Saturday, July 31, 2010

Just a thought!

DESIDERATA on its ending line did not tell us to fall in love, to dream big or even to live life to the fullest instead it advises us to STRIVE TO BE HAPPY. Life is not about counting your dreams that turned out into reality, and preventing ourselves from failure, it is about experiencing JOY regardless of any outcome of your aspirations!

Common Sense...

"What's the use of running if you are not on the right road!"

-German proverb


I wonder if they applied this proverb during the two World Wars!

Visionary

Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things

Miyamoto Musashi 1584-1645, legendary Japanese swordsman


A matter of execution?

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results!"

Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965, English statesman

Friday, July 30, 2010

Murphy's Law 3

  • Anything that can go wrong will go wrong
  • It is imposible to make anything folproof
  • Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worst
  • Nothing is as easy as it loks
  • Everything takes longer than you think
  • Everything takes longer than it takes
  • If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway
  • Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first
  • Every solution breeds new problem.

unlivable situation

"The experience and behavior that gets labeled schizophrenic is a special strategy that a person invents in order to live in an unlivable situation." - Ronald D. Laing (1927 - 1989), Scottish Psychiatrist

Thursday, July 29, 2010

UN sees success on piracy

SOMALI pirates will succeed in just one out of five hijacking attempts this year, from more than three of five in 2007, according to a new UN report. The main reason, a report to the Security Council explained, is that defensive measures by shipping – such as running at full speed, using fire hoses to repel pirates and evasive maneuvers – now usually work. Also, naval anti-piracy forces have adapted tactics to the threat, a Bloomberg report noted, which will bring the pirate score down to 20% success, from 2007’s 63%. But the UN also warned that in the 30 pirate attacks near Somalia during the first three months of 2010, the attackers used “increasingly sophisticated” tactics, such as GPS equipment and heavy arms, including rocket-propelled grenades.

--Safety at sea international---

CHANGE....

Change. We don't like it. We fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. It hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying, but here's the truth.. sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is everything.



- Dr. Meridith Grey
Grey's Anatomy 2007

5 things for a Strees free life

In the fast paced world it is, it's very easy to get caught in the endless multitasking, problem solving and simply stop enjoying life.

5 simple yet effective ways to slow down and enjoy life.

1. De-clutter
2. Create a relaxing atmosphere
3. Eat healthy
4. Exercise
5. Sleep

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

KING SOLOMON - NUMBER OF WIVES & CONCUBINES

A RECORD TO BREAK, ANYONE?

"Now King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, 'You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods'; Solomon clung to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father." (1 Kings 11:1-4)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Change Management


"Change is the only thing that is certain"

LAST REPORT

No problem lasts forever. No matter how permanently fixed in the center of our lives it may seem, whatever we experience in this ever-changing life is sure to pass. Even pain.

This is our last assignment. Please get it done on time.

The person with the LOWEST midterm grade for the subject is tasked to CONSOLIDATE the reports for additional 5% in the overall grade.

Requirements for CONSOLIDATION:
1. 2 copies
2. Hardbound
3. With Gold Lettering in FRONT and on the SIDE
4. It should look like a thesis, with title page, compilation of weekly questions, and segregated answers by each team member on a weekly basis
5. Check the format of consolidated report on FIRST SEMESTER of 2010
6. Submit on or before August 16, 2010 (MONDAY).
7. No excuses
8. Good luck!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Seven - S

Murphy's Lotto Laws

  1. You check the paper and find that you have all six numbers, but then you find the newspaper misprinted two of the numbers
  2. The only time you win, it's pitifully small amount
  3. You finally hit it big, then you find out all the friends you never had
  4. You finally hit it big, then you die the same day
  5. Whoever wins either is already rich or has won at least once before
  6. The jackpot gets to $40,000,000 and you finally win, then you find out 3,000 other people also won first place
  7. You match 4 numbers, but you lost your ticket

www.murphys-laws.com

it's not about the idea..

Most people think it's all about the idea. It's not. EVERYONE has ideas. The hard part is doing the homework to know if the idea could work in an industry, then doing the preparation to be able to execute on the idea by: Mark Cuban

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Fight or flight?

