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
Pulling For Team Pilipinas 2007-07-27 01:13:57
I haven’t been vocal about my support for the Philippines’ Basketball Team, but I think it’s high time that we all unite as one nation under Team Pilipinas
. I had my reservations because there were players in the line-up who had questionable citizenship (i.e. Taulava and Pennisi) and that casts a shadow of doubt in the legitimacy of whatever the team will achieve. This can be big - at stake are slots in the Beijing Olympics!
Ok, I just contradicted myself in two consecutive sentences, but that’s exactly how I feel. I have very conflicting feelings regarding how we’ve formed our team and how dependent we are on foreign-bred and internationally-trained talents.
To put this into perspective, look at the line-up:
Questionable Citizenship
Asi Taulava - deported a few years ago by the DFA
Mick Pennisi
Fil-American (one Filipino parent)
Tony dela Cruz
Jayjay Helterbrand
Eric Menk
Gabe Norwood - just got his passport this week
Danny Seigle
Kelly William
I Put The “RAT” in Ratified 2007-07-26 09:33:34 Thanks to a recent tweak that Andrew made, my Ratified rank shot up the stratosphere.
I was initially disappointed to see my rating go from 79 to 138, but apparently, the disastrous drop was caused by the new move to include Feedburner stats. By activating my awareness API, Ratified was able to account for my subscribers and now, I’m at a robust 54.
If you’re on Ratified and you haven’t activated your API, do it as soon as possible. If you need more instructions, kindly go to Andrew’s blog.
Viewed 175 times by 100 viewers
Photos: A Lazy Blogger’s Secret Weapon 2007-07-26 08:55:19 Unless you can produce and capture mind-blowing shots like this guy or this guy, posting pictures is a mere strategy to tide you over during your lean season. After shamelessly resorting, to unrehearsed, unedited and unscripted video blogs, let me sink lower into the realm of totally unabashed filler blogging by posting pictures from debate training. To add to the level of scummery, I didn’t even take this shots - and it wasn’t even my camera! I’m essentially posting this straight out of an orgmate’s Multiply account! Haha.
Aya with soon-to-be-doctor Adrian Rabe. He’s taking the board exam next week and he’s still going to debate training! Thank you Aids!
Caption from Aya’s blog: The USC Chair (hey it’s our bassist Bojit) is my bitch!
Aya with Benj.
Man, do I have a tan or what?! Hehe. I love this shot. Aya, standing next to me even makes you hotter.
Mr Speaker, this is actually Robert. And Mr. Spea Read more:Blogger
, Weapon
, Secret Weapon
Vlog Three: Busy. Sort of. 2007-07-30 10:56:38
I just got a new hair cut so I was inspired to change my MyBlogAvatar. Actually, I haven’t logged in to that account since I started using Dirk (of the Dellas Mavericks!). I’m currently on a week of self-inflicted busy-hood and I’m “loving” it. Loving it in the sense that it’s only Monday today. For a more details, watch the new video message I left all of you below:
Atheista Vlog 3Uploaded by AtheistaNET
Viewed 6 times by 3 viewers Read more:Three
Team Pilipinas Beats China! 2007-07-29 06:22:18
The embattled Team Pilipinas
was able to come back against China
on the second day of competition at the FIBA Asian Championship. Led by the fearless Jimmy Alapag, Chot Reyes’ charges braved double-figure leads as late as the third quarter to come back 79-74. Alapag led all Pinoys with 25 points. Kelly Williams, Kerby Raymundo and Mark Caguioa chipped in heavily in offense and hustle in the fourth quarter to launch an inspiring assault at the lead following last night’s demoralizing loss to the Islamic Republic of Iran. With the win against China, the hope of playing in the Olympics remains alive.
China didn’t send its best team. Since they’re the hosts for the 2008 Summer Games, they will have an automatic slot in the twelve team field. Just the same, China has always done well in this tournament so much is still expected out of their Team B. The team hasn’t fared well though. China also dropped its first game against Jordan yesterday.
