Illusion to Waking Dream

Portugal Car Accident

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:11:47 -0400

Fact or Fiction?

The Spirit of the Glass

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:57:09 -0400

By Gianna Maniego

“Ayoko. I don’t want to play, I’m scared!” Maita protested.

Maita was not usually a scaredy-cat, but what her bestfriend was suggesting was just too dangerous, in her opinion.

Camilla wanted Maita to join som egirls in class who were playing with the Ouija board that Steph brought to school that day.

It was early December, and the whole school was preparing for the Christmas pageant. Some were in the choir, some were acting as Angels and Shepers. Regular classes were suspended and the whole week was devoted to rehearsals.

The only ones left in the classrooms were thos who weren’t included in the pageant. They were assigned to decorate the classrooms for the Christmas decorating contest.

Maita and her classmates were in Room 36, the honors section. As usual, their resident artist had everything planned ahead of time, so there was nothing left to do but string up the rainbow-colored lights.

Bored, some of the girls began bringing games to school. Someone brought playing cards; others brought a chess set. The braver ones brought GameBoys. Those were not allowed, but since the teachers were also busy with the pageant, Maita’s classmates got away with it.

Pretty soon the classroom turned ito recreation center, with groups of students playing in various corners of the room.

The most popular game at the moment was the Ouija Board.

About 10 girls had gathered around the rectangular-shaped board which was painted with the alphabet, numbers, the moon and several stars. In the middle of the board were two circles. Inside one circle was the word YES, and in the other, was the word NO.

The girls were listening in hushed silence to Steph, who was explaining the rules of the game.

It’s like Spirit of the Glass. You ask a spirit to join you and then ask it questions, like ” ‘When I will get Married’ or ‘will I finish school?’, stuff like those. Tapos hintayin mo yung sagot ng spirit (Then wait for the spirit’s answer),” she said.

”Paano sila sasagot? (How will they answer?)” Celine asked skeptically.

“Pag Yes, pupunta yung glass dun sa bilog na may nakasulat na YES, pag NO dun sa kabila. Pag hindi masasagot ng YES or NO, ii-spell out nung glass yung sagot. My Ate once called the spirit of Jose Rizal. He was a lot of fun, he kept speaking in Spanish, so nobody understood most of what he said,” Steph told her enthralled audience.

”Ibig mong sabihin, the spirits get inside the heart-shaped thingy and play the game with you? Hindi ako naniniwala! I don’t believe in ghosts… or spirits!” said Arlene, one of the prettiest girls in class.

to be continued……

Dominus. Dominus. Be Gone.

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:26:45 -0400

By Sir_Bouleville

Every year our clan spends time with our departed at the cemetery from afternoon of October 31 to the morning of November 1. It has become a tradition of sorts. Most you might ask, “Why would psychics go to a cemetery, or worse, spend the whole night at one?” Well, we deal with the unknown all year long so what’s a night at a cemetery?

One of my cousins, Erwin, who has yet to master his skills, had an idea night back in 2001. He had made an Ouija Board and asked us if we could like to try it in a far corner of the cemetery. “Huwag kayong mag-alala. Hindi alam nina tita,” he said in a reassuring voice.

”Alam mo ba kung anong araw ngayon? Eh kung masapian ka? Monopoly na lang,” I told him and looked around to see if anyone else is listening.

He got mad and whispered, “Kung ayaw mo eh di huwag.” He and two of our cousins went to the darker part of the cemetery.

Concerned, I asked my mon if she knew where they were headed. “Bibili lang yata ng makakain,” she told me.

I began to fear for my cousins, because if anything were to happen, nobody would know until it was too late. I took a rosary and wrapped it around my left hand. Holding a bible in my right, I followed them from a safe distance.

I saw them throw away the Ouija Board. This partially shocked me, prompting me to hide behind a tree to see what they were really up to.

It was three minutes past midnight when my cousins performed an incantation. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, I saw a crowd of entities appear one by one and encircle my cousins. I felt my heart jump and cold sweat run down my face. I did not know what to do. Beatrice, one of my cousins, screamed. Erwin was already flat on the ground.

With my eyes closed, I ran towards them. Bad idea. Even with my eyes closed, I could see the entities in my mind and they were turning to look at me. I felt myself being choked and I could barely keep myself aware of the surroundings. I was slapped, kicked and even punched by the entities. They were not hitting me physically, yet it hurt real bad.

I got to my cousins and I asked what incantation they did. Beatrice could barely control her crying as Noel, our other cousin, answered my query. “Mag-dasal tayo,” I told them. I checked Erwin, who was unconscious. As we prayed the Our Father, the entities around us giggled while the others mocked us repeating what we were praying. Chills ran down my spine while Erwin began to cry and blood ran down his cheeks. We continued to pray and the entities continued to mock us. This was hopeless, I said to myself.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, someone hugged me from behind. I was about the shout out when I saw the arms around me - they were slender and their caress made me feel at ease, something I sorely needed at that moment. Big white wings covered me and I turned to look who it was. I was one of my guardians, smiling and winking at me. I felt her face next to my ear and she told me to say, “Dominus. Dominus. Be Gone.” I uttered those words and then it was over.

Erwin woke up and asked what had happened. If it was not a travesty I would have slapped him with the Bible over and over.

”Sira ulo ka! Mintik ka na nu’n!” I scolded him. Asw we made our way back, I continued my sermon. I hope my cousins learned their lessons.

this is the property of PSICOM PUBLISHING

Top 10 Evil Scientists in History

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:33:57 -0500

Throughout time, scientist of one school or another have contributed great innovations to the world of medicine, alchemy, chemistry, physics, and more. Most of these gifts have been exceedingly useful and set the stage for even greater advances in the field. However, the coin has another side… a far more sinister and selfish side that somehow twists the very minds of the scientists making them want to do more harm than help. Granted, said scientific minds often believe that the evils that they are ultimately performing are doing good, and this is what truly makes these individuals mad. Here are ten of the most diabolical scientific minds in history.

10 Paracelsus 1493-1541

Switzerland, Paracelsus’ contributions to toxicology were based heavily in astrology and he is quite well known for offering the community a wide array of useful ideas and innovations. However, for all of his use, he also thought he might be able to create homunculi, or small humans, who stood no more than a foot or so hight and performed actions very similar to Golems. His are said to have run away after turning on their master. The homunculus creation used bits of people including semen and hair.

9 Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer 1904-1967

Heading up the Manhattan Project, the very group responsible for the creation and use of the atomic bomb, Dr. Oppenheimer was a brilliant nuclear physicist. Oppenheimer said he was “a member of just about every Communist Front organization on the West Coast,” a subscriber to the People’s World, a Communist Party organ, and, he testified, “I was associated with the Communist movement.” He claimed to be horrified by the result of the project’s work. A co-worker, Victor Weisskopf said:

Quote:”He did not direct from the head office. He was intellectually and even physically present at each decisive step. He was present in the laboratory or in the seminar rooms, when a new effect was measured, when a new idea was conceived. It was not that he contributed so many ideas or suggestions; he did so sometimes, but his main influence came from something else. It was his continuous and intense presence, which produced a sense of direct participation in all of us; it created that unique atmosphere of enthusiasm and challenge that pervaded the place throughout its time.”

8 Alfred Nobel 1833-1897

Discovering the use of nitroglycerine in his invention of dynamite, Nobel gave the world its first mass-produced use of deadly explosives. Killing first his own brother Emil and several others in a factory accident, the future death toll from his creation will number in the hundreds of thousands. Eventually he used his significant earned wealth to fund the yearly Nobel Prize to distract people from his invention, after reading his own obituary (mistakenly printed as he was not actually dead) which called him the “Merchant of Death”.

7 Trofim Lysenko

While his experiments did not result in mass deaths, Lysenko needs to be on this list for his utter dishonesty in the field of Science that ultimately set the Soviet Union back decades in research. Lysenko was director of the Institute of Genetics and specialized in agricultural research. Lysenko’s habit was to report only successes. His results were based on extremely small samples, inaccurate records, and the almost total absence of control groups. There can be no doubt that there has never been such an abuse of the name of science as that of Lysenko. Here is a quote:

Quote:“In order to obtain a certain result, You must want to obtain precisely that result; if you want to obtain a certain result, you will obtain it …. I need only such people as will obtain the results I need.” Lysenko

6 Dr. Jack Kevorkian 1928

Kevorkian is most noted for publicly championing a terminal patient’s right to die via physician-assisted suicide and claims to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. Imprisoned in 1999, he served eight years out of his 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder in the 1998 poisoning of Thomas Youk, 52, of Oakland County, Michigan. The judge that convicted him said:

Quote:“You were on bond to another judge when you committed this offense, you were not licensed to practice medicine when you committed this offense and you hadn’t been licensed for eight years. And you had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did and dare the legal system to stop you. Well, sir, consider yourself stopped.”

Regardless of your views on euthanasia, the fact remains that Kevorkian swore an oath to save lives, not to take them.

