Christians are not citizens of earth trying to get to heaven, but citizens of heaven making their way through this world.
Vance Havner
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not only for christian but for all of us.
3 Real Life Stories…
The First …
Eleven people were dangling below a helicopter on a rope. There were ten HR people and one Accountant.
Since the rope was not strong enough to hold all the eleven, they decided that one of them had to let go to save all the others.
They could not decide who should be the volunteer. Finally the Accountant said he would let go of the rope since Accountants are used to do everything for the company. They forsake their family, don’t claim all of their expenses and do a lot of overtime without getting anything in return.
When he finished his moving speech all the HR people began to clap… so they fell!!!
Moral:
Never underestimate the powers of the Accountants.
The Second …
A group of Accountants and a group of HR people take a train to a conference. Each HR person holds a ticket. But the entire group of Accountants has bought only one ticket for a single passenger. The HR people are just shaking their heads and are secretly pleased that the arrogant Accountants will finally get what they deserve.
Suddenly one of the Accountants calls out: “The conductor is coming!”. At once, all the Accountants jump up and squeeze into one of the toilets. The conductor checks the tickets of the HR people. When he notices that the toilet is occupied he knocks on the door and says: “Ticket, please!” One of the Accountants slides the single ticket under the doors and the conductor continues merrily on his round.
For the return trip the HR people decide to use the same trick. They buy only one ticket for the entire group but they are baffled as they realize that the Accountants didn’t buy any tickets at all. After a while one of the Accountants announces again: “The conductor is coming!” Immediately all the HR people race to a toilet and lock themselves in.
All the Accountants leisurely walk to the other toilet. Before the last Accountant enters the toilet, he knocks on the toilet occupied by the HR people and says: “Ticket, please!”, takes the ticket and show it to the conductor!!!!
And the moral of the story?
HR people like to use the methods of the Accountants, but they don’t really understand them.
The Third …
Once upon a time three HR people were walking through the woods and suddenly they were standing in front of a huge, wild river. But they desperately had to get to the other side. But how, with such a raging torrent? The first HR guy knelt down and prayed to the Lord: “Lord, please give me the strength to cross this river! ”
*pppppfffffffuuuuffffffff*
The Lord gave him long arms and strong legs. Now he could swim across the river. It took him about two hours and he almost drowned several times.
BUT… he was successful!
The second HR guy, who observed this, prayed to the Lord and said: “Lord, please give me the strength AND the necessary tools to cross this river!”
*pppppfffffffuuuuffffffff*
The Lord gave him a tub and he managed to cross the river despite the fact that the tub almost capsized a couple of times.
BUT… he was successful!
The third HR man who observed all this kneeled down and prayed: “Lord, please give me the strength, the means and the intelligence to cross this river!”
Moral?
You have to be an Accountant to think intelligent, Otherwise…
GOD HELP YOU !
Remind this to your Accountant friends so that they have something to smile about; and to the HR people if you think they can stomach the truth!
PROUD TO BE AN Accountant
going back to dubai this january..and i really need this advice in writing a resume..
Trivia:
curriculum vitae - the more formal type meaning “one’s course of life”
comprehensive resume - the american formal type
bio-data - only used by illiterates
(Source: Correct choice of words)
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by Alesia Benedict, GetInterviews.com
Want more interviews? Job searches in tough times like now demand polished resumes more than ever. If you are attempting to write your own resume, these seven tips are important to follow:
1. Select the best format.
While most resumes are written in a history chronological format, often a better technique is to evenly balance between skill-set description, achievements, and employment.
2. Make certain your document is error free.
Since you are familiar with your own writing, you will “see” what you were thinking and not what is actually on the page. Do not rely on yourself to proofread your work and do not rely on spell-check. Find a friend who has strong grammar skills to check your work.
3. Find a balance between wordiness and lack of detail.
Employers need to see details about your work history and experience, but they don’t need to know everything. The fact that you were den leader in your Cub Scout troop is irrelevant. Keep information germane to the goal of attaining an interview. Eliminate information that is not related and will not have a direct impact on winning the interview.
