MikeLigalig.com

Ni Bryner Diaz, EIM (Banat) | Updated December 24, 2013 - 12:00am


CEBU, Philippines - Patay ang usa ka batang lalaki human kini madasmagan sa usa ka Honda Civic Sedan nga gimaneho sa usa ka Koreano sa alas 11:50 sa buntag miaging adlaw sa barangay Poblacion sa lungsod sa Oslob.

Giila sa kapolisan ang suspek nga si Lee Dong Won, 42, nagpuyo sa Suite Room 303 Rosdel Suites sa Talamban sa dakbayan sa Sugbo.

Si PO1 Noel Mamale, desk officer, nga nahinabi sa Banat News miingon nga ang suspetsado nagmaneho sa iyang Honda Civic Sedan ug misulay kini og overtake sa nag-una nga sakyanan.

Apan nadasmagan niya ang biktima nga milugnot gikan sa uyoan human sa ilang pagkanaog sa traysikol ug midiretso og labang sa dalan.

“Nagplete sa tricycle ang uyoan, gigunitan sa iyang uncle, midagan sa pikas, naigo sa Korean,” matud pa ni Mamale.

Daling gidala sa Oslob District Hospital ang maong bata ug gibalhin sa Dalaguete District Hospital ug didto na kini gideklarar nga patay na.

Ang suspetsado natanggong sa Oslob Police Station apan posibleng makagawas ra kini tungod kay nakig-areglo ra ang ginikanan sa bata.

“Nag-atubang na sila ganiha (kagahapon), nakig-settle ang ginikanan di na lang pasakaan og kaso,” dugang pa ni Mamale. (BANAT NEWS)

In the Philippines, those wielding economic power are the 50 to 100 richest families who control major family business conglomerates, the corporate managers of the multinationals operating here, and political dynasties that have accumulated economic wealth due to their political power.

If we are not supposed to trust in the “goodness” of these people, then the question is who do we trust? Who then should wield economic power in this country? We have learned from the bitter lessons of the Marcos and Arroyo years that we cannot trust government to wield economic power since the result was crony capitalism and systemic corruption. So who do we trust? And what system will replace the present one based on the “idolatry of money”?

If we view this exhortation within the Philippine context, it is impossible to disagree with the papal exhortation. Pope Francis writes: “No to the new idolatry of money.” In this section he further says:

“One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion and ourselves.... While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation.”

Pope Francis has advanced a very controversial economic proposition when he says economic growth resulting from the free market or capitalist system has never succeeded in bringing about “inclusiveness in the world.” This is again contrary to the prevailing economic thesis that reducing poverty is best gained through the efforts of bigger investment and expansion of the private sector.

One of the Pope’s most radical statements is that we have expressed a “crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralised workings of the prevailing economic system.”

Pope Francis is describing an economic environment that has existed for as long as the history of mankind. This exploitation of the poor and the weak by the rich and the powerful has been the source of revolutions and crusades for as long as man has lived in societies. And long before capitalism was introduced by Adam Smith and his ilk. 

But the Pope seems to have singled out the free market economy as the primary culprit for today’s economic ills. Here is what he says:

“In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralised workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion, at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.

The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle, they fail to move us.”

What is the Pope really trying to tell us? Is he really arguing against capitalism, the ideology that has been credited by most of the world, including former Communist countries, as the major weapon in the battle against poverty? Rather than engaging in a debate about the correct interpretation of his message, here are his exact words:

“Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘throw away’ culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live: those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised â€" they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the leftovers”.

By Elfren S. Cruz (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 26, 2013 - 12:00am


When Pope Francs sent a public message, through his first Papal Exhortation, that he does not believe that the “trickle down theories, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness, in the world,” he is inviting accusation of being against capitalism. In fact, Rush Limbaugh, a leading American political commentator, dismissed the message as “pure Marxism coming out of the pope.”

The papal exhortation is an official statement issued by the Vatican. It ranks below the formal encyclicals which are used to state the position of the Catholic Church on major issues. The first encyclical was issued in 1841. But exhortation is above the level of a simple letter.

His first Papal Exhortation is a 238-page document entitled Joy of the Gospel. Pope Francis is believed to be laying down the major themes for his tenure as the head of the Church.

Hala, adto mo panggiaway...

