Thursday, June 30, 2011

Part 2: Practical Pest Control at Home

Frogs, such as this Green Pond Frog, are the most
common natural predators of pests in the field.

Abe V Rotor

Here are pest control techniques you can adopt at home.

1. To control furniture weevil and moths which destroy the felt and piano wood, place a teabag of well-dried and uncrushed black pepper in the piano chamber near the pedals. Paminta is a good repellant and has a pleasant smell.

2. Coconut trees whose shoots are destroyed by rhinoceros beetle (Oryctis rhinoceros) can be saved with ordinary sand. If the trees are low, sprinkle sand onto the leaf axils (angle between the leaf and axis from which it arises). Sand contains silica that penetrates the beetle’s conjunctiva, the soft part of the body where hard chitinous plates (hard outer membrane) are joined.

3. To control bean weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus), an insect that destroys stored beans, especially mungo, mix a little ash of rice hull (ipa’) and spread it in a way that sand kills the rhinoceros beetle.

4. To get rid of nematodes (microscopic elongated, cylindrical worms) in the soil, incorporate chopped or ground exoskeleton (skin) of shrimps into the soil, preferably mixing it with compost. Chitinase is formed which dissolves the cover of the egg and the body of the nematode. Use poultry dropping to reduce nematode population in farms and gardens.

5. To control the cucurbit (plants of the gourd family) fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae), wrap the newly formed fruits of ampalaya and cucumber with paper bag. Bagging is also practiced on mango fruits. For ampalaya use newspaper (1/8 of the broadsheet) or used paper, bond size. Roll the paper into two inches in diameter and insert the young fruit, folding the top then stapling. Bagged fruits are clean, smooth and light green. Export quality mangoes were individually bagged on the tree.

6. To keep termites away from mud-plastered walls, incorporate termite soil (anthill or punso). To discourage goats from nibbling the trunk of trees, paint the base and trunk with manure slurry, preferably their own.

7. Raise ducks to eat snail pest (golden kuhol) on the farm. Chicken and birds are natural insect predators.

8. An extra large size mosquito net can be made into a mini greenhouse. Underneath, you can raise vegetables without spraying. You can conduct your own experiments such as studying the life cycle of butterflies.

9. Plants with repellant properties can be planted around the garden. Examples of these are lantana (Lantana camara), chrysanthemum, neem tree, eucalyptus, madre de cacao (Gliricida sepium), garlic, onions, and kinchai (Allium tuberosum).


10. To scare birds that compete for feeds in poultry houses, recycle old balls, plastic containers, styro and the like, by painting them with two large scary eyes (like those of owls). This is the reason why butterfly wings have “eyes” on them to scare away would-be predators. Hang these modern scarecrows in areas frequented by birds. To scare off birds in the field, dress up used mannequins. In some cases, the mannequin may be more effective than the T-scarecrow. Discarded cassette tape ribbon tied along the field borders scares maya and possibly other pests.

Continued...

Part 1: Are there pesticide-free vegetables?

Abe V Rotor

This item was originally written as a response to queries about how certain we are that our vegetables are, indeed, safe from pesticides.

In general, leafy vegetables (e.g. pechay) and fruit (tomato) vegetables receive more chemical spraying than do root (potato) and seed (mungo) vegetables, but this is not always true as we will see later.

As far as our problem on pesticide is concerned, I would rather classify vegetables into two: those that do not need spraying at all, and those which can not be raised economically without the protection of chemicals.

For the first category, here is a list of 30 common vegetables in their common and scientific names. Farmers simply find them resistant to insects, mites, nematodes, snails, fungi, including weeds, rodents and birds. These vegetables may also be found in the wild, or in the open spaces.

1. Malunggay (Morinda oleracea)
2. Saluyot (Corchorus olitorius)
3. Wild ampalaya (Mamordica charantia)
4. Katuray (Sesbania grandiflora)
5. Batao (Dolichos lablab)
6. Patani (Phaseolus lunatus)
7. Sinkamas (Pachyrisus erosus)
8. Summer squash (Cucurbita maxima)
9. Native eggplant (round) - (Solanum melongena)
10. Native tomato (susong kalabaw) - (Lycopersicum esculentum)
11. Native sitao (short) – (Vigna sesquipedalis)
12.Seguidillas (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)
13.Alugbati (Basella rubra)
14.Talinum (Talinum triangulare)
15.Native spinach (Amaranthus sp.)
16.Gulasiman (Portulaca oleracea)
17.Sweet potato (tops and root) (Ipomea batatas)
18. Kangkong (Ipomea reptans)
19. Pepper or Sili (labuyo) (Capsicum frutescens)
20. Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
21. Rimas or breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
22. Sayote (Sechium edule)
23. Taro or gabi (Colocasia esculenta)
24. Kamoteng kahoy or cassava (Manihot esculenta)
25. Ubi (Dioscorea alta)
26. Tugui’ (Dioscora esculenta)
27. Kadios (Cajanus cajan)
28. Banana (Saba) (Musa paradisiaca)
29. Sampaloc (Tamarindus indica)
30. Kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi)


Most of these vegetables are native to our soil and climate. Consequently, they have natural resistance to pests and diseases that would not spare other introduced varieties, especially those of foreign origin.

Tinkering with the genes of indigenous species erodes natural resistance. Our native rice varieties for example, although they are not top producers, are resistant to pest, drought, flood, can compete with weeds, and do not need much care. Genetically “improved” rice varieties became pampered with fertilizers, water, planting distance, thorough soil cultivation, and most specially, spraying with insecticides and fungicides. They are likened to our present breeds of animals. Our poultry today can no longer thrive in the open, whereas our native fowls are “self-supporting”.

This is true with many vegetables. That is why commercial vegetables throughout their life cycle are provided with a “chemical blanket” to protect them from the onslaught of pests and diseases, many of them became destructive as a result of induced mutation. Indiscriminate chemical spraying has been found to build biological specialization so that certain insects and pathogens, which survive, carry on their acquired resistance to the next generation.

To the farmer this means more frequent sprayings at higher dosages, with elevated toxicities. This is what is happening today with many vegetables bought in the markets. The sector least heard of regarding this dilemma is the pesticide industry because it greatly benefits from it.

Pesticides are believed to be the most common source of poison that causes liver and kidney ailments. They affect our nervous system and impair our senses. They have long been tagged as a major cause of cancer, diabetes, allergy and other physiologic disorders. Because most of the pesticides today are synthetic chemicals, our body cannot readily degrade and excrete them. Instead, they tend to accumulate until a threshold level is reached that leads to many health problems.

Let us look at the second category of vegetables: those which are grown successfully only with the aid of pesticides. Without pesticides, they cannot survive the attack of pests and diseases.

The most sprayed vegetables are the crucifers – cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, mustard, celery, carrot, pechay, wonbok, and the like. The pesticides used on them are the most potent brands, leaving no chance to caterpillars ensconced in deep holes, mites in the roots, and aphids in leaf axils. The poison must be absorbed and distributed throughout the plant so that any insect that feeds on the sap is sure to get the poison and die. This is why such poisons are called systemic, which means that they are translocated in all parts of the plant from roots to tips of stems and leaves, to flowers and fruits. The sap carries them in the same way substances are carried and distributed by blood to all parts of our body.

Poisons of this kind are also used on cucurbits (melons, watermelons, cucumbers, upo, squash, patola and ampalaya). The principal enemy is the fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae), which lays eggs on the young fruits. Mango growers also use systemic poison to protect the fruits from another species of fruit fly, Dacus dorsalis. Mango importing countries like Australia, Japan and the United States impose strict regulations against fruit flies, which also attack other fruits and vegetables, like oranges and bananas, endangering their local fruit industries.

There are vegetables that may have been sprayed long before they are harvested such as peanut (Arachis hypogea) and mungo (Phaseolus radiatus). Rice and corn are relatively safe from the pesticides sprayed on them during their growing period. It takes at least 20 days for the grains to set and mature, ready for harvesting. By this time, the sprayed chemical has leveled off safely. It is the protective spraying before and during the storage of the grains that must be strictly regulated as this can leave harmful residues.