He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain can never rise and fight again.

--Oliver Goldsmith
Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.

dalai lama

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Manning agencies now disallowed at Rizal Park

All manning agencies occupying booths at Rizal Park in Manila have been ordered to stop all their recruitment activities or face sanctions, a government body said.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) disallowed such activities, citing previous cases of alleged malpractices.

All the recruitment activities of manning agencies in the park, more popularly known as Luneta, are deemed illegal, the POEA said in a release dated July 15.

“The POEA has discontinued issuance of Special Recruitment Authority (SRA) to the said agencies in May 2009 because of reported hiring malpractices," POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili said in the statement.

The POEA issues SRAs to licensed agencies authorizing them to conduct recruitment outside their registered offices, or the address stated in the license of an agency and its branches.

The booths are currently being managed by the private Luneta Seafarers’ Welfare Foundation, Inc. (LUSWELF) at Luneta near the National Library, and had been there for over three years prior to the ban.

The POEA likewise directed manning agencies to submit sworn statements of their activities, and remove their respective signages and posters of job openings in the area.

The POEA explained that over the years and because of its proximity to recruitment agencies based in Manila, the part of Rizal Park adjoining T.M. Kalaw Street where the booths are located had been a meeting place of seafarers looking for jobs in foreign vessels.

The Associated Marine Officers and Seaman’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) thought of converting the place into a center where seafarers coming from the provinces can have a place to stay in Manila while looking for a job or waiting to board a ship.

The idea later evolved into a center where information about seafaring can be discussed or posted. AMOSUP later transferred the management of the center to LUSWELF.

The POEA became part of the center in 2007 through a memorandum of agreement with LUSWELF by conducting orientation seminars and distribution of information materials.

LUSWELF later rented out booths to manning agencies which wanted to recruit seafarers in the area. Consequently, the POEA issued SRAs to legalize the recruitment activities of the agencies.

In April 2009, the Joint Manning Group, a conglomeration of several associations of manning agencies issued a resolution enjoining their members to pull out of the LUSWELF area because the objectives of the center were no longer met.

The POEA has not issued any SRA since May 2009 but instead conducted inspections to monitor the activities of the agencies.

The release stated the POEA has filed several administrative cases against manning agencies caught recruiting seafarers in the area without the necessary special recruitment authority.

In a separate interview, a LUSWELF official who declined to be named however said representatives of agencies occupying the area’s sidewalks to recruit seafarers are the ones guilty of illegal recruitment, and not the ones with booths.

“None of the 110 agencies renting booths from us has been found guilty of malpractices," the official told GMANews.TV, adding that the booths are mere information centers and that actual recruitment still has to be done in the agencies’ main offices.

The official added “big-time manning agencies" whose businesses have been threatened by the agencies under the LUSWELF booths may have initiated the ban.

Before the ban, some 1,000 seafarers had been deployed daily through the information booths, the official said.

LUSWELF is preparing a letter of protest and spearheading a signature campaign against the prohibition, according to the official, which will be submitted to the POEA. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

FIRST; MIDNIGHT APPOINTMENTS, NOW;MIDNIGHT EXPENSES!!!!!!!

The Arroyo administration made "surprise" expenditures to its last day on June 30 that the government will likely breach the revised deficit ceiling of P178.5 billion for the first half of the year.

Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad disclosed the information Tuesday after the weekly Cabinet meeting in Malacañang, saying the Budget and Management Department (DBM) is now looking at the "billions" of pesos the Arroyo administration spent in its last few days in office.

It was "likely" that the government breached the January-June deficit ceiling set by former Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, he said.

"Well, you know, there were still surprises in the expenses, expenditures made up to the last month, up to the end of June, June 30," Abad said when asked if there was a marked increase in spending during the last days of the Arroyo administration.

Abad said the expenses included "congressional initiatives."

His department is now checking into which projects benefited from the last minute expenses of the Arroyo administration.

At noon on June 30, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo turned over the reins of government to then President elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III

The Office of the President through the DBM approves the proposed recipients of lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as pork barrel. Each senator gets P200 million in pork barrel a year, while congressmen get P70 million each.