Out of town, Isamu Kina stands in a field full of getto. His company, Rich Green, is the main producer in the area and he has high hopes for the future.

"We don't want to be limited to Okinawa; we want to be able to export this to countries around the world," he said.

Back in his laboratory, Tawada said people are only just beginning to exploit the possibilities of the plant, which he thinks could prove transformative for the whole of Okinawa.

"Today, getto is used in cosmetics, but that's only part of its potential -- I think it can also be used in the medical field and in other sectors," he said.

"Hopefully one day it will give a facelift to the economy of the islands."

Women in Okinawa still live a very long time -- 87 years on average, one of the highest rates in Japan. But men have tumbled down the rankings and, at 79.4 years, are now 30th among the country's 47 prefectures, and below the national average.

The archipelago's male obesity rate is now the highest in Japan.

"Today, people eat too much fast food," said Tawada. "Life expectancy is going down. It's time to reconnect with the culinary traditions of the region."

The health benefits of getto are beginning to spread, and a small cottage industry is growing up around Tawada's research.

Keiko Uehara, who looks considerably younger than her 64 years, swears by the stuff.

Her boutique in downtown Naha sells a whole range of beauty products with getto as the main ingredient.

"I drink an infusion of getto, which I always find rejuvenates me, and I use an extract of the plant in water to get rid of wrinkles," she said.

The plant, which has large green leaves, red berries and white flowers, has been a feature of Okinawan food for centuries and still grows in the wild.

And while the people of past centuries would not have known that it is rich in resveratrol -- an anti-oxidant also found in grapes -- they knew that it was good for them, said Tawada.

"Traditionally, Okinawans have always felt that eating muchi -- a winter dish consisting of rice paste wrapped in a getto leaf -- would protect us from colds and give us strength," he said.

But things are changing in Okinawa and the traditional diet, which was rich in locally-grown vegetables, fish and seaweed, is losing ground to the steakhouses and burger chains that crowd the streets of Naha, the island chain's capital city.

Those fast food joints originally sprouted to serve the 19,000 United States servicemen who are based on the island as part of a defence treaty between Washington and Tokyo, but are now popular among the locals --even if the soldiers, sailors and airmen are not.

Tawada has been studying getto, part of the ginger family known variously as Alpinia zerumbet, pink porcelain lily or shell ginger, for the last 20 years and now believes his work is beginning to pay off.

Today, getto is used in cosmetics, but that's only part of its potential -- I think it can also be used in the medical field and in other sectors."

In a recent experiment on worms, those fed on a daily diet of getto lived an average of 22.6 percent longer than the control group.

Japan lab holds promise of youth elixir
http://www.enca.com/
Monday 23 December 2013 - 7:14pm



This picture taken on November 12, 2013 shows Shinkichi Tawada, professor of the faculty of Agriculture at the University of the Ryukyus displays an extract of "getto" essential oil from leaves of getto at Nishihara town in Japan's southern island of Okin Picture: AFP / ANTOINE BOUTHIER


NISHIHARA, Japan -Sweet tropical smells drift through Shinkichi Tawada's laboratory as he stirs an amber liquid that he believes could be the secret behind the historic longevity of people in southern Japan.

The elixir is an extract from a plant known locally as "getto", and he says experiments show it can prolong life by as much as a fifth.

"Okinawa has for decades enjoyed one of the longest life-expectancy rates in the world and I think the reason for this must lie in the ingredients of the traditional diet," said Tawada, a professor of agronomy at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa.

As village resident or homeowner

I would ask my homeowners association to consult legal minds on the incident. I pay personal taxes and my businesses pay taxes to the local government to provide me the services and respect I deserve. I pay association dues to protect my family, residence and village from any form of harm and threat.

Someone has to pay for this incident. I didn’t pay guards to spend four hours in police custody or waiting for a ride back to their posts. I would question the capability of the agency owners to provide services to my village since they cannot provide vehicle or taxi fare for the “invited” guards to go back to their post.

I would ask for an explanation why private data in the form of CCTV video recording was taken out from the village premises and given to PDI. I would demand an audit of village security management system.

A former Army officer and graduate of Philippine Military Academy, Ace Esmeralda is a Certified Protection Professional of the ASIS International and asset protection consultant to several multinational corporations.

