My last few thoughts tonight.

So I say that America is going down the drain.
Due to greediness from the new leadership & how people are conditioned to be brought up,
100-200 years ago...
This was the place to live in. But look at things now.. Look at China.... they are a developed communist superpower. America no longer stands as the strongest power.. Change is happening.
I'm saying communism isn't entirely bad. A perfect communism would be one that has everyone happy. BALANCE needs to become a new form of Government more or less & communism seems to fit the picture.
People aren't happy here, they are stressed, retirement is pushed to 60 years old.
They are even trying to remove retirement & even veteran benefits cause things are so bad.
TOO much competition, everyone trying to make more money than everyone else as well as the crab pot syndrome effect.
Europe is the model country, China is the model country. America has become a monarchy. And pretty soon you wouldn't be surprised if anarchy arose.
OPEN YOUR EYES! seriously, this country is falling apart.
Delusional with superiority, inferior complex, unfair treatment.
China works together to do it for China, everyone contributes!
That's why they are wealthy, happy & no one messes with them.
The humility principle I spoke off, "The more higher of a prestige that you have, the better off you are. It's best that we all treat each other equally.
Which that doesn't happen around here. They're is no togetherness, no sort of community just separations.
Our hierarchy of government needs to be removed, the old system needs to be removed & remodeled.
Wars are no longer won by armies, weapons and dictatorships. It's influence, control of the media, the war of the pen and paper is what really has power.
Fear only triggers reaction. You can't make someone scared for so long, their only going to come over that fear and the next one. Fear will be conquered.
Superior religion? My ass... What about the good of human kind? We are ALL gods children, regardless of orthodox of church and shit? What difference does it make.
America is just one big fucking gang... Yeah ... that's what it is.
No one needs to get killed or whatever, wars should end. Contribution should be coming from everywhere, rich, poor and middle class. FAIR SHARE.
We'd be out of debt so fast. People are so greedy.. what can we do? We need to make a change.
I believe in the old Filipino Values such as Kapwa(Well Being), Shame, Proper upbringing, manners, education, humility, WE HAD A COMMON GOAL OF EVERYONE HELPING EVERYONE Else for the greater good.
American & other countries values are obsolete to the coming of the new world.
So much Individualism needs to be controlled, we need to meet the greater demands of what resources we truly need if we are to survive & prosper.
Now it's just selfishness. Money, materialism & what looks good.
The guy that shot up the white house with a m16 a2? Dang well I have apathy for him. The damn president isn't doing shit. All talk. Media hides so much.
No truth exist down where we can't trust people anymore. EVERYONE LIES.
I feel & believe that we need to be part of something greater.
This country doesn't even follow it's own guidelines of rules, constitutional rights & promises. This countries pretty fucked.
Were in recession cause no one wants to pay off shit.
Everyone is so damned focused about themselves, doing everything for the money, media pushes it, media promotes the product &^ WE buy every little bit of it!
I'm moving to an island after i've committed my fair contribution of service.
Were so damn brainwashed by the system to work, function & live a certain way.
Do as your told... we take care of you so you have to do this for us..
This is not land of the free but the home of the brave but stupid.

My last few thoughts tonight.