Tomorrow, we fac Read more:Beats
Defending Things You Don’t Believe In: Only In Debate! 2007-07-29 03:39:10 Just like what I recounted in this now-obsolete post titled Memoirs Of A Retired Collegiate Debate
r, debating really does expose you to the possibility of defending ideas and concepts - even those who you do not necessarily believe in. It becomes more challenging when you’re asked to defend things that you don’t necessarily believe in.
A few days ago, I had to be the Leader of Opposition for the motion This House would ban government funding of religious schools. The government had a fairly weird definition (the government should stop funding religious PRIVATE schools- wtf?!) so I challenged it (i.e. stated that the given definition was false and presented a better definition and clash).
What was my stand?
Since public schools are de facto Roman Catholic schools due to the inherent trappings of the church in the curriculum (praying before meals, religion classes and first communion sponsorships), it is obvious that the government is paying for the forwarding of the Catholi
Nice Going, Chot 2007-07-28 22:16:35
Ahmadinejad must be smiling now. The Islamic Republic of Iran defeated Team Pilipinas 75-69 in the classification phase of the FIBA Asian Championship.
Chot Reyes was slapped a warning for this sort of ridiculous theatrics. As usual, he’s such a drama queen. He spoiled what could have been a come-from-behind-win or a decent loss. No thanks to his unnecessary badgering of the officials down the wire, Team Pilipinas incurred a technical foul that could end up being the death blow to our dreams of playing in the Beijing Olympics.
To add insult are injuries. Asi Taulava, Danny Seigle and Jimmy Alapag all succumbed to injuries in various stages of the game.
Kudos to Kerby Raymundo and the hopefully-Filipino Mick Penissi for giving us a fighting chance.
Viewed 558 times by 338 viewers Read more:Going
I’ll Be On TV Again This Month… Not Once, But Twice! 2007-08-03 13:34:35
If seeing me for 3 seconds in this NBN telecast of the PIDC Finals left you wanting to see more of me, please leave a comment and I’ll have a restraining order furnished first thing in the morning.
If you would prefer something else other than that option, try this one for size. I (yes, Benj of Atheista.net) will be on the Square Off - that debate show on ABS-CBN News Network on August 8 and August 22. Both shows will be live. If you want to see how my 3 seconds of fame extends to about 45 seconds or so, watch it from 8 to 9 PM. Barring disability, death or an attack from a rabid groupie, I will be there to adjudicate two rounds of heart-stopping American Parliamentary debate.
Again
, it’s going to be live. Benj on live TV does open the door to a lot of possibilities right? Haha. Of course, I’m haggling with the people behind the show to show my URL instead of my real name when they introduce me.
And oh, good luck to everyone who’s taking the Medical Bo Read more:Month
, Twice
Popping Zits Can Kill You! 2007-08-03 11:27:33
Back in my freshman year in medical school, we were repeatedly told back in Otorhinolaryngology (the new term for ENT) and Dermatology that popping acne is a no-no. It’s not just about the atrophic (crater-like) scars that bad pimples could produce. According to the lecturers, the act of squeezing pus out of your infected hair follicles (that’s what a pimple is) can introduce bacteria to the cavernous sinus - a mesh of thin-walled blood vessels that are close to the sphenoid bone. These vessels drain an imaginary triangle with your nose smack at the middle. What does that mean?
Well, the cavernous sinus is also in contact with the brain.
If you refuse to accept the obvious, let me run it down for you.
When your follicle gets infected, you develop a pimple.
If your pimple is inside the cavernous triangle and you pop it, you introduce bacteria to the cavernous sinus.
The cavernous sinus is very close to the brain, so bacteria can spread h Read more:Popping
Emerging and Influential: Irrenconcilable? 2007-08-02 10:26:32
In my book, to be influential means, at a minimum, being able to offer a fresh take on old stuff AND getting people to appreciate the innovation. When somebody makes you see things in a new light, or creates a niche where none has existed before, or blazes a trail that has others enthusiastically following in his or her wake, that’s being influential. - Gibbs Cadiz, oldest Filipino blogger
Everything said and done, I believe that the project is a failure due to the nuances of definining ‘influential’ both from Ms Toral and the participants. If the project was called The Top Ten Most Popular Filipino Blogs of 2007, then this failure might have been avoided since what is popular is easier to define than what is influential. Had the list of influential bloggers lived up to its name, a significant contribution to the PInoy blogging community would have been achieved. But that is not the case. - Liz
Admittedly, the terms “emerging” and “influent
The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 Dinner 2007-08-02 06:56:51
Pasado na ba ang panga ko, Coy?
