PARADOXICAL

August 2026 Recap: A Hodgepodge of Things High and Low that the Algorithm Fed Me

Things I randomly picked up on FB even while I wasn't watching the news. They are listed one at a time as they appeared through the month:

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I failed to note last month that national dailies picked up the news of the sudden demise of our youngest councilor. It is something I didn't expect.

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Dr. Fauci received a severe battering from Republican senators asking him about COVID and the government policies he helped form at the time.

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"Alex Eala made history on August 3, 2026, by becoming the first tennis player from the Philippines to win a WTA singles title." >>> Eala's victory renewed my keen interest in tennis, but for a different purpose: to annihil@te all these mosquitoes going after my blood using this rechargeable racquet that I bought. Wait, it is called electric swatter. I aim for a perfect score each time.

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"Man arrested after dressing as Grim Reaper at a hospital and staring at patient in Wales." >> Haha! Fake news or not, I hate him already!

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"Trucks carrying 200 pigs crashes in Bukidnon. Instead of helping, the crowd steals the pigs." >>> Tragedy quickly turns into 'Agawan ng Biik' game where you end up with a dirty piglet as your prize.

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Somewhere in Manila, an acacia tree on the side of the street suddenly fell on the road, nearly missing passing vehicles and causing a traffic gridlock. I would learn days later that a delivery driver died on the spot after taking a breather under that tree. >>> I suddenly have a new fear unlocked within me: standing underneath a big tree.

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The debate on Pax Silica intensified. But not a few smart cookies saw through it and felt the hand of China behind the demonization. I'd say let's not fall for the ruse--I mean, China's hidden machinations. Let's not be too naive--let us be always mindful of psychological warfare, 'agitprop,' espionage and the like around us--yes, from both sides of the ideological fence.

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Everybody seems to have watched the latest Spiderman movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. >>> Despite the silly premise of a man improbably turning into a spider scaling NYC skyscrapers, moviegoers are willing to shell out a huge sum -- for the ticket, fare/gas, and snacks -- just to see what is essentially a fantasy movie with a compelling story. I have willingly fallen for the ruse myself, several times over.

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"A 67-year-old woman in Colombia monetized neighborhood gossip so successfully that she has bought 2 houses down. She charges per secret and gets paid even more to stay quiet." >>> Evil kind of smart.

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Typhoon 'Luis' and 'Maymay'--which intensified the monsoon rains and was influenced by super-typhoon improbably named 'Dolphin'--brought torrential rains and caused flooding in many areas of the country. >>> It was a worryingly wet and waterlogged world for the greater part of our three long weeks--and it had many pros and cons. But in terms of resiliency, we should learn to get on with our lives as scheduled while it's raining that strong and that long. Now we had to make up for a 3-week backlog.

Plus we must find a way to store all that water in time for the supposedly upcoming Super El Nino.

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Why are people posting their student IDs on their FB 'Story'?

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In his visit to Davao City, a Duterte bailiwick, Pres. Marcos was heckled by high school students in the most embarrassing manner that one felt sorry for him and the high office he represented. I've never seen such a low level of disrespect for a man of high authority, but I also understand where the utter contempt and anger is coming from, considering everything that is happening around us.

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A devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked Colombia – collapsing buildings, trapping people under rubble and killing over 100 people.

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Viral sa trial> "Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan presented acknowledgment receipts submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to the Commission on Audit–Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) as supplemental documents for confidential fund cash advances. ... Among the listed transactions were a ₱70,000 payment to “Mary Grace Piattos” for medicines, an ₱85,000 payment to “Nova Santos” for various goods, and a ₱295,000 payment to “Mico P. Harina” for purchased supplies. >>> Creativity fail!

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"Isang 22-anyos na empleyado sa Alicante, Spain ang sinibak matapos paulit-ulit umanong pumasok nang mas maaga kaysa sa itinakdang oras." >>> What kind of stupid penalizes punctuality?

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"Julian Assange sounded the alarm about this years ago. Today, it is a normal part of how the internet (and politicians) work. The sudden deactivation of federal resources like Climate.gov highlights a growing crisis: our history is being quietly erased by centralized digital servers." >>> This is scary, but I already had a taste of it after having my original FB account deleted for no explicit reason. I am worried about my accounts on another social media site where almost all of what I've written since year 2000 is stored online.

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Another trending party game emerged in which participants take turns eating certain foodstuff on the table and for some reason finds it funny and laugh at themselves. >>> I worry about the participants choking on the noodle.

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Another trending game is called the 'Pass the Mic' challenge, I think. I now follow this group from Bohol called Tropang Singers doing old high-pitched hits like Debbie Gibson songs. >>> I can just imagine inserting myself in the lineup and easily ruining the game. This game is highly discriminatory to the not-so-vocally endowed.

