What in the world is going on with the world?

Just this weekend alone, a series of shocking news of mass shootings and a family murder assaulted our equanimity and made us pause our holiday spirit.

In our homeland, the exposés of unmitigated greed and growing tensions in our seas continue unabated.

This week, the shootings, assaults and the mudflow of hate continue (fanned unfortunately by people in the news who should know better), putting a damper on what should have been a season of peace, goodwill and all the good things that the holidays used to bring.

We thought the parade of deaths that we mourned during the pandemic has toughened us from grieving over the deaths of people we don't personally know.

We expected that the almost daily outrage we felt from the beginning of this year has numbed us into just letting things go, with nary a care.

How wrong we are, and fortunately so. The recent shockers have brought our sensibilities back to where it should be: caring, angry (but productively) and unaccepting of current-day maladies like bigotry, lies, crassness and mental breakdowns. So let's not waste this period of clarity.

Be careful out there but be vigilant against falling (back) into the abyss of hatred and indifference.

This Week’s Stories

Teacher Gigi Can Make You Love Math by Claire Mercado-Obias

Stephanie Syjuco’s Wall of Hidden Histories by AJ Fox

Behind the documentary ‘The Road to Sydney’ by Esther M. Chavez

[Read It Again]

Holiday Dishes with Ilocano Flavors by Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Delicious Dishes for Your Christmas Table

[Video of the Week] The Forgotten Cebuano Recipes

In The Know

‘They attacked my religion, my faith’: Muslim photojournalist detained by ICE speaks out
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/12/photojournalist-detained-ice-social-media

Can Jollibee Beat American Fast Food at Its Own Game?
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/jollibee-fried-chicken-american-fast-food/684949/?utm_source=apple_news