I initially planned on waiting for people to blog about last night’s event so I could leech pictures from them, but since Rick Manzano of Project Manila has yet to post his shots (and yeah, his domain expired! it’s back on!), I’ll have to post my thoughts about the event devoid of photos - at least for the time being.
Before going further, I would like to share that something catastrophic happened! My Feedburner subscribers dwindled to half overnight! I need help! Pad my stats. Hehe. Click here and subscribe! Thanks.
I didn’t expect to arrive in time for the Max’s dinner, but fortunately, our afternoon case presentation for gastrointestinal pathologies ended early - it was supposed to end 5 PM but we were off by 330. After taking a quick shower (you know, to wash off the potentially fatal pathogens that stick to medical student throughout the course of the day), I hopped on to the LRT and MRT. I went straight to Read more:Blogs
, Dinner
Help Me Go To The World Championships! 2007-08-05 05:06:17
This December, debaters and adjudicators from all over the world will go to Assumption University in Thailand for the the World
s Universities Debate Championship. Being a tenacious debater myself, I would really love the opportunity to go there and compete under the banner of UP Manila and of course, under the flag of the Philippines. Unfortunately, tournaments require money and I have yet to raise the amount needed to fund my trip to Thailand.
If you would like to help me go to the WUDC, please leave a comment to this post. Thanks. I would truly appreciate it.
Omnia Supra Ratio!
Viewed 267 times by 166 viewers Read more:Championships
A Long Overdue Whoredom Post 2007-08-05 03:08:08 I remember promising these people that I would endorse and promote their blogs, but for some reason, I totally forgot about it - until today, that is. Knowing that you (yes, you oh-dear-loyal-reader-you) gamely support that the blogs that I plug in this corner of cyberspace, let me give you a couple of other blogs to check out.
Jim is one opinionated fellow. Since he became a member of the UP Manila Debate Circle, there has been no shortage of communist and leftist rhetoric in the organization’s mailing list. Despite adhering to a passe and intrinsically-flawed doctrine, Jim writes liberally - i.e. relatively free from the unwritten rules of brevity. If you want to check out how the future of Philippine punditocracy is developing, check out Politics For Breakfast. He is currently planning a coup to unseat Manolo from his job at The Explainer. Wehehe.
Mica has long been a reader of this blog. Aside from writing on her own blog, she has also started a blog to let other people
Enduro Cup 2007 2007-08-05 01:24:40 De Lasalle University hosted the first Enduro Cup yesterday (August 4, 2007). The competition (slash cross-training) drew the participation of University of the Philippines - Manila, University of the Philippines-Diliman, University Of Santo Tomas, Lyceum Of The Philippines, Mapua College and De Lasalle University. My institution (UP Manila) sent six teams that had two debaters each. In a totally unprecedented event, the UP Manila Debate Circle opted to send applicants (yes, members-to-be/ applicants-soon-to-be-rejected) as debaters and adjudicators to the event.
The teams were as follows (scores in parentheses):
Team A - Ciacia and Lee (7 points out of a possible 9 - 3rd overall)
Team B - Benj and Alvina (6 points - 6th overall)
Team C - Anzen and Keith (4 points)
Team D - Robin and Robert (8 points - Enduro Cup Champions)
Team E - Darwin and Don (3 points - not bad, Don is an applicant!)
Team F - Neko and Japi (a team of two applicants! Good job!)
From last week’s
The Unofficial Square Off! Draw 2007-08-09 10:00:57 I’m not too sure if this holds, but assuming that Sir Martin Cortez and Patricia Evangelista gave me the correct information - and assuming I understood it correctly, here’s the draw for Square
Off!
Again, this is UNOFFICIAL. I’ve already sent a copy of this draw to the producers to verify if I got it right.
Viewed 140 times by 79 viewers
The Opinion “Defense” 2007-08-09 06:25:43 I’ve noticed one sentence that gets used and abused more than the 35 peso whores in Luneta.