Continued...

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Today's Environmental Revolution - 3 philosophies

Today's Environmental Revolution - 3 philosophies
Three philosophers have three formulas of an environmental revolution.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rudolf Bahro,
author of The Alternative, claims East Europe’s non-capitalist road to industrialization has been shaped by the same growth ideals and methods as has Western capitalism, and that the working classes of both West and East have the exploitation of nature and the Third World as common. Defending their own societies’ privileged positions on the world market, both camps add to global inequity. For which Bahro calls for a new social movement – the environmental movement, a grand coalition of people’s forces, a rebuilding of society from the bottom upwards.

Ivan Illich on the other hand, criticizes modern society and its failure to cater to human needs. He believes that the privileged today are not those who consume most but those who can escape the negative by-products of industrialization – people who can commute outside the rush hours, be born and die at home, cure themselves when ill, breathe fresh air, and build their own dwellings. People must arm themselves with the self-confidence and the means to run their own lives as far as possible, especially as big institutions like schooling, medical care and transport today are creating more problems than they solve. Politics is no longer a simple Left-Right choice; man must have a choice of energy, technology, education, etc., he calls vernacular values.

According to Andre Gorz the ecology struggle not as an end in itself but as essential part of the large struggle against capitalism and techno fascism. He champions a civil society shifting power from the State and political parties to local community and the web of social relations that individuals establish amongst themselves. The State’s role is to encourage self-management among the citizens. He envisions a Utopian future where “the citizens can do more for less,” and the development of a rich, all-round personality.
 ----------
André Gorz was the Theorist Who Predicted the Revolt Against Meaningless Work.  The COVID-19 pandemic led millions of people to question their meaningless jobs. French socialist thinker André Gorz anticipated this shift, sketching out a vision of a new civilization that would free us from the constraints of work. (Willy Gianinazzi)
------------
Definitely, while we need a revolution to save our environment, any means that is contrary to peace and unity, is definitely unacceptable. And we would not adhere to the rule of force or violence just to be able to succeed.

It is said, that revolution starts in a small corner. It could start in each of us.

x x x

Part 1: Humanities weaves a beautiful tapestry of humanity

Abercio V Rotor, PhD
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Dedicated to teachers and students of Humanities, a 3-unit subject in college.

Lesson: Humanities is like Janus, not because it has a happy face and a sad one at the opposite, but because students taking up the course are divided, in the same way our brain is divided into two. Well, perhaps there are those who are more inclined to the reasoning left, while others on the creative right. The ideal however, is a well-balanced use of both hemispheres, and a healthy tandem that brings a wholesome and holistic use of our faculties. Through humanities, we learn to use properly reason and imagination, logic and creativity - in fact, the eight realms of intelligence - in our everyday life, and in our pursuit of our ambitions and dreams.

Humanities as a subject and course focuses on four fields of art, namely, spatial (painting, sulpture, architecture, creative photography, literature ( prose and poetry), music and drama which are usually combined, together with the others, into what we call performing art. These, through their themes and applications are link to the various disciplines, from theology to natural science. In fact, humanities takes us to the highest plane of goodness and beauty and peace.

Monument of Fr. Miguel Benavides, founder of the University of Santo Tomas, now on its 400th year (quadicentennial). UST is well known for liberal arts, the precursor of all fields of knowledge.


Son, what do you remember as the happiest moment in your life?” asked a dying old man on his deathbed.

“When we went fishing, dad, and caught fireflies on our way back to camp.”

The old man held the hand of his son tight, and smiled looking at him. “Thank you.” It was a parting sealed by the sweetest memory of life - childhood, love and nature

1. Humanities brings out the sense of awe and wonder

Humanities brings out the sense of awe and wonder, specially to the young, of the things around, of life processes and cycles, the passing of seasons and ages. It makes one aware of even the minute existence of things, the transformation of the ordinary into something beautiful.

Wonder the summer night, camping by a lake, home outside of home,
no walls, no roof but the sky, stars and fireflies mingle in the dark;
Wonder the breeze blow and weave through the trees, comb the grass,
carry into the sky kites of many colors flying under the rainbow’s arch.

“The sense of wonder is indestructible, that it would last throughout life, an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years.” Says Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. It is true, the sense of wonder prepares the young to face the world and conquer it.

2. Humanities builds on the framework of truth and values

Fewer words set the mind to explore, giving way to imagination, over and beyond reason. Brevity is the framework of the mind, the heart and spirit in the Lord’s Prayer and the Gettysburg Address of America’s most loved president, Abraham Lincoln. It is a path to humility in greatness. It unites the classic and the contemporary.

If the story of the Creation can be told in 400 words, if the Ten Commandments contain 297 words, if Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address was only 266 words, if an entire concept of freedom was set in the Declaration of Independence in about 1,300 words – it is up to some of us to use fewer words, and thus save the time energy, vitality, and nerves of those who must read or listen. (Jerome P Fleishman)

3. Humanities brings out the human spirit

Guernica, a plaza mural made by the greatest modern painter Pablo Picasso, ignited popular revolt against the Nazi regime. On his huge mural were cleverly embedded images that conveyed principles of truth and freedom, and secret call for action.

Similarly, in an earlier era, our own hero Juan Luna painted Spolarium, (centerpiece of the National Museum), a mural depicting the Filipinos under Spanish rule suffering like the gladiators during the Roman times, a visual message for the people to realize their plight. Later Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, one of the greatest books ever written in the category of War and Peace by Tolstoy, and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, extolled the rise of a new world order – post-colonialism and the birth of new nations.

4. Humanities brings tranquility in crisis

It may be strange to know that Winston Churchill, the great English hero of WWII, still found time to paint by the bank of the Thames. Arts bring tranquility in times of crisis, and elevate the senses on a higher plane of vision. Putting down his brush and easel, he would then return to the battlefield with greater revolve to save Great Britain from the raging war. And to a greater surprise, what was it that Churchill painted? Peace.

It was the other way around five hundred years earlier when the great Michelangelo who single handedly painted the huge ceiling of the Sistine Chapel would descend from the scaffoldings, exchanged his paint brush with sword and fought side-by-side with his benefactor the Pope, and when victory was apparent would climb back to finish his masterpiece. The result: the biggest composite mural that virtually brought God down to earth with the angels and saints, making the Sistine Chapel a microcosm of the Kingdom of Heaven.

5. Humanities is guardian of movements and schools

From the paintings of early man in the Lascaux caves in France, to the surrealism of Salvador Dali, humanities has kept faithful to the evolution of human creativity expressed in various aspects of human life, pouring out from palaces and cathedrals to the villages and streets. For arts no longer belonged to selected societies and cultures. Impressionism took over Romanticism and translated Realism on the grassroots, subsequently bypassing standards of perception, and permeating into the unconscious seeking expression and catharsis. Expressionism founded by Vincent Van Gogh opened a wider door to abstractionism that subsequently spilled into post-modernism.

“What’s abstract? a young art enthusiast
once asked, dutifully I answered:
“When you look through the window of a car
running so fast that views are blurred.”

“What’s expressionism?” an elder one asked;
“When the car stops, or just about,
yet still running inside, seeking, searching
for the spring of life to pour out.”

“And what is impressionism?” a third asked,
and I said: It’s sitting on a fence -
On one side Amorsolo, the other Ocampo,
It’s the spirit of art past and hence. ~

Humanities is the universal language of goodness, beauty and peace.
(AVR)

Continued...

Part 2: Humanities weaves a beautiful tapestry of humanity

Dr Abe V Rotor

Humanities holds the greatest treasure of mankind." - AVR

"Humanities accompanies you through a valley of grandeur and beauty to a kingdom of no return - a singular experience in a lifetime." (AVR) Wall Mural, St Paul University QC

6. Humanities is guardian of change, of movements and schools

Propagandism and license are perhaps the greatest enemy of Humanities. The world was shattered by two global wars, and while recovering, laid in coma for half a century of cold war - the polarization into opposite ideologies that froze mankind at the brink of Armageddon. Humanities sought recourse through peace and understanding.

