Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombing, August 6 and 8, 1945

 Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 6 and 8, 1945 

In solemn memory of the victims of WWII Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”

                                                  Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Atomic bomb obliterates Hiroshima, ends WWII, immediately killing 80,000 people.

                        Among the few buildings that survived after the plutonium

 bomb decimated Nagasaki is the Christian church.

 Memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-Bombing

Enshrined in an Old Industry  

Dr Abe V Rotor

I was a very young child in a small town in the Philippines, youngest in a family of three, when this dreadful, ignominious incident took place. I was sort of helping my father in our small basi wine cellar.  

Impressions, innocent they may be in early age, seek their true expressions in later age and may remain indelible. As these become integrated with those of others and the whole of humanity for that matter, they become public images which we know today 65 years after.  

When I retired from government service and the academe, and returned to my ancestral home, a scenario from childhood memories about the Second World War, flashed in my mind like a nightmare. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-Bombing!  

On my part, struggling to revive a dying art and industry is my own humble compassion for the victims, and a little prayer for world peace. 

Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bombing Anniversary 2017.  

Author's basi wine cellar in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

   

Remembering Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-Bombing Anniversary at an earlier date. 

 

Basi wine undergoing aging in glazed jars (burnay) in 18th century wine 

cellar - a tourists' attraction. Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

 

Basi and fruit wine for balikbayan, (returning and visiting residents) 

and tourists

Ten Ways Our World Ends

          Ten Ways Our World Ends 

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,

but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones"

- Albert Einstein

Dr Abe V Rotor

Based on the lecture of Stephen Petranek

 

School Research assignment: Discuss each item as presented here in reversed order.   

 

Big Bang in acrylic by the author

10. We lose the will to survive
Remember Never Ending Story? Duel between the boy hero and the devil wolf.  

9. Aliens invade the Earth 
Fiction yesterday, fact today. Do you believe in other beings outside our own planet?

8. The collapse of the ecosystems
So with the biomes (grouping of similar or related ecosystems, e.g. Rainforest) as a result of shrinking wildlife.

7. Particle Accelerator mishap
Similar, if not worse, than nuclear reactor meltdown. Unleashing sub-atomic particles capable of igniting chain reaction. 

6. Biocide disaster 
Biological agents in warfare causing pandemic to humans, animals and crops. 

5. Reversal of the Earth's magnetic field.
Earth's magnetic field acts like a shield to protect Earth from damaging solar particles. The Sun releases a flow of charged particles into space that can affect life on Earth. Reversal has global impact to our communication systems network.

4. Giant solar flares
Tongues of fire arising from the sun's surface exacerbates global warming and El Nino phenomenon.   

3. New Global Epidemic
H1N1, Ebola, HIV-AIDS, virulent flu virus top the pathogenic epidemic diseases, obesity, cell radiation, fatal stress are the recent global causes of death. 
  
2. We meet a rogue Black Hole
Theoretical physicists reveals the presence of blackholes in our galaxy, giant whirlpools that swallow up stars within its radius - including our sun and its solar system. 

1. Collision with an Asteroid
Scientists coined impact technology as a new science in dealing with meteors and asteroids that fall to earth.  One impact caused the extinction of dinosaurs some 25 million years ago. 

Other Ways the Author Believes are:

• Global System Collapse 
• Global Governance Failure
• Runaway Technology
• Suicidal Human Trait

Weimar Germany amidst hyperinflation, in 1923. We'd need something even worse if humanity as a whole's going to destroy itself. (Albert Harlingue/Roger Viollet/Getty

 Images)

This is a vague one, but it basically means the world's economic and political systems collapse, by way of something like "a severe, prolonged depression with high bankruptcy rates and high unemployment, a breakdown in normal commerce caused by hyperinflation, or even an economically-caused sharp increase in the death rate and perhaps even a decline in population." (Internet)

Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa August 2025: National language is the foundation of cultural values and identity of a country and its people.

National Language Month (Buwan ng Wika)

National language is the foundation of cultural values and identity of a country and its people. 

Formerly, Observing Linggo ng Wika in a Play School

Dr Abe V Rotor

Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa, simply known as Buwan ng Wika and formerly and still referred to as Linggo ng Wika, is a month-long annual observance in the Philippines held every August to promote the national language, Filipino.

College and university professors in Filipino are up in arms against the memorandum of the Commission on Higher Education/CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 20, Series of 2013. This memorandum aims to remove Filipino as a subject to be taught in college by 2016 as part of the new General Education Curriculum (GEC).

CMO No. 20, Series of 2013, which pertains to the Revised General Education Curriculum (GEC), is still in effect. However, its implementation has been subject to some adjustments and legal challenges. While the Supreme Court ultimately upheld its constitutionality, a temporary restraining order (TRO) was previously issued, causing some changes to its implementation, particularly regarding the inclusion of Filipino as a core course. (See Annex below)

“Removing Filipino as a subject in the new GEC is not just a local issue; it is a moral issue that goes against the integrity of our race.” – Prof. Patrocinio Villafuerte, professor and writer. (From "Removing Filipino as a subject in college: A betrayal in the name of business?" By Ina A R Silverio)
 

Growing up with the national language guided by parents and teachers. 

