Frank And Healthy Minds

“Isbo” in Ilocano means “urine.” Perhaps in Grade 5, in 1951 or some 70 years ago, in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, when we full-blooded Ilocano (FBI) boys were commonly urinating, the joke was, “Is Bonifacio a hero?” (Laughter) Sorry to disappoint you, whoever you are, FBI or not, but Andres Bonifacio is not much of the hero that historian Teodoro A Agoncillo portrayed him to be! I knew that 24 years ago yet. How did I remember all that? I bragged & blogged about it, 28 Dec 2007, “Inventing A Hero. Each Of Us Looking Through The Mirror Of Everyda y [1] ”  ( A Magazine Called Love, Blogspot.com ). This is part of what I wrote: (book cover imag e [2] from amazon.com ) I final-edited the book by Glenn May published in 1997 by New Day (Quezon City, Philippines): Inventing A Hero . The subtitle tells you enough of its contents: The Posthumous Re-Creation Of Andres Bonifacio . The author casts doubts on much of the bits and pieces of information we know of Bonifacio, the second

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is minding the 2022 presidential elections; I am a Roman Catholic and I don’t mind at all! ANN says today, Sunday, 28 Nov 2021, a day of obligation for Roman Catholics, “CBCP Releases Prayer For The 2022 Elections [1] ” (Author Not Named, Rappler.com ). ANN counts 24 lines and I count 214 words total. Meaningfully, Angelic Numbers say s [2] : The… number 214 encourages you to regain control of your life. You may have lost your bearings due to something unexpected, but this is not enough reason to completely lose control of your life. How prophetic is that!? Since the filing of candidacies by those running for President in the 2022 elections, we Filipinos have been razzle-dazzled by the 3 frontrunning presidential wannabes – Bongbong Marcos (Ilocano) , Isko Moreno (Tagalog), and Leni Robredo (Bicolano) – that is, Bongbong by parades of red (people & vehicles), Leni by gatherings of people in pink & buildings glowing

Displaying favored colors literally and loudly in rallies, hundreds if not thousands of followers of Bongbong Marcos (red) , Isko Moreno (blue) , and Leni Robredo (pink) show seemingly slow-burning support – but I’m not excited because no candidate is talking about a fiery archipelagic-wide plan for the whole country! (inset aggie image s [1] from Aciar.gov.au ) Nobody has expressed any PH Vision in the next 25 years at least – and I firmly believe: “Kung wala kang Bisyon, puro ka lang Ambisyon!” (“If you have no Vision, you are only pure Ambition!”) And: Only Isko Moreno is talking about agriculture, he who has risen from among garbage food-seekers in Manila. So he talks about a “Long-Term Plan Para Sa Agrikultura Ng Bansa” on Facebook (“Long-Term Plan for the Country’s Agriculture” – my translation) on 27 Nov 2021. He says: Let us pursue a medium and long-term plan and fund to boost the Philippines' agricultural sector. Bigyan natin ng kapanatagan ang mga magsasaka at mangin

My unsolicited advice to my PH President Rodrigo Roa Duterte : See that Maria Ressa , CEO of Rappler, obtains her visa to travel to Oslo, Norway to personally receive her Nobel Peace Prize on 10 December 2021. A gift to us Filipinos! The news by Lian Buan is, “Calida Blocks Maria Ressa’s Travel For Nobel Prize: She’s A ‘Flight Risk’” (25 Nov 2021, Rappler.com ): Calling the Rappler CEO a "flight risk," Solicitor General Jose Calida has filed an opposition with the Court of Appeals (CA) seeking to bar Maria Ressa from traveling to Oslo, Norway, in December to personally receive her Nobel Peace Prize. An unkind Christmas present! No, I do not approve of Maria Ressa’s Truth Journalism , but a world prize is a world prize! And this is the first for a Filipino. I call mine “ THiNK! Journalism .” Preferentially, my kind of journalism is derived from Zig Ziglar’s THINK advice, a very rich lesson from one of the world’s greatest motivational speaker, who said: Think before yo

Yes, CoVID21..... Tuesday, 23 November, my blog’s title was “Communication for Development (ComDev).” Wednesday, 24 November, my blog’s title became “Communication for Village Development 2021 (CoVID21).” Yes! I’m trying to get more attention from more people – in telling more than the truth! As I say in my Profile About Me: “Not Maria Ressa’s type, mine is THiNK! Journalism: True+ Helpful+ Inspiring+ Necessary+ Kind!” Instead of constantly criticizing, which is being hurtful , we should go beyond being truthful . We happily open our mouth to hurt , but we hardly open our hands to help! Yes, the other day, Wednesday, I recreated myself, in a manner of speaking! I did not know it previously, but it so happens that in history, on that date was published the book Origin Of The Species. History.com Editors say [1] that on 24 November 1859, Charles Darwin published Origin Of Species , saying “that man and ape shared a common ancestor. He was said to be a heretic, but his theory was sc