And as in the Renaissance, Humanities centered on rebirth and renewal of man’s faith in his destiny. Peace reigned the longest in contemporary times in spite of pockets of conflicts. And for a century or so Humanities blossomed into wide popularity and acclaim, and rich diversity which we know today, dominating media, commerce, industry and in practically all aspects of life, which often venture on the boundaries of humanities itself, through pornography, religious extrememism, aculturation, liberalism, among others.

7. Humanities is custodian and pioneer of the arts

Humanities gave the world the finest of human achievements and it continues to do so - timeless classics from novel to cinema, painting to photography, colonial design to high rise structures, stage play to TV and Internet show.

Man’s glory is akin to humanities - Venus de Milo, Taj Mahal, Borobodor, Eiffel Tower, Hallelujah, Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, The Little Prince. to name a few. Name the wonders of the world, and those in a longer list, and humanities is there. It is there in the crowning glory civilizations and cultures.

Humanities discovered superstars like Elvis Priestley and Michael Jackson, and our own local sensations, Leah Salonga and Charisse Pempengco. It uncovers the genius of man in the past, bringing it to life, spanning the gaps of knowledge and history.

8. Humanities faces challenge of the cyber age

But arts also plunged into a deep and unknown global pool bringing across the world cultures heretofore unknown and untested, and riding on postmodernism into the chartless world of cyberspace. Which leads us to a puzzle, Quo vadis, Humanus?

9. Humanities elevates man’s reverence for life and Nature

And yet humanities is anchored on a strong foundation, none other than the place of his birth and his ascension into Homo sapiens - Nature. Reverence to Nature is reverence for life, the highest expression of man through humanities. From this relationship he finds inspiration in his arts and technology, in seeking knowledge and wisdom, and in enhancing the unity and harmony of creation, and among mankind into a living network.

10. Humanities is the keeper of the network of humanitiy

We are the World, the song that united the world by the compassion it created for the dying is perhaps the greatest humanitarian movement in recent times, originally USA to Africa in the eighties, and was repeated during the Haiti disaster twenty years later. Translated by different races, beliefs, ideologies into a common call, it brought consciousness to the whole world, that humanity is a network, a closely knit fabric beautifully expressed in the lyrics of the song -

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call,
When the world must come together as one.
There are people dying
And it’s time to lend a hand to life,
The greatest gift of all

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me .

It is a most fitting tribute to mankind through this song, that no man is an island, that when somebody dies, a part inside each of us also dies, and for every man’s victory, we too, feel triumphant. Humanity is a beautiful tapestry, and Humanities is Arachne on the loom.~.

Humanities

- weaves a beautiful tapestry of humanity
- brings out the sense of awe and wonder
- builds on the framework of truth and values
- brings out the human spirit
- brings tranquility in crisis
- is guardian of movements and schools
- aims at goodness and peace
- is custodian and pioneer of the arts
- faces challenge of the cyber age
- elevates man’s reverence for life and Nature
- is the keeper of the network of humanitiy ~

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Miscellaneous Tips for Simple and Happy Living (Part 2, please open preceding post)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Bonus Assignment: UST CA217 - Communication and Socio-cultural Change

List down on a bond paper more Practical Home Tips.

1.
Water, water everywhere. Recycle water, save the second washing in laundry, and from dishwashing for use in general cleaning.

2. Don’t throw away empty tube of toothpaste. Cut it open lengthwise and glean. Good for hand wash, removes fish and meat odor and tough dirt.

3. Recycle soap cake into liquid soap. Scrape or shred , dissolve with just enough water as liquid soap. Filter and refill empty dispensers. You may add scent of orange or lemon grass (tanglad).

4. Harvest rainwater and store it in garden ponds (with fish), large bins and earthen jars, with cover to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Limit domestic use due to possibility of acid rain contamination.

5. Cut you finger and it’s bleeding? Raise hand above heart level while attending to it. Keep this position steady until bleeding stops. Immediately seek medical treatment for serious cases.

6. You feel you can’t hold it any longer. You are about to sneeze and you are in a conference. Press the base of your nose; hold it there until urge subsides. Find excuse to leave and relieve yourself somewhere.7. Pencil stub is still useful; roll paper over it to extend its length. Secure end with square knot. You may add décor.

8..
In the absence of a cutter, moisten folded edge of paper you want to cut with your tongue. Divide paper slowly. Warning: Print in paper contains pigments and lead which is not good to health. Alternative: Fold back and forth, creasing the folded edge every time, then slowly divide.

9.
Be aware of reverse screws and knobs. You find them in bicycles, electric fans, propellers, sewing machines. Inadvertently turning clockwise - which is the standard – will result to irreparable loose thread. Read instructions carefully.

10. Recycle writing materials:
a. Notebooks with unused pages.
b. Other side of used bond papers.
c. Replace spent ballpens with new fillers. Take with you samples.
d. Small notes and reminder slips, save blank spaces of used papers.
e. Papers which can't be recycled for writing can be used for wrapping and similar purposes.
Just avoid waste.

Why don't you contribute to this list and share your ideas and experiences with our viewers, and listeners in School-on-air?





Mayon Volcano and Cagsawa Belfry Ruin

Abe V. Rotor


Mayon Volcano and the ruins of Cagsawa Church Belfry, Albay
The church remains buried with the reamains of the faithful
who sought refuge from a violent
eruption in the 18th century
when the Philippines was then a colony of Spain.
Photo taken
by the author in 1978


Tranquility reigns on her face, rage in her breast,

If beauty exudes best from a spring of force,
I do not wonder at the shyness of a crest,
And the power of a single rose.

Light from the Old Arch, AVR

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Trivia: Jumping Salad is Live Shrimp

Abe V Rotor

There were five callers on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid who got the correct answer. Except one who said he learned about this rare dish from a friend, the callers apparently Ilocanos, said they have actually tasted jumping salad.

This dish is prepared from newly caught small to medium shrimps from the estuaries and rivers, and while they are still very much alive, are served right there and then with calamansi and salt, momentarily agitating the fated creatures. Pronto! The shrimps, on removing the plate cover, frantically jump out of the plate, save the dazed one. You should be skillful in catching them from the table (and even on the floor) deftly picking them by the head, taking caution so as not to get hurt by their sharp rostrum. You can imagine the danger you face as the creature makes its last attempt to escape. You must get a firm hold before putting the struggling creature into your mouth, tail first and quickly bite off the head, severing the sharp dagger in your hold. The creature wriggles in the cave of your mouth and you can actually feel its convulsion fading as it undergoes the initial process of digestion.

This exotic menu is getting rare unless you are living near the sea, river or lake - or a good friend brings live shrimps to town in banana stalk container to keep the shrimps alive. Being an Ilocano myself, eating jumping salad is an adventure. Try it; it’s one for the Book of Guinness Record.

x x x

Fallacy of Greatness

Abe V Rotor

Portrait in mosaic of Alexander the Great

Oh, Oracle of Delphi, what secret has the gods and godesses
Revealed to Alexander that made him conqueror and immortal?
Empires rose and fell before him, from West to East and beyond;
Beauty he sought, beauty herself he destroyed at her portal?

In Egypt, the pharoah kissed his feet - isn't a pharoah a living god?
In Babylon , the seat of power of the world crowned him twice,
Where the Hanging Gardens once stood, where palaces then stood,
Glistening in the sun - the sun in a kings's hand to set and rise.

What genius has Gordius? His legendary knot untied in a flash,
A blink, a slash with Damascus sword, laying down trivial matter
On the road to conquest - so with dissenting friends and old allies,
But not Bucephalus, his faithful horse, a town he named it after.

Who is great, the invader or the vanquished? History never asks;
He who holds the Flag and the Pen, more so the Cross and the Sword,
It's the master not the slave, the pioneer not the native, the victor,
The spoils that cloak him gold, who forges the right word.

