The sometimes we forget

Numerous movies have been made about the Second World War, the Vietnam War, the First World War and countless other battles and wars in man's brief history but I'd like to discuss a war where the Filipinos stood tall and stood proud. The Korean war between the communist North Korea and the democratic South Korea. The North was supported by Russian weapons and Chinese "volunteers" while the south was under the command of the United States Military with a mandate from the United Nations to halt the mounting aggression from the communists.

The Filipino soldier deployed then were hardened veterans, fighting against the Japanese during the occupation as guerillas and fighting the communists shortly after. The Philippines sent a total of 7,400 men as part of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) and these 7,400 men were the best of best.

I discovered these facts during the course of my research for work and I felt proud as I read the articles. Mayhap some others would be interested in the stories contained in this website http://www.geocities.com/peftok/index.html as it discussed the individual achievements of each Philippine battalion.

Some wars are forgotten but I believe this one should not be.

Karma

Is there any justice in this world? I believe so. In a country such as ours when sometimes (I'm still an idealist) justice has a price, can anyone recieve what is due to them? Allow me to solicit comments for this example: What if somebody told somebody else that everything is fine and good and makes one believe that there is respect and trust in the context of both the personal and professional field, reassuring the other and using pretty words and appeals to pity then suddenly tells other people ugly things about the other person, maligning that person's reputation, not to mention peddling a truckload of lies and manure affecting the lives of other people, will some divine justice be meted out? Will their lives be left in a state of ruin and misery?

Out of the people I've asked most have said yes. Surprisingly, one person I asked said that Karmic justice would manifest itself not with the doer of the deed but maybe with the person's loved ones, maybe a spouse, an offspring, pets, certainly where it would hurt the most. At that point the person would then realize that it is Karma. Some would say that the lives of the reciepients of Karmic justice would then become miserable, maybe the winds of fate would decree that their lives become loveless, empty, hollow and miserable as they become bitter, sad, lonely and without the beautiful gifts that life brings such as happiness, peace and real love. Karmic justice can also turn successes into failures, for example, a successful career can then be balanced by a miserable personal life. I, personally would not wish this upon anyone, I believe that people bring these upon themselves. Karmic justice, it seems, does not listen to niether arguments nor excuses, words mean little and as they say "there is no such as innocence, only varying degrees of guilt."

Humans sometimes live their lives as if they were immortal, untouchable and impervious to any harm whatsoever and this may lead them to do cruel deeds towards their fellow man not realizing Newton's third law which states that with every action there is an equal and reaction. I try to live my life treating other humans as humans, life is indeed too short for petty grudges and small acts of vengence. If we were to live our lives in pursuit of these things then we can be assured that when we look back, we will see the futility of these mediocre deeds and the lack of meaning of the lives we have lived. Before we know it, our time would be up, we would look at the mirror with our backs bent, our faces sagging, our bodies old and smelly and we would realize that life could have been spent on better things, instead of bitter things.

So with that I leave everything to Karma, I believe in it and I believe it will come to those who deserve to suffer, ten-fold. If something similar were to happen to me I wouldn't waste my time with pathetic individuals such as those, I'm fortunate to have matured past my teenage years and I always keep in mind that nothing lasts forever, power, money, possessions, friends family and life.

Learn to respect and you too shall be respected.