rants and raves

Just saw in the news that Prudential Life can no longer sell their pre-need plans because of lack of investments or something to that effect. In other words, just like the Legacy Group, they don't have enough resources to support their plan holders. Sheessh. Things are getting bad, especially for parents like us.

I used a CAP (which, by the way, is also in a fiancial bind) when I entered college. It was a good investment. Imagine, I studied for 4 year for just a P6,000 investment? At those days, our tuition fee ranged from P6 - P10k (or more, I think) per semester. Before these things happened to the pre-need industry, Jan and I were actually thinking of buying an educational plan for our kids (or future kids at that time). Now, it seems that getting one is a sure way of losing your money.

What gives? Don't these financial people see that a lot of people's future are in their hands? Now we're thinking of other ways to save-up or invest in Sophie and Sam's college education.

I pity those people who lost money because they invested in these companies.

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On a good note, the Spurs won game 2 versus Dallas today. They lost game by 8 points and they won today by 21 points. Talk about winning with a vengeance. Manu Ginobili is out for the playoffs, which is bad for the team, but I think Duncan, Parker plus the supporting crew can make it to the Western Conference Finals, as long as they focus on their defense and work on their offensive sets.

My fearless forecast in the Spurs - Mavs series: Spurs in 6.

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After experiencing the scorching summer heat this month, rain finally came last Sunday and its still raining today. Its a welcome development for all of us here in Manila. There was this one time when I was on my way home, I passed through a mall and when I went out for a cab, the humidity hit me like a brick wall.

Ironically, Sophie was singing "Rain, rain, go away . . ." since Sunday hehe!

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I've noticed that some politicians are coming out with their TV ads as early as now. Wala lang, hehehe.

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The Wolverine movie is coming out next wee. As an X-Men fan, I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie. There are already pirated dvds out, but I heard that they don't have the ending and you could still see the straps and ropes used by the actors during the stunt. Its interesting how Wolverine became the face of the X-Men all these years. He wasn't an original member of the team. In fact, his first appearance was in a Incredible Hulk comic book. I guess his rough features and personality appealed to a lot of people.

Personally, I like Gambit, Cyclops, Night Crawler and Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie, which is why I like the name Samuel and gave it to our new baby) who were all in the previous movies, although Gambit had a short appearance, and I had to review the credits to confirm that he was actually there.

I saw the poster and I think Cyclops and Gambit will both be in the movie.

Enjoy the rest of the week boys and girls!

:-)

wtf??

I think you guys may have heard about the Israeli - Palestinian war currently happening in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, a group that wants nothing but the destruction of Israel, started the conflict by virtue of their rocket launches targeting Israeli occupied territories in the strip. Now I see in the news that people are condemning Israel's attack on Hamas because of the collateral damages being inflicted on the Palestinians, with death and wounded tolls rising everyday.

My take on this?

Its Israels right to defend themselves. I think its just right and fair for them to defend their people. Hamas is a terrorist organization that uses terror tactics, including suicide tactics and they must be stopped. Its sad that civilian casualties are piling up, and I really feel for those people, especially for the women and children, but Hamas should have thought of them before picking a fight with the Israelis.

I'm throwing racial issues out of the window. I don't care if these people have been going at it since biblical times. Its just not right for one country to attack another country for idiotic reasons .

If I were on Israelis shoes I'd do the same. Hell, if I had a neighbor giving me crap everyday, I'd give 'em crap and then some!

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Another issue now in the news is the release of the "Alabang Boys", 3 young men caught in a drug-bust operation because of bribery. They were released because the prosecution dismissed the case because lack of evidence. There has been talk of bribery in the DOJ which resulted to the release of the "boys". People involved in the case are, or course, denying, although I seem to have heard the people fro PDEA saying that there was bribery and I saw their animated-telenovela-style-congressional inquiry on TV.

All I can say is . . . .

Of course there's bribery! Every Tom, Dick and Harry knows that JUSTICE can be bought in this country. Its just sad to see that the image of our police and military people, especially the ones who truly serve our country well, overshadowed and tarnished by incidents like this one.

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Its the year of the OX and I hope we get less BULLSHIT and more good things.

Man, I should really stop watching the news on TV . . .

:-)