Mona Lisa original (left) and the replica

Nobody thought that because Mona Lisa was the masterpiece of Leonardo da Vinci, that it could never be exactly replicated.

Perhaps, it was for this reason that Spain’s Prado Museum officials were not so serious in displaying a copy of the Mona Lisa painting, much less, restoring it, and was just left in the vaults of the museum.

Also, no one was really giving it much attention or importance because the painting had a stark black background and not the beautiful landscape seen in the original.

Not until the museum officials decided, two years ago, to include said painting for a da Vinci exhibition to be held in Paris, where the original hangs in the Louvre, that they started giving the artwork some rehabilitation/restoration works.

In the process, however, and to the great surprise of the restorers, what was once a stark black background started showing a Tuscan landscape very similar to the one in the original painting of da Vinci.

While the discovery was hailed by art historians as one of the most remarkable in recent times, what makes the finding more exciting is the revelation that the painting could have been done by a da Vinci’s apprentice alongside the master himself as he did the original.

They are talking about Francesco Melzi, a da Vinci disciple, who is believed to have worked on the model alongside the master, making sure it was a true replica of the original.

Prado’s technical specialist, Ana González Mozo, said: ‘It is quite possible that Leonardo’s assistant met Lisa and may even have been present when she sat for the master.

The stunning copy is so similar in style to that of the original, which suggests that both were begun at the same time and painted next to each other, as the work evolved, according to Mozo.

There are dozens of the surviving replicas of the masterpiece from the 16th and 17th centuries, but the recent find stands out, when after restoration, it showed the radiant Mona Lisa as she would look like in the 16^th century.

Miguel Falomir, the Prado’s director for Italian painting, said the copy gives art lovers and experts a chance “to admire the Mona Lisa with totally different eyes.”

The reason for this is that, besides the stark black background, one other difference from the original is the woman in the copy has eyebrows and the Mona Lisa in the real masterpiece does not.

The model is generally believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of the Florentine cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo. (Mona Lisa means Beautiful Lisa, in  Spanish – Quierosaber)

Le Roy High School in New York

A mysterious disorder exhibiting tourette-type symptoms has been reported, recently, to be affecting students, mostly girls, at Le Roy High School in New York.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The disorder is named for Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the pioneering French neurologist who in 1885 first described the condition in an 86-year-old French noblewoman.

It used to be a rare condition, if not a bizarre syndrome, happening to a small minority of people, when it was associated with the exclamation of obscene words or socially inappropriate language.

But, this is what seems to be happening at Le Roy High School with the girls suffering also from sudden verbal outbursts, instead of just the uncontrollable arm motions and facial tics.

Doctors say the symptoms could be due to conversion disorder, a condition more known, once, as mass hysteria.

The modern term used is mass psychogenic illness and this illness is thought to be triggered by stress or emotional distress, in response, for example, to reports of a chemical exposure, toxin or virus.

Environmentalist Erin Brockovich

This baffling condition continues to worry parents, as well as the school officials, so much so that they have been prompted to seek the help of environmental activist and heroine of a Julia Roberts movie, Erin Brockovich, to investigate for possible environmental causes.

In fact, Brockovich is looking into whether a chemical that spilled in a 1970 train derailment about four miles from the school could have anything to do with it.

A father of one of the students, Jim DuPont, desperately said that his 17-year-old daughter has missed almost every day of school in the last month.

“Now she has to be tutored,” he said “And I worry about her future. She’s only 17. She can’t even drive now.”

He said his daughter is being treated by a neurologist, but still hasn’t received a diagnosis.

Burmese python dead after swallowing gator whole (note gator tail protruding)

And you think the alligator escaped unscathed. Right?

You could never have been more wrong!

A deadly encounter between two giant reptiles at Florida’s everglades, a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) Burmese python, ended in the death of both the predator and prey.

The rangers in the Everglades National Park were themselves surprised when they saw the remains of both reptiles, with the midsection of the python burst open and the gator’s tail protruding.

