Owner: Atheista URL:http://atheista.net Join Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:26:28 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Atheista was created to inform and remind people on the existence of Atheism in society and to also expose other individuals to the principles, beliefs and practices of one person who doesn't believe in the existence of a supreme being. Site statistics:Click here
Galera: The Tragedy 2007-05-10 12:16:12 After finally getting added as one of Ethel’s friends at Multiply, I have mercifully gotten some of the pics that she took while we were at Puerto Galera. There were five of us who went to the popular summer destination - three of us, namely Yves and Cheng were also present during the Hundred Islands post-tournament escapade. Dammit, pictures of that trip has not been uploaded yet! Damn you Justin! Haha.
Believe it or not, three of us have not been to Galera yet. Ethel has been to places like Tuguegarao and Surigao, but she has yet to see how [un]fine the sand is across the Bay of Batangas. Cheng is also a first timer. Actually, this was supposed to be her first time in Punta Fuego. Yes, don’t ask. Move along.
The most notable Puerto Galera noob is of course, yours truly. I’m Batangueño and I lived roughly 10 minutes from the pier that has numerous trips to Puerto Galera daily. How did I find the place? This picture sums it up.
(more…)
Read more:Tragedy
Is The High School Science Curriculum Really This Bad? 2007-05-09 10:15:40 While hopping around the Pinoy Blogosphere, I couldn’t help but feel very disappointed, mortified and utterly alarmed by one post made by a certain high school student [who I later found out goes to a science high school]. To protect the identity of the person and the dignity of other students and alumni of this science high school, I choose to keep the name of the person confidential.
Christians believe in God, that there is a God and that God is good and that Satan is evil. Have they ever saw, touched, or smelled their God? No. Have they ever heard their God say their names? No. So therefore, according to the empirical, testable, stable, and demonstrable Science
, there is no God.
Science said that people evolved from monkeys. Has anyone of you observed the process of evolution? No one has ever did that, even Charles Darwin who coined that process. So since no one has ever observed the process of evolution and cannot even prove that it did happened, therefore, science t Read more:School
, Curriculum
Congratulations to UP Manila A For Breaking 6th In The AUDC! 2007-05-14 17:42:55
Robin just sent me an e-mail to inform me that UPM A broke sixth after the seven preliminary rounds of this year’s Asian Universities Debating Championship! Yay! They will face the 11th-ranked team SMU A for the “Octo-Finals” tomorrow.. The team finished with a 5-win 2-loss card.
Good luck UPM A! Good luck Robin, Aids and Yves! Bring home the bacon!
UNIBERSIDAD NG PILIPINAS!
1908!
Viewed 64 times by 28 viewers Read more:Breaking
, Congratulations
, Manila
Laissez-faire SEO 2007-05-14 16:27:52 Aaron has spent the entire summer obsessing about SEO
like there was no tomorrow. Due to his hardwork, he has upped his Google Page Rank to 5 and is on his way to a very profitable vacation. This post of him gave me an idea.
Quick. Try googling “Benj” and see what happens! Haha.
Viewed 145 times by 49 viewers Read more:faire
I Filled Out All Twelve Slots! 2007-05-14 06:51:11
5 with actual names, and the remaining 7 blanks with -NOTHING FOLLOWS-
At the end of the day, I couldn’t really stick to my prepared ballot. Instead of going with my original list, I went with 3 candidates under Team Unity and 2 candidates under the Genuine Opposition.
I voted for:
(more…)
Viewed 659 times by 133 viewers Read more:Twelve
, Slots
Guess Who Wins! 2007-05-13 20:26:21 Instead of the usual tedious and stiff posts about why I voted for so-and-so, I decided to shift gears a bit and encourage everyone to use their mad skills - and by that I mean Madame Auring SKILLZZZZ — in predicting who are next 12 senators will be. To make it harder, let’s try to predict how the candidates will be rank at the end of the canvassing.
Be reminded that this is about the COMELEC’s final results, so if you think there’s going to be widespread cheating in this election, factor that in into your entry.
Here’s my official guess:
(more…)
Viewed 939 times by 164 viewers Read more:Guess
My Fixation With The 1992 Elections 2007-05-13 07:45:42 As I’ve said in an earlier post, the 1992 was the first elections that I consciously followed. I was a 7 year-old boy then but seeing all the numbers and tallies appear on the television and on newspapers made me want to see for myself how the election would turn out. The election fifteen years ago arguably featured the best crop of presidential candidates in the history of the Philippines. Seven candidates battled for the post of Chief Executive - two of whom have passed away with one choosing to stay out of the public eye.