5 Members of the Tuskegee Study

For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men (mostly impoverished and poorly educated share-croppers) in the late stages of syphilis. The essence was to gather data on the course of the disease when left untreated. The researchers understood from the outset that test subjects would provide most of their useful information in the form of autopsies, so great pains were taken to insure that subjects didn’t obtain medical care elsewhere. The program came to an abrupt halt in 1972 when its existence was made public by the Washington Star. It would be easy to dismiss this as a case of simple racism by a public institution, but that is not the case: The project was enthusiastically hosted by the Tuskeegee Institute, a historically black college, and many key researchers and staff on the project were, themselves, black.

4 Johann Konrad Dippel 1673-1734

Dippel was born at Castle Frankenstein and is rumored to be the inspiration for Shelley’s vile doctor. This is disputable, but what isn’t is the fact that this brilliant doctor performed vivisections on many recipients. Working with nitroglycerin he destroyed a tower, but also detected the medicinal use of it. It is rumored that he also preformed gruesome experiments within this tower with so called “cadavers”. Though the actual details of the experiments have never been truly confirmed it is rumored that he attempted to transfer the soul of one cadaver into another. Interestingly, his greatest contribution to the world was his animal oil (Dippel’s oil: a nitrogenous by-product of the destructive distillation manufacture of bone char) commonly known as a base product in Prussian blue - the low cost blue dye that is used to this day by artists; previously, blue dies were extremely expensive to create.

3 Dr. Sigmund Rascher 1909-1945

Rascher was a despicable scientist during the Nazi use of concentration camps during WWII. Rascher’s infamous medical experiments at the Dachau concentration camp included hypothermia research in which three hundred test subjects were used against their will (one third of them perished), in high-altitude, malaria and medication experiments. At Dachau, Rascher also developed the standard cyanide capsules, which could be easily bitten through, either deliberately or accidentally. Ironically, this became the means by which Himmler (Rascher’s friend) committed suicide.

2 Dr. Joseph Mengele 1911-1979

Mengele gained notoriety chiefly for being one of the SS physicians who supervised the selection of arriving transports of prisoners, determining who was to be killed and who was to become a forced laborer, and for performing human experiments on camp inmates, amongst whom Mengele was known as the Angel of Death. On several occasions he killed subjects simply to be able to dissect them afterwards.

1 Shirō Ishii 1892-1959

Ishii was a microbiologist and the lieutenant general of Unit 731, a biological warfare unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was born in the former Shibayama Village of Sanbu District in Chiba Prefecture, and studied medicine at Kyoto Imperial University. In 1932, he began his preliminary experiments in biological warfare as a secret project for the Japanese military. In 1936, Unit 731 was formed. Ishii built a huge compound — more than 150 buildings over six square kilometers — outside the city of Harbin, China.

Some of the numerous atrocities committed by Ishii and others under his command in Unit 731 include: vivisection of living people (including pregnant women who were impregnated by the doctors), prisoners had limbs amputated and reattached to other parts of their body, some prisoners had parts of their bodies frozen and thawed to study the resulting untreated gangrene. Humans were also used as living test cases for grenades and flame throwers. Prisoners were injected with inoculations of disease, disguised as vaccinations, to study their effects. To study the effects of untreated venereal diseases, male and female prisoners were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea via rape, then studied. A complete list of these horrors can be found here.

Code:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

Having been granted immunity by the American Occupation Authorities at the end of the war, Ishii never spent any time in jail for his crimes and died at the age of 67 of throat cancer

Top 10 Most Incredible Historical Death Photographs (Pulitzer Prize Winners)

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:26:45 -0500

This is a selection of photographs of some of the most important or famous historical events that have occurred since photography was invented. Most of the photographs have also won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

10 Southern Sudan

Kevin Carter took this photograph in southern Sudan. The picture would later bring him the Pulitzer prize, but also death. The image shows a vulture waiting for a child to starve to death. This horrific sight affected the photographer so deeply that he committed suicide after winning the Pulitzer Prize.

9 Volcano Victim

Omayra Sánchez was 13 years old when the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted. She was trapped in the remains of her house for three days in water up to her neck. Photor-reporter Frank Fournier got this picture a few hours before her death. The Red Cross alerted the local authorities, but they could not get there in time and Omayra died of hypothermia.

8 9/11

American photograph Richard Drew captured this image during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. He managed to photograph a man who, in panic, jumped from the upper floors of the building.

7 Soldier’s Despair

In the photo, American sergeant, just found his best friend in the body-bag beside him. He was killed during the Gulf War. The picture was taken by David Turnley, but shortly after it’s appearance it was restricted by the Pentagon.

6 Soweto Riots

A photo that managed to draw the attention of the world shows Hector Peterson, age 13, as he dies in the arms of Mbuyisa Makhubo, after he was shot by a police officer on June 16, 1976, during the Soweto riot in South Africa. Picture taken by Sam Nzima.

5 The Lynching Of Young Blacks

This photograph was taken after the lynching of two young black men accused of raping a white girl. They were hanged by a mob of 10,000. The faces of the crowd are very telling. A third man was saved by the girls uncle who said he was innocent.

4 The last Jew In Vinnitsa

This was found in the personal album of an Einsatzgruppen soldier. It was labelled on the back “The last Jew of Vinnitsa”. All 28,000 of the Jews living there were killed at the time.

3 Execution Of A Viet Cong Guerilla

Photographer Eddie Adams took this photograph of Nguyen Ngoc Loan, South Vietnam’s national police chief executing this Viet Cong captain. Adams later said that he regretted that the world did not see Loan as a hero for his actions in Vietnam.

2 The Body Of Che Guevara

After capturing and killing Guevara (Marxist revolutionary), the Bolivian army showed this photograph to prove that he was dead. His death dealt a death blow to the socialist revolutionary movement in Latin America and the Third World.

1 A Monk’s Sacrifice

Thích Quảng Ðức, a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on June 11, 1963. He was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam’s Ngô Đình Diệm administration. Journalist Malcolm Browne took the photograph of Thích Quảng Ðức during his self-immolation and it won the 1963 World Press Photo of the Year.

Ghost Ship: The Ourang Medan

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:20:45 -0500

In February 1948, distress calls were picked up by numerous ships near Indonesia from the Dutch freighter SS Ourang Medan. The chilling message was, “All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead.” This message was followed by indecipherable Morse code then one final grisly message… “I die.”

When the first rescue vessel arrived on the scene a few hours later, they tried to hail the Ourang Medan but there was no response to their hand and whistle signals. A boarding party was sent to the ship and what they found was a frightening sight that has made the Ourang Medan one of the strangest and scariest ghost ship stories of all time. All the crew and officers of the Ourang Medan were dead, their eyes open, faces looking towards the sun, arms outstretched and a look of terror on their faces. Even the ship’s dog was dead, found snarling at some unseen enemy. When nearing the bodies in the boiler room, the rescue crew felt a chill though the temperature was near 110°F.

The decision was made to tow the ship back to port but before they could get underway, smoke began rolling up from the hull. The rescue crew left the ship and barely had time to cut the tow lines before the Ourang Medan exploded and sank.

To this day, the exact fate of the Ourang Medan and her crew remain a mystery. Some say that pirates killed the crew and sabotaged the ship, others claim that she was transporting an illicit cargo of chemicals such as potassium cyanide and nitroglycerine (both of which become dangerous when combined with sea water). The condition of the bodies found aboard and haunting distress call, however, has led to more rampant speculation involving aliens, conspiracies, and even ghosts.

What really happened to the Ourang Medan? The only ones who know for sure rest at the dark bottom of the mysterious and unforgiving sea.

Top 10 Modern Methods of Execution

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:15:04 -0500

We have all heard about the various methods of execution used around the world in civilized nations, but quite often we don’t know the methods involved in executing the act. With this list I hope to shed some light on the background of an execution, modern style. All but two of these methods of execution are still in use today. [WARNING: This list includes graphic images.]

Lethal Injection

In the short time before an execution by lethal injection, the prisoner is prepared for his death. This can include a change of clothing, a last meal, and a shower. The prisoner is taken to the execution chamber and two IV tubes are inserted in to his arms; a saline solution is fed through the tubes. These tubes are then fed through the wall in to an anteroom from where the execution will be carried out. The anteroom contains direct telephone connections to officials who have the power to stay the execution. Once the IV tubes are connected, the curtains are drawn back so that witnesses may watch the execution, and the prisoner is allowed to make his last statement.

Unless a stay is given, the execution begins. There can be one or more executioners, and sometimes in the case of multiple executioners, the lethal dose is given by only one so that no one knows who delivered it. The executioners are shielded from the view of the prisoner and witnesses. The drugs can be delivered by a machine, but due to the fear of mechanical failure, most US states prefer to manually inject the drugs in to the IV. The drugs are then administered in the following order:

Saline solution is used to flush the IV between each dose. Within a minute of two after the final dose is given, a doctor declares the prisoner dead. The body is then sent to the coroner for verification and sometimes an autopsy and is released to the family for burial or is buried by the state.

The Electric Chair

The electric chair was invented by Harold P. Brown who was employed by Thomas Edison for the sole purpose of investigating the uses of electricity for execution. Brown, a dentist used to working with people in chairs, used a chair design for his device. At the time there was still competition to see whether Edison’s direct current (DC) or Westinghouse’s alternating current (AC) would win the current war. Edison was in favor of using his opponents AC as he thought it would lead people to believe that AC was more dangerous than DC. In fact, it would make little difference which current were used at the voltage needed for an execution. Edison was so keen to alienate Westinghouse, that he tried to get people to refer to execution by electrocution as “westinghousing” someone. The chair was first adopted in 1889 and the first execution took place in 1890 in New York.

