"Eye-Ta's"

I briefly mentioned yesterday my dark skinned (negritos) and afro haired Filipino cousins, the peeps that some anthropologists believe were the very first Filipinos...the Aetas (eye-ta's).

In my one trip to the islands, back in 99', I did get to see actual Filipino black peeps. I thought it was the most awesome thing evah, evah. At first I thought they must have been slaves that jumped ship and tried to get away from those kooky Spanish Conquistadors, err, slave masters, but I was wrong. They are smallish in stature and for lack of worlds and space/time, they are pretty much like the Aboriginal peeps from Australia. OK, let's get down to religion.

From my American perspective their early religion looks just like one would expect from a culture living off of the land, or just like the Native American beliefs here in the states. In the Native American religion there is a deity for everything, like rain, good times bad times, spring, animals, etc...The Aetas believe that good and evil spirits inhabit the world. It could be a river deity, a mountain, valley, forest or sea God.

So much like my brown brothers here in Nor Cal, the Aetas often time prayed before that awesome pig hunt that they would often go on (gotta feed that barangay, right) and when the women gathered shellfish, they would dance to "apologize" to their bounty. Sounds like totally cool peeps.

Unfortunately, in the 60's evangelical Protestants invaded (my word choice) the ranks of the Aetas in attempts to indoctrinate and convert these godless and peaceful savages, and it fucking worked, yo. While not totally saturated, fo sho there are large tracts of Aetas that have converted and are converting the remaining Aetas in the word of Christian gospels. Yuck, yuck, super yuck.

This is the coolest photograph ever, evah of my brown skinned homies, the Aetas.

Yesterday I complained that the indigenous Aeta beliefs were old school and stupid-head and needs to be discarded for the Philippines to advance and thrive in the years to come.  But upon learning about the Christian virus that is spreading thru-out the communities (or barangays) of my dark skinned peeps, I back track. In comparison there is nothing wrong with having a god of the harvest, or praying for your bounty and being one with nature. That's actually cool, right. The thingy about monotheistic Christianity is that it takes one away from nature and after that, what is left.

The power of the feminine is denied in the Christian tradition. The world we live in is second class to the afterlife and the world of heaven NOT on earth. The reality of everyday materialistic being is swept under the rug and forgotten for a made up world not of this time and space. Instead of giving thanks to the wonderful bounty, the praise for efforts for the community, it is replaced with the fear of a God, a God that is not indigenous to the peeps...a God that is not of the earth we live on.

What is left after nature...nothing.

Letting Go Of Mythology

Really peeps, I'm sooo trying to be an everyday atheist blogger...it's just that, well, the shit don't work like that (thanks bullshit depression). Anyhoo. I've been reading a very entertaining 5 part series, on the mighty Slate, about my beautiful Philippines. The author, I ass-u-me a round eye, is doing killer ass shit in the islands (and I'm fucking jealous).

Father of The Worm has a shanty roadside bar where they serve Rainbow burgers.

Hella years ago one of the many volcano's erupted (Mt. Pinatubo I believe), killed hella peeps and fucked up some shit. So this author has a great idea of scaling one of the remaining active volcano's (I dunno why) and the adventures come after.

This one is totally funny and tragic at the same time. In one of the red light districts he comes across (you'll never guess) Dennis "Freekin" Rodman's father. Of course our Atea skinned father left his rainbow colored hair son when he was like three and maintains that he didn't leave The Worm, he left his mother. But alas, this is the Philippines, so your next wife and your next 28 children are never, and I shake my head and wipe my tears, never...NEVER fucking far away (that is the tragic part).

Looks peaceful now. but...

So this dude goes on this adventure, the kinda adventure that Filipino Americans (at least the ones that care) like me, in MY Islands and it sounds totally sick. Here's that part I really wanted to talk about. My beautiful Philippines is the most awesome place in the world and dagnabit, I wanna help...but as the sayin' goes, "You halfta help yo'self." 

...howz about nowzzzzz.

There are these people in the Philippines called the Ateas, and for lack of better words, they are black: black skin and afros. Now, I'm not blaming these particular Filipino's, but it is this kinda philosophy that is holding the Islands back. Filipino peeps, we need to advance, not cling to old ass superstition. Oh, woe is me, woes is me. Perhaps, one day...beautiful Philippines.

