I will be at Times Square despite security threat

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THERE are many reasons to stay away from the Big Apple’s Times Square, the epicenter of all New Year’s Eve celebrations worldwide, starting December 31.

As early as December 27, we have been warned there were concerns about international and domestic terrorism and a rise in hate crimes, and law enforcement follows up on all threats as about one million people are expected to ring in New York City for the New Year’s Eve countdown at Times Square. 

But I am one of those who are unfazed and will definitely be there to witness anew the historic New Year's Eve, which is for sure a bucket list item for many people visiting from around the world. 

I believe once a journalist will always be a journalist wherever I go and in whatever political and social climate. The events (we’re hoping and praying they’re all good and positive) that will transpire will hopefully be part of the priceless episodes in history that can never be witnessed once again. 

Braving the cold, the crowds and being squished in one space for hours will be definitely worth it despite the security threat brought by an overseas war between Israel and Hamas if we don’t want to miss witnessing history unfold before our eyes.

James Smith, assistant director in charge of New York's FBI Field Office, said the FBI, which is working with dozens of local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies, is ready to pounce on potential threats. 

But it's just as important that revelers pay attention to their surroundings and follow the adage, "If you see something, say something."

As what we, boxing referees, normally warn the protagonists before they tear each other apart: “Protect yourself at all times.”

 

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I GOT an email from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, which she also sent to other New Yorkers:

Alex, I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season and are able to gather with your family and loved ones as we reflect on the past year together. 

In an ordinary year, my holiday message to you would be a simple expression of peace and goodwill. But this year is different.

We have seen a spike in antisemitism and Islamophobia since Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7th, adding to the already troubling rising tide of hate, from anti-Asian hate to homophobia. 

Today, as millions of families gather to celebrate Christmas, I’m reminded of Psalm 34 that tells us to “turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”  

I believe New York can be the model for peace to the rest of the world and do more than simply stand up against hate. Instead of yearning for peace, let’s actively live it. Instead of hoping for goodwill, let’s cultivate it. Instead of just giving best wishes, let’s give people the best versions of ourselves.

This holiday season, I’m calling on all New Yorkers to recommit themselves to living the values that define us —

We must transcend wishes and platitudes. 

We stand for hope, not hate.  

We build bridges, not barriers. 

We reject racism and denounce bigotry. 

We must create a New York where everyone can thrive free from fear, free from persecution, and free from discrimination.  

From my family to yours, I want to wish you a holiday season filled with the genuine joy and peace that every New Yorker deserves. 

Ever upward, Gov. Kathy Hochul

 

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SAVING OUR PLANET. Let's look for the arrows by choosing recycled when it comes to fruit and vegetable packaging. Many supermarkets are catching on now--they're starting to realize that the consumer wishes to reduce their stacks of garbage and are offering recycled and recyclable packaging. Let's look for the universally recognized recycle symbol.

SEXUAL-HEALTH CHECKLIST. 1. Lift weight 3x a week. Not only will we gain muscle, but sexual satisfaction will also follow as well. 2. Open our mind. Increasingly, women are doing just that in their sex practices. Don't let her leave us behind. 3. Presence, transcendence, and authenticity trump lust in the good-sex game. 4. Expand our social networks. 5. Emotional connection-even with casual partners-means better sex.

YES, I DRINK DR. PEPPER. During his downtime at a Waco, TX drugstore, pharmacist Charles Alderton liked to fiddle with recipes for syrup-sweetened sodas. His most crowd-pleasing concoction--a nose-tickling blend of 23 fruity flavors that Alderton dubbed Dr. Pepper--caught on fast and became one of the first fizzy fountain drinks. The popular pop is an American original. I drink it if I can't find any Pepsi or Coke.

SAVING THE PLANET. Glassy eyed. Glass is excellent for recycling because there are many different grades to work through before it reaches the point where it can no longer be recycled. Let's make sure to separate different colored glass and don't include metal bottle tops or corks that can contaminate the process.

SAVING OUR PLANET. Let's can the rubbish. Because metal doesn't break down easily and can be used to make a wide range of different items, metal food and drink cans are great for recycling.

RABIES VACCINE. For centuries, few diseases were as feared--or as fatal--as rabies. A bite from an infected animal equaled death, and victims endured paralysis, hyperactivity, and coma prior to dying. So when the young Joseph Meister appeared at the Paris lab of Louis Pasteur after being mauled by a rabid dog, the 9-yr-old had one shot at survival: the microbiologist's experimental rabies vaccine.

SAVING OUR PLANET. Let's can the can. Recycling aluminum cans is a closed-loop system. Every can is infinitely recyclable, and recyclers paid nearly $1 billion a year for aluminum beverage cans. The energy saved by recycling just one can is enough to run a TV set for three hours! If we have to use them, let's be sure to recycle.