In execution by electric chair, the prisoner is strapped to the chair with metal straps and a wet sponge is placed in his head to aid conductivity. Electrodes are placed on the head and leg to create a closed circuit. Depending on the physical state of the prisoner, two currents of varying level and duration are applied. This is generally 2,000 volts for 15 seconds for the first current to cause unconsciousness and to stop the heart. The second current is usually lowered to 8 amps. The current will normally cause severe damage to internal organs and the body can heat up to 138 °F (59 °C). While unconsciousness should occur within the first second or two, there have been occasions where it has taken much longer, leading people to speak out against this method of execution.

The post-execution cleanup is an unpleasant task as skin can melt to the electrodes and the person often loses control over bodily functions. The skin is also often burnt. The last use of the chair was on the 12th of September in Tennessee (6 days ago as of writing this)

Gas Chamber

The gas chamber has been used for executions for a considerable number of years. It has gained the most notoriety from its use in the German prison camps during World War II where it was used to exterminate millions of people in one of the worst cases of genocide in the 20th century. All of the five US states that still use the gas chamber allow the prisoner to choose death by lethal injection instead. The last death by gas chamber in the US was in 1999 when German Walter LaGrand was executed in Arizona. There are unconfirmed reports that North Korea is using the gas chamber as a method of execution and to test poisonous gasses on prisoners.

Prior to the execution, the executioner will enter the chamber and place potassium cyanide (KCN) pellets into a small compartment beneath the execution chair. The prisoner is then brought in and secured to the chair. The chamber is sealed and the executioner pours a quantity of concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) through a tube which leads to a holding compartment in the chair. The curtains are drawn back for witnesses to see the execution and the prisoner is asked to make his last statement. After the last statement, a level is thrown by the executioner and the acid mixes with the cyanide pellets generating lethal hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas. The prisoners will generally have been told to take deep breaths in order to speed up unconsciousness, but in most cases they hold their breath. Death from hydrogen cyanide is painful and unpleasant.

After the prisoner is dead, the chamber is purged of gas and neutralized with anhydrous ammonia (NH3). Both the ammonia and the acid that must be removed from the chamber are highly dangerous. Guards with oxygen masks then enter the chamber and remove the body so that it can be examined by a doctor.

Single Person Shooting

Execution by shooting is the most common method of execution in the world, used in over 70 countries. Whilst most of these countries use the firing squad, single person shooting is still found. In Soviet Russia, a single bullet to the back of the head was the most frequently used method of execution for military and non-military alike. This is still the main method of execution in Communist China though the gunshot can be to either the neck or head. In the past, the Chinese government would ask the family of the executed person to pay the price of the bullet. In Taiwan, the prisoner is first injected with a strong anesthetic to render him senseless and then a bullet is fired in to his heart.

Firing Squad

All being ready the Marshal waved his handkerchief as the signal, and the firing party discharged the volley. Johnson did not move, remaining in a sitting posture for several seconds after the rifles were discharged. Then he quivered a little, and fell over beside his coffin. He was still alive, however, and the four reserves were called to complete the work. It was found that two of the firing party, Germans, had not discharged their pieces, and they were immediately put in irons. Johnson was shot several times in the heart by the first volley. Each of the four shots fired by the reserves took effect in his head, and he died instantly. One penetrated his chin, another his left cheek, while two entered the brain just above the left eyebrow. He died at precisely a quarter to four o’clock.

In the United States only two states allow execution by firing squad: Idaho, and Oklahoma; though Utah still has four prisoners on death row who were sentenced when it was lawful there and they may be permitted to be executed in this way.

Hanging

Hanging is carried out in a variety of ways: the short drop is when the prisoner is made to stand on an object which is then thrust away - leaving them to die by strangulation. This was a common method of hanging used by the Nazis and was the most common form used before the 1850s. Death is slow and painful. Suspension hanging (very popular in Iran) is when the gallows itself is movable. The prisoner stands on the ground with the noose around their neck and the gallows is then lifted in to the air, taking the prisoner with it. The standard drop was in common use in English nations after the 1850s - it involved tying the noose around the prisoner’s neck and then dropping them a short distance (usually 4-6 feet) to break the neck. This was the method used to execute the Nazi war criminals. The final method is the long drop, devised in 1872 in which the weight of a person was taken in to account to determine the correct rope and drop to be used to ensure the breaking of the neck. This was the method used by Albert Pierrepoint, the last executioner of England, described here in more detail:

The night before the execution, Pierrepoint would visit the condemned man in his cell with the Warden. The prisoner was not told that pierrepoint was his executioner. The purpose of the visit was to size the man up. Pierrepoint would use the information he had gained on the visit to decide what thickness of rope and what length of drop to use. He would soak the rope in water and would hang a sandbag the weight of the prisoner at the end to prevent stretching during the execution. The next day pierrepoint would put a cloth over the face of the prisoner and tighten the noose around his neck. He was very careful to ensure that the trapdoor beneath the condemned would be opened as soon after the noose went on as possible and would often kick the level with his foot. The person would then drop through the trapdoor and their neck would break, causing death.

There have been some instances where the long drop method has caused decapitation - the most recent of which was the hanging of Saddam Hussein’s half brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, in Iraq in 2007.

Beheading

In some nations that adhere to Islamic Sharia law, beheadings are still a commonly used method of execution. The most frequently seen cases involve beheading by a curved, single-edged sword. While many nations allow beheading by law, Saudi Arabia is the country that uses it most often. The sentence is normally carried out on a Friday night in public outside the main mosque of the city after prayers. The penalty can be dealt for rape, murder, drug related crimes, and apostasy (rejection of religious beliefs).

Saudi Arabia frequently comes under fire from international agencies because of the fact that they continue to pass this sentence on minors. Saudi Arabian officials state that they are not in breach of international law because the sentence is not carried out until the child has reached the age of 18. This was the case with Dhahian Rakan al-Sibai’i (pictured above) who was sentenced at 15 but executed this year at the age of 18.

Contrary to popular belief, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin did not invent the Guillotine; he suggested that a method of execution be devised that was quick and to be used on all people regardless of class. He sat on the committee that eventually designed the device, but it was actually Antoine Louis who came up with the design that was then used to build the first functioning guillotine. This is one of the two execution methods on this list which is no longer used anywhere in the world.

The device itself is a large timber frame with a space at the bottom for the neck of the prisoner. At the top of the machine is a large angled blade. Once the prisoner is secured, the blade is dropped, severing the head and bringing about immediate death. Much speculation exists as to whether or not the person dies immediately, and one man went so far as to ask a prisoner to blink after his head was cut off if he could. The accounts tell us that he did blink, but it is most likely that if he did, it would have been a post-death twitch.

The last public guillotining in France (photo above) was secretly filmed, and the scandalous behavior of the onlookers caused the government to ban public executions. It was the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was outlawed in 1981.

Stoning

Stoning to death is when a person’s movements are restricted and an organized group throws stones at them until dead. Under Islamic Sharia law, stoning is an acceptable method of execution and it is used in many Islamic nations. In Iran, stoning is sanctioned for adultery and other crimes. Article 104 of the Law of Hodoud provides that the stones should not be so large that a person dies after being hit with two of them, nor so small as to be defined as pebbles, but must cause severe injury.

“The penalty for adultery under Article 83 of the penal code, called the Law of Hodoud is flogging (100 lashes of the whip) for unmarried male and female offenders. Married offenders may be punished by stoning regardless of their gender, but the method laid down for a man involves his burial up to his waist, and for a woman up to her neck (article 102). The law provides that if a person who is to be stoned manages to escape, he or she will be allowed to go free. Since it is easier for a man to escape, this discrimination literally becomes a matter of life and death.”

Sentences to death by stoning, or stoning without a sentence have occurred in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in recent years, according to the International Society of Human Rights. Videos of recent stonings have been smuggled out of Iran

Garrote

The garrote is the second method of execution on this list which is no longer sanctioned by law in any country though training in its use is still carried out in the French Foreign Legion. The garrote is a device that strangles a person to death (as in the photograph above). It can also be used to break a person’s neck. The device was used in Spain until it was outlawed in 1978 with the abolition of the death penalty. It normally consisted of a seat in which the prisoner was restrained while the executioner tightened a metal band around his neck until he died. Some versions of the garrote incorporated a metal bolt which pressed in to the spinal chord, breaking the neck. This spiked version is known as the Catalan garrote. The last execution by garrote was José Luis Cerveto in October 1977. Andorra was the last country in the world to outlaw its use, doing so in 1990.

sa pinas to

Top 10 Most Dangerous Places on Earth!

