Yeah! if you wish to stay young and stay focused. How about a flash of blue, pink, yellow or any other colour besides red? They haven’t tried those colours yet. For now, it’s red.

What if you’re colour blind? Or vision defective? Apparently, you will neither be deprived of the benefits nor need your imagination to take control.

Researchers recently put college coeds in an angry state and then asked them to read a couple of arguments about students’ spending habits. One argument was weak, the other strong.

Students were better able to spot the stronger argument when they were a little peeved.

Why?

Anger may trigger adaptive behaviors; the kind of behaviors that allow people to adjust to circumstances and make productive, constructive choices.

I am sure that it has a lot to do with a sudden rush of adrenalin.

But whatever it is, don’t be preoccupied with flashes of red. An obsession for it might lead you to enroll in an Anger Management course. Fleeting moments of anger may give you focus, but chronic tension and hostility will take a toll on your health, possibly increasing your risk of heart disease

It’s said that by taking care of your emotional health and well-being, it can make your real age up to 16 years younger.

And all it needs is a flash of red.

What a gigantic mammal it is, the Humpback Whale, although it is not the largest. It is the Blue Whale which is the largest and reportedly even larger than any known Dinosaur.

Scientists aren’t sure why Whales breach (see the breach action in the above photo). Some say it’s to clean off parasites. Others say it’s just for fun.

Q: Are there similarities between the Whales and Blogs/Bloggers?

A: Yes, I think we can find some.

For starters, I say that Bloggers want their Blog to be large like a Whale. Do Bloggers breach like the whales? We ought to know the answer to that because unlike Whales, Bloggers are communicable and they can be read and be heard.

The reason scientists expound for why whales breach, could be rephrased in this manner. “Do Bloggers clean off parasites (whatever it is that they write and publish) or blog just for fun?“

Q:Where is this article leading to?

A:Golly jeez! you’re probably right. The analogy drawn here looks rather obtuse. However, grant me a few more moments for me to make it comprehensible.

I have read at various Blogs as well as from email Newsletters about what it takes for a Blogger to do it right. One thing is sure, we are not short of Gurus and their advice about how to make a Blog BIG! SUCCESSFUL, EARN, you name it. It’s all about increasing traffic, rank and what a Blogger needs to do to achieve it.

I have also read about events, such as, Blogger get-togethers and Blog Contests. And oh! lordy, there’s even mathematics involved complete with charts, numbers and formulae. The latter elevates blogging as a socio-communico science. Consider this, there may even be a time when our higher Institutes of Education offer a Degree Course in blogging. Far fetched? Who knows?

Yes, Blogs have become a force majeure and there are incessant discussions within and without the blogging community about “How to enlarge your Blog” (no pun intended). Bloggers are having a whale of a time competing amongst themselves, so to speak. Is that what it’s all about? No, some even cheat! I know of a Blogger who cheated a Contestant at his own Blog Contest.

Then there are Bloggers who get burnt out and disappear just like how some Whales expire when they ground themselves on a sandy beach or at the bank of a river estuary.

Whales are hefty eaters too. So are Bloggers. Bloggers want it all. Maximum drops, maximum exchange links, maximum traffic, maximum rank, maximum earnings and so on. I know one Blogger who left me a message requesting for a link exchange. When I visited his Blog, I was shocked by the length of his Blogroll. His Blog had two Posts which were out distanced by the length of his Blogroll. Now, that’s what I would call a Maximus Bloggeroll Blogger.

Q: Where is all this leading to?

A: It points to something that is becoming more glaring. Bloggers have begun to lose their blogging finesse. The Blog content dissipates while they chase after non value adders. Most Bloggers follow the trend and become staunch adherents to turn theirs into a “Whale Blog”.

Bloggers seldom make an effort to know the Blogger behind the Blog. For example, When was the last time that you opened the “About” page at a Blog so that you could know a little more about the Blog owner?

