1) My professor commented about the cross on my forehead. He said,
"Are you trying to be like Harry Potter?"
Great. I did laugh though because it was funny I do admit. It's odd though since it's the first time someone has commented about the cross in the forehead, even though it was done jokingly.
2) My classmates and I were thinking of ways to beat the Ash Wednesday fast. Conclusion: buffet. Just think of the Ash Wednesday crowds rushing into the Todai at the mall. Perhaps, coming in last minute before lunch ends, sit there for three hours, and then get the dinner stuff (how embarrassing). However, Todai is a little bourgeois for me in terms of price, so perhaps the Davis Sushi Buffet would be more fitting.
In case you're wondering, I didn't "cheat" by going to a buffet. I just heated up some shrimp tempura and rice with a glass of apple juice.
5) It is raining. I'm glad it's raining because I rather deal with weeks of storms and wetness compared to weeks of water rationing during the summer. It's too difficult to decrease my shower times. That's where I like to think!
4) I love to watch Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on the Travel Channel. Last week he went to...oh what?! THE PHILIPPINES?! It was a great show to me because aside from the common food staples like pancit palabok, taho, various kinds of adobo, various kinds of sinigang, sisig, and lechon, he also brought up a good point about Filipinos especially when they live in other countries but the Philippines. It does seem like we lose a good chunk of our identity in terms of a lack of understanding of our own culture or even a lack in knowing the mother tounge. For many Filipinos, especially those that don't frequently travel to the Motherland, going to the Philippines is just as much foreign as when our parents and grandparents went to the US. Perhaps it's because we just adapt to the culture and the different society really quickly. Perhaps, also we just don't go to the Philippines as frequently as we would like.
However, one thing I wish we could start is a Tagalog school in the US, just like there's Chinese school for the Chinese. It would be good to have my kids or even myself still maintain a piece of my identity. Gotta know the roots!
If you didnt' watch it. Watch it!
3) I've still been contemplating on what I want to do. Health care is still on my mind, but especially if my job for Homeland Security works out well, perhaps I would like to work on a national security basis. I'm a tad iffy about it though because I do want to raise a family in the future, and depending on what I want to do, I rather not get married, have kids, and in the end not taking care of either one of them because I'm too busy saving the country and the world. And that is where that lesson about sacrifice starts to kick in.
For those who were called, thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate your support and comments.
2) The water in American Canyon or everywhere in Solano and Napa Counties has been contaminated with leaves and dirt ran off from the storms during the last few days. Every time I shower or drink from the tap, it smells and tastes oh so natural, but in a bad way. However, the water is safe to use (it's just dirt).
5) The House of Representatives has recently passed The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 a.k.a. Obama and the Democrats' $819 billion stimulus plan.
Without going into major detail, all I will say is that this is perhaps a massive gambit for the Democrats so far supporting this and the Republicans so far rejecting it. If it succeeds in the eyes of the American people, Obama instantly gets his second term without even thinking about it yet. If it fails...
I really don't want it to fail honestly, but you can put it together yourself if they do fail.
I also saw the actual bill that passed the house on Wedenesday. It's 647 pages! Also, Congress just discussed this a few weeks ago at the earliest. Either they are fast readers (which I highly doubt), their team of staff read pieces of it and discussed it together, or they didn't actually read this and only listened to their party leaders and the news on what the bill is supposedly trying to portray.
Either way, if you REALLY want to read it, click here. Seriously though, DON'T and just live out your lives.
4) After a long period of unemployment, I decided to go back to school. I'm currently taking Microbiology at a JC. It's pretty interesting. What I noticed though is that there is a lot of nursing and physical therapy students there. I guess that's the hot job right now in this country.
3) In case you're also wondering, I passed my interview with US Customs and therefore still eligible for the job. Continued prayers appreciated.
2) I woke up early and caught an interview with Larry Willmore on Morning Joe (He's a "reporter" on The Daily Show.). He was talking about his new book I'd Rather We Got Casinos. In it he put proof that Jesus was Black. He gave a preview by stating two pieces of evidence proving Jesus was Black:
(1) By the time Mother Mary was pregnant with Jesus, who the baby-daddy was became a major issue in the community.
