Weeping Virgin Mary

There's news today (May 27, 2015) of a weeping Virgin Mary statue in Liloan, Catarman, Camiguin.  There were investigations in the past by the church about these weeping statues, many were made by making a hollow statue, placing red liquid material or wax inside and placing a tiny hole in the eye such that when rubbed or when temperature is high as during summer or when a church is packed, it the packing material or wax in the tiny hole melts (or just rubbed) and red liquid pours from the eye like a weeping Mary.  Of course there are true genuine miracles but many resort to these crimes just to raise money in their chapels and increase the flock.

Readings:
http://www.georgefoster.info/writing/tears2.html

"How to make a weeping statue:
What is needed is a hollow statue made of a porous material such as plaster or ceramic.  The icon must be glazed or painted with some sort of impermeable coating.  If the statue is then filled up with a liquid (surreptitiously, through a tiny hole in the head, for example), the porous material will absorb it, but the glazing will stop it from flowing out.  If the glazing, however, is imperceptibly scratched away on or around the eyes, tear-like drops will leak out, as if materialising from thin air.  If the cavity behind the eyes is small enough, once all the liquid has dripped out there are virtually no traces left in the icon.  When I put it to the test, this trick proved to be very satisfactory, baffling all onlookers.
Dr. Luigi Garlaschelli from Pavia University published in Chemistry in Britain."

Italian Chemist explores the science of miracles: http://article.wn.com/view/2005/11/13/Italian_chemist_explores_the_science_of_miracles/

Weeping Statue article in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_statue

SM Seaside City Cebu

SM Seaside City Cebu in the reclamation area is Asia's biggest mall. Projected to open by Christmas 2015. The old SM Mall near Pier 5 will fit inside this many times. 

Perfect Disaster

Swarm Intelligence

1:00PM, in class
"Ok class, our lesson foh tohday is swarm intelligence".  (no response from sleepy class).  "Swarm intelligence is the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial" (only a few ladies were jotting down notes, many males will photocopy their notes later).  "Kinsay ga dula ug DOTA diri?"  (suddenly, many eyes lit up!) Di ba, the Nerubian Weaver can send a swarm of beetles that latches onto foes to create chaos in large armies, reducing armor and damaging them?  That is sort of like swarm intelligence. Like birds in a flock, termites, ants, etc.  (now the class has awoken).

(Later)
"Ok class, kinsa ga dula ug CounterStrike diri?"  (Students: "kini, mura'g exciting ni nga class diay!")  "Our next lesson on Monday is about artificial intelligence. Bots use AI diba?"

Baby termites, dead in the sun

Ant vs. termite (usually, the ant wins because termites are slow and vulnerable outside its hive)

Starcraft Marine Swarm

Fault Lines Near Cagayan de Oro City and Possible Tsunami Generators

With so much talk these days about the West Valley Fault in Manila, it is also timely to talk about possible earthquake generators near Cagayan de Oro City.  We are lucky that there is no fault line under the city but there are fault lines nearby which would also shake us and swamp us with the quake-generated tsunamis.

News articles about the West Valley Fault in Manila

In an interview with the chief of the Office of Civil Defense Region 10, it was revealed that the fault at the Southern part of Bohol island which faces Misamis Oriental could generate a tsunami (Mindanao Current, 2011).

August 17, 1976- 6.7 magnitude undersea earthquake in the Celebes Sea (between Mindanao & Borneo) generated a 14-15 feet tsunami hit Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte, 8,000 died, 10,000 wounded, 90,000 homeless.

The officer added that if the Tagoloan Fault under the Tagoloan River shakes violently, it will cause devastation in the province.

Fault Lines Near Cagayan de Oro City

Map Showing Recent Earthquakes in the Area

Map showing landslide susceptible areas due to earthquake or heavy rain

Google Maps with hazards overlayed

It is best to prepare for survival at home or a shelter for several days because there will be no electricity (power lines toppled, power plants damaged); there will be no water from the faucets (pipes will be broken); you cannot contact loved ones (because mobile phone towers will be toppled or damaged; landline posts toppled); roads will be blocked by debris; hospitals will be full of injured patients (glass windows from building alone will cause so many injuries); emergency personnel will also be busy tending for their loved ones; stores and mall will be closed because storeclerks will also be busy attending to their loved ones; there will be riots and ransacking of stores and malls. In short there will be chaos, and it's best to stay at home (if it still stands).