4. Do not use personal pronouns.
“I,” “me,” “my,” “mine,” and “our” should not be on a resume. Resumes are written in first person (implied). Example: For your prior job description, instead of writing: “I hired, trained and supervised a team of assistant managers and sales associates” you would instead state that you “Hired, trained and supervised a team of assistant managers and sales associates.” Fragment sentences are perfectly acceptable on a resume and actually preferred.
5. Use numerical symbols for numbers.
While we are taught in school to spell out numbers less than ten, in resume writing, numerical symbols serve as “eye stops” and are a much better method. Instead of writing “Developed a dynamic team of eight consultants.” it would be much more advantageous to state “Developed a dynamic team of 8 consultants.”
6. Think “accomplishments” rather than “job duties.”
What makes you stand out from the crowd? How did you come up with a way to do things better, more efficiently, or for less cost? What won honors for you? Information such as this is vital, will grab attention, and put your resume at the top of the list.
7. Keep it positive.
Reasons for leaving a job and setbacks do not have a place on a resume. Employers are seeking people who can contribute and have successfully performed in the past. Concentrate on communicating these issues and avoid any detracting information.
Remember, many first-time job interviews are conducted via telephone rather than in person. Make sure you are prepared for that telephone call when it arrives. And make sure you have a resume that will make the phone ring!
Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC), is the president of GetInterviews.com, a resume writing firm that provides mid-management and senior level professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-7_tips_for_a_better_resume-568
when it comes to versatility in acting my favorite is Ms. Nora Aunor, the one and only superstar of Philippine cinema - winning best actress accolades locally and abroad.
kudos to Philippine cinema..
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By Gerry Plaza
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 09:36:00 11/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines— (UPDATE 4) A spellbinding victory for Philippine cinema.
Visitors to the Cable News Network entertainment website voted Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala,” which starred Nora Aunor as a simple provincial girl turned faith healer, as the best movie of all time in the Asia-Pacific region, outclassing such greats as Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” and Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
Others in the top 10 that vied for the honor, in which “Himala” was the only Filipino film, included Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s “Mou Gaan Dou (Infernal Affairs)” from Hong Kong, Chan-wook Park’s “Old Boy” from South Korea, Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)” from Japan, Satyajit Ray’s “Pather Panchali” from India, Peter Weir’s “Gallipoli” from Australia, Wong Kar Wai’s “Chung Hing Sam Lam (Chungking Express)” from China, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s “Gabbeh” from Iran.
According to the CNN website, critics, industry insiders, Asian film stars, and CNN viewers chose the movies that landed in the shortlist of ten films. The online poll that ran in October determined the winner.
The Filipino classic, which was written by Ricky Lee and originally released in 1982 for the Metro Manila Film Festival, was announced the top vote-getter in the popular vote and named the winner of the CNN-APSA Viewers Choice Award for Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time on Tuesday at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Hundreds of film industry luminaries from around the world attended the event.
Ever heard about tourists invited usually by ladies to a flat and then offered to have a drink, fell asleep and robbed.
And what about ladies in bars or resorts..here is a forwarded email warning ladies about it..
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A man came over and offered his services as a painter to a female putting gas in her car and left his card. She said no, but accepted his card out of kindness and got in the car. The man then got into a car driven by another gentleman. As the lady left the service station, she saw the men following her out of the station at the same time. Almost immediately, she started to feel dizzy and could not catch her breath. She tried to open the window and realized that the odor was on her hand; the same hand which accepted the card from the gentleman at the gas station.
She then noticed the men were immediately behind her and she felt she needed to do something at that moment. She drove into the first driveway and began to honk her horn repeatedly to ask for help. The men drove away but the lady still felt pretty bad for several minutes after she could finally catch her breath. Apparently, there was a substance on the card that could have seriously injured her.
This drug is called ‘BURUNDANGA’ and it is used by people who wish to incapacitate a victim in order to steal from or take advantage of them.
This drug is four times more dangerous than the date rape drug and is transferable on simple cards.