Is it totally prejudice of me to automatically think of that scene from the original Airplane where the white dude shows the "native" how to play basketball and the very next scen the "natives" are doing double crossovers and lay ups-n-shit.

"The eruption, when it finally came, was a surprise to everyone. Or almost everyone: Many years earlier, an Aeta storyteller had given a stark warning about Pinatubo, but his message remained hidden until a few years ago. (The typescript, discovered on dusty microfilm at the University of the Philippines, was first published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, and cited in Clive Oppenheimer's book, Eruptions That Shook the World.) Recorded in 1915, it describes a fearsome, fire-breathing turtle that retreated up the mountain after fighting with another mythical creature. For three days, the turtle burrowed into the summit, shaking the earth and spraying pieces of rock, mud, and ash with a deafening roar. "Now you do not see smoke coming out of the Pinatubo mountain," the storyteller concludes, "and many believe that the terrible monster is already dead; but I think that he is just resting after his exertions, and that someday he will surely come out of his hiding place again."

* Slate

No Not Pac Man, Noooooooo

Pac Man is one of my bro crushes so I often times over look his super devoutness to that Catholic religion that most Filipino's halfta endure. He does a lot of charity work, lives in the Muslim part of the islands, is a civil servant and most importantly...he can kick my arse (hence the lack of shit talking). As of lately he's going overboard with his religious statements all of the time. Wait, it's the phone. Yes, this is Kriss. Ahha, yes...OK then, thank you. That was Tim Tebow, he said to tell Pac Man to tone it down.

A national pastime, like baseball here. I'm ashamed of my country.

Has the national fist done anything wrong. No. I'm just gonna atheist rant right now. I forgot where I read it yesterday, but Pac Man said that after the next fight, which may or may not be the last fight, and after he is done being a politician, he's gonna go the uber religious route. Why, he has accepted an invitation to be a "church spokesman (whatevah that is)." I'm irked right now and I dunno why.

Seriously, a freekin' octogan for chickens. Really.

 What else did he do. "I'm no longer in the vice business." At one time very recently, Pac Man was the proud owner of $700,000 worth of chickens. Well, not chickens, but the very proud and infamous fighting cocks of the Philippines. In the islands chicken fighting, err cock fighting is a beloved and respected national pastime (yuck, super gross and wrong peeps). While other countries destroy and murder way cooler animals like bull fighting in Spain, myyyyyyy people...chicken fight. So he quit that shit and that is a good thing, right. Still irked.

This guy can do no wrong I tell ya, you kind gentle and very goodlooking readers. He also sold a casino and a niteclub in his attempt to go viceless. In the article I read yesterday, the article I cannot find today, he also said no more alcohol and no more "womanizing." Wow, this is the coolest guy in the world. His legend just keeps growing and growing (1). Hello...irked.

Paris(?)

"I have found my real peace and happiness now. I draw strength and inspiration from reading and hearing the word of God," Kriss' bro crush, The National Fist, Manny "Freekin" Pacquiao. Aaaaaaaa, why does that bother me. This is the little old lady that goes to church on Sunday (in her sic arse 65' Mustang, original), donates her time and money and does no wrong, only the correct. OK...I'll tell what's wrong.

It false. In this case there is no problem with the destination, it's a problem with the road. I'm glad that Pac Man is doing the good, it's just that when a celebrity that is so epic and has such a great influence on the peeps that the backlash from statements and actions might take years to recover from.  Man, I tell ya, my beautiful Philippines needs help, so much help, but religion divides and religion is elitist, esp his/mine Catholic Christianity. Religion is the problem.

This year we had Timmy *expressing* his faith on a weekly basis to an audience of tens of millions and maybe even more. Currently the Lin-sation is "quietly" proselytizing his splinter cell of Christianity ever time he does a double crossover, then drives the paint for a layup or jab steps-n-pulls back for a jumper-so much so that his longtime pastor has been doing national interviews this past week. Great 'pub' man.

