Butterflies in the Woods

Painting and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor

For Candido and Socorro Raquepo on their 

50^th Wedding Anniversary, Nov 30, 2017

They come fluttering in a swarm in Spring,

In the magic of metamorphosis;

They come in Autumn when trees are bare,

In the mystery of symbiosis. 

The blue sky and brown earth are but one,

The woods in harmonious unity; 

Creatures all, big and small, to freedom,

Where peace reigns in diversity.

Where does man come in, what’s his part? 

In a thousand ways we can only guess;

Would Nature be better with his genius? 

Or simply his awe and reverence. ~

Landscapes of Values - Ladder and Circle

Dr Abe V Rotor

Ladder of Values

It is called Maslow's Hierarchy of Motives or Needs, or Ladder of Values.Whichever term is used, the principle is the same: man rises from biological existence to social integration - then to self-fulfillment and self-commitment - or actualization. which is often associated with honor, martyrdom or heroism, the highest level of human achievement. It is on this level that greatness is achieved - the greatness of Gandhi, Rizal, Mandela, Mother Teresa et al.  That is why we regard them as models in searching for the meaning of life - "Why am I here?" 

There is a scholarly book, Man's Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, a first hand account as prisoner in a Nazi camp during the second World War. He introduced the term logotherapy, a tool for survival in extreme condition. Most of the prisoners who survived the ordeal were those who saw meaning in their lives beyond the camp. It's a way of comparing contemporary issues.  Live life with a purpose, with a goal beyond present circumstances.  

Circles of Values

It's not only ascendant, but the series of concentric realms increase in size in  a figure-tabular matrix.  Primordial is man's concern for himself for the day, followed by man's concern for his family and tomorrow.  Corollarily, as man looks farther - into his own lifetime and to that of his children and children's children, his horizon of concern or involvement  increases. people are divided by their concern. For example, the issue about the European Union facing financial difficulties means little - if at all - to an ordinary worker. He would rather focus his attention on ways of meeting his family's needs. 

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A push-cart picker was having his usual round in a park. He scavenged anything he could sell to a junk shop. In a rare occasion he found lady luck.  He tore a bronze statue including the marker.  Just as he was about to leave, the police caught him. 

When asked during the interrogation "Why did you destroy the statue?" he simply quipped "I only wanted to sell the bronze for food." ~

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There is an analogy of "Tell me your friends and I'll tell you who you are."  You know a person by his perspective in life.  We may gauge him by the book he reads, the TV program he watches, by his interest in world opinion, More so in his personal philosophy on issues such as environmental summit, nuclear threat by Iran and North Korea, deleterious effect of genetic engineering to the natural world. But how firm are his values?  

The other side of midnight comes stealthily and may not spare the unwary and smart Alec.  Victims are not few, and they are not ordinary people. How many heads of state had their heads rolled at the end. Lately the president of Liberia was sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment. We don't have to go far.  The fate of Saddam Hussein, Ali of Tunisia, Mubarak of Egypt, Gaddaffi of Libya leaves us indellible lessons. Milosevic died in his cell in the Hague before the International Court of Justice could pronounce a verdict of guilty of his crime against humanity. Regarded living heroes died villains. Scandal rocked two of the world's biggest institutions led by Strauss Khan of World Bank, and Murdoch, media tycoon.  Magistrates lost face because they lied.  False medal, fake title, illegal business, inexplainable wealth, and the like, have ruined lives, left ghosts haunting for other victims. 

Does the ladder of values work? How about the other landscape - circle of values?  

Yes, they do. The light of the world comes from values.  It comes from the Boy who saved Holland. From  William Tell bravely hitting the apple on the head of his son in order to gain freedom. From Heidi, the orphan girl on the Alps who brought joy to lonely and sick people. From The Man with a Hoe, gazing into the horizon after a hard day's work is regarded Realism over and above Romanticism. And from The Little Prince comes out now and then to guide us out of life's wasteland.~ 

Are you a victim of Monday morning blahs and blues?

Do you wake up blue? Read this.

