We just saw two films this weekend “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” and “Taken”.

I was really looking forward the first film as I’ve been a big fan of the Underworld series. The Vampires and Werewolves setup along with characters that I find interesting (Viktor) kept me wanting to see this film as soon as it comes out of DVD. The film was great, it didn’t necessarily blew me away, but it kept me in the series and wouldn’t mind watching another sequel.

The next film was “Taken”. I knew this film was successful as it made a lot of money, and got some great user reviews. So I was also interested to see this film, expecting another action film that will keep me excited and pumped up. Man! What a surprise film this turned out, it was indeed an action film, but I felt it had more emotion in the action than the other film. No vampires or werewolves that kick each other, just some very very very angry father trying to get to his daughter. Maybe the connection here was because of the relationship that it established in the earlier part of the film (which I felt was enough since this was an action film). Liam Neeson the good ol’ wise Jedi from Star Wars I plays the father role here, but he has none of those Jedi-like wisdom in handling his adversaries here, let’s just say he handles them appropriately. The film moves in a fast pace keeping you waiting for the next scene. Good ol’ action fun, but the story behind it is very concerning, the events that unfolded and the men behind them were certainly more vicious (specially for parents) than Vampires and Werewolves.

I’m not a financial genius, not a millionaire (not even close) and probably what I have here you already know — but I’ll write it anyway

Wanted to share some thoughts/strategies on what so far works for us (the wife and I) when it comes to finances and becoming financially independent. I’ve tried to make it concise as possible with just three main items.

First, make sure you save regularly (paying yourself first) and make it automatic. Money you don’t see, should be money you won’t spend. Start with like 5% of your gross paycheck every month and try to increase this as your paycheck grows. Shoot for at least 10%. Make sure you separate retirement savings with your liquid savings. Liquid savings should be at least 6 months of your living expenses, while retirement savings should be something that should not be touched.

Second, live below your means. If you can’t pay for your stuffs, can’t pay your credit card in full every month, then it means you can’t afford it and you’re leaving above your means. If you pay for your stuffs, pay your credit card in full every month, but can’t save anything, then it means you’re living paycheck to paycheck and you’re just living within your means. If you pay for your stuffs, pay your credit card in full every month, and still manage to save (see first point) then it means you’re living below your means. How would you know if you could afford things? Proceed with the third point below and read on.

Third, work on a budget. Going through life just spending money as you see it is like working without knowing how much your salary is. Your expenses should be dictated by how much you can afford. Allocate for your rent, food, car and some dining/entertainment. Write it down and stick to it, life will be easier knowing your financial limits.

There it is, three points that I think should be central to anyone trying to become financial independent. Now here are two books I think everyone interested in knowing more about finances should read. These two books have greatly influenced me.

• Richest Man in Babylon – Real easy reading
  
• Millionaire Next Door – Surprising and revealing
  

Now, there are a lot (gazillions) of other books out there, so once you get rolling, knock yourself out and read them. Find out what works for you, but bottom line is you need to shoot for financial independence — releasing yourself from worrying everyday about the next paycheck.

Stay cool.

Happy New Year everyone! I start 2009 with some sense of hope mixed with nervousness, afterall 2008 (specially the later part) was difficult for everyone. Worldwide recession fears enforced by the burst of the housing bubble, credit crunch and stock market declines were all part of 2008.

But as it should always happen, we must stay focused and not let the downpour of negativity affect all of us. Let’s learn from what happened in 2008 and use it to handle the new year in making it better. Start with ourselves, let’s grow from this. As this whole 2008 mess stems from bad finances, I think for this year, we need more people becoming financially knowledgeable and responsible. Save, live below your means, focus on people, three things that can really change how you handle money.

As they say “Anything that doesn’t kill you, would only make you stronger”, so with that I say welcome 2009 and bring it on!

Filipinos have always (supposedly) been thought of as people with strong values, values about work and sacrifice. These values have always been a cornerstone to success by most Filipinos — it is a testament that Filipinos here and abroad do well, once they focus on something and work hard on it they will become successful and will succeed. But the sad flip side of it is the tendency to be complacent, as strong as our beliefs are on hard work (masipag) there is a disturbingly set of what I believe are contradicting values (matiisin). While these values are really good for the short term, the risk is if we mistakenly accept these values as norms in our lives.

We have these sayings that epitomize the rationale of these values, sayings such as “pag maiksi ang kumot matutuong bumaluktot” (if the blanket is short, learn to adjust/fit). I actually like this value, but don’t think that I like it for the long-term, I see these sayings as only being interpreted for the short term while your other values of being resourceful and hard-working come into play to get you out of such predicament. Complacency and learning to accept hard-life can be a tragedy in our own lives, it robs you of aspirations and sense of attaining something, it can put you in a box, a mindset of thinking “I can live with it”.