According to the rangers the python might have challenge the alligators’ leading position in the food chain in the swamps.

What could have happened is that the alligator may have instinctively clawed at the python’s stomach to get out of its tight predicament, thus, causing the predator’s stomach to explode.

“Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild… And here we are,” Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor, was quoted as saying.

It is said that the non-native Burmese pythons have been once kept as pets and later dumped by their owners into the swamps. Some have been there for 20 years already.

There have been studies made linking the decreasing sightings of racoons, rabbits, bobcats, opossums and other species to the prevalence of pythons, since these animals were recognized as being established across thousands of sq km in Florida’s everglades.

Raccoons and opossums, notably, often forage at the water’s edge, where they are vulnerable to ambush by pythons.

The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, which has been a global phenomenon for some time already, is becoming to be known also now as the age of discrimination.

How the wired world has changed gradually, but dramatically, in the work place relative to skill, experience and the older workers!

It used to be that during the industrial revolution, and up to the time that sections of manufacturing plants were replacing workers with machines, older workers with experience and skills were the most sought after to be employed.

I was part of this age and learned how important it was for your career not only to have knowledge of the operation, but also to be well versed in the tools of management.

It never was a problem getting older in your job, nor a disadvantage transferring to another industrial firm at a mature age, when it was necessary. On the contrary, it was an achievement and opportunity far more beneficial than the job you are leaving because it enhances your knowledge of a new operation, which gives you the opportunity to earn more – all because of your experience, skill and maturity.

It used to be that the older you were, the more you were acknowledged by your younger co-workers as well-rounded in your job and the source of able support and wisdom.

It looks like, with the wonders of the Information Technology (IT), which the world can’t do without these days, the perception that an older worker is better than a younger worker is no longer true.

Sadly, we seem to be living now in a society, culture and age where being young is given premium and is the paramount requisite for employment.

Unfair as it may appear to be, that is, however, the reality of the times. The skills and expertise of the younger workforce today is totally different than what it used to be.

Even in the manner the younger generation is hired in this country now-a-days is unbelievable, if not outlandish. Whereas before there was a scarcity of job openings against the number of applicants for a required qualification, today the business process outsourcing in the country, specifically the off shore call centers, are even offering five digit signing bonuses for those hired. Out there today is what we call an applicant’s market.

Not only that. Whereas before there were only few pages in the Sunday national and local papers of classified ads for jobs and employment, today it is what is making the papers profitable.

What made me write about this subject is a study released by Australia’s Financial Services Council (FSC) saying that 28 per cent of older workers had been subject to varying forms of discrimination, which, among other things, included being the first to be made redundant, being denied training and development opportunities, verbal abuse and not having health and physical needs taken into account.

For more information relating to the subject, please check out this link, for better understanding and awareness, though written in 2010 yet: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/op_ed/20100205_older_workers.html

Washing machine is a major source of marine environment pollution

You may be wondering how a simple household washing machine can be a major environment pollutant? What form of pollution is it contributing and what makes it a major one?

A study published in the American Chemical Society journal’s, Environmental Science & Technology, says that microscopic plastics or ‘microplastics’ debris from washing clothes are contaminating the oceans.

While more is known about the Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, where a Texas-size swill of plastic bags, bottles, fishing nets and other debris floats and consequently break down due to mechanical forces, like, waves, and photochemical process triggered by sunlight, the widespread ‘microplastic’ observed accumulating in the marine environment is fibrous.

Part of the Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean

To confirm if the ‘microplastics’ found came from synthetic clothes, the researchers looked for similar contamination along 18 coasts worldwide, including the UK, India and Singapore, and found that it was more common in densely populated areas.

Upon examination, the ‘microplastics’ revealed a composition of polyester, acrylic and polyamides (nylon), which lead them to conclude that wastewater from home washing machines was the probable source, noting that more than 1,900 fibers can rinse off a single garment.

