August Landmesser

This Nazi soldier really deserved his name. After marrying Irma Eckler, a Jew, he was caught in a photo as the only one not raising his fist in "sieg heil!" Of course, you can imagine what happened to him and his wife. "Ordinary people with the courage to say 'no.'" (Boying Pimentel's article in the Inquirer)

Mediation says 'no' to lawsuits, too.

Blameful

From Catholic Express comes this joke: When there was fault in the Holy Family, poor St. Joseph always got blamed for it. He was the only one among them who was not without sin.

Mediation recognizes fault on the part of both disputants.

Pre-judice

In "Till the Clouds Roll By," American Jerome Kern is faced with the preference of producers for English composers. So off he goes to London to prove himself and incidentally find his future wife. His perseverance and talent lead to a series of hits capped by "Showboat."

Mediation precisely breaks down biases.

Put In Interest

Ben Rhodes, one of Obama's Team members, says that of Putin's interest, definitely not the Russian national interest.

Unfit for mediation

Facts

According to John Adams, they are stubborn things. 

One stumbling block in mediation.

The Greatest Showman

After being laid off work, Phineas Barnum thought of rounding up people down in the dumps like him. He especially reached out to those who looked different. His pitch to them: "They laugh at you anyway, might as well get paid for it." For this, after much hate from the community, he was later cited for Celebration of Humanity.

Mediation genius!

Bullying the Bully

As we celebrate in a few hours the birth of the world's worst bullied Person, we reflect on the fate of the current bully in the country. Not DU30 who can very well defend himself, but the Atenean who is now hounded to the extent that his fake address led to numerous and expensive deliveries at a Christian church and school.

Mediation precisely avoids this chain reaction of ill will. Very Christian really.

Innocence

Fr. Sim's Christmas reflection has a child asking, "How do people climb up to the sky to get into the planes?"

Mediation puts divergent views together.

Robber Band

That is the apt caption for pictures of polticians pardoned recently of various crimes.

Mediation breaks that.

Waving off

Have you noticed Prince William's wave is more like a "stay away" sign? Can't blame him, with his family history.

Mediation tries to settle those conflicts.

Selfish Trait

The selfie generation has grown bolder. Two Pinoy young men in the US dared put up their blown-up poster on the wall of a McDonald outlet. Thank God, they were not jailed but humored.

An understanding party could avoid a conflict.

Growing Up Smith

This Fox Family movie featured an immigrant Indian family in the US. The father wanted a future in medicine for their son Smith who was more interested in Darth Vader. And what is his specialization, the father wanted to know.

Mediation at times involves generations.

Good Vibes

ABS- CBN's Magandang Buhay has a Magandang Pass-ko feature. A senior citizen shared her experience of riding for free on Fidel's jeep, where all seniors get complimentary rides. A former marine engineer, Fidel was feted in the show with a trip to Bohol, new mobile phone, and jeep repair by Sarao.

Positive "mediation!"

The Beatles

Netflix feature on them had this quote from John: "All of you in the cheaper seats can clap your hands while the rest can rattle your jewelry."

Mediation is between equals or equalized by the mediator.

Menuto Meals

The EDSA terminal of Victory Liner has this interesting diner. Is it Minuto misspelled? Or a strung Men Uto Meals. Sure are, these males at times.

Gender is one of the issues tackled in mediation.

The Last Year

Not the end of the world but Obama's term, this Netflix feature. In it, Secretary of State Kerry had an interesting comparison of the United Nations to diplomatic speed dating.

Mediation is something like that, too.

Speechless

This is a good development in sitcom fare that features a paraplegic boy who cannot speak either. He is on a wheelchair with an attached monitor featuring commonly used words that he uses to communicate with others.

Mediation is like that monitor.

Piling Up

Batasan members were not only over each other in extending martial law and approving "dare" version of chacha, their desks were also up in mounds of paper. Are they showing the people the "heavy load" they have? Because these can be read in their offices, perhaps by their legal team. And the Speaker might not be seen anymore, though very visible now.

Graphic representation of clogged court dockets too.

Check Mate

GMA hounded Lacson into hiding. Freed by Noynoy, he is back at the Senate now questioning the pork of GMA.

Check. Mediations stops this vicious cycle of conflict.

Cleaning ranks

Have to hand it to the Jesuits to step up the ante and expose their own undesirables, as reported by Reuters in Denver, USA.

Examination of own conscience beats mediation.

Reasons

Sunday's Inquirer had two contrasting front page news. Campaigning for reelection Angara moves that desks for left-handed students be provided, to up their school performance. On the other corner, 3 nurses topped their board exam despite Yolanda.

No excuses for the determined.

The Tunnel

This CinemaEurope feature dealt with the escape of East Berliners to the West. It took about a year to build. Those who couldn't wait took a bus that rammed through the Wall to get to the other side.

A court suit is like going through a tunnel while mediation is somewhat like the bus, in a more amicable manner.

Slated for Doom

The oddministration senate slate has 19 candidates out of only 12 needed for election. Maybe they consider it only a primary process?

Not so a compromise agreement. It's the real deal geared for success.

Exceptional

The provincial bus terminal in Paranaque is such, but not in a good way. There are some who are exempted from stopping there and instead go on to the rest of Metro Manila. This defeats the purpose of the terminal to unclog traffic at EDSA.

Truly not mediated well, if they are loopholes galore.

Unilateral and Arbitrary

That's how jeepney operators describe the latest ruling of the LTFRB reducing their fare.

Not the case in mediation.

Hitler & Adenauer

These two figures in German history were compared by Father Ritler over EWTN. The first one was amoral and went by what he just felt like doing. The second one was moral and undid what the former had done.

Mediation is like the second case.

Battle Royal

There is talk of a brewing feud between Duchesses Kate and Meghan.

Unprecedented denial came from the Firm's office. Firm enough?

Trojan Horsepower

The horse is out of the bag. The weekly drop in gas prices has led to the move to increase excise tax.

So predictable this oddministration.

The Wrath of Sara

Not the biblical woman against her maid, but DU30's daughter against the thorn in her family's throne, Trillanes
She wishes he would be in alive and in great pain. Right now, she is already his pain.

Mediation stops all these recrimination. All Trillanes wants is a bank waiver from DU30.

Mediating Presidential Pronouncements

As always, Inquirer's Randy David had a fresh take on his brother Bishop Ambo's being the recent victim of DU30's rants. Facing up is better than running away.

Just like mediation

Sleeping with dogs

The real animals, i.e. seem to be women's best friends too as far as getting a good night's sleep is concerned, a study has revealed.

Beats sleeping with the enemy