Filipinos, with the Department of Agriculture (DA), why not “Masaganang ANI, Mataas na KITA”? (Bountiful Harvest, Bounteous Income). Why not intelligent economics with hybrid rice?! SeedWorks Philippines , I have written about your super-hybrid rice “US 88” (see my 24 November 2021 essay “RevFarm – How Hybrid Rice Can Make PH Millionaires ! [1] ”   Communication for Development ). Convinced of the super-worthiness of US 88, as a relentless blogger, UPLB graduate of ’65, BSA major in Ag Edu, and as a recent convert to Regenerative Agriculture , I am hereby enticing SeedWorks to sponsor a year-long public hybrid rice demo of 2 ha where the same US 88 will be planted in both 1-ha fields but with different cultivation methods. Probable test site: PhilRice Los Baños Station. Field 1 (Conventional Farming) Field preparation with disc plowing & harrowing & field leveling, nursery, transplanting, mechanical weeding, application of fertilizers & pesticides, usual irrigation pract

Think Revolutionary Farming (RevFarm), Think Doable . Here’s how 5 Filipino hybrid rice farmers can raise P 1M+ from 1 crop! This is already history. In early 2020, Genaro Tamon planted “US 88” hybrid rice, on May 12 harvested an ultra high 15.73 MT (286 sacks at 55 kilos each) from 1 ha in Magarao, Camarines Sur. Computed at P 18/kg, the total was P 283,140; multiplied by 5 farmers, the total was P 1,415,700! To become rich, you have to think rich first. The news of ultra high yield is by Zac Saria n [1] (16 May 2020, “Bumper Crop: US 88 Yields 15.73 Tons Per Hectare In Bicol!” Agri News , Zacsarian.com ); the calculation is by me, using the average 2020 palay price of P 18/kg in Central Luzon per survey by PRIS M [2] . Mr Sarian says: The bumper yield is more than three times the average national per hectare yield of 4.07 metric tons based on the latest quarterly data from the Philippine Statistics Authority in January 2020. This is probably the first time for a farmer from Bi

The ultimate truth is: If we want to counter-cultivate Climate Change, we have to counter-culture Primate Change first! (“Till & No-Till” image [1]  from Health Care Without Harm ) We must regenerate the farm to fight climate change for the better and, to do that, first we foster primate change! Primates – People must change first! The past comes back always, either to hail us or to haunt us. “Primate Change” both hails and haunts me . I first wrote about Climate Change more than 14 years ago, on 03 March 2007, published in the American Chronicle, “Primate Change? Or Climate Change? You Choose! – The Blogal Village Voice.” Unfortunately, that digital media has since become a victim of primate change; fortunately, I have a full reproduction of all 4,042 words of it, including the image of the ape (inset above) in my blog The American Frank [2] published on WordPress.com . I was very serious about what I was writing – that essay spread to thirteen (13) pages! single-space, short

When I was in high school, I took the Reader's Digest test, and I found my IQ was that of a Genius. I forgot the figure but I know it was a high IQ score . In the Facebook sharing (above), author Adrien touts the IQs of African Ramarni Wilfred , IQ of 162; African-American Anala Beevers , 4 years old, IQ of 145+; and British Alannah George , IQ of 140 (19 Nov 2021, “Three Young Geniuses Among The Highest IQs Ever In The Worl d [1] , ” Green Living Tribe , Greenlivingtribe.com ). So what? A high IQ is nothing! An agriculturist – BSA major in Ag Edu, UP '65, 2.36 weighted average, with a few 5’s – and a self-taught warrior writer in communication for development ( ComDev), which is this genius’ own brainchild, I am quite interested in the state colleges & universities (SCUs) in my country the Philippines – the SCUs should revise their curricula to consider this: Each of us has a different High IQ! In 1983, Harvard psychology professor Howard Gardner presented his brain

Yes Sir! As a warrior writer in communication for development (ComDev), my reinvention of UP Los Baños’ development communication (DevCom), I am very much encouraged to see that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is, pardon my expression, “well-fully reinventing PH Agriculture!” With 46 years working on various publications for public and private institutions and individuals, I have never been as excited as I was reading the new DA magazine Ani at Kita (November 2021 issue), which highlights details of programs derived from Secretary of Agriculture William Dar’s “The New Thinking For Agriculture” that he brought to the DA already packaged before his appointment by PRRD. They don’t make Secretaries of Agriculture like they used to anymore! The above image is the magazine’s cover, the main cover story screaming: Farmers Earn Millions From Munggo. Leilani Adriano says the Dingras munggo farmers belong to 3 cooperatives: (1) Casalaysayan, Segundo, Dancel, Camining & Soriano Farmer

How can some people blame each avocado for “drinking” up to 320 liters of water to grow? The avocado tree is not  guilty of over-drinking water while those “experts” are guilty of over-thinking Climate Change! On Facebook, Nestor V Saludo shares what ANN says, “Top Chefs Declare War On Avocados In Their Restaurant s [1] ”  (Author Not Named, 15 Nov 2021, DW Global Ideas ): Some of the world’s top chefs are moving away from using avocados in their restaurants –substituting popular dishes like guacamole… The reason behind the move is a concern about the large carbon footprint of this fruit and its unsustainable harvesting methods that lead to a loss of biodiversity, water scarcity and deforestation. (globe-hand imag e [2] from Fair Observer ) Those 52 italicized words above are eye-opening if you knew climate change – I see that those chefs are literally barking at the wrong tree! That paragraph is pregnant with meanings, plural. In fact, in those 52 words, we can already identif