Sunday, May 27, 2012

Pope's Butler Under Arrest - DID A "SPY" REALLY ENTER THE VATICAN?

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60500000/jpg/_60500535_014851794-1.jpg
Image courtesy of ABC News

This is really a shocking news! Pope Benedict's personal butler was arrested who allegedly "stole" essential documents from the Vatican files. According to the latest news which was aired earlier last Friday, the Pope's personal butler whom he trusted and has taken cared of his every need was believed to have stolen some secret documents from the Vatican,  and allegedly "leaked" secret vital information, is now suspected to be a "spy" and is now detained. 
For the first time in history, this true to life experience reminds us of some fiction that the Vatican have detested some years back. It gives me chills, because this sounds familiar, right? Anyone who have read the famous and most talked about book by DAN BROWN and the "detested" movie in 2006 which starred TOM HANKS (as Robert Langdon) and AUDREY TAUTOU (as Sophie Neveu), entitled the "DA VINCI CODE" would feel some kind of enormous chills... maybe coupled by some ridicule or even ridiculous thoughts. Here is a short review of the famous movie:


 Of course, we should always remember that anyone who is a suspect and is now detained is not guilty unless proven otherwise by law through legal practice and proceedings. The butler, however, is believed to be "used" as a "scape goat" by some people who are of higher rank than him for "some actions" that "could allegedly harm" the stability of Vatican. Whatever it is that has truly happened, no conclusion have been stated up to now, only speculations. It makes me wonder with curiousity... could there be true to life "Sir Leigh Teabing" who is using the butler like "Silas"...? Happy Sunday everyone!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Okay, MOMMA Knows BEST (Happy Mother's Day!)

Months ago, I came across this article that was sent at “Mother Knows Best” by Ephraim Kahana, and it made me laugh really hard. Let me share it with you, anyway, it is MOTHER’s DAY, and it is the best time to remember our loving moms. Here it goes:


1.       My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2.       My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You'd better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3.       My mother taught me TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
4.       My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."
5.       My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the shops with me."
6.       My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7.       My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8.       My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9.       My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10.   My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11.   My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12.   My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
13.   My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
14.   My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
15.   My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16.   My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17.   My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
18.   My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
19.   My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20.   My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21.   My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22.   My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23.   My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24.   My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
25.   My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you".
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LOL! This one reminded me when I was a little kid, and how my mom used to say, “Hey, if you three want to fight, go yell at each other outside, anyway, we don’t take care of you just to kill each other!”… And me and my siblings would stop arguing, look at each other and pretend that we are not about to laugh. That was how our mom would make us stop arguing ~ “reverse psychology” at its best, and everything will be back in peace and order in our lovely home. 

How I miss being a kid… I would love to spend those humorous days again that have molded me into a more mature adult. These things may make us laugh, but we can never deny the fact that our moms who often said these “funny” little things have influenced us much more than we could imagine.
On a more serious note, let me share what my own mom has taught me. I could mention just a few, but I hope I could touch the very heart of every child that I hope will always appreciate his own mom no matter how much he age. Here are some of the things that my mother taught me:
  • She taught me how to be more than just physically beautiful without giving out a single cent from my wallet…( errr… or from her own bank account by keeping in mind the following):
  1. Exercising at least two to three times a week is a better pore cleanser than the deep pore cleansing treatment done monthly by one’s dermatologist, or than massaging one’s face with a pore cleanser everyday and then dabbing a toner after. Regular exercise does not only clean the pores of one’s face but all the pores in one’s body, aside from that it tones one’s muscles helping one to achieve a better figure and healthier body.
  2. Sleeping naked is okay, but make sure that you do it in your own room ALONE. Lol! Of course I was still single when I heard this from my mom. This one helps our skin pores breathe, better than applying those soaps and skin cleansers that claim to help your skin breathe.
  3. Forgiving and prayers are more rejuvenating than spending so much time and money at the spa. Forgiveness frees one’s heart from carrying baggage that is not essential in one’s own life struggle, and prayers keep one close to God who never lack anything, therefore, no prayerful being could ever lack anything as long as he keeps close to God and follow Him in every way he can. God provides everything we need so this thought will make us carefree and more relaxed lessening one’s chance to have unwanted wrinkles. Having the heart to forgive and knowing that one is secured in HIS own loving care rejuvenates one’s mind, soul and spirit. Aside from that, it lessens one’s chance to acquire any illness that day to day stresses could cause. She says, these are the secrets for looking younger than your age too! Hehe!
  • She taught me that the art of being liked starts with truly liking what I really am and that pretending to be someone I am not will just make me miserable.
  • She taught me how to choose clothes that flatter my (according to her) assets and remain respect worthy even to people that I pass by.
  • She taught me when not and when to use a fuschia pink lip color. ;)
  • She taught me how to be assertive without being aggressive.
  • She taught me how to tell the truth even if it will hurt big time because it is better to feel bad as long as one knows the truth than to be happy with lies.
  • She taught me to pretend to be dumb when people starts to abuse my rights, but use all the knowledge that I have when they start to abuse my "goodness". lol!
  • She taught me to fight fair and  square and that wearing a "bullet proof" belt is just for soldiers who deal with real bullets, guns and bombs.
  • She taught me that talking behind the back of others makes me pathetic. 
  • She taught me to be humble because every people who come and go in my life, good or bad are the people who made me what I am today.
  • She showed me that the adage that says, "Rude people are like sandpapers, they rub you hard but they end up useless and you become polished because of them..." is true.
  • She taught me to giv a good fight as long as you know that you are on the right side.
    Of course, there are much more than these that my mom taught me, but there is one thing that I will never stop keeping in my heart and mind- she will always be the BEST mom in the world who taught me how to live with grace and courage through the good and the bad just by living a life that is worthy of all the prestige and honor that anyone could give. My mom has not given me all the best material things that a daughter would wish to have, but she has shown me a good, dignified and prestigious life not every mother could show their children. She lives with principles and values that she teaches her children just by living by them - no lectures nor learning sessions needed.

