An exercise in moral reasoning:

Topic: Gambling

1) I chose Gambling because my auntie dwelled with this kind of problem before, and she lost almost everything including the trust of her husband and the money that her husband gave to her. In the end, she was able to slowing raise some money on her own to pay off her debts because her husband doesn’t want to provide her money the money. I consider this action of hers to be wrong because she didn’t take into consideration how her action can affect the people around her most especially her family. Though she regretted gambling and living a life of chance, she is still having a hard time to fix the wrong things that she have committed. I only wish that she wasn’t treated that way, and aided by her husband so that she won’t get depressed.

2) Gambling will always be “Bad” even if you live a life of solitude because of the fact that it can turn one’s life upside-down, and affect other people’s life dramatically. Though there is always the chance that one will win in gambling, the fact that there is still that BIG risk of ruining your entire life outweighs that chance.

3) Based on my answers, I would consider myself to be a “Moral Rationalist” because I first considered the general situation of a person gambling before I made my judgement regarding my auntie’s action. The fact that there is a huge risk of affecting one’s life and the lives of others would mark “Gambling” as a wrong act. One should always take into consideration what will happen if he/she commits an action because each and every action can have a bad effect on yourself or to others.

4) Hey pal! I know that you are gambling nowadays, but then why do you do it? Is it just for pleasure or is it just to pass your time? I know that this is not my problem to deal with, but because I am your close friend, I would just want to help you out with your actions regarding gambling. It’s not like I am asking you to stop gambling, but I am here as a friend to tell you that you have to take into consideration the roads of reason, caution and suspicion. I am saying that you should always be cautious and suspicious of your action. If you are unsure of whether or not gambling is wrong, try to assume that it is wrong because in doing so you will be more aware of the effects of gambling. Moreover, ask yourself why you are gambling and what is the benefit of doing it? Have you taken into consideration the effects of gambling to your life and to the lives of the people around you? Is your reason to gamble outweigh the benefits of not gambling? If it does, then I can say that you can continue to gamble as a way to pass your time, but then if it doesn’t you have the decision to stop on your own free will. I am just here to help you understand the effects of gambling and help you be always suspicious of your action because in that way you will surely be more aware of the things that is happening around you including their disadvantages.

My stand on using GMO

After reading articles regarding the benefits and the risks of using Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) to modify the contents of the food that we are ingesting, I have come into a conclusion that it is not commendable for people to eat these genetically modified food. Indeed they provide a lot of benefits to our growing population the fact that it enhance the nutrients that the food may provide its consumer and also enhance the growth of crops, but unfortunately it also bring forth risks such as health ailments, deadly diseases (cancer), and can cause death and disruption to nature and some animals. And in my belief, everything that can alter the balance of our body’s health should be prevented.

The place and role of REASON in religion and morality (12 January 2012)

The Taste of Oil

I will never forget the day our chemistry teacher, Ms. Albano, allowed us to make kropeks with the use of different oil (Corn, olive, canola, and butter). In this fun mini experiment, we were tasked to determine the taste difference between the oils because we know that all of them are all have different chemical structures and bond lengths. Some of them are considered as poly-unsaturated oil, mono-unsaturated oil, while some are considered as saturated oil. After tasting the kropeks which were dipped in different kinds of oil, I was able to determine that the only oil that tasted different was the butter. All of the other oil — Corn, olive, canola — simply tastes the same.

Synthetic Antioxidant (BHA, BHT)