"Have we done you wrong?" the Indian prince asked the invader.
Only clash of steel and moan of the dying answered - then the crow.
Tribe after tribe, they all fell - reason to unify them into state.
What is a state, when the law of amalgamation is death row by row?

Aristotle, Alexander's teacher must have been wrong - or wronged,
When he advised the youth, "It's easier to make war than to make peace."
But advice is later laid to rest when gold and power rouse mortals
To dream beyond dreams - what could be that life the gods please?

The world is confused, the world cries foul, it weeps but forgets,
Time is the healer and the equalizer, the unifier of good and evil;
Darius and Alexander - both are great, but neither keeps the right,
For the world in gaining knowledge, after all, is the winner still.

Folly we all are, and if rationality were measured by equation, then
It is not far from biology and the gene of the lesser kind, and the same
Fallen angels, exiles of Paradise for knowing the truth of man's being;
Yet no one of us would admit it is better to be ignorant and tame.

There is always an Alexander in our midst, a Darius who ruled longer
A richer and wider world before, and Xerxes after them, and men
At their command, or in Maslow's heirarchy find ourselves who we are;
Heroes we all are, striving in a real world whose end is beyond Amen. ~

The Edge of the Forest, AVR 2011

Ten Verses by a Pond

Dr. Abe V. Rotor

Nymphaea lilies crowd a receding pond, detail of mural, AVR 2010

1. Cheered with praises aflame,
Grieved by the slightest blame.

2. Stone grows in age in a cave or on some peak;
Clear is its message even if it can’t speak.

3. The Pyramids – a triumph in architecture,
But not without the genius of nature.

4. Who grows two measures where there was one,
Is a pride of mankind, a model son,

5. Childhood is ephemeral like a dream;
As if only yesterday as it may seem.

6. A star shines wherever a seed is sown,
Shining best when it is lovely grown.

7. I watched a dove passing by, its song I heard;
It dropped a feather like a flag unfurled.

8. Kindness, however so small,
Is never, never wasted at all.

9. Unless cut and polished, a stone is stone,
Like a gene lying deep, unknown, alone,

10. John Milton in his blindness saw the world,
wrote Paradise Regained and wasn't alone.

Anxiety, Phobia and Depression - they take away the joy of living

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. What are the common signs of Anxiety (in increasing intensity).
1. Uneasiness, lightheadedness, clumsiness
2. Shaky nerves, sweaty and cold palms and feet
3. Palpitation, racing heartbeat
4. Profuse perspiration, shortness of breath or choking
5. Dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain
6. Nausea, panic, fear of losing control or dying

2. Who are victims of anxiety?
All of us are invariably victims of anxiety. What do we worry or anxious about? Our aging parents, retirement benefits, sex life, health – name it, real or imaginary – and you have it, irrespective of sex, age, domicile, profession, work,
race, creed, etc. While we worry for certain things and situations, other people simply don’t - they simply don’t care. All animals for that matter, especially the small, scurrying kind, appear to feel anxiety – an instinctive response necessary for survival. Rats and chicken freeze in place momentarily when subjected to sudden fear stimulus. The opossum feigns dead which is actually an involuntary fear response.

3. Is anxiety necessary then as a survival mechanism?
Yes, anxiety helped in human evolution. Records of anxiety show how humans shared the planet with saber-toothed tigers. Without it few of us would have survive, if at all. But now we live in a particular anxious age brought about by modern civilization, so that anxiety has developed into a more complex kind. For example, we are worried for 1001 reasons as individuals, but we are also affected collectively. Take the case of the effects of the two world wars on mankind. Then came the Cold War which lasted for nearly half a century, creating an uneasy kind of world order imposed by fear of Armageddon, should the US and USSR and their allies engage in final confrontation. Such mass anxiety was revived by terrorism with its baptism in the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers of New York.

4. When do we say anxiety is good and when it is not?
There is something mysterious about anxiety, its dualism. It is a normal response to physical danger so that it can be a useful tool for focusing the mind where there’s a deadline looming. But anxiety can become a problem when it persists to long beyond the immediate threat, which leads to anxiety disorder. It affects 19 million Americans, 25% not having any medical treatment. It is steadily rising in all countries where Western influence is getting stronger.

5.What are the two major forms of anxiety?
According to Sigmund Freud, One is more biological in nature and the other is more dependent on psychological factors.

6. What are the stages in the development of anxiety – and depression?
1. Stress – any external stimulus from threatening words to a gunshot, that the brain interprets as dangerous.
2. Fear – The short-term physiological response produced by both the brain and the body in response to stress.
3. Anxiety – A sense of apprehension that shares many of the same symptoms as fear but builds more slowly and lingers longer.
4. Depression – Prolonged sadness that results in a blunting of emotions and sense of futility; often more serious when accompanied by an anxiety disorder.

7. Of the 12 anxiety conditions listed in the psychological diagnostic, what are the most common?
1. Panic disorder – This is recurrent, unexpected attacks of acute anxiety, peaking within 10 minutes. One finds himself in a situation such as in a crowded elevator. If extreme anxiety symptoms appear, the person may be suffering of anxiety disorder that needs medical consultation, even if this is occasionally experienced.
2. Specific Phobia – This is characterized by consuming fear of a specific object or situation, often accompanied by mild to extreme anxiety symptoms. It may just be plain hate, or fear, say heights. Behavioral therapy – gradual introduction of the cause, until enough courage is built; and cognitive therapy – re-orientation of perception or behavior, may be needed independently or jointly.
3. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - a preoccupation with specific thoughts, images or impulses, accompanied by elaborate and sometimes bizarre rituals. Even if they are irrational thoughts, repetitive ritual (e.g. hand washing, prayer), time consuming – researchers are certain whether of not OCD is genuine anxiety. Whatever it is, it does respond to treatment.
4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – repeated, anxious reliving of a horrifying event over an extended period of time. It is not anxiety if the experience fades away steadily, but if it may persist, and sometimes PTSD will not appear until six months after the event. This is caused by recurrent recollection or dream of the event, feeling the even to be still occurring, experience reminding you of the event, and difficulty in avoiding thought associated with it.
5. Generalized Anxiety Disorder – Excessive anxiety or worry for days or months, but does not affect quality of life. Characterized by restlessness, difficulty concentrating or sleeping, irritability, fatigue, muscle tension. Have three or more of these symptoms confirm a person is suffering of GAD.

8. Is anxiety inherited?
Yes, some people seem to be born worriers. Some anxiety disorders are known to run in the family. If the genes involved are reinforced by environment, the expression become more distinct. (Nature-nurture) But there is a good note to this: heritability is only between 30 to 40 percent, according to researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University. Identical twins more likely show stronger tendency to suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. However, even one with low genetic vulnerability could develop a fear of something that may even be greater than one with high genetic vulnerability.

9. Is it true that children suffering of anxiety are most likely candidates of depression?
Yes. But it is also true that many kids outgrow their anxiety disorder to become well-adjusted adults. Anxiety and depression have similar underlying biology. Anxiety may surface early in life and depression later. But researchers are divided in this observation.

10. Anatomy of Anxiety - how do we explain it to the ordinary citizen?
First, let’s start with the senses picking up a threat – a scary sight, aloud noise, a creepy feeling – the information takes two different routes through the brain.
A. The shortcut – the brains automatically engages an emergency hot line to the fear center – the amygdale, which sends an all out bulletin that alerts the brain structures resulting to classic fear response as cited in symptoms, notably increased blood pressure and burst of adrenaline. All these happen before the brain is conscious of the event – before you know you are afraid. Now the second paths takes place.
B. The high road - After the fear response is activated does the conscious mind acts; the information takes a cu\circuitous route, stops first at the thalamus (processing center) to the cortex (outer brain layer which serves as data analyzer) to the senses, deciding whether there’s need of fear response. If yes, cortex signals amydala and the body stays alert.