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Not long after Venezuela and Colombia, strong earthquakes shook parts of Egypt and Indonesia, Spain and Peru too--and those are just the countries that I happen to stumble upon while scrolling through my screen. It's like one earthquake triggering another, then another, then another, ad infinitum.

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Meanwhile, while we keep on blaming the flood control budget scandal at home, there were some serious flooding in different parts of the world, too, including Japan, not just in the Philippines. I lost count.

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Local literary luminary Marra PL. Lanot died. >>> Haven't read her work, but I'm a big fan of her husband's writing -- the amazingly skillful screenwriter, poet, and essayist Pete Lacaba, whom I have 'met' (and his son Kris) online in the distant past.

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Hollywood actress Hayden Panettiere died aged 36. >>> A name I have encountered several times while watching movies.

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"Trash piles up in Metro Manila waters after habagat-induced flooding." >>> Why is everyone acting so surprised? This has long been a sad and tragic old normal for Metro Manila. Have we suddenly gone blind? A culture that treats public spaces as personal trash can needs some serious soul-searching.

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Songs that got my attention lately because of FB reels or stories and TikTok dance videos: Ice Spice - Big Guy (from "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants”); Olivia Dean - So Easy (To Fall in Love); Benson Boone - Beautiful Things; Paul n Ballin - Pogi; Alex Warren - Ordinary; Stee Lacy - oh yeah?

I like each of these -- catchy, memorable, enjoyable, upbeat, fun, and... different or new.

Meanwhile, I discovered a new old song that I feel belongs to my best-of list: "Alfie" by Dionne Warwick is perfection (covered excellently by Cynthia Erivo--she with the weird look: bald head, nose ring in between the nostrils, ugh). Unlike most predictably sappy love songs, "Alfie" goes deep by asking what life is all about.

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Reportedly trending: No-water chicken soup (with apple and Napa cabbage, etc.) >> Intriguing, so a must-try. I only tried pork chop with apple before at Almon Marina, which I liked, at least for its novelty.

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A Grade 10 math wizard with a Chinese surname in Ateneo de Zamboanga, an exclusive Catholic school, was gunned down by a classmate of his with an Arabic/Muslim-sounding name. The latter was reportedly a Roblox gamer, a top student in his class, and managed to enter the school using his policeman father's car with the gun in a bag and even streamlined the grisly proceedings on social media. He was not bullied. He was not depressed. So what made him snap?

Ironically, a report said a simulation of such a scenario was just done on the same campus a few days ago.

This unprecedented non-development used to be unthinkable, but Pinoys being Pinoys, a Columbine copycat is perhaps inevitable. This is pure evil.

Others warn that talking about these things in detail could drive other kids to copy the same awful feat. There's truth to that: Just because something is true does not always mean it should be brought to light in grisly detail.

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A rarity: An unusual grouping of 9 Nicobar pigeons was sighted in a tree in Bataraza Is., Palawan. A pigeon rarely sighted in the Philippines, it is even rarer to see it in a group because it normally appears solitary or in pairs, per birdwatchers' routine photos of this species.

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Tatlong taong gulang na bata, nakunan sa CCTV ang pagbagsak mula sa kanilang bahay, pero himala siyang nasalo ng kanyang tiyanin na bumaba para lamang mag-CR.

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Mag-iina, natagpuang patay sa loob ng isang sasakyan sa Brgy. Talacsan, San Rafael, Bulacan. >>> Intriguing case!

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Another admirable writer, Tito Genova Valiente, died. I can't forget how he wrote about Nora Aunor. Topnotch writer.

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Giant tilapia, napadpad sa loob ng bahay na binaha. >>> It almost always means a fishpond as breached by raging floodwaters.

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Lalaki, biglang gumising mula sa pagtulog upang sumaklolo sa isang kapitbahay na humihingi ng tulong. Yun pala ay sa TV lamag galing ang ingay na narinig. >>> Home CCTV footages are increasingly becoming source of legit news.

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American country music legend Dolly Parton died. >>> I will always remember her as the original singer of "I Will Always Love You."

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Man wakes up to find out that he is a prince according to a DNA test. >>> Don't we all wish the same at times of willfull hallucination? ...That someone fabulously rich from a royal family would someday insist that you accept his inheritance and share his station in life? For us, perpetually deprived mortals, wealth and royalty served on a silver platter would be a temptation very hard to resist.

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On August 26, Nepal--picking up the pieces after a major political upheaval--experienced a disaster that is truly and catastrophic ang cataclysmic, when an avalanche triggered by what they call "glacial collapse" released a massive flash flood (or maniacal mudslide, to be exact) down two rivers. The sudden, violent, dammed-up surge of gray killed over 150 people and left thousands missing—including hundreds of foreign tourists—while wiping out entire roads, bridges, and energy facilities, cutting power and telecom lines.