Regrettably too, there are “plastic” Bloggers as there are “plastic” people in real life. Care to recall how many times have messages are left at your Blog that says, “Hi! dropping by” or “Did an EC drop” or “Visiting, Hope you return the visit” and such like?

Q: And what is wrong with that?

A: Good repartee! Admittedly, Bloggers have a right to rid themselves of parasites at their Blog. However, may I rephrase what I said earlier. Have Blogs reached a stage where a personal Blog conveys a proliferation of aimless writings?

For instance, why do Bloggers transform their personal Blogs into e-Commerce websites? The lure of earning as articles are written to advertise has defaced the value of a personal Blog. Or is there a need to revisit what a BLOG means? We all know that it is an acronym gathered from two words, weB LOG. The meaning of Web we know. So too is it for the meaning of Log. And without batting an eye, Personal can’t be argued.

Therefore, this is how I came about with the analogy about Whales and Bloggers. Bloggers are like the Whales. The former blogging BIG by instinct rather than by reason. As one of many examples of what I allude to? I have seen Blogs where the Blogger published provocative photos of herself. Gosh! if this Blogger believes that she is divinely endowed, the Blog isn’t the place to flaunt it. She should make it a career and cash on it. I wouldn’t for a moment think that these Bloggers would be flaunting their 50 year old bodies if they are still breaching like the whales. But then again, there are exhibitionists too.

Therefore, a Blog has mutated to serve as a means for an end and that contrasts with its original definition. I have noticed that Blog content apparently matters less and less in just over a year.

Bloggers are afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves. They write “safe” or comment “safe”. And then again for instance, at the opposite end, who has the time to read any article that goes beyond one word, “EntreCard” or “Adgitize” or “CMF”?

I can’t deny that there are really great Blogs and Bloggers out there. Some of them are obscure because they can’t bring it upon themselves to be a “Whale Blog”.

Q: Is that all you can say about there being respected Blogs and Bloggers?

A: Well, one man’s meat is another’s poison. Hence, what I believe makes a Blog and Blogger admirable may not be agreeable to others. I say that Bloggers who write without affectation and are not pretentious about their knowledge, these contribute towards the worthiness of their Blog. There are Blogs out there that relate what it is like on the other side of the fence. There are practical and wholesomely good material Blogs. These Blogs and Bloggers have a knack in attracting visitor’s to return repeatedly because of such qualities. That more or less, summarises what I believe makes a great Blog and Blogger.

According to the Statistics report, there’s not much worth reading at Windmill on the Hill. It states that visitors at Windmill on the Hill spend an average of 1.55 minutes and an average read of 1.69 pages.

Is it because that I too am one of those who desire to be a “Whale Blog”? I’m off to have my breach! hahaha!

If there is anything that the Philippine Government has left unturned, it would most certainly include the moral fiber of the Philippine populace.

On this occasion, I write not about the ability of the Philippine leaders to govern without corrupt practices. I challenge the Government of the Philippines about what I consider to be in their nation’s interest and inarguably the highest social order required as it determines both, their social equilibrium and the quality of life in the Philippines.

Single Mother

What plagues the future of the human resources of the Philippines is the increasing number of single mothers. This excludes the married woman who is estranged from her male spouse. For the divorced I would wish to believe there are laws existing to deal with such cases.

This is about young girls who are either in their teen years or during their early impressionable young adult age who are deserted by their man after being pregnant with his child.

The Philippines has no laws effective enough to mete justice for the new born and for the unsupported single mother, both of whom are abandoned by the irresponsible man.

If it were not for the existence of the Church, charitable organizations, NGO personnel or friends, the plight of the single mother and the newborn child is yet to be considered a matter of serious consequence by the State.

Again and again, I get to know about young single Filipinas who have been left with child and abandoned by their man.

