Beware of the BBQ

Most of us love BBQ'ed food. It is also fun to have your friends gather together for a BBQ dinner. But barbecuing can pose a risk to your health.

According to a study of The American Institute for Cancer Research, eating grilled/barbecued meat, poultry or sea food exposes us to carcinogens called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). These substances form on foods as they cook on the BBQ or under the high heat of the grill, whether or not char is formed. And when fat drips onto the heat source, it creates flare-ups and smoke that then deposits on the food another group of carcinogens called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

A simple way to avoid these carcinogens and still enjoy grilled meats is to put them under wraps. Placing poultry, fish or meats into foil packets before putting them on the BBQ avoids the problem. In addition, the food gets the flavorful aura of grilling, especially if you leave the top loosely sealed but it won't char the food.

Worthless

Come to me, my love. Come, talk to me and feel my beating heart. Don't be afraid. All you have to do is listen.

What does it says? Yes. It says your name. But oh! I see it. You look worried and afraid. Why you avert yourself from me? I look okay. I fix my hair and clean myself. Is there something wrong that's why you leave?

Glance at me again. You can see what I really want you to see. Look at my eyes. It's full of impressions, acceptance and yes! love. A love that's special for you. A love that is incomparable. Love that is not mistakenly considered as infatuation but a genuine love. Love that is willing to sacrifice. Love that accepts. Love that is true.

But lo! You don't. You're heading straight to her, unmindful of my expressive actions. You talk and laugh with her- things that you never share to me. I am jealous. I'm hurt. I'm in pain. I feel weak. All are because of my own assumption that you have something for me too but I am wrong. Tell me. What are those sweet winks and "hi and hello's" we do earlier? Are they just one of your plays? Ah! I thought it was love. Love that leads to an intimate relationship with you but I misinterpreted it.

I use to think of you and me together, happily walking along the shores of the beach holding each others hand.

You see, I think of you. I care for you. I love you. Every seconds, every minutes every hours of the day, I think of you wishing that one of this days, you will notice my undying love. But all of this are illusions. Reality wake me up that we can never be together.

I love you my love but I think it's time for me to let you loose. It feels great to hold unto you but its killing me because I know that no matter what, you won't love me back. So please, take care of her. Don't play with her. Don't let her love be like mine-worthless.

                                                        LANZONES FESTIVAL

              According to the Philippine Country Links, Lanzones Festival is held every third week of October and it is a 6th day grand celebration of the lanzones fruit. The most important livelihood in Camiguin is Lanzones. It is when a lot of tourists come to witness the joyous Lanzones festival. Lanzones is one of the major fruit producers in the Philippines. 

              Lanzones is a tropical fruit that grows extravagantly on the north-central coast of Mindanao. Lanzones has a pale brown skin and sweet translucent flesh. It is said that the sweetest lanzones in the Philippines comes from the Camiguin. The town of Mindanao in Camiguin celebrated its annual festival called Lanzones Festival together with its harvest in the month of october.

              Lanzones Festival in Mambajao Camiguin is celebrated with a weekend street dancing competion and parties, cultural shows, parade and beauty pageant (coronation of Mutya sa Buahanan) and trade fair that features local handcraft and pruducts. Houses, street poles and even people are ornamented with Lanzones during the lanzones festival.

              According to the legend of an unknown beautiful maiden took the fruits past bitter flavor or replace it to delicious and sweet taste of the lanzones, thus townsfolk dance in the streets in order to honor and celebrate. It is celebrated by the people in Camiguin as a contribution in making Mindanao as a cultural tourism destination and give thanks for a bountiful harvest for all the agricultural products.