Salvador “Doy” Laurel is a proud son of Batangas who served as Cory Aquino’s Vice-President after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted from power. If his surname sounds familiar, it’s because he is a son of a former President Jose P. Laurel. Interestingly, he initially took Medicine in UP before shifting to Law School (also in UP). He was supposed to run against Marcos during the snap elections, but after a tedious negotiation process, Read more:Fixation
, Elections
Something To Look Forward To When You Turn 18… 2007-05-17 18:42:32 Thanks to a lurker’s tip (I had no idea i had those) who has now effectively de-lurked himself, I received one of the best news bits of the new millennium! Thank you mystery informant! Hehe. He linked to these guys as well.
Bible drawn into Hong Kong sex publication row
Wed May 16, 5:48 AM ET
Story lifted from Yahoo!
HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as “indecent” due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible by noon on Wednesday.
The complaints follow the launch of an anonymous Web site — www.truthbible.net — which said the holy book “made one tremble” given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.
The Web site said the Bible&rs Read more:Forward
, hellip
The Perils of Being a Debater 2007-05-16 18:51:44
Nag-debate kayo? Nanalo kayo? Tungkol Saan?
Debate is not only about a competition, it’s a lifestyle. More of often than not, debaters will be unconscious to the fact that debate has become their most significant activity outside of school - sometimes it even goes above school work in the priority list. It’s not unusual to hear about debaters who skip classes for days even an entire week to take part in a national competition. Even if the dates of the competition coincides with an examination, they will usually make arrangements to take the exams earlier and make sure they have the time to debate after.
Just like in any competition, preparation is more than half the battle in debate. Long hours are devoted to improve oneself and the rest of his contingent. Institutions debate non-stop among each other and against institutions during organized cross-training sessions. Adjudicators (people who decide debates) are also made sharper by making them more observ
Trends Across The Board 2007-05-16 13:08:20 The counting has begun. Let’s see how things are shaping up. Be reminded that all polls are partial and unofficial.
According to Pulse Asia, the exit polls yielded a 4-6-2 Team Unity-Genuine Opposition-Independent split. Opposition stalwarts Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, Ping Lacson, Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino and Antonio Trillanes are joined by Team Unity bets Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Miguel Zubiri and Ralph Recto. Completing the lineup are independent candidates Kiko Pangilinan and Gringo Honasan.
The ABS-CBN-STI Quick Count so far shows a 2-8-2 split. Departures from the projected results (based on exit polls) are as follows:
the inclusion of Koko Pimentel (12) and Alan Peter Cayetano(7).
the exclusion of Miguel Zubiri (13) and Ralph Recto (14).
The GMA-Inquirer-AMA Quick Count reflects a 4-7-1 split with over a million votes counted for most of the projected winners.
Alan Peter Cayetano is at 7th place - he was 13th in the exit polls.
Gringo Read more:Trends
, Across
, Board
Atheist Bloggers’ Links Page Updated 2007-05-15 22:19:46 I found a great Atheist
site today. Friendly Atheist, is probably the better-written sites that I’ve seen in a while. The author Hermant Mehta is an accomplished student and secular movement leader. His site is exactly what I envisioned Atheista.net to be like, believe it or not. It’s a pretty good site and he can keep his cool despite the idiocy and fundamentalism of some. I guess he’s just gotten used to it. I doubt if I ever will - especially with the types of fundies (i.e. the stupid fundies - is that an oxymoron?) that I get on this site.
Aside from that great find, I decided to update my Atheist Bloggers’ Links Page. It has now grown to a staggering number of seventeen eighteen (18!). If you want to get to know them, just click away at these blogs - Atheist Seeker, Carlo, Bojit, Euri, Fredda, Helga, Jaywalker, Joyfulchicken, Kevin, Martin, Micketymoc, Oboids, Philippine Atheists, Pinoy Atheist, Romeo, Shari, Thysz and Tony. If you’r
How Do You Feel About Tag Boards? 2007-05-19 22:07:10 Let me get it out early. I loathe tag boards.