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:05:41 -0500

10. Russia

In this crime-ridden, ex-Soviet state, no longer does the government stuff their Armani suits with rubles, but the vandals and gangsters. The Russian mafia runs amuck, there are more gangsters than police, and a Russian is assassinated every 18 minutes, averaging 84 murders per day in a nation of 143 million. The nucleus of Russian crime is stationed in the Republic of Chechnya, a region within Russia just north of Georgia. Prostitution, drug trafficking, and underground restaurants are arbitrarily controlled by the Chechens. Foreigners are kidnapped more frequently due to the higher ransom allocated. Crimes towards include but are not limited to: pick pocketing wallets, cell phones, cameras, cash, and physical assaults. From superpower to Third World country, think tanks are beginning to speculate if communism really was the cure for Russia.

9 Brazil

For anyone traveling to Brazil, it is not a matter of whether you get mugged, it is a matter of when! Grinding poverty still lives alongside incredible wealth in a country that is riding a wave of economic growth. But with prosperity, rates of crime have also soared. Street crime is rampant in parts of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, and whilst many victims are left unharmed, having a broken bottle put to your throat for your bracelet is not pleasant. The incidences of “quicknappings” has risen in major cities. This involves being abducted and taken to an ATM to pay your ransom. If you can’t pay, thanks to mobile technology, your family is only a call away. Along with street crime, organized criminal groups have waged wars against police and public institutions that were unable to be bribed. Prison riots are brutally suppressed, drugs and narco-terrorism claim civilian casualties and if you survive all that - the piranhas are waiting.

8 South Africa

Any nation described as the ‘rape capital of the world’ should be one to take extra special care in. Although rape had shown a declining trend to 113.7 in 2004, it increased in 2005 to 118.3 per 100 000. Another damning statistic for South Africa is its appallingly high murder rate. The 2010 World Cup host is consistently in the Top 5 list of countries by homicide rate. Most crime is confined to poor areas but it hasn’t stopped gated communities springing up all over South Africa and armed guards protecting wealthy tourist groups. Farming in South Africa has become one of the most dangerous professions in the world. The murder rate for farmers is 313 per 100 000 - about 8 times the national average. And like anywhere, sex can be very dangerous in South Africa, where more than 10 million people are infected with HIV.

7 Burundi

This small, densely populated and poor nation has giant problems. A civil war between Hutus and Tutsis tore the nation apart between 1993 and 2006. A ceasefire was declared however most provisions have not been implemented. Mass murder and mayhem compete with environmental problems as the biggest headaches for the people of Burundi. The list of assassinated leaders is extensive, and control of the nation has changed hands numerous times in the last 50 years. Crimes committed by roaming gangs and armed children are risks for visitors. Muggings, carjackings and kidnappings await, so you are advised not to stop the car for souvenirs. Should you be injured or harmed while in Burundi, you may need to be well trained, as local clinics have almost no resources to assist you.

6 Antarctica

While murder, rape and robbery may not be a big problem in this part of the world, the hostile conditions are. Antarctica is home to some extreme weather conditions, with the mercury regularly dropping below -60 degrees Celsius (-100F) and winds tearing in at more than 100km/hr. If exposed to this weather for more than an hour, you will most certainly die. Antarctica has no hospitals, no food to forage and if you get lost, not a lot of hope. Stay with the tour groups. At least there is a McDonald’s at Scott Base if you manage to find it.

5 Afghanistan

This nation has for hundreds of years, been one of the worlds most strategically important and lusted after territories. However it remains one of the poorest, undeveloped and unstable. During the Soviet invasion, the Red Army planted more than 12 million landmines in Afghanistan. Hundreds of people are killed, shredded, and maimed each year due to these insidious devices. Following the Soviets came the Taliban, whose control meant women were banned from jobs and universities. In 2001, the United States overthrew the Taliban, but banditry, tribal rivalries and drug related violence has left the nation unstable. Suicide bombings are a constant threat, and nobody in Afghanistan is safe. The most lethal suicide attack occurred in Baghlan Province in November 2007, killing more than 70 people. Did I mention Afghanistan is also the worlds largest supplier of top grade hashish and opium?

4 Somalia

Somalia is a failed state known for its anarchy, corruption, lack of government, and starvation. Travelers are warned against entering Somalia, the self-proclaimed “independent Republic of Somaliland” or even sailing near the Horn Of Africa. Pirates patrol these waters armed with AK-47s and will seize craft and hold crews to ransom. Inter-clan fighting has claimed thousands of lives in the north of the country, while territorial control in the capital, Mogadishu is carved up between many clans and warlords. Ethiopia attacked Islamic troops in Somalia in late 2006, resulting in hundreds of casualties and the internal displacement of thousands. Heck, if this place is too much for the Marines, what chance do you stand? Make sure your insurance is fully up to date.

3 Sudan

Desperation, death and destruction are synonymous with Sudan. Terrorism is a mainstay of this nation, which has been controlled by Islamic military regimes since its independence. Some of the worlds most famous killers have earned their stripes in Sudan, finishing with degrees in car-bombing, rocket launching and genocide. Violence is rife in the Darfur region between government-backed militias, government troops and local insurgent groups. Sudan has been in open warfare with Chad partly due to the Darfur conflict. Since 2003, 230,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to eastern Chad from Darfur. More than two million have died during the 2 civil wars that spanned the last 50 years. Along with its bleak desert conditions, Sudan is one of the worst places on the planet.

2 Colombia

Kidnapping is the main worry in Colombia. There were 2338 kidnappings in Colombia in 1998. Of the victims, 138 were killed by their captors. Ranked Fourth in the world for murders with 69.98/100000 in 2006, the popular targets are mayors, with dozens of them being slain each year. And of course, who can forget cocaine? Colombia supplies 75% of the worlds supply and thanks to Pablo Escobar and the Cali Cartel, paramilitary groups have waged war on the government in a bloody conflict with no end in sight. Even those working in the name of charity are not excluded from the frenzy. In 2005, 5 Catholic missionaries were murdered, down from 9 in 1999. Colombia’s beautiful coast and rugged mountains should make it a tourist paradise, instead it is among the most feared destinations you can visit.

1 Iraq

It doesn’t matter whether you are George Bush, Pele or Chuck Norris - you are not safe in Iraq. Despite its rich history and its oil reserves, it is a ruined nation that is wracked with violence, despair and confusion. Since 2003, the United States has occupied Iraq which has led to a civil war claiming the lives of more than 650 000 civilians. Al-Qaeda, Sunni insurgents, Shiite security forces, Kurdish rebels, American soldiers, Turkish troops and criminals are involved in a cycle of violence that unfortunately, will not abate any time soon. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) and mines are a constant threat, as are suicide bombers who have slain hundreds. Kidnappings and random killings are reported with almost mind-numbing frequency. Since 2003, 2 million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries and another 1.9 million in Iraq remain internally displaced. Depleted uranium used as armor-piercing rounds will poison Iraqi civilians and US servicemen for decades. Truly, a hell on earth.

Human Parasites!

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:58:41 -0500

Human Parasites - Eye Worm
African eye worm
In your eye: Known as the African eye worm, or loa loa, this is a nematode that requires a male and female in the host for full infection to ensue, according to Stanford University. This parasite is transmitted by Chrysops fly bites. It’s endemic in the rainforests of West and Central Africa, but has also been diagnosed in tourists.

worst human parasites - tapeworm
Tapeworm
Also in your gut: The good old tapeworm. A parasite of many stories. Including how they’ve been used to help people lose weight. Snopes.com, an urban myth debunking site, lists the tapeworm diet pill story as “undetermined.” Either way, it’s a good idea to cook your meat thoroughly.

Pubic Lice
Pubic Lice
Nether regions: Pubic lice, AKA the crabs. These are small, six-legged creatures that infect the pubic hair area and lay eggs, according to Google Health. They can also be found in armpit hair and eyebrows (probably preferred compared to the alternative). Can be treated with a prescription wash. Resist the urge to use fire.

Tongue Parasite
Rhinosporidiosis
In your mouth: This is a particularly disturbing one called Rhinosporidiosis. Once considered a fungus. Now considered a parasite. The disgusting factor hasn’t changed. Drinking contaminated water is a likely source of infection.

Hookworm
Hookworm
From the big screen: The hookworm, which lives and dies in your small intestine and feeds on your blood. You can become infected by walking barefoot or swallowing contaminated soil. This one looks a lot like the creature from “Tremors,” with Kevin Bacon.

YucKs!!

kawawa naman yung bata!

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:55:14 -0500

kawawa naman yung bata!

Our 100 Year Old House

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:24:00 -0500

If you have read my other stories please read this one as well.

Sa Maniwala kayo at sa hindi totoo talaga itong storyang ito. Para mag-umpisa, pabayaan niyo akong mag-kwento ng kaunting impormasyon tungkol sa bahay namin. Sa alam namin, nasa ilalim pa ng Spain ang pilipinas noon, 333 taon na katanda ang bahay namin. Ang bahay namin ay ginawa noong 1800’s. Lahat yun ay gawa sa kahoy, tumitindig parin hanggang ngayon, paniwalaan niyo ako talagang matibay ang mga kahoy na yun hanggang ngayon hindi parin nasisira.

Doon ako sa bahay na yun pinanganak at pinalaki, kaya ganun marami akong make-kwento sa inyo na nakakatakot. Ang bahay namin ay may dalawang kwarto at isang hagdanan na laging dun tumatanggap ng bisita.

