H-O-L-Y W-E-E-K

Just want to share with you the Holy week reflection by Fr, Jerry Orbos, SVD

Below is the acronym H-O-L-Y W-E-E-K to help us make this week not just an ordinary week but a truly meaningful and a HOLY week.

H — alt! Stop for a while, or at least slow down. Take time to rest and relax. Your body needs rest, so find time to be still. Go away, disappear. Rest a while.

O – ff with your worldly pursuits and concerns. Turn off your cellular phone if you have to, so that you can focus on your spiritual life this week. Forget quotas, forget deadlines and forget performance. Just be. Don't let the world and its cares disturb the tranquility of your mind and soul this week. Let the world go by, and let the Lord take care of everything for once. Surprise yourself. Rediscover your inner strengths and simple joys. OFF to the world. ON to your heart. ON to your God.

L - isten. If you are in the Off or Silent mode, then you can really listen, pray and meditate. Take time to listen to God and tell him what's happening with your life.
Allow the Father to wrap His loving arms around your shoulders once again and just listen. Listen also to your own inner self, not just to your day-to-day wants and needs. Is there something you are missing in your life? Is there something more you need to do in your life?

Y - ield to God. Let go of your grip on your own life. Be on the lookout for His road signs as you travel on. Listen to His instructions, and you will find your way. Better still; let Him do the navigating and the driving.

W - arm up your relationships. Time to allow your loved ones feel that warm-and-sunny-spring you, not the cold-and-cloudy-winter you. Reach out to the people you have taken for granted or left out altogether. Time to call a friend and use your lifeline, or ask your audience – for an apology, for help, for suggestions. Call, treat, write, smile and hug. Use anything that will help you repair, restore and revitalize your relationships.

E - rase the burdens of guilt and sin with a good, honest and humble confession. Heed God's call: "Come back to me, with all your heart. Don't let sin keep us apart. Long have I waited for your coming home to me." In response to God's love, may we all say to God, especially this week: "Create a clean heart in me; 0 God. Give back to me the joy of your salvation." Time also to erase hurts, resentments, anger and ill feelings. Forgive people who hurt you, and ask for forgiveness from people you have hurt, cheated, used or abused in any way.

E - xpress your love. Whatever you do, especially this week, like praying, fasting, works of penance and deeds of charity, let them all be expressions of your love and gratitude to God. Let them be done not out of fear, or out of obligation.

K - neel down. In humility, kneel down in prayer before God and thank Him for suffering so much. For dying on the cross and for rising again for our salvation. Somebody died for you and me. Let us not allow this week to pass without personally thanking Him.
Let this be a time for all of us to kneel down before one another in humility: parents before their children whom they have neglected; children before their parents whom they have hurt; politicians and government officials before the people whom they have cheated etc., etc.

WISH YOU ALL A PEACEFUL AND A BLESSED HOLY WEEK!

Ricky Martin is a Gay

'Puerto Rican' popstar Ricky Martin, who fathered two children with a surrogate mother two years ago, has finally put an end to the speculation over his sexuality by admitting that he is gay. He said that he had kept his sexuality hidden so far because his advisers had told him coming out could hurt his career.

The pop singer writes in a statement on his website Martin said, "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am. Today, I have accepted my homosexuality as a gift that gives me life."

Click Here to read the statement from Ricky Martin's website

UFC 112 INVINCIBLE in Abu Dhabi UAE

Two titles. One night. The Ultimate Fighting Championship® travels to Abu Dhabi for the first time and fans there will witness one of the organization’s greatest events ever, as middleweight titleholder Anderson "The Spider" Silva faces the extraordinary BJJ of Demian Maia. Lightweight champion BJ Penn looks to continue his dominant reign when he takes on Frankie Edgar in the double main event of UFC® 112.

Also, two legends meet for the first time when future UFC® Hall of Famer™ Matt Hughes battles ground fighting master Renzo Gracie. UFC® 112 INVINCIBLE – Saturday, April 10, live on Pay-Per-View from Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

Ticket prices

Upper Grandstand: Dh395
Middle Grandstand: Dh795
Lower Grandstand: Dh1,595
Diamond Grandstand: Dh2,795
Platinum Grandstand: Dh3,695
Platinum Floor: Dh3,695

Confirmed fights

Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia – middleweight title fight
BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar – lightweight title fight
Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie
Nick Osipczak vs. Rick Story
Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz
John Gunderson vs. Paul Taylor

Women of Substance

Dubai UAE - 28th March 2010

Illustrado Women of Substance 2010 Honors 9 Filipinas in Dubai

• Illustrado Magazine celebrated its 3rd edition of Women of Substance, and highlighted female empowerment through the annual gathering
• Women of Substance Event 2010 awarded nine Filipinas for their exemplary achievements
• The traditional talk-show format included a photo exhibit, documentary film showing and a make-over runway show.
• Renowned women’s rights lawyer Katrina Legarda graced the event as its special guest speaker