I guess it comes down to the good ol' 1) is religion a force of good, or 2) a force/source of evil. I think it's great that Pac Man is done with the disgusting "womanizing". He is a role model and fo sho the Filipino youth look up to him and emulate him. But to imply that the road of faith is the only road and the correct road...well, that is dookie.

(I think I gave this analogy before...) If you had a good friend or family that was kickin' the shit outta his g-friend/wife, then wouldn't you say something. I would. The family of Christian faith has many abusers in their house. The time to only acknowledge the good that the church does is over (thanks Four Horsemen). In yesterdays Left Hemispheres there was a great Hitch clip where he hands some clergy some ass on a platter and his point was that sure religion does good, but it also does hella bad and in fact, perhaps more bad then good.

Irked. Why? We are outnumbered and out (metaphorically) gunned. We do not have atheist superstars that can spread messages of critical thinking skills and reason to millions upon millions, easily, week in and week out for years and years. It's cool that Pac Man does good and I'm glad for him and his family and friends. But it sure seems unequal that Tebow got to spread his faith to an entire nation of football fans, that is pretty much the entire nation, and currently Jeremy Lin's faith is the topic of national headlines (and I'm sure his bracelet that says something like 'playin' for the Lord' or something, that everyone can see plain as day on national TV is selling like those hotcakes those cool kids keep talking about).

Now, my bro crush is professing his faith to a WORLD WIDE audience, giving the same ol' glory to God, the glory that we grew up with, when attention should be on correcting the wrongs that the church has done. Currently the Catholic bishops are telling women and employers and even the president what women should and should not do to their bodies. My awesome LGBT friends still cannot get legally married (everywhere), but a common gigolo  like The Newt is running for president. Butt Juice (Rick) is also Catholic and he's the point man for his personal war on women.

We have always given religion positive attention. I thought one of the cool things about The New Atheists was that we advanced the conversation and demanded that we now look at the whole of religion, the good and the bad, and not cherry pick little old lady beliefs of religion which ignores the horrors and the straight up crimes that religion is responsible for.

Irked

(1) Off the top of my head legendary shit that Pac Man did. His dad ate his pet dog as a kid (because they were hella poor) so he ran away to Manila to learn boxing. he was too small for his first fight so at weigh in he put lead weights in his pockets to make weight...and then he won. Then...In the southern Philippines there is a war between the North and the South, between the rebels and the government, between the Muslims and the Chistians. One day he called a truce and both sides got together and played a game of basketball. I can't makes this shit up, man.

* Article, but not the one I wanted.

* now that i think about it...we are metaphorically and literally outgunned. shit.

Skeptic Meters, Breathing And My Beautiful Philippines

What can I say...I'm one of those super smart and great looking/sexy, know it all skeptics (and so are y'all, well, only if yer on Team Skeptic) so when I discover sumthin'...I'm totally surprised. As you all know I totally heart my beautiful Philippines so much. So they have religious wars, seemingly no separation of church and state and the poverty...oh the poverty, so what. So what that they brag about being the most Catholic nation in S.E.Asia. So what that the witch doctor (daitu) and their *alternative medicine* is still used in many barangays today. This is where I draw the line tho...Buteyko.

So WTF is Buteyko, I'm mean besides bull of the shit...it's breathing; specifically breathing thru the nose, and sometimes hyperventilating. Really peeps I always tell people this, if anyone were to see/feel chi it would be the Asian guy that grew up, err, Asian and studied martial arts (c'est moi). No offense but when white people try and tell me about tai chi and chi gung I roll my eyes. I was the poster boy for alternative medicine at one point. If ginseng and echinachea were fer real, wouldn't I know about that. If the art of healing hands (Reiki) were for real, or shiatsu and accupunture and accupressure were fer real...wouldn't I know that. I think so (1).

I guess click the Buteyko link if you wanna waste your time, or you can just trust and believe me (I have never ever lied in my life) that it is fakey fake. When reading the description in the Filipino newspaper my skeptic meter went off like a drunk Mel Gibson in a kosher supermarket-that means a lot. If this is not written down anywhere, it should be...everyone's skeptic meter should go off when there is any product that claims to cure a whole host of ailments-panacea. The article claims that if one practices this *special* breathing technique then one can cure anything from asthma to a limp dick.

