[Blog Review] PINOY, makinig ka!

Na madinig siya ng mga Pinoy - tila ito ang nais ng kasulatang ito:

The Filipino Today, by Alex Lacson

Siguro, ang layunin ng may-akda ay marangal.  Ngunit hindi ko pa rin nagustuhan ang kanyang katha. Kasi, una, kung gusto mo talagang makatulong at marinig ka ng kapwa mo Pinoy, aba e dapat gamitin mo ang wikang Filipino.

At heto na naman ang isang maling propaganda na pinapakalat ng may akda: na magaling ang Pinoy. Hindi po. Tulad na ng mga halimbawa niya, may ilan-ilang magagaling na Pinoy.  At hindi dahil Pinoy sila.  Aba e kung magaling ang Pinoy, bakit hindi nagtagumpay si Capt. Mendoza na makuha ang kanyang mga demanda sa kanyang tinangkang hostage crisis?  O di kaya ang mga pulis nung panahon na yon, lamang sila sa numero laban kay Capt. Mendoza--bakit nila napabayaang may mamatay na mga inosenteng sibilyan na silang mga turistang banyaga pa man din?  Aba e kung magaling ang Pinoy, bakit nagka-abusadong Martial Rule tayo sa ilalim ni dating Pangulong Marcos?  Madami tayong pwedeng itukoy na mga tila hindi "magagaling" na mga kapatid natin.

Tulad ng mga halimbawa ng may-akda, totoong may ilang magagaling na Pinoy.

Pero ito po ay dahil nagsikap sila.

Tignan mo na lang si Manny Pacquiao. World Champion. Pinoy, hindi po ba?  Ngunit, World Champion po ba siya dahil siya ay Pinoy?  Hindi po.  Bakit ang kapatid na niya mismo na siyang "boxer" din na si Bobby Pacquiao, hindi nakakamit ang mga tagumpay na tulad ni Manny?  World Champion po si Manny dahil po mas nagsumikap si Manny sa kapatid niya o sa kahit sinumang Pinoy.  Yun lang po yon. 

Kung gusto talaga natin umunlad, IKAW mismo, kapwa Pinoy, ang dapat magsumikap.  IKAW mismo ang dapat may gawin.  Hindi mo pwedeng sabihin na lang na dahil Pinoy ka, magaling ka na.  Lalo na kung wala ka pa namang pinapala.  Kapag nagsumikap ka at tunay na magaling ka na nga, tsaka mo ipag-mayabang na Pinoy ka.  Kasi pwede lang tayo maging "proud to be Pinoy" kapag ang mga kapwa Pinoy ay tunay nga na "proud" para sa atin, o na maipagmamayabang nga tayo.  Tulad niyang mga tinutukoy na mga indibidwal na mga tao sa kasulatan na aking nabanggit - tayong mga Pinoy ay "proud" sa kanila at sa kanilang mga ginawa - mga tulong sa ibang tao, mga imbensyon nakakapagpa-unlad ng buhay ng ibang tao, mga panalo sa mga isports, atbp.  Sana lang ay "proud to be Pinoy" pa nga din po tayo kapag tayo ay may nakamit na.

Ang "keyword" po talaga, ay hindi "Pinoy."  Ang "keyword" po ay "gawa."

"Cliche" na ito ngunit, ayun talaga ang tanong e: Ano na ba talaga ang nagawa o ginagawa mo para maipagmalaki ka ng iyong pamilya, ng iyong komunidad, ng iyong inang bayan?

Note: For our international readers, pardon the use of our own language.  Those who speak our language, after all, is my intended audience for the above.  And that English-writing Filipino author, who apparently, I critiqued also an article back in this link.  Of course, you can always use Google Translate or some other online translation service, although it is usually an imperfect translation.

[Blog Review?] How to cope with calamity?

Last year I came across this article: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20091012-229701/How-to-cope-with-calamity

My reaction: Yeah right!  The things the writer said are all truths.  But they are not actually helping people who are ACTUALLY affected by calamity.  There are some "helpful information" there on what you should do BEFORE an actual calamity happens.  So if I were already affected by calamity, what do I do now considering I did not know yet of these things?  Of course newspaper article writers are paid to write articles, not to REALLY help people.  Not well thought out.  There must be better articles out there.

I say this as one who was affected by calamity (specifically Typhoon Ondoy), and I did not find this article helpful at all.