So I say that America is going down the drain.
Due to greediness from the new leadership & how people are conditioned to be brought up,
100-200 years ago...
This was the place to live in. But look at things now.. Look at China.... they are a developed communist superpower. America no longer stands as the strongest power.. Change is happening.
I'm saying communism isn't entirely bad. A perfect communism would be one that has everyone happy. BALANCE needs to become a new form of Government more or less & communism seems to fit the picture.
People aren't happy here, they are stressed, retirement is pushed to 60 years old.
They are even trying to remove retirement & even veteran benefits cause things are so bad.
TOO much competition, everyone trying to make more money than everyone else as well as the crab pot syndrome effect.
Europe is the model country, China is the model country. America has become a monarchy. And pretty soon you wouldn't be surprised if anarchy arose.
OPEN YOUR EYES! seriously, this country is falling apart.
Delusional with superiority, inferior complex, unfair treatment.
China works together to do it for China, everyone contributes!
That's why they are wealthy, happy & no one messes with them.
The humility principle I spoke off, "The more higher of a prestige that you have, the better off you are. It's best that we all treat each other equally.
Which that doesn't happen around here. They're is no togetherness, no sort of community just separations.
Our hierarchy of government needs to be removed, the old system needs to be removed & remodeled.
Wars are no longer won by armies, weapons and dictatorships. It's influence, control of the media, the war of the pen and paper is what really has power.
Fear only triggers reaction. You can't make someone scared for so long, their only going to come over that fear and the next one. Fear will be conquered.
Superior religion? My ass... What about the good of human kind? We are ALL gods children, regardless of orthodox of church and shit? What difference does it make.
America is just one big fucking gang... Yeah ... that's what it is.
No one needs to get killed or whatever, wars should end. Contribution should be coming from everywhere, rich, poor and middle class. FAIR SHARE.
We'd be out of debt so fast. People are so greedy.. what can we do? We need to make a change.
I believe in the old Filipino Values such as Kapwa(Well Being), Shame, Proper upbringing, manners, education, humility, WE HAD A COMMON GOAL OF EVERYONE HELPING EVERYONE Else for the greater good.
American & other countries values are obsolete to the coming of the new world.
So much Individualism needs to be controlled, we need to meet the greater demands of what resources we truly need if we are to survive & prosper.
Now it's just selfishness. Money, materialism & what looks good.
The guy that shot up the white house with a m16 a2? Dang well I have apathy for him. The damn president isn't doing shit. All talk. Media hides so much.
No truth exist down where we can't trust people anymore. EVERYONE LIES.
I feel & believe that we need to be part of something greater.
This country doesn't even follow it's own guidelines of rules, constitutional rights & promises. This countries pretty fucked.
Were in recession cause no one wants to pay off shit.
Everyone is so damned focused about themselves, doing everything for the money, media pushes it, media promotes the product &^ WE buy every little bit of it!
I'm moving to an island after i've committed my fair contribution of service.
Were so damn brainwashed by the system to work, function & live a certain way.
Do as your told... we take care of you so you have to do this for us..
This is not land of the free but the home of the brave but stupid.

Thanks Giving

Aggh... I'm stuffed ..

So I'ts 9:44 & I had dinner an hour & a half ago I can still feel it haha

Before I ate I ran 7 miles around the course. That's work.

It's Thanks Giving & What I want to be Thankful for is that I have a complete family, a roof & clothes on my back, a job, going to college, great friend, I can go on!

I'm great full I have my Bayan Community class that has supported me throughout the semesters through the good & bad. I am actually kinda down that the semester is ending. I learned a lot about Kaibigang, Kapwa, Hiya. This year has been a 12 months of personal growth, learning & adapting. I think Henry Arronson is the best English teacher Iv'e ever had. Best blessings to him & his family & I hope the rest of all of you are chowing down or are passed out from eating... HAHA

I almost passed out after eating on the drive home! Had ham, Arellano Chicken, collard greens, eggs, apple pie, pumpkin pie ! Well you get it

Happy holidays everyone!

Blog 6

Rolling the R’s Pg’s 86-91

Hi everyone, so I have been pondering what I am going to be writing for my 6^th blog, the thoughts occurred in my head for weeks but yes! I found my 6^th

                So today in Mr. Aronson’s English class, we were reading rolling the R’s pages 86-91 titled “What Manong Rocky tells Manong Pearly about Carmen, Rosario, and Milagros.

                So this story has a lot of gossip going on; a husband & wife are talking gossip of 3 Filipino women who sound to be haole in Hawaii. They judge them by their actions and routines they take by making their husbands do all the work while they sit like throne wives. We notice that the concept of Pakikasma (Nadal Ch. 2), Tismis, Marianismo & machismo relationship between this couple. We do not hear the female’s voice due to the fact that the male is the dominant one in the relationship and she is listening to please him by being the more submissive one.  We gain a sense that the husband has an over dominant role when he says “What you cryin’ for? Come over here. Come here, I said. I promise I not goin’ hurt you. I hate it when you start cryin’ for nothin’ “. It is suggested by the women having no voice and the man doing most of the dialog is that marianismo is practiced. Hiya is reflected

Hiya- He projects his shame on someone else. Shamed that he is not the one providing so he tries to assert his dominance by ordering him around. It is all tied together by acculturative stress and role reversal. He is machismo by being boss but role reversal when he has no job and is gossiping which is stereotypically wife’s work.

Acculturative stress- Hawaii- men are in charge   Filipino- Women are in charge.

Utang na loob- Doing each other a favor.

Machismo- Man code of conduct for not ratting on each other’s private business.

Men do not let each other down.

Haole- Foreign to the native land.