DISPOSE OF CIGARETTE BUTTS: They are made of plastic; take 15-20 years to decompose; and release toxins into the environment. Over 50,000 cigarette butts and 160,000 pounds of trash are picked up from local beaches each year.

DATE QUESTIONS. Conventional wisdom says that a woman should ask a date question to draw him out instead of talking about herself. But science now says screw that. A recent study shows that guys dig chicks who use the word "I" often. Nobody would want to monopolize conversations, but telling personal stories and referring to yourself can go a long way, according to Cosmopolitan.

BUSY AT WORK. People who manage to stay busy at work are happier during time off. Some people bust their butts at the office on Friday so they can have a better weekend.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo. —Ed)

 

 

Who made sex dirty?

“Love is something far more than desire for sexual intercourse; it is the principal means of escape from the loneliness which afflicts most men and women throughout the greater part of their lives.” 

—Bertrand Russell

By Alex P. Vidal

IS sex dirty? Sex for procreation good. For health good also?

Sexual behavior is often judged by clergymen whose qualifications include their solemn renunciation of sexual intercourse.

“Tragically,” protests Dr. David Reuben in Beyond the Birds and Trees, “those who undertake to control our sexual destinies are often sexually sick themselves. The decency league dedicated to abridging sexual behavior—except on their terms—are simply trying to deprive others of the reasonable use of their sexual orgasms.”

Reuben adds: “Every one of us has made that seven-inch journey through the penis into the vagina to meet the other half of our future protoplasm, and has then settled in the uterus for the 280-day wait. There is no reason now to be ashamed of how we traveled and where we grew—there is no more suitable place.”

In Any Woman Can, Reuben, 81, a psychiatrist and sex expert who now lives in California, says sex started with the crocodile.

“This scaly cold-blooded distant relative of man was the first animal to develop a penis. Before then, life was much simpler. All the earth’s inhabitants had about the same type of sexual equipment and used it about the same way.”

This was how Reuben explained further:

The male and female simply backed up to each other, wiggled their sexual equipment into contact, and oozed primitive sperm into contact with primitive eggs.

There wasn’t much to see, hardly anything to feel, and in many species if a couple turned on like this once a year, it was sufficient. Twice a year was oversexed and many animals copulated only once in a lifetime.

VISIBLE

For one thing penis was visible. Secondly, it revolutionized sex by fitting inside the female body. In those days there was no such thing as a vagina. The female sexual equipment was a cloaca consisting of a common channel for urine, feces, and semi-annual eggs. (Things have improved a lot for women since then.)

Obviously, the crocodile penis too has undergone major design modifications as it was handed down over the years to homo sapiens. From the evolutionary point of view the modern American male sports the latest in phallic equipment. But problem still remained.

Men equipped with this wonderful organ quickly developed a lively interest in the female sexual apparatus, by then improved and expanded into a closely-coupled vagina, labia, and clitoris.

Like the crocodiles before them men and women discovered that combining their sexual resources resulted in immense pleasure for both contributors.

For the next 50,000 years all went well. Sex was a normal psychological function as routine as swimming had been to the crocodile and as essential and enjoyable as eating was to early man. Then came the Dark Ages.

About 400 A.D. Western civilization abruptly lurched in a different direction. Suddenly sex was out and guilt was in.

As some long-forgotten genius in the field of medieval motivational psychology discovered, men and women are unbelievably responsive to the liking up of sex and guilt.

From that moment on, the fate of society (and most of its members) was sealed. The most efficient means of controlling human behavior had been put into effect: focus on an activity which everybody must engage in—sex; select its most joyable aspect—copulation; finally provide the threat of severe and relentless punishment for its enjoyment.

As the machinery of sexual repression creaked into action, the power and influence of those in control grew enormously. There were, to be sure, a few hitches at first but all resistance finally yielded to the crushing force of sexual repression.

PROBLEMS

One of the major early problems was that the moralists actually underestimated the potential of their new weapon to change the destiny of the Western world.

Apparently the original idea was to make sex only a minor transgression. However all levels of society almost immediately succumbed to the irresistible urge to feel guilty about perfectly normal sexual feelings. In effect this was the “new morality,” Dark Ages version.

In some ways a most frightening form. Sex rapidly became an emotional commodity to be consumed under the strictest prohibitions, if at all.

Like the famous insurance policy that pays off is the insured is killed by a cable car on the Fourth of July while carrying an Easter bunny, sexual relations came to be allowed only under the most rigid restrictions.

According to these forerunners of our modern moral guardians, sex was to be limited to married couples in bed, in the dark, fully clothed, ideally involving an important man and a frigid woman with just enough sperm dripping onto the lady’s private parts to bring on a joyless impregnation.