I hate them for the following reasons:
they are useless. Ok, sure, they are useful for two things - asking people go to someone else’s blog or offering links exchange. Excuse me, I really need to throw up now.
they are the perfect excuse for lazy visitors to not read your actual content. Assuming that you have content worth writing home about, wouldn’t you like it more if you more well-thought of comments as opposed to loads of dumaan lang (just passing by) and bloghop! messages that people seem to leave on your tagboard every fucking day?!
the people who abuse your tag boards are usually the ones who don’t leave comments - if they do, they usually make the dumbest ones. Again, we all want good traffic, right? But blogging isn’t just about traffic, building a healthy and vibrant readership who would actually read your posts and glance at your ads bodes for a better long-term scenario. I’d rather ha
The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007 2007-05-19 12:33:42 In a novel attempt to expose the emerging influential blogs of this year, Janette Toral (or DigitalFilipino fame) has decided to open the floor for nominations for the blogs worthy of such an honor. This exercise seeks to champion the new bloggers (and blogs) who are slowly making a name for themselves in the already-crowded blogosphere. It could be any blog in the world as long as the blog was started August 2006 or later.
Janette asked everyone to list ten (10) or less choices, so here it goes. [note: I can change this list until July 28]. I’ve seen a lot of entries and they seem to be focused on a particular corner of the blogosphere. Hopefully, my entry would feature another sector.
In random order:
Cokskiblue by Coy Caballes (April 2007) - The allusion to the beverage is fitting, this blog definitely brings out something refreshingly cool and different. The mere fact that the blogger is using a totally different medium to get his point across makes his Read more:Blogs
Thanks 2007-05-18 11:42:31 It took me quite a while to come up with a title for this post so I went the simplest and the most corny I could come up with.
I would like everyone to know that I take pride in my blog. Yes, pride in the most intrinsic and egotistic sense. I’m sure you all know that by now, but in case somebody who can’t recognize a blinding flash of the obvious reads this, I might as well get that little detail out of the way. I’m very flattered that some of my posts have really driven people to think and react to what I have to say - whether positively or negatively. Unlike in other blogs where majority of the comments often point towards raves and fan-hood-ism regarding a post, I am very happy and appreciative of the fact that a majority my readers, visitors and those who leave comments enter the site with their thinking caps on, eager to share what they have to say on whatever issue I was talking about at that particular moment. Call it arrogant, but I really like the f Read more:Thanks
Something To Look Forward To When You Turn 18… 2007-05-17 18:42:32 Thanks to a lurker’s tip (I had no idea i had those) who has now effectively de-lurked himself, I received one of the best news bits of the new millennium! Thank you mystery informant! Hehe. He linked to these guys as well.
Bible drawn into Hong Kong sex publication row
Wed May 16, 5:48 AM ET
Story lifted from Yahoo!
HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as “indecent” due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible by noon on Wednesday.
The complaints follow the launch of an anonymous Web site — www.truthbible.net — which said the holy book “made one tremble” given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.
The Web site said the Bible&rs Read more:Forward
The Perils of Being a Debater 2007-05-16 18:51:44
Nag-debate kayo? Nanalo kayo? Tungkol Saan?
Debate is not only about a competition, it’s a lifestyle. More of often than not, debaters will be unconscious to the fact that debate has become their most significant activity outside of school - sometimes it even goes above school work in the priority list. It’s not unusual to hear about debaters who skip classes for days even an entire week to take part in a national competition. Even if the dates of the competition coincides with an examination, they will usually make arrangements to take the exams earlier and make sure they have the time to debate after.
Just like in any competition, preparation is more than half the battle in debate. Long hours are devoted to improve oneself and the rest of his contingent. Institutions debate non-stop among each other and against institutions during organized cross-training sessions. Adjudicators (people who decide debates) are also made sharper by making them more observ
Political Correctness Has A New Poster Boy! 2007-05-22 11:52:50
As ironic as this might sound to most people, I’m a big fan of Pampanga Governor-elect Ed Panlilio. It takes guts to man up against the wife of an alleged jueteng lord and incumbent in a hotly contested election, but that’s not the reason why I admire him. Yes, he’s a priest. And yes, I know he believes in the higher power that Catholics are taught to accept. Those issues take the backseat compared to how he ran his campaign and how he has kept his humility and political correctness in his success.
Unlike other pretentious clergy men who have the despicable urge to inject every holier than thou statement when being interviewed by the media *cough Robert Reyes cough* *cough Eddie Villanueva cough*, Panlilio shows eloquence, maturity and composure in handling his business. I never heard him say things regarding uniting people under a religion or one god. He doesn’t invoke his priesthood as a means of making himself more ’suitable’ or more ‘close Read more:Poster
Off To Cebu 2007-05-23 14:18:53 Dear Readers,
I’m leaving for Cebu this morning (800HRS +800 GMT). I’ll be there until Monday so I can’t promise to keep posting as regularly as I have. I finally found the data cable so here’s the shot that was taken shortly after I completed my dive at the Manila Channel (just off Boquete Island at Puerto Galera).
