Aloe Vera

Some months back, I cut my hand from a broken glass.  Immediately, I placed my hand under running water for a minute or two to cleanse it.  I then asked someone to cut me a piece from a stem of an aloe vera plant growing along the fence.  I squeezed and rubbed the juice out of that piece of aloe vera right on the wound.  Afterward, I covered it with gauze.  I did this for a couple of days until the wound healed without any mark or scar.

I learned about aloe vera as first aid treatment against cuts and bruises from a friend whose son had a motorcycle accident.  She told me that she squeezed and rubbed aloe vera on his cuts and wounds on his face, arms and legs.  She did this  with patience and great care for several days until every cut and wound was healed – without any scar.

If aloe vera is not available, virgin coconut oil is supposedly just as effective as first aid treatment against open wounds.  I have not tried this personally, but several Boholano friends attest to the effectiveness of virgin coconut oil as first aid treatment.

You can read more about the benefits of aloe vera here.

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Be wary of beef and broccoli from China

First it was the scandal in 2008 involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, adulterated with melamine.

By November 2008, China reported an estimated 300,000 victims; six infants dying from kidney stones and other kidney damage; and a further 860 babies hospitalized. It was discovered the chemical melamine was added to milk to make it to appear as if having a higher protein content.

By the week of December 22, 2008, 17 people involved in producing, selling, buying and adding melamine in raw milk went on trial. Tian Wenhua, former Sanlu general manager, and three other company executives appeared in court in Shijiazhuang, charged with producing and selling milk contaminated with melamine.

According to Xinhua, Tian pleaded guilty, and told the court she learned about the tainted milk complaints from consumers in mid-May. She then apparently headed a working team to handle the case, but did not report to the Shijiazhuang city government until 2 August.

The Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang sentenced Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinping to death.   They were executed on November 24, 2009.  Tian Wenhua was sentenced  to life in prison, on January 22, 2009.  Zhang was convicted for producing 800 tons of the contaminated powder, Geng for producing and selling toxic food. Geng Jinping managed a milk production center which supplied milk to Sanlu Group and other dairies.

The China Daily reported Geng had knelt on the courtroom floor and begged the victim's families for forgiveness during the trial. The court also sentenced Sanlu deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi to fifteen years and eight years in jail, respectively, and former manager Wu Jusheng to five years.  Several defendants have appealed.

After all that mess, now here comes fake beef.  The culprits are restaurant owners allowing their cooks to slather pork in chemicals to make it look and smell like costlier cuts of beef.  And when Shanghai grad student Wu Heng found out about it, he created an informative food scandal database ‘Throw It Out the Window,’ a homegrown resource that tries to alert the Chinese public  to the many dangers lurking at the supermarket and on the restaurant table.

A few dozen volunteers are now helping Wu maintain the site, which is updated daily with Chinese language news reports about food dangers. It’s become so popular, it crashed from all the traffic on May 3. Wu says 5 million people visited his site over the last month and a half.  And much to Wu's delight, the Chinese government is supportive of his advocacy.

As for the broccoli, there are no chemists, restaurateurs, or cooks involved here.  The entire industrial/manufacturing complex of China appears to be the main culprit.

As we all know by now, China has the worst pollution problems in the world. And it is getting worse as the utterly unchecked rush to industrialization continues. Much of this pollution is linked to coal mining and power generation, but the sources of toxins are myriad .

While air and water pollution are highly visible and overwhelming on an everyday basis, the worst long-term toxic buildup may be lurking quietly underfoot in the soil. Nowhere is the global push to restore degraded land likely to be more important, complex and expensive than in China, where vast swaths of the soil are contaminated by arsenic and heavy metals from mines and factories.

There are dire consequences for food production and human health. On top of having the highest cancer rate in the world China has the highest rate of birth defects. No one disputes that this is the result of pollution. It could be argued that the country is fast on the way to killing itself as it grows.