(2) Jesus' cousin had a hip-hop name...John the Baptist. This was two-thousand years before Cedric the Entertainer!
It's in the Bible everyone. It really made me chuckle.
1) I have blogged this many times before about the origins of my last name. My cousin was searching stuff on Google, and she came across 4 definitions on Urban Dictionary. While the definitions range from dissing your co-worker for lunch by going with someone more powerful or affluent to a very large deffication (They must have met some pretty shitty Dumos' in real life.), I rather prefer definition (4):
(4) DuMO
The undisputed sex god of all the land.
Dude, he banged 15 chicks last night! He's such a DuMO!
I have found my origins.Thumbs up to that definition!
2) First off, I've blogged so much about the presidential election and about President Obama, yet I've haven't said anything about him actually being the president. I really don't have a lot to say about it, but I will say this:
It's been a historical day for this country.
If you didn't catch his inaugural speech, here's the video.
I also suggest listening to the news about the first one-hundred days. It's usually a good indicator as to how the administration will be and what their priorities are for the next four years.
1) If you are a major Facebook junkie, like I am, then you might have seen the event called "Novena to stop FOCA". A representative from the USCCB had responded to the event here. The gist of the CNA article indicated that there were inaccurate information posted on the event's description. Even though most of the information had been corrected during the event's activity, the USCCB response made a great point that FOCA was controversial enough to not make up facts or even coerce people into opposing the bill. FOCA will not directly force medical centers, including Catholic hospitals, from performing actual abortions, therefore forcing the US bishops to shut all of them down. However, according to the bill, FOCA will force the federal, state, and local governments from denying public funding to those how don't perform abortions, which definitely does include these Catholic hospitals. Considering the high cost of health care, this reason alone would potentially limit funding for these Catholic hopitals or even force the closure of some of them. Also, FOCA has not yet even been on Congress' schedule. Even though I do expect FOCA to be debated on the committees this year, it's a bit of an overstatement that these "left-wing dogs" would create an abortion free-for-all in the first few days of the Obama administration.
It leaves me one point of thought of whether the pro-life movement is actually serious about actually attempting to make their policies and ideas work in the US. Perhaps it was an honest mistake of the facts regarding FOCA. On the other hand, perhaps it was also an intentional move to scare people into the novena. To be frank, while I do believe that the actual novena was a great idea, I and many other Catholics don't need to be scared into being serious about our faith, much less being intentionally coerced into praying and opposing FOCA. It's simply a very controversial bill and a definite wrong move for this country. I can even think of two reasons as to why FOCA is wrong without even putting a religious twist to it. First, FOCA further limits the power of the state and local governments to decide what is best for their community. Also, the funding cuts alone would endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans that depend on the health care from Catholic hospitals, and I'm sure that unlike the unborn, there can be no debate that these are actual LIVING Americans who will be negatively affected by FOCA. In other words, do the ends really justify the means?
Consequently, these false facts and further inflammatory statements like FOCA will possibly bring us closer to limiting the number of children a family can have or even force mothers to abort their babies that have Down's Syndrome (Read the comments on the Facebook event and the CNA article.) does not strengthen the pro-life movement but further weaken it. Lies will always taint or even destroy whole ideas and principles, and we should not rely on them. Even so, if this is what they will rely on to make a pro-life America, then I don't think anyone in this movement is serious about making it happen, much more will America even support pro-life polcies at all. I have to further question if an actual pro-life America that will work is the goal of these people, or are they just supporting and showboating this for their own individual souls? I have said this before, and I will say it again, but the pro-life movement definitely needs to re-examine their intentions and their arguments to make their ideas work in this country instead of just shoving damning remarks and false statements down our throats. I still believe that there are very viable arguments out there as to why abortions should be limited or even why abortions should be banned in the US with the addition of the proper policies in social welfare in place.
The argument of abortion in the US needs to be a mature one, and maturity does include being able to make reasonable and truthful arguments, either for or against it. Furthermore, as Catholics, while we do need to be sympathetic and understanding to those potential mothers, I do believe that we do need to always support life, both those that are unborn and those that still walk the Earth.
Perhaps it is appropriate to reaffirm our commitment to life today considering that this was when Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973.
If you want to actually read what was stated in the proposed FOCA bill last year, read it here.