Tsunami - Salami

Tsunami

FACTS:

* Tsunami: Japanese word which literally means 'harbor wave' Japan has had 195 occurrences - they HAD to make a name for it.

* When something from the top shakes - things at the bottom gets affected.

* 8.8 Earthquake struck Japan triggering a Tsunami Alert.

* Philippines - Hawaii - Australia - New Zealand - Taiwan - Indonesia were alarmed of the Tsunami late last night.

* The alert level(s) were lifted this early morning.

On a very personal note - it's not a surprise for us here in The Philippines. We get alarms like that all the time. 

Some even WAIT for the huge wall of water at the beaches - while having a picnic, mind you.

We've had worse though - landslide/mudslide - yes, February 2006 - the one where the province was featured on CNN - FOX NEWS - BBC. (Lotsa army men that time - from the States!)

Personally - December 2008; I was reading while lying on my couch in my living room - because of a very strong wind which uprooted a tree - a HUGE BOULDER from the hill at the back of my house rolled and destroyed one the wall which leads to the living - where I was reading (Desperation by Stephen King) 

I almost became pancake. The huge boulder - since it's HUGE - couldn't be moved. A lot of neighbors tried to roll it OUT of the living room - but the neighbors only got to move it a little. 

As of present - it still IS outside my house

Sadly, because of (either) word-of-mouth (which spreads like wild forest fire) and/or (sometimes) the media (exaggerating things) = people get MORE alarmed and takes it very seriously.

How seriously? Going up to the mountains with their cattle - livestock - pig AND poultry seriously.




I live in small town which is in a province surrounded by the ocean - THE PACIFIC ocean. Regardless if this place is called a CITY now; it STILL is a town. It doesn't have a bookstore and/or a club or pub or bar even (unless of course it's a Friday) - and sadly, people here don't get to know much about what's going on with the world and/or HOW to deal with things like, yes, a Tsunami. We don't have emergency like 911. NO! But we get by.

Sometimes. At least.

The day-job has a lot of perks, regardless if it pays squat - working in a radio station - aside from of course getting all-access in every concert and/or gatherings; I get to hear a lot of complaints and yes, what happens to one part of the province and whatnots - like people going up the mountains.

As of the moment - the sun is shinning and yes, people are getting back to their usual activities, like fishing for example. And me - writing - happy that I didn't become flotsam and jetsam!

Salami

If this town had a Twitter account - the TOP trends would be:

- Tsunami

- Reproductive Health Bill

FACTS:

* The Reproductive Health Bill, popularly known as the RH Bill, is a Philippine bill aiming to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care. 

* Filipino taxpayer and the private sector will fund and undertake widespread distribution of family planning devices such as birth control pills (BCPs) and IUDs - as a way of controlling the population of the Philippines.

*The bill is highly controversial, with experts, academics, religious institutions, and major political figures both supporting and opposing it, often criticizing the government and each other in the process. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines threatened to excommunicate the President, Benigno Aquino III if he supported the bill.

THIS country - before it became one officially; Magellan came - did the first holy mass and brought Christianity to the land.

Separation between Church and State? BAH! We have that here - yes, BUT we kind of don't have that here. Unfortunately whatever the big holy men says - the big men in the high offices do so.

Right now, out on the field - there's a rally AGAINST the Reproductive Health Bill, and guess who's leading it? The BISHOP of the city/town himself.

In all honesty, This town OR even country - does NOT have sex education: NON WHATSOEVER.

The talk about sex - same sex relationships - someone sleeping around - someone kissing someone - someone holding hands even - is TABOO! I didn't even know what SEX is and what IT IS for til' sophomore year of high school. Swear!

Just like Hester Prynne = once you do things like the above-mentioned. You will be MARKED with the SCARLET LETTER!

The radio station in which I work is owned by The Bishop of this town - I am with him as his P.A. (It doesn't pay much - BUT, it at least pays taxes - I call it a HOBBY! I have the article writing which pays IN DOLLARS - thank you - for the OTHER stuff. And YES, I get to know the dirty stuff that goes in and out of the church.) 

And we're doing a live-coverage about the rally AGAINST the Reproductive Health Bill.

Right now - on air - some guy is babbling on how EVIL contraceptives are. And how it'll KILL YOU. And how contraceptives are like NAILS inside of you.

Sure - we ALLLLLLLLL love to do IT bareback. Given, of course that person we're with is:

- the love of our life

- super hot - sizzling even

- hung like a bear

BUT it's NEVER wrong to be safe, right? 

