Why I will not Quit Blogging

The last couple of days, I posted in My FB status page requesting my relatives and friends to check the Like Button, if they also read my blogs on a regular basis. Of the more than 500 FB friends I have only 14 checked the Like button as of today. Is this enough reason for me to quit blogging? Perhaps, But I know I have an average of more than 300 readers (page views) per day in my six popular blogs. I have now close to l million readers based on page views from 174 countries. Therefore, FB is not the main source of my readership. Moreover the following seven comments that I received recently, energized me. I will not quit blogging as long as I received positive feedbacks from my readers.

1. I have a chance to read your blogs and they are very interesting as well as informative. I like your style of writing, simple and direct to the point.

2. I just came across your site while I was looking for background information regarding the Rigodon de Honor. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blogs and admire your dedication to keeping your blogs updated. Looks like retirement suits you! I am also a Filipino American who have dedicated the last 25 years in pursuit of improving the clinical trial enterprise. I just wanted to let you know that your stories inspired me to look into doing something similar. At age 56 and in the process of yet another reinvention of my professional and personal life,I found some wise pearls in your blogs. Thank you for sharing your stories with the world! Kind regards

3. I was looking for the same information and finally I got my answer from your post thanks for sharing this useful information.! on Earn Income from Your Writings and Blogs

4.Hi, I read your blogs like every week. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you're doing! Also see my site Thomas Coleman on Political Dynasty and Pork Barrel as Cause of Corruption in the Philippines


5.Wow, fantastic blog format! How long have you been running a blog for? you make blogging glance easy. The total look of your website is fantastic, let alone the content! Also visit my web blog - Spanish property Almoradi on Memories of Our One Week of Vacation in Spain

6. Thanks for the knowledge given about the Sildenafil citrate. Keep providing the information of Sildenafil citrate as much as possible. on Do you Know that Viagra was Discovered by Accident?

7. I read your blogs and they are well written! Ever thought of being a contributor for Times? Thanks for the drug expiry article which was an eye opener. Just have to learn the links, and other stuffs written there for comments, etc. If you have time, please check also www.balik-probinsiya.com an advocacy to better the lives of the Filipinos. Thanks.

My dear friends and readers, keep your comments coming. It is energizing me and inspiring me not to quit. Cheers to All!

Footnote: Oh yes, I almost forgot, I am earning about $10 per month from my Adsense Account in my blogs, enough to buy me a hamburger and ice cream. So, why should I quit?

Alix Katague is going to Cornell University

Alix ( Alexandra Caulkins) is third from the right.
I am proud to post this spring concert ( Northgate High School) participated by my grand daughter Alix Katague, Age 18, oldest daughter of my oldest son Diosdado Katague of Walnut Creek, California. This video is about 2 hours long, however Alix participation as the only oboe player and soloist start at around 1.28. My favorite number is Ave Maria which starts at around 1:42.

Here's the link to the Northgate Spring Concert. She's in the Wind Ensemble which starts at 1:28 (she's the only oboe, in the front row on the left). www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yODAu5uN84

At the end she got a hand shake from the conductor, Eric Brown. Alix will graduate from Northgate high school, Walnut Creek, California this coming June 12. She is going to Cornell University, College of Engineering this Fall.

concert video start after, 0:40

Since Alix was accepted to Cornell, I did an Internet search about the university. Here's a short information about this top rated private Ivy League university in the East Coast.

Cornell University is an American private Ivy League research university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, the university was intended to teach and make contributions in all fields of knowledge — from the classics to the sciences, and from the theoretical to the applied. These ideals, unconventional for the time, are captured in Cornell's motto, a popular 1865 Ezra Cornell quotation: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."

The university is broadly organized into seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions at its main Ithaca campus, with each college and division defining its own admission standards and academic programs in near autonomy. The university also administers two satellite medical campuses, one in New York City and one in Education City, Qatar. Cornell is one of two private land grant universities. Of its seven undergraduate colleges, three are state-supported statutory or contract colleges, including its agricultural and veterinary colleges. As a land grant college, it operates a cooperative extension outreach program in every county of New York and receives annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions.

Since its founding, Cornell has been a co-educational, non-sectarian institution where admission is offered irrespective of religion or race. Cornell counts more than 245,000 living alumni, 31 Marshall Scholars, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates as affiliated with the university. The student body consists of nearly 14,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students from all 50 American states and 122 countries.