Nag-aaral ako nun sa taas. 7-8 taong gulang pa lamang ako nun. 4pm na nun nagbabasa ako ng libro imbis na maki-laro sa mga bata. At dahil diyan nasa TOP ako sa klase. Maglaro kasama ng ibang bata ay hindi ko hilig. Balik sa aking Storya, nagbabasa ako ng libro nun may nakita akong Babae na mahaba ang buhok at naka-puti na lumulutang sa hagdanan. Alam ko na hindi ako inaantok dahil ilang oras na ako gising. Syempre bata, makakita ng Lumulutang, syempre matatakot ako. Nagulat ako at hindi makagalaw. Ilang segundo lamang sumigaw ako sa kataas-taasan ng baga ko para tawagin ang Nanay ko. Nagmadali ang Nanay ko at tinanong kung anong nangyari. Umiiyak ako ng sinabi ko sa kanya na may nakita akong White Lady na lumulutang paakyat sakin. Sabi ng Nanay ko tahan na at titigil na ang lahat. Bilang bata, tumahan nga ako, pero hindi ko maalis ang mga ganung bagay. Simula nun nag-iingat na ako sa mga hindi nakikita.

May isang pangyayari na naliligo ako nun tapos naramdaman kong dumaan ang kuya ko kaya tinawag ko pero walang sinabi. Kinalaunan naalala ko na out of town pala ang mga kuya ko. Yung mga yun ay nakakapag-tayo ng mga aking balahibo. It happened most of the time until I got used to it.

Minsan, kung nasa sari-sariling kwarto na, sa kusina maririnig mo na gumagalaw yung mga gamit sa kusina na parang may party. Meron ding pangyayari na parang may umaakyat at bumababa sa hagdan. Alam namin na lalaki ito kasi ramdam ang bigay ng paa nito. Alam namin ito kasi kahoy nga ang bahay namin. Nung nasa last sem na ako sa Kolehiyo, hatinggabi na ako natatapos sa kagagawa ng aming Thesis. Ginagawa ko ang huling plate to wrap up out thesis ng napansin ko na may white lady na nakatayo sa tabi ko. Lumingon ako para walang makita. Binigyan ako nito ng kilabot. Hindi lang ako ang nakaka-ramdam nito pati mga kapatid ko din, lagi itong nangyayari kapag hinahatinggabi kami kaka-aral.

Years passed and we all finished college. My younger brother moved to a different location. I got married and got pregnant but unfortunately my first baby died of fetal distress. She got to live an hour and a half. We named her Danielle. That really depressed me. One afternoon, a few weeks after my daughter died, I cried myself to sleep. I don’t know if I’m dreaming or what but I saw my grandfather leaving my room with a little girl holding his hand. Thinking that it was a dream I

Bumalik sa pagkakatulog. Ang asawa ko ay ginising ako bandang 5 kung bakit daw pinabayaan kong naka-bukas ang pintuan, Sabi ko hindi ko ito ginawa tapos may naalala ako. Naiyak ako ng tinanong niya kung bakit. Sinabi ko sa kanya kung anong nangyari. Pagkatapos ng isang taon nasa Silid Kainan ako ng may nakita akong bata na naka-upo sa Stove, Hindi ko masabi kasi nakakita ako ng batang naka-upo sa stove winawagayway ang paa. Sabi ng Lola ko minsan ng mag-isa siya nakakarinig siya ng lakad. Hindi niya ito pinapansin. Nung nanganak ako ng pangalawa namin naririnig na lang namin na natutuwa ang anak namin na nakatingin sa wala.

Hanggang ngayon nakaka-ramdam parin kami ng ganun, tinatawag namin itong mabait o kahit anong tawag niyo. Ang pinaka-importante ay hindi nila kami sinaktan kahit nakitira kami sa kanila. Nanirahan kami dun sa 29 taon ng aking buhay. Hindi ko alam kung ang una kong naramdaman ay ginawa akong sensitive tungkol sa mga ganyang bagay. But all I know is that we are living with this “thing”.

Pure Evil

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:24:00 -0500

Itong susunod na kwentong ito ay ang pinaka-nakakatakot na naranasan ko sa buhay ko. Nangyari ito sa mga taon ng aking Kolehiyo. Kasama ko ang Pamilya at Kaibigan ko sa bakasyon. Ang Nanay ko at ang Ate ko ay kasama ang ma matatanda ng pumuta sila sa probinsya para magbakasyon. We would meet them half way to our grand parent’s house the next morning where we planned to visit the old folks.

Within the confines of my room, surrounded by religious icons, I felt safe. Nasa kwarto ako kasi ang mga Kaibigan ko ay nag-eenjoy sa Preskong hangin sa labas. Nakatayo sa taas ng bundok tumitingin sa gabing puno ng bituin ay tunay nakakalulo sayang lang kasi pagod ako at mas pinili kong magpahinga sa loob.

Nakaupo sa kama, ine-enjoy magbasa ng libro para kahit papano makalimutan ko ang mga problema sa school. Simula na ng makaramdam ako ng presensya papunta sa kwarto.

Hindi ko masabi kung ang nararamdaman kong enerhiya ay buhay o hindi. Sa umpisa pinabayaan ko lang ito at itinuloy ang pagbabasa ko ng libo. pagkatapos ng ilang minuto, nakarinig ako ng tumatawag sakin. It sounded like a soft caring voice. Pamilyar ang boses na ito sakin, kaso hindi ko malaman kung sino talaga ito. Alam ko na hindi talaga ito normal, tumatagos ang tunog ng boses niya sa bawat sulok ng kwarto. Naka-amoy din ako ng Sulfur sa hangin.

Kahit na mala-anghel ang boses, Naka-amoy ako ng sobrang malisyosong bagay. Nanginig ako at bumilis ang tibog ng puso ko. Naramdaman ko ang temperature ng kwarto bumababa ng bumababa. At may nagsabi “Kilala kita”. pagkatapos, sa garagal na boses sinabi nito ang apilyedo ko.

Ng marinig ko to, Nahulog ang librong binabasa ko. Pinikit ko ang mata ko, pinipilit kong kalimutan kung ano talaga ang nangyayari sakin. Inuulit-ulit kong sabihin sa aking isip ang katagang “As I walk to the valley in the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thy rod thy staff they comfort me”.

Inuulit ko ito ng ilang minuto ng nakikinig lang sa aking boses at kinalimutan ko ang ibang bagay maliban doon. Sa hindi malaman na dahilan, umiinit ng umiinit ang katawan ko. Nararamdaman ko na ang kamay ko ay nasusunog at may tumutunog sa tenga ko. Gumaan ang ulo ko at unti-unting lumalabo ang paningin ko. Nawala ako sa sarili ko at nanghina ako. Hindi ko na alam kahit ano ang taas at baba.

Naririnig ko itong tumatawa kaso nung tumagal parang unti-unting tumutunog sadista ito. Tunog halong babae at lalaki ito. Hindi ko ito mai-kumpara pero alam ko hindi ito multo. Sinubukan kong itanong anong kailangan nito pero ang malisyoso at makamatay na pakiramdam ay yun ang nangingibabaw. Nanigas ako sa takot.

Desperado akong subukan na alisin ang takot. Alam kong kapag hindi ko makontrol ang aking emosyon MAMAMATAY AKO SA KWARTONG TO. Ang palaisipang bumabanaig sa aking isip na bumabagabag sa aking konsentrasyon ay siyang natitira. Yun na lang ang pinanghahawakan ko. Naalala ko kung gaano ako ka-desperado nung gabing yun.

At dun nagsimula ang makulit na imahinasyon ko tungkol sa katatakutan. Tortures, murder, pagan worship, lahat ng ito ay nasa isip ko. Sinubukan kong alisin ito sa pag-iisip ng bagay. Naririnig ko ang paghalakhak at pagtawa nito.

Nakahiga ako sa kama ng parang walang pakiramdam. Alam ko na hindi ko ito mabubuwag kung pinanghahawakan ko ang takot ko na gawin ang alam kong dapat gawin. Alam ko na kailangan ko ng tulong ng Diyos.

Sa aking huling enerhiya at tapang, nagawa kong kunin ang Rosaryo sa bulsa ko at nagdasal. Hinawakan ko ito ng mahigpit. Ang kamay ko ay sobrang namamanhid na hindi ko maramdaman na hawak ko ang rosaryo. Nararamdaman ko na palipat-lipat ito ng likasyon. Ang bilis nito at hindi ko makuha ang tunay na lokasyon nito.

Nagdasal ako ng AMA NAMIN habang hinihigpitan ko ang hawak ko sa rosaryo. sa ilang sandali hindi ko siya naramdaman. Lumalakas nga ang boses ko subalit parang sumasabay lang ito sakin. It sounded like this entity is right near my ear whispering. Nakidasal ito sakin. Dahan-dahan kong pinalitan ang dasal ko sa Latin ng sandali ay sinabi kong PATER NOSTER - Our Lord’s Prayer in Latin. Tinuro ito sakin ng Lolo ko nung bata pa ako

Nung oras na ito naalala ko ang payo ng Pari na kaibigan ng Nanay ko. Sinabi niya sakin kapag nagkaroon ako ng problema na nasusubukan ang aking pananalig, isipin na nag-sakripisyo si Hesus para sa ating lahat. Na tiniis niya ang torture at pagpapako sa krus para maligtas ang kaluluwa natin. Na hindi niya tayo pababayaan na sa panahong lubos natin siyang kailangan.