It maybe the reason why the slogan: “Tama na, Sobra na, Palitan na” back in the Marcos days was very effective, that slogan pretty much mobilized people to actually do something. Filipinos must adjust to hard-life, but adjust only in a temporary fashion, they must look beyond this hardship and actually do something — if something is not working, live it with (for now) but work on changing it. I think we Filipinos should take our lives and destiny a little bit more seriously, bad roads, bad jobs, bad officials, bad government — we must learn to work hard to change it, don’t adjust to it for the long term. It starts with our mindset, if there’s one thing we can learn from America’s recent election — it’s that yes we can dream and yes we can make it!

The economy worldwide is in a wacky situation, everyone is supposed to be thinking twice or even thrice at spending anything. With stocks at a tailspin the past few weeks no one in their right mind should consider dropping cash on non-essentials.

But Lo-and-Behold, the netbook fever seems to be the exception, what was once thought as a stagnant computer market was energized at the right time by the right product concept: a cheap, highly usable and portable notebook — the “Netbook” (previously lumped in with the UMPC category)

Asus successfully started this trend with their EEE line; now everyone is jumping into the fray (HP, MSI, Acer, Dell, Lenovo). I honestly think these are pretty cool gadgets; these netbooks actually fill in a void that cell phone companies are trying to get to. Portable devices that allow you to do some serious stuff such as surfing and blogging are getting serious attention.

Now, I have to be honest I’ve been trying to hold myself into buying one, prices have been really competitive that it’s almost easy to make it as an impulse buy… but with the economy looking the way it is, maybe it’s not too smart to fall into that impulse. Plus, I bet with the phase and demand, things will only get more heated between these netbook manufacturers… which would just benefit us, consumers.

It’s pretty shameful the way ASEAN is reacting (or lack-thereof) to Burma’s disgusting handling of the crisis (refusing aid, humanitarian workers etc… ). It just weakens the image of ASEAN as nothing more than a useless “formal” organization. This was a genuine opportunity for ASEAN to show it’s worth to the international community and to its own people, but I guess they decided to play dumb and let things get worst in Burma — effectively abandoning the burmese people. Which begs the question does the ASEAN organization exists for its leaders or its people? Pathetic.

Links:

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/news/myanmar.crisis/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmese-junta-accused-of-hoarding-food-aid-and-handing-out-rotten-rice-827707.html

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JE14Ae01.html

]]> http://isiplugaw.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/useless-asean/feed/ 0 Haring Tokwa http://isiplugaw.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/list-of-shame-neri-arroyo-devenecia-and-naia3/ http://isiplugaw.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/list-of-shame-neri-arroyo-devenecia-and-naia3/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:29:22 +0000 Haring Tokwa http://isiplugaw.wordpress.com/?p=41 ]]>

I just got back from vacation.

What a sad state the Philippines is in, ever always being thought of as being on the brink of prosperity, but never truly being able to get rid itself of bad politics and policies.

Romulo Neri, the current CHED chair and member of the UP Board of Regents, has turned out to be a pathetic lame-duck joke of a skolar-ng-bayan. If this is how UP graduates are supposed to hold themselves to public position, then it’s a real shame. Mr. Neri refuses to shed light on the NBN-ZTE scandal and has hid himself behind the “Exec Privilege” mantra that the Arroyo administration is trumping. What’s keeping him from answering 3 specific questions relating to the NBN-ZTE scandal? No balls, no guts, and no honor — that sums it up. Shame on you, shame on you.

President Arroyo has turned out to be an inept president after all, after all the ballyhooed talk of economic prosperity all these scandals come out. What’s funny is all she can do is prevent investigation from moving forward by preventing her cabinet officials from freely taking the stand. NBN-ZTE, Spratly’s, Telecoms etc… The list goes on and on. The only way to clear things up is to be as transparent as possible, let investigations go on and let the public know of everything, the contracts, the conspirators, everything.

Former House Speaker Jose DeVenecia, what a joke this Trapo is. From being the president’s staunchest ally to being her critic, because of their falling out (a probably collateral damage to the NBN-ZTE scandal) he is now going around saying that he has proof of cheating during the last presidential elections. Hello? Is anyone even remotely thinking that this person is honest? Why did it take a falling-out for him to speak against cheating? If Mr. DeVenecia was an honest politician from the start, he should’ve spoken up against any cheating the moment he found out about it. But I guess he was such in a comfortable position to even rock-the-boat. Lesson to his townspeople, stop voting this Trapo, keep him out of politics forever. Gees!

NAIA3 is such a disappointment, it’s been years since it has been finished and nothing has happened. Inquiries, investigations and repairs that drag too long has kept that airport from being utilized, it’s aging like some stored food. NAIA1 is in such decrepit state compared to other airports that it’s just shameful that we have this unused supposedly advance international airport. It’s so sad and pathetic.

BTW, during my vacation, I stopped by Singapore for a 2 day overnight stay. The country is indeed clean and orderly, miles ahead of our own country. The airport is well organized and the streets are well kept. The Philippines can do this too, maybe what our fellow Pinoys don’t understand is that you don’t need to be rich to be clean, huwag tayong baboy at magtapon sa kalye. It’s ironic that we see well-kept and mapormang pinoys who look sharp yet throw garbage around.. tsk tsk tsk.. you’re just as clean as your surroundings.