“It may not sound like an awful lot, but if that is from a single item from a single wash, it shows how things can build up,” explained Dr. Mark Browne, an ecologist now based at the University of California, Santa Barbara and co-author of the study.

If the tiny fibers contaminating the oceans are not bad enough, what is making it dreadful is that this type of pollutant could be endangering the lives of people.

Earlier research showed that these microscopic plastics contain potentially harmful ingredients that fish and other sea creatures end up eating these fibers and passing them on to humans through the food chain.

The problem, according to researchers, is likely to get worst in the future, and the study recommended that: “Designers of clothing and washing machines should consider the need to reduce the release of fibers into wastewater and research is needed to develop methods for removing ‘microplastic’ from sewage.”

Archbishop (Ret.) Oscar Cruz

It is about time that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) should start restraining retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz from making unnecessary or unwarranted statements against President Benigno Aquino (PNoy) as leader and as a private person.

It is a known fact that Cruz, who is a devotee of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is a staunch critic of  PNoy, especially that the latter is strongly advocating the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill or the Responsible Parenthood (RP) act.

Cruz, even, stupidly and naughtily touched on the personal life of PNoy, saying that at 50, the president should be better off remaining a bachelor because the possibility of having an unstable marriage is greater. “But 40 above, marriage is blending. Two in one. Somebody who’s 40, 50, 60 cannot blend anymore,” he advised.

What a jerk! He may have wanted to be funny, but in so doing he just showed his self-serving attitude, his utter buffoonery and utmost impertinence. Who is he, anyway, to be giving such advice?

And now comes Cruz’s latest tirade on PNoy, suggesting that the latter should also explain the sudden increase of his wealth, from P15 million in 2009 to nearly P55 million in 2012.

Just because CJ Renato Corona is brought to trial by the Aquino’s administration for, among others, allegedly amassing illegally acquired wealth, Cruz now wants that PNoy explains his growth in wealth.

There is really nothing wrong with Cruz’s suggestion if only it is not tainted with malicious undertones.

For one, Cruz should understand that, other than the alleged illegal wealth, congress has also found a number of other impeachable offenses that Corona committed and they have evidences which the prosecutors are trying to prove now.

What does Cruz have, if I may ask? Nothing, but his big, foul mouth!

For another, Cruz’s suggestion may be alright, if only the Catholic Church is free of scandals.

And not only that.

Perhaps, Cruz should also explain why the Catholic Church is so filthy rich and what is being done with its wealth?

Otherwise, Cruz should just stay retired and stop meddling in the affairs of the state, so there will be peace and harmony and not unnecessary divisiveness in our society.

Senator-Judge Miriam Defensor Santiago

In my recent blogs about the CJ Renato Corona impeachment trial, with the senate acting as an impeachment court, I had been very ‘liberal’ about my praises for Senator-Judge Miriam Defensor Santiago.

I described her first attendance as ‘fiery’ and with a ‘bang’ and I did welcome her presence because she immediately made it known to all and sundry what the senate impeachment court is all about and how it should proceed.

She came in very strong, but while she breathed fire on everybody, everybody was elucidated, too, by her knowledge of the law, her experience, and her intelligence, in general.

Describing the trial as ‘boring’ before she reported as senator-judge, her first salvo sent a strong message to the participants of this historic proceeding that they will be in for more action which will make the days to follow as exciting as one would like to see.

It looks like now that what is exciting to Miriam, is upsetting to many, including myself.

Instead of being an inspiration, a role model for calmness and sobriety as a lawyer, and as a senator- judge in the impeachment court, she has been showing cantankerous attitude, especially towards the members of the prosecution panel, for one reason or another.

Her constant scolding and censuring of those who do not come even close to her expectations is simply disturbing, if not annoying.

The prosecutors may not have the legal savvy that ex-justice Serafin Cuevas of the defense panel possess, but that does not mean that for any inadequacy or failing on their part, that they be the receiving end of an immediate rebuke, which in most cases reflects their lack of intelligence or knowledge of the law, as always implied by the feisty Miriam.