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

That feeling of tiredness you experience on Mondays after a particular active weekend is directly related to your sleep/wake cycle. It is because any disruption of your regular sleeping habit, which consists of the ideal number of hours of sleep, the ideal bedtime and wake-up time, disturbs your biological clock.

By staying up late or sleeping in, or snoozing on a Sunday afternoon in a hammock can turn the circadian (weekly) cycle inside out. Take the case of my good friend Inciong who has the habit rushing up to finish his article for a weekly column deep into the night of Sunday. By Monday morning he feels out of sync and short of sleep, resulting into the blahs and blues. Often this feeling continues into Tuesday and Wednesday, as the body tries to reset to the weekday schedule. Thus, the ideal way to avoid the Monday morning tiredness is to stick to your regular sleep habits. But many of us, like Dell et al can’t resist staying up on weekends, working or socializing, or going out to a concert.

We are all candidates to this syndrome, but I have noticed that old folks are less affected by it. At one time I wondered how Tinong Viernes, a farmer whom I have known for many years, manages to wake up early and attend to his chores with little sleep the Sunday before. “Don’t you feel sleepy?” I asked.

“Babawi ako mamayang gabi. (I’ll make up for it tonight),” he replied.

Indeed there is a scientific basis this practice, practice as it may sound. Try this. To avoid the Monday morning tiredness, stay up as late as the need arises or as you wish, but make sure you get up at your regular wake-up time. Don’t sleep in, and don’t take naps during the day. When night comes you will not find it difficult to fall asleep at your regular bedtime. In this way you reset your body clock back to its regular time.

This formula applies as well on any day of week, so that if you want to stay late, say on Wednesday, be sure to wake up on your regular wake-up time on Thursday. Then just what Tinong said, make up for it come night time at your regular sleep-time. You will feel refreshed on Friday and in the days ahead, until your sleep pattern is again disrupted. This is one way to avoid or overcome insomnia.

Comment:
It helped people to have an idea about the discomfort on sleeping. There are information that would help you fight this discomfort and how to avoid stress in order to have a peaceful sleep.
Chiara Alyssa Cochico

Thoughtful quotations to live by

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

1. Help the other fellow to help himself
In the Henry Ford archives there is a small card on which one reads these printed words: Help the other fellow." And under it Ford had written: To help himself."

2. AJA: Analysis-Judgment-Action, and not Action-Judgment-Analysis. 

On the door of a classroom for inmates at Camp Sampaguita in Munlinlupa Penitentiary, is written in bold letters A-J-A. It is an acronym of Analysis-Judgment-Action. It became a motto to the residents in this minimum security compound. And they would jogged reciting AJA, AJA, AJA. 
As their teacher, I was delighted by the enthusiasm of the inmates who were enrolled in a special course sponsored by a foundation.  

One morning an inmate approached me.  He was very sad and told me what a big mistake he committed. "Napagpalit ko po, ang dalawang A." 

He exchanged the last A with the first A.  Action-Judgment-Analysis. 

"Kaya sir, naandito ako sa pihitan."  That's how he got into trouble and imprisoned. 

3. More than Open Sesame!

"He who wants to do good

knocks at the gate;

he who loves

finds the gate open."

4. Recipe of happiness. 

The great German philosopher, Goethe, gave this recipe of happiness. "There are nine requisites for contented living:

Johann Wolfgang van Goethe

• health enough to make work a pleasure;
• wealth enough to support your needs;
• strength enough to battle with difficulties and overcome them;
• grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them;
• patience enough top toil until some good is accomplished;
• ]charity enough to see good in your neighbor;
• love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others; 
• faith enough to make real the things of God;
• hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future."

How good a lecturer are you? In what ways can you improve yourself?

“All speech, written or spoken is a dead language until it finds a willing and prepared hearer.”
                                                                                                    - R.L. Stevenson

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Photo: a state-of-the-art lecture hall

 You might use this checklist to evaluate yourself.  Try and see.

 A good lecturer           

     
1- Sticks to his prepared outline.

2- Shows enthusiasm for his subject.

3- Uses notes and and advanced devices, but does not read from them.

4- Uses Simple language.

5- Speaks clearly and fluently.

6- Modulates his voice for emphasis and variety.