Hanggang sa muli….

Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and a gazillion other social-networking sites have become Internet sensations almost overnight. Millions are reportedly signing up to join one or more of these sites to “connect” and “network” with friends.

Facebook seems to be the top dog right now; a few years ago it was Friendster then MySpace. Yahoo (the web giant at www.yahoo.com) even made an offer (rumor was $1 billion) to buy Facebook but was spurned (Facebook later accepted an investment from Microsoft to the tune of $240 million. sweet!). I’ve signed up to these networking sites and there’s just so much (for now) that you can do with them after chasing down and connecting yourself with your friends and a thousand others.

Which made me think, why is Yahoo trying to buy Facebook and appear to be playing catch-up? Personally I think Yahoo already has the content and users to give all of these networking sites a run for their money. With Yahoo, I find myself checking emails, chatting with friends, managing groups, viewing photos, checking stocks, news, etc. Yahoo is after all one of the Internet’s most visited sites with users staying even longer at each destination. Everything is there, I just think Yahoo needs to extend and reinvent the “Portal” concept, which they are in a position to do so. Doing this, I think, will make everything fall into place. A consistent strategy across all its division will really enhance and tighten Yahoo into a real community to reckon with. Just think of the Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Mail, these two products are so prevalent and are already pseudo-social-networking pieces that everyone uses day to day. I don’t mean being used leisurely; these two Yahoo products are used consistently on important things like business and chasing down a friend for something important. Example is having the Yahoo Messenger “contacts” work like “buddies” or “friends” and tie them up into emails and content; and improve the profile experience starting with a revamp of the decrepit My Yahoo! concept. I’m all for it, since I’ve already been onboard the Yahoo train since I’ve signed up with their email account ages ago.

It’s a pity Yahoo doesn’t seem to have the clear vision and direction it needs to have to compete. Google has clearly stumped them dry and making them look pathetic. The potential is clearly there — they need to make it happen. I hate to sign up to yet another social-networking website just yet

Auld Lang Syne – Remember your past acquaintances, remember the memories, remember the times long ago as you welcome the new year and the future.

Hopefully the lessons of the past has made us wiser and stronger. Mabuhay!

Word is out that former president Estrada might run for the country’s top position in 2010. Lacson has already said of his intention for the same position. This presents some issues with the “opposition” groups, as they want to field a single candidate. The Philippine Daily Inquirer has quoted Senate Minority Leader Pimentel Jr. as saying in a text message “The opposition should unite behind one bet even though it looks hard. Cory (Aquino) became the unified opposition bet to defeat Marcos. Otherwise, Erap would probably sacrifice his new tranquility and plunge anew into a tumultuous political life”. No offense to the senator (who’s probably been in the senate too long already) but if Erap is the oppositions best bet, I think the country is really in deep sh!t.

The former president carries too much baggage of the past administration, and I don’t think the country needs to go back to any of the former administrations. We need change, and it must come from fresh faces and not from any of the Trapo conglomerates that are littered with know-it-alls who just rotate from one position to another. If any of them were that excellent public servants that did good on their promises, our country should be in a far better place. Heck! I think a lot of us regular folks could do as good as a job in the senate floor as some of our senators who could still find the time to make sci-fi movies. So who runs under a “United (sic) Opposition” come 2010?

The problem is all we have in the country is the “Administration”, and the “Opposition” group that can consist of one or more political parties. Sadly, in the Philippines these days, a political party is nothing more than a group of politicians who’ve agreed to not disagree during election. All bets are off once the election is over, and it’s open season again. When one mentions Lakas-NUCD, or PMP, or LDP — can anyone relate those names to any basic principles that they stand on? The answer is a quick and resounding No. You associate those parties to whoever was the top politician running under that banner (Lakas – Ramos, PMP – Erap, etc.). The media, in a right call, I think just got sick of all these random party names and decided to just lump everyone in these two categories:  Administration or Opposition.

It is truly disappointing that the old two-party system was changed into the current multi-party system. A system that has witnessed politicians jumping ship at the slightest chance they can with only a whim for a reason. A system that has witnessed politicians creating their own political party, every time they fail to get the nomination. We have seen it happen over and over again. We have seen so-called opposition senators embrace their bitter counterpart overnight; we have seen so-called honorable senators join the same political party they have fiercely fought against even shedding tears in front of a camera. These politicians are the epitome of “kapalmuks” (thick faces) — maybe even worst, people who shamelessly take the multi-party system for granted. People who hide behind fancy political party names yet stand for nothing but getting it elected.

Indeed the venerable political parties of old has gone to the grave, what has replaced them is a shameful circus of political parties with clowns jumping all over the place. They will keep on changing the names of the political parties (K4, ABC, DEDMA, KAPMUKS etc.), trying to keep up with what’s cool at the time, but the faces and names behind them are the same old traditional politicians that suck our country dry, inept and no clue where to take us. Some things never really change, and you can bet that the same set of “Trapos” will always try to get themselves into any government position available, under any political party that will accept them — even if it means going from “Opposition” to “Administration” or vise-versa.