There are many ways of showing your disapproval of things done or said and correcting it in a manner that is helpful or constructive.

But, when one starts dressing down parties involved in a legal action, who are lawmakers and professionals in their own right, that deliberately shame and humiliate their persona in front of observers and TV-viewers, like Miriam has done to some members of the prosecution panel, then it could only be interpreted as arrogantly flaunting that her intelligence is much, much more superior than the rest.

Does one have to be coarse and choleric all the time to prove that one is more learned in matters of law, when what is important is to use your expertise in the court room by being pleasant, rational, and to a certain extent, considerate, if the intention is to ferret out the truth?

Does one have to be obnoxious to drive home a point just so you can prove your mastery of court procedures?

I thought Miriam was going to be a big help in facilitating the early ending of the impeachment trial with a resolution that is credible, acceptable and beneficial in strengthening our democracy, in general, and the judicial system, in particular, but, on the contrary, she is causing tension and apprehension with her outbursts or ‘tantrums’, if you may, that does not augur well with the people’s expectations of the case being decided on the basis of an unassailable existence of damning evidences.

Now, you ask me if Miriam is doing this nation a favor? Hell, no! She is a complete disappointment!

The International Criminal Court in the Hague can take all of her and good riddance!

Senate impeachment court

If there is one thing that the Filipino people should learn from the Corona impeachment trial conducted in the senate, thus, making it a senate impeachment court with the senators sitting as judges at the same time, it is that we cannot just put any Juan, Pedro and Pablo on the senate floor to legislate laws for the people.

The job of a senator is so important, so demanding and so intricate that one has to be educated in law to be able to fully comply with the requirements and responsibilities needed in crafting and enforcing principles and regulations applicable to man and be able to define the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.

Suffice to say that one has to have the knowledge and command of the English language, both oral and written, to be effective in your work as senator.

Am I saying that non-lawyers should not aspire to become senators? Of course, not! But, what I am also saying is that non-lawyers should try their darn best to immerse themselves in law books and journals for self-taught lessons. Relying too much on your lawyer-staffs to help you write and/or interpret the law is nothing compared to knowing it yourself by heart.

Senator Lito Lapid

And to people like Lito Lapid, senator of the realm, who has a hard time speaking English, much less understanding it, he should double his effort in learning the language to make him a better senator.

Now, am I blaming Lapid for being where he should not be? Of course not! But, I am blaming the million of Filipinos who voted for him for senator simply on the basis of his popularity as an action movie actor.

I am not trying to belittle Lapid, but all can see now that he is in the wrong place and in the wrong time of history. Because of his inadequacy of the English language, he wants the impeachment trial to be in Pilipino.

Why fault the system? Why not blame the electorate? What if the Bisayans say that there are Tagalog words that they don’t understand? What then?

But, we should not even stop with Senator Lapid.

Could one imagine if Jinggoy Estrada, another actor turned senator, presently the Senate President Pro Tempore, was in the position of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile? Or Senate Majority Floor Leader Tito Sotto, one more actor turned senator, for that matter? What I am saying is that if these actors-senators were chosen for these positions, they could also become the senate president, the way politics is played in this country.

How would have the impeachment trial proceeded?  Because the truth is, it is only the likes of Enrile, or of Miriam Santiago, or even of Franklin Drilon, that could make it an orderly and credible senate impeachment court.

It is along this line of reasoning and surprises, like making the senate floor an impeachment court, that the need for lawyers or members of the senate well versed in the law comes to fore as an important qualification, if not consideration, for being a senator of the realm.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago

The feisty senator from Iloilo, Miriam Defensor Santiago, reported for her first attendance as senator-judge in the Corona impeachment trial with a bang! It was a wake-up call, if you ask me, and it seemed to have set a tone on how the succeeding proceedings will go.

I just hope that her brashness and her ‘all-too-knowing’ attitude will not be an irritant to the presiding Senator-Judge Juan Ponce Enrile and to the litigants and even to her colleagues acting as senator-judges.

