delegates

Dear Delegates,
I'll like to take this opportunity to express the reasons why I support Hillary Clinton. Aside the fact she's a woman I can relate to, not only has she sustained the most public humiliation a woman can ever know, she chose to support her husband nevertheless, to keep her family united. She demonstrated forgiveness rather than revengefulness, togetherness rather than divisiveness. That's the type of leader that America should want. That's "Change we can believe in". I'm dismayed by the feminist attitude towards my girl Hill. When she wittily speaks and tactfully brings her point across, she's labeled as being not likable or to put in the words of an iowan caucus-goer "she's like a robot". Her track record is proof that she has demonstrated leadership and as a senator from NY, was put in a very difficult position when it was time to cast the vote for the war. Torn between the lives lost during 9/11 and the desire to bring to justice the people who had perpetrated such a hideous crime, I believe she's made the right choice of the moment. The 1993 Healthcare fiasco that the nation adamantly blames on her is merely an indication that back then America wasn't ready for Universal Healthcare. We were a prosperous nation, the job market was booming, Bill Gates was gaining name recognition by the hour world widely, a gallon of gasoline was around a buck if not less, in other words, life was beautiful and we, the American public, said "why fixing something that is not broken?" Today, the dynamics are different, there is too much at stake: threats of a deep recession, the mortgage crisis, rumors of another terrorist attack, this feeling of insecurity looms all over the nation (financial insecurity, job insecurity, etc...). Yes time for change has come and it is physically presenting itself in the person of Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

An email from Hillary

This thing has gotten the best out of me!! I dreamed of Obama last night!! In the dream he had won the general election and chosen Edwards as his vice, and it wasn't clear whether Hillary whether his Supreme court Justice or the other way around. Lol.Yeah, I know this dream comes from the fact that she lost WI last night and it put me really down, I went straight to bed!! My hope has not faded yet and March 4th is really determining!! As a matter of fact I got an email from her, she needs my help and I'll give it to her like I have in the past. Ok ok ok...it wasn't an email directly from her, it was from her campaign, nevertheless, I'll be there for her. She's truly my heroine!! Go Hill!!

-- A believer against all odds --

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A Proactive Approach to a Mistake -- An excerpt

Reactive Language

Proactive Language

There's nothing I can do.

Let’s look at our alternatives

That's just the way I am.

I can choose a different approach

S/He makes me so mad.

I control my own feelings

They won't allow that.

I can create an effective presentation

I have to do that.

I will choose an appropriate response

I can’t

I choose

I must

I prefer

If Only

I will


The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it.
But not to acknowledge a mistake, not to correct it and learn from it, is a mistake of a different order. It usually puts a person on a self-deceiving, self-justifying path, often involving rationalization (rational lies) to self and to others. This second mistake, this cover-up, empowers the first, giving it disproportionate importance, and causes far deeper injury to self.
It is not what others do or even our own mistakes that hurt us the most; it is our response to those things. Chasing after the poisonous snake that bites us will only drive the poison through our entire system. It is far better to take measures immediately to get the poison out.
Our response to any mistake affects the quality of the next moment. It is important to immediately admit and correct our mistakes so that they have no power over that next moment and we are empowered again.

--Stephen R. Covey--

Saturday, February 9, 2008

An exclusive: On Faith, Trust, Betrayal

The following is a piece of an interesting exchange that
I had with someone years ago. I'm sharing it with you in all its
integrality.


Isn't it fascinating how we all have different facets to our
personalities? And isn't it sad too that even the same
person who maybe on our side most of the time, who loves
us mostly can also turn around and say the most vicious
thing without us ever knowing about it?

We are so many things--betrayer, lover, friend, saint,
sinner, etc--that noone can see all of our being in total,
but are only subjected to slices of our personality at any
given time. I see this on a daily basis. Married men that
I work with, for example, men I've broken bread with, men
i've sat across the table while they hug or kiss their
wives or girlfriends. These same men would, out of the
sight of their wives or children, would turn around and
look at other women and talk about doing things to them
in the most vulgar way.

It continues to be a pretty disgusting thing to observe,
causing me in most occasions to remind them of their
commitment. I never--ever--did that when I was married.
It was not only a promise to my wife, but a personal
one between me and God.

And so we go on living under this illusion--faith really--
that the person whom we dined with, shared a movie,
discussed the most intimate of issues, the one who just
kissed us goodbye before heading to work, our lover,
friend, comrade--that this same person whom we trusted
above all others, can just as easily turn around and
betray that faith, that trust, within the blink of an eye.

And yet some of us continue to believe...we continue
to have faith in others. We must. Because without that
faith, the world would be an unbearable place to live in.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Hillary My Hero!!


She has set the bar very high!!
The woman is a genius
Ambitious and courageous
I am almost envious
Determined and undeterrable
She's uncomparable
Compressed and oppressed from every corner
Yet she stands tall and stronger
Praised for her feminist activism
Yet criticized for her energism
How does she do it
I can only imagine it
Looked down for not dumping Bill
In her pain decided to climb the Hill
It takes one of a kind
To look throughout the blind
Despite the clouds and the crowd
And find something to be proud
Hillary you're my hero
To you my chapeau and my bravo
You have set the bar very high!!

Whose fault is it anyway?

I remember when I was a child, in my uncle living room, there was this citation "every man was born good but society has made him wicked." Reading that, I would think it makes sense justifying it with examples such as: a man (or a woman) gets his/her accent from the environment they grow up, they like or dislike certain things depending on what they've been exposed to. However if society renders one wicked, at what point is it the person responsibility to deal with the consequences of their own choices? At what point would the person stop blaming their surrounding, their family heritage and courageously face their action and say: "Sh**!! I've done wrong, and I need to take corrective action to remedy the situation?" I have a 15 yr old son that I'll call J., he's a very bright child, yet lazy. His dad has told me countless of time that J has a hard time digesting failures. If J has a bad grade, then it's the teacher's fault for not explaining the subject adequately; If J doesn't perform well in sports, then it's the referee's fault for putting him on the bench. Well it's understandable that a 15 yr old would try to justify his misdeeds, but should the same understanding apply to educated, well rounded adults? Can an adult excuse his/her behavior by explaining it away with: "My dad was like that, therefore I must be like him" or "when I look at my brothers, none of them got successful with the diplomas that they got in school". The former was once given to me by s.o who was trying to explain his irrational misdemeanor and the latter by a s.o (titular of a high school diploma and some college) who was trying to justify the failures in their life despite the many good opportunities surrounding them. As for myself, I believe there are things that one can control and other beyond one's control. And my philosophy has always been, control the things you can and leave it up to God to take care of the rest. In other words, if s.o has tried unsuccessfully to eliminate you, then you should take proactive steps to protect yourself. If you're the perpetrator, then act like an adult, apply the IBM rule aka I Blame Myself, right the wrong instead of blaming it on your genealogy or some third party.

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