So take heed and make sure you don’t accept cards at any given time alone or from someone on the streets. This applies to those making house calls and slipping you a card when they offer their services .
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and here is what i’ve found - you will be directed to an article scopolamine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundanga
Criminal use
Traces of scopolamine were found in the body found in the cellar of Hawley Harvey Crippen, executed for the murder of his wife. It is unclear whether this caused death, and there is said to be some doubt that the body found was that of his wife.
Scopolamine has been used under the name burundanga in Venezuelan and Thailand resorts in order to drug and then rob tourists. While there are unfounded rumors that delivery mechanisms include using pamphlets and flyers laced with the drug, not enough is readily absorbed through the skin to have an effect. However, spiked alcoholic drinks are occasionally used. In recent years the criminal use of scopolamine has become an epidemic. Approximately half of emergency room admissions for poisoning in Bogotá have been attributed to scopolamine.
Victims of this crime are often admitted to a hospital in police custody, under the assumption that the patient is experiencing a psychotic episode. A telltale sign is a fever accompanied by a lack of sweat.
In June 2008, more than 20 people were hospitalized with psychosis in Norway after ingesting counterfeit Rohypnol tablets containing Scopolamine.
Daily Bread
The good life
Monday, November 10, 2008
Beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. — Luke 12:15
Driving down the highway in Houston, I passed a billboard with large letters that announced “THE GOOD LIFE!” I couldn’t wait to get closer to read the small print, which explained that the “good life” was about buying a lakefront home starting at $300,000. Which made me wonder if some unhappy families might live in those homes, with kids who never see their parents or couples who, though living on the lake, wish they weren’t even living together.
Luke 12 came to mind as I remembered the story of the man who asked Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him. That was the wrong thing to ask Jesus! He replied with a warning, “Beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (v. 15). He then went on to tell the story of an extremely rich man who, from God’s point of view, was a fool — not because he was successfully wealthy but because he was not rich toward God.
The sooner we get over the illusion that more stuff means more peace, happiness, and self-fulfillment, the better off we will be. And then the more able we will be to find the longed-for peace and happiness — the true “good life” — that only Jesus can provide. — Joe Stowell
O Lord, help us to be content,
Whatever we possess;
Protect us from the foolish lie
That “more” brings happiness. — Sper
READ: Luke 12:13-21
The “good life” is found in the richness of God.
The Bible in one year:
• Jeremiah 48-49
• Hebrews 7
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Daily%20Bread&p=49&type=2&sec=3&aid=20081109145
check this website about marine life census -
and what about a website for all living organisms -
i remember one article about the importance of the biodiversity of marine life - hmmm did you know that our major source of oxygen do not come from the plants and trees on land but from the coral reefs and plants of the oceans.
a change in temperature (global warming) greatly affect this living floras of under the sea. in fact, results of the study of coral reefs in the middle east had spark interest - because coral reefs in the region is resilient to extreme temperatures in contrasts with other coral from the rest of the world.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:57:00 11/09/2008
WE MEASURE the size of a company by its assets, net worth or sales.
We measure how big an economy is by its gross domestic product, exports or foreign reserves.
How does one measure the size of the financial markets?
Fortune’s top 500
Here is an interesting series of statistics from Fortune’s Top 500 corporations in the United States. (Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/ full_list/.)
In 1955 Fortune’s top 50 included only companies, which produced goods and services in the real economy.
In this list, not a single bank or financial intermediary appears. Neither in the top 500.
Here is a sampling of the top 50 companies in 1955: General Motors, Exxon, US Steel, DuPont, Bethlehem Steel, AT&T, Kraft, Goodyear, RCA, Firestone, Uniroyal, Alcoa, Wilson, United Technologies, American Can, Rockwell Automation, Eastman Kodak, Armco.
Many of these names no longer register in front page news.
The first time a financial markets operator appears in the Fortune top 50 corporations was in 1995 when Citigroup ranked number 37. That is 13 years ago.