Manong is suppose to be in charge but

So I reflect this concept in current society where I see a trend occurring of role reversals where men are acting more feministic and woman are becoming more masculine. I primarily have seen this from 2^nd generation Filipino men, interracial relationships between Filipina’s and in some cases Whites, Blacks, & Latino’s. More often I have seen this in Filipino couples and interracial couples (either companion can be a Filipino or Filipina to opposite spouse/partner)

My theory is that it develops from acculturative stress and assimilation into the dominant white culture. In this culture we see that the woman is more dominant than the man. We see these examples in America & in the Philippines. In America there are a large number of single women, single moms, divorcee’s who have well salaried professions while attaining to the task of being a woman. The reason for this reversal in roles could be due to the woman having more simultaneous stressors such as working one or two jobs, being a mother, and maybe even holding the household income. This trend has been developing since the Women’s rights movement developing in the 1940’s and has evolved into the Woman’s feminist movement in the present. This develops a Woman in a sense to have become a “Super Woman” by being so stressfully tasked to do so much. Women have been pushing for equal rights such as the right to vote, being able to make equal income to men and to be treated as an equal partner in marriage.

The feminist movement has had numerous women declare a sense of independence being able to support themselves without a dominant male spouse in the picture. This has created tensions between both sexes going as far as sexuality, acculturative stress, and assimilation into a culture. Many factors are involved including Machismo decreasing in men due to the increasing population of professional workers who are women.

Men for years have a building reputation of being lazy, not hard working and good for nothing. Now correct me if I’m wrong but our forefathers stood for doing great things. For example my Great Grandfather was a Lt. Commander of the Philippine Navy and was a disciplined, honorable and real man.

Truth is, men forget their identity as real men and this is increasing, my answer is for men to stand up, claim their true identity and role in their community. Women are claiming more professional occupations everyday, they stand together doing this; us as men are apart and I speak for Filipino men, we need to stand together selfless and pride ourselves being men. We need to push towards becoming the ideal man. We need to embrace a more masculine identity within ourselves and push ourselves to be more like men.

When people say that a man is acting like a woman, it downgrades, it insults women by making women feel like there is something wrong with them.

So in conclusion maybe the block for men not acting like “Real Men” rather than boys is due to maybe they have a problem wrong with them psychologically. 

Gender Roles

I have noticed that women of my generation and the first generation have left the Filipina stereotype of marianismo and have become more independent female role models.

Having their own independent income, credentials, degrees, careers.

This uprising of feministic masculinity may be due to the burden women have being mothers, coming from traditional strict Filipino families while the males; Pinoys are less regulated upon and are given more freedom which I have seen more than in one occasion to ultimately be their downfall.

I have noticed the trend of women acting like men, it shows in the media, it shows in real life and is a transcending movement in the present day.

Although as us males are stereotyped to be dominant I have begun to see that we take for granted our responsibilities as men and fall through the cracks of becoming insignificant by making the typical mistakes that men make. Some men maybe lack the mature growth due to stubbornness, old habits, experiences, and maybe the lack of humility to realize what they have made a mistake.

Many lack taking responsibility, opportunity and no knowing the absolute meaning of what it means to be a real man. I see women in my life taking a more dominant role than males and part of it is  the burden of being under such disciplined rule of traditional Asian families or having wedlock pregnancy.This relates to my section in chapter 6 that I am doing for the Prezi for my Bayan group.

Some of these women actually rise to become more ambitious with pursuing their endeavors due to the pressure that so much is at stake and failure is not considerable in their circumstances.

It’s true that it’s much a heavier burden to be a woman than a man especially in Filipino culture.

Men now much more than ever need to realize that what we are doing currently isn’t enough.

If we do not come to realize our mistakes we will slowly lose our place in the world as a dominant group, pretty soon the majority of women in families will become the dominant group while some men will become subordinate.

We are looked down upon by our sisters and other women of color as I have seen that our women due cross into interracial relationships rather than be with their male counterpart.

I do not just speak for Filipino men but all men; we need to make a change now.

We need to grow, adapt and change. We cannot just sit here and allow ourselves to make the same mistakes.

We cannot make mistakes as of the past,  they say that real men make decisions and live with the consequences, I cannot live with the decision to chose to fail, I will take  a stand and make something of myself.

It seems that some of the first generation of Filipino’s was irresponsible and that their sons inherited that trait.