As a citizen

I would request the mayor and the senator to retrain or replace their security personnel who placed them in harm’s way. The security escorts failed to coordinate with the village administration their departure through a restricted gate. The lead vehicle assumed that they were exempted from village rules because they were in a convoy bearing the mayor and the senator. The lead car entrapped itself in front of the boom barrier, guard house and steel gate. The other drivers parked their vehicles too close to each other that they could simply maneuver without backing up.

The security escorts failed to secure their perimeter the moment the convoy was stopped, especially after the mayor alighted. One escort was busy with an umbrella for the gentleman mayor but not for the lady senator.

The escorts exposed the mayor to the risk of being injured or killed by several 2,000-pound weapons that were passing the street in high speed. They exposed the mayor and the senator for 15 minutes to a potential shootout instead of extricating the convoy out of the scene. They revealed that they move around with unloaded weapons. The escorts, especially the one in a vest, acted in an arrogant mannerâ€"manhandling the uniformed security guards, grabbing the logbook, and treating the supposed “force multipliers” as criminals, threat forces or enemies.

I would ask for the relief of the police chief who obviously came up with “after the fact” justifications that contradicted each other and the actions of his policemen as seen in the video. He tried hard to justify the actions of the escorts and policemen by saying the guards showed their shotguns. I still have to see a guard holstering or concealing his shotgun while on duty. Is the chief of police serving only the mayor?

If it were simply an invitation, as claimed by Mayor Binay’s office, then the guards, with the consent of the agency and village officers, could have given their statements in their own time.

The Makati City police chief said the guards were only invited for “clarification and custodial inquiry” and verification of their firearms. That was a euphemism for arrest.

If the intention was to verify the guards’ firearms, then the police should also check the firearms of all guards on duty in Makati, not singling out the three village guards.

I would also investigate why the CCTV video recording was taken out from the village premises and given to Philippine Daily Inquirer. I will demand an audit of village security management system.

The village manager

I would recommend to the Board of Directors of the homeowners association the immediate change of agency but retention of the guards. The agency, represented by its owners or management, cannot speak for the village and for the homeowners association. The agency should not contradict the statement and position of the village homeowners, especially in public.

I would commend the guards for doing their job, their post duties and responsibilities, and for alerting mobile responders under duress.

I would consult our legal counsel to see if there were violations of law like unlawful arrest and detention. The video showed coercion and manhandling by both escorts and responding policemen of the security guards.

In that convoy was Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” S. Binay Jr., who had come from the house of his sister, Sen. Nancy Binay, a resident of the posh village, who was also in one of the cars.

The incident could have been prevented had the staff of the mayor or the senator coordinated with the village officers.

The village office could have then accorded the two officials courtesies due them.

Or the village guards could have allowed passage after verifying the identity of the VIPs then just made an exemption report to the Security Head, citing the circumstances.

But that was not what happened.

What would I do if I were in the shoes of the following?

VERA Files â€" Tue, Dec 24, 2013
By ACE ESMERALDA


(Security expert Ace Esmeralda wrote the following observations based on the statements of Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, the Dasmariñas Village security, Makati Chief of Police, Right Eight Security agency and the video of the incident.)


IF a picture paints a thousand words, a 15-minute video paints a million.

The video taken almost midnight of Nov. 30, 2013 showed a convoy of four SUVs near the boom barrier at the Banyan Road gate of Dasmariñas Village in Makati City. One guard is seen approaching the lead vehicle, most likely to explain the village rules that that particular gate is closed at 10 p.m.

But the convoy had already squeezed itself too close that backing up is the only option to get to the other gate. Sad to say, based on the body language of persons in the video, the convoy expected the guards to raise the boom barrier and let it quickly leave the premises. When the guards refused, some security escorts alighted from the SUVs and manhandled the guards. Under duress, the guards called for reinforcement.

The convoy apparently also called for help because Makati City police personnel arrived at the scene and lifted the barrier blocking its way. Police officers approached the security guards and brought the guards with them.

The video captured a tense situation.

An insensitive and unsympathetic presidential image is starting to emerge. Worse there is a growing perception of an unprepared presidential leader. The worst is the tale, fictional or otherwise, of a spoiled rich kid out of his environment among people in distress.

The recent issues of the Meralco dizzying price hike, the linking of ERC chair Zenaida Ducut to Napoles, journalist killings, black sand mining, and more tax impositions have put the president on the block and tested his mettle. He failed in all the issues by his basically condescending or evasive positions. The impression is that of an ineffective Aquino government that is captive to big business and consequently hostile to the interests of the poor, the powerless, and the deprived.