Let us consider 2007 records. In this year the list of the Fortune top 50 corporations includes the following 13 financial operators: Citigroup (ranked No. 8), Bank of America (9), AIG (10), JP Morgan Chase (11), Berkshire Hathaway (12), Morgan Stanley (20), Merrill Lynch (22), Goldman Sachs (24), MetLife (37), Wells Fargo (41), Wachovia (46), Lehman Brothers (47) and Freddie Mac (50).
That is 13 out of 50!
Give another 10 years and we will see the figure reversed. Grant another 20 years and the top 50 corporations may likely all be financial operators.
History is truly more fascinating than fiction.
How they became large
How indeed did the financial markets become so large and command such high respect from the governments of the world?
For simplification, let us say that the annual volume of the production of mankind in real goods and services amounts to $10 million and from this production, mankind generates an annual saving (revenue minus expenditure) of $1 million.
What happens to the $1 million savings? Answer: It is kept and secured by financial markets operators.
What happens to the $9 million net value of production? Answer: It was sold, consumed and done with.
Let us say that every new year brings in a net production of $9 million and savings of $1 million that is accumulated in the hands of financial markets operators. Let us stretch our minds further and say that this annual cycle happens for 100 years.
What do we see at the end of 100 years?
We will indeed be seeing that the real economy still annually produces, sells and consumes $9 million worth of goods and services, but the wealth in the hands of financial markets would now have grown to $100 million—100 years times $1 million per year!
What does this concept mean? Well, it means the financial markets could now become bigger than the producers of real goods and services.
Let us assume that financial markets operators earn a mere 1 percent on all the savings accumulated in their purse strings.
That would mean that even as the real economy continues to save $1 million a year (revenue minus expenditure), the financial markets are now earning at least $1 million a year—1 percent based on the total accumulated savings of $100 million plus compounds.
That is very neat, indeed!
What if the financial markets operators became rather weary of earning only 1 percent?
Then they would find a way of engineering paper certificates that would yield not just 1 percent but, say, 3 percent or more per year on the accumulated savings of $100 million! Then, the $3 million earnings of the financial markets would greatly exceed the $1 million of the real economy.
Then, we would start to think that the real economy is simply a poor cousin of financial markets and the real generator of wealth in the economy is the financial markets—mankind’s CFO.
And governments, captains of industries and the rich and famous of the world whose wealth are now yielding at least 3 percent in the hands of financial operators would indeed find financial markets operators simply adorable.
Derivatives for nth time
Here is another material for understanding the scope of the operations of the financial markets.
The most commonly known financial instrument is the promissory note. It bears an interest rate. The bank lends to a factory owner and covers the transaction with a PN. Its source of funds are deposits, which are, in turn, covered by a passbook or a deposit certificate promising a minimum rate of return.
But over the years, the financial markets operators engineered and created various forms of marketable financial instruments to attract savings and provide higher yields for investors. These instruments, such as the shares of stocks of a company, can be bought and sold in countless times as often as there are buyers and sellers.
One such financial instrument is called derivatives.
What NYT has to say?
Let me now introduce the definition by New York Times of derivatives in its website, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/ d/derivatives/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier.
“The most common types of derivatives are futures; forwards, which are futures traded outside of a regular exchange; options, which are the right to buy or sell something at a specified date and price; and swaps, contracts involving an exchange of assets or payments.”
The article continues: “In recent years, a bewildering variety of derivatives have been developed. Two types that have played a central role in the recent turmoil are mortgage-backed securities, whose value depends on the value of the mortgages, which depends on how many of them are being paid off, and credit default swaps, which are in essence a form of insurance policy, and whose value swings with the fiscal health of the transaction or asset it is written to cover.”
How big is the market for derivatives today?
The NYT article continues:
“The derivatives market today is $531 trillion, up from $106 trillion in 2002 and a relative pittance just two decades ago. Theoretically intended to limit risk and ward off financial problems, the contracts instead have stoked uncertainty and actually spread risk amid doubts about how companies value them.”