I’m entitled to my opinion.
It doesn’t really matter if it’s here or abroad. This is a line that gets thrown around the blogosphere at least a couple of hundred times a day. Apparently, just because somebody contests the validity of an opinion, it’s already an attack against the right of an individual to have an opinion. If you would look at it closely, digression to a certain opinion is also an opinion - albeit a corollary of a constructive case for another personal opinion.
Therefore, a reaction to an opinion is still an opinion.
This is why it puzzles me why people keep on invoking the I’m-entitled-to-my-opinion defense. The entitlement to an opinion is universal and it is not something that terminates with the original opinion. A person who wishes to react to another idea is just as entitled to say his piece as long as he’s aware that the entitlem Read more:Defense
The Square Off Experience 2007-08-09 01:25:04 It was raining hard.
Manila was flooded.
My parents weren’t exactly helpful. They weren’t willing to take me to Quezon City.
I had to commute. And yes, commute I did. I had to go on a treacherous obstacle course to find the only remaining non-inundated patches of asphalt along Taft Avenue in hopes of catching a ride to the ABS-CBN Studios.
Buses were hard to come by. As expected España Avenue was flooded and a lot of public utility vehicles were deterred from going through the low-lying areas of Manila. Luckily, an aircon bus passed by and I was able to get on board.
It was crazy.
There were at least 25 people standing in the aisle. It was probably one of the longest 90 minute stretches of my life - it was a cacophony of acerbic remarks to the driver who kept on taking more passengers, the cries of whiny young women you couldn’t get through the sea of people standing on the aisle and insensitive grunts of a manly woman shoving the crying and already upset passengers Read more:Square
Squaring Off! Stolen Shots 2007-08-11 08:01:17
Posing next to the Studio 6 sign. I was obviously taking instructions for this shot. This was shot after the show. While the debaters were asking for points of information from the Chair Adjudicator, I was busy fooling around. They did ask for my comments eventually.
The adjudicators were huddled up in a room in the office complex. This was post-make-up. Yes, we had to wear make-up. Wahaha
These pictures were taken by Patricia Evangelista and are being posted on this blog without her consent. Thank you for taking great shots Patricia. :p See you next time.
And yes, I’m once again appealing to the generous people of the blogosphere to help me go to the World Universities Debate Championship. Thank you to those who have pledged their support. HELP ME!!!
Viewed 191 times by 119 viewers
Public Humiliation Public Health Lecture! 2007-08-10 08:27:31
Aside from saving lives, medical students also have the role of educating people about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Due to this, departments in the Philippine General Hospital routinely require students to do PublicHealth
Lectures in the Out Patient Clinic. Patients and their companions are usually very appreciative of the things you have to say, but for most people, it’s terrifyingly embarrassing, right?
I may be shameless when it comes to speaking in public, but I couldn’t even do what these guys did. Hopefully, this song and dance number helped the people learn about Dengue Fever.
Viewed 349 times by 181 viewers
Square Off! Update 2007-08-15 15:43:52 The third round for ABS-CBN News Channel’s Square
Off! aired live last night. Second seed University of Philippines Diliman squared off against fifteenth seed Mindanao State University - Marawi City to determine the next quarterfinalist. Diliman was represented by Melissa Sayoc and PIDC finalist Claire Jiao. After almost half an hour of intense debating on the topic of the efficacy of the party list system, the speakers from Quezon City emerged victorious.
As you can see, UP Diliman will now await the winner of the round between Ateneo de Davao and Lyceum of the Philippines.
During the first octofinals match, Ateneo de Manila won over the Western Mindanao State. They are now awaiting the survivor of the match between San Beda and College of Saint Benilde.
In the second round, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines beat the University of Santo Tomas. They will square off against the winner of the round between UP Manila and Ateneo de Zamboanga in the quarterfinals.
Next Read more:Update
Lost. 2007-08-15 14:12:26 He cried loudly. He could have been heard from across the halls.His shrieks were echoed by the other inhabitants of the basinets and incubators.
Seeing how tiny he was, it was easy to surmise that he’s a newborn. He looks like he’s still months away from standing up. Other than his cries, he utters no words. Only hours of silence separate his pained episodes of sorrowful agony. With the way his wailing resonated and bounced off the walls of the well-lit room, it almost seemed like he was asking for help.
