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     There has been so much debate about celebrating Filipino-American Friendship Day that has taken the luster about the occasion.       Few Americans care about this for the simple reason that the Fourth of July happens to Independence Day in their home turf. With the number of Filipinos actually celebrating it dwindling with each passing year, it won't be far-fetched when the time comes when the event gets scrapped altogether.       It sure is a confusing moment for Filipinos. The radicals treat Americans with scorn (their policy makers actually) so such a celebration is like pouring gasoline on fire.       Meanwhile, more and more Filipinos (not just Filipinos actually) look up to the American Dream as a one-way ticket out of their financial difficulties. And so unlike those who abhor anything American, they embrace the belief that the only way out for the Philippines is to become a state of the United States.       Still, one cannot help but reflect about friendship, or wh...

By Fr. Roy Cimagala If we are interested in keeping our humanity, or at least our sanity, it may be good to be reminded about the need for us to develop, keep and strengthen our simplicity and spiritual childhood . This integral part of Christian asceticism should not be forgotten as we progress. With our neck-breaking pace of development, with its unavoidable dust cloud of complications, we need to realize more deeply that the way to go is not by being quixotic, tilting at windmills and grappling with phantoms, but by being simple . The temptation to be quixotic can be strong, since we always feel we can handle things by ourselves. Our sense of freedom and responsibility often blind us to the basic truth that we need to be grounded on God always to be able to live properly, let alone, do things rightly. This quixotic attitude can lead us to that situation of self-righteousness, denounced by Christ himself when he told some of the people's leaders that "they have eyes, but ...

Politician can be such a confusing word. At one time it was considered an honor to be called a politician. Even if that was when the names Washington and Jefferson were in office. But somewhere along the line it became a word more closely associated with corruption. The greedy became greedier and the corrupt became downright felonious. Call me a liar, a thief and a crook and I'll tell you that you must have me confused with a politician. Sometimes a fresh faced individual believes he or she can make a difference. They enter into the political world with nothing but the best intentions. They promise their backers that they won fall into the same old traps and get caught up in the shenanigans that dirty the political world. At least that is how they feel at the time. But it is different when you step into the dark, stank room. You have to check your innocence and naivete at the door. You find that the only way to get things accomplished is to play the very game you despise. Even t...

SOME people walk gracefully while others slump.      You know something is wrong.When you  see a frumpy figure gazing  back at you in the mirror.     Good posture can change all   that. A woman striding confidently into a room with her shoulders  straight  and head held high has the ability to break hearts. A man standing straight-backed, with just the right tilt to his square chin, will stand out from the rest of the slumped party-goers.     Good posture is easy to attain.   The steps to proper posture are simple, and they begin with the stomach. The belly button should be pulled back into the spine,  sucked up into the lungs. The ribs, in turn, should be held lightly under a buoyant chest and shoulders that are back and relaxed. The collarbones should be down, while the chin is slightly lifted, creating long, swan-like neck.     The  feeling is of being pulled upward from a string attached to the top of your head, with the entire spine stretched and extended. And on top of this b...