Prodigious volcanic eruption could destroy Japan by Stephen John Amper

Japan could be nearly destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption over the next century, putting almost all of the country's 127 million-strong population at risk, according to a new study.
"It is not an overstatement to say that a colossal volcanic eruption would leave Japan extinct as a country," Kobe University earth sciences professor Yoshiyuki Tatsumi and associate professor Keiko Suzuki said in a study publicly released on Wednesday.
The experts said they analyzed the scale and frequency of volcanic eruptions in the archipelago nation over the past 120,000 years and calculated that the odds of a devastating eruption at about one percent over the next 100 years.
The chance of a major earthquake striking the city of Kobe within 30 years was estimated at about one percent just a day before a 7.2-magnitude quake destroyed the Japanese port city in 1995, killing 6,400 people and injuring nearly 4,400 others, the study noted.
"Therefore, it would be no surprise if such a colossal eruption occurs at any moment," it added.
The new research comes weeks after Japan's Mount Ontake erupted without warning -- killing 57 people and leaving at least six others missing in the country's deadliest volcanic eruption in almost 90 years.
The Kobe University researchers said their study was critical because Japan is home to about seven percent of the volcanoes that have erupted over the past 10,000 years.
A disaster on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, which has been struck by seven massive eruptions over the past 120,000 years, would see an area with seven million people buried by flows of lava and molten rock in just two hours, they said.
Volcanic ash would also be carried by westerly winds toward the main island of Honshu, making almost all of the country "unlivable" as it strangled infrastructure, including key transport systems, they said.
It would be "hopeless" trying to save about 120 million living in major cities and towns across Honshu, the study said.
This prediction was based on geological findings from the eruption of a gigantic crater, 23 kilometres (14 miles) across, in southern Kyushu about 28,000 years ago.
The study called for new technology to accurately grasp the state of "magma reservoirs" which are spread across the earth's crust in layers a few kilometres deep.

UFC: Mendes says Aldo stagnant by Stephen John Amper

MANILA – American fighter Chad Mendes said he doesn’t think UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has improved since the last time they fought in 2012.
Mendes added he is determined to get back at Aldo to avenge his knockout loss to the Brazilian champion in UFC 142.


"Aldo really hasn't changed anything up. He hasn't made any major improvements. I feel he's good at the things he does, and he's been beating people with that, so he hasn't had incentive to try to [improve] and make those giant gains,” said the California-based fighter in Yahoo! Sports.
 
In contrast, he said he has learned from his knockout defeat and made improvements in his game.
Since his defeat, he has racked five straight victories, four of them by stoppages.


"It's like I'm a different guy now. I know I've made huge improvements and I'm not intimidated or scared. I'm ready to do it and bring that belt back home with me," said Mendes.
But just like their first face off, Mendes will be flying to Brazil to face Aldo at the latter’s hometown.


The battle will be the main event of UFC 179: Aldo vs Mendes II in Rio de Janeiro this weekend.
"I can't tell you how much going through that and looking at my game so carefully after that fight and figuring out what I needed to do has changed me,” said Mendes.

Philippines challenged by Ebola virus by Stephen John Amper

Manila: The Philippines is challenged by the outbreak of the dreaded Ebola virus due to the health department’s small budget and the few number of isolation rooms prepared nationwide in case it enters the Philippines, sources told Gulf news, adding that the Philippines is vulnerable because of the impact of free international travel, and the presence of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the three West Africa countries where the outbreak has already claimed 1,000 lives.

“The number of isolation rooms that were been prepared to handle cases of Ebola virus in the Philippines might not be adequate (in case the virus enter the Philippines),” said Health Undersecretary Janette Garin.

“Being ready for the Ebola virus is such a strong word — although we have experts who can deal with the Ebola problem, including facilities in different parts of the country where we can bring patients afflicted by Ebola virus,” admitted Health Department’s program manager, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy.

“The health department has allocated P50 million (Dh4.16 million) for the infectious disease programme,” said Suy, adding, “The allocation is small, but members of congress have agreed to increase the budget ahead of the possible entry of the Ebola virus in the Philippines.”

“The threat of the Ebola virus entering the Philippines is real because travel bans have not been issued, “ warned Ludovico Jurao, head of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, who likewise admitted that regional medical centres nationwide have prepared isolation rooms for Ebola cases.