Thank you for all your time and support. I appreciate every milimole of neurotransmitter that you guys use in enhancing the discussions on my site. With all sincerity, thank you.
Take care, people!
Benj
Viewed 12 times by 9 viewers
Blogging From Cebu 2007-05-26 11:40:36 Dear Loyal Readers,
I’m at a friend’s house. They’re drinking wine as I type this. I’m being pressured to drink as well, but as you all know, I strictly adhere to the concepts of the straightedge movement. No alcohol for this guy.
The City of Cebu is a great place. I didn’t expect it to be so organized and so much better laid out than Manila. I got a nice Sony DSC T100 before we left so I’ve been able to take pretty good pictures. Unfortunately, I haven’t able to go online for the past few days. I’ve been able to get plenty of rest and my friends have been nice enough to show me around.
Take care everyone! I’ll be back in Luzon by Monday.
Viewed 445 times by 197 viewers Read more:Blogging
Just Go! 2007-06-01 04:28:30 Visit this site! Now!
You’ll be glad you did. Reactions will be definitely appreciated in the comments section.
I also just finished my first three weeks writing for Froodee and Blog Tutorials. We’re expected to write 2 articles a week for each blog so by now, I have to have at least 12 write-ups. I have 13.
Froodee is a blog for anything current so I could blog about anything under the sun. For the past three weeks, I blogged about:
Gardasil, a breakthrough vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus
The thrill and excitement of scuba diving
An 18 year-old girl’s conquest of the seven tallest mountains on all seven continents
The disappointing Heroes season finale
The growing movement against the relevance of beauty pageants
American Idol Season 5 contestants’ current careers
And the newest one (already for June), is a write-up about Spiderman going to jail.
Blog Tutorials is focused on helping people keep functional and successful blog
The Cebu Podcast: Live From The Top 2007-05-31 10:17:37
After the smash hit “Drunk Debaters: The Hundred Islands Scandal“, I knew I had to make a follow up podcast in my next out-of-town trip.
This new podcast features the medical students - Philippine debate legend and long-time blogger Yves Aquino, Cebu-native and UP Diliman alumnus Michael Chan and yours truly. This was recorded May 27 (Saturday) at Top - a chilly vantage point with an excellent view of Cebu and Mactan— after a hearty meal at La Tegola (a very romantic open-air Italian restaurant with a nice view of the city).
CEBU PODCAST: FROM TOP - Download it here
Topics covered:
The obligatory introduction of the podcasters.
The pedophilia industry in Cebu seems to be alive and kicking. Naturally, Cebu-native Mike Chan chose to turn a blind eye against the very trade that corrupts the island’s young people.
La Tegola is a great restaurant! Try to eat there when you go to Cebu.
Benj is fat. Benj disagrees Read more:Podcast
Taas Noo 2007-05-31 08:42:27 Sa wakas ay may nangahas na sambitin ang aking ngalan sa kanyang pahina sa malawak na sapot pandaigdig. Maraming salamat kay Doktora Tess Termulo at Ginoong Alex Maximo sa kanilang paanyaya.
Ang lahing Pilipino ay napatanyag na sa buong mundo dahil sa angking katangian ng mga mamamayang nagmula sa Pilipinas. Sa tulong ng tiyaga at natural na talento, naabot ng mga Pilipino ang tugatog ng tagumpay sa iba’t ibang larangan sa sining, palakasan at pulitika. Sa kasamaang palad, hindi na masyadong maningning ang bansang Pilipinas sa paningin ng mundo. Sa kabila nito, dapat parin nating ipagpunyagi ang ating sariling bayan at ipagmalaki ng taas noo na tayo’y mga Pilipino.
Upang masmaayos maipabatid sa masnakakarami ang pangangailangan na ipagmalaki ang ating kasaysayan bilang mga mamamayan ng ating bansa, maglilista ako ng tatlong dahilan kung bakit ko nasasabi na ako’y taas noo sa pagiging Pilipino. Hindi ako susunod sa panuto sapagkat magbibigay ako ng limang
The Band That Never Was 2007-05-30 10:46:46 Early last year, I hooked up with three excellent musicians who were looking for a new frontman. After nailing the audition and co-writing seven tracks in just three sessions, I was optimistic that I found kindred spirits in music who were ready to take it to the next level.