Pork Barrel System in the Philippines

I have read a number of articles and comments about the pork barrel system in the Philippines. All comments indicate that this is the main source of corruption of the majority of the Pinoy Politicians ( REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS). In the Philippines, legislators are allocated large sums of the annual national budget (200 million pesos for each senator and 70 million for each representative) in a program called the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

One of the comments that attracted my attention is as follows: I am posting it verbatim.

"I think it is time to get rid off this pork barrel of money for the Philippines politicians. They never use them to improve the Filipinos lives. They are only interested into politics because of these pork barrel of money. They just keep it to themselves. They never use the money to build proper bridges, never use to build proper roads, no proper schools because the money being corrupted for themselves. They use the money to buy houses abroad, to buy properties around the world, to use to party every single week, to give these money to all brat kids politicians, deposited the money outside the Philippines, use the money to travel around the world ,some of them use the money to build hotels in the Philippines for themselves, they use the money for their own business, etc., so we should abolish them ".

Do You agree? Do you think this really can happen? My personal feeling is hell will freeze first before the pork barrel system in the Philippines is eliminated. Your comments will be appreciated.

Personal Note: Yesterday, we had guests from Marinduque. The couple was in Marinduque last election. As dual citizens, they did vote last election. I asked our guests what incidents related to the election that they can not forget. The open and blatant vote buying in both parties. But the champion vote buyers were the winners. This observation supports my contention that you will never win an election in Marinduque if you do not buy votes. Most of the voters expect to be paid for their votes, according to our guests. If I were the voters, I will just accept the money and vote for the opponents of the bribers.

The Top Ten Pesticides Manufacturer in the World

Working as an analytical chemist doing analytical methods development for pesticide residues at Stauffer Chemicals-1974-1986

The subject of pesticides research and application is very close to my heart. I have worked in the pesticide industry research department for over 25 years prior to my employment for the US Food and Drug Administration-my last job before retirement. I was an an analytical chemist developing analytical methods for pesticides residues for four private companies, namely, Chemagro Corp ( US Bayer subsidiary), Shell Development Company, Stauffer Chemical Company and Chevron Chemical Company. Today only two of the above firms remain in the pesticide business. The Chevron Pesticide department was purchased by Sumitomo Company in 1990, named it Valiant Company. Shell Development and Stauffer Chemical companies got out of the pesticide business in the 1970'ND 1980's respectively.

My first industrial job in a private company here in the US was for Chemagro Corporation ( 1964-1969). The company treated its employees very well and even gave us a 13-month salary bonus during Christmas. I left the company for a higher salary and worked for Shell Development Company( 1969-1974) in its agricultural division in Modesto, California. I worked for five years when Shell decided to close the facility and not get involve with the pesticide business. I then worked for Stauffer Chemicals ( 1974-1986) in Richmond, California. After working at Stauffer for 12 years the company decided again to get out of the pesticide business. I was lucky to get a similar job in nearby Chevron Company in its Ortho Division (1986-1990). Again after 4 years, Chevron decided to sell its Ortho Division to Sumitomo Company of Japan. Sumitomo called the company Valiant Company headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. For decades the pesticides business was in its low cycle and not very profitable, but today this industry is booming worldwide.

According to the report( www.gmwatch.org), the world's six largest agrochemical manufacturers, who control nearly 75% of the global pesticide market, are also seed industry giants. Here are the top ten pesticide company in the world.

1.Bayer(Germany)n: the world's biggest agrochemical company is also the world's seventh biggest seed company.

2. Syngenta( Switzerland): the world's second largest agrochemical company is also the world's third largest seed company.

3. Monsanto:( USA) the world's biggest seed company is the world's fifth largest agrochemical company.

4. DuPont:(USA) the world's second biggest seed company is also the world's sixth largest agrochemical company.

The number 5 and 6 are BASF of Germany and Dow USA. The 7, 8, 9 and 10 are Makhteshim of Israel, Nufarm of Australia, Sumitomo of Japan and Arysta Lifescienc of Japan respectively. These top 10 companies control 89% of the global agrochemical market.


Symbiotic Sales: The world's six largest agrochemical manufacturers are also seed industry giants. Despite sky-rocketing fuel and fertilizer costs, high grain prices created soaring demand for commercial seeds and pesticides in 2007. After two decades of sagging sales, the world's largest pesticide companies rebounded last year - in large part due to the subsidy-driven boom in agrofuel crops.

According to Chemical & Engineering News, BASF, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow and DuPont are competing to fill "the glyphosate gap" - a gap that's growing fast because at least 14 weed species on five continents have developed resistance due to massive applications of glyphosate. As a result, farmers must employ more toxic chemicals to kill the resistant weeds. Commonly known as the "pesticide treadmill," it's a classic case of chasing a new techno-fix to mop up the mess of an older, failed technology. Agrochemical giants prefer to describe the resistance problem as a business opportunity: In the words of Syngenta's Crop Science CEO, John Atkin: "Resistance is actually quite healthy for our market, because we have to innovate."

