Vampire Diaries

First there was Twilight and then there was True Blood and now a new vampire series has emerged. There is a lot of Buzz about this new show called Vampire Diaries. I haven't read the books, but from what I have seen in forums and other sources, the TV series differs a lot from the book.

Since I haven’t read the book my expectations are quite low but I have to say that there is something missing from the series. I guess it’s too early to give up on the series. I just have to watch the next few episodes and try to read the books to make a better idea of the story line.

The Lost Symbol

One of the first few books that I have finished reading was written by Dan Brown. I read three out of his first four books. So when I found out a few weeks ago that he would be releasing another books on September, I told myself that I have to get my copy as soon as I could drop by the bookstore.

Today I was able to purchase a copy of the Lost Symbol. I am really excited especially when I found out that it is another Robert Langdon story. I really like the Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. I hope the lost symbol would live up to my expectations.

Hopefully I would finish it within a few days depending on how busy I would be in the next few days. I’ll tell you what I think about in a few days.

Swine Flu

Swine Flu A new strain of swine influenza A (H1n1) has emerged. While most influenza virus does not affect humans, this new strain does. According to researchers, this new type of flu is a combination of bird, pig and human virus. World health official said that Mexico may be the epicenter of a global epidemic. Mexico’s health minister has reported that there were a total of 86 deaths and 1400 people are infected since Apr 13, 2009. So far, fatal victims were between the ages of 20 to 40 years old. Flu victims are usually either infants or the elderly. In 1918 during the Spanish influenza, the first victims reported were healthy young adults. Children appear to be immune this swine virus. The reason for the children’s immunity is still unknown. Symptoms of this new swine flu are respiratory congestion, body aches, sore throat, coughing, fever of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) and vomiting and diarrhea in some cases. Several countries have also reported cases of swine flu. In the United States, several cases were reported in California, Texas, Ohio and Kansas. Several suspected cases were also noted in New York. No fatalities were reported so far. Canada was the third country to confirm human cases of swine flu. East coast Canadian provinces have four confirmed cases of mild swine flu among students between 12 to 17 years old. They are now recovering. Several countries are taking steps to monitor passenger coming from Mexico. In Japan’s Narita airport, device that measures the passenger’s temperature has been installed in the arrival gate. In New Zealand, students coming from Mexico has tested positive with influenza. Authorities have yet to determine whether the influenza is indeed the Swine Flu. Since this is a new strain swine flu, vaccines that fight off this strain specifically are still unavailable. It is still uncertain whether the current human flu vaccines could offer any type protection.

Global Warming

The sun is the main source of the earth’s energy. The Sun’s solar energy is transmitted via infrared rays. While one thirds of the infrared rays are reflected back to space, the greenhouse gases traps the remaining two thirds which causes the Earth’s temperature to increase. This is called the greenhouse effect. This is actually a good thing because without it, the planet would too cold and inhabitable. Since Carbon Dioxide emission has increased significantly in the past few years, the planet is heating up rapidly as well.The increase in the planet’s temperature is called global warming.
Global warming has caused the increase in frequency and the intensity of floods, drought, and Hurricanes. Due to the increased in the planet’s temperature, the three largest masses of ice, (Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland) is at risk of melting off. If this happens, sea level will increase significantly. That is not the only problem, the glaciers, permafrost and the ice acts like a giant mirror that reflects back infrared rays. Imagine how hot it will be if that remaining one third of infrared rays is not reflected back to space. Global warming also changes the amount and pattern of precipitation.

Our Planet

When was the last time you took a nature hike? Or simply ran away from the urban jungle to be in within the confines of nature? When was the last time you sit back and relax while marveling nature’s beauty? When I was a kid I remember spending at least a week in my parent’s province. There were a lot of trees. The air is incomparably fresher. I spent a lot of time in the river and the beach near my Grandparents house. It is one of the things that I looked forward to when I was staying there.

I am always grateful that we are still living in an age where the air is still fresh. There are lakes, beaches and rivers that we could still dip in. There are trees where we could escape from the burning sun. And I wonder how long will this all last. I wonder if the next generation would still enjoy what we have right now. I hope that they could still see certain species of animals up close and not just in books or film documentaries. Will there still be trees in the future?

I heard a song over the radio the other day. It was made sometime around the 1970’s and back then people were already seeing changes with our planet. They sang about how the ocean’s water has changed from blue to black. Trees were being destroyed and the air was already polluted. It is an issue back then and still an issue now. I wonder what were the measures taken during that time. Or if there were any measures at all.

Now that we are faced with a situation that we do not fully understand, we as humans find it easier to ignore the problem than face it head on. We are going to pay for our mistakes. This is the time to believe that we are facing a big ecological problem. It is time to believe that our world is dying. It is the time to change.

Global warming is not the problem of one person, one race or one nation. It is the problem of everyone in this planet. This is our planet. This is our life source. This is our responsibility

Let me close this post with a quote from the film “Inconvenient truth”. Sir Winston Churchill said:

“The Era of Procrastination, of Half-measures, of Soothing and Baffling Expedients, of Delays, is Coming to its Close In its Place We are entering a Period of Consequences”