Sa ilang saglit pinalitan ko naman ang dasal ko na Apostles Creed. Ito ang dasal na sinusubukan ang pananalig mo sa diyos. Buong puso akong nanalangin. Gusto kong malaman nito na kung saan ako matapat. Nanahimik ito. Naramdaman ko ang presensya nito na patuloy ng humihina. Unti-unti nang nawawala ang takot sakin. Dahan-dahan akong tumayo. Ramdam kong nanginginig ang Kamay at Tuhod ko. Dahan-dahan at sigurado kong binalik ang aking lakas. During this time I could sense the entity moving wildly in the room.

Pinabayaan ko itong humalakhak, ang tunog na ito ay nawalang bigla. Ang boses na yun ay nawala na sa wakas. Hindi ko na naramdaman ang mala-demonyong, malisyoso at makamatay na hamog na pinalibutan ang buong gabi ko. Nang oras na yun naramdaman kong tumutulo ang dugo ko galing sa aking kaliwang kamay. Hinawakan ko ng mahigpit at hindi ko naramdaman na bumaon na para ito sa aking palad.

Pumunta ako sa banyo para lagyan ng lunas ang sugat ko. Nakatingin ako sa salamin at napansin ko na parang may katabi akong itim na hugis tao. Ang pakiramdam ito ay laging naiisip ko sa mga oras na may naiisip akong nakakatakot. Sa kalmadong boses sinabi ko sa sarili ko na ayos lang ako at pinagpatuloy ko ang paglagay ko ng lunas sa sugat ko.

Pagkatapos ng nakakatakot na pangyayari, may narinig akong sigaw galing sa labas. Sigaw ng aking mga kaibigan at pinsan. Kinakabahan sila ng sinabi sakin na may nangyari sa kanilang nakakatakot. Isa sa mga kaibigan ko na may sugat. Tinanong nila sakin kung anung nangyari sakin at nagpalusot ako na nahiwa ko ang sarili ko ng binubuksan ko ang bote ng beer.

Napaupo sila at kinwento nila yung nangyari sa kanila nung nagsasaya sila, ng napagdesisyunan ng isa sa kanila na maglaro ng Oujia Board na ibang bersyon ng Spirit of the Glass. Alam ng isang kaibigan ko ang pang-umpisang ritwal kaya madali lang sa kanila at mabilis lang ang pag-umpisa.

Nakilala ko ito as CAleb. Sa umpisa ayos lang si CALEB. Nawala sa sarili si Caleb at nagsalita ng kung ano-ano. Ang kaibigan ko na gagawa ng pang-tapos na ritwal, sadyang malakas si Caleb. Nabasag ang baso at ang mga bubog nito ang nakapag-sugat sa isa kong kaibigan.

Sumisigaw sila ng kumuha sila ng Upuan para ihampas sa pinyo. Sinubukan nilang lumabas pero hindi nila magawa. Lahat ay biglang natahimik at nakalma. Pagkatapos ng saktong 45 minuto nakalabas na sila sa takot. Hindi na kailangang sabihin, nakatulog lang sila sa mga Upuan.

Ito na ang kakaibang bagay. Nang may nangyayari sakin, meron din palang nangyayari dun sa mga pinsan at kaibigan ko. Ang kaibigan ko na pasimuno ng Spirit of the Glass sinabi niya sakin na pagkatapos ng panimulang ritwal nag-amoy Sulfur daw dun. Ang amoy na kumalat sa kanilang experience habang may tumatawa at Naghahampas ng mga upuan..

Sinabi namin ito sa ibang mga kamag-anak namin, ngunit wala daw silang narinig na mga upuan na hinahampas sa ding-ding. Pero, pumunta kami sa kwartong yun na kung saan bakas parin ang nangyari sa gabing iyon. Ang kwartong iyon ay sobrang magulo at ang isang upuan pa ay putol. Ang tiya ko ay daling tumawag ng Pari para dasalan ang kwarto.

Ngayong araw, meron paring mga tanong na bumabagabag sakin. Paano yun? Paano akong nasama dun sa ginawa nilang ritwal? Paano niya akong inatake ng mag-isa? Paano nito nalaman ang Apilyedo ko?

Translated by: Ivan Chua

Haunted Office

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:22:54 -0500

Year 2003-2006, I worked as a Data Encoder in one of the oldest building in Binondo (so called Chinese community) when I had most of the ghostly experiences in my life. I was new at the company and very excited because it was my first job. My shift starts at 8:30am-5: 30pm. I used to go to the bathroom and fixed my self first before going to my cubicle and do loads of work until my shift ends. In this case, I don’t have any time for spooky encounters or to listen to what my officemates usually do.

Let me give you a short description of the bathroom, before you reached the bathroom area, you need to pass a small hallway and at the front door, there’s a plant that was given by the famous NOSTRADAMUS OF THE PHILIPPINES-JOJO ACUIN (My boss’s friend). We had a single bathroom and the door was kind of transparent that you can see the form of the person outside of it. Once you enter the bathroom, at left side, there’s a big oval-shaped mirror, sink and there’s a toilet bowl facing the door, on the right, there’s a faucet and a pail, at the top is the shower. (really small).

Now, my first encounter was around 5:30-5:45pm (bathroom area), I spent 15 minutes after my shift to the bathroom just fixing my self! Hehe! But that day changed my bathroom routine. While I was peeing, I heard a knock outside and I saw a human shadow about 5’9” tall. At first I thought it was one of the receptionist, since she was the tallest of us all. I said “Wait Ma’am Evs, I am peeing!”…No one answered. Then, another knock. I got irritated and said “Wait, I’m not done yet, wait for your turn, ok!”.

Then the knocking stopped, still, there’s the shadow outside and somewhat, waiting for his/her turn. Then, my moment was done, I opened the door and no one was there, only the plant! Well, I’m not scared because I thought she got bored and waited for me outside instead or maybe it’s just the reflection of the plant but the KNOCKINGS gave me a second thought. So, I went to the reception area and asked her, “Ma’am, are you the one who’s been knocking in the bathroom?” She replied “No; I’m here at my desk, never moved!”. Then, I asked the rest of the employees, I also got the same answer, “No one has moved to go to the bathroom since were not going home yet”. That’s when I got spooked and asked them, “Then, who’s the tall person who knocked me there, 2 times?”…They just smiled at me.

At first, I just thought it was some kind of a joke but Beth (one of the pioneer encoder) told me that she used to stay there too for about 15-20minutes after shift but when somebody had locked her for about 30min, she swore not to go there alone specially after shift. I told her, maybe one of the employees wants to tease her but all of them at that day confessed that no one has ever done that and it’s impossible for the door to be locked since she’s in control of it inside. No one heard her scream until one of the employees went to check on the lights before closing and noticed that the bathroom lights are still on. Thank god! Someone noticed!

Second encounter was when there’s a nationwide blackout! After lunch, I went to the bathroom and took a rechargeable lamp with me and locked the door to do my 5min. Routine. Yes, you heard it right, from 15mins went down to 5mins. While I’m having a toothbrush, the lights flickered; I mean not the rechargeable light, the one that was on the ceiling! I felt weird but happy because I thought that they were fixing the electric supply and there will be lights soon! So I ignored it. Then, before I reached the doorknob, I felt like someone was looking at me from the mirror followed by a light wind passed over me and the lights flickered again.

This time, I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone in that area and it’s really impossible for the wind to get in because I haven’t opened the door yet and there’s still no electricity. I opened the door immediately and ran. Afterwards, I still asked my officemates just to make sure if someone was fixing the electricity, they all said “none! Besides, it’s a nationwide blackout and the main box was switched off so it’s really impossible for the lights to flicker!”… Well, they have a point!

Third encounter, around 3:15pm, I went to the bathroom again to have a pee break. I opened the door and went out but the weird thing is when I already reached the hallway, I heard a flowing sound of water coming from the faucet. I went back to check and surprise! The faucet was opened! As far as I remember, I have never opened the faucet when I got there because the toilet is an auto-flush and there’s no reason for me to open it. I’m very sure of that!

Afterwards, I went to see one of the helpers to check on the faucet if there’s any problem, but he checked and told me that “Ma’am, this faucet is in good condition, no problem at all and you need to turn it on first before the water flows, maybe you forgot to turn it off when you went out!” I replied, “That’s my point, I never opened it for the fact that I don’t need to open it”. He replied “Eh ma’am, baka napaglalaruan ka lang ng mga elemento dito” (“well ma’am, maybe you’re just being played/goofed around by the entities living in this area?”) Then I said “Naku manong, tara na nga, tinatakot mo na talaga ako nyan eh!” (“Ok, you’re scaring me too much, let’s go!”) We both went out.

Fourth Encounter, Computer Room. My boss held a mini celebration that day. After the party, my boss went home and the only ones left were Beth, Dana, and me. Since Beth bought a new cell phone, we tested the video function. Beth decided to take a video of the whole room to show it to her family. We tried to video each of our own cubicle all the way to my boss’s desk. The weird thing is, we captured a human form sitting on my boss’s chair with a yellow shirt! We went back again but no one’s there. We replayed the video again and there’s really someone sitting on that chair! We ran outside as fast as we could!