Literally at the root of this epidemic of poisoning is tainted soil that sends toxins and carcinogens to the dinner table, where people unknowingly eat them. Where does this lead? Will parents tell their children not to eat vegetables? It seems that perhaps for now they should.  And since many food products have a way of getting into our country unchecked, it may be best to avoid the broccoli from China.

The restaurant owners and cooks who slather pork in chemicals to make them appear to be beef may be easier to apprehend and convict, but who will the Chinese government put on trial for their country's massive soil pollution?

Finally, according to Reuters, China's notoriety for food safety issues has been extra-ordinary, with frequent news reports of fake foodstuffs, dairy product recall and even watermelons that explode from absorbing too much fertilizer.

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Mango and Suman

This is one popular merienda treat combination here in the Philippines -- mango and suman sa lihia.  Ironically, I am yet to find any suman sa lihia here in Bohol.

Suman is a popular Filipino delicacy made of sticky rice wrapped in banana or coconut leaves. It is served with a sweet sauce made from coconut milk.

However, with some people, instead of the sweet coconut milk, they opt for ripe mango with their suman.  That is because the mango is generally sweet and combined with suman, adds interesting texture to tha palate.  Indeed, a wonderful merienda treat to be eaten with great relish!

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Saging Saba

Saging saba alleviates constipation due to a certain type of fiber it contains that restores and maintains regular bowel functions. Instead of using laxatives with chemicals or other synthetic substances, saging saba is a natural source for decreasing the effects of constipation without causing other bowel problems such as diarrhea.

Bananas, in general, are rich in potassium, which help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. Potassium also helps maintain a regular heartbeat and a proper balance of water in the body. It is also helpful for reducing strokes and regulating blood pressure because of the way it promotes circulatory health.

The abundance of vitamins and minerals in bananas are a great source of natural energy. Eating only two bananas will give you enough energy to exercise or workout for an hour and a half. Bananas are also ideal as midday snack when feeling lethargic. Instead of drinking caffeine or having a sugary snack, bananas provide a level of energy that lasts longer without the dramatic crash caused by caffeine.

As a way to prevent and treat ulcers, bananas help to reduce the acidity that some foods can leave in the stomach. They help reduce the irritation of the digestive system by leaving a protective coating around the inner walls, making it a natural way to promote intestinal health as well. Since they help to neutralize acidity, they are also a great way to get rid of heartburn. They act as a natural antacid and they quickly soothe the burn.

Due to its abundance of vitamins and nutrients it contains, instead of an apple a day, the adage should state that "eating a banana every day keeps the doctor away." 

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A personal calling

I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling 

that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way 

to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way 

to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, 

and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.

                                                                                           Oprah Winfrey

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Another door opens

It almost has to completely come apart before something 

new and beautiful can spring up.

                                                                                       Sister Margie Hennings

Sister Margie Henninger was expelled from the Order of St. Joseph and excommunicated for affiliating with those not-Roman Catholics in Rochester, New York. She now runs Grace of God Recovery House, a recovery house for the drug- and alcohol-afflicted.


The following is a brief excerpt from Bill Keller's NYT article:

“It was certainly painful, after 42 years,” she told me. “I lost my community. I lost my home. I lost so much. But, God being God, I gained much more.”

At 71, Sister Margie feels deeply Catholic, very much in harmony with her conscience, and happy. And of the Roman church she left behind, she says: “It almost has to completely come apart before something new and beautiful can spring up.”

There are many nuns who hold fast to the church out of genuine devotion. But there are others who stay out of fear — fear that they will grow old alone, fear of penury and homelessness, fear of losing purpose.

Read the complete New York Times article.

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Laying of hands

Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

                                                                                             Luke 1:38-41

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Photo Essay: Hands

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All that diesel fume

This horrendous traffic scene is a common sight in Metro Manila.  This photo shows the underpass at C.M. Recto and Quezon Boulevard – at the heart of University Belt near Quiapo Church.  One can only imagine the collective diesel fumes from the exhausts of the busses, jeepneys and cars in such traffic build-up.