>>> Men, women, children, even dogs ran for their lives with just the proverbial shirt on their back--and almost to no avail for many. It's a wonder how others were able to capture footages of the unthinkable, unprecedented scenario at all, which is far worse than a tsunami, while the rampaging waters, mud, rocks swept away everything in its path: pails, drums, motorbikes, cars, buses, cabinets, furniture, iron roofs... Imagine all the worldly treasures left behind in a huff: the cash, ATM cards, jewels, documents, vehicles, businesses, smartphones and other high-end equipment, artifacts, clothes, artworks, precious mementoes and priceless keepsakes--everything turned into trash, buried, cemented right into the rampaging mudslide of nothingness the day after.

Hundreds died, with more than a thousand reported missing. The survivors were eventually "winched using helicopters."

You'd think this only happens in the movies. What are the odds that a tsunami-like event could ever happen in a mountainous area? Such ferocity of nature has never been seen before, not even in tsunamis.

I can't also help but be reminded that I live in a town that sits beside a river and is relatively near a giant dam, the San Roque Dam.

Meanwhile a Filipino tourist went missing. He was identified as Dr. Juan Carlos Manalo.

My prayer goes out to the long-suffering Nepalese people, and may the victims of this unimaginable tragedy rest in peace.

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Marijuana sinunog para hindi mabenta. Usok aksidenteng umabot sa kabahayan at nagpa-high sa mga residente. >>> The anti-drug operation accidentally turns into a free course in Introduction to Drug Addiction!

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British actor Tim Curry died. He was often cast as a memorable villain.

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Thought-provoking this: "Evangelist's attempt to preach on LRT prompts calls to respect commuter's space."

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Eccentric Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama died, she who turned mental illness (hallucinations) into art filled with dots.

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"A 'bored' security guard on his first day drew eyes on an 88-year old painting worth $1M." >>> The effrontery to correct what he deemed as an artist's mistake.

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"A honey seller from Kenya used his badly swollen face from bee stings as an ad to prove his honey is real." >>> We need just this proof to prove that the honey we buy at the grocery is indeed not fake.

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"In 2010, Spanish citizen María Ángeles Durán notarized a document declaring herself the owner of the Sun, claiming she had found a loophole in international space law. She threatened to charge people for using solar energy and pledged to direct the proceeds toward public welfare."

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"Giniba ng rumaragasang tubig mula sa bahagi ng Sta. Rita Dam sa Lubao, Pampanga ang isang bahay." >>> I initially thought the video was AI, but it turned out to be real. Nakakapanlumo makita yung bahay na bago lang at mukhang maganda ang pagkakagawa na basta na lang mahulog sa ilog matapos lamunin ng tubig. There's a reason why the government declares "no build zones" on riverbanks. Actually it's common sense--no law needed. Just that people think they can get away with the law--until the law of Mother Nature takes over.

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"What started as a simple joke about Makati workers calling themselves “OFWs” turned into Filipinos getting creative and renaming places around the country as fake countries and cities. From Cavitestan to Cebudapest, the internet basically created its own map of the Philippines." >>> Having worked in Makati for years, I can say that it is lightyears ahead in so many things compared with the rural parts of the country. For example, before so many foreign cuisines became trending, Makati residents, workers, and visitors had long been exposed to them. But now my perspective has changed, being an OFW in Japangasinan.

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Indian students come to the Philippines en masse to become doctors. >>> But why?! It's not like India lacks good schools, for sure?

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A nurse in Bicol died while under a waiting shed. At least two others went missing after their car fell into the river while crossing Agana Br. in Tarlac, a span of which fell down amidst strong current and overflowing water.

At Agana, the SUV that fell into the river had five passengers; at least one person swam to safety, while the four others went missing. >>> How I wish I'd wake up one day learning that all of our old bridges have been replaced with new sturdy ones--at once and right away, not years hence. Unsafe bridges are a matter of life and death, and five individuals have already paid the high price.

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In closing, here are two alliterative headlines I wish I could use one of these days. I just couldn't find the perfect timing: "Pinarangalan ngunit Pinangaralan"; "Komendasyon, Naging Kondemnasyon. No, wait, it fits to a tee this new controversy surrounding Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino commissioners reportedly giving themselves recognition.

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Wait, while the world seemed to end once again (heat wave, quakes, torrential rains, floods, drought, glacial collapse...), a new dance trended: the so-called Brazilian dance. Finally, a very easy one I could try. On video. (Joke!)

posted by Resty Odon  # 10:16 PM