The next day, we showed it to other secretaries. Some got scared; others had a theoretical explanation about it. Anne (one of the secretaries) said: “Maybe it’s just a reflection of the light?” Dana replied: “That’s impossible. How can a reflection of light be in a human form? Besides, the room’s paint color is white and the boss’s chair is red and the desk is brown. It’s really impossible to get a reflection of a human form and us three took the video.” -Discussion ended! -

Fifth encounter… Monday morning, we all know that it will be such a busy day for all of us. But this Monday morning is very different. No one wants to work before lunch time specially US (encoders)…Dana went out and we just thought that she forgot to close the door but we noticed that the door keeps opening and closing on its own as if there’s someone tries to go in and out of the room. It is impossible for the door to act on that way because it was made with NARRA (thick-heavy-good quality wood). The door continuously moved on it’s own, we decided to go out, all of us, and we were really scared.

I told my boss about the haunting in the bathroom and in the computer room. I asked him about the history of the place but he just smiled at me and said, “Some things should not be told”. I am very disappointed. Up until know, even if I’m not with the company anymore, I still want to know more about it.

De Lasalle University

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:22:15 -0500

The story I was about to tell is you is not mine, but my sister’s.

She worked as a photo shoot staff for different universities. During this time, she had so many student friends. One of these was a girl who died from choking during the photo shoot before the graduation day.

On that night, she had to extend her working hours in the school just to finish arranging each of the photos for different colleges/courses. Around 7pm, all of the students on that department had left. She was alone.

While sitting on a big table with pile of pictures, her computer at the other corner of the room opened automatically and the graduation song played. She was horrified to think that she was alone in the room and she never turned on the multimedia player. She then went to the computer and turned it off. She went back to her desk and continued with her work.

After awhile, the computer again, turned on itself and played the graduation song. This time, she ran out of the room and went to the guard’s station, reported the incident and went home. At the house, she realized that maybe the ghost who played the graduation song was the girl who died that day.

Since the building was old and had done so many renovations, there was this “haunted elevator” for which the faculty and the admin. Closed and banned the students to use it because of the hauntings. It was said that once you entered the elevator, the lights will automatically turned off and you will be then touched by COLD Hands. Most of the students, even the professors found fainted in the said elevator.

The reason for the hauntings was a student who died in suffocation. It was Saturday, around 6pm; she had used the elevator when the power switch had turned off. She was trapped and cried for help, no one rescued her. Sunday, no classes. Monday morning, she was found dead, suffocated.

Another haunting was the day before the BAR examination. At 8pm, all students should be disbursed because at 9pm, the judges will then roam the whole place for any possible leakages. The night guards were the ones to check the whole building.

Unfortunately, a new night guard was assigned to check the farthest building. He opened the Lab Room and noticed a student at one corner, somewhat typing on the computer. The guard from the door said: “Sir, we need to disburse all the students here before the judges come”. Still, the student continued on what he was doing. “Sir, please, rules are rules”. No response… Afraid that the student might get irritated and afraid to loose his job, he decided to call on the radio and asked the other night guards to talk to the student instead. While waiting for his colleagues to come, hoping that he can convince him, he stepped on to the room and closed the door, from a distance he said: “Sir, don’t get me wrong here but I will loose my job if the judges found out that you were still here, I need you to step out of the room and continue with your project tomorrow”…again, no reply. He tapped the students shoulder, finally the student stopped typing and faced him. But the creepy part that made him faint is that the student had no FACE at all.

Every night before the Bar exam, when the night guards roamed the building and saw a particular student wearing blue shirt, they will never tried to talk to him or forced him to get out of the room. They knew it was HIM.

Boy's Dormitory

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:21:23 -0500

This one happened to me when I was in college. My parents sent me to stay in a boys’ dormitory in Quezon City. It was a newly renovated building that once belongs to the Carmelite Sisters.

The Hall, we are used to call it has 5 floors. The building was made of full concrete which means the ceilings and walls are concrete and the floors in marbles. From the 2nd floor to the 5th floor are the dormitories. On the ground floor there is our refectory/canteen, a small fancy chapel and a reception. Each room has 4sets of beds and a small closet/cabinet. At the foot of the beds there’s our study table with a cabinet on top of it. Beside the table there’s a wash basin and the bathroom.

We are the pioneers in that dormitory so we heard a lot of freaky stories from people who have been finishing the building.

One day on my first year, I had just arrived from school and headed right away to my room. My room was in the third floor then. I was in a hurry because I just bought a couple of “Archie and Jug head” comic books. As I lay in bed and reading one of the comic books I heard a noise coming from the ceiling. The noise sounded like someone was tossing coins on the ceiling.

I went to the room upstairs the one on top of my room to check who was tossing the coins. Apparently the room was closed. I went back to my room and continued reading but there it was again. It was so annoying that I went back to the same room and even checked the other rooms but there was nobody. Some windows were open and I saw that they were empty. It seemed that I was the only one who went home early because I went downstairs and checked in the log book. The occupants of those rooms were not yet logged-in.

Anyway, a year passed and I was now occupying a different room. But one day I passed by a group of students who were hanging out sharing some ghost or freaky stories. One boy shared his freaky story that he often hears coins being tossed on the ceiling but nobody was in the rooms on top of his. I asked the boy where he is staying and it was in the same room where I stayed before.

A Spirit's Way of Saying Farewell?

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:58:16 -0500

Mommy Olga, a co-worker (who also happens to be a friend of mine) passed away on January 6, 2009 due to an immunity disorder called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) which led to a cardiac arrest. She has been battling this ailment for years. I searched the Internet and I found a journal she made about her condition http://www.wereyouthere.com/individual-topic-post.php?topicid=452&category=8&tpostid=400

My former colleagues scheduled to visit her wake after their shift. I took an emergency leave so I could also come with them.

I was in my condo room preparing the things I needed when I heard a tick-tocking sound. I tried searching for any watch or alarm clock left by my roommate. The sound moved from one side of the room to the other and sometimes the sound became louder as I left a specific corner. I searched for a couple of minutes and I found nothing so I finally ignored it and got prepared for the visit. The sound vanished when I returned to my room after I took a bath.

I asked my former colleagues if Mommy Olga wore a watch and they said she often did. I am unsure if that was her way of telling me that ‘her time has come’ or if that was just the sound of a bird chirping outside of my room’s window.

Nate and Janice (my former colleagues) said they still smell the fragrance of Mommy Olga’s perfume. Their thought of actually ‘smelling’ it might be psychological - I can’t tell.

Chipper (their supervisor) said she had missed calls that registered Mommy Olga’s cellphone number on the night she passed away. Chipper then sent a text message asking “what’s up?” but she never got a reply. She spoke with Mommy Olga’s brother and she found out that no one from their family called her during that time.

Anna (a new addition to their team) said that she received a re-sent text message coming from Mommy Olga that’s about their plans of going abroad. She received it a day after Mommy Olga died.

Those sent chills to everyone but I was a bit skeptical because they lacked proof. Cellphones today are meant to record every text message sent and received; and track missed calls. They never showed us proof from their cellphones about those ‘encounters’.

Before we left the funeral house, we decided to say ‘goodbye’ one last time to Mommy Olga. While we were standing beside her coffin, the lights surrounding that area flickered a couple of times. It was eerie, but I decided to ignore it and thought that maybe someone just tripped over the power chord or something.

So there. I am not sure if those instances had something to do with a ghost’s presence of if these events were merely coincidence.

Made by lunarpanda

A Sad Goodbye

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:56:28 -0500

This story happened around 1996, few months before I migrated here in NJ.

While waiting for my visa, I decided to go back to school and took a quick computer course, and there I met Leo, (not his real name) he was really nice & friendly and we became the best of friends almost instantly, he was so fond of me, he said I reminded him of his girlfriend who was in another city taking up nursing, they didn’t get to spend much time together because of their conflicting schedules, they were only able to see each other once a month. I’ve realized how much he loved his girlfriend because she is all he could think of and was always our topic of conversation, he shared all his plans for their future with me even his plan of marriage proposal, he planned to do it on her 21st birthday.

Then one day, I woke up really early, I think it was around 4:30am and the very first thing that came to my mind was him. I didn’t pay any attention to it and tried to go back to sleep but every time I closed my eyes I would see his face, I was like, this is weird! I was able to go back to sleep but woke up late, around 7:20, my Class was starting at 8am so I hurried up and took a quick shower and while in the shower I was seeing his face again! It started to bother me!

I was on my way to class when I saw him, I thought his face was blurry but I still could see his eyes for some reason… He passed me and kept going down the stairs without saying a word, I asked him where he was going and that we are already late but no reply.

I went to the classroom and it was unusually quite! Everybody was there except for him and the teacher so I went to my seat and waited, when the teacher came, he announced that Leo’s was gone: (he was found by his dad hanging from the ceiling, in his room around 6:00AM.

All I could think was, am I dreaming? I just saw him! This couldn’t be real!