Sushi served Nyotaimori-style

This may give you an impression that the Japanese are weird. That's because you have a Western/non-Japanese background.

But yeah, in Christian contexts, this is a no-no, as you (usually males) are putting yourself in a situation where you could be tempted, at least to entertain thoughts violating "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife..." or "Thou shalt not commit adultery..."

Anyway, read this article first: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/style/2008/10/naked-sushi.html

Did you know? The French are predominantly Catholic.

Anyways, it turns out it's somewhere between US$ 100 to 300 to do this, and that's exclusive of something like a mandatory tip of 18% and taxes, and other extras. No, this is legal, and no, you can't touch the "plate." You do have chopsticks. But it would be rude as you are here to eat sushi in a different way.

Of course there are places-a-plenty like this in Japan. Anyway, if you're in New York, check out this out:

http://www.nyotaimori-ny.com/

[RAW] Web access via e-mail

This might be confusing for some of you - Google gets confused itself about this.

When I was searching for a web-to-mail service, all I got from Google was links to mail-to-web services such as, well, www.mail2web.com, and Gmail, etc.

Somehow, somewhere, maybe through Google also, I was able to find www.web2mail.com. It's a relatively new service and in fact, the same website didn't used-to-offer the service; it was providing other services. Nonetheless, I could now shout:

"Eureka!"

At the office, I am not able to access the web because management saw other people opening up their Yahoo! mail during office hours. Well, you still can't check your Yahoo! mail through this service, but you can get other (static) web pages which contain much needed (or much wanted) information!

Downside? It only downloads the HTML (the text); it doesn't download images. I hope they upgrade this soon.

[CPC websites]

[Movie Review] [Blog Review] Transformers (2007)

(This is a reaction to a critic of the movie at http://mikeabundo.com/2007/06/28/optimus-prime-was-robbed/)

I’m a Transformers fan, now in my 30s, and I liked this movie very much, because it is very 2007. And yeah, I’m just an ordinary guy who loves movies, like the rest of us, and I’m no movie/film critic like you are because to do that is difficult. I just give thumbs up or thumbs down or thumbs sideways to movies. I just either say, “I like the movie,” or “I don’t like the movie,” or “it’s an ‘okay’ movie.”

This is now one of my (personal) favorite movies. But I’d have to watch it again (on the boob-tube), because the original Transformers The Movie of the 80’s doesn’t feel as high-impact as when I first saw it. Maybe because it’s the 21st century now.

From your previous posts, it seems that you dislike Hollywood and its creations. I think one thing (not the only thing) that Hollywood is about is business and making money by providing entertainment, and here they are with a movie that will enable them to do just that. In that sense, they are going to achieve their goal and are thus successful with this movie, and kudos to that. I think it is unfair to look at all Hollywood films with the same eyes we use to look at an art film or paintings and so on at an art gallery. We’re free to do that, but I just personally think it’s not fair.

I also noticed the product placements and I see (and have read) that this is the future (read: 2007 and beyond) of advertising. I don’t see nothing wrong with that.

I did not notice how much more of the humans were shown, more than the Transformers. But I personally don’t find anything wrong with that. That’s what they wanted, they (the producers) risked money to do that, and again we’ll see if it was worth the risk - which will be determined by the “vote” of the millions who will watch the movie and buy the DVD in the future. Plus, I think it’s also a ploy to make us want to see more of the Transformers - and it seems it’s working - and they already actually have plans for a sequel.

Optimus Prime getting robbed? Again, I don’t see nothing wrong with that. I think Optimus Prime beating up Megatron and sacrificing his life to save mankind - that’s so Transformers cliche and I think that’s what we all expected. So Sam “saving” Prime and the world was a twist, and perhaps, the twist of this 2007 movie. Was that insulting to Cybertronians? Well, I wish I could actually read minds of Cybertronians, but I can’t.

My concern right after the movie was - because I so want to see a sequel - is… what is going to be the story in the sequel? And who’s going to be there? Is it going to be as interesting as this one? When is it going to come out!?? It ought to be better, of course, because it’s the second one. Actually, I want them to create a series! But, that shall be their decision. Maybe if I had money, I can tell them what to do and not to do.

By the way, what Hollywood-produced live-action movie of comics or cartoon origins has been faithful to their original comics or cartoon characters or stories? I’m not good with movie trivia, but right now, I don’t remember any.

My overall thoughts on your comments: Welcome to 2007.

