Mass Hysteria Mom

I know my mom loves me and my siblings. I also know that moms would always be the most paranoid creatures in the universe. I can feel the love but sometimes I just want to take my mom by the arms and tell her to not believe everything she receives on her phone or sees on television.

I don't know if there would be any truth to the whole radiation leak and acid rain hooplah. But what I really want to do right now (well, I felt it since last night) is to bash the thumbs of the idiots who type messages then send it to people who are gullible enough under the circumstances and make them think that the world would end next year or that the rain would be bad for you.

The rain in this country has been bad for the people for decades now. Hello? You are just afraid of it now? Are you kidding me. *tries to regain posture*

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/pagasa-denies-rumors-acid-rain-ph-japan-20110313-221400-442.html

I really can't believe that there are people who would say "IDGAF" and still live with themselves. I would make her an internet pariah if I was that powerful.

I am not just saying this because I am an otaku, but we need to think of good things to say and do at times like this. Darn it, Japan literally went down and the day got shorter so why waste your time saying the stupidiest things?

Given that I say stupid things all the time, but really, draw a line in the sand, or drown in your own bile. It'll be good for all of us. And I am sure none of us would GAF.

Some jokes are funny. Others are just plain untimely.

Acid rain isn't what we should be worried about or the radiation leaks. It's the leak in the brain or morality of people that we should really worry about. It really ticks me off.

My students were worried about me when the earthquake and tsunami news hit their screens. I was grateful and I asked them if they were worried about anyone they knew who were in Japan. Luckily the people that they did know are safe. One of my students has a brother who is working in Tokyo. Their mom begged her brother to come back to Korea. I remembered my parents not so subtle ways of suggesting that I go back to Batangas to work and make a life for myself. Next time that happens I'd tell her that I am scared of getting washed out. But I would probably get an earful. My mom is not a big fan of back-talk. ^.^

In any case, I am glad that I had my mom to update me, my boyfriend to try to appease and my online friends who posted useful links that I can read about what is going on. If a person who is on the other side of the world can wonder how I am and worry if I am in trouble because of what happened in Japan, he's neither an offline friend or someone I would ever meet in this lifetime in person, I wonder how can those ingrates say the dumbest things and make fun of a catastrophe?

If those who are supposed to hate them because of the history behind the two people can help, how can you just be snide and arrogant about it?

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2933463

Nature and Man's Rage

japan

indonesia

'Hang in there Japan. You can overcome the disaster!'

I couldn't think of what to place as a title for this article. All I could think about was that my own city is near the sea. And if anything like this happen I would see my father's Estrada on the street toppled over. I close my eyes and try to go to my happy place. I couldn't think of that, I was relieved when someone said that we had low tide around the time the tsunamis hit. I would know later once I read more news about what happened. As of press time, I have read one article about the thing that happened in Japan. It was bullet points compared to the images my mother probably saw. Being herself, she would have worried extensively about where we are at the moment. The odd thing was when this was all happening, I was hanging out with my officemates in a restaurant. One of my officemates mom kept asking if we were okay since we worked on the 33rd floor. We told her that we were fine and that there is no need to worry that the tsunami can affect us. But like a survivor of many disasters she asked, "What if it reaches us?"

The thing is that the Japanese already brush earthquakes off. They already know what to do and what to expect. But things can still turn for the worse even if you are well-prepared. The added fear of nuclear meltdowns didn't exactly help. It's the bodies of old and young people that breaks the hearts of those in their homes.

Ico asked my why they would show images of the disaster so vividly. He said that it shouldn't be the case since it spreads panic.

I explained to him that it spread nothing but information. I know how local newsmen are. They tend to go for the gut when they report news like this. The Filipinos are easily touched by images of impending doom. But it helps to be a little paranoid. Maybe if we are we would prepare more. And that would ultimately save more lives.

I wasn't as afraid for the Japanese as I was afraid for my ex and my friend who were in Jeddah and Riyadh/Bahrain respectively.

My friend said that there might be a media black out, protests, and all that stuff so they are packing water and food. I still haven't asked my friend how things are. But my ex has already said that he was okay. I hope they are still okay up until now.

http://www.theworld.org/2011/03/saudi-arabia-day-of-rage/
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110311-713231.html
Bahrain
Libya
Yemen 
Riyadh

I didn't know that it was going to be so widespread. The things that have been happening in that part of the world makes me worry about H as well. She is in Bahrain, M is in Jeddah amongst other friends who I met because of PEBA, two of my aunts are in Dubai, while Ico's dad is in Qatar. The domino effect of the Egypt situation is actually causing so much unrest in that part of the world. (Come to think of it this might have been even the after effect of the thing that happened in Thailand). As much as some students of mine are worried about nature recking havoc to the islands around the Pacific, I am worried about man causing another person harm because of the difference in opinion, disposition and level of understanding.

But there was not a lot of news about what happened or what is happening since those information are blocked. Ico's dad said that they are actually more scared because the information in the newspaper are not accurate. Of course the internet is highly filtered in that part of the world, so it's hard to get accurate updates. It's the fear of the unknown that keeps people in the dark. It keeps them on their toes and creates a charged atmosphere. I can only imagine how scary it is for their wives, families and children to imagine them not being together and being in such an environment. As if it wasn't enough to be a foreigner in a land where people seemingly live in luxury but are actually oppressed by their own government. At the very least here we can still scream in protest without the fear that we would be massacred on the street. But then again, we have GMA to thank in increasing the number of political killings during her "reign".

I feel bad for the victims of the earthquake and the tsunamis. But I feel worse for those who continue to live in fear of people who are supposed to be protecting them. Japan and the other countries push hope and love into our hearts. As for the Middle Eastern countries, I can only wonder if talking would actually help them or are protests just suicide.

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Check out before and after shots of the tsunami hit areas