While every one is aware of her being a constitutional law expert and former RTC judge, I believe it would be good for the proceedings if she will use her expertise in helping the senate impeachment court attain its objective of determining whether or not the accused, Chief Justice Renato Corona, is indeed guilty of the charges as listed in the articles of impeachment.

Santiago herself admitted that she got bored watching the proceedings, saying, “It has been a display of legal ignorance that’s why the trial has been taking so long. It was unstructured.”

What I am simply saying is that instead of ‘terrorizing’ and castigating the prosecution and defense panels for their inadequacies, that she should exercise patience, prudence and wisdom in a way that her guidance will help the trial move forward resulting to a more speedy resolution of the case.

“It is our right to ask questions if the prosecution has not done well and has not satisfied the judges. But the judge cannot take over the counsel and act as if he is already the counsel,” Santiago said.

Indeed, this is a very good and timely reminder for the senator-judges who are not lawyers, and more so for lawyer members of the court, who wants to impress the public and their non-lawyer colleagues of their own knowledge of the law.

I think Santiago was wrong in her perception that the public is not as interested because the electorate has not been involved in making Corona the chief justice.

On the contrary, the public is very much interested of the judicial process going on in the senate because they can’t simply believe that graft and corruption could reach and be allowed to violate the dignity of the members of the highest court of the land to the extent that it could also affect their decisions.

At the end of the day, it is not about how good the prosecutors presented their case against Corona or how articulate the defense was in protecting Corona.

Bottom line is: shall we continue our corrupt practices in government or shall we start reforming for the sake of our country and its people?

The Marcoses (Bongbong, Imelda and Imee) back in the political scene

It is bad enough that some members of the Marcos family have come back politically strong and influential and, seemingly, guilt-free.

It is even worst that the Sandiganbayan, in a ruling penned by Associate Justice Samuel Martires, has junked a P51-billion damage suit filed 25 years ago against the despot, Ferdinand Marcos, his widow Imelda, and some cohorts accused of dollar salting.

The Sandiganbayan (roughly the Tagalog translation for “People’s Advocate”) is a special court in the country which was established under Presidential Decree No. 1606. Its rank is equivalent to the Court of Appeals. The court consists of 14 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice.

While the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), acting as complainants, accused Marcos, et al, of “misappropriation and theft of public funds, plunder of the nation’s wealth, extortion, blackmail, bribery, embezzlement and other acts of corruption, betrayal of public trust, and brazen abuse of power, at the expense and to the grave and irreparable damage of plaintiff and the Filipino people”, the ruling, however, cited the “absence of evidence” to prove the respondent’s guilt and culpability.

“A mere allegation is not enough. It must be supported by proof, otherwise it will just remain a story,” the Sandiganbayan magistrates said, referring to OSG’s and PCGG’s allegations.

Now, it has been reported that the government, through Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz, will be filing an appeal about the dismissal claiming that the Sandiganbayan seemed to have forgotten the realities of martial law and the impunities committed by Marcos and company by which the country got robbed of its resources.

Furthermore, Cadiz said the Sandiganbayan decision seemed to have exonerated the Marcoses crime, saying, “It’s like Holocaust did not happen,” referring to the Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews during World War II.

But, Cadiz seems to be missing the point. The point is that no matter how much you compare Marcos and his disgraceful and disastrous past with other deplorable crimes, the fact remains that if you want conviction against some people, make sure that you have all the solid goods against the subjects to nail them well with.

The money is too large and the culprits too notorious to go half-cocked in pursuing justice.

Unless full proof evidences are unearthed further to pin Marcos and cohorts for the crime allegedly committed, Cadiz and the government might as well kiss the P51-B lawsuit goodbye. I could not see any favorable progress in a case that happened 25 years ago and the Marcoses back in power.

But, let this be a lesson learned by PNoy and his Justice department, if they want success in running after corrupt officials in government, as they are doing now.

What is mostly needed is a ‘smoking gun.’