11. How does the body respond to anxiety stimuli?
The amygdala triggers a series of changes in brain chemicals and hormones and puts the body in anxiety mode, characterized by the following:
• Stress-hormone boost – the hypothalamus and pituitary glands pump out cortisol, the stress hormone (Too much cortisol short circuits the cells in the hippocampus making it difficult to organize the memory of a trauma or stressful experience.
• Racing heartbeat – The sympathetic nervous system responsible for heartbeat and breathing shifts into overdrive.
• FFF (Fight, Flight, Fright) - Adrenaline shoots into the muscles preparing the body to do the appropriate action.
• Digestion Shutdown – Brains stops thinking about things that bring pleasure, conserve energy otherwise wasted on digestion, hence vomiting, defecation, urination may occur.

12. What are the ways to relieve anxiety?
• Behavioral therapy – Best for phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder. Panic disorder is to expose patients to a tiny bit of the very thing that causes them anxiety.
• Cognitive therapy – rethinking, behavior modification through proper advice.
• Antidepressants – Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft are best known among the antidepressant drugs.
The newest group is norepinephrine which control emotion and stabilize mood.
• Minor tranquilizers – examples are Xanax, Valium, Klonopin serve temporary relief and therapy under doctor’s supervision.
• Exercise – talk therapy, simple exercise (at least 30 minutes), brisk walk Exercise releases natural opiates called endorphins,
• Lifestyle Changes – cut back or eliminate the use of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and recreational drugs
• Alternative treatments – yoga, meditation, guided imagery, aromatherapy, massage

Audience Participation
• Cite an anxiety episode you actually experience.
• How did not overcome your anxiety.

References: The Science of Anxiety Time July 8, 2002
Lost Lives Time November 10, 2003
What Scares you? Phobias Time April 2, 2001

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Taming the Clouds

Abe V Rotor




















Giant mushrooms rise with the breeze,
The clouds in Lilliput they make,
Dwarfing the bows of acacia trees
Lining and leaning on the lake.

Many faces I see, angels and beasts
In changing shapes with the sun,
Doves and eagles flying to their nests
In fleeting moments are gone.

The clouds fall into ripples, the images
Break the mirror of Narcissus
Into one thousand and one faces,
Fragments of memories sans cause.

And the clouds angry as they pass by,
Submit their fate to rainbow's shawl
Over the hills and beyond, and I –
I found a Gulliver in my soul.
~

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

How safe is the food we eat?

How safe is the food we eat? 
Dr. Abe V. Rotor

Kalabasang ukoy (squash, shrimp, egg and flour)
home recipe for breakfast and snack

Tupig wrapped with banana leaves (coconut meat anf milk,
glutinous rice and red sugar) cooked on charcoal

1. Return to Nature. “Go Organic.”
A. How do you gauge food to be natural?
1. Fresh and served promptly.
2. Not genetically modified (GMO)
3. No pesticide residues
4. Safe from pest and disease organisms
5. No toxic metals (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, others)
6. Organic fertilizer used, instead of synthetic fertilizer like Urea, 12-24-12, etc)
7. No harmful preservatives (nitrates, CO2 gas, N gas)
8. No MSG, artificial coloring (jubos)
9. Balanced nutrients,
10. Proper combination of ingredients.

B. Is it safe to take fat-free fat (olestra), sugarless sugar (aspartame, splenda),. coffeeless coffee (decaffeinated), synthetic multi-vitamins, distilled water?
It is better to use their natural forms or products.

C. Do you consider naturally processed products as organic? Yes, It depends on how they are processed though.
1. Bihon fron rice
2. Sotanhon from mungo
3. Noodles, pasta, spaghetti, macaroni from wheat
4. Taho, tokwa, vegemeat/TVP from soya bean

D. Are native varieties of crops and breeds of animals safer to eat?
Generally yes.
1. They need less attention and input to produce, thus they do not carry residues of antibiotics, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers - which make food harmful.
2. Warning on stray animals and wildlife species - they may be carriers of diseases.
3. Warning on allergy-causing and or poisonous plants, including mushrooms.

E. Why is Integrated Pest Management (IPM) internationally recognized as the best approached in controlling pests and diseases?
IPM is backed up by Research, Training and Extension. It follows a strict regimen to protect health and the environment, in the following sequence.
1. Proper land use (Crop is tailored to the land, not vice versa)
2. Community effort, social infrastructure. Cooperation on three levels: Governmental Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Community Organizations.
3. Genetic resistance is primordial.
4. Biological control (Use of natural enemies of the pest)
5. Cultural practices (agronomic and horticultural)
6. Chemical Control as last resort. (botanical, carbamate, chlorinated hydrocarbon, organophosphate, systemic) Chemical groups mentioned are in the order increasing toxicity.

F. Should we prefer native recipes over foreign ones? Yes, although we can adapt those that fit into, or compatible with, ours (Chinese recipes, for example). Native recipes have the following advantages.
1. Ingredients used are naturally grown, available locally.
2. Tastier and more nutritious
3. Cheaper in cost
4. Aesthetics of culinary art , cultural pride
5. Promote cooking at home and family bonding
6. Support local producers and entrepreneurs.
7. Integrated with home gardening and local production
8. Healthier
9. Environment-friendly
10. Business potential

G. Some people say home gardening is not practical?
Why not? Even if you are living in the urban area. You do not have to produce everything you need in the kitchen. Choose only those that are practical to grow. Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid conducts lessons on Home Gardening on three levels, namely

* Garden in “pots” for urban
* Backyard gardening for home lots
* Golden Years Homesite (500 m)

H. What other areas are people becoming more conscious about natural products?
1. Natural ventilation of homes and dwellings
2. Non-allergenic or hypoallergenic materials (pillows, bed sheets)
3. Natural fibers (cotton, silk instead of rayon), leather shoes,
wood instead of plastic).
4. Waxed paper, paper bags; grill instead of microwave
5. Firewood cooking

2. Health and Longevity Consciousness

A. Can we combine herbal and alternative medicine on one hand, and modern medicine, on the other? Yes, refer to Dr. Victoriano Y. Lim’s new book Introduction to CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) UST Publishing House, National Book Store,). There are many books to support this approach.
1. Second opinion may come from non-doctors, including an herbal expert (herbolario)
2. Take it from the Chinese, also other Oriental medical practices and home remedies
3. Practical References: Where there is no doctor and Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, books on pharmacology.

B. Do vegetarians live healthier and longer?
Generally medical science says it is true. There is another school of thought .
1. Plants product may not supply all the nutrients, minerals and vitamins the body needs.
2. There is a certain formula based on age-weight-life style that ensures good health and longer life – it’s not really being slim or trim. The body needs food reserve, buffer supply in normal and abnormal times.
3. Where vegetation is scanty, people depend of animal products, and do live as long as vegetarians do.
4. Human teeth is evidence that we evolved from vegetarian to omnivorous, which must have insured our evolutionary success (Darwinian).
5. Vegetarians may not necessarily save money by not eating meat.
6. Vegetarians and meat-eaters suffer different ailment – as well as common ailments.
7. Progressive societies depend largely on animal products; less developed ones on plant products – a law of economics, other than cultural differences. Grain to animal protein conversion ratio is poor - 16:1 for beef, 7:1 pork, 4:1 chicken.

C. What is the best way to reduce? Diet and exercise.
1. Diet with doctor's advice. Extreme caution on other means.
2. Liposuction is dangerous. Stem Cells are destroyed, so with the natural capacity of the body to produce Stem Cells which are necessary in replenishing aging and damaged cells of the body.
3.Gym work and exercising equipment are expensive and not practical.
4. A combination of exercise, hobby and work is best. Be output-oriented.

D. How about grooming?
You mean personality development. A natural way is to have a happy disposition, positive outlook, and clean living, rolled in one. Minimize cosmetic grooming.

D. What are the main causes of death in modern society?
1. Accidents
2. Physiologic diseases – heart attack, stroke
3. Epidemics – flu, malaria, TB, dengue, SARS, HIV-AIDS
4. Personality complications of diseases of the nervous system.
5. Traditional diseases - tuberculosis, infection, diarrhea, etc.