Given the tight fiscal situation, Abad said the government might have to resort to foreign borrowings if revenue collection targets are not met.

In a separate ambush interview at the Palace, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the deficit figures for the first half of the year would likely be released Wednesday.

Asked whether the numbers would be a cause for concern, Purisima said the Aquino administration is trying to "look forward.

"We believe that what's past is past and we cannot do anything about it, so what's important to us is what we will do over the next six months which we have declared, and what we'll do over the next six years," said Purisima. —VS, GMANews.TV

Monday, July 19, 2010

BIG TIME TAX EVADERS... YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED!!!

BIG TIME TAX EVADERS... YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED!!!
=================================================

A tax evasion complaint was filed against a pawnshop chain owner who supposedly failed to file income tax returns for seven years despite allegedly being able to buy a luxury sportscar worth P26 million in 2007.

The criminal complaint — the first tax evasion case under President Benigno Aquino III’s administration — was filed by revenue officials Thursday at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

William Villarica, owner of five Villarica Pawnshop branches, is accused of failing to file income tax returns from 2002 to 2009, according to the charge sheet filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the country’s second-largest revenue agency.

The complaint claims that Villarica violated Sections 254 and 255 of the National Revenue Code of 1997.

If proven guilty, Villarica will be imprisoned for not more than 10 years.

Investigation by the BIR also showed that Villarica only paid P25,607.25 in taxes from 1998 to 2009.

In 2007, Villarica supposedly bought a P26-million Lamborghini sports car, the only year he filed an income tax return.

That same year, he claimed that he had zero income.

"If he has accumulated P30 million in assets, he must be making at least a million or two every year,' BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said at a press briefing after the complaint was filed at the DOJ office in Manila.

Villarica owns several other sports cars, Henares added.

For his part, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who joined Henares during the briefing, said that "[i]t can't be business as usual."

The Justice Department will conduct a preliminary investigation on the matter. If it finds probable cause, it will file a case before the proper court.

For her part, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that the public could expect the Finance Department and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to intensify efforts against tax evaders.

Also, she said the Bureau of Customs under the new administration is expected to file a case next week against a high-profile smuggler.

"This will be the beginning of a series of successive filing of cases of anti-smuggling and anti-tax evasion. As you know, one of the priorities is to intensify anti-smuggling and anti-tax evasion, and one best way is to intensify and maximize the filing of cases," said De Lima.

Henares also submitted to De Lima a list of names of possible tax evaders whose cases have been pending at the Justice Department even before De Lima was appointed as justice secretary.

The list includes names of high-profile personalities and celebrities, said De Lima. — Sophia Dedace/LBG/RJAB Jr./VS, GMANews.TV

Friday, July 16, 2010

Strategic Leadership

a must see movie

Yeah I know this should be a Twitter "tweet".. But I just cant help it...

Guys, watch INCEPTION...for me, this is the best movie of the year...very intelligent....mind blowing...amazing.....really worth your time and money.... =)


Suffering occurs when we want other people to love us in the way that we want to be loved and not in the way that love manifest itself- free and untrammeled.. guiding us with its force and driving us on. - The Zahir

Women and Power

There are two kinds of women, those who want power in the world and those who want power in bed.

Jackie Onassis

Thursday, July 15, 2010

" The good seaman weathers the storm he cannot avoid, and avoids the storm he cannot weather"

Proverb quotes

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP...RESPONSIBILITY

" With great power comes great responsibility. "

- Ben Parker
Spiderman 2002

true or false?

"You can't lose something that you never had."
a memorable quote from the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Where there’s a will, there’s a way Life Insurance Cartoons

“Let’s see. Mr. Johnson — rest his soul — did not specify a trustee for his community property, which may work to our advantage in probate court…”

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Warfare

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.






- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Buffett recounts the best advice he's ever received

What’s the best advice Warren Buffett has ever received? You might be surprised: It has nothing to do with money.

