Pageant Result: Mister International 2022

 The winners of Mister International 2022 from left to right: MJ Ordillano - Philippines - Fourth Runner Up, Lukanand Ksehetrimayum - India - First Runner Up, Manuel Franco - Dominican Republic- Mr. International 2022- Winner, Orangel Dirinot - Venezuela - Second Runner Up, Jason Li - Hongkong- Third Runner Up, and Juan Pablo Colias - Spain - Fifth Runner Up.  The Pageant was held at New Frontier Theater last October 30, 2022.

Irony of Life

It is ironic: Vloggers/bloggers and social media influencers occupy the best seats in the Marcos administration. The government has more trust in them than in journalists, news reporters, and commentators of ABS CBN.

This elite group shaded journalists as presstitutes, and trashed reporters, giving them bias tags ... even red-tagging some of them as communists.  Typhoon Paeng came and as REAL reporters braved the wind and the rain and risked their lives and show Filipinos their love for their work, the CHOSEN FEW are content watching the journalists they loathe in the confines of their room. They should be ashamed of themselves ... as their loyalty starts and ends with BBM and not with the Filipino people.

Questions You Thought Don;t Have Answers

Filipinos love a good riddle and answering crossword puzzles. Our desire to answer all the questions and completely finish the job gives us some kind of titillation, the need to continue and persevere until we accomplish the task. It tickles our brain cells, and we feel mighty proud once the cryptogram is decoded.

People ask why everybody loves Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote? Or Ben Matlock or Jake and the Fatman.  Well,  they always solve mysteries.

Too bad, there are a lot of questions and mysteries out there that we may never learn the answers to their intriguing nature. The universe is far-reaching and its mysteries limitless, and there are many things that even geniuses have their arms raised upwards because they don't have answers to some of these queries. 

Let’s explore some of the questions that there are no answers  to. 

Question: Do caterpillars know that they're going to be butterflies or do they build the cocoon not knowing what will happen?

Answer: I am not really sure if this is the right answer, but caterpillars don’t anticipate or understand what the future has in store for them. They don’t have enough reasoning ability to think about the why's of their life.

I think we tend to assume animals understand why they do things just because humans do. There is no “knowing “ or awareness of what they are doing. They are following what seemed like some kind of genetic programming, or instincts, and probably evolution.

They are not “conscious” of themselves or why they go about doing what they do. Everything that they do is driven by some kind of blueprint acquired over millions of years of evolution. And it is this blueprint that determines, how, when and what they do thru out their entire lifespan.

Homo Sapiens is the only known species on Earth that considers the “why” of anything.

Are The Stars Out Tonight?

Not everybody has a chance to brush elbows with the stars in the entertainment, modeling, and pageant industries so when the invitation starts knocking at my door ... who am I to refuse. Others may frown at it ... but it is irresistible. Well-meaning friends have given us the opportunity on a silver platter (it is like allowing us to get something easily ... without having to work on it) so when I saw the window ... in basketball lingo - an opening ... all I did was to dribble the ball ... do the lay-up and shoot it for the much-needed money shot.

Stars Benjamin Alves AKA Vince Saldana related to Piolo Pascual and Mica Munoz in their Close Up To Fame days. This photo was taken when they were testing the waters in the entertainment and modeling world ... only the two of them survived and last in the jungle called showbiz.

                                                   Benjamen Alves - Actor and Model

                                                       Micah Munoz - Actor and Model 

Spotting Trolls in The Midst and How To Avoid Their Annoying Habits

They're here.  The trolls have landed and they have abandoned isolated rocks and caves to finally settle down on the internet 24-7. Unlike the Norwegian trolls in Norse mythology, online trolls exist, they are real ... and to some doubting Thomases who care less about their presence ... be wary! Dealing with them is not a piece of cake.

Who are online trolls? Internet trolls are an online bully who deliberately tries to offend, cause trouble, or directly attack people by posting derogatory comments on Facebook posts, blogs, Youtube videos, forums, and other social media such as Twitter and Instagram.  Their posts are inflammatory, incendiary, and demagogic, with the intent of arousing readers to display intense emotional responses and manipulate others' perceptions.

He is an online jerk and the more people they fire up and peeve, the better he feels. It is never a fun experience dealing with them because they feel immense amusement especially when victims are on the verge of tears.  They bloom and flourish with mockery and derision and they thrive with taunting and ridicule.

What are the red flags signs that your forum or thread is troll infested and how do you see a troll when you see one?

1. Troll posts are superfluous, provocative, derogatory, and gratuitous that are hell-bent to stir trouble and get reactions from other people.

2. They take pleasure when they annoyed someone. The more ... the merrier. They view their posts as "harmless fun" but they upset people.

3. They use anonymous or throw-away accounts to provide anonymity and the freedom to communicate with impunity.

4. They make outrageous or questionable claims.  They often leave traces of hateful comments. Even their comments that are meant to be funny can really hurt.

5. They are relentless and annoyingly redundant and they won't let the topic go. They are the internet's Energizer Bunny. They keep on going .... and going ... and going.