E. How can we enhance longevity? Can we plan to live longer?
1. "It is in the genes." (Trace your family tree)
2. Special care for special children
3. Geriatrics forthe golden years.
4. Avoid Viagra, fertility and memory enhancers, stimulants and depressants, etc)
5. Monitor your lifestyle. Alzheimer’s, diabetics, heart attack, stroke, kidney and diseases, are physiologic diseases of modern living.
6. Don't smoke, avoid heavy drinking.
7. Don't retire, but have leisure and good rest.

x x x

Empty Images - are they?

Photos and Verses by Abe V Rotor


Reality and fantasy - hardly we can tell
with a third eye to see or cast a spell.


We speak of unity and might to touch the sky together;
A tree in majestic height will disappear forever.


History bears truth and fancy,
but we love more its fantasy.


Don’t be afraid, bloom, oh flowers,
the walk shall not be the same again;
when the rainbow brings showers,
your beauty shall not die in vain.


Drip, drip, drip may be music to the meek;
but not behind prison walls and to the sick.


Here on this patch of Eden, world of fairies seven;
a shade of a lost garden, a little corner of heaven.


Memories you'll cherish in the morning
of the path you took through life,
and in the night you missed the stars,
and left the world still in strife.

x x x

Don't Cut the Trees, Don't

Dr Abe V Rotor



Don't cut the trees, don’t.
Make a stairway across;
Save the clouds that fill the font,
We have had enough, the Cross. ~

Monday, June 20, 2011

Don't miss these wonderful home recipes - okoy, tamales, mushroom barbecue

Don't miss these wonderful home recipes - okoy, tamales, mushroom barbecue
Dr Abe V Rotor
 
Squash Okoy [grated squash, small shrimp or anchovies (dilis), egg and flour]

Tofu-mushroom barbecue (with bell pepper, optional pork, toyo)

Tamales (tawilis fish wrapped with mango leaves, add salt, vinegar, garlic and ginger)

These are examples easy-to-prepare recipes. Advantages: low cost (50% savings), natural and fresh, locally available ingredients, nutritious and balanced, avoidance of artificial ingredients like MSG, Aspartame, carbonate, bromate, sulfite, aflatoxin, low cholesterol, low fat, planned serving, free of possible pathogens, vermin and toxic metals. Other than gustatory delight cooking and eating at home is family bonding. (Photos by AV Rotor)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Turkey Fish - Impressionistic painting

Abe V Rotor
Glass painting reflects impressionism which started in France by Paul Cezanne in the late 18th century from which subsequent movements were founded - expressionism by Vincent Van Gogh, and later abstractionism in which Picasso later excelled. This experimental painting involves both mediums of acrylic and oil painted on glass, with nature and environment as subject. Turkey fish is a dainty and colorful benthic dweller among coral reefs. It got its name from its numerous floating fins arranged like the feathers of the male turkey during courtship.


"What's abstract?
a young art enthusiast
once asked, dutifully I answered:

When you look through the window of a car
running so fast that views are blurred.

"What's expressionism?" an elder one asked;
When the car stops, or just about,
yet running still inside seeking, searching
For the spring of life to pour out.

"And what is impressionism?" a third asked,
And I said: It's sitting on a fence -
On one side Amorsolo, the other Ocampo,
It's the spirit of the past and hence. ~

Where have all the eagles gone?

 
  Endangered living symbol, Philippine Eagle, formerly, Monkey Eating Eagle, is one of the biggest eagles in the world. Photograph by Matthew Marlo R. Rotor, Canon EOS 135, Sigma 70-300 mm 2009 Lord of the sky, king among the feathered, fly over land and sea and sky All day long from dawn to dusk over mountains high, in majestic victorious cry; Envy of migrating birds wave after wave passing by, so with the Monarch butterfly; That was before - then the forests touching the sky, But now people just look up and sigh. ~

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Enigmatic Friendly Bat

Abe V RotorThis is a closeup of a fruit-eating bat, Ptenochirus jagorii Peters or paniki. Bats fascinates man, mostly leading to fear and superstition. And lately to cinematic awe and admiration - batman.

This fruit bat was ensnared with aerial nylon net which was set up by biology researchers from the UST Graduate School to study the fauna of Tikob Lake, a volcanic lake in Tiaong, Quezon. It was later released after the study.

Bats are nocturnal. They have a special radar tool to find their way and search their prey in total darkness. It is called echolocation. Their high pitch sound is echoed and instantly deciphered by the animals' keen sense of hearing.

Ever wonder what good are the eyes of bats then? It's a question biologists would refer you to the subject of evolution. Evolution may lead to either the development of certain features as tool in the survival of a species. Or it could lead to the degeneration of a particular feature which apparently has diminishing function - or has totally lost that function. Thus the eyes of bats are no longer as functional as say, ours. Many species of fish living in dark caves have lost their power of vision. Nature's law of substitution or compensation works in these cases. Cave bats can devour hundreds of mosquitoes in mid air in just one minute. Insects have antennae that serve to feel and smell, and as thermometer and barometer.

Fruit bats are hunted down because they destroy crops. This is not really true, because they eat mostly fruits of wild plants. The worst assault comes from the destruction of the bats natural habitats, mainly the forests which are being cut down and burned. Fruit bats indeed face a bleak future.

Ugliest and misunderstood the bat,
Always the hunted on film and real;
Obiquitous by night, shy to light
Enigmatic, scary, surreal.

We children, didn't sleep alone or soon.
Waiting for the high pitch call,
We would dive under our blankets
And survive the vampire's
call.

Imagination scares the young

When clumsy bats lose their load
In the dark and break the quiet night;
"Just bats," soothingly we were told.

"Sleep, before dawn we'll catch them."
Net in the air we waited the rise of sun;
One, two, three bats of different kind,
And examined them one by one.

"Who is afraid of the bat?" Not I,
And touched the wings of skin bare;
Not I, and outlined the bat's dog face;
Not I, and freed it from its snare.


Photo by Abe V Rotor, Pentax Spotmatic II, Takumar lens.

Retreat behind bars

Photo by Dr Abe V Rotor, Manresa Retreat House, Banaue St., QC , Sony Cybershot 1080 7.2 mega pixels
 In retreat I'm prisoner in strife,
To stay here and pray,
Sans freedom lost for cloistered life,
To God to take me away.

The shadow of faith in prison bars,
The holy cross I adore;
There's no escape now but the stars,
To gaze and nothing more.

Time longs for the pendulum to stop,
Or hasten for pain to flee;
But I'm obedient to some mountain top,
Where I'm promised to be. ~

Folk Wisdom: Practical Tips and Trivia (Self-administered test, 50 items True or False)

Dr. Abe V. Rotor
Answers are provided after taking the test.


Have you seen a double rainbow - that is, a rainbow above a rainbow?


1. The coconut crab is the biggest crab in the world.

2. The whale has a good memory. Beware if you injure a whale; it may have its revenge someday.

3. You can water plants at any time of the day.

4. The elevator does not open on the 13th floor.

5. A mirror should be covered during a thunderstorm because it attracts lightning.

6. For bottles that are difficult to open, cool the lid with ice and twist.

7. Chicken soup is best for convalescent.

8. There is truth to the report that car runs freewheeling uphill on “magnetic hill.”

9. There are skin whiteners that are rich in mercury.

10. The country with the highest rate of traffic accidents in the Asian region is the Philippines.

11. If a clock that has not been working suddenly chimes, it means there will be death in the family

12. Place charcoal inside a refrigerator to remove bad odor.

13. Poultice of gumamela flowers hastens “ripening” of boil (pigsa).

14. Pulling out a gray or while hair will cause ten more to grow in its place.

15. To get good grades place your review notes or books under your pillow and sleep on them.

16. It’s bad to expose a pregnant woman’s belly to photo flash – she will give birth to a baby with defect.

17. Egg shells induce flowering of orchids.

18. Banana with freckles and discolorations means it is sweet.

19. Playing sungka is bad because of the nature of the game to “kill” your opponent.

20. Avoid mending clothes at night; it might cause blindness.

21. Don’t harm the señora, the matron rat; otherwise it will destroy more things in the house.

22. Knock once or twice – not thrice, else you court the attention of the devil.

23. Orange clouds are bad omen; they are signs of either drought or poor harvest.

24. If the money spent on wedding was borrowed, the couple will always be in debt.

25. When leaving the dining table ahead, those who are still eating must rotate their plates, otherwise they will remain bachelors or spinsters.

