The ebb and flow of history is such that the scum that was washed away eventually returns to shore. The problem is, unless we are able to clean the Sea of Human Nature, it comes back thicker and in greater volume. A cursory survey of current events makes one realize that everything has happened before....
Author: Roderick Toledo (Roderick Toledo)
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Fight back
Why are we not yet fighting back against China in the West Philippine Sea? Despite the numbing regularity with which Philippine vessels are rammed, blocked, water-cannoned, shot at with flares, and the corresponding injury, deprivation and harassment suffered by our service personnel, as well as damage and theft of our government property and natural resources,...
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To buy or not to buy
Whenever I think of buying something, I try to be guided by the question “Do I really need it?” Almost always, the answer is “I don’t need it.” Not need in a physical, survival, existential sense, as I do have my basics covered. But for some reason or other, I want it. Want not necessarily...
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Lines and limitations
Time was when lines were clear. Like the lines between right and wrong, man and woman, God and the Devil. But now it is all about ambiguity, gray zone tactics, the hybrid world of virtual and real reality combined. Where are the lines? Some are purely illusory, like the infamous 10-dash line drawn by halfwits...
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My foray into muay thai
My muay thai trainer Verden says I am the oldest person “boxing” in the gym. There I am, at 68, throwing jabs and punches, knees and elbows (I haven’t worked myself up to kicking yet)—strictly no sparring—among a motley crowd of much younger people, a considerable number of them women. I have always engaged in...
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Are we related to Donald Trump?
The human genome is very close to those of other creatures like the rat or the dog even if they look very different from us. We humans also belong to different races although we all sprang from one source (Africa). Learning these, you appreciate and feel more deeply the connectedness among all the earth’s peoples...
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War between wars
My parents were shaped by World War II (my father became a young guerrilla and my mother had to flee with her family to their mountain farm), followed soon after by the Korean War (which has not officially ended), and then the Vietnam War, in all of which the Philippines was directly involved. We so-called...
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Christmas food and agricultural productivity
What do Filipino households spend most on during Christmas? You guessed it: food. The Philippines is also the country that proportionately spends the most on Christmas food, according to a 2023 worldwide survey of 23 countries by WorldRemit. The survey classified Christmas spending according to three categories: food, decorations and gifts. A Filipino household on...
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Sinistral in a dextral world
Are you left-handed or right-handed? Neither? Only recently I learned that there is a term for my handedness: mixed-handed. I write and brush my teeth left-handed and use scissors and play golf right-handed. But I think that using my right is more of an adaptation to right-handed tools. I looked it up and I read...
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The greatest source of economic and social inequality
Holding title to property is the greatest source of economic and social inequality. Holding no title of any kind, whether to property or to social or academic standing, is a sure indication of being on the fringes, a ticket to poverty. Being king or emperor, or general or president, or doctor or attorney or engineer—titles...