Trans (Non) Fat

Transgender Caitlyn Jenner has added even more complication into the already mixed-up Kardashians through the scoop, in a one voice open (closet) door..

There is now the Xe pronoun for their gender. Mediation is getting more colorful.

Recipe for Love

This was another DIVA fairy tale on cable. A crabby chef turned out to be starved for the love of his father. After a writer of his recipes found material reassuring him, he was ok.

Mediators sometimes play part-time therapists, especially to couples and families.

Par Lack Provincial Hospital

Tarlac Provincial Hospital does not have a healthy relationship with its staff, most especially the doctors. It seems their professional fees from Philhealth are being withheld by management. That is like depriving these life-nurturers of their livelihood.

Buddy Language

The Baby Blues comic strip featured the kids asking for a dog, then downgraded to three hamsters. "Well," the sister followed-up her brother who asked permission from their mother. "Her mouth stated shut, but her face yelled 'No!'" was the brother's report.

Mediation deals with both the spoken and the unspoken, too.

Magkano-nano

The heirs of that lovable alien on tv, Robin Williams, are in a Cinderela-esque situation. It's the stepmother vs.the children over his estate.

Lawyers are getting into the fray and the funds. Time for mediation.

Maalampaya Mo Kaya

Trust a fruitful tree to have stones thrown its way. Such is like the Malampaya energy project off Palawan. Of course, that province wants a higher percentage of its share in the output. The Commission of Audit has likewise entered the picture with a P53 billion tax bill. Last heard, Department of Energy was talking of arbitration out of this conflict. Arbitration is a legal process of alternative dispute resolution wherein an arbiter settles the conflict with his decision. Hence, the term arbitrary.

Special Reasons

Today is my birthday. Special enough, but Our Daily Bread, the Gospel reflection book, finds other reasons to celebrate. Los Angeles, for one, was founded on this day in 1781.

Conflicts arise when personal interests clash with one another. Mediation to the rescue.

Clue to Makati

As Kato is the sidekick of one fictional hero, Mr. Cruto of the Action Center is to Makati OIC Mayor "Kid" Pena, who is truly Acting. In the Aughost month, thousands of disqualified or dead senior citizens were identified as still availing of benefits. Another punny remark that came up during the said Senate hearing was that the card BLU (Binay loves u?) should instead be spelled BRU!

Sometimes, change is good if it will redound to the common good, after uncovering dirt swept under the rug.

Grey Anatomy

Aside from McDreamy and Meredith, another doctor-couple in Grey's Anatomy are lesbians Arizona and Torres. One episode saw the latter couple undergoing therapy that led to their "no communication" cooling off period, even under one roof. They decided on the petiod of one month, which was broken earlier, to positive results.

Counselors for two are like mediators. They facilitate persons in conflict to  settle it amicably.

Little Black Book II

Another quotable quote from this HBO movie: "Fool me once, shame on you;  fool me twice, shame on me."

Precisely what mediation is proactively avoiding. After being fooled once, the victim is hopefully armed by the experience of mediation with enough insight and skills like negotiation to prevent recurrence of the unfortunate incident.