Latest Development for the Treatment of Parkinson Disease

My wife was diagnosed with early Parkinson Disease( PD) about six months ago. Today she is taking a carbo-levodopa( Sinemet)combination, 25/100mg to control her hand tremors. Thus, any new developments that may help my wife from the unpleasant and related problems caused by PD really interest me. As you know, today there is no cure for PD. If you have not heard about PD: Parkinson's disease is a degenerative brain disorder, affects more than 1 million Americans. It destroys nerve cells in the brain that make dopamine, which helps control muscle movement. Patients experience shaking or tremors, slowness of movement, balance problems and a stiffness or rigidity in arms and legs.

A recent article written by Kathleen Doheny (HealthDay News) indicated that there are three new drugs that may offer hope to PD patients. These are: Droxidopa, tozadenant and Azilect

In one study, Hauser evaluated the drug droxidopa, which is not yet approved for use in the United States, to help patients who experience a rapid fall in blood pressure when they stand up, which causes light-headedness and dizziness. About one-fifth of Parkinson's patients have this problem, which is due to a failure of the autonomic nervous system to release enough of the hormone norepinephrine when posture changes.

Those on the medicine had a two-fold decline in dizziness and light headedness compared to the placebo group. They had fewer falls, too, although it was not a statistically significant decline.

In a second study, Hauser assessed 420 patients who experienced a daily "wearing off" of the Parkinson's medicine levodopa, during which their symptoms didn't respond to the drug. He compared those who took different doses of a new drug called tozadenant, which is not yet approved, with those who took a placebo. All still took the levodopa.

At the start of the study, the patients had an average of six hours of "off time" a day when symptoms reappeared. After 12 weeks, those on a 120-milligram or 180-milligram dose of tozadenant had about an hour less of "off time" each day than they had at the start of the study.

In another study, Hauser looked at 321 patients with early stage Parkinson's whose symptoms weren't handled well by a medicine called a dopamine agonist, typically the first drug prescribed for Parkinson's patients. During the 18-week study, Hauser assigned them to take either their usual medicine plus an add-on drug called rasagiline (brand name Azilect) or their usual medicine and a placebo.

Azilect is approved for use in patients with early stage disease as a single therapy or as an add-on to levodopa, Hauser said, but not yet as an add-on to dopamine agonists. Those taking the Azilect -- but not those taking the placebo -- improved by 2.4 points on a standard Parkinson's disease rating scale.

Each of the studies was funded by the pharmaceutical company making the particular drug: Chelsea Therapeutics paid for the blood-pressure study; Biotie Therapies Inc., supported the "wearing-off" study; and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries sponsored the Azilect study. Hauser is a consultant for all three companies.

So far the most impressive of the three studies is the use of droxidopa to prevent dizziness and fainting, said Dr. Michael Okun, national medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation and director of the University of Florida Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration.

This is indeed good news for millions who are suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Personal Note: Today, after six weeks on the waiting list, my wife had finally made an appointment with a neurologist specializing in movement disorder associated with PD. To my surprise the neurologist indicated that nicotine and caffeine as well as fruits like blue berries appeared to delay the onset of PD. He also prescribe Azilect as an add-on to Sinemet. He also prescribed my wife to go to a physical therapist to minimize falls and improved gait and walking. He also recommended that she take Vitamen E and C. Finally he recommended that my wife get a brain scan (MRI), just to assure no mild stroke had occurred. One final note: My wife loves this neurologist. He is the only physician that does not tell her to quit smoking. To summarize, the current treatment for PD is three-way:medications, exercise( physical therapy) and diet.

Thirty Plus One Things to Do before You Die

MI, Inc Medical Mission in Marinduque. 2011
I have just finished reading several articles on things to do before you die. The articles ranged from just 10 to 1000 fabulous and incredible things that an average person will probably had a hard time doing, because it requires money and a lot of time. There is another article that listed 75 things, a bit more practical. But what inspired me is an article that listed 101 things and most of them I have already done(www.squidoo.com) Thus, I have created my own list(30). It is not a wish list since I have already done all of the things in the list. Does this mean, I am ready to die? I hope the following list will inspire you to write your own list. There is no order of priority in the list, but my favorites are numbers 1 and 3. Number 31 is on my wish list. However, at this stage of my life, I do not believe I will be able to do this. I will just be contented watching the video.