And what about IF you know someone who (sadly) is SICK (damn it) with the bad stuff one gets from sex?

WHAT if you know someone - or has a cousin even - who, at a very young age (full of life and has a LOT of ambitions) got pregnant?

In ALL my twenty-five years in THIS town or HELL country even - I haven't heard of anything made/suggested by the government - regardless if they're raging ass-hats at times - that hasn't been stomped by the church.

So - dear bishop and BOSS - I'm sorry. I know you probably haven't had your dick wet ever or if not - you nom-nomed one and you loved it. 

I would like to support the Reproductive Health Bill; because I know I can and I have every right to and that YOUR TIME of ruling this country or ANY country being ruled by the church - is long time DEAD and GONE.

To at LEAST put a stopper in diseases - broken hearts - shattered dreams and the daily rising toll of abandoned loved ones.

Ice Breaker...

[Puerto Princesa, Palawan; Philippines] 

These two got married on Valentines DAY (yesterday) - amidst the rain and yes, FLOOD.

Question, is THIS better than: 

1. Jumping in on a train (refer to previous post) 

2. Worse

3. Same thing?

4. NONE of the above

And yes, I need reasons. Comment; private message or whatever.

Anything YOU can think of.

On Other News: Missing boat with FIVE AMERICANS lands in Maasin City, Philippines

Missing boat with 5 Americans lands in Maasin City


MANILA, Philippines – Five Americans stepped ashore in good health Monday in the centralPhilippines following an international search for their sailboat when it failed to arrive on time in its voyage from the Pacific island of Guam, officials said.

The vessel, called the Pineapple, ran into bad weather after departing from Guam on Jan. 6 on a journey to the Philippines and relatives of the crew _ four men and a woman _ reported them missing Jan. 18.


A Philippine coast guard ship reached the 38-foot (11-meter) catamaran on Sunday after it was spotted by plane the previous day. Rescuers escorted the vessel to the port of Maasin City on Southern Leyte, where the crew refueled, got their passports stamped and treated themselves to a meal, the coast guard said.


With one of its two rudders damaged, the Pineapple will later be escorted to its original destination on Cebu Island.


“They’re all in fine health,” coast guard chief Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo said of the crew, including a Filipino-American in the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Embassy in Manila has declined to release their identities and hometowns.


The U.S. Coast Guard, which said it had spent 63 hours searching for the sailboat, expressed relief that the boat was found but faulted the crew for failing to take proper precautions. The vessel did not carry long-distance communication or emergency distress equipment and did not file a comprehensive float plan, the agency said.


“I’m elated for the family and friends of the Pineapple, but compelled to point out that this voyage was made without taking basic, commonsense precautions,” said Capt. Thomas Sparks, U.S. Coast Guard Guam commander.


A Philippine coast guard plane spotted the sailboat Saturday off the southern island of Dinagat, but was not able to confirm its identity until Sunday when the weather cleared, Tamayo said.
A woman aboard the boat was able to contact her husband by cell phone at 1:30 p.m. Sunday _ apparently once she came within range of cell phone service _ and he called rescuers in Guam to give them the boat’s coordinates, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
“The husband confirmed the vessel ran into bad weather and suffered a rudder and radio casualty. This delayed the Pineapple’s voyage but it was never in danger of sinking,” the statement said.
Guam, a U.S. territory, is about 1,400 miles (2,290 kilometers) east of Cebu, where heavy rains and rough seas have been reported in recent weeks.


The U.S. Coast Guard had deployed a HC-130 Hercules aircraft, two Navy P-3 Orion planes, two Air Force C-12s and a patrol ship to search an area of 122,600 square nautical miles (317,530 square kilometers) for more than 63 hours, the agency said.
U.S. authorities were informed of the discovery by Philippine authorities and have been in touch with Philippine officials to provide help to the Americans, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said.


A video taken from a search plane showed four of the Americans on top of the white-hulled catamaran, one apparently waving, as a rubber boat with coast guard personnel approached.


Many Philippine provinces, particularly in the east, have experienced rough seas amid unusually heavy rains since late December. At least 71 people have died and 23 others remain missing from the stormy weather.


The Philippine coast guard rescued 260 of 277 people aboard nearly a dozen boats that sank, overturned or ran into trouble last week due to the inclement weather. Fifteen remain missing while two drowned, the officials said.


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