No more excitement

By Alex P. Vidal 

“In the long run, curiosity-driven research just works better… Real breakthroughs come from people focusing on what they’re excited about.” — Geoffrey Hinton

WHEN the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Western Visayas announced the “full capacity” opening of the scandal-ridden P1-billion four-lane Ungka flyover on December 23, there was no consequential reaction from public.

What was supposed to be a grand surprise for Ilonggos longing to use the expensive public works project since 2022 wasn’t even treated as a head-turning event.

Motorists and commuters weren’t anymore excited about the controversial project, which straddles Iloilo City and the town of Pavia, after more than two years of delay since it was first opened and closed in September 2022.

Ilonggo didn’t care if the 453.7-meter flyover was already safe or continued to pose as threat to public safety despite the ongoing installation of steel railings on the parapet as confirmed by DPWH-6 assistant regional director Jose Al Fruto.

What they knew from the start was that the project had been tainted by irregularities and incompetence by the contractors and the taxpayers were the real losers after it was revealed there were structural defects that rendered the edifice dysfunctional and good-for-nothing for a while.

After it was smeared and blemished, it’s hard to halt the terrible negative public perception and unfavorable opinion.

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I received the email below from New York Governor Kathy Hochul which she also sent to other New Yorkers:

Alex,

Whether you’re spending around the Christmas tree, preparing to celebrate the eight nights of Hanukkah, getting ready for the start of Kwanzaa, or simply looking forward to a happy New Year, I hope you’re able to celebrate our New York values of tradition, family, and togetherness.  

In every corner of New York, from Buffalo to Brooklyn and from the Adirondacks to Long Island, I see families who want the same things: a warm home, safe communities, great schools, and confidence that the new year will bring new blessings and opportunities.  

As we embrace the holiday season, I want you to know that I hear you, and that I’m never going to stop working to make our state an even better place to live for you and your families. 

My holiday wish is that next year at this time, we can look back at real progress in making life more affordable for New York families. Because while the holiday season comes once a year, the spirit of caring for our neighbors should guide us every day. 

From my family to yours, I want to wish you a very happy holiday season!

Ever Upward, Gov. Kathy Hochul   

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WHEN SOMEBODY ATTACKS US AND WE CAN’T DEFEND OURSELVES, we shouldn’t scream. It tightens our throat and tires us out. Instead, we must yell when in danger. A yell comes from the diaphragm, experts say, creating a louder sound with less effort.

TIP-OFF TO A THREAT. If a stranger stops us on the street, let’s watch his feet: Normal–his torso points toward us, but his feet angle the way he’d been walking. Aggressive–he faces us dead-on, with one foot behind the other–a fighter’s stance. (Source: “What everybody is saying” author Joe Navarro)

A BETTER BEDTIME. Let’s resolve to help our kid clock more quality snooze time. It could benefit our child’s mood in a big way: In a recent Columbia University Medical Center study, teenagers whose parents let them stay up until midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to be depressed and 20 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts than kids who hit the sack at 10 P.M. or earlier.

RECYCLING. Let’s look for the arrows by choosing recycled when it comes to fruit and vegetable packaging. Many supermarkets are catching on now–they’re starting to realize that the consumer wishes to reduce their stacks of garbage, and are offering recycled and recyclable packaging. Let’s look for the universally recognized recycle symbol.

D IS FOR DIET. Vitamin D supplements may be the newest weight-loss pills. When University of Minnesota researchers measured blood levels of the sunshine vitamin in 38 overweight people, they found that when the subject went on a low-calorie diet, those with higher levels of vitamin D lost more weight than those with lower levels.

In the can, let’s always recycle food and drink cans. Recycling aluminum requires only 5 percent of the energy it takes to process the original from the earth’s crust. One-third of aluminum is currently reused, but it should be more.

(PG 13) Women say that the part of a man’s body that they admire the most is his buttocks.

ANTHROPOMIMETIC MACHINES. No matter how closely a robot resembles a human on the outside, if we crack it open, the jumble of wires is unlikely to bear much resemblance to our insides. A group of European researchers aims to bridge that gap–its robot prototype is anthropomimetic, meaning it mimics the human form.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)