    To my loving mom, thank you for showing me how to live with dignity. To have a good life without taking advantage of others, for showing me how to forgive and learn from what cause me pain. For showing me how to keep calm especially in times when my rights are trampled to the extent of looking like a fool yet showing me how to fight back with courage and dignity when these people seem to never stop because they think that I am a fool just because I don’t fight back. Whatever and whoever I am now is more of my mom’s workmanship. I will always live up to what she has taught and gave me. Most people would say, “You are just like your mom…” and I smile back, at the back of my mind I would say to my self, “I hope to be just like my mom…” =)

    If you have the BEST MOM IN THE WORLD, feel free to share this blog. Happy Mother’s Day TO ALL WONDERFUL MOMMIES OUT THERE… and to MY MOM and GRANDMA, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, we love you so much, and thanks for everything that you’ve been, for everything that you are and always will be to us! 

    Copyright by Jen Magante, 2012. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    Saturday, May 12, 2012

    Happy 50 Years HAVAIANAS! ... Cheers For Our Happy Feet!

    Who does not love Havaianas? Oh, if you don't, then your feet misses 3/4 of comfort that it craves! "Havaianas" is a Portuguese language which means "Hawaiians". Their flip flop manufacture started out in Hawaii in the year 1962 with their own original designs derived from the serene design of Japan. They never failed to stand out with their 100% rubber formula which remains a "secret" exclusive only for Havaianas up to this moment and each design they make is inspired by the exuberant colors and great culture of the Hawaiians. From then, Havaianas became the ORIGINAL CHILD OF EASTERN ZEN and the undefeated EASTERN JOY.
    Image courtesy of Havaianas Philippines
    Today, we are about to celebrate 50 years of HAVAIANAS giving comfort to every step anyone who wears it all over the world. Hurray to Havaianas who live up to their promise for the best STYLE, COMFORT, LUXURY and never failing to give us POSITIVE ENERGY. It is a part of our daily struggle with life... and hey, simple things as flip flops make our day to day busy life easier to manage, right?
    Image courtesy of Havaianas Philippines
    In connection with their 50 years celebration, Havaianas Philippines launched the MAKE YOUR OWN HAVAIANAS 2012 (a. k. a MYOH2012) last May 10, 2012 at the ROCKWELL TENT  which started at 10am and goes on onwards until May 14, 2012. The launch of this celebration was attended by people from the mass media, celebrities, models, businessmen and people from almost all walks of life. Great food were served with style accompanied with comfort that tickled every taste buds... just like what the feet enjoys when we use the best flip flops! Oh, of course, we all love Havaianas!

    Here are some images for more of the event and more of the designs that I love from Havaianas.





    ...with foods we love... 

     

    ... and the latest designs I personally love and are really on my wish list! hehe!






    (All images are courtesy of Havaianas Philippines. )

    HAPPY 50 YEARS HAVAIANAS! Mabuhay!!! Our feet  and WE will love you ALWAYS! Cheers! =) 
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    For more details on the MAKE YOUR WN HAVAIANAS 2012 events, please check out and LIKE the official Havaianas Philippines  facebook. Thank You!


    Copyright by Jen Magante 2012. All images in this blog are courtesy of Havaianas Philippines official FACEBOOK Page.

    Sunday, May 6, 2012

    Who Is The HATER Now?

    Image courtesy of "Payong Kaibigan"
    Oh, I am laughing… every time I log in to a social networking site, I seem to notice that almost every day, some people would post and share something or anything about “HATERS”. Hey, what are “haters” anyway, and what are they made of? Are we really their “victims” or are we just enjoying to pretend that the people we call our “haters” really hate us so much?