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are seemingly related synthetic compounds that are often added to our food to preserve the fats. BHA’s molecular formula is C11H16O2, and is described to be a white/yellowish waxy solid substance with a faint aromatic odor. On the other hand, BHT has a molecular formula of C15H24O and is said to be comparable with white power. These food additives are considered safe for human consumption, but may cause some people, problems as well such as ADHD, Allergies, Joint Pain, Sleepiness, Stomach problems, Weight Gain, Headache, and the like. Both BHA and BHT protect fats from oxidation, which happens when our food is exposed to oxygen. They are usually added to potato flakes, cereals, and food containing animal fats and shortening. These two substances indeed bring forth a lot of benefits in our life, but then they also have some disadvantages. For example, the international agency for research on cancer considers both BHA and BHT to be possible carcinogenic to human being, which is why some people avoid food which contains these substances. Fortunately, the united states food and drug administration considers both BHA and BHT to be safe. Researchers estimate that it would need at least 125 times the usual amount of BHA for it to become toxic. In conclusion, I can’t personally say that it is 100% safe to eat food which contains these substances, but what I can suggest is to just be cautious about BHT and BHA. If you feel that you have been eating too much food with food preservatives or food additives in it, try eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

Food Chemistry Introduction

Why do they think that those foods are weird? 

In my perspective, those kinds of food are marked as weird by the society for the fact that they have a distinct nasty appearance/smell. We mark them as weird food because we are not used to eat those kinds of food, thus we are afraid that ingesting those kinds of food will harm our body. Surely no one wants to die early just because he ate one weird / unfamiliar looking food. Also, note that Balut is marked as a weird food but then it doesn’t look that weird to Filipinos who are eating them. Therefore, I think that those food are weird simply because we are not familiar with them.

What is food?

My definition of food is everything that can be safely digested by our body, and turned into energy.

What is considered as a normal food and what is not?

Well I guess that I will consider normal food as foods that I am familiar with, while the latter are the unfamiliar ones.

What would be your 5 weirdest food?

1) Tarantulas

2) CodFish Sperm

3) Kopi Luwak

4) Live Octopus

5) Rotten Soybeans

The VC with South Dartmoor Community College

The video conference  with the girls in South Dartmoor Community College last November 29, 2011 truly showed me how enriching it was to have a video conference which talks about one’s own faith in life. I was astonished by the fact that there were no technical/mechanical difficulties that occurred during the whole duration of the event, unlike the previous video conferences that we had. This showed how fully prepared both schools were, including our facilitator, who was Ian Jamieson, and how much each school anticipated to have such a wonderful and smooth video conference with each other. I was also impressed with the fact that everyone was actively participating and showed interest in the discussion; everyone spoke and delivered their statements which were related with the topics at hand. The only unsatisfying thing that happened during the video conference is that we were only having a conversation with three female students. And I know that the video conference could have been better if we were to converse with more of their students because with more students, we would have been able to explore their culture and religion more, which would have been incorporated in their personal statements regarding the issues that were presented.

The best thing that I have learned during this video conference is that there are a lot of cultural differences between our countries, like for example their country doesn’t give too much importance to an RH Bill because they already have a low birth rate, unlike here in the Philippines. We also talked about the government system and realized how corruption is more evident here in the Philippines. I love the part when we talked about how we should manage the country if we were the President because I learned that my classmates and I have a common goal for our country, which is to help it improve the lives of its citizens, most especially those who are in poverty. I’m certainly glad that we had this fruitful conversation, and wish that I will be able to have another conference with them again.

Alcoholic Beverages

Save your child’s brain; don’t drink

CLE

Most Relevant Lessons/Topics in CLE

1) The Epistemology Views — Absolutist, Evaluativist, and Relativist

2) Social Justice

3) Literary appreciation of the Bible

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Most important skills developed through the sessions/assignments

1) Awareness then analysis before action.

2) Being open to new changes and ideas

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Insights

1) There are three possible ways on how a person might view his world — Absolutist, Evaluativist, and Relativist.

2) The poor are poor because of social injustice and because they lack opportunities to rise up from their status.

3) There are multiple layers of deep analysis of Biblical texts.

The Pains in my Life

The Pains in my Life

Top

10)

9) Breaking-up or the loss of a loved one

8)

7) Writing a 4000 words Research Paper

6) Ridding a scooter in a slope then tumbling down like superman

5) Running then colliding with Ryan Yu during training

4) Hit my knee cap with a wooden stick while spinning it

3) Asthma attacks

2) Betrayal, loss of friends

1)