heroic fallacy

Today marks National Heroes Day in the Philippines - a stark reminder of our long history of suffering and revolt against the powers that be - whether foreign colonizers or local overlords. 

Since the American colonial period the Philippine Legislature enacted Act No. 3827 on October 28, 1931 - designated every last Sunday of August as National Heroes Day. This date was last revised in 2007 to the last Monday of August as per Republic Act No. 9492. 

celebrating our true heroes - not some made up one

A day to honor and remember all known and unnamed national heroes who fought for the country's independence and freedom. Officially recognized or not Filipinos have long been martyred for countless reasons and causes - then and now. 

We idolize our heroes so much we even have a cemetery dedicated to our fallen heroes. This sacred ground has since been desecrated with the burial of a non-hero - our one and only dictator (to date), Ferdinand Marcos. 

Philippines People Power, 1986

We commemorate all our known and unsung heroes and their exemplary achievements on this day. We celebrate those who continue to inspire us - the fearless visionaries, the tireless advocates, the selfless souls.

Because of them - who stood against, fought bravely, risked their lives for country, justice, liberty - we have our freedom now. Let us remember and honor them always by continuing to fight for our rights. 

on display

Inspired by the resistance storytelling of Arundhati Roy, we cannot help but draw parallels between our countries. 

Prime Minister Modi and India's violently divisive history and politics raise the ghost of Marcos - the father and dictator - who birthed and raised our current baby boy heir and president. 

Roy's rage and frustration is apparent in her passionate love of people and country - vilely manipulated by decades of corruption and greed. 

mantra, prayer, plea - graphics by bhaktiCD.org

In all her heart rending stories her writing includes meditations on language - public as well as private - and the role of fiction and alternative imaginations in current disturbing times. 

The Philippines has always been plagued by leaders obsessed in their divine command. Whether pretended, promoted, or publicized in political, religious or other arenas - these folks prey on our beliefs and biases to gain power and prestige. 

the good, the bad, the ugly

We have had a home away from home in The Colony on Edgewater, New Jersey for going on 15 years now. Like many other pockets of haven wedged between busy city hubs it is being increasingly encroached upon. 

love nature & it will love you back

After six months of isolation in our provincial tropical island, our return to East Coast US has been a brutal and harsh adjustment. Our once secret haven has been invaded by greedy corporate developers who have torn down our little quaint house to build their ugly McMansions. 

Hudson River trail walk - August 2023

be like water

Water is a vital element of life. Everything in our blue planet needs it and thrives on it. Including us. 

In a translation of the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8, Lao Tzu states, “the best of [wo/]men are like water.” To quote Bruce Lee's famous teaching philosophy is, "Be Water, my friend. Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water." 

be water, my friend

Water covers over seventy percent of the Earth's surface with seas and oceans making up most of the water volume (at over 95%). The human body contains from 55% to 78% water, depending on our body size.

birthday bonds

It has been a while since I have been back to celebrate my birthday in the land of my birth. Our island knows best how to throw a fun and yum party! 

Our sister is the best hostess with her household staff skillfully trained to set a creative tablescape with thematic setting, beautiful floral arrangements, and a bountiful spread. Nom nom nom! 

cabana fiesta spread

cosmic collisions

This year July 4th is the 247th Independence Day for Americans. For the Philippines it's the 77th Philippine–American Friendship Day or what used to be the country's Republic Day. 

a popular meme of the day

It is also the first of four super full moons for 2023 and Guru Purnima as well. To honor and express gratitude for the immense blessing of the guru. The word guru meaning dispeller of darkness as in the one who is a light unto this world.

Guru Purnima marks the start of monsoon season and heavy rains, the first day of a three month season from July to September. With Issa's birthday in July and Mahala's in September it is a season that holds special significance for both of us wonder | wonder | women.

The Buck Super Full Moon in Capricorn, July 2023

In however way you choose to set aside some time on this day to honor Spirit to connect and pay homage to the God of your Heart. Blessing to all - Sad Gurunath Maharaj Ki Jaya!

pile of . . . .

Dogpile has existed since it was established in 1996. I have been using it since I first moved to the US in 2001. In May 2023 for reasons unknown to us they decided to pull out of many Asian regions. 

Dogpile is a meta search engine created to enhance search results. It facilitates the search for links to web pages, videos, music, news, and other online content. 

no longer available in the Philippines & other regions

Dogpile offers more content than services that only use their indexes because it uses results from multiple search engine indexes rather than just one. Among these are from Google, Yahoo!, Yandex, Bing.

It has also scraped content from several defunct search engines, including AltaVista, Infoseek, and HotBot.

Dogpile has made a name in internet history as one of the first metasearch engines. Dogpile was a cutting-edge search engine then, and we see many benefits to using it as your primary search engine over the other options 

Maybe it's for the best to go now. Dogpile hasn’t always kept up with new trends, unlike its more recent rival, Google. Although it provides a wide range of search results, it isn’t as functional as Google and isn’t as private as DuckDuckGo. 

We've had a good run and now it's time we went our separate ways. It was great while it lasted.