1. Write your autobiography and memoirs.
2. Join a medical mission to a third world country(Philippines recommended)
3. Create a web site or start a blog
4. Try eating three exotic fruits ( durian, tamarind, passion fruit and others)
5. Eat raw oysters, escargot, seafood paella or or any dish that you have not eaten before (maybe a balut or dinugu-an)
6. Go to the Casino without Gambling. Just eat a buffet lunch or dinner
7. Attend a Broadway Show in New York City or in San Francisco
8. Go to a jazz club at the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
9. Visit the Rock of Gibraltar and Tangiers, Morocco

10. Visit at least one Mayan Ruins in Mexico( Chichen Itza and/or Tulum Ruins)
11. Attend a Tennis Academy for one week at Rancho Bernardo, California
12. Visit at least five National Parks/Monuments in US
13. Try something you have not done before, perhaps sky diving, deep sea fishing or a helicopter ride
14. Visit St Peter's Square, the Vatican and have an audience with the Pope
15. Visit the White House and the National Monuments, Washington, D.C.
16. Visit Gettyburgh, Pennsylvania, Civil War National Cemetery
17. Learn how to snorkel or Scuba Dive
18. Learn a new dance, perhaps a Cha Cha, a Tango, a Rhumba or a Quick Step
19. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
20. Go on a canopy tour( tranverse between trees on a zip line)
21. Ride a mechanical bull in Sugar Land, Texas
22. Attend a Cock Fight or a Bull Fight
23. Visit Disneyland and Ride a Roller Coaster
24. Swim with the Dolphins or with the manatees

25. Visit a Botanical Garden( Longwood Gardens in PA or Buchart Gardens in Victoria Island recommended)
26. Ride a camel, an elephant or a water bufallo
27. Milk a cow or a Goat or a water bufallo
28. Go Bird Watching
29. Watch sea turtle eggs hatching and running toward the sea
30. Visit Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona or any of one of the several national parks in US
Here's my # 31 in the list-Railroad tour in the Oriental Express from Singapore to Bangkok. I do not think I will be able to do this. I will just be contented watching the following video.

New Drug for Type 2 Diabetes Approved

I have type 2 diabetes, however it is controlled by metformin. A drug called Invokana from J&J was just recently approved by FDA. It is very expensive, but it gives the diabetic another option, specially if he or she also wants to loss weight. It has side effects as all drugs have. The following video and article is very informative. If metformin does not effectively control your blood sugar Invokana may be an option to consider. If that is the case see your doctor.

Railroad Tours Around the World

Have you ever dreamed of a railroad tour via a luxurious Oriental Express trains either in Mexico, Canada or Southeast Asia?
I do, it is in my bucket list of what to do before I die. But at this stage of my life, I doubt whether I will be able to do it. Suffice to say, I will be just contented watching it via the following videos. Come join me and enjoy this tour.

The interior of a typical restored oriental express train for tourists





Personal Note: As a child I was always fascinated by toy trains. However my first train long ride was from Manila to Naga City via the Bicol Express in the early 1950's. It was my summer vacation from my college days. My dormitory mate who was from Naga City invited me to attend the Penafrancia Fluvial Festival in his hometown. My recollection of the ride was it quite long, comfortable and I enjoyed the rural scenery.

The train service was operated by the Philippine National Railways (PNR). This is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines, operating a single line of track on Luzon. As of 2010, it operates one commuter rail service in Metro Manila and a second in the Bicol Region. PNR restored its intercity service to the Bicol region in 2011. The Bicol Express and Isarog Express run on a daily basis between Manila and Ligao.

PNR began operations on November 24, 1892 as the Ferrocarril de Manila-Dagupan, during the Spanish colonial period, and later becoming the Manila Railroad Company (MRR) during the American colonial period. It became the Philippine National Railways on June 20, 1946 by virtue of Republic Act No. 4156. The PNR is an agency of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

PNR used to operate over 479 km (298 mi)of route from La Union up to Bicol. However, continued neglect in past decades reduced PNR's efficiency and railroad coverage. Persistent problems with informal settlers in the 1990s contributed further to PNR's decline. In 2006, Typhoons Milenyo and Reming caused severe damage to the network, resulting in the suspension of the Manila-Bicol services.

In 2007 the Philippine government initiated a rehabilitation project aiming to remove informal settlers from the PNR right-of-way, revitalize commuter services in Metro Manila, and restore the Manila-Bicol route as well as lost services in Northern Luzon. In July 2009, PNR unveiled a new corporate identity and inaugurated new rolling stock.