Passersby and pedestrians can quicken their steps so as to be away from the area soonest, but the poor passengers of those mass transit vehicles have no option but to sit out the traffic and breathe in all those carcinogenic fumes.

  

This is one aspect of Metro Manila that can be unsettling health-wise – the ubiquitous diesel fumes. However, same can be said nowadays about the environmental state of every major city in the country.

According to a Healthland Time article, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency recently declared diesel fumes can cause cancer; a ruling making exhaust as important a public health threat as secondhand smoke.

The Heartland article by Maria Cheng of Associated Press goes on to say, "The risk of getting cancer from diesel fumes is small, but since so many people breathe in the fumes in some way, the science panel said raising the status of diesel exhaust to carcinogen from 'probable carcinogen' was an important shift.

“It’s on the same order of magnitude as passive smoking,” said Kurt Straif, director of the IARC department that evaluates cancer risks. “This could be another big push for countries to clean up exhaust from diesel engines.”

Since so many people are exposed to exhaust, Straif said there could be many cases of lung cancer connected to the contaminant. He said the fumes affected groups including pedestrians on the street, ship passengers and crew, railroad workers, truck drivers, mechanics, miners and people operating heavy machinery.

The new classification followed a weeklong discussion in Lyon, France, by an expert panel organized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The panel’s decision stands as the ruling for the IARC, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.

The last time the agency considered the status of diesel exhaust was in 1989, when it was labeled a “probable” carcinogen. Reclassifying diesel exhaust as carcinogenic puts it into the same category as other known hazards such as asbestos, alcohol and ultraviolet radiation.

The U.S. government, however, still classifies diesel exhaust as a likely carcinogen. Experts said new diesel engines spew out fewer fumes but further studies are needed to assess any potential dangers.

“We don’t have enough evidence to say these new engines are zero risk, but they are certainly lower risk than before,” said Vincent Cogliano of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He added that the agency had not received any requests to reevaluate whether diesel definitely causes cancer but said their assessments tend to be in line with those made by IARC.

Read complete article here.

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Moving on to evolve

Illness is not a sign of spiritual weakness, 

but of spiritual strength.

When we fall ill there are some who will say, "Why

did you create that for yourself?" 

They might convince you to see it as a sign of 

spiritual weakness or failure.

It is not. It is a sign of spiritual strength.

All challenges are a sign of spiritual strength, 

and of the readiness of the Soul to move on; 

to evolve even further.

                                             Neale Donald Walsch

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Obesity among Pinoy kids

According to pediatrician Dr Sioksoan Chan-Cua, most Filipinos perceive plumpness in a child as good because it is “cute,” and it is a sign that the parents are not being remiss in their duty.  “What these parents do not know,”says Dr. Chan-Cua, “is that it’s like a time bomb in the body.” And diffusing the time bomb becomes more difficult through time.

Dr Chan-Cua have long been concerned about the increase in the number of obese children. She deals with illnesses related to growth and metabolism, and claims this is no recent trend, having noticed a growing number of obese children as early as a decade ago. Today she says, “In just one of my clinics, one whole drawer (of medical files) is for obese patients.”

Read more about PCIJ’s The Big Picture here.

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Suggested reads:


Study: Obese Children Will Have 50% Higher Risk of Colon Cancer

MSNBC: Advice for parents with overweight kids

Life & Health Library: Sugar, Sweet Suicide

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Jose Rizal: A true national hero

Nation marks Rizal’s martyrdom

By MARGARITA VENTENILLA-HAMADA

After the Philippines was bought by the United States from Spain in 1898, the Americans made a startling, albeit pleasant discovery: a brilliant man of letters who happened to be a physician named Jose Rizal had been executed two years earlier by the Spaniards. Although sedition was the reason given for his execution, our new overlords quickly learned from his voluminous writings that what he strove for was a far greater cause than mere national independence. He was a devotee of freedom — the very ideal upon which their constitution is based and out of which a nation where human rights ruled, emerged.