You see, the boy has been in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit since November of last year. He has been here since the day he was born.
One look at his thick medical record folder shows the constellation of symptoms and medical issues that the baby has.
One look at him would break your heart.
He has microcephaly. He also has a mass that fungates from the bridge of his nose. On the back of his head, a pig-tail like structure juts out. His mouth, lips and palate is deformed w
Poignant 2007-08-15 03:14:00 Ok, this was stolen from Jon’s blog.
This comment made by Toni (who unfortunately failed to leave a URL) just hits the spot, I think.
You know the saying: There are no tyrants where there are no slaves.
You have a blog. You have the power. Let the “powers that be” cringe as they slowly realize their relentlessly fading influence in the blogosphere.
They might be the “parents” of Pinoy blogging, but that was just a fortunate function of being someplace at some early point in time.
But just as parents have to come to grips with the reality of quickly maturing “children”, so too does this “mafia” have to learn to give way to the youngblood of Pinoy blogging (or whatever term it may morph into in the future).
Ngayon, does this mafia exist? Oh, most definitely! But only in their minds, and only for a rapidly dwindling amount of time. 3… 2… 1…
The harder they feebly cling to immortality, the faster they’ll come face to face with their own e-mortality.
In
Rebuttals 101 2007-08-14 03:11:58 There is nothing like a good rebuttal.
For debaters this skill is one of the most crucial in ensuring a win. Debate is not just about pushing forward constructive cases to promote your side’s main contentions. It’s also important to show the adjudicators that you have the mettle to react and dynamically respond to the constructive arguments that the other side would present. Unfortunately, in the Philippine blogosphere, a lot of people resort to really bad rebuttals (those that do a grave disservice to their own brains).
Rebuttals do not necessarily nullify the value of a point, but when it’s done properly and competently, it can diminish the value of an argument to a level that the opponents’ point loses weight relative to your own team’s own cases.
To make an effective, believable and compelling rebuttal, you must debunk the idea on the basis of principle. You must deal with the point head on and not skirt to other details that are 1) not related or
A Boy Was Once 13… 2007-08-13 14:02:12 Ederic shared what he did when he was 13 via Twitter and despite the obvious undertone of the message in reference to the current hot topic in the Philippine Blogosphere, I think it’s quite clear that there’s a need to further nuance what a thirteen year-old kid can do.
X years ago (*yikes*), a particular boy was a high school sophomore at the UP Rural High School in Los Baños. Back then, the school had a special program for students who showed exemplary promise with the English language and creative writing in their freshman year. Due to some stroke of luck, the lanky kid was lucky enough to make it to this class - the Advanced English class. Aside from being the select few who will be groomed for the ultimate responsibility of manning the school paper for our senior year (this was the real deal, there was funding for 6 issues and our grades depended on the output), inclusion into the class also carried a distinct level of status. The system undoubtedly promoted a
A Crash Course On Leukemia 2007-08-13 09:55:21 This morning, I was able to be of service to JS, a 29 year-old father of three. He looked fairly healthy and if I saw him on another setting, I wouldn’t have known that he’s afflicted with a potentially life-threatening disease. But JS was not here to ask what disease he has. He knows what he’s up against and he’s been fighting it since last year.
4 years PTC – The patient noted the appearance of pin-point rash-like lesions on the volar aspect of the forearm and anterior thigh. The lesions appeared spontaneously without precipitating factors. The lesions became migratory, increasing in size and resembled hematoma. They resolved without any intervention and consult. No fatigue, weight loss or loss of consciousness was noted.
2 years PTC – The patient noted a growing abdominal mass on the left flank. The mass was non-tender, firm and wood-like in consistency. Early satiety, anorexia, weight loss, palpitations and gum bleeding were also noted.