Undersea fault line can trigger tsunami in Northern Mindanao. (Mar. 26, 2011). The Mindanao Current. Retrieved 5-20-2015 from http://themindanaocurrent.blogspot.com/2011/03/undersea-fault-line-can-trigger-tsunami.html.

Definition of Basic Law

My nephew last night asked what a basic law is. I just haphazardly guessed that a basic law will be a framework where other later laws will be based upon.  My guess was right because Wikipedia states that a basic law is "an interim or transitory nature" or provisional constitution.  Wikipedia

Full text of the BBL http://forpostinglater.blogspot.com/2015/05/full-text-of-bangsamoro-basic-law.html

Whirlwind Occurence Inside the UST Campus

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/488410/scitech/socialmedia/watch-youscooper-catches-dust-devil-at-ust-campus-on-video

Villa Arcadia Resort, Talisayan, Mis.Or. During Its Heyday

Steel rebar inside a concrete structure near the sea rusts, expands and cracks concrete, then crumbles.  One of the come-ons of this resort while it was new was the water's edge walk above large volcanic rocks (photos from the Internet).

NBA 2015 Games

Typhoon Dolphin

Microsoft Continuum is Exciting

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8560195/microsoft-continuum-for-phones-windows-10

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2916481/microsofts-continuum-turns-windows-10-phones-into-tiny-full-blown-windows-pcs.html

Full Text of the Bangsamoro Basic Law

Full text BBL pdf  from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process http://www.opapp.gov.ph/

Typhoons Dodong and Egay

Dodong (Nuol) is now headed towards Japan after making cat5 landfall in Sta. Ana, Cagayan while Egay (Dolphin) is already on a higher latitude and far off the Pacific such that a landfall here is slim.

Monitoring Your Environment

(this long article project is under construction; in the meantime you may go to our weather site MISORLA Weather Portal

Monitoring the Weather

Monitoring Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Monitoring the Tide
     Tide Table for the Philippines Tide Time and Chart for Cagayan de Oro
     Another Tide Table for the Philippines Tide Table, Cebu
Monitoring Other Environmental Hazards


Monitoring the News
     Radio
Monitoring Your Location and Finding Your Way

Monitoring Plane Flights

Monitoring Ships

Monitoring Power Service Interruption and Rotating Brownouts

Monitoring Water Service Interruption

Monitoring Time
     Monitoring Philippines Official Time PAGASA Philippine Standard Time
     Checking Time Around the World

Monitoring Movies Now Showing

Pearlmont Hotel Food Poisoning

The food poisoning at the Pearlmont Hotel could be excess food prepared for the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match that the restaurant may had prepared too much but the number of viewers were fewer than usual. Just my guess.

From Twitter:

A beach should be

Boracay has become dirty and overcrowded. There are a thousand other better tropical beaches here.

PAARL Summer Conference 2015 Lectures

Lecture presentations during the PAARL Summer Conference 2015 in Cagayan de Oro is now available for download at the PAARL Yahoo Group site: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PAARL/conversations/messages/19276

(You must be a member to view the files)

Nice Immanuel Pacquiao Polo

Tropical Storm Nuol

Body found floating in the river

At 7:00AM, I passed this bridge going to the city (to the East) to buy fruits. I noticed a man shampooing near the cathedral.  Crossing back going to work, I noticed crowds milling on the bridge and traffic building up.  Heard that a male body was found, lots of lacerations and bruises, has a cleft palate and short crew cut hair.

Tropical Depression Nuol

The LPA that is located East of Mindanao is now a Tropical Depression named Nuol. It is forecast to enter our PAR this Wednesday and make landfall at Cat4 this weekend possibly at the Bicol or Luzon area.