7- Does not jump from one theme to another, but connects them logically and gracefully.

8- Responds to the state of mind of his audience.

9- Avoids unpleasant mannerisms and gestures.

10- Is calm and relaxed.

11- Makes each member of the audience feel that the lecture is meant personally for him.

12. Wears appropriate attire, show his best grooming.

     

* Based on the lecture of Prof. Shimon Zuckerman, Afro-Asian Institute, Tel-Aviv, Israel   Dr. Rotor was visiting fellow at the Afro-Asian Institute, Tel-Aviv in  1992, as chief adviser on food and agriculture of the Senate of the Philippines.

"Great minds talk about ideas;

Average minds talk about event;

Poor minds talk about people."

                           -  Annonymous 

 

Top photos: World's Top Lecturers: Charles Dickens (English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, author of David Copperfield and  Oliver Twist); Helen Keller ( American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. Keller wrote a total of 12 published books, including The Story of My Life, a best seller). 

Lower photos:Richard Dawkins (English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and writer. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science);  Ralph Nader (American political activist of Lebanese origin, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government).~

Reversibility of Evolution

Providence defied, the whole process reverts to protomass, back into nothingness.

Dr Abe V Rotor

           

                                              Life Primeval in acrylic (12.7" x 24") by AVR 2014

Creation and evolution of Oparin and Darwin, 

the beginning and continuity of life traced;

Lamarck's theory on living architecture 

by law of use and disuse questioned; 

Leeuwenhoek's invisible world revealed, 

a realm of deeper mystery sprang instead; 

E O Wilson's model of sociobiology, 

of instinct and rationality lacked the spirit; 

Einstein’s E=mc2 unleashed the atom’s power 

through the Bomb, Armageddon’s lament. 

Mendel's laws on the continuity of genes, 

precursor of today's genetic engineering;

Providence defied, the whole process reverts 

to protomass, back into nothingness. ~

Book Manuscripts of Dr Abercio V Rotor

Book Manuscripts of Dr Abercio V Rotor

These book manuscripts have been derived and organized from my website which comprises three blogs Living with Nature, Naturalism the Eighth Sense, and A Naturalist's World. 

Although the theme is Nature, the topics are varied and based on multiple intelligence, sciences and the humanities, and other fields of human interest. I invite you to open my website avrotor.blogspot.com and enjoy reading five thousand articles and lessons.

Ilocano versions of a lot of articles contained in these manuscripts have been published in Bannawag, a weekly Manila Bulletin magazine, under the column of the author, Okeyka, Apong, thanks to Mr Ariel S Tabag whose patience and dedication over the years have made the column accessible to Ilocano speaking readers here and abroad.  There are selected articles used in writing for local publications, technical papers, lectures (UST, DLSU-D, SPU-QC, UPH)  

Many articles contained in these manuscripts have been aired for thirty years until 2015, on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) 738 DZRB (Radyo ng Bayan) Monday to Friday, 7 to 8 in the evening, with Dr Abe V Rotor (Ka Abe) as instructor and Ms Melly C Tenorio (Ka Melly) as program host.

 

Annual volumes of the articles since 2006 are now being organized into manuscripts for future publication. Other than these manuscripts, thirteen (13) have been published into books, briefly described in the second part of this article. To date, at 80 years old, I continue to write new articles, update and edit previous ones, on my blog avrotor.blogspot.com and its extension Naturalism - the Eighth Sense.  I also invite you to visit  A Naturalist World - Dr Abe V Rotor.  

 

  

   

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

Maintenance of Clothes Cabinet - 12 Ways

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 1. When was the last time you made a general cleaning of your clothes cabinet?

2. Dispose clothes you no longer need.  Keep them in a separate place from those you regularly wear.  Better still, donate them to calamity victims.