This is due to the lack of knowing what true masculinity and this means much more than just being a man. It means more than just having muscles, a car, and a job. Being a real man means that you have balance and know how to make good decisions.

It’s no longer enough just to be a man. It takes more now than ever now  that women have a more higher  status in society.

They have degrees, high titles in careers, consume a large presence in the work force and are providers for their families when men aren’t their.

We cannot live in ignorance or let our pride let us down, let’s show everyone that we can be better. We have to change our ways; lets change the way we eat, the way we live, our choices and not be scared of the consequences. We should not fear anything but god.

How can I relate this to ch. 6  section of HIV AIDS/ Teen and out of wedlock pregnancy

Gender roles ?

History

               I came across this when I was talking to my mother about the Bayan program I am enrolled in at Southwestern College. Both classes involve around a large significance within the Filipino culture and myself being a Filipino take pride in the culture and the people that represent it. One person who I discovered recently that has made a big impact in both Filipino and American history is my Great Grandfather Emilio S. Liwanag. My Great Lolo Emilio was an Officer in the Phillipine Navy during the Second World War and the Korean war. This impacts me because I am a direct descended of my great grandfather on my mothers side and  I am currently serving in the United States Military. It is a personal goal in my life to become a Military Officer and it is great to know that the military runs in my family bloodline. My Great Grandfather Emilio Liwanag started his military career as a Second Lieutenant with the 3rd Infantry regiment of the Phillipine Army after graduation of the Phillipine Military Academy. He joined the Offshore patrol unit of the U.S. Army forces of the Far East as a 1st Lieutenant during the second world war and was involved in the Battle of Bataan and during the country's liberation in the Battle of Manila.

During the Korean War, he served as an Lieutenant Commander - Logistic officer in the Army's10th Battalion Combat Team as part of the United Nations Forces -Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea(PEFTOK) during the 1st year of the war, which was the first deployment of Philippine combat forces under the Republic of the Philippines into foreign soil. Shortly after his return from his 1st tour in Korea, he served a 2nd tour as Liaison officer under the Philippine Navy for the UN Command and Philippine Diplomatic Representative in Tokyo, Japan.
 My grandfather is the one responsible who brought the standard of discipline, order, organization, and structure into the Philippine Navy and is remembered currently as a national hero of today in the PI as well as the US for his accolades. He saved many lives during his service and his efforts contributed to many factors of the victory over the Japanese in the retaking of the Philippines.
 On October 7, 1952, Liwanag was decorated with the Legion of Merit(Officer Degree) by Maj. Gen. Blackshear M. Bryan, deputy chief of staff - HQ Far East Command, for services in the Philippine Liaison office with the UN Command during the Korean War He became the first Filipino Officer to receive this distinguished medal, which is the highest US military decoration to be given to a foreign national.
It is an honor to be a direct descendant of a real hero who fought for the security of the nation, my homeland.
I hope that in my military career and as a man I can make a similar Impact that he made and contributed in the name of the Philipines. His service has brought Kapwa and amor propio not just to my family but to me as well as his Great Grandson so I hope to carry the same standard as this man has as long as I live.

Heritage.

Apologies for being late on my blog it has been awhile but from now on I will be consistent in posting my blogs! So last Tuesday our class went down to city college to attend Judy Patacsils book fair and panel event promoting her book Filipino's in San Diego. It was raining, parking was horrible but we pulled through, grabbed some seats and listened to Judy Patacsils and co-author Felix Tuyays presentation about a book titled  "Filipino's in San Diego".
Judy Patacsil shared with us about Filipinos in San Diego and had a slide show full of pictures of Filipino's which was divided into five chapters 1)Early pioneer and settlers 2)Foundation and community 3)Military life 4)Forging identities 5)Contribution to the community. The collection of each picture had an individual story behind it which she interpreted to us. She spoke about how the Gas Lamp Quarter use to be the former Phillipines town in San Diego owned by Filipino business owners. She spoke of as well the history of how Filipino's played silent roles in history including the workers union strikes, fighting alongside with Caesar Chavez in demanding better working conditions and compensation. The Filipino's aided in World War II with allied forces fighting in the Phillipines, foreign lands and continued contributing to future affairs to present day. We can honestly say that Filipino's are regularly disregarded for their contributions to society as well as represent just as much significance as other nationalities. Judy Patacsil, Felix Tuyay and the other members speaking in the panel have helped me realize how much my culture effects who I am now much more than before. I'm more culturally aware and proud of my heritage.