26. Emergence of the salagubang and salaguinto beetles usher the start of the amihan or Siberian cold wind.

27. Place money in a bed pan (arinola), so that it becomes plentiful.

28. The wishbone of a chicken makes a wholesome game for two. Wish comes true to the one who gets the common stem of the Y-shape bone.

29. Children are sacrificed in making bridges and other infrastructure.

30. Pigs are the only animals that will drink hard liquor voluntarily.

31. Corals are burned and pulverized to make cement.

32. We put “blinders” on workhorses because horses can’t focus their eyes in the way humans do.

33. When cooking crabs and shrimps first bring the water to boiling, then immediately immerse them - dead or alive – to make them bright red.

34. Before a goat is slaughtered, it is forced to drink liquor.

35. A mad dog vehemently rejects water; and will go wild if forced to drink.

36. Rice is the first thing to carry with when moving to a new house.

37. To break the dormancy of certain seeds like palay, tobacco, saluyot, quickly immerse these seeds in ice water before you plant them.

38. Castor bean or tangan-tangan is poisonous.

39. Use elbow to test tepid bath for the baby.

40. Kugtong - giant lapu-lapu - really exists. Its mouth is so big, a man’s head could get through it.

41. Angalo, the friendly giant, is a real person.

42. The sex of a child is determined by the sex chromosomes of the mother.

43. Pansit-pansitan or Piperomia pellucida relieves arthritis.

44. Pollen allergy is often the cause of sneezing fit and asthmatic symptoms.

45. Kamagong, the hardest wood comes from mabolo.

46. Among the local dialects, only Ilocano has the term for tempering – paslep.

47. You can detect fish caught by dynamite because dynamited fish have eyes, abdomen, scales and flesh battered by the blast.

48. Beer attracts the giant land snail, Achatina fulica.

49. A person born suwi’ (breech birth) can remove bone stuck in the throat by mere sleight of his hand.

50. Victims of lead poisoning may not be aware of their actual condition. ~


ANSWERS:

1. The coconut crab is the biggest crab in the world. (True. It can weigh up to 4 kilos and can live for 30 years. It climbs coconut trees, harvest the nut and crack it open with its powerful pincers. Being a favorite delicacy it is now declared an endangered species.)

2. The whale has a good memory. Beware if you injure a whale; it may have its revenge someday. (True. Remember Moby Dick the white whale in Herman Merville’s novel of the same title? At the end, the whale had its revenge killing its torturers, Captain Ahed and his crew, and sinking their ship.)

3. You can water plants at any time of the day. (False. Watering plants during hot hours causes pasma, the effect of sudden and alternate exposure to heat and cold. This is what exactly happens when you train a water hose on plants directly exposed to noon heat. It causes damage to cells and tissues particularly in buds, growing leaves and flowers. Even if the plants don’t die under such conditions, they will cease to grow and develop normally, a term we call bansot. The best time to water the plants is early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Allow the plants to get adjusted to the weather. And do the watering with tender, loving care (TLC).

4. The elevator does not open on the 13th floor. (True. Architects and builders generally give way to this tradition and superstitious belief. I have yet to ride an elevator and arrive on the 13th floor.)

5. A mirror should be covered during a thunderstorm because it attracts lightning. (False, but the reflection of lightning will only exacerbate fear.).

6. For bottles that are difficult to open, cool the lid with ice and twist. (False. It is the opposite – slowly heat the lid and twist. This technique ideally applies to glass jars with metal cover. The principle involved is that metal and other materials expand when heated, and contract when subjected to cold. The lid readily expands when heated while the glass jar doesn’t expand as much. Heat also loosens wax and other sticky materials.

7. Chicken soup is best for convalescent. True. However, there are specifications of the kind of chicken to be served. First, it must be native chicken. Karurayan is the term in Ilocos for a pure white native chicken which does not bear any trace of color on its feathers. It is preferably a female, dumalaga or fryer, meaning it has not yet reached reproductive stage. It is neither fat nor thin. Usually the herbolario chooses one from recommended specimens. He then instructs and supervises the household in the way the karurayan is dressed, cut, cooked into tinola (stew) and served to the convalescent. He does not ask for any fee for his services, but then he takes home one or two of the specimens that did not pass the specifications. Chicken soup as a convalescent food is recognized in many parts of the world. Because of its popularity, chicken soup has become associated with healing, not only of the body – but the soul as well. In fact there is a series of books under the common title Chicken Soup - for the Woman’s Soul, Surviving Soul, Mother’s Soul, Unsinkable Soul, Writer’s Soul, etc. Of course, this is exaggeration, but nonetheless it strengthens our faith that this lowly descendant of the dinosaurs that once walked the earth of its panacean magic.

8. There is truth to the report that car runs freewheeling uphill on “magnetic hill.” This enigmatic place is found at the foot of Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna, 60 km south of Manila, a stretch of country road overlooking the Laguna Bay. (False. Puzzled at the mystery I brought my car to the place. I shifted the transmission stick to neutral, released the brakes, and anticipated what would happen. Surprisingly the wheels began to move and slowly gained momentum. The car was coasting uphill! On second thought I asked myself, “Am I drawn by magnetic force?” People in the area believe the mountain is one huge magnet. It has lured many people to experience the legendary phenomenon. To check if it is really true, I turned back to where I had started earlier. This time it was going “downhill,” but the car did not respond, so I shifted to low gear. Halfway there was water coming from a nearby spring and flowing along the roadside. If water seeks its own level, why is it running uphill? And there I found the explanation. The whole thing is an optical illusion.

9. There are skin whiteners that are rich in mercury. (True. There are cases of mercury poisoning among whitener users reported in Hongkong. Mercury is injurious to the kidney and liver, and may cause deformity in children as in the case of the Minamata disease.)

10. The country with the highest rate of traffic accidents in the Asian region is the Philippines. (False. It is Thailand, with three fatalities in one hour. Studies show that the main cause of traffic accidents is stress and fatigue. Since inducing massage on tired feet, thigh and muscles in gas stations, the rate of accident has significantly decreased.)

11. If a clock that has not been working suddenly chimes, it means there will be death in the family. (False. It is one of the horror stories, and those of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a great American fiction writer. Two of his ghostly novels are The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables)

12. Place charcoal inside a refrigerator to remove bad odor. (True. Charcoal absorbs unpleasant odor and gases in the air. For newly painted room place charcoal at the corners of the room, and in three to five days it is safe for occupancy.)

13. Poultice of gumamela flowers hastens “ripening” of boil (pigsa). (True. Hibiscus rosasinensis contains pharmacological properties to explain its folkloric use, such as alkaloids and terpenes.)

14. Pulling out a gray or while hair will cause ten more to grow in its place. (False, but pulling out hairs may adversely affect nearly nerves and may cause infection.)

15. To get good grades place your review notes or books under your pillow and sleep on them. (False, it is impossible to transmit knowledge this way during sleep. But “incubation” of what we have earlier studied or observed may take place in the unconscious mind, even when we are asleep, which sometimes come as dream.)

16. It’s bad to expose a pregnant woman’s belly to photo flash – she will give birth to a baby with defect. (False. There is no scientific basis to this claim. The radiation is so little as to affect the child in the womb.)

17. Egg shells induce flowering of orchids. (True. Eggshell is a source of Calcium which is needed by the plant, and in neutralizing acidity.)