Multi-purpose Open cabinet

3. Never keep damp clothes, otherwise you predispose them to molds and pest like silverfish. 

4. Hang used clothes to dry before throwing them into the clothes basket.

5. Never mix used (dirty) and clean clothes.

6. Don't over stack.  Close buttons. Fold clothes properly.

7. Hanger can damage and deform clothes. 

8. Clothes that need repair must be separated.  Avoid using them unless they have been fixed. 

9. Clean cabinet with mild detergent, disinfect, vacuum if necessary. 

10. Check possible entry of insects, rodents and other vermin.  Lock for security reason.     

11. Don't use naphthalene, it is highly poisonous and it imparts an offensive chemical odor.

12. Rotate in wearing your clothes; plan and arrange them according to your need. Practice joint housekeeping when sharing the use of a cabinet. ~

Acknowledgement: Internet Photos

We are caught in a quagmire – we cannot fight each other now.

We are caught in a quagmire – 

we cannot fight each other now.

Dr Abe V Rotor

"People have become much poorer and less able to access food because of meager income.” The self-rated poverty reported in the Social Weather Station stabilized at 53% (which is low compared to previous results that hit as high as 60%).  The SWS was quick to note that this was because of belt tightening or the lowering of people’s economic standards. All the more reason that the problem should be attended to immediately – people are bracing themselves for an even lower quality of life." 

1. We are now 100 million Filipinos.  What about?

  

 

Children queue for rice porridge in Manila's Baseco slum area in Tondo, Manila.  The population growth rate in the Philippines is among the highest in the world. Photo  www.theguardian

• The figure is a gross estimate, calculation by various means, some by gut feel (Marami nang nagugutom).  Who are Filipinos in the survey? Does it include Green card holders, naturalized Pilipinos, progeny of mixed marriages - Fil-Am, Fil-Aus, Euro-Fil, Afro-Fil? And those who were skipped by outdated and inefficient survey?

• The 100th millionth baby, Chonalyn born on a Sunday at a hospital at an exact time, is mere symbolical and ceremonial. Chonalyn is a representation of a bleak future of millions of children not only in the Philippines but in the whole world. She will fall behind stiffening competition in practically all aspects in life.  She will inevitably enter into postmodern living of computers and travel and entertainment, but she will be always on the go to make a living and incessantly search for meaning in life. She is likely not as happy as her predecessors, and shall have a life span shorter than the older generation. (Reference: Time on babies born in 2014.)   

• Closer estimate of our population today is 107 according to the World Factbook. Up to date estimates are even higher. We are still the highest in population rise, reaching up to 3%, although we are downgrading this to less than two.  With two children per couple, statisticians are confident we will attain a stable population - a subjective term. Other countries estimate that 2.4 children per couple will stabilize population at 0 growth.  Already, Japan, Germany and pioneer industrialized nations are experiencing negative growth rate.  

  

2. Other implications for having reached 100 million Filipinos - and fast increasing. 

• It is a blessing, since every baby born is a blessing. It is a welcome news, there will be more "young workers." But they must be taken cared of properly to become "assets" and not "liabilities," which means, through state-of-the-art human development they are given the full opportunity to rise up in our highly competitive world. 

Relief operation in the heavily typhoon devastated areas in Leyte and Samar. Reuter's

• More to feed, clothe, shelter. Pessimism looms when we cannot even take care of our present population. We do not have enough of the basic necessities of life. And now we are saying we can have more to feed, to clothe, to house, to educate, to take care of their health. There is a consoling adage, "A baby is born with two hands." Sometimes we would rather be romantic rather than realistic.    

• We hope the young will steer the country; failure will exacerbate social and economic ills with today's 25 % of our population living in dire poverty. Or shall we say, vicious cycle of poverty? Some 13 million able-bodied, employable, skilled and semi-skilled workers are out of job, 2.2 million opt (without choice) for the loneliness and insecurity of working abroad to provide for their families back home. 

• 15.1% of households are reportedly suffering of hunger, with Mindanao reporting the highest incidence of 23%, followed by Metro Manila at 15.7%. It's ironical and paradox: Mindanao once the land of promise and plenty in President Magsaysay's time, and the breadbasket of the Philippines in President Marcos' time; and Metro Manila the seat of government and the nerve center of Philippine economy. 

• Unemployment and underemployment, 13.7% and 18.5% 10 in April, 2004 respectively (it has significantly increased today, though records are unofficial). More than four million job seekers cannot find jobs, and 5.6 million of those who have jobs are not working full time or desire more work.

