It was 9:30 p.m., 4th of July - and they were open. This is my first time at Panang Restaurant. Outside, their signage says “Thai Cuisine”. On the windows are posters saying “Sushi Bar”, “Chinese Cuisine” and “Pho”. I was a bit confused but since they were the only ones open in maybe 5 square miles, so what the heck!

At the entrance across the Cashier is a small gift shop. The setup is a medium-sized diner. The waiter gave me the menu and I was astonished. Their menu covered Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese - the best of the Far East world. I settled for fried tofu, calamari roll and soda. The fried tofu was standard, but the calamari roll came as a surprise. Each slice had a very good quantity of calamari with a thin roll of rice. And on top of each slice is a bite-size calamari! Most sushi bars would serve you rice with calamari, but this one is truly calamari with rice! Outstanding! They even refilled my soda.

The prices are inexpensive. The waiter was very courteous and attended to each table professionally. I will definitely visit again and try the Thai menu.

Panang Restaurant
1801 W Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

This review is also available at CitySearch.com, Menuism.com and Yelp.com where the author is a regular restaurant critic.

The Philippines is composed of more than 7,000 islands where people speak in one of more than 150 dialects. But one thing you can be sure of - when faced by a common adversity, the Filipnos join hands in struggles and in triumphs.

Filipinos are survivors. They survived the Spanish regime, the American and Japanese occupation, the Marcos dictatorship, and the long list of corrupt goverment leaders, some of whom are still in power. But Filipinos have always managed to come back and walk with their heads high.

Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao is a person with whom most Filipinos can relate to. From humble beginnings, he grew up and rose to become the first Asian boxing champion in four different weight categories all at the same time. From his victory comes the inspiration to all Filipinos that we can always prevail.

Watch the video of his last victory below.
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I was born and raised in the Philippines. My country is like a melting pot of different cultures, the most dominant of which are Spanish and American. My father, who was born at the time of World War I and who fought in World War II, have always had high praises for the Americans. He was very quick to point out that the Americans were the ones who instilled in Filipinos the value of education. In fact, the Philippine educational system was based on the American’s. It’s a fact that the Philippines is the only English-speaking nation in Asia.

But when I came here, I was shocked at what I found out. The American youth’s value for education has deteriorated. To graduate from High School is already an achievement. Getting a college education is far from their minds. It is either they see it as a waste of time or education had become an item of luxury.

Government support for the system in terms of funding for both the structure and the cost of education is overwhelming. But still there are no takers. No wonder better educated immigrants are taking over the jobs.

Getting a college education is now so expensive that parents can no longer sustain financial support for their children. Students who are decided on pursuing a college education turn to financing companies for help. Unfortunately, some of them could not get out of debt.

I have compiled some useful ebooks on this topic:

Borrowing Student Loans Responsibly
Your Future is in Your Hands
Student Loan Pitfalls
Student Loan Repayment Tips
Student Loan Consolidation
Scholarship Databases

Two major issues against Senator Barack Obama is his alleged refusal to do a hand-over-heart when the national anthem is being played, and his alleged refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. These two issues are being propagated in several versions of mass email messages circulating in the Internet. The email message normally has the image below as it’s come-on:

The image had been proven authentic. And video footage of the event clearly shows Senator Obama’s hands were in a clasp while the other personalities in the picture have their hand over their heart.

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Several years ago, whenever my friends would see me with something new, they would immediately remark, “Allan, where did you buy that - from eBay?”. This would be followed with chuckles. Now, these same friends buy everything from eBay, Half.com and other online stores they could google. They have become my disciples.

Everyone loves a great deal! Many people spend quite a bit of time searching for good deals on the items that they want and need and when they find those deals, they experience a certain amount of satisfaction. These people typically haunt garage sales, stores that are holding sales, wholesale warehouses, flea markets, and especially online and off-line auctions. With the incredible number of auctions that are constantly going on at eBay, it can be difficult to find the items you want, at the price you want to pay. But it isn’t impossible to find great deals!
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I recently received the following article which was posted to our fraternity messageboard. The article’s source was supposed to be SNOPES.COM.

snopes.com

Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas.

Obama’s parents met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro , a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia.

When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocate to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, “He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.”

Obama’s political handlers are attempting to make it appear that that he is not a radical.

Obama’s introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son’s education.

Lolo Soeto ro, the second husband of Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta .
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