Dubai, UAE – In a social gathering of some 500 attendees comprised of Filipino diplomatic corps and community key opinion leaders last 27th of March 2010 (Saturday), the Dubai-based Filipino lifestyle publication Illustrado Magazine celebrated the third edition of its annual Women of Substance event at the Godolphin Ballroom in Jumeirah Emirates Towers.
Women of Substance 2010 began with the ribbon cutting ceremony of the photo exhibit and competition under the theme “The Filipina” sponsored by Nikon, where thirty finalist entries captured the different facets of the Filipina woman. Right after the judging round, the talk show was officially opened by Consul General Adelio Cruz of the Embassy of the Philippines in Abu Dhabi. The traditional talk-show format started with the premiere screening of the 30-minute documentary clip “The Empowered Filipina” directed by Dubai-based Kamil Roxas, winner of the Hayah Film Competition at the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) in 2008.
During the talk-show, nine exemplary Filipinas were honored for their significant achievements, contributions to society and strength of character. These extra-ordinary women include Ambassador Grace Relucio-Princesa (the first Filipina Ambassador to the UAE), Ema Trinidad (self-made entrepreneur, dubbed as the Anti-Ageing Skincare Guru in Karnataka, India), Laarni Eugenio (self-made entrepreneur co-owner of a Dubai-based stage design company), Tini Meyer (emerging contemporary artist who has exhibited her works in Canada, Spain and the UAE), Fe Ging Ging Hyde (budding film producer, actor and singer, whose first movie has garnered six nominations in the Philippines’s Gawad Urian Awards), Nila Bandigan and Tess Bautista (both active community volunteers and philanthropists), Cyrine Pinpin (former activist, former president and founder of Migrante UAE) and Remedios Chu (educator, self-made entrepreneur, philanthropist and cancer survivor).
According to Lalaine Chu-Benitez, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Illustrado, “With this event, we want to show that ordinary women can achieve extra-ordinary things and prevail despite adversity. We believe celebrating Filipina empowerment will help us foster confidence, a more progressive mindset and contribute to further success not only with our women, but within our entire community.”
Special guest speaker Atty. Katrina Legarda, the renowned Philippine-based lawyer recognized for supporting women rights, initially commented regarding the advocacy on Filipina empowerment in the Middle East: “Keep an open mind and keep learning. Hold your heads up high. Know that there is dignity in labour. And, please, do not let money be your god: walk away from abusive, demeaning, and oppressive situations.” She furthered, “Be strong. To re-quote Eleanor Roosevelt: No-one can make you feel inferior unless you allow it. Treat yourself as an equal to the man. Be proactive, not reactive, to problems back home. Most problems have solutions, including, moving on.”
Fun and glamour continued at the Women of Substance 2010 event as the fashion show cum make-over session sponsored by Dove put Filipinas’ natural beauty on center stage. The attendees were also able to view the many activities presented by the event sponsors in the designated booths. Moreover, the winners of the photo exhibit and special raffle draws were announced at the end of the program. Indeed, the day turned out to be a magnificent celebration of Filipinas (and Filipinos) in the Gulf.
As Lalaine Chu-Benitez concluded, ““We’re very happy to see the outpouring of support from the community for this event and our advocacy. This will definitely help us in furthering our endeavor of empowering Filipina women and the Filipino community in general.”
Illustrado’s Women of Substance 2010 event was sponsored by Dove-Unilever Gulf and Nikon, as well as Emirates Airline, London Dairy, Liali Jewellery, Marie France Body Line and Nanay Tuneng.

Multiple reasons behind the oil price rise

Multiple reasons behind the oil price rise

By MERLIN FLOWER for OIL-PRICE.NET,

The reasons for the oil price rise:

While there are many reasons for the increase, some significant ones are:

According to the U.S. Energy department, refinery utilization in the U.S. rose to 81.9%, an increase by 0.7% for the week ending February 26. The refinery operating rates were the highest since October. For its part, the high refinery cost has compensated for any possible decrease in the price of oil. In addition, the US fuel demand was at 19.3 million barrels for the last four weeks an increase of 3% from last year-according to the department. Amid this, there were reports of rebel groups attacking oil installations in Nigeria. As Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, investors feared for the oil exports from the region. The reports of the attacks are yet to be confirmed, but, still, helped increase the oil prices. U.S. jobs report showed lower than expected unemployment figures. The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics department showed unemployment rate unchanged from the January rate of 9.7%. Investors took this as a sign of economic revival with the U.S. President Obama describing the jobs report as "better than expected". As soon as the Labor department came up with the news, dollar fell increasing the oil prices. And how did that happen?