“We are monitoring our preparedness. We have to be alarmist in responding to this health problem because we have OFWs in West Africa where the virus has claimed lives,” explained Congressman Walden Bello, chair of the Congressional Committee on overseas Affairs.

On a more positive note, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said, “The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and other government hospitals nationwide are equipped to undertake laboratory tests for possible Ebola cases.”

Health, itinerary checklist

“The Philippine health department has required all local and foreign travellers entering the country to fill up a health and itinerary checklist to guide us,” said Ona, adding that all air and seaports have been equipped with thermal scanners to detect the temperature of arriving passengers.

As a result, there was a close monitoring of 15 OFWs who arrived from June 25 to July 15 from Sierra Leone with fever, a symptom linked to Ebola virus infection. “Luckily, 13 of them were cleared of the Ebola virus last August 8,” said Ona.

Two other OFWs might soon be cleared of the Ebola virus, said Ona, adding this will be known on August 28.

“Health workers have extended their monitoring period to one month, beyond the 21 days incubation period for the Ebola virus to manifest symptoms on patients, such as bleeding, diarrhoea, high fever, muscle pain, organ failure, vomiting, and weakness,” Ona explained, adding, “The relatives and nurses who monitored the OFWs were also placed under strict medical observation.”

Earlier, Manila’s labour department called on OFWs in West Africa to return to the Philippines so that they would not be affected by the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

The labour department likewise suspended the deployment of OFWs to these countries, but allowed OFWs with existing employment contracts to return there.

“As a precautionary measure, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) was instructed to undertake weekly monitoring of OFWs in the Ebola-hit West African countries,” Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

“Filipino seamen were also instructed not to leave when their ships dock in West African countries hit by the Ebola virus,” Baldoz added.

Manila’s department of foreign affairs also told OFWs in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, to “take extra precaution by restricting non-essential movements and avoiding public places”.

International agencies say there are 5,000 OFWs in the Ebola-hit West African countries.

In comparison, the POEA has a shorter list of 600 OFWs, including 72 OFWs in Guinea; 202 in Liberia; and 398 in Sierra Leone.

The foreign affairs department has also a different list: 880 OFWs in Guinea; 632, including 148 members of the UN Peace keeping Force in Liberia; and 1,979 in Sierra Leone.

The virus is transmitted through bodily fluids, said the World Health Organisation. There have been 1,711 cases of Ebola and 932 deaths in four West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, said the WHO which called on all countries to implement emergency measures to prevent the spread of the dreaded virus.

Feelig God's Presence

Hot tears fell down on my cheeks witnessing a thin, mentally challenged man carrying his daughter, upon passing by a father holding the hands of his precious daughter, afraid of the idea that the child might let go of his own strong hands.

                I decided to walk bending my neck in order to avoid happy scenario which could bring a total destruction of my emotions and make a sudden twist if my joyous mood.

                Why do these incidents affect me? Because I grew up without a father I long for. This thought is killing me, how can life be so unfair. Why am I succumbed with unbearable pains and problems? Am I not worthy to live a happy life? These questions keep hunting my mind, running to and fro, unknowing how to stop.

                Gladly, I passed by at the shore, after few seconds of over thinking, I decided to stop by and with all my might, I shouted loudly facing the ocean to relieve myself from all pains and I lose control. I wept, cried and my body shivered. I don’t want to live anymore, I whispered.

                Then, suddenly, I felt a cold breeze, my heart beat faster when I saw a shining yellow bottle-like thing. I heard a little voice from deep within asking me to get it.

                As I picked it, I felt strange. I saw a note attached at it which says, “all things has a purpose, do not feel betrayed, you can always count on me. People come and go for a purpose. I am your father.”

                I was not able to move an inch, I felt scared but at the same time happy. I realized that life is not about comparing and that whatever may happen, there’s someone I can call my father, someone I can count on, my comforter, my friend, my dad – God.