• The employed also have to contend with low wages - ranging from 140 to 250 pesos (US$2.50-4.46) in industry, and 131 to 213 pesos (US$2.34-3.80) in agriculture. This also translates that a family of five must have two members working full time and earning a minimum wage to meet at least their monthly food needs, which the government estimates at 3,349 pesos (US$59.80). 

• Agricultural production may have expanded by 6.61% in the first semester of 2004, with crops and fisheries leading the growth. But the gains were not sustained in the following decade. The more plausible explanation why people go hungry lies not in the availability of food, but rather in the people’s inability to access food. People cannot afford food! Right for food is the number one human right. It is in the constitution of all countries irrespective of ideology. But why can't the state assure food to its people. Well, governments find exit to inflation that dictates the economy - and to force majeure. We have the highest inflation rates the last three months reaching 5 to 10 percent.

• maternal mortality rate is very high in our country which is 221 per 100,000 births.  The mandate of the United Nations for the Philippines for 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals is 52. 

• There are 700,000 children who are unable to complete elementary education; and worse is the fact that some 1.36 million drop out of high school (2010 education report).  These figures are now higher with the increasing cost of education. There is an exodus, figuratively speaking, of students in private institutions transferring to public and state-run schools and universities. 

• The effects of the new curriculum increasing the number of years of basic education by two years exacerbate the deplorable situation.  Firstly, the physical and social infrastructural unpreparedness. Secondly, higher cost of education which strips further the low income of the family.  Thirdly, deprivation of children to contribute to family income generation, directly and indirectly.  And fifth, there is no assurance of better employment opportunities, as well as skills development proficiency once a student finishes the 12-year basic education.  Even college graduates join thousands of unemployed today.  

• income inequality between rich and poor is highest in Asia. The combined P760 billion net worth of the top 10 riches Filipinos in 2012 was equivalent to the combined annual income of 3.24 million Filipino families in the same year.

• Rice production fell short by more than 10 percent of annual demand. Annual importation in the last two years is from 10 to 15 MT rice. Corn production is similarly low, barely 1 MT per ha., which is lower than world average.  It is cheaper to import corn than to grow it locally. Shrinking agricultural areas due to land conversion into industrial and residential, rise of sea level, erosion and siltation, and denudation. 

• Anti-productive land reform policy continues to grip agricultural progress.  In fact animosities and actual conflicts mar the implementation of programs and projects. Irrigation is dismal, land use policy violations are blatant. Forest lands are disappearing, kaingin or swiden farming openly violated.    

• Trade liberalization has been hurting agriculture and the already poor population. Agricultural employment declined from 11.29 million jobs in 1994. There is need to amend tariff policies but this can be done only on regional (ASEAN) and global means, trade liberalization being the key to the founding of World Trade Organization of the UN, the Philippines among the signatories of Uruguay Round II, the precursor of WTO.

• We have been unkind to the environment. Every baby born has two hands, to build and to destroy.  Humans love to build and to destroy what he builds.  What an irony! We have yet to emerge as the custodian of creation by preserving the Earth, and not by raping her bounty and beauty. Global warming tells of global consequences.  We cannot hide the fact that the more people there are, the more affluent they become, the more extravagant and prodigal they are, the more indifferent they are to Mother Earth. Environmental conventions and meets raise the SOS flag but no one seems to lose sight of it soon after - until the next meet.    

"People's perception is difficult to monitor. Like history books, the author is always the master. It's a Narcissus syndrome. But there came a time, as the mythology goes, when the self-conceited Narcissus fell into the water and drown. The deities wept. The lake did not." AVR 

Trivia: We are debating over F(P)ilipino orthography.
Filipinos now Pilipinos, as Pilipinas now Filipinas. In the future Falawan, Fagsanjan, Fanay. Maybe it's time to recognize F in our alphabets. We might as well Filipinize Rizal into Risal; Roxas or Rojas into Rohas, Cano to Kano; Quirino into Kirino. Why not return letter ñ in favor of many names and words using ñ?  

Acknowledgement: Philippine Daily Inquirer Editorial July 31, 2014; Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, Internet, Wikipedia, Reuters.