That was another challenge for the moral reformers. Since it sets a liberal tone toward sex, a major hatchet job was in order.

The Good Book was extensively distorted and misinterpreted to make it appear to endorse sexual repression.

Genesis was reinterpreted to make Adam and Eve seem like sinners who were evicted from the Garden of Eden for daring to engage in sexual intercourse.

SANITIZED

Later versions were further sanitized and Adam’s penis was replaced by the ever-present serpent hovering greedily around Eve’s pubic fig leaf.

The sexual purifiers smugly ignored reality: if God had not intended His first man and woman to copulate He would simply have molded their mortal clay a bit differently and left them nothing to work with.

Some of the changes were downright silly. In the Revised Version of the Bible of 1881, the word “whore” was changed to “harlot” and the term, “whoremonger” was replaced by “fornicator.” No exact figures are available to the number of souls saved by these semantic gymnastics.

The Bible was only the beginning. After emasculating this once lusty and vital Scripture, every other possible work of man, artistic and literary, were purged and distorted to eliminate any mention of rational human sexuality.

Fifteen hundred years ago the single most enduring principle of Western society was forged: SEX IS BAD.

From that moment to the present, hundreds of millions of innocent people have been brainwashed into believing a silly bit nonsense: sex is synonymous with sin.

Regrettably, no force on earth has been able to turn back the emotional calendar and the misconception goes on, constantly reinforced.

For more than a dozen centuries every persuasive force available has been harnessed to desexualize the most highly-sexed animal this planet has ever known—the human being. Their message is always the same and always untrue: sex, except under nearly impossible circumstances, is wicked.

One of the real tragedies of recent times is the attempted corruption of the human body. A small group of moral crusaders, working with that fevered devotion seen only in the mentally deranged, has been trying to convince everyone that the perfectly synchronized beautifully designed, elegantly planned mechanisms of their bodies are nasty, filthy, and horrid.

That psychological masterpiece which makes human reproduction unique has been distorted by those who should know better into a curse and a sickness.

MENSTRUATION

In reality menstruation signifies perfect health. The ounce or two of blood that is passed each month is the banner of a normal reproductive system. If blood is unclean, imagine what the moral crusaders can make of a nosebleed.

When it comes to sexual intercourse, the guerrilla fighters for purity bring on their big guns. Their favorite word is “dirty”—and they are wrong again.

By every test, sexual intercourse is probably the purest and daintiest activity that a man and woman can engage in, aside from being the most enjoyable.

The genitals themselves are normally free of harmful bacteria, the secretions are perfectly sterile, and the penis and vagina were obviously designed to be brought together in their own inimitable style.

By contrast, the throat of every person, including the anti-sex orators, is crammed with a dozen varieties of lethal bacteria.

These include the bugs that cause diphtheria, gonorrhea, strep throat, and rheumatic fever. If they want to start a crusade, it should probably begin in their own noses and mouths.

Actually the sexual reformers are on the wrong track. If they really hope to make men and women afraid of themselves, they might devote their attention to other organ systems.

Breathing offers a good opportunity. We take in good clean air and pervert it into bad breath! Only a few cynical mouthwash salesmen have jumped on that one, but there is plenty of room for moral education about how the body ruins God-given oxygen.

Sweating is another good area. Fifty thousand years ago human beings used their noses as much as their eyes. They could identify a stranger by his smell and could distinguish approaching animals and men by their specific odors.

The need for that talent has diminished somewhat but the human aroma still clings to man. It is now known as “body odor” and must be eliminated at all costs.

A human who smells like a human is headed for social and occupational disaster. In order to be accepted by the rest of his race, his breath must reek of carbolic acid, his armpits give off the scent of gardenias, and his skin exude hexachlorophene.

A few years ago chlorophyll tablets were developed to expunge once and for all every trace of human smells. (As a tribute to man’s sanity, they were tried and quickly discarded by all except fugitives wishing to avoid the bloodhounds.)

FRONTIER

Perhaps the last frontier for those reformers who want to protect us against ourselves is the digestive system. If they really concentrated they might be able to spoil the pleasure of eating for a hundred million or so fellow citizens. All they would need to do would be to explain, “When you take that beautiful food, provided for you by Heaven’s bounty, and put it into your body, it is attacked by filthy chemicals and changed into a green stinking mass. Do you know what that food finally becomes? Do you know what it is turned into?”

The lecture would have to stop at this point because the devoted moralists couldn’t say the word.

Every organ, every secretion, every cell of the human body was put there by nature, by the Creator, for a purpose.