That night, I went to the wake with some of our classmates, I found out from his sister that he hung himself because his girlfriend left him for another guy and that the girlfriend was seeing the guy for 10 months already before she decided to break it off with him.

I also found out that he actually passed away around 4:30AM, the very same time that I woke up that morning thinking of HIM.

I know it’s been more than 10 years but I am still thinking of him, still praying for his soul.

Made by Smartwater

A New Year Prank

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:50:03 -0500

It was Christmas vacation and I was spending New Year’s Eve out on the countryside as I usually do. The reason I chill out there is because all my cousins and friends have the most fun when we’re all hangin’ out together…

Every year, we pull pranks for entertainment but decided not to do so this year as our New Year’s resolution.

So me and 3 of my cousins were walking around the neighborhood and were looking up to the skies for fireworks. It was a lot noisier than the previous years since more people decided go back to the countryside to spend time with their families. We felt so bored since there was really nothing much to do, so for suspense, we headed for the huge thick woods bringing only one cellphone and a flashlight.

It was 10:38 and there was still nothing to do, even though we already headed to the freakiest parts of the countryside. A few minutes later, one of my cousins sensed something near one of the trees. She said that she saw something which seemed like a floating entity that had bat-like wings and only had a body, anything below was either concealed or invisible. She said that the unknown being suddenly flew away before she could identify what the “thing” actually was. There was a huge silence between the four of us, which was immediately broken when another one of my cousins started walking without telling why or what the reason was he left us for. He came to a stop when I took a rock and threw it at him. He turned and told us to follow him to where ever he was headed. As soon as he turned around, I felt a cold chill and sweat started to run down through my body.

With the hair at the back of my neck straightened, I followed my cousin with the girls behind me who started to freak out and kept pestering me to take them home. As the eldest of the group, I told them that I wasn’t ready to leave behind one of our cousins whose walking blindly to somewhere he has never been before—which was a stupid decision if you ask me…

Meanwhile, back in my friends house, everybody drank beer ‘till they all passed out eventually. One of them who sat on a chair was half asleep and half awake hearing scratching noises on the window right next to him. The room was dim, and light from the fireworks showed a shadowy figure behind the window revealing the same floating entity that we saw earlier in the woods. Nervous, he slowly crept to the guys next to him, waking them up one by one and each freaked out about the floating shadowy figure behind the window. They managed to build up the courage to check it out, bringing knives and things to throw at the unknown visitor. Freaked out, they all went together, leaving no one inside but a huge mess from the party.

Suddenly, the phone rang which happened to be one of the girls that were with me when we went to the woods. She had told them that we’re lost and afraid inside the woods and was begging them to come and find us. Alert, the floating entity fled and they all ran and followed it to the woods which was very convenient as they were headed there anyway.

We finally caught up to my cousin who stopped and started screaming at the top of his lungs. He wailed as if a ghost had suddenly appeared before him. We saw what seemed to be the missing body part of the floating creature we saw earlier and all ran as fast as we could. Behind us, we heard hard flapping noises and strong gusts of wind that prevented us from going any further since we were all scared to death. Me and my cousins regretted the day we ever set foot on the woods that night. Then we saw the creature once more. It swooped down from above and picked up its missing half. I ran as fast as I could and tried to get help while my cousin stayed with the girls.

I thought that if we ever wanted to get home, I had to run as fast as I could and find as many people I could find. Not long, I bumped into the search group and led them to my cousins. We went home and never mentioned any of the following events to our elderly. We figured that they wouldn’t believe us if we had told them anyway, and more importantly, get in hell of alot’a trouble if we told them we went to the woods at night…alone.

Whatever happened that night, we kept to ourselves. We never mentioned anything to anyone cuz, who’d believe a couple of teens who got drunk in the middle of the night anyway? Right?

Still, everything we saw that night was real. I was not drunk nor were my cousins who came with me to the woods in the night of that event. We believe that the creature is called a “Mananaggal” which is described in Filipino folklore as an in-human creature that takes the form of a human by day, and grows bat-like wings at night. Splitting the body in half, it leaves the lower part hidden somewhere and flies off to feed on fresh meat, poultry, and sometimes human flesh. So don’t think that my story’s fake, cause there’s a lot of this events that’s happened in the past snd still happen to this day.

Made by peacemakerJohn

A Knock on our Front Door

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:49:20 -0500

This happened when I was still young, round 6 or 7years old that time. We were living in Cavite, me my mom and my dad. My mom was sick during that time. She had been sick for 2 years actually with Lupus so she had to always rest in bed. My dad had a car shop in Mandaluyong City and would often come home late.

One specific night, when me and my mom were sleeping, I heard a knock on our front door. After a few seconds, I heard my dad say: “Anak, pabukas ng pinto (child, please open the door.) ” I looked out our window, which would let me see the front yard and directly to the front door steps, and saw no one. Thinking it was my imagination, I went back to sleep.

Just as I’m about to doze off again, I heard another knock. And again I heard my dad asking me to open the door, this time calling me by my pet name that only he calls me with. Somehow, I felt really scared of the voice. So instead of going downstairs and opening the door, I looked out the window again and same thing, no one there on our front steps.

Getting really scared, I ran back to the bed, tried to wake up my mom. But all I could ever get is a moan and she would not budge. So I hid under the covers and closed my eyes.

After a few minutes, the voice came again, this time not as sweet as earlier. It had the angry voice of my dad. And the knocking on the door became banging. “Anak, sinabi ng buksan mo pinto eh… (pet name)…pag ano ba?! Di mo ba bubuksan ang pinto?!?” I was so afraid that I was shaking all over but did not budge. I just stayed under the covers, trying to block out the sounds until I fell asleep.

The next morning, I asked my mom if she heard anything. She said no, she said she had a good sleep. And my dad? He came home right when we were having lunch, said he had to stay on overtime due to a celebrity’s car needing overhaul. So who was the person with my dad’s voice trying to get into our house?

I don’t know. I’m not psychic, I don’t have anything supernatural. But when I told my grandfather about it, he just looked at me and said. “Apo, wag na wag kang sasagot, wag na wag kang lilingon. Ganyan talaga anak.”

I didn’t know what he meant. But I soon found out as I grew older. And sure enough, you’ll read more stories about my experiences here.

Thanks for letting me share my story.

made by Necropolis_Seraph

A House of Doppelgangers

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:48:32 -0500

My brothers and I have been living in our townhouse for 8 years now, ever since I entered college and my brothers entered high school in an exclusive school in Quezon City, Philippines. Our townhouse is only a 10-minute-walk away from the school, which is very convenient for us. However, because our family business is in the province, my parents have to live there while my brothers and I live in our townhouse alone.

Several incidents happened in our house which we chose to ignore. In one instance, when my dad paid us a visit, he and my brother were in the kitchen. My brother was washing dishes while my dad was chopping vegetables for lunch. They were both facing the wall, their heads turned away from the door leading to the wash room at the end of the kitchen. From behind them they heard my voice say, “Pagamit ng C.R. Ha,” which is Tagalog for “May I use the rest room?” My brother answered back, “What’s wrong with you?” because he was surprised I was asking permission in our own house. They both turned around and saw no one. They checked the bathroom - it was empty. They went around the house - I wasn’t there. I received a call in my cell from my brother that day, asking where I was. I was at work the whole time. But my brother and father were both certain it was my voice they heard.

The second incident was more creepy, because I myself experienced it. I was leaving for work, my youngest brother was already in school while my younger brother was in his room. I stepped out the door and stood by the front steps locking the door with my keys. Suddenly I heard MY voice in the living room calling my brother’s name: “Rap, baba ka!” (Translation: Rap, come down here!) I fumbled with my keys and tried to open the door, except this time the locks won’t open. I heard my brother running down the stairs so I went to the window to see what will happen. The living room was empty. My brother opened the door for me and asked why I was calling him. I told him it wasn’t me calling him and he couldn’t believe it. After telling the story again, I left him to go to work.

The third incident happened in my room, more than a year after the second incident. I woke up in the middle of the night - which always happens to me. The first thing I did is check my bedside clock (which I always check when I wake up in the middle of the night for comparison), it was 2:00 in the morning. At the corner of my is a full length mirror which normally faces and reflects the image of my bedroom door. After checking my clock I checked my mirror and saw myself standing and staring at myself in a deadpan way. At first I thought I was looking at my reflection and I even asked myself in my mind, “Why the hell am I sleeping standing up?” But then I felt the bed and knew I was lying down. After a few seconds of staring at my standing reflection, I turned to the other side of the bed and decided to just ignore it.

The last incident did not happen to me but to my youngest brother, who has always been in touch with the supernatural. It happened just last year, 2007. According to him, he woke up at 5 am and took a bath for school. While getting dressed he noticed that his reflection in the mirror was grinning at him though he wasn’t smiling at all. He got scared and decided to go to school though it was too early. When he was locking the door, he practically screamed when he saw his own head grinning at him from his right shoulder. He walked to school, the whole time with the grinning face that looks like him on his right shoulder which he could see through his peripheral vision. On the way to school, he passed by some shops and saw his reflection with still grinning at him. He noted that although his reflection looks like him exactly, the eyes were somewhat different.

My brother chose to ignore the doppelganger who stayed with him at school the whole day.

made by Maharlika