Oh, and I congratulate you, because your post is so controversial - that’s how to make money on the web with blogs. I wonder now if that was partially your intention? If so, congratulations! I honestly dream of writing my own controversial blog post in the future myself. :D

[sub-labels: CPC blogs, CPC movies]

[Blog Review] Yet another review on a Couch Kamote blog post (about the Filipino culture)

first, read this article, entitled "(Mis)leading by example":

http://digitalsolutions.ph/couchkamotereviews/misleading

and then here are my comments:

---

yes, i really think anywhere in the world - countries, companies, families - it all depends on the leadership. we are all bad (or good) citizens, employees, or children, because we were brought up that way, intentionally or not, directly or indirectly.

so really, we can't do anything about our leaders or our past. let's just make sure that we do not commit the same leadership mistakes when we become politicians or government heads, CEOs or supervisors, and father or mother.

by the way, why the POA? because we were programmed that way. read this:

http://www.counterpunch.org/gray10052005.html

---

hmmm, i think this should be in the thoughts blog.

[sub-labels: CPC blogs]

[Blog Review] Reaction to The Coach Kamote's blog post "How Pinoys Retire"

Are you Pinoy? Read this article:

http://digitalsolutions.ph/couchkamotereviews/how_pinoys_retire

Here is my reaction (supposedly a comment i will post) to that article:

-----

hi. i've forgotten now how i came across your website, but i thought of searching for "couch kamote" again to find your site, because i was interested to see if the ideas of "coach kamote" and my "coach potato" have any similarities. and through some clicking and clicking, i came across this blog post of yours.

my comment: ditto! i can truly relate to that. right now, although i am a little bit confident that my mom and perhaps my brother and i will be able to pay off this debt we have to acquire this certain property, i really thought that something else could have been done with the money that has been put into paying off this debt and the huge interest.

robert kiyosaki's philosophy come to mind again. save money, invest them in "assets" (real estate and/or businesses and other investments that can give you regular income), then use the earnings from your assets to buy your "liabilities" - your doodads, big toys, luxuries, and homes.

anyway, a friend said, "i think it's in their generation also - the post-war-born generation that experienced martial law and repression while they were in the prime of their youths."

alas, i myself am "stuck" with my mother who is expecting me and my brother to take care of her when she retires (approximately 5 years from now), and more than that, she expects me (and my brother) to shoulder her future around-the-world traveling expenses.

and so i am practically in the same predicament as you, except that i haven't yet "escaped" into marriage. i am looking at my potential salary (when i get work; i am presently "in between jobs") - and it will not let me reach my goals. of course i can change goals but... right now, let us just say that that is very difficult to do.

and yes, like you again, i would like to not become dependent on my (future) kids when i retire. for all i will give to them, i will not expect them to give back to me when i'm retired. i want them to enjoy their own lives even if i have retired, and they will most likely be married by then.

so what can i do? kiyosaki's philosophy is to not just depend on a salary. because with the salary, you stop earning when you stop working. the same is true when you're self-employed. he suggests saving money to go into business, stocks, real estate, and other investments that could yield higher returns than just saving in the bank. he actually suggests not saving in savings deposits because the interest rate is lower than the inflation rate, and thus you are actually losing money when they stay in the bank.

i am at the verge of doing that jump from employee to entrepreneur, but unfortunately, i don't presently have an operating system that makes me capable to go into business. i've been programmed to be an employee. plus, add to that the mixed messages from my mother. she herself has not been so greatly successful in entrepreneurship, but it's not that she is not a successful consultant. she would tell me to go into business, but when an enticing employment opportunity comes up, she asks me to consider. throughout my youth, my mom, not being really an entrepreneur herself, has given us fish, but has not really taught us how to fish.

anyway, my task right now is to talk to my mom, and convince her to support me going into business. i have these ideas already that are financially sound and potentially high profit-making. if not financial support, i really only need her moral support (i.e., hopefully she will not disown me or tell me "i told you so" if ever i should fail). and then i do hope that she can also live my lifestyle of delaying gratification. that is, you know, waiting for the chance to eat ice cream and to play the toy, if i can wait not playing with the toy just yet.

on my part, that is the difficult part. my mother has earned money through her consultancy business, and has spent it and lived the corresponding lifestyle. her philosophy is, when there's money, we spend. when we don't have money, we thrift. her money is hers, after all. and then she also has some sort of mentality that she's getting old, and she might not be able to enjoy the money that she has earned...

oh anyway, i've said too much. good luck to us all, and may we be able to provide ourselves and our own familes, as well as our parents, with what they need and want!

