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Few losers accept defeat

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As if our troubles were not enough worrying about this newly discovered virus that China has gifted the world, we also cannot help worrying about the very strange turns in our climate. Has it always been like this? Seems I can’t remember times when the weeks before Christmas showed very unpredictable weather. You wake up one morning to very bright sunlight, that soon gives way to sudden clouds and rain.

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I used to wonder why there was this popular phrase about being “unpredictable as the weather”. Now I find it to be true, but before, it used to be applied to those who change their minds very often, puzzling even those who are nearest and dearest to them. But in our province and our city, we have much to be thankful for, because, unlike some provinces in Luzon, we have been spared the typhoons and floods that have brought death and destruction to so many.

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One cannot help wondering what kind of weather we will have on Christmas Day. I hope and pray that the Good Lord will bless us with a good one on His birthday. One of the joys of the season is the opportunity to attend the midnight mass that is very solemn, with people showing their Christmas spirit by greeting even those they do not know with “Merry Christmas”! I remember a priest, I think he was a Jesuit, who was our retreat master in LCC. He said he does not favor the idea or saying “Merry Christmas”, and that it should instead be “Have a Blessed Christmas”!

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I guess it is too late now to change the practice. Although they say it in different languages, people all over the world say that in their own. I have noticed that even those who are not Christians, say it, too. I guess,  however that they do not say it with the same spirit as the latter. To such folks, it is a plain “holiday”, not a  “Holy Day”. Anyway, we should be glad that it is a season of goodwill, no matter what one’s beliefs are.

***

This is the tenth month that I have been out of the STAR office. Maybe I am the originator of the work-from-home syndrome. Now my main source of news is the TV, and what the Star staff have earnestly and faithfully gathered, so our community can go on getting their news and dissect the comments on our opinion page. I am so thankful that the Good Lord has given us such loyal and talented people, so devoted to their craft to keep your DAILY STAR shining, despite the clouds of uncertainty. Would you believe that your DAILY STAR is  entering its 39th year? Someone up there must be watching us and inspiring us, and this Christmas, we will offer our heartfelt thanks for this privilege!

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It is true that the COVID vaccine will be available in the Philippines the early months of 2021? That is good news, but who will supply us with it? China? Of course that is where it came from – the COVID, I mean – but have we proof that it really works? Our Health officials themselves should be the guinea pigs for it. Let us see if they will agree. If that vaccine works internationally, then we can claim that modern medicine has managed to stop another killer in its tracks.

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Oh, I cannot stop thanking Edouard Garcia for agreeing to write his very popular column in the DAILY STAR again! If there is any good at all that the COVID quarantine has brought, it has kept dear Edouard home for the longest time since he moved to Paris. Well. Paris’ loss is Bacolod’s gain, because nobody can write with such savoire faire as Edouard! Now correct me is my attempt at French is clumsy, but only between us, please, Edouard, dear.

***

I am sure Americans were touched to hear their President-elect Joe Biden say that what he wants is for his country  to be united. Indeed, what does its name stand for, but Unity? Note that their forbears chose to name it the UNITED States of America. Politics may have divided it, but a strong leadership without partisanship can easily attain that. But will Donald Trump agree? Is he still ranting about having been cheated? But that is not surprising. Few losers accept defeat.*

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