WHEN PEOPLE TELL YOU NICE THINGS, STOP SHRUGGING THEM OFF AS IF THEY ARE NOTHING.  THE SINCERE COMPLIMENTS YOU RECEIVE ARE YOUR JEWELS.  COLLECT THEM IN YOUR HEART.  THEY HIGHLIGHT THE BEAUTY OF YOUR BEING AND EMPOWER YOU DURING CHALLENGING TIMES.

UNIVERSE. Scientists have observed a peculiar type of star death in deep space that may help explain the most powerful explosions in the universe. The blast didn't behave as most such explosions do. In some ways it seemed similar to a sub-class of supernova called gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic outbursts known. But instead of a vast amount of high-energy gamma ray light pouring from the star, the supernova exploded in lower-energy radio waves.

WORLD. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda will donate $10bn over the next 10 years to develop and deliver new vaccines. Mr Gates, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said their aim was to see 90% of children in developing countries immunized.  Over the past 10 years, the couple's charity has committed $4.5bn to the development of vaccines.  The WHO called the commitment "unprecedented".

Bereaving family of Manang Juling, Drs. Banjo, Marivic, and Lou,

On behalf of my humble family and his/your fellow members of the Magsingal Organization of America (MOA) family, please accept our sincerest sympathy to the untimely demise of your loving & caring father.Our prayers are with your grieving  family during this sorrowful moments. We pray for the repose of his soul and your respectable clan to cope with his tragic death.

Needless to say, your father and I had lots of serious moments discussing  his plans, goals and visions for the betterment of our town mates and beloved town of Magsingal in a peaceful manner. However, assassins claimed his precious life and his mission to introduce reform and overdue changes were abbreviated. He just retired and not a single U.S. penny benefited him. He was possessed with objectives and formidable tasks to attempt and witness his native town to develop and flourish. In his quest to achieve this noble goal, he spearheaded and organized a party of respectable individuals to run for public office. However and unaware of what's in his plate, perpetrators of heinous crime ended his life.

Our condolences to Manang Juling, Drs. Banjo, Marivic, and Lou.  May his soul rest in peace.

A number of FilAms dream of running for office in the Philippines while retaining their U.S. citizenship. "Namamangka sa dalawang ilog," as they say it in Tagalog.

In the early 90's, I had breakfast at the Manila Hotel with my fraternity brother, Leonardo B. Perez, then a member of Congress from Nueva Vizcaya. I wrote on a napkin a proposed dual citizenship bill titled: "Once a Filipino, always a Filipino." The bill simply read:

"A natural-born Filipino citizen shall not lose his citizenship by the fact that he is naturalized as a citizen under the laws of another country."

"Can you sponsor this bill, brod?" I asked him.

"Yes, but you better have Joe de Venecia as the main sponsor. Whatever Joe wants, Joe gets." Joe was the powerful speaker of the House. I went to his Dasmarinas Village home.

"Maganda ito," exclaimed Joe. "You better take care of this. It will help you," he told Congressman Manny Sanchez who was nearby. Manny, also my fraternity brod, was the congressman of Rizal but the Sumulongs were contesting his election on the ground that he was a U.S. citizen.

The 2nd Philippine-Slovakia Business Trade Mission has been formally launched on Friday, January 22, 2010, at the Balmori Function Room of the The Peninsula Manila.  This was hosted by the Vgent Group of Companies led by the husband-and-wife tandem of Mr. Felicisimo P. Gorospe, over-all chairman, and Ms. Erlinda A. Gorospe, chairman-elect. The eight company presidents of Vgent Group came in full force as well as their six counterparts from the Slovak Republic led by Mr. Jan Dina.

YOUR ACTIONS ARE WHAT CREATE THE IMAGE THAT SOCIETY INTERPRETS. IT'S NOT WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN,  NOR WHERE YOU COME FROM,  BUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING TODAY FOR TOMORROW.

UNIVERSE. An American sent the first tweet from space this week after getting a personal web connection on the ISS.  Timothy “TJ” Creamer,  a NASA flight engineer, sent the Twitter message from his AstroITJ account. “Hello Twitterverse!  We are now live tweeting from the International Space Station—the first live tweet from Space!:)  More soon, send yours.” Creamer wrote.  Creamer was the first astronaut to send an unassisted Twitter message from space.

WORLD. A day after pressing Europe’s governments, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano gained the support of the world’s airlines for the Obama administration’s goal of ramping up aviation security to keep terrorists off planes.   Napolitano told a news conference in Geneva this week that industry and governments would work closely in importing data collection, information sharing, passenger vetting and other security standards.