• Higher oil price increases the export bill leading to trade deficits and weak dollar
• Dollar-denominated commodities become cheaper with a weak dollar, in turn increasing the price of oil.

Moving on, there were optimistic signs on the manufacturing font in the U.S. The U.S. Commerce department announced that factory orders rose 1.7% in January mainly due to increased aircraft orders. There was 2.6% increase in durable goods orders. Confidence of the businesses showed as the Inventories continued to increase.
In addition, there emerged positive signs from the world's second biggest oil consumer, China. Last Friday, the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao set an economic target of eight percent for this year. Fair enough since a good economy means better fuel demand.

Other reasons

• Heating oil demand from the Northern hemisphere
• Signs from the Middle-East: Seizure of a Saudi Arabian oil tanker by pirates in the Gulf of Aden too worried the investors. As did the Iraqi parliamentary election due March 7.
• Greece's austerity measures to rein in the debt problem

This article was written by Oil-Price.net which provides free information on crude oil.

Manny Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey Fight Result - Pacman win

David J. Phillip / AP

Texas USA: March 13, 2010 Saturday, The Events a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!!!

Final instructions out of the way from referee Rafael Ramos and we're under way in this sensational venue with 51,000 fans packed inside.


Clottey was first to enter in the ring wearing a bright red, glittery red robe trimmed in white.
Manny Pacquio's wearing a red robe with blue and yellow trim.

Round 1: The crowd is screaming "Manny," Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 2:Pacquiao lands to the head and body. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 3: Clottey begins to answer back. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 4: Pacquiao digs a right to the body but takes a one-two to the head. Pacquiao throws two hands at Clottey and is warned. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 5: Pacqauio lands a five-punch combination. And then, four punches before the bell. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 6: Clottey not producing enough to win a round so far. Clottey find Pac-Man with a right and then a left. Pacquiao nails him three times along the ropes. Clottey lands a left at the bell. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 7:Pac-Man lands a five-punch combination to the body. Clottey can't sustain any consistancy on punch series'. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 8:A head butt. No damage. A hard right and a left from Pacquiao. Several punches follow. Pacquiao closes strongly, uncontested. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 9: A six-punch combination by The PacMan is punctuated by a right hand. Pacquiao does it again, and again. Clottey is baffeled Clottey is a sparring partner at this point. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.


Round 10: Clottey takes another big Pacquiao left - brave indeed. Pacquiao again attacking to the body. Clottey can't even set himself, such is the speed with which Pacquiao operates. Pacquiao's round, 10-9.

Round 11: The advice in Clottey's corner is to "take a chance baby". Pair of uppercuts from Clottey - showing great bravery. Followed by a right hand. Definitely at least having a bit of a go in this round. But it just serves to wake Manny up and he goes into top gear again. Left to the body, right to the head. Blazing hand speed. Pacquiao's round, 10-9

Round 12: Clottey bleeding from the nose as he comes out for the 12th and final round. Hug from the two fighters in centre ring - great to see. Pacquiao ends the night as he started it - attacking with Clottey on the ropes.

Judge 1: 120-108
Judge 2: 119-109
Judge 3: 119-109

Verdict: Pacquaio wins by unanimous decision..

Watch Pacquiao vs Clottey Live Streaming HBO Boxing 13 March 2010

Streaming Video by Ustream.TV

New Richest Man in the World

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has stripped Bill Gates of his crown as the world’s richest man, as Latin American and Asian entrepreneurs begin to outpace the US and Europe when it comes to wealth creation.

Net Worth:	$53.5 bil
Fortune:	Self Made
Source:	telecom
Age:	70
Country Of Citizenship:	Mexico
Residence:	Mexico City
Education:	Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Bachelor of Arts / Science
Marital Status:	Widowed, 6 children

Telecom tycoon who pounced on privatization of Mexico's national telephone company in the 1990s becomes world's richest person for first time after coming in third place last year. Net worth up $18.5 billion in a year. Recently received regulatory approval to merge his fixed-line assets into American Movil, Latin America's biggest mobile phone company. His construction conglomerate, Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo, builds roads and energy infrastructure. Son of a Lebanese immigrant also owns stakes in financial group Inbursa, Bronco Drilling, Independent News & Media, Saks and New York Times Co. Newspaper outfit's stock popped in early March on talk he might buy a controlling stake; he denies the rumor. Donating $65 million to fund a research project in genomic medicine with American billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad.

Top 10

1. Carlos Slim Helú
2. William Gates III
3. Warren Buffett
4. Mukesh Ambani
5. Lakshmi Mittal
6. Lawrence Ellison
7. Bernard Arnault
8. Eike Batista
9. Amancio Ortega
10. Karl Albrecht

View The Complete List

Nissan recalls 540000 vehicles to fix brake pedals, gas gauges

Japan's Nissan Motor said Wednesday it would recall nearly 540,000 vehicles worldwide, most of them in the United States, due to brake pedal defects and faulty fuel gauges.