Joyful Beginnings and Tutorial Center, Lagro Subd., QC 2012

"Love the language and love the culture;

  Love the culture and love the people; 

  Love the people and love the country;

  Love their history and love their memory; 

  Ad infinitum to global peace and victory." - avr

  

Mother at home (Mommy Anna) and mother in school (Teacher Joy) for young Mackie. 

.

Growing up in a beautiful Philippines in actual drawing experience.

Linggo ng wika is linked with other celebrations such as Nutrition Week, Health week, United Nation week. (Young Mackie's school work.) 

 

Hands-on learning with classmate and parents block building (left), and food preparation with mommy.  Learning our national language also requires such attention and guidance.  

Poem by Dr Jose Rizal on the importance of language

TO MY FELLOW CHILDREN (Sa Aking Mga Kababata, 1869)

To My Fellow Children
Whenever people of a country truly love
The language which by heav'n they were taught to use
That country also surely liberty pursue
As does the bird which soars to freer space above.

For language is the final judge and referee
Upon the people in the land where it holds sway;
In truth our human race resembles in this way
The other living beings born in liberty.

Whoever knows not how to love his native tongue
Is worse than any best or evil smelling fish.
To make our language richer ought to be our wish
The same as any mother loves to feed her young.

Tagalog and the Latin language are the same
And English and Castilian and the angels' tongue;
And God, whose watchful care o'er all is flung,
Has given us His blessing in the speech we calim,

Our mother tongue, like all the highest tht we know
Had alphabet and letters of its very own;
But these were lost -- by furious waves were overthrown
Like bancas in the stormy sea, long years ago.

As Filipinos, we have the responsibility to love, to teach and to live by our mother language because by it we are united as one nation; driven by words that sparked the patriotism of our ancestors. This poem is full of peace, realization and insights and in it, a child's pure love for his country is shown. And to wonder, if at this age Rizal has already shown grave importance for our language, how much more... Should we readers... Demonstrate our love for our mother tongue? Filipino youth, men and women... Once there was a time in our childhood that we have given a thing so much value, love and care that we did not let others touch nor to steal that important thing. Now, a challenge has been raised by Pepe. Will you rise up for the challenge of using our language and show unfailing love for this gift given by God through our motherland? Or accept the fact that you are worse than any best or evil smelling fish, ashamed that the native tongue is obsolete and boring to use? Internet source

The famous poem was a nationalistic undertaking to promote the usage of Tagalog language by the Filipino people. The poem “To My Fellow Children” was believed to be the national hero’s first written Tagalog poem at the age of eight.

-----------------------------

ANNEX

Removal of Filipino as a core subject in college

CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013, which revised the General Education Curriculum (GEC) and sparked controversy for potentially removing Filipino as a core subject in college, is still in effect but with some modifications. While the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of CMO 20, according to the Philippine News Agency, there were legal challenges and a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court, which led to adjustments in its implementation.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Initial Controversy:
CMO 20 aimed to streamline the GEC and align it with the K to 12 program, leading to the reduction of some general education courses, including Filipino.

Supreme Court Ruling:
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that CMO 20 was constitutional, but not before a TRO was issued against the implementation of the provisions excluding Filipino and Panitikan as core courses.

Adjusted Implementation:
In response to the TRO and other concerns, CHED issued clarifications and adjustments. This included maintaining the existing requirements of Filipino (9 units for humanities, social sciences, and communication majors, and 6 units for others) as per previous CMOs (CMO No. 59, s. 1996, and CMO No. 4, s. 1997) during the pendency of the TRO.

Ongoing Review:
CHED has also deferred the inclusion of the 9 units of GE electives as prescribed in CMO 20, Series of 2013, to allow flexibility in the GE curriculum while the TRO is in effect and awaiting the Supreme Court's final decision.

Impact on Higher Education Institutions:
All higher education institutions (HEIs) are expected to take note of and continue implementing the provisions of CMO 20, while also being mindful of the adjustments and clarifications issued by CHED in response to the legal challenges.

Future Directions:
CHED is actively studying the issues raised by education stakeholders and will continue to monitor and assess the implementation of the GEC, including a review of the program.

In essence, while CMO 20 remains the guiding document for the GEC, its implementation has been modified to accommodate concerns about the role of Filipino in higher education.  AI Overview, Internet

---------------------

"Whenever people of a country truly love

The language which by heav'n they were taught to use

That country also surely liberty pursue

As does the bird which soars to freer space above."

- Dr Jose Rizal, TO MY FELLOW CHILDREN (Sa Aking Mga Kababata, 1869)