14 months PTC Read more:Leukemia
, Crash Course
The Country’s Youngest Doctor Will Not Give You A Blood Transfusion 2007-08-19 10:55:05 Yup, that’s right. But no, he doesn’t do it because he wants to see people bleed to death- he’s simply practicing one of the tenets of his religion. He just celebrated his 23rd birthday - oh wait, he couldn’t, again, it’s disallowed in his religion — but Doctor
Adrian Rabe of the UP College of Medicine Class of 2007 is clearly beyond his age in years. Aside from being a superb medical student, he’s also an accomplished collegiate debater (easily one of the best speakers from UP Manila for quite some time now) and athlete (!).
So considering the credentials of Dr. Rabe, it’s fitting that he gets a good blurb from a daily, right? Well, that didn’t happen. It was a major debacle.
News / Breaking News
MANGALDAN, Pangasinan–He’s no Doogie Howser, the fictional teenage doctor in the popular ’90s American sitcom, but whenever Adrian Paul Rabe makes his roun Read more:Country
, Blood
The Duality Of Belief: The Simplified Version 2007-08-19 06:10:45 The great thing with spending considerable time with a group of outspoken and culturally-diverse people is that you’ll get a good pulse on why certain people believe certain things and others don’t. Of course, such conversations are limited to those who are also willing to listen to something that is not natural to his/her belief system. Intellectual convergence is always a good thing as long as it entails the objective and organized presentation of ideas. Friendly banter and light rebuttals always make the exchange more lively, but it’s comparative theology that just makes the session not only engaging but also educational.
I think it’s all about predilections. And how are these predilections formed? Since I won’t exactly put my neck on the line by saying that religious belief has a genetic component *gasp*, it’s more logical to think that belief is a function of one’s upbringing and the general set of values, ideas and concepts that an ind Read more:Duality
Goodbye NBN… Oh Wait, HELLO AGAIN! 2007-08-18 11:31:45
Yes, NBN. You’re dead to me.
Thanks in large part to Typhoon Sepat (Egay to those with a heightened sense of nationalism), my much-anticipated, much-talked-about (wahaha) August 20 NBN taping for some debate show on the nation’s most watched network is no longer feasible due to conflicts in schedule.
For the benefit of the non-students (and those reading this abroad), classes have been canceled since Wednesday. The final examination for my first rotation - Internal Medicine - was initially move to Saturday morning. Due to another announcement on the suspension of classes today, the department has no choice but to give the exam on Monday morning (August 20). This was supposedly a holiday to commemorate the 24th year anniversary of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination. Of course, the real date of the anniversary is the 21st but being veterans of the Gloria prerogative to change the day of holidays from the actual date of occurrence, no one seems to question this anymore. Incid Read more:Goodbye
First, ANC. Second, NBN. Next, THE WORLD! 2007-08-16 13:03:23
In line with my goal of hosting Wowowee by years end, I have once again committed to another debate-related TV appearance. After adjudicating for ANC’s Square Off! last week, I’ll be debating against students from De Lasalle University on Monday (August 20). Apparently, we’ll be doing two debates because they want to shoot for two episodes. Does this mean we have to wear different sets of clothes for the two debates? Darn. We all know that NBN4 is the most watched channel in the country according to the ratings and they’ll definitely notice if I use the same clothes for two episodes.
Unlike Square Off!, the NBN show will not be live. I still don’t know when it’s going to be shown.
We’re going to debate on motions regarding this whole make-Mondays-holidays-shtick (lame…lame…) and medical field-related motion (yay!). I still don’t know which side we’re going to take and we’re going to be using the utterly icky Read more:First
, Second
At The End Of The Day, I Think It Was A Good Idea 2007-08-16 09:10:27 Although I’ve already voiced out my opinions regarding the name of Janette Toral’s now-controversial writing project, I think at the end of the day, it produced more good than harms for the Philippine Blogging Community (from now on, I vow to use this term instead of the more popular and tacky compound word).
Granted, certain winners campaigned like crazy to get the votes. I have seen this myself. Tagboards became talking advertorials and became nothing more than just display boxes for copy-pasted sales pitches.
And yes, you can contest that there were problems in getting the word out (of the Philippines) and make it more representative of the blogs that were launched during the contest period.
But here’s the deal. The Philippine Blogging Community, just like everything else in society, works in an artificial hierarchy where seniority plays a huge deal. There is nothing special with this because it only mirrors a lot of the norms that we see aroun
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