In an exclusive interview with Yahoo! News and The Huffington Post, he credited his father for teaching him how to live, and explained that all parents can make a "better human being" by offering their children unconditional love:

The power of unconditional love. I mean, there is no power on earth like unconditional love. And I think that if you offered that to your child, I mean you’re 90 percent of the way home. There may be days when you don’t feel like it, it’s not uncritical love, that’s a different animal, but to know you can always come back, that is huge in life. That takes you a long, long way. And I would say that every parent out there that can extend that to their child at an early age, it’s going to make for a better human being.



from: www.yahoo.com

"When the people fear their government, there is tyrany; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

by: Thomas Jefferson

strategy quote

What's the use of running if you are not on the right road - German proverb


if love is a game, these are the rules

  1. You must love yourself first
  2. Partnering is a choice
  3. Creating love is a process
  4. Relationships provide an opportunity to grow
  5. Communication is essential
  6. Negotiation will be required
  7. Your relationship will be challenged by change
  8. You must nurture the relationship for it to thrive
  9. Renewal is the key to longevity
  10. You will forget all this when you fall in love
THE CHALLENGE IS TO REMEMBER THEM WHEN YOU FALL IN LOVE
by: Cherie Carter-Scott

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Corporate Governance


Corporate Governance is needed to make corporate management more accountable and their auditors more rigorous. But good governance requires fair legal frameworks that should be enforced impartially -- Wilfredo A. Baltazar

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Veni, vidi, vici

"Veni, vidi, vici" (Ecclesiastical Latin:) (I came, I saw, I conquered.) is a famous Latin sentence reportedly written by Julius Caesar in 47 BC as a comment on his short war with Pharnaces II of Pontus.[1]

Its form (a three-part sentence or motto) is classed as a tricolon and a hendiatris. The sentence appears in Plutarch and Suetonius (Plut. Caes. 50, Suet. Iul. 37.). Plutarch reports that he "gave Amantius, a friend of his at Rome, an account of this action", whereas Suetonius says "In his Pontic triumph he displayed among the show-pieces of the procession an inscription of but three words, "I came, I saw, I conquered".

"Veni", "vidi", and "vici" are first person perfect tense forms of the three Latin verbs "venio", "video", and "vinco".

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monday, July 5, 2010

The "American Way" - Parable of the Mountain Bike

This is quite long...more than 8 sentences long...but it's worth reading....



Once upon a time, there was an American Peace Corps volunteer named Sam. Sam was a nice, good-natured 29 year old White Anglo-Saxon guy who stood tall at 6 ft 7' and enjoyed playing basketball. Sam also loved riding around in his Mountain Bike, which he christened "The American Way." In one of his assignments, Sam was made to go to a remote village in the the Philippines, and he was made to stay with one family which had a 6 year old boy named Felipe. Sam never left behind his mountain bike "The American Way", and he thus brought it along with him. See, "The American Way" was a specially-crafted and customized bike, built specifically for Sam's huge build and height. It was built with all his preferences into account, so that Sam was practically the only person who could maximize its comfort and features.

Sam was indeed a nice guy. He blended in well with the Filipino family, he learned Tagalog, and he taught them English. He helped out in the chores, and he and Felipe developed a strong friendship... Felipe always referred to Sam as "Uncle", since his parents taught him to refer to older people as "Tito." Of course, in English, Felipe used "Uncle..."

To Felipe's eyes, Sam, was the ideal person. Felipe often told his Tatay and Nanay, "when I grow up, I want to be just like Uncle Sam."

Sam taught Felipe lots of things. He taught Felipe how to play basketball, and caused Felipe to become so enamored with the sport, despite the fact that excelling in basketball usually favored tall people, not short ones. He also showed Felipe all his mountain bike stunts, and made Felipe want to learn more about riding a bike. Everytime Sam rode the bike, he told Felipe how nice it was to have a mountain bike, and how FREE one was to go wherever he wanted. Time went by, and Felipe really wanted to try riding the bike named "The American Way." Well, since Sam needed it in his job, he always brought it along with him. Felipe never got the chance to try it out. Sam somehow sensed it... Sam knew he needed to do something...

After two years of staying with Felipe's family, Sam was now due to return to the USA. On the day Sam was about to be fetched to be brought to the airport, Sam said that he was LEAVING BEHIND his mountain bike, "The American Way" as a GIFT to Felipe. Felipe was overjoyed... Sam hugged Felipe and they both tearfully said their goodbyes.