The impressions are alive among the middle class, the natural constituency of the president. In this sense, President Aquino will soon be on a path of political suicide if he does not get off his high horse.

When the Zamboanga crisis erupted, he forewent the dialogue-negotiation route and opted for a military solution. In the process, he alienated a significant part of Moro and Mindanaoan public. It also awakened hotheads on both sides of the fence who opposed the terms of the Kuala Lumpur negotiations between the GPH and the MILF.

When the Yolanda super-typhoon ravaged Tacloban City, his immediate presence would have made for a great reconciliation with the opposition and unity with the victims. However, he lost the opportunity immediately by immediately laying the blame for Tacloban’s disaster on the local government unit, who happened to be from the Romualdez clanâ€"a bitter political enemy. He also berated local businessmen when  one of them suggested the declaration of martial law to counter the widespread looting in the city. A diplomatic answer would have sufficed but he had to rub it in by saying: “Ok lang, buhay ka pa naman (It's ok, you're still alive anyway).”

His unrepentant statements trying to downplay the casualty figures and the horrific scope of the typhoon’s destructive impact made many people uneasy. Likewise, there are opinions that the relief operations should still be pursued and that the shift to the rehabilitation phase (and its highlighting) is premature and tends to gloss over the need for more relief.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/
By Ramon Casiple | Parallaxis â€" 20 hours ago



Reuters photo


At the rate President Aquino is shooting off his opinions on issues of the day, there is already the fear that his stubbornness is turning into a political death wish. Invariably since the Napoles scandal, he has publicly stated his opinions or statements on the wrong side of reforms or the middle class.

In the case of the pork barrel issue, he turned what might have been a renewed faith in him by announcing the end of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) into a continuing doubt about his sincerity by saying that the twinâ€"Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)â€"is good. The effect, of course, is the current public outcry about the abuse of presidential discretionary funds.

Quote from: islander on December 21, 2013, 07:01:12 PM
“Privilege, you see,” wrote Chinua Achebe, “is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.”

Sa Binisaya pa, makapabaga sa nawong.

He he...

“Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” and “Holly Jolly Christmas” are songs you probably know well. They were all written by Johnny Marks, who was Jewish. His brother-in-law wrote the original Rudolph story, which landed him his first Christmas songwriting gig. And don’t think just because he wrote some of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time, he might throw some stockings around the chimney or plant a tree in his living room; he never even bothered. In fact, he wasn’t thrilled that his legacy was holiday tunes. “This is not exactly what I hoped to be remembered for,” he recalled in 1980. Yes, he wrote other non-Christmas songs, but it’s not worth listing any because you’ve never heard of them.

Marks wasn’t alone in writing for the Gentiles’ favorite holiday season. The proudly Jewish Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas.” And “Let It Snow”? The duo of Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn co-wrote it, making the song 200 percent Jewish. “The Christmas Song” was written by Mel Torme, and yes, he was Jewish. In fact, Torme released an entire album of Christmas tunes in the 1990s. -- http://listverse.com/

T. S. Eliot’s “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees”: A Rare 1954 Gem, Illustrated by Enrico Arno
By: Maria Popova


In 1927, an enterprising and creatively minded British man by the name of Richard de la Mare, production director at London’s Faber & Gwyer, which would become the legendary publishing house Faber and Faber two years later, came up with an unusual idea: He would ask famous writers and illustrators to contribute holiday-themed verses and drawings for a poetry pamphlet series to be sent to clients instead of Christmas cards and sold to the general public for a shilling each, or about five pennies. Thanks to the company’s relationships and stable of authors, he was able to secure work from such literary greats as Edith Sitwell, W. B. Yeats, and Vita Sackville-West (yes, as in Virginia Woolf’s lover). Among the most notable contributors to the series â€" titled Ariel, after Shakespeare’s spirit from “The Tempest” â€" was celebrated poet and notorious cat-lover T. S. Eliot, who wrote six poems for the project, beginning at its inception in 1927 and ending in 1954, when he was in his late sixties.

I was fortunate enough to track down a surviving first edition of Eliot’s final poem-pamphlet for the Ariel series, The Cultivation of Christmas Trees  