I couldn't resist...I Googled "limp."

Other warning signs are stupido thingies like "the medical establishment doesn't want you to know about this," "proven technique that is centuries old," "it's natural." (2). If you hear or read these things and your skeptic meter is NOT going off, then you need to change the battery in your skeptic meter cause the shit isn't working.

This is the first style I learned. 1972 baby (it kinda sucks cause you end up spitting all over yourself).

So, is it possible that there could be benefits to using this technique...sure. We all need to breath, breathing is cool. In fact I do it everyday. The body needs oxygen and so does the brain. If one uses any breathing technique, esp. combined with what the New Agers call-mindfulness, then of course there will be benefits. One can use any meditation, yoga, Gojo Ryo Karate has cool breathing techniques, tai chi and chi gung are also really effective breathing techniques. The thingy about it is we already know how to breath, naturally. It is fakey fake for anyone to tell you (esp. if they are charging money) that they have cornered the market on breathing. If you just sit in a chair and concentrate on making deep breadths, as opposed to any of the techniques I mentioned, I do not see any difference, well except for your bank account (it will be smaller and...limp).

I'm not sayin' don't breath, I'm sayin' don't spend money learning something that we already do naturally. As those great philosophers from the late 80's said "Don't believe the hype (and don't spend money on it)."

(1) I'm not sayin' that after one of those treatments one will not feel good, what I'm saying is that there are real world, physical (physiological) happenings that make those things work. It's certainly not chi.

(2) Just because something is old and natural doesn't mean that it's correct. For example blood leeching is old, so there.

* Article in GMA News Philippines

My Beautiful Philippines

  I wuz gonna write about this real deal exorcist on the left, but I got horny for my beautiful Philippines. It is a gonna be in the 60 degree range today here in Sac Town, which I admit is very comfortable, but the Philippines is, like, 70-85 degrees all year around. Besides that, the water here doesn't look like that.

 Yes, there are white people in the Philippines. Australia is south so there ya go. Totally honest of me, but I really dig seeing brown shinny Filipino children with smiles on their faces. I wish I could do something for them.

 I recycled this one from the previous post, which you should read...right.

 C'mon now...look at that housing. Totally ridicules in a great way.

 When we went to an island, like, on the 'aother side' the South China Sea was on that side and where we were at the water looked darker. I dunno if this pic is from there or what, i just sayin'.

 This is the pic I'm a gonna use in my exorcist post coming right up...next...I hope...we'll see. Le sigh.

It is my fantasy dream that #teambro, selected Sac Town friends, my bro and sis and theirs, my kind gentle and very good looking readers...and of course, my Tweeps, can one day sit on a beach like this and drink San Miguel beer for, like, 40 cents a pop. We'll chill on the beach and talk about how inexpensive it is while simultaneously the workers are talking about how they sold one beer to the Americans for 40 cents. It a win win.

One day....

* Google Philippines or beaches Philippines and be totally amazed...amazed.

My Wacky Filipino People Are At It Again

In my beautiful Philippines my people believe that touching this burn piece of wood will *heal them*. I think you can also just be in the presence or general vicinity and that is why up to 8 million of my people go to check out the Traslacion (the Transfer) "of the lovingly venerated lifesize Back Nazarene image of our Lord Jesus from Intramuros (I've been there (1)) to Quiapo, Manila..." Or as I call it, moving a burnt Jesus cross across town.

Yea looks just like Him...doesn't it.

My peeps have those awesome Spanish rapers and pillagers, err, I mean those dudes that took our country by force and stole our land, no I mean the people that NOT graciously implanted their religion on my peeps and it spread like a virus the same way they did it here in the states with the Native Americans (Indians); that is by ill force. No what I mean to call them is Spanish Conquistadors...yea, that's what I meant. Any who...

I'm doing this from memory so all you Filipino history buffs out there (Troy) correct me if I'm wrong, but, it was in the 1600 when a lifesize wooden Jesus carrying the cross was being shipped to the islands from Spain. I'm assuming that they were drunk because the ship caught on fire and the statue got burnt black. When it arrived I guess they wanted to see the silver lining of it all and was all like "this is miraculous." It also survived a burnt down church or two.