    Haters according to the urban dictionary are people who simply cannot be happy for another person's success. They develop a strong dislike for another by just basing from their own opinion on personal or subjective judgment rather than objective merit. A hater's contempt commonly arises from jealously, resentment and denial that some people could be much better than them. TAKE NOTE though that people who hate others for JUSTIFIED reason can NEVER be LEGITIMATELY classified as haters, although some people try so hard to justify their immature tendencies by doing so.

    So, how can we identify haters? Take note that according to JASON COOLEY a Yahoo Network contributor, haters do not necessarily hate you, but they hate you doing better than them. Their official creed is, “I wish you well just don’t do better than me.” Does that sound familiar to you? LOL! Oh, it sounds so familiar to me. *Sometimes identifying a hater can be hard because the hater is often someone who has been close to you for a long time and is in your close circle of friends. The hater is often someone who you think highly of because they have been right there for you whenever you were down and out. You must think hard about these times and wonder if they were there to seriously help you or is it possible that they were there when things were bad because they secretly enjoyed seeing you down? … So, now I am laughing really really hard!!! Wahahahaha!

    Here are the *“signs and symptoms” of being a HATER: 

    • Haters do not want you to be happy, your happiness is their own poison… like a lethal injection that runs so fast in their blood so they try so hard to find ways to put you down by inventing negative stories about you.
    • Haters roam around talking to every people they could deceive and make them believe of the fictional stories they make and of course, the number one villain is no other than YOU. Take note, THEIR STORY IS AUTHENTICALLY FICTIONAL… wehehehe! Oh, I love that!
    • Haters stories of you as the villain makes you look so crazily desperate, but unknowingly, the people who are intelligent enough to analyze and get the chance to listen to the hater’s “masterpiece” knows inside their head how desperate the storyteller (a. k. a The Hater) is. Hmmmmm… so pathetic! You know damn well, stories like your own lawyer would put you inside your own room right inside your own house because you acted immaturely crazy???! Does the story fit? Oh, come to think of this: Even hired lawyers by real criminals will not allow their own clients be put to jail. LMAO! Hihihi! Laugh, laugh, laugh… Come on, your own slip of the tongue irregularities are manifestations of your own lying habits, or is that really your hobby?!... lol!
    • Haters claim that the people they hate are putting them down just because they do not have some things like wealth, education or anything under the sun that they crave yet you have them. Hey, hey, hey, lines like “Oh, you put me down just because you are…. And I am just…” sounds so familiar. Analyze the line, and you could interpret that these people hate you for something you have that they could not just grab. This is not just a sign of being a hater, it is also a sign of self insufficiency and insecurity.
    • They hate you because they claim that you trample their own human rights… yet they do not realize that they are trampling on other people’s rights too. Lines like “Hey you are getting my sandwich!” being shouted at you while they are getting from your own lunch box! LOL!
    • Haters are people who seek God’s forgiveness but they manifest a character and even verbalize their own inability to forgive others. They choose to live in misery because they take care and give so much value to hatred in their hearts and of course they would love you to be miserable as they are. So what they do is provoke you to hate them too so that they could tag you as their own haters, even declaring you as their “fans” to satisfy their insecure ego. Oh, by the way, fans are people who look up to you because you are worthy of their respect. And let us go back to the legitimate definition of a hater, that one can never classify anyone who hates them as a “hater” if a person hates them for some justified and warranted reasons. “JUSTIFIED” is the word, justified means proven, matured, and legitimate reasons that provoked some people to hate others. An example is a very good evidence with legitimate people to prove that this or that person has been or is gossiping some crazy lies about you… oh, but never mind, forgive this “author” of your fiction stories, because he is just violating your morality and you could introduce them how much "moral damages" really weigh in your own country’s applications of law on the civil code.  And even the lawyer whom he is accusing to have locked you in your own room right in your own house could sue him for accusing him of a thing that he has not done..Hek hek hek!!!! And whatever your "stories" are, wait til this hater sees himself on a large image reflector of what really happened on the day he is claiming that you were "locked" by your own lawyer in your own room. Oh, what kind of lawyer is that? No lawyer who truly passed the BAR EXAMINATION and who is in his good presence of mind would do that to his own client unless he would wish to lose his own client or his hard earned license. lol! What a shame to the one who talks of this hearsay.
    So now, we have a little bit of what haters are… SO, WHO IS THE HATER NOW? Keep this in mind, YOU ARE DEFINED BY YOUR OWN ACTIONS AND WORDS, no matter how you define who and what you are made of, YOUR OWN ACTIONS AND VERBAL EXPRESSIONS ARE UNCONSCIOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF SHOUTING TO THE WORLD WHO AND WHAT YOU REALLY ARE.  
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    Copyright by Jen Magante, 2012, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION AND COPYING WITHOUT AUTHOR'S CONSENT IS PROHIBITED BY LAW.
    *according to Jason Cooley, a Yahoo Network Contributor since 2005