The respiratory system, the digestive system, the sweat glands, all have a vital function in the preservation of the body. The sexual organs are no exception. For the past few hundred years, not more than a fleeting moment in the history of mankind, a strange collection of misguided do-gooders and moralizing misfits have tried to make us forget how we all arrived in this world. They miss the point. Ever since the beginning of the human race, sexual intercourse has been the most noble and wholesome of all man’s activities.

In spite of the shrill protests of those self-appointed moral guardians, nothing is going to change that.

Every woman, married or not, deserves the freedom to enjoy the ultimate expression of her sexual potential. With knowledge and determination and courage, that achievement is within her grasp.

A positive 2024

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.”

—Melody Beattie

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

SOME of our most beloved relatives, friends, and colleagues left us in 2023. In my case, my mother, Paz, passed away peacefully (God bless her soul) while I was away; many of my personal friends and former media colleagues and allies also went home to the Kingdom of God (God bless their souls, as well).

We don’t want to lose more in 2024–although everything in life in as far as man’s mortality is concerned, is beyond our control.

As much as possible, we only want and wish for the good tidings, peace of mind, success in our chosen profession, family, business, mission in life, and, most of all, health, the ultimate wealth.

The Year Of The Wood Dragon is bringing fortune and abundance, according to the Dragon Chinese Horoscope 2024. It is reportedly “a fortunate and auspicious time to start a new relationship or family.” 

The Year Of the Wood Dragon will reportedly bring lots of positivity and support for the development of love and family. 

Like in the previous years, let’s be hopeful and positive that this will take place and prevail over pessimism, defeatism, and whatever lousy, unproductive, toxic, and negative isms. 

Here’s hoping for the positive 2024. So help us God.

 

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DON’T DELAY. Some of our important choices have a timeline. If we delay a decision (to get married, to work abroad, to transfer residence, to change career, etc) the opportunity is gone forever. Sometimes our doubts keep us from making a choice thus an opportunity may be missed. Let's think, decide and move!

FORGIVENESS. Christmas is a season of love and forgiveness. So even if we are not aware of it, holding a grudge against someone who has done wrong cripples us. Our energy is consumed by hatred and ill-feelings rather than being spent on worthwhile endeavors. Better to forgive but don't forget. 

CHAOS, HOSTILITY. Some of the main reasons why our relationship with our neighbors--rich or poor-- has always been chaotic and hostile are:  A. Envy (both parties) B. They know our dark secrets (vice versa) C.  Jealousy (both parties) D. Territorial dispute. Some people are always uncomfortable when they see their friends talking to their neighbors.

SAVING OUR PLANET. In the can, let's always recycle food and drink cans. Recycling aluminum requires only 5 percent of the energy it takes to process the original from the earth's crust. One-third of aluminum is currently reused, but it should be more.

WHEN SOMEBODY ATTACKS US AND WE CAN'T DEFEND OURSELVES, we shouldn't scream. It tightens our throat and tires us out. Instead, we must yell when in danger. A yell comes from the diaphragm, experts say, creating a louder sound with less effort.

D IS FOR DIET. Vitamin D supplements may be the newest weight-loss pills. When University of Minnesota researchers measured blood levels of the sunshine vitamin in 38 overweight people, they found that when the subject went on a low-calorie diet, those with higher levels of vitamin D lost more weight than those with lower levels.

ANTHROPOMIMETIC MACHINES. No matter how closely a robot resembles a human on the outside, if we crack it open, the jumble of wires is unlikely to bear much resemblance to our insides. A group of European researchers aims to bridge that gap--its robot prototype is anthropomimetic, maning it mimics the human form.

 

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WHAT SCARES THE AIR FORCE. A pair of binoculars and a cellular phone can threaten modern warplanes. In 1999, Serbian airplane spotters watched U.S. aircraft leave an airbase in Italy. The spies alerted anti air-missile battery crews in Serbia to aim their long-wavelength radar overhead, enabling the crews to destroy a stealth F-117A nighthawk.

LISTENING TO LEAVES. Western Washington University geophysicists are making localized air-pollution maps by tracking the magnetism of three leaves. Car and some industrial pollution contain particles of magnetic iron oxide that stick to the leaves, making them magnetic.

WIRELESS EYES. A team of MIT researchers has entered the race to develop an implant that can restore partial vision to the blind. Unlike other implants under development, MIT's system does not place electrodes directly on the retina, which can damage the eye during implantation. Instead, the device stimulates nerves near the eyeball that carry visual information to the brain.

THE BEGINNING. Conventional radar ranges are increasing, and that's just the start of the problem. Over-the-horizon radar can detect airplanes by bouncing signals off the ionosphere, 56 miles above Earth, while passive radar can provide enemies with rough tracks of an airplane's location, direction and altitude.

WARNING: There is an international boom industry in anti-aircraft missiles and warplanes that are designed to defeat U.S. stealth technology. (Source: Popular Mechanics.)