You may not have caught the significance of these figures, so I will compare them with the gross domestic product of nations.
Derivatives vs GDP values
The total 2007 GDP of the United States amount to $13 trillion. The Philippine GDP is $0.144 trillion.
The combined GDP of the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and the United States is $24 trillion. (Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/02/ weodata/weoselgr.aspx.)
Compare this value in the real economy of all these countries with the total market of derivatives mentioned above—$531 trillion. It is less than 5 percent!
If our OFWs remit $15 billion a year to our economy, in how many years would they be able to pay for the value of derivatives transacted today?
Thirty-five thousand four hundred years.
Surely, the value of $531 trillion derivatives includes notional values and may not reflect the true value of the transaction. That may be correct. Nevertheless, the figures astound.
But one thing is clear from these figures: They explain why governments and central banks are bent on serving the interests of financial operators by funding their requirements for survival with $700 billion and more of the past, present and future money of taxpayers.
Only a segment of markets
But that is not the end.
There are two other major ways of measuring the size of the financial markets—the annual volume of trade in stock markets and of transactions in bonds in world exchanges. (Source: World Federation of Exchanges website: http://www.world-exchanges. org/WFE/home.Asp.)
In 2007, the total value of shares traded in major exchanges in the world amounted to $101.2 trillion. Of this amount, about 46 percent or $46.6 trillion was traded in the United States.
In the same year, the total value of bonds trading in major exchanges in the world was $15.2 trillion.
In all, the values of the three types of investments amount to $647.4 trillion.
What does this tell us?
The world has generated trillions of savings and most of them are invested in exchanges.
Let us put that concept in an easy-to-understand statement. The world of exchanges are awash with money accumulated through centuries of mankind working in the real economy and that money has no place to go.
This brings to light the reason why financial engineering is one of the hottest careers in the world and financial engineers command highest incomes.
The abundance of capital in the world of exchanges today also explains why derivatives must be invented. If derivatives were not around, financial engineers would create another medium by which the wealth of nations could be attracted, channeled and yield higher incomes.
How ironic it is that the rich and the powerful must lose money for having so much of it in the financial markets!
And how difficult it is to comprehend that while this abundant wealth has no place to go but in an endless spiral of speculative transactions, billions of people in third world countries and underdeveloped economies are wanting of food, clothing, housing, medicine, hospitals, roads, bridges, airports, clean air, clear water and capital to build businesses.
Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., how does one explain this phenomenon?
(The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines. The author is an entrepreneur who wrote the books “The Peso Exchange Rate: Why Are We So Poor?” and “The Philippine Economy: Do Our Leaders Have A Clue?” Feedback at map@globelines.com.ph. For previous articles, please visit.)
FYI, Mikaela Fudolig is 16 years old and graduated summa cum laude from the Uniiversity of the Philippines, B.S. Physics Class 2007
The following is the valedictory address of Mikaela Fudolig, summa cum laude of UP Class 2007. Read on and feel some hope for the future. it need not just be for the UP graduate but for all Filipinos.
Mikaela Irene Fudolig - BS Physics
Speech at the Commencement Exercises, UPD
April 22, 2007
One of the things that strike me as being very “UP Diliman” is the way UPD students can’t seem to stay on the pavement. From every street corner that bounds an unpaved piece of land, one will espy a narrow trail that cuts the corner, or leads from it. Every lawn around the buildings sports at least one of these paths, starting from a point nearest to the IKOT stop and ending at the nearest entry to the building. The trails are beaten on the grass by many pairs of feet wanting to save a fraction of a meter of traveling, no matter that doing so will exact some cost to the shoes, or, to the ubiquitous slippers, especially when the trails are new.
What do these paths say about us, UP students?
One could say that the UP student is enamored with Mathematics and Pythagoras, hence these triangles formed by the pavement and the path. Many among you would disagree.
Others could say that the UP student is naturally countercultural. And the refusal to use the pavement is just one of the myriads of ways to show his defiance of the order of things. This time, many would agree.