 One article I read said 3 million and another said up to 8 million of my devout flip-homies went to the procession which lasted fro, like, a whole day. The reason why there is the "Traslacion" in the first place is because the place it chills at has too many visitors and if they have their parade every year then millions upon millions of my ailing and in need of medical attention people can go check it out. This years festival required 1,000 police to not only do crowd control, but because those crazy Islamic Filipinos know that that is a good time to go all roadside bomb-n-stuff (that is what the Catholic Northern gov. said).

My people are so ga ga in their Catholic worshiping (recall we literally nail ourselves to crosses-crucifixion-every year for some reason) and even tho there are many religious festival thu-out the year, this one is the ONE. It is so popular that authorities are thinking of taking it on tour to different and more provinces. This years event was the biggest evah evah. I guess it could be a symbol of hope-n-shit so that is why it is so powerful...and the healing powers, don't forget the healing powers (there's no universal health care in the islands).

It's sort of funny that at religious events on the islands that after there is always hella litter.

Not funny thing about my people going to see the burnt piece of wood because it has *miraculous* healing powers is that 600 peeps were treated for exhaustion, there was a stampe, pulling, shoving, cuts-n-bruises and dozens were hospitalized for hypertension (WTF) and fractures because they got all crushed-n-shit in the massive crowds, in addition to terrorist threats.  Makes me instantly think "God sure does work in mysterious ways."

The NOT best thingy about Mulatto Jesus is that he comes out for another festival during another part of the year. Yippie.

(1) Intramurous would be like if you live in Sacramento and went to Old Sacramento. In fact, now that I think about it, it would be like going to the historic "old town" of whatevah city you live in. It was the wall fort for the Spanish invades to protect them and their clergy from my peeps, ya know, cause they invaded and occupied us for hella long. When i went there I thought is was no big deal and kinda stinky because it's so humid there and there is mold everywhere. I liked going to the bookstores, but I didn't like the mold smell. I'm American, so there.

* Reuters

* Manila Times

This is what I think about when I think "Philippines"...the beach is nice also.

I Read Snopes for Some Laughs

Dam, that could me/us.

 You know when you are with a kid and you pass by a parked car with a dog in the drivers seat and you lie to them and say, "Hey look, that dog knows how to drive," and the little kid with his/her little kid brain is in awe and says a kid "wow." Well, now it's not a lie. Dog in Australia caught driving. Funny comment was dude said something like "even we think this is weird."

Dam, it looks like there is a grandma and kids on the shitty weak ass roof.

 Dude ask's for his "weed back" and the judge says "No."

Even the "beautiful people" could not escape the flooding.

This guy's dog told him to rob a house and he said no...that is until Jesus also told him to rob the house. Thanks Jesus. Oh yea, why. He told police that he was going to meet Taylor Swift in the backyard and marry her. OK.

I'm sure I covered this story before. Man gets jail time for sex with a horse. The thing about it is, I'm not sure if it is the same guy or a different guy. Could there be two of them...please no.

This is weird. Man punches grandmas dog. That is all.

Do guys even like this. Gross.

I think I just solved a crime. This guy was pissed and deposited urine into his bank deposit and this guy pissed on hella books. Could there be two of them. Please, no.

Illegal logging and mining is a problem in S0 PI.

OK I solved another one. Stolen goat gets shaved is the same person that horse fucker is. Right, or are people that weird and there's many of them.

Man urinates on police car. OK, nows there's three of them, potentially.

Most people live like this.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines at least 436 people have died due to flooding in the southern islands. Cagayan de Oro City received a whole months worth of rain in 12 hours. These are all pictures from Cagayan de Oro City.

* Snopes.

Witches In The Philippines

Look at this super evil lagoon.

Kind gentle and very good looking readers, ya know I heart me my beautiful Philippines. I do, I do so much. But part of what love is is callin' out your loved one when it matters. If you had a destructive and abusive friend or family member, then wouldn't you say something-I would (that is what love is). Two thingies, peeps....