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

Merry Christmas 2023 and Happy New Year 2024

I DON’T ask favors from God that will instantly benefit me personally when I pray. I thank Him silently for the blessings He has been giving me. I have no abundance in life materially; I’m a pragmatist—an ordinary laborer from Iloilo City, Philippines who’s been given by God with extraordinary circumstances in life, and someone who’s been always open to share his blessings to those who DESERVE them. That’s my only way of paying back God’s so much love and kindness to me. Happy New Year 2024 to all my friends and relatives. Christmas Season or normal days, I will always LOVE you all. I can’t kiss and hug everyone to show how much I appreciate and value your friendship, kindness, and love to me. This may be only a social media, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. #theresnosubstituteforkindness #alexpvidalquotes 

I surrender to you, flu shot

 

“Misinformation or distrust of vaccines can be like a contagion that can spread as fast as measles.”

—Theresa Tam

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

AT past 11 o’clock in the morning on December 26, I finally yielded to the much-heralded flu shot (Influenza Virus Vaccine)—after two cancellations in November and in the first week of December and a repeated hedging and temporizing.

The turok or tuslok (pricking) ceremony, which lasted for six seconds, occurred at the Walgreens in Elmhurst, Queens.

Albert, the pharmacist/nurse, injected Fluarix PF 2023-24 0.5ML into my left muscle. 

There will be no refills, according to my RX#2462176-01616.

My receipt showed I was supposed to pay a “retail price” of $58.99 (P3,250) but my insurance, EmblemHealth, “saved you.”

A 2021 study from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that adults who got vaccinated were 26 percent less likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and 31 percent less likely to die from the flu compared to those who were unvaccinated. There seems to be protection from illness even when vaccines aren’t perfectly matched to the strain of flu virus circulating (which happens because the shot is formulated months in advance).  

Here are four unexpected ways a flu vaccine can benefit the body and the brain, according to AARP’s Beth Howard.

1. A boost for the brain? Previous research has suggested that flu vaccines may protect the brain from dementia, and an August 2022 study from the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston makes the case even stronger.

This study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, compared more than 47,000 people age 65 and older who were vaccinated against flu to a similar group of nearly 80,000 people who were not vaccinated. The findings: Those who got a flu shot were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease over a four-year period.

 

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“We weren’t actually expecting it to be that high,” says study coauthor Avram S. Bukhbinder, M.D., now a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Bukhbinder has several theories for the vaccination’s potential effects on the brain. Perhaps by preventing the flu, the shot quells inflammation that can lead to harmful brain changes.

His most intriguing hypothesis is that vaccines alter the brain’s overall defenses. 

2. The shot is linked to a stronger heart. A history of heart disease or a stroke can make flu more likely and more dangerous. In addition, flu can be a trigger for heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk for them. 

According to a 2018 Canadian study, people who got the flu were six times more likely to have a heart attack within a week of getting the diagnosis. And Columbia University researchers saw a significant jump in strokes in the month after flu cases, according to July 2022 research published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.

A flu shot can also spare you the potential heart harms. A 2022 study led by the University of Toronto that incorporated six previous studies covering more than 9,000 patients showed that people who received a flu vaccine had a 34 percent lower risk of a major cardiovascular event in the 12 months following vaccination. Higher-risk vaccinated individuals with acute coronary syndrome—a group of conditions that abruptly stop blood flow to the heart—had a 45 percent risk reduction of major cardiovascular event, and a 56 percent reduced risk of dying from heart disease in the year after they got the shot, according to the findings, which appear in JAMA Network Open.

3. It could curb complications from other chronic conditions. Like heart disease, some chronic health conditions make you more prone to flu and its harmful effects. For people with diabetes or chronic lung diseases, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an annual flu shot is one of the best ways to avoid aggravating these underlying health problems. 

 

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Evidence comes from researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis who followed people age 65 and older in a large health plan who had respiratory diseases over three flu seasons. Their findings, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, show that patients who got vaccinated were 52 percent less likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia or flu and 70 percent less likely to die from these diseases during that period.

Similarly, a UK study showed that when people with diabetes got the jab, it reduced their chances of being hospitalized by almost 80 percent during the two flu seasons that were studied.

4. It may make for a longer life. The flu shot might even increase your life span. The evidence: In a recent study out of Toronto, researchers looked at more than 54,000 people age 65 and older who had been tested for the flu between 2010 and 2016. They found that those who received the flu shot were less likely to die from any cause over the multiyear period.

“In large databases from Ontario, we found that influenza vaccines may reduce the chances of older adults dying by as much as 34 percent,” says study author Jeff Kwong, M.D., associate director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases at the University of Toronto.