6. Trolls don't actually believe in what they say and what they are posting. They just want to cause a little or big mayhem as the case may be. And you can't beat them with logic and facts. Appeal to reason is futile and pointless.

7. They are blind and deaf to evidence and are notorious for ignoring truth and factual events. They are spin doctors non-pareil and they can twist a crooked narrative straight and make it believable.

8. They have default avatars and always hide their identity. They will never give information about themselves. They go with aliases and monickers and when asked which country they came from and the response was Earth.

9.  They are bored and hate being ignored, that's why they are always on the prowl looking for potential victims. And when they see you frustrated, they asked you, "Are you, mad bro?" that makes you mad even more.

10. Trolls wreak havoc and are in it for chaos. They love to call people names with a tone that is condescending. Unfortunately name calling often ends up to stereotyping and giving others a bad label.

11.  Trolls don't have a middle ground. They don't use the word "sometimes". Being a sucker to exaggerate it is either "Always" and Never" to them.

12. Trolls want to be different. In a thread of 98% naysayers, he comes in barging singing a different refrain to negate the opinions of everybody.

13. Trolls lure people into silly meaningless discussions and debates. They blossom the brightest on others' anger, frustration, and annoyance.

13.  Dark triad personality traits like narcissism, psychopathy Machiavellianism (cunning, scheming, and deceptive), and schadenfreude  (a person who derives pleasure from another's misfortune) were more likely to demonstrate trolling.

So what happens to you when somebody comes from nowhere and shades the opinion you shared and imparts their razor-edged mental sharpness on you? And it is not just their keen intelligence and inventiveness that has thrown you aback ... they have opinions that popped your balloon ... in a here-we-go, kick-in-your-balls fashion.

Your initial response was utter disbelief. Then denial set in. In your mind, you ask yourself how can these threadcrashers be so offensive and impolite? They come uninvited and they give you unsolicited advice for free. And as your anger comes raging you thought of giving them a piece of your mind: "Did I even ask your opinion?"

Too bad what seemed like the Russia-Ukraine war in your mind was just a musing.  The smart-alecky response you thought that will freeze the tongue of these online intruders never materializes because your Mom raised you to be polite, prim and proper. Nothing came out of your lips and that punch to the stomach retort that you prepared was playing only in your mind and you wonder how your mouth was zip.

This doesn't have to be like this all the time. I don't want you to lose your sleep over this, but there are ways to stop letting these trolls guide you and manipulate you. And you can do this by trying these tips.

1. Stop feeding the trolls. Let them starve. And don't give them water either. Simply put, trolls want to see your emotional outbursts online.  Responding to them is like allowing them to put more salt in your wound.  If you don't reply ... they will tire themselves waiting and they will eventually move on ... and look for their next target.

2. Go with what is right. Don't get sucked into a troll's sharp-witted but reckless opinion no matter how good it sounds on paper. They are convincing all right, but your life is not to follow some stranger's standards. Know more about yourself and make your own set of standards.

3. Humor them.  Trolls usually are not adept and savvy in responding to humor.  Remember they are hanging on the internet to irritate you not elicit your loudest guffaws. Laughter is the troll's Achilles heel.

4. Ignore them pronto.  This can be done in several ways. Block them.  Report them. Browse another site ... or just simply sign out ... or shut down.

5.  Take a screenshot of your debates. When the going gets tough ... emotions are high. Having a print of the conversation will cover you just in case the troll decided to delete or edit once he senses trouble is brewing.

6. Admit when you are wrong. And then move on. Don't engage too much and over-explain yourself because they will never stop rubbing that mistake in your face. Honesty is the best policy. 

7. Call out the behavior.  Other well-intentioned people will suggest ignoring them because that is the easiest thing to do. Others will suggest "Don't reply." But sometimes ignoring and not responding has its own drawback.  It can give the trolls the weight and more muscle to silence you.

8. Say what you have to say and then move on. Other members watching on the sideline may even come to your rescue. Saying your piece sometimes sets the standard and clearly shows the demarcation line between what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Sometimes it brings out the truth when the troll has been spewing lies.

9. Protect yourself and become a strong moderator. If you own the blog you are the boss and you have the right to impose guidelines about your blog's embracing a NO TROLLING POLICY. If the troll gets furious because his posts were expunged or were not published you can refer them back to the guidelines (which is hanging freely in your blog for everybody to see) and cite breach and infraction of the ground rule.

10. And the last one ... Simply log off.  I know ... just what the song says breaking up is hard to do.  But it is the answer to your prayer especially if the pest has drained out all your patience.  It is the handiest option to avoid more frustrations and you can limit the amount of time rubbing elbows with them.

Pinoys Brand of Answers

Question: Kumain ka na?

Answer: Busog pa ako. (It's a yes or no question ... for crying out loud!)

Think Again

I always believe ... there is sunshine after each storm... and the sun after the rain.

And there's always BREAKTHROUGH after each HEARTBREAK.