One, my beautiful Philippines unashamedly laid claim to the 7 billionth human born to this erffs. Just like my peeps brag about being the most Catholic nation in S.E.Asia, I don't think that that is something to brag about. I have written about over population and doing Dog's work many many times. It is not a good thing and it certainly is not sumthin' to brag about. We/they should be ashamed. The Philippines biggest crop is rice and the government has to bring it into the country because it can't produce enuff...and there are hella peeps that do not have enuff to eat. 7 billion people that is not good. That is nothing to be proud of. WTF.

Are you a dude or a chick. Regardless, I'm scared.

Pictured above is Ceyetano Umbalsa, 76, lives in the super beautiful Central Visayas...oh and s/he is a witch. Just like all native peeps all over the world, some kind of shaman-y witchcraft stuffs proliferated in the Islands before the coming of medical science (and even before the Spanish and their Catholicism). The thingy about it in my beautiful Philippines...it's still there.

Some Filipino witches practice the healing arts and some practice the dark arts. Fo sho you one can purchase a spell that can make someone love you...or you can make dude impotent. For an island with a yearly income of $2,500 a spell can cost anywhere from $345 to $700. What do you get for that much money. The witch will put the magic stone in a glass of water and blow air bubbles into it until the water becomes clear. Needless to say, many locals swear by this practice and go for the natural and indigenous over the medical science to cure their ills.
Super super funny thang...Father Larry Catubig says...

"It's good that the witches are going to church, and we try to steer them away from magic," he said. "But when they go back into the mountains, we have no control over what they do (LA Times)."


Now I've heard everything. Happy Hell-o-weeny everyone.

* Filipino witches

Don't go in the water. Why. I dunno.

* Congrats? 700 Billion. WTF.

* Ugh,  my mouth hurts so fuckin' much right now. Double Ugh.

* Wiki Siquijor

Hello World, Thanks for Checkin' Out The "Rocks"

This IS actual size. I'm 11 inches tall and almost 1lb (and I feel kinda flabby right now).

I'm holding on and I'm clinging as of lates. What am I holding on to...I don't even know if that  exists-I just know that I'm holding on. One of the thingies that makes me happy lately, and also makes me not-happy, is looking at the statistics of the six pack blog. It makes me happy that peeps from all over the world (that is, if you are not a 'bot') come to check out my godless abs (and it makes me not-happy that the numbers are down-it's a double edge sword). Thanks so much weirdos from other countries that come here. I really hope that you originally came for the six pack, but you stayed for the content.

The statistics that Blogger provides does many things. If you have a blog you must, MUST, check out your stats. If you don't, then I'm revoking your skeptic/atheist/nerd/goober card. Shame on you fer not "bro-ing out" on the numbers. In this post I just wanna address and acknowledge the "audience statistics."

The free statistics that Blogger provides can break it down into diff categories like now, day, week, month and all time. It can break it down to what operating system peeps are using and what browser peeps are using. There is a lot of good information and you can learn from this stuffs, like, I didn't know simple pie was a browser or that there were even hella operating systems. Who knew, not me (that's a good sentence). Fuck that shit, what I wanna post about right now is the audience stats. Where is it that everyone comes from.

I Googled Australia, hot chicks and beaches for this pic.

Oh yea buddy, all the super hot skeptic/atheist ladies from down under are coming to the six pack blog, this week. In fact, 23. And if you are reading this and you are a dude (how do Australians says 'dude' or 'bro') from down under, then disregard this comment. Thanks homies.

Russia, this week, is rolling in at 89 super hot blond atheist ladies that wear a ridicules amount of bling. In fact it is a gaudy amount of bling, the amount that makes people stop, point and stare when they see it/you. But you knew that, right, baby and that is why you come here. Thanks. If you are a fat, drunk and hairy Russian dude, then disregard the previous comment. Thanks.

Of course, America is gonna come in first in all the categories. For the week I have had 'gaudy' 763 hits...from the good 'ol U (space) S (space) of (space) A-aaaaaaaaaaaa. And funny thing, you would think that I would have hella readers, subscribers, followers from Sac Town, but that is not the case. WTF.