Flu shots likely protect older adults from dying simply by preventing the infection in the first place and by preventing those who do get infected from getting very sick from the virus, Kwong says.

 

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SAVING OUR PLANET. Let's get behind glass by not throwing away glass jars--let's use them TO STORE FOOD in our home and to keep things airtight. Let's recycle both the glass jars and the metal lids when we can no longer use them.

A BETTER BEDTIME. Let's resolve to help our kid clock more quality snooze time. It could benefit our child's mood in a big way: In a recent Columbia University Medical Center study, teenagers whose parents let them stay up until midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to be depressed and 20 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts than kids who hit the sack at 10 P.M. or earlier.TIP-OFF TO A THREAT. If a stranger stops us on the street, let's watch his feet: Normal--his torso points toward us, but his feet angle the way he'd been walking. Aggressive--he faces us dead-on, with one foot behind the other--a fighter's stance. Source: "What everybody is saying" author Joe Navarro.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

We can’t love Marlon Tapales only if he wins

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

—Christopher Reeve

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT’S not fair for some Filipino commentators and fans to belittle Marlon Tapales’ (37-4, 19 KOs), 121.5, performance and denounced him for losing by 10^th round knockout a unification title fight against Naoya “The Monster” Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs), 121.75, in Tokyo, Japan December 26.

Most Filipinos, of course, cheered for the sensational 31-year-old pugilist from Tubod, Lanao del Norte, who did his best in a gallant attempt to make history, but his best wasn’t enough.

The Monster was too strong, too fast, and too slippery for the dethroned two-division Filipino world champion, and no amount of denunciation and brickbats from unsatisfied and cruel Filipino commentators and fans could change these facts.

We can’t support, love, and appreciate Tapales’ efforts to bring honor to the Philippines only if he wins. 

Losing in sports is not a mortal sin; it isn’t a badge of shame. It’s always a titanic honor to fight for your country and go down heroically with both your pride and main faculties intact.

Tapales deserves our accolades, too, and high fives even if he failed to bring home the bacon, for he was up against a man called “The Monster” who is not an ordinary world champion in this generation.

ESPN’s Mike Coppinger described Naoya as “isn't simply the best boxer in the world -- he's an all-time great still adding chapters to his legendary career” in an article dated July 25, 2023.

This was after "The Monster" continued his climb up the mythical all-time list with yet another see-it-to-believe-it performance, a pulverizing eighth-round TKO of Stephen Fulton in Tokyo to capture the WBC and WBO junior featherweight titles.

 

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In that world title setto, the Japanese star didn't just deliver a beatdown with his otherworldly speed and power; he also outboxed Fulton in dominant fashion by clearly winning every round until the stoppage.

Against Tapales, it was in round four when Inoue started to show who’s the boss when he floored the Filipino buzzsaw with a solid combination of a left-right followed by a vicious left hook.

Our friend and Japanese contact, Joe Koizumi, who covered the fight at ringside, said they thought it would be a matter of time for the Monster to finish the durable Mindanao fighter soon. 

But Tapales survived and displayed his gameness and durability to make it a longer fight than expected, Koizumi reported.

The tenth, however, witnessed Naoya turn loose and connect a direct strong right without a left lead, which had Tapales reeling backward and down with the ropes behind him. The Filipino southpaw was unable to beat the count.

“I appreciate Tapales having accepted this ultimate unification bout. He was courageous and durable. But he finally collapsed with his accumulation of punishment. I’ll fight next in May,” Naoya said after the fight. 

Koizumi said it fully entertained the packed-house crowd at Ariake Arena, who looked very much satisfied with Inoue’s complete coronation in just five months since his last victory over the then WBC, WBO titlist Stephen Fulton.

 

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CompuBox Punch Stats saw 30-year-old Naoya Inoue build up a 24-5 power punches landed advantage over the first three rounds. 

Tapales came alive in the fourth round, where he threw 53 punches, his fight high. Unfortunately for him, Inoue knocked him down at the end of the round.

Despite the knockdown, Tapales’ resurgence continued. His timely counterpunching limited Inoue to single digits in landed punches in rounds seven and eight after Inoue had strung together five consecutive rounds of double-digit lands.

Tapales’ success created more openings for Inoue, who landed 23 percent of his jabs and 43 percent of his power punches, compared to 10 percent and 20 percent for Tapales. 

Thirty three percent of Inoue’s landed power punches were body punches. The end for Tapales came at 1:02 of the tenth round, when Inoue knocked him down and out.

The Monster impressively collected the four championship belts as he, WBC, WBO titleholder, finally caught up with WBA, IBF ruler Tapales and dropped him with a devastating right for the count at 1:02 of the tenth of the scheduled 12 rounds.