Yes, they abandoned me/ I left them, but that’s water under the bridge now. Yes, they had one of the worst band names ever - with a grammatical error to boot! But they’re a group of great musicians. My hat’s off to them. Here are two songs that they have in their website. I sang this during some of the rehearsals but it’s not me who’s singing in the recordings.
And oh, it’s Helga’s birthday! Greet herr hurrr!
Track No.1
Save for the Oh Yeah’s, I actually like this track. I would love to perform this song in front of a live audience. It’s socio-political angst channeled into a very angry diatribe against the administration (and mind you, this was
I Lost My Blog Mojo So I’ll Just Rattle Off A Few Things 2007-05-30 02:57:44 The title speaks for itself. It’s lame and I can’t even think of things to blog about despite my recent trip to Cebu. In lieu of the obligatory travelogue and chronicles, I’d just go through a laundry list of things that I should’ve talked about in the past. Don’t worry, I’ll still blog about Cebu after my brain recovers from the deadline-beating articles that I wrote for Blog Tutorials and Froodee. Be reminded that these things will be random and the following paragraphs may not have anything to do with the previous paragraph.
I just got a new camera. It’s a Sony Cybershot DSC T100. I think it’s a perfect camera for the not-so-photographically person that I am. It doesn’t carry the steep price tag of a DSLR but it can take decent-quality pictures for this blog and family photo albums. I took 700 photos when we were in Cebu. If you’re wondering, I got the black one.
I know this is a bit out-of-season already, b Read more:Rattle
The Round Up: A Bad Week For Blogging 2007-06-04 06:45:03 The past week has been fairly bleak as far as my blogging goes. If you’ve noticed, all I’ve done all week is answer memes, express my frustrations about the band that I left/ left me, rave about an up-and-coming band as well as a legend making a comeback, perform a practical joke and update my picks for the ten emerging influential blogs of 2007. Fortunately, my it’s-so-funny-I-can’t-stop-listening-to-it podcast was also released in that span of time to somehow diffuse the mediocrity.
Now I know it’s still better than what most most blogs showcase for the world to see, *hides* but it’s a bit disconcerting at the very least. If you’re really observant, you would notice that I passed the 50000-hit mark this week and my Feedburner subscribers peaked at 61. It’s down to 56 now, but I when I got back from Cebu, it was down to 19! I have no idea why it keeps fluctuating.
I continue to put the RAT in Ratified! I’m number 80. T Read more:Blogging
Bright Club 2007-06-02 05:30:38 Thanks to Pinoyexchange’s thread for DIY musicians, I found Alvin Aleria’s Bright
Club a few month’s back. Their influences and styles seem to be very spread out, but this track Ipo-Ipo really got me hooked. According to Alvin, piracy is encouraged so I’m distributing this track to everyone without permission with a clean conscience. haha
Ipo-Ipo - Bright Club
They might be playing at Breakfast (Studio 23) one of these days. Stay tuned.
Viewed 468 times by 251 viewers
They’re back! 2007-06-02 01:15:20
Yes. They. Are. Back. And here’s the new single - Tarantula.
If you still don’t get it, it’s the Smashing Pumpkins, you oaf!
And oh, the band didn’t get back together. The only member in this picture who’s in the current program is Billy Corgan. hehe. The dude who was replaced by a drum machine is the other one. haha
Viewed 475 times by 239 viewers
Hey, It’s My Humanities Professor! 2007-06-06 11:48:51
DANCES WITH TREES: Professor Grace Odal-Devora of the University of the Philippines celebrates World Environment Day at the Angud installation in front of the CCP grounds. The celebration coincides with the launch of the “Tree for Life: 20M Seedlings for Planting,” a project that aims to surpass last year’s Green Philippine Highway’s planting of 800,000 trees. INQUIRER/REM ZAMORA
She’s in the front page of the Inquirer website! What exactly is she doing? She is performing the sayaw ng diwa (dance of essence[?]) para tawagin ang mga elemento (to call on the elements)! Yes. She actually made the entire class do this during our stint with her in Hum102! If you’ve seen me perform in my gigs, you’d know that I have no problem channeling music into movement even if I don’t dance that well myself. I chose Mudvayne’s Not Falling for my sayaw ng diwa and I tried my best to dislocate my cervical vertebrae by headbanging and contorting my Read more:Humanities
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