Rizal’s and our then colonial masters’ vision and ideals of freedom were wrung from a very mature psyche. Their idea of freedom demanded an enlightened citizenry as basic condition for self-governance. Enlightenment, they knew, bestows dignity on human beings. No abuse could be possibly wrought upon an individual with dignity, nor upon a society made up of these individuals. To Rizal and the Americans, a society of enlightened, dignified people is a peaceful, hence progressive one. Rizal’s intense exposure to a very sophisticated intellectual milieu through his readings and travel enabled him to tell Freedom from Independence, and he shared his mature views of what love for country is, to his countrymen fearlessly. His writings, especially his two-volume novel, gave the Filipino people a clear mirror of their psyche’s urgent need for rehabilitation, so that enlightened, they will choose freedom— human rights even under a mature, therefore benevolent, though foreign-ruled government, and not just national independence. He urged them to read and think, showing them that the way to freedom is through revolution of the mind, and not through armed revolutions which lead only to independence, not true freedom.

But the polished mirror he fashioned, held up by the Americans, stung their eyes, preventing them to see his message, and so they went on to fight and kill for independence, unsuccessfully. The Americans, our new overlords, gave us what Rizal had pleaded for, in vain, from the Spaniards — human rights under a benevolent government for almost fifty years, until our leaders’ blind clamor for independence made them give it to us in 1946. Thus our independence removed us from the protective mantle of a strong, benevolent government and shoved us into the ranks of other new independent states not yet strong to resist mutual exploitation by her own leaders and citizenry and by more seasoned nations. Ironically, it is through our independence that we would finally be able to see the wisdom of Rizal in not choosing it for us. It is through the miseries inflicted on us by our independence that we would finally get to see and appreciate Rizal’s kind of nationalism, and hopefully learn from it so we can steer our country forward toward self-renewal.

Rizal kept saying that a people without enlightenment, without dignity, will abuse one another even under their own independent government; that mutual abuse is what characterizes a sick society — a society that cannot achieve peace and progress no matter how many times it changes its leaders, either through peaceful rallies or through violent coup d’ etats.

The core of Rizal’s nationalism is love for fellow-beings, not love for the Filipino proletariat alone. Rizal’s nationalism targets the immature, evil psyche as its enemy, not the immature, evil people (the imperialists and the elite) as its enemy. Rizal’s nationalism is based on the whole of reality, not on fragments of reality. He saw wickedness in both master and slave, in both the rich and the poor, not just in the rich. Rizal’s nationalism is open to anything that could give his countrymen human rights — the basis for peace and progress — assimilation into a mature, foreign government included. It is not focused on just one — independence or separation from any foreign government no matter how benevolent. Rizal’s nationalism recommends a change from immature, defective thinking to mature, sensible thinking via enlightenment or revolution of the mind. He did not recommend a change of defective government systems or defective leaders via revolutions, rallies or strikes. Rizal’s nationalism made him a man of courage who was not afraid to die for the cause of freedom, peace and progress, yet who will never kill nor inspire others to kill for mere political independence at the cost of freedom, peace and progress.

Rizal’s nationalism was engendered and nurtured by classics written in international languages, that he devoured. His love for his native tongue did not make him embrace it to the exclusion of the richer, more powerful languages outside his own. Hence, his mind, open and resilient, got nourished by the immortal thoughts and insights of great thinkers. He therefore saw what his colleagues could not see — that separation from Spain will leave us open to new invaders; that it will cast us from the pan of colonial bondage into the fire of an independent na tion’s internal strifes and power struggles which sabotage its own people’s human rights and their chance to live in peace and prosperity.