 

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FOR LADIES: HOW TO TURN DOWN YOUR GUY WHEN YOU ARE TIRED. If he's in the mood but you're not, let him know he still makes you hot with a sexy kiss and a straightforward "I'm so exhausted, I may conk out on top of you. Let's do it tomorrow." (Source: Dr. Yvonne Thomas.)

CRUNCH TIME. Holiday shopping may flatten our wallet, but it could also trim our belly. As we comb the racks, let's stand tall and squeeze our stomach muscles for five seconds (pretend we're bracing ourselves to lift a heavy box). We've just done the equivalent of one sit-up, says physiologist Pete McCall, of the American Council on Exercise.

OUR ABILITY TO BUILD MUSCLES. Thirty grams of protein are needed to maximize our body's ability to build muscles. University of Texas Medical Branch scientists found that eating 30 grams of protein at one meal helps muscle growth as much as taking in 90 grams does. Let's try smaller meals (3 to 4 hours apart) for a more efficient approach to repairing our muscles.

CAUGHT ON CAMERA. A man shot his ex-wife to death while the victim was on her way walking to the graveyard of their 15-year-old daughter who had committed suicide. The man blamed the ex-wife for the daughter's death. The daughter had left a suicide note that she was pregnant, and her mother would never forgive her for what she did.

STRENGTH IN A BOTTLE? A stomach enzyme could make as stronger. Protease, a digestive enzyme that helps our body break down proteins, appears to lessen muscle inflammation that occurs after resistance training, says Baylor University researchers.

BRAIN FOOD. We could cut the risk of Alzheimer's disease by a whopping 42 percent Columbia University researchers found when they analyzed the diets of 2,136 adults over 65 that meal plans with highest intake of lefty greens, tomatoes, and cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower plus fish, nuts, and vinaigrette-type salad dressing, with only small amounts of full-fat dairy products, cut their odds of Alzheimer's.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

I’m not affected by Apple Watch fiasco

 

“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.”

—Alan Kay

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

FRANKLY speaking, we don’t give a damn. 

This was what came into my mind as I randomly checked several products in the popular Apple store at Macy’s Queen’s Boulevard branch during a quick visit December 23 evening.

I’m referring to Apple’s unprecedented decision to remove a hugely popular versions of its bestselling smartwatch from store shelves to get ahead of what could be one of the most momentous patent disputes in quite some time.

Unlike many Americans head-over-heels for Apple Watches and who considered the fiasco as some sort of a national tragedy, I wasn’t affected. I have no reason to sob in the first place.

I have long given up using the expensive Apple Watch ever since I discovered other non-Apple brands with cheaper prices also carried the same features such as Apps, GPS, fitness tracking, mobile wallet, heart rate detection, gesture control, notifications, and display technology.

In fact, for a price of one Apple Watch Series 9 GPS, I was able to get online three non-Apple brands with almost identical features.  

The Apple Watch furor actually stemmed from the recent ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that found Apple in violation of medical company Masimo’s pulse oximeter patent.

That technology uses light to read blood-oxygen levels. Apple introduced a pulse oximeter feature utilizing that method in 2020 in its Apple Watch Series 6 lineup.

 

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According to Rob Beschizza of Boingboing, Apple has already stopped selling the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 online and was taking them off store shelves before Christmas Day. 

The company is warehousing the gadgets because another company, Masimo, convinced the U.S. International Trade Commission to block imports on the grounds that it infringes patents Masimo holds on measuring blood oxygen, a feature of the high-end devices, revealed Beschizza.

The companies are doing legal battle in several different venues, with the ITC ruling following a mistrial in federal court after Masimo failed to convince a jury of its claims. 

Apple has separately sued Masimo for patent infringement. The Verge's Emma Roth explains a complex web of litigation. On the most obvious question, Beschizza said Masimo is not a non-practicing entity (i.e. it's not a patent troll) and has various similar medical products on offer.

This particular story started about 10 years ago when Apple reached out to Masimo about a potential partnership around blood oxygen features on its wearables. 

Soon after, Apple reportedly poached several Masimo engineers and its chief medical officer. And then in fall 2020, Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6–its first Apple Watch to feature an SpO2 sensor to measure blood oxygen saturation levels.

Because the patent dispute relates to the SpO2 sensor specifically, Apple can continue to sell its more affordable Apple Watch SE, which does not come equipped with the sensor. 

The feature debuted on the Apple Watch Series 6 released in 2020 and has appeared in every flagship Apple smartwatch since. Apple has also pulled refurbished versions of two prior watches with SpO2 sensors, the Series 7 and Series 8, from its online store. 

Two special editions of the Series 9, the Apple Watch Nike and Apple Watch Hermes, have also been pulled.