OK, moving on to the "day" category, lookie lookie who is representing hard with 10 mighty hits. Guess...you guessed correctly...Pakistan. OM(nonexistent)Gawd!!! Pakistan, welcome, welcome. I hope you are freedom fighters and are of like mind with me. I imagine that if you have a computer and Internet then you are "well to do", or a college student perhaps. Deff. liberal and deff. open enuff to come here. I think it's so cool that 'lil old me gets 10 frackin' hits from your country. If you are the Pakistan secret service or a cleric that will cut off my hands for blasphemy...then this is not Kriss. He moved.

I'm a gonna bunch this one. Pale, fared skin, super hot ladies of the United Kingdom (whatever that is, I'm American so I don't know geography) with your freckles and your soft and fair skin that never sees the sun, thanks for coming by today, 12 times. And that goes for you to Ukraine (8 times) and Ireland (5 times) and Finland (3 times), thanks for coming by ladies. It makes me feel good that total hotties from different countries come to the blog to see if there are more pictures of my six pack (but then you stay for the content, right). And...and if you are a dude from those countries, then thanks to you also...I guess. Any who...

Isn't looking at statistics fun. I think so. There is also a "right now" category and what that tells you is...who is on right now at this moment and ya know who I see there? You know who I see and I'm totally stoked to see you there, day after day, time and time again. It warms my heart that my peeps come to the six pack blog. I tooooooottttaaaalllly go to Filipino freethought blogs and atheist sites (when I can find them). I totally read the Filipino newspapers and try and stay up to date on all the 'haps' going on in the islands. I'm so proud to announce that at this moment, from my beautiful beautiful Philippines, I have one visitor. Salamat, homie and thanks.

One more picture for good measure.

The all time category is the all star statistics. These are the bread and butter, the ones that have fueled the fire for the two years and a handful of months that I have been killin' it here. In no particular order....Phiippines rolling in at 1,521 hits, the superior race with hot blonds, Germany rolling in at 1,069, surprisingly to me, the Netherlands rolling in at 482 (thanks you so much Netherlands. Like I said, I'm American and I'll have to look up where you are on the map. Thanks so much Team N-Land), South Korea is rolling hard at 388, but France trails them at 358. I appreciate all the attention, but really, I thought France would be like, top three, right. Still, it's much appreciated, both you countries (where's my North Korea stats I wonder). India and Canada, two countries that I have always thought would be nice to visit are rolling in at 1,986 and 3,839 respectively and do I have to say it...super hot Indian and Canadian atheist, skeptic and morally and ethically good hotties...thanks so much. I really, really appreciate it. I really do. 

As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't seem like I have that many local readers while most of the readers (that's you guys and gals) are, like, totally in the world-n-stuffs.  I think it's absolutely wonderful that 'lil old me can reach an audience so wide and diverse and so all over the world. It brings a whole new meaning to that "drop in the bucket' analogy, or a butterfly flaps it's wings or...or...hell, whatever.

Thanks world,

Heart Kriss

Corporate Mining And The Philippines

Howz about I get me one of these outfits. Nice.

Well, my beautiful Philippines is up against the wall again. This time it is corporate mining interests v. indigenous people (what else is new). In Occidental, Mindoro, the Mangyan people have occupied the same land for generation after generation. Unfortunately for them, the land is rich in minerals and gold.

They earn a whopping 34 cents a day, 9 of 10 are malnourished, illiteracy is rampant and they call the four month monsoon season the "hungry period." There numbers are small (I believe 25,000, could be wrong on that one), their dialect is in the minority, education opportunities are very small, but that hardly matters because to make it to age ten is something of an achievement.

This is the first I've heard of these peeps and their plight. We have seen this before in the Amazon Rainforest and China's Yantze River (peeps displaced because of corporate interests). I'll be keeping my eye on this one. C'mon Philippines...I rooting for you. Heart Kriss.

Why would anyone dig up this beautiful land. For money. Fuck that.

In 1999 I visited a rural school just like this one. They were stoked to even have this much.

Nipa huts are houses on stilts because the rains come...every season.

* Article from the Mighty Al Jazeera.