Nissan -- Japan's third-largest carmaker, and partnered with France's Renault -- said it plans "to inspect and, if necessary, repair brake pedal pins and fuel-gauge components on certain trucks and minivans".

"No accidents or injuries have been reported with these issues," it added.

The recalls also affect Canada, Mexico, the Middle East, Ukraine, Russia and Taiwan, Nissan North America said in a statement.

The models with faulty brake pedals are the Titan pickup trucks, the Armada and Infiniti QX56 SUVs and Quest minivans built between 2008 and 2010, the company said. Nissan plans to pull 178,916 units from US roads and another 25,869 in other countries to fix the brake pedal pins.

The fuel gauge defect recall covers the Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56 built from 2005 to 2008, and the Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra produced between January and March 2006 and between October 2007 and January 2008.

The problem affects 418,865 US vehicles and 53,253 elsewhere, Nissan said. Related article: Toyota fixing 1.3 million vehicles over oil leak

Both problems occur in some of the 2008 models of the Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56.

"Vehicles at higher mileage levels may have fuel gauges which incorrectly indicate the amount of fuel in the tank. This may result in the vehicle running out of fuel while the gauge reads greater than empty," a Nissan statement said.

Until their fuel gauges are repaired, customers with affected vehicles are encouraged to maintain a fuel level of at least half a tank, it said.

Nissan blamed the manufacturing errors on its suppliers.

GM recalls 1.3 mln American cars over power steering

General Motors has recalled 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac models in North America for power steering failures that are tied to 14 crashes and one injury in the United States, the company said Tuesday.



The recall affects 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt and 2007-2010 Pontiac G5 models sold in the United States, 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuit vehicles sold in Canada, and 2005-2006 Pontiac G4 models sold in Mexico.

Complaints had been filed about power steering failures that could make the vehicles difficult to control.

"After our in-depth investigation, we found that this is a condition that takes time to develop. It tends to occur in older models out of warranty," GM vice president of quality Jamie Hresko said in the statement.

"Recalling these vehicles is the right thing to do for our customers' peace of mind," he added.

The cars remain safe to drive, although vehicles with the power-steering problem may take more effort to steer at slow speeds.

Manny Paquiao vs Joshua Clottey - The Event

March 13, 2010 The Events is schedule... A fight between Manny Paquiao of the Philippines vs Joshua Clottey of Bronx, New York.

Fighters Profile

JOSHUA "Grand Master" CLOTTEY

Age: 32 (10-6-77)

Residence: Bronx, New York

Birthplace: Accra, Ghana

Record: 35-3, 1 NC, 21 KOs

Height: 5'9"

Reach: 70"

Manager: Vincent Scolpino

Trainer: Kwame Asante

JOSHUA "Grand Master" CLOTTEY (35-3, 1 NC, 21 KOs)...

• Former welterweight world champion...
• Former two-time welterweight world title challenger...
• Ranked WBO #1, WBA #4 at 147 pounds...
• Former African welterweight champion...
• Former Ghanian jr. welterweight champion...

MANNY"PacMan "PACQUIAO

• Born December 17, 1978
• Age 30
• Record: 50-3 | 38 KOs | 2 Draws
  
• Born in Kibawe, Phillippines
• Resides in General Santos, Phillippines
• 5' 6.5 "
• 67" Reach
• Trained by Freddie Roach

Career Accomplishments

• World championship fights - 8-1-2, 7 KOs
• Ranked ESPN.com and The Ring #1 “Pound for Pound”
• Ranked WBC #1 at 140 pounds, WBO #1 at 147 pounds.
• Former WBC lightweight world champion
• Former WBC super featherweight world champion
• Boxing Writers Association of America “2008 Fighter of the Year”
• The Ring “2008 Fighter of the Year”
• Boxing Writers Association of America “2006 Fighter of the Year”
• The Ring “2006 Fighter of the Year”
• Former WBC International super featherweight champion, three successful defenses
• Former IBF jr. featherweight world champion, four successful defenses
• Former WBC flyweight world champion, one successful defense
• Former WBC International super bantamweight champion, five successful defenses

UAE hits by Heavy rain

February 27, 2010- United Arab Emirates hits by heavy rains accompanied by hailstones and strong winds last Saturday and more extreme weather is expected over the next few days as the weatherman forecast.

Today March 2, 2010, another heavy rain experienced here in the UAE Causing heavy traffic due to flooded street, roads and residential areas from Dubai and Sharjah .

How to Repair Toyota Vehicle recall

Please watch as what Al Futtaim Motors the Toyota Distributor here in the United Arab Emirates demonstrate on how they will do to repair a sticking accelerator on selected Toyota vehicles.


This video is courtesy of Gulfnews