Still, others will say that the UP student is the Model of today’s youth: they want everything easier, faster, now. The walkable paths appeal to them because they get to their destination faster, and presumably, with less effort. Now that is only partly true, and totally unfair.
These trails weren’t always walkable. No doubt they started as patches of grass, perhaps overgrown. Those who first walked them must have soiled their shoes, stubbed their toes, or had insects biting their legs, all in the immovable belief that the nearest distance between two points is a straight line. They might even have seen snakes cross their paths. But the soiled footwear, sore toes, and itchy legs started to conquer the grass. Other people, seeing the yet faint trail, followed. And as more and more walked the path, the grass gave in and stopped growing altogether, making the path more and more visible, more and more walkable.
The persistence of the paths pays tribute to those UP students who walked them first - the pioneers of the unbeaten tracks: the defiant and curious few who refuse the familiar and comfortable; the out-of-the-box thinkers who solve problems instead of fretting about them; the brave who dare do things differently, and open new opportunities to those who follow.
They say how one behaved in the past would determine how he behaves in the future. And as we leave the University, temporarily or for good, let us call on the pioneering, defiant, and brave spirit that built the paths to guide us in this next phase of our life.
We have been warned time and again. Our new world that they call “adulthood” is one that’s full of compromises, where success is determined more by the ability to belong than by the ability to think, where it is much easier to do as everyone else does. Daily we are bombarded with so much news of despair about the state of our nation, and the apparent, perverse sense of satisfaction our politicians get from vilifying our state of affairs. It is fashionable to migrate to other countries to work in deceptively high-paying jobs like nursing and teaching, forgetting that even at their favored work destinations, nurses and teachers are some of the lowest paid professionals. The lure of high and immediate monetary benefits in some low-end outsourcing jobs has drawn even some of the brightest UP students away from both industry and university teaching to which they would have been better suited.
Like the sidewalks and pavement, these paths are the easiest to take.
But, like the sidewalks and pavement, these paths take longer to traverse, just as individual successes do not always make for national progress. The unceasing critic could get elected, but not get the job done. The immigrant could get his visa, but disappear from our brainpower pool. The highly paid employee would be underutilized for his skills, and pine to get the job he truly wants, but is now out of his reach. And the country, and we, are poorer because of these.
Today, the nation needs brave, defiant pioneers to reverse our nation’s slide to despair. Today, we must call upon the spirit that beat the tracks. Today, we must present an alternative way of doing things.
Do NOT just take courage, for courage is not enough. Instead, be BRAVE! It will take bravery to go against popular wisdom, against the clichéd expectations of family and friends. It will take bravery to gamble your future by staying in the country and try to make a prosperous life here. It might help if for a start, we try to see why our Korean friends are flocking to our country. Why, as many of us line up for immigrant visas in various embassies, they get themselves naturalized and settle here. Do they know something we don’t?
Do NOT just be strong in your convictions, for strength is not enough. Instead, DEFY the pressure to lead a comfortable, but middling life. Let us lead this country from the despair of mediocrity. Let us not seek to do well, but strive to EXCEL in everything that we do. This, so others will see us as a nation of brains of the highest quality, not just of brawn that could be had for cheap.
Take NOT the road less traveled. Rather, MAKE new roads, BLAZE new trails, FIND new routes to your dreams. Unlike the track-beaters in campus who see where they’re going, we may not know how far we can go. But if we are brave, defiant searchers of excellence, we will go far. Explore possibilities, that others may get a similar chance. I have tried it myself. And I’m speaking to you now.
But talk is cheap, they say. And so I put my money where my mouth is. Today, I place myself in the service of the University, if it will have me. I would like to teach, to share knowledge, and perhaps to be an example to new UP students in thinking and striving beyond the limits of the possible. This may only be a small disturbance in the grass. But I hope you’ll come with me, and trample a new path.
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Its my birthday yesterday - November 7
hmm..i’m now 32 years old..
let’s see
five years from now
where would i be?
i’m going back to Dubai early next year..
i already decided..stay there for two years
and then i move on to another city
if God permits..