18. Banana with freckles and discolorations means it is sweet. (False, in fact such condition is the result of attacking insects and pathogens. It is often that we find lumps in the fruit, or the fruit itself is deformed or disheveled.)

19. Playing sungka is bad because of the nature of the game to “kill” your opponent. (False. Well, there are games designed to putting down the opponent mercilessly, and in ways and terms that are not kind and pleasant.)

20. Avoid mending clothes at night; it might cause blindness. (False, but anything we do that is habitual under poor lighting will really lead to such condition.)

21. Don’t harm the señora, the matron rat; otherwise it will destroy more things in the house. (False. In India however, rats are believed to be the re-incarnation of dead ancestors. Sometimes rats are called kabas, meaning little children, so that they are often treated with favor.)

22. Knock once or twice – not thrice, else you court the attention of the devil. (False, but you might get in trouble with the person who despises your manners.)

23. Orange clouds are bad omen; they are signs of either drought or poor harvest. (True, the orange color of the sky is due to suspended dusts coming from drought affected areas. The Great Dust Bowl in the US in the thirties reminds us of this man-induced calamity.)

24. If the money spent on wedding was borrowed, the couple will always be in debt. (False. But to borrow money to spend for a “bongacious” ceremony is definitely not a good start for the couple.)

25. When leaving the dining table ahead, those who are still eating must rotate their plates, otherwise they will remain bachelors or spinsters. (False, but it has become a common practice; even married people do it foolheartedly.)

26. Emergence of the salagubang and salaguinto beetles usher the start of the amihan or Siberian cold wind. (False. These insects which reside under the soil for about a year as grubs subsisting on roots of plants emerge at the start of the rainy season (habagat), hence their names May or June beetles.)

27. Place money in a bed pan (arinola), so that it becomes plentiful. (False. But who would suspect money to be found inside an arinola but its owner?)

28. The wishbone of a chicken makes a wholesome game for two. Wish comes true to the one who gets the common stem of the Y-shape bone. (False. There is a trick to break the bone to one’s advantage)

29. Children are sacrificed in making bridges and other infrastructure. (True. It is an ethnic practice which we may have forgotten. The Great Walls of China and the Pyramids of Egypt are known to contain entombed human sacrifices.)

30. Pigs are the only animals that will drink hard liquor voluntarily. (True, and you can only imagine what happens afterward.)

31. Corals are burned and pulverized to make cement. (True. This is the way of making cement in olden times. Corals are calcium deposits accumulated for thousands of years. )

32. We put “blinders” on workhorses because horses can’t focus their eyes in the way humans do. (True. They have to change the angle of their head if they want to see objects clearly. That’s why they bob their heads up and down, or swing it side to side. To avoid this, horses must wear blinders to have their eyes focused straight and avoid disruptions.)

33. When cooking crabs and shrimps first bring the water to boiling, then immediately immerse them - dead or alive – to make them bright red. (True. Try it)

34. Before a goat is slaughtered, it is forced to drink liquor. (False. It is vinegar that is given to the animal to make its meat tastier and reduce its characteristic odor (angdud Ilk). Vinegar is placed in a small bottle and inserted into the animal’s mouth forcing it to be swallowed. The animal is then bled and consequently slaughtered.

35. A mad dog vehemently rejects water; and will go wild if forced to drink. (True. That is how the word hydrophobia is associated with mad dog.)

36. Rice is the first thing to carry with when moving to a new house. (True. Together with rice comes a short list of basic necessities such as a bundle of firewood, salt, beans, nuts, fruits, sugar and coffee. The belief is that the family will not run out of these basic needs, an ethnic practice which still prevails in remote communities.)

37. To break the dormancy of certain seeds like palay, tobacco, saluyot, quickly immerse these seeds in ice water before you plant them. (False. Immerse the seeds in hot water (around 60 degrees Celsius) as quickly as you can, allow the seeds to cool off and plant them immediately.)

38. Castor bean or tangan-tangan is poisonous. (True. The seeds of Ricinus communis contain one of the most poisonous substances in nature – ricin. This is the reason castor oil as purgative is no longer recommended. Purified ricin is reportedly used in the manufacture of lethal weapons.

39. Use elbow to test tepid bath for the baby. (True. When testing the proper bath temperature, immerse your elbow for a few seconds to determine if the bath is just right – not too warm nor too cold. The finger is not as sensitive to do this test. Next time you bathe your baby, try this useful tip.)

40. Kugtong - giant lapu-lapu - really exists. Its mouth is so big, a man’s head could get through it. (True. I saw a pair of giant lapu-lapu caught in Sablayan Occidental Mindoro by local fishermen sometime in 1982.)

41. Angalo, the friendly giant, is a real person. (False. Angalo is just a legend of the Ilocos region. It is like Lam-ang, Achilles, Beowulf, or any epic hero.)

42. A sex of a child is determined by the sex chromosomes of the mother. (False. It is the sperm cell, because it carries either the X or the Y chromosome, while the ovum or egg carries only the X chromosomes. XY means it is a boy; XX, a girl)

43. Pansit-pansitan or Piperomia pellucida relieves arthritis. (True. This annual herb appears waxy and translucent for which it got its name, pellucidus. It is shallow rooted, its stem succulent and bears alternate heart-shaped turgid leaves that are transparent and smooth as candle wax. It is a common folk remedy.)

44. Pollen allergy is often the cause of sneezing fit and asthmatic symptoms. (True. It is called allergy rhinitis. There are people who are highly sensitive to pollen grains. And their allergy is specific to certain plants, and at certain seasons these plants are in bloom. Plants belonging to Family Poaceae or Graminae which include rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, talahib, cogon, and the like generally bloom in the last quarter beginning in October when dry season takes over the waning habagat season.)

45. Kamagong, the hardest wood comes from mabolo. (True. Diospyros discolor. It was once plentiful in the Philippines.)

46. Among the local dialects, only Ilocano has the term for tempering – paslep. (True. Other Philippine dialects, not even Tagalog, have a term for tempering, the process of hardening bolos and knives as durable and sharp as steel.)

47. You can detect fish caught by dynamite because dynamited fish have eyes, abdomen, scales and flesh battered by the blast. (True. Report to nearest authority the presence of such fish.)

48. Beer attracts the giant land snail, Achatina fulica. (True. Place the beer bait in a shallow pan, and gather the snails in the morning and destroy them.)

49. A person born suwi’ (breech birth) can remove bone stuck in the throat by mere sleight of his hand. (False. I was born suwi, which means I came out of the womb with head last. When I was a child my dad used to tell people I could dislodge a bone stuck in the throat. And he would bring in “patients” whom I would gladly heal by “feeling” where the bone is and telling them to move their heads here or there, and to swallowing hard with something solid like banana. Believe me after some trials, my patients would find relief, affirming that indeed being suwi is the key to this special gift. But as years went by I ceased to be the healer people knew, and what I thought I was, especially when I finished college. “Get the cat’s paw,” I would advise kindheartedly.

50. Victims of lead poisoning may not be aware of their actual condition. (True. It is because lead poisoning is slow and cumulative. Take the case of the sickly little boy who puzzled the kindly old family doctor of his condition. Then on a fine Sunday morning the doctor happened to drop at the boy’s residence. While having coffee with the family the doctor found something and exclaimed, “Now I know why my young patient is sickly!” It was like Archimedes who got out of the bathtub shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” (I found it, I found it) He pointed at the gold lining on the rim of the coffee cup which has faded which means that the user is slowly taking in the lead-rich paint. On inspecting the other china the doctor found the same condition. Lead poisoning was also the cause of mysterious illness and death among the ancient Romans using lead drinking cups and vessels. The Romans invented plumbing, from the word plumbus or lead (Pb), the principal material in plumbing. ~

Answer to Photo caption. There is a twin rainbow, one on top of the other. If you haven't seen one it's because it is rare.


Count the number of correct answers and rate yourself accordingly.

46 - 50 Outstanding
41 – 45 Very Good
36 – 40 Good
26 – 35 Average
16 – 25 Poor
15 - below Very Poor