[sub-labels: CPC blogs]

[Book Review] [Blog Review] More on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

As I've mentioned in my earlier post, there is this review of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (Site #4) that I really like, compared to another one (Site #1) which was so biased and full of hate.

Anyway, I was the first to comment on that review (Site #4), and here is what I had to say. This essentially provides my review of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but mostly, it is building on top of the review in Site #4. So go read Site #4 first.

---

Hi Trent. I would say, you wrote a great review. I like that you pointed out the good, the bad, and the ugly. I agree with everything you said.

Sometimes one person might be the holiest person in the world, but if he does one wrong thing, he gets all the crap in the world. The thing is, I did find “the good” in Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad (and in his other books and even games), but I would like to think there is no perfect book or any other product. Rich Dad Poor Dad has its many flaws, and considering that not everyone can see them as flaws (some may see them as inspiration), I guess that’s the really ugly thing about it. To me, I just take the good lessons, and leave out the bad.

Now if I may add something… The first time I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, I also got inspired. But at the same time, I felt like I was in an MLM (multi-level marketing) seminar all over again, where some guys who only held high school diplomas told us college and master’s degree holders, “You don’t need a college degree to get rich. Look at us!”, almost implying we’re stupid to even study in college. And in that same MLM group, there was also this one guy with a Lamborghini saying “I got this car after just a year working for this MLM company!”, implying that we’re stupid to be working for some other company, and not their MLM company. And did I mention, we were “fooled” by a friend who told us that seminar was just going to take an hour, and it took three hours?

Anyway, I guess that part of the book that made me feel like that, is that part you refer to as “the ugly” part.

And then in this book, Kiyosaki also suggests to go into MLM. Overall, while I was inspired by this book to do something, I had some questions that lingered in my mind. I did think I was definitely still not going into MLM, after all that insult I got from them.

If I may say something about MLM, it is also flawed in a way. It’s about selling, and expanding the network, the larger your network, the better your sales and commissions. But what if everyone became part of that MLM network, who will buy and who will sell? And who will become rich? The answer to that last question might be, the one who produces the product. So again, there’s the lesson that you also pointed out. Create a product or profit from your intellectual property.

But fine, I forgot if it’s in Rich Dad Poor Dad or in his other books, Kiyosaki somehow says that if there’s one good thing about MLMs is that, they could teach you how to sell. And I agree with him that business is all about selling, whether it’s your product, your service, your self, the business itself, and so on. And if there’s one thing that I am not good at, it’s at selling.

And fine, I might consider entering into an MLM just so I could learn how to sell (as opposed to, say, working for a company like Xerox). So I guess that’s his main selling point for joining these MLM companies.

In Kiyosaki’s last part, as you mentioned, he suggests to do some further reading and education. And then he somewhat recommends his other books, and his Cashflow games. His other books cost twice as much as Rich Dad Poor Dad (back when I first read it), and his Cashflow 101 game costs US$200 (US$300 here in my country)! Back then I thought, “This is a scam!” But I also admired the fact that it was such a great marketing tactic for his company, for himself, and for his other products. Rich Dad Poor Dad was written somewhat to appeal to many (who were not one of them “hamsters”), and it was also written to sell his other more expensive products. He indeed was a “bestselling” author, not a “best-writing” author.

Now I re-read Rich Dad Poor Dad just recently, and only because I’ve met actual people who are now earning significant passive income, courtesy of them getting inspiration from Kiyosaki’s book. But it was not without problems or risks, and without help from experienced friends and lawyer- and accountant-friends.

In fact, these guys are now doing something with practically no-money-down deals on real estate via this one technique that Kiyosaki himself has never mentioned (as far as I know). One of these people is someone who is a famous spiritual/Christian leader, and together they’re professing that God wants to bless us abundantly, that God wants us to be rich and to be able to handle being rich, and that God wants us to be rich so that we could have more to give away to those who need it more. This spiritual leader I’m talking about has goals of giving away up to 90% of what he’s earning to the poor.

So anyway, that’s them. The thing is, there are some people who are now earning more in passive income thanks to inspiration from Kiyosaki’s book. And they’re teaching and inspiring others also, they’re expanding their own network also. They have dreams of helping make 1 million millionaires in our country by 2020.