Had Rizal’s nationalism rubbed off on our past leaders and historians, would we be weeping now for an entire generation of university students of the 60’s and 70’s who threw themselves into the flames of political activism after metabolizing the rhetoric of a nationalism different from that of Rizal’s? Would we be weeping bitter tears for the 43,000 young cadres who joined the fight to change our government system and its leaders and who were killed by their own comrades in a wave of paranoia that swept through their movement? The EDSA Revolutions, the coup d’ etats, the Oakwood mutiny, the bloody strikes at Hacienda Luisita now serve to show us how the immature psyche creates mutual abuse and exploitation among people of an independent nation. The Filipino ‘diaspora,’ though sweet-lemonised by Patricia Evangelista in her internationally acclaimed speech is a loud statement about the economic woes of our independent nation. Our loved ones have to work abroad, especially in countries whose citizens chose to be assimilated by a foreign government — Hawaii, Guam, Alaska. We have become modern-day wandering Jews, although our nation is no longer a colony of a foreign power, all because Rizal’s nationalism was not plumbed deep enough.


Published by Manila Bulletin

December 30, 2004

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The believers and the Law of Circulation

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

                                                                                            Acts 4:32-to-35

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Remembering Jesus Christ Superstar

I don't know how to love him

What to do, how to move him

I've been changed, yes really changed

In these past few days

When I've seen myself

I seem like someone else

I don't know how to take this

I don't see why he moves me

He's a man

He's just a man

And I've had so many

Men before

In very many ways

He's just one more

Should I bring him down

Should I scream and shout

Should I speak of love

Let my feelings out?

I never thought I'd come to this

What's it all about?

Don't you think it's rather funny

I should be in this position?

I'm the one

Who's always been

So calm so cool

No lover's fool

Running every show

He scares me so

I never thought I'd come to this

What's it all about?

Yet

If he said he loved me

I'd be lost

I'd be frightened

I couldn't cope

Just couldn't cope

I'd turn my head

I'd back away

I wouldn't want to know

He scares me so

I want him so

I love him so

"I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), a torch ballad sung by the character of Mary Magdalene who in Jesus Christ Superstar is presented as bearing an unrequited love for the title character. The song has been much recorded with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" being one of a handful of songs which have had two concurrent recordings reach the Top 40 of the Hot 100 chart in Billboard magazine, specifically those by Helen Reddy and Yvonne Elliman,[1] since the 1950s when multi-version chartings were the norm.

Read more here.

Sarah Brightman: "I Don't Knnow How To Love Him"

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Happy Day!

Happy day, (oh happy day)

When jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

When jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

Jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

Washed my sins away (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

When jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

When jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

When my jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

Washed my sins away

He taught me how (oh taught me how)

To watch, (to watch)

Fight and pray (to fight and pray), fight and pray

(and taught me how and live rejoicing)

And live rejoicing every, everyday, everyday

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

When jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

When jesus washed, (when jesus washed)

My sins away (oh happy day)

And taught each other happy day (oh happy day)

He taught me how (he taught me how, how)

To watch, (to watch)

Fight and pray (sing, sing, come on and sing),

Fight and pray

(and till me, yeah, yeah, come on everybody)

And live rejoicing every, everyday, everyday

And live rejoicing every, everyday,

(sing like me, yeah) everyday

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh happy day, (oh happy day)

Oh Happy Day! By Choeur Gospel Célébration de Québec & Sylvie Desgroseilliers

"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, it became an international hit in 1969, reaching US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts. It has since become a gospel music standard.

Edwin Hawkins’ funk style arrangement of the hymn "Oh, Happy Day" has a long pedigree: It began as a hymn written in the mid-18th century ("O happy day, that fixed my choice") by English clergyman Philip Doddridge (based on Acts 8:35) set to an earlier melody (1704) by J. A. Freylinghausen. By the mid-19th century it had been given a new melody by Edward F. Rimbault, who also added a chorus, and was commonly used for baptismal or confirmation ceremonies in the UK and USA. The 20th century saw its adaptation from 3/4 to 4/4 time and this new arrangement by Hawkins, which contains only the repeated Rimbault refrain (all of the original verses being omitted).

Read more here.

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