Felipe was sad to see his "Uncle Sam" go. But yet, he was also happy that he now had this GIFT of the "American Way" for him to ride and enjoy.

8 year old Felipe tried out the huge mountain bike... He could hardly reach the pedals, nor could his hands reach the handlebars... He constantly fell and scratched his knees. "Hmmmm, maybe tomorrow, I'll try again", he thought...

Next door neighbors were getting concerned about the short 8 year old Felipe's attempts to ride the huge mountain bike that was custom-built for a 6 ft 7 White adult. They told him, "Felipe, we think you need to use a smaller bicycle with trainers first..." Stubbornly, Felipe did not heed their advice. He continued on attempting to use "The American Way" mountain bike, and responded to them that "This was a GIFT my Uncle Sam gave me! I'm going to use it whether you like it or not!"

In the meantime, some neighbors' children were able to buy cheap second hand, smaller bicycles fitted with trainers, and thus the neighbors' little kids learned to bike. They had trainers (the pair of little tires at the back used for beginners) and later on, the trainers would be slightly raised, until they learned balance. Felipe took no notice of these little kids who were his peers... After all, the little bicycles they used were all CHEAP, lousy, locally-made bicycles, while his, "The American Way", was a special, top-of-the-line, imported, "made in the USA" Mountain Bike which originally cost more than the whole rural village's entire monthly income combined. (2,500 USD for a rather "specially made" mountain bike... Certainly so much more than the rural village's monthly income combined...)

Day in, day out, little Felipe continued to fall off the huge mountain bike. It was unfortunately unadjustable due to the fact that it was specifically tailor-made for Sam's huge build. The farthest that Felipe could go was just a few meters before losing control and then falling on the side... Years passed, and Felipe still continued in the same "move a few meters, wobble, then fall" cycle.

He never learned to bike properly. Even in adolescence, he was never tall enough to properly reach the pedals and sit on the mountain bike comfortably and go anywhere with it. He'd always continue to move a few meters, lose control, fall on the side, and get scratched and bruised.

Young Felipe never learned to bike properly, yet his next door neighbors, the ones who used cheaper, second hand, small bikes with trainers, had all been able to upgrade their bikes as the years went by... As it happened, the little kids who started off with trainer-bikes learned to bike properly, took off the trainers, and they then used their biking skills later on to make money... Some used their biking skills to deliver mail, newspapers, and the like... Those who delivered mail and others, made enough money which they saved to upgrade their bikes...

Young Felipe now saw what was happening... Here he was, the "kid with the most expensive mountain bike in town", yet he never learned to bike properly, while the other kids with the smaller cheapo-bikes were able to learn properly and later on upgrade...

"The American Way", the great mountain bike that Felipe's "Uncle Sam" gave to him as a gift had let him down... It was far too big... It was far too heavy... He couldn't sit on it properly, as its proportions were made for a 6 foot 7 grown Caucasian, while Felipe was a very SHORT young boy...

His parents, his neighbors, his friends, all told him that using the gargantuan mountain bike that was too big for him wasn't going to work. Many years passed with the same sad results...

But poor young Felipe, now at 15 years old, still defiantly retorted back to them, "My Uncle Sam gave me this wonderful mountain bike which was christened 'The American Way...' I will continue to use it whether you like it or not..."

Thursday, July 1, 2010

IMO ratifies STCW Manila Amendments
June 27, 2010 10:43 am
By Priam F. Nepomuceno

MANILA, June 25 — The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other major stakeholders in the global shipping and manning industry formally ratified on Friday the so-called "Manila Amendments" to the current Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and its associated Code.
The amendments are set to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2012 under the tacit acceptance procedure and are aimed at bringing the STCW up to date with developments since its conception and initial adoption in 1978, and subsequent revision in 1995.

continue reading : http://balita.ph/2010/06/27/imo-ratifies-stcw-manila-amendments/

from: www.1000ventures.com
Why it is impossible to be faithful? - 90210

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR -- The rules of hard play are acceptable in war. In a war between love and hate anything is acceptable or fair.