They took the good from Kiyosaki’s book, and made it even better. They did not anymore look at the bad or the ugly side; they must have just tossed it aside.

And that’s how I look at Kiyosaki’s book. And I guess thanks to this review of yours - and again I think it’s a great review - I don’t have to re-read Kiyosaki’s book all over again (except if I want to re-read his “parable”), plus I could easily see which is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because for me, I just take the good, and leave out the bad, and the ugly.

Again, thanks to this review of yours!

[sub-labels: CPC blogs, CPC books]

[Book Review] [Blog Review] All About Robert Kiyosaki, and his book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

I've recently read three blogs/articles talking about Robert Kiyosaki. In the order in which I read them are:

1. John T. Reed's analysis of Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad
2. Thinking About Money - commentary on Kiyosaki
3. The Simple Dollar - deconstructing Robert Kiyosaki
4. The Simple Dollar - review on Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Site #2 (Thinking About Money) actually provides a free download of an e-article which contains his review of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He sells the e-article for $1.99, but you can download it for free.

Anyway, I recommend reading Site #1 (J.T. Reed's site) with an open mind or hopefully it can open your mind. By the way, it's a very long article.

But I really recommend Site #2, and I agree with their review of Kiyosaki's book.

I like Sites #3 and #4 (from the same author) because it is a much shorter read than Site #1, but also because it presents both the good, and the bad, plus also the ugly.

I wrote a comment on Site #3 which follows.

---

What this site has done - is sell - using controversy! Okay, somebody just made that point a few comments earlier.

The end product of this website/webpage is a virtual forum on Kiyosaki. That John T Reed guy won’t even post everyone’s comments on his main Kiyosaki-is-Evil page. He just selectively picks comments that would support his arguments.

So before I talk about that other website (johntreed.com) again, I should say that this site or this page I guess has done something good, although I doubt that it was its primary purpose.

So now I’ll talk about another website. I like how the website looks at Kiyosaki’s books. I agree with the website owner. Like the website owner, I don’t care about Kiyosaki, or whether Rich Dad is fiction or non-fiction - the thing is, what did I get from reading his books? What could I use and not use? So visit that website and compare to the post here (thinkingaboutmoney.com).

And finally, what about those people who failed miserably after reading Kiyosaki’s advice? There are three things (I think).

First, they MAY have not understood all of Kiyosaki’s (few) points.

Second, they possibly just jumped into business without getting really prepared right after reading Kiyosaki’s book/s, and related to the first point, did not really get that part about Kiyosaki’s message.

Third, Kiyosaki says you make THAT decision to go into business, you don’t expect to (as in my second point) just throw a pair of dice and get double sixes right away. You could get lucky on the first shot, but if you don’t, you should eventually get your double sixes. The thing now is, considering the odds of getting the double-sixes, the best (or “educated” or “smart”) thing to do I think is to determine first how much money are you willing to lose, do your best within the budget you’ve set, hope for the best, and expect the worst - and manage through the worst. It’s all about management. If a business fails, it’s not the fault of the business (it doesn’t make the decisions) or external factors (duh, did you really think the world will conspire to help you out?). It’s the fault of the manager. If a car can’t bring you from point A to point B, it’s because the driver may have overlooked something, or overdid something.

Anyway, can someone really lose so much after reading Kiyosaki? He’s also told us about practically making money without using any money! I know someone who has made money - a steady monthly cashflow of close to $400 (here in my Asian country) with no money down! It just took efforts, guts, preparation, psyching up, SELLING skills, and listening to a mentor who has succeeded herself.

Well, what could you do, it is a fact of life that some people fail and they blame others for their failure. The thing is, for anything we should do, we should be prepared to do them!

So I guess I should answer the big misconception about Kiyosaki’s books: can Kiyosaki help you prepare for business? No! Kiyosaki himself professes getting more financial education, or business education, he says buy his next book or buy his game - fine you learn a few things. But really, it takes more than one book. It takes more than Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And no, the second book doesn’t have to be Cashflow Quadrant, and the third doesn’t have to be Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing. Ask a friend-slash-business-expert for advice, or ask him what books to read. Of course, experience is the number one way to learn. If you failed real bad, and got nothing left, give some thinking to what you could next to actually profit this time, and get a job (or keep your job) to keep putting food on the table.

I’ve said too much!

[sub-labels: CPC blogs, CPC books]