 

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HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Mark Twain was already a literary legend when his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn debuted in America to a tepid commercial and critical response. But the classic coming-of-age tale, chronicling the antebellum adventures of tweenager Huck and the runaway slave Jim, eventually brought Twain acclaim for his explorations of racism.

SAVING OUR PLANET: Let's recycle appliances. If we're not selling them on, let's make sure we recycle our household appliances rather than throwing them away. Second-hand shops will often take them for parts, or we may ask our gov't offices for advice on recycling program. Big terms are difficult and costly to dispose of and recycling centers will take them off our hands for free.

SEXUAL STIMULUS PACKAGE ("Pleasure Recession"). A new survey by Trojan reveals that 71 percent of Americans want sex that's more satisfying, and 53 percent of Americans describe their sex lives as depressing, lukewarm, and predictable.

ELECTRIC TRANSFORMER. Much of America was still in the dark in the late 1800s. Yes, Thomas Edison had perfected his lightbulb, and power plants were being built, but there was a link missing between the two--a way to convert the higher voltages into lower ones.

SAVING OUR PLANET: Let's bag the bags. Plastic bags start as petrochemicals, which are transformed into polymers and are, in turn, heated, shaped, cooled, flattened, sealed, punched, and printed on, all of which require energy. But still only .6 percent of plastic bags are recycled, with the USA alone throwing away 100 billion bags a year. Make a difference by recycling.

SAVING OUR PLANET: Let's be a paper doll by always recycling paper. Each time paper is recycled, the individual cellulose fibers become shorter. On average, a fiber can be recycled seven times before it is too short to combine with other fibers.

(The author, who is ow based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

How poverty decimates Christmas happiness, joy

“Silent night! Holy night! Guiding star, lend thy light!” 

—J. Moier

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

MOST of those stricken by poverty in the Philippines hardly find it credible and believable to feel the joy and happiness that Christmas brings in the Christian world.

Because they lack the financial resources and access to wealth and economic opportunities, they don’t believe there will be a miracle if we pray hard for gifts and for Santa Claus and his reindeer to knock on our doors during the Yuletide season.

In his 1872 Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer, Francis Galton, the progenitor of human genetics, insisted he could find no evidence that prayer is effective.

Galton claimed he found no scientific grounds for believing that prayers are answered.

But he conceded that “prayer can strengthen resolve and relieve distress.” 

Because of poverty, many of us continue to find it increasingly impossible to enjoy “the most exciting season of the year”, the season that carries a strong emotional resonance for many Filipinos.

We continue to pray nonetheless.

We believe that “prayers can move mountains,” as the saying goes.

As obedient Christians, we continue to follow the church-mandated traditions on how to celebrate Christmas.

 

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Christmas is probably ideal only for those who don’t have a daily bout with financial difficulties. 

Many people now begin to believe and realize that society celebrates the so-called season of the birth of Christ heavily from the commercial point of view.

We equate Christmas with material possessions.

When think of gifts, decorations, parties, wines, caroling, merrymaking, vacation, etcetera, we think of extra funds and extra expenses.

Christmas has become synonymous to expenses and money.

Without extra funds, many Christians tend to develop a morbid feeling of insecurity and inadequacy.

How can one actively take part in Christmas parties and gift-giving binge if he does not even have enough to buy a decent meal for his family?

However, we can always celebrate the Yuletide season on a different perspective: embracing the spirits of love, humility, simplicity, forgiveness, hope and understanding.

Expecting nothing and continue living a simple life is a key to overcome anxiety, stress, emotional and mental anguishes if we don’t have economic capacity and abundance in life.

A very interesting piece about science and Christmas has rekindled the debate whether the scientific worldview somehow undermine the religious beliefs that are the basis of Christmas for so many people.

Science has been viewed suspiciously as a force that turned people away from God ever since 1916, according to Roger Highfield, author of The Physics of Christmas.

 

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In that year, an oft-cited survey by James Leuba of Bryn Mawr University found that 60 percent of American scientist did not believe in God.

Highfiled revealed that the finding caused a scandal at that time, prompting warnings from politicians about the evils of modernism and accusations that scientists were leading college students away from religion.

Leuba himself predicted that disbelief among scientists would only increase in the future.

“But research conducted recently, repeating the 1916 survey word for word, has proven Leuba wrong,” Highfield contends. 

“The proportion of scientists who believe in God has remained almost unchanged in the past eight years, despite the enormous leaps of discovery made during this century.”

Highfield cited Edward Larson, from the University of Georgia, and Larson’s colleague Larry Witham, from Burtonsville, Maryland, who questioned 600 scientists listed in the 1995 edition of American Men and Women of Science.

It reportedly achieved the same results as Leuba: about 40 percent of scientists believe in God.

“The future of Christmas and Hanukkah in our increasingly technological age seems assured,” concludes Highfield.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)