Granted, the views of others will be diverse and perhaps even discriminating when it turns into a blame-game. But I write not about who bears the blame, the man or the young girl. This is about the social responsibility and how it undermines the social nucleus of a Nation. This is within the power of the State to put into practice a deterrent within the ambit of an effective legal system.

For a country that takes great pride in its past and present achievements, this gender inequality when it deals with the sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility of the male populace is not something that is beyond the ability of the lawmakers and guardians of social justice in the land.

Ironically, I recall the the level of outcry for justice and compensation regarding the gross injustice wrought on Filipino sex slaves or comfort women by the Japanese during the latter’s Occupation.

Should not causing one to be a destitute single mother in peace times be more heinous compared to what their historical comfort women endured decades ago? It isn’t the Japs who are doing it now; it is done amongst fellow Filipino citizens and the male perpetrators escape scott free.

Or is the Filipino mindset re-phrasing the idiom that “all is fair in love but not in war?”

What promise does the future of a Nation seek when the moral fiber of the populace disintegrates? Moral decadence besides the ineffectual ability to govern within the natural laws of justice is not a bedrock for nation building.

Although the origins of the phrase, “The eyes are the windows of the soul” is moot for debate, it is nonetheless, an English proverb.

Why is it the eyes and not some other organ of the human body?

I remember a story related to me years ago. It is about Leonardo da Vinci and his painting of the Last Supper. It went like this.

da Vinci had various models to pose for the figures of Jesus of Nazareth and his twelve Apostles as he worked on his canvas painting. Although I do not know how long da Vinci took to complete that masterpiece, it is said that he when it came to painting Jesus of Nazareth, he chose someone whose face effused an spiritual inner peace.

When the time came to find a suitable face for the traitorous character of Judas Iscariot who betrayed his master for 30 pieces of silver, da Vinci found a model suited for the task He asked him to pose at his studio for the purpose. As arranged, the man arrived at da Vinci’s studio and the latter resumed with his masterpiece.

The man then told da Vinci if he remembered him. da Vinci did not; to which the man said that he had been at the studio before. He pointed at the painting of Jesus of Nazareth and said that he had modelled for da Vinci for that figure.

da Vinci was dumbfounded by the man and asked him what happened to him to have changed his countenance in such a way. The man said that he was struck by ill fortune and was forced to live by dangerous and evil means to stay alive.

Now, how far this story is true, I will never be able to ratify but the story does have a poignancy in that the kind of life that we live affects our facial and overall appearance. I have also noticed how true this is from photographs of convicts that I have seen in tabloids.

Take for example the eyes of an innocent infant, the eyes of a stern character, the eyes of a man of peace, the eyes of an person who is up to no good, etc., etc., all these eyes do project the inner-self of a person.

We also know of that cliche, “shifty eyes” for a person who can never look at another person in the eyes. The shifty eye person is prone to cunning and deceit.

Last night I saw in a photograph, a pair of eyes that greatly unnerved me. These eyes were not the natural demeanor of an average person. There was an unmistakable and intense glint of manic egotism. Eyes borne of a hardened soul. The photoshot was neither one that was forced, in personal anguish nor play-acting.

It was a photo amongst several others (and none of the photographs in that album displayed a smile) that were sent by this person to someone who would most likely be a partner in marriage.

My hair stood on ends when I read what those eyes portrayed about the person’s character.

Is Blowin’ In The Wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?

Those lines taken from the  iconic lyrics of Bob Dylan, reverberate in my mind.

We take pride that in this modern Era, mankind has surpassed through a history filled with events that makes Satan diminutive by comparison. And yet, right now, there are individuals, families, communes and nations that are subjected to indescribable indoctrinations that suppress freedom.

How come?

One would think that slavery in all its forms has been abolished. Nothing is more despicable than slavery of the human mind because it seizes the soul of man. And that my dear reader is exactly how man has deviously used economic repression, racial supremacy and even pseudo religion indoctrination as a beginning in this Brave New World of ours.