Wheat has been grown for 9000 years

Wheat is one of the oldest cereal crops. It was first grown in the Euphrates River Valley in the Middle East.

The largest national forest in the United States is larger than the entire state of West Virginia

Tongass National Forest in Sitka, Alaska, is our largest national forest, with an area of 25,937 square miles (16.6 million acres). It covers more than half of southeastern Alaska. It is now four times larger than it was when it was first established in 1902.

Some bamboos grow up to three feet a day

Bamboo grows quickly. One Indian variety may grow to be more than 100 feet tall. Some bamboos flower only every 100 years.

There’s more peat moss in Russia than anywhere else

Peat moss is used as picking material for shipping plants. It grows in swamps or bogs. Russia’s Vasyugan Swamp, on the world’s largest plain (the West Siberian Plain), has more peat moss than any other swamp. Peat moss is also known as sphagnum.

The silver maple is the most common tree in the United States

The silver maple, which often grows to 130 feet in height in damp areas, is the most common tree in the United States.

The largest known tree is in California

The General Sherman giant sequoia growing in Sequoia National Park, California, is the biggest living tree in the world. It is 275 feet tall. Its diameter is 36 feet. Its branches are up to seven feet thick. Its weight is estimated to be over four million pounds. It is almost 4000 years old.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

The oldest living tree is in California

The oldest tree is believed to be a bristle cone pine tree in the White Mountains of California. It is estimated to be almost 5000 years old.

The raffia palm has the largest leaves of any plant

The leaves of Madagascar’s raffia palm grow up to 65 feet in length. The raffia palm can also be found in parts of Africa.

The Bo tree of Sri Lanka is revered by Buddhists

A sacred Bo tree, or papal, in Sri Lanka is paid homage to by Buddhists. It is said that it was planted 2200 years ago from a branch of the original sacred Bo tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment.

The world’s tallest flowering plant is from Australia

The mountain ash of Australia, a southern eucalyptus, grows higher than any other flowering plant. Its height can exceed 325 feet.

The monkey bread tree is big but not tall

The monkey bread tree, or baobab, grows broad without growing tall. Its trunk may be 30 feet in diameter but only 60 feet high, the height of a large maple tree. It has branches as thick as the trunks of most trees.

The largest seed is the double coconut

The double coconut from the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean weighs 40 pounds, making it the largest seed in the world.

The heaviest of all woods is black ironwood

Black ironwood, also called South African ironwood, weighs up to 93 pounds per cubic foot.

Cats don’t have nine lives

Because cats are so agile and athletic and can get out of danger so quickly, people say that cats have lives to spare.

The cat is the only animal that purrs

A cat can cry, hiss and growl, and so can a lot of other animals. But the cat is unique: it’s the only animal capable of purring. How it accomplishes this is still a mystery.

Ancient Egyptians did not worship cats, they adored them!

The ancient Egyptians were very fond of cats. Cats were cherished members of the household. When a fire broke out in an Egyptian household, people would be more concerned about saving the cats than putting out the fire. Despite the immense popularity of cats, the ancient Egyptians did not worship the animal itself. Instead, they paid homage to Bast, a cat-headed goddess. However, they did mummify their cats – by the thousands!

The smallest cats come from Singapore

The smallest breed of domestic cat is the Singapura or “drain cat” of Singapore. Adult males average six pounds in weight and adult females four pounds.

Dogs have more chromosomes than humans

Each body cell in a dog contains 39 pairs of the heredity-carrying structures called chromosomes. This is more than any other animal, including man, who has only 23 pairs. A dog also has more teeth (42) than man (32).

Dogs nap rather than sleep

Dogs, like all animals, are light sleepers. So while dogs seem to spend a lot of time snoozing, they’re really napping rather than slumbering. That’s why they can wake up so quickly when you call to them.

Dogs can see in color

Dogs are not totally colorblind. They just cannot see the colors red or orange, and they don’t see colors as distinctly as humans can. Smell, not sight, is a dog’s sharpest sense.

The first dog license cost $2.00

New York was the first state to license dogs. On March 8, 1894, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was authorized by New York State to collect a $2.00 license fee for dogs in cities with human populations over one million.

Dogs were domesticated before cats

Wolves – the ancestors of all dog breeds today – lived with humans as far back as 12,000 years ago. Cats took their time about it and decided to move in with human about 8,000 years ago.

The walrus can dive as far as 350 feet below the surface of the arctic waters

For all their size, two-ton walruses are very fast swimmers, reaching a top speed of 25 miles per hour. They use their heads to break breathing holes in ice up to eight inches thick. Then they use their long tusks to widen the holes.

Vampire bats sometimes suck blood from humans

While South American vampire bats usually suck blood from livestock, they will occasionally go after humans. To survive, vampire bats must drink a teaspoonful of blood per night. Their saliva contains a powerful blood thinner that is 20 times stronger than any other blood thinner known. This thinner keeps the blood from clotting and makes it easier for the bat to drink it. This substance is used to make a drug for heart attack patients. The medicine is called Draculin.

Tigers eat a lot

A tiger can eat about 40 pounds of meat in one sitting. Then, they usually do not eat again for several days. Tigers in zoos only eat about 10 pounds of meat per day.

Some tiny shrews have poisonous saliva

The small, mouse-like shrew has sharp teeth and some of these bloodthirsty animals have poisonous saliva for stunning prey. A shrew’s heart may beat 1,200 times per minute, and a highly nervous shrew may die from the shock of a loud noise.

Hummingbirds drink nectar at the rate of about 13 licks per second

As the tiny hummingbird hovers like a helicopter in front a flower, it uses its long, extendible tongue to reach nectar deep within the flower.

Nang Muling Tumigil Ang Oras

Tila naging ghost town na naman ang buong Pilipinas noong nakaraang tatlong linggo, Nobyembre 19. Parang dumaan na naman ang bagyong Milenyo sa bansa. At kasing lakas ng pagbagsak ng mga billboards ang pagkatumba ni El Terrible sa mga suntok ni Manny Pacquiao. Kinagabihan, walang laman ang mga programang pambalita kundi puro laban lang ni Manny Pacquiao. Magmula simula hanggang pagtatapos, hindi mo na mabibilang kung ilang beses binanggit ang pangalan ng boksingero sa programa.
Mapapansing parang nawala ang problema ng Pilipinas sa araw na iyon. Wala na yung mga balitang tungkol sa pagnanakaw, patayan o mga pulitikong walang ginawa kundi magpapogi lalo na't papalapit na ang eleksyon. Kaya iniisip ko na lang minsan na parang may template na yatang sinusunod ang mga programang pambalita. Ayon sa pagkasunud-sunod ng mga balita: pulitika, patayan, nakawan, panlabas, showbiz, panahon at hindi mawawala ang segment ni Marc Logan o Love Anover. Pero syempre, meron din palang substitute template ang mga balita sa telebisyon. Magmula pulitika hanggang showbiz, pwede rin pala maging Manny Pacquiao-themed ang balita.
Sa kabilang banda, sana ganito na lang palagi sa Pilipinas. Tahimik. Pero, hindi naman yung nakabuka ang bibig at nakatunganga na lang sa telebisyon habang humihingi ng milagro sa Diyos o sa gobyerno. Hindi naman dadapo ang katuparan ng mga kahilingan sa mga nakangangang bibig ng mga taong tamad.
Sabi nga ng isang pulis na nakapanayam sa telebisyon, "Sana araw-araw may laban si Manny Pacquiao para tahimik palagi ang buong Pilipinas." At siguro, sasang-ayon ako at karamihan sa atin sa kanila. Ngunit kung ganito nga ang mangyayari, baka sa susunod na halalan, presidente na ng Pilipinas si Manny Pacquiao.
Ang Pilipinas nga naman, puno ng kababalaghan. Nakakatuwa.
Tumawa ka na lang. Baka sa pagtawa mo, malaman ng iba na nakakatawa na sila.

Para sa'yo

"Para sa'yo, ang laban na to" - ang linyang namayagpag at napakinggan ng mundo noong Nobyembre 19. Parte ito sa kanta ni Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao na nagwagi kamakailan laban kay Erik Morales. Bilib ako kay Manny, 'di lang sa bilis at lakas ng kanyang kamao o sa popularidad nito sa mundo ng boxing kundi sa katatagan ng tibay ng loob. Isa rin akong mandirigma sa mundo ng palakasan. Naranasan ko nang lumuhod sa pagod, matalo at manalo. Ngunit, higit na masarap ang pakiramdam kung sa kabila ng inaasam na ginto ay ang pag-alay ng iyong laban sa iba.
Sa ngayon, tuloy pa rin ang laban ko, ngunit sa kabilang antas ng buhay naman. Ang lumaban para sa bayan, ang pagbibigay buhay sa kapwa; 'di ba't dakila kung tutuusin?
Sa takbo ng buhay ngayon, nagkalat na ang iba't ibang klaseng sakuna ng lipunan. Nariyan ang 'crab mentality' at korupsyon, mga krimen gaya ng nakawan at patayan, walang humpay na bangayan sa iba't ibang antas ng lipunan, at kung anu-ano pa. At dahil dito, unti-unti nang nababago ang kalooban ng isang tao. Sa madaling salita, nais kong bigyan-diin 'di lamang ang tagumpay ni Manny kundi ang isa sa mga aspetong humuhubog sa atin, ang pagbibigay ng pag-asa para sa kapwa.

A fate worse than death

Centuries ago, Greek philosophers searched for the origin of things, which sparked the primordial quest for truth. Various philosophers from Anaximenes to Empedocles to Paramenides had their own theories. Anaximander of Miletus in Asia Minor claimed that the "stuff" that reality is composed of is called apeiron, which in Greek means that which is unlimited or unbounded. It encompasses the paradox of both emptiness and fullness.

Apeiron is explained to contain the best of all possible worlds, a world where everything exists. It is a dimension where all the pleasant things that could transpire are possible and all the worst things imaginable are also equally possible, however both realities would cancel themselves out of the equation and we are left to live in the middle of that void.

If we were to live a world where all the good things happen, there wouldn't be much meaning in our lives. A world where all the good things could happen may seem wonderful and ideal but as some people say, perfection can get boring. It's the little flaws that make things interesting.

We wouldn't be able to recognize the happiness that is right in front of us, just like how one would never feel the pleasure of comfort without the agony of pain and vice versa. Like the elation that a mother feels seeing her newborn baby after hours of labor or in a victory of a hard-fought battle. These moments are not without pain and suffering. Perhaps, that is why the concept of heaven is so coveted. It is because in that place, we are able to relieve the struggles and strife in this mundane life.

For those who haven't watched the succession of Saw movies, John Kramer or Jigsaw, as he was more commonly called, was responsible for the demented games, elaborate contraptions and psychological warfare that he puts his victims in. The objective of the game was simple: stay alive. However, the mechanics to achieving that objective wasn't that simple. Jigsaw has never literally killed anyone; he just puts his victims in the imaginative scenarios where they are forced to kill themselves or others.

But behind the blood and the gore, there is a life lesson that is offered. IF you were able to survive the game, you will have a greater appreciation for life although the chances of that happening are extremely slim to none. After coming so close to death, one begins to look at things differently.

Death is a famous topic by this time of the year. It is a reminder of our mortality. No one is exempt from this fact. It is a reality that everyone has to come to terms with.

With everything that we are given in life, contentment is something that lacks in big doses. Given the concept of apeiron, most of us aren't satisfied with the cards we are dealt with. No matter how many years we are given in this life, it never seems to suffice, hence the saying "life is short". Most of us often neglect the splendor of it until we come face to face with the possibility of losing it.

Perhaps, that is why the date and hour of our death is unbeknownst to us, to make us more appreciative of the time we have been given. Yet therein lies a paradox, as John Kramer mentioned in Saw 2, "Most people have the luxury of not knowing when that clock's going to go off. And the irony of it is that that keeps them from really living their life. It keeps them drinking that glass of water but never really tasting it."

Some can smoke several packets of cigarettes a day and not regret it until the day that they are diagnosed with lung cancer while some never really see the worth of a family member or a friend until they are on a hospital bed.

Do we really have to survive a fatal car crash, terminal illness or a life threatening experience for us to truly see the beauty of life? Does it have to be too late to appreciate that we have been bestowed upon?

The only way to overcome death is to become immortal. Immortality can be achieved by living a life worth remembering, creating a legacy. It is through our legacy that we can transcend time. What we are and what we stand for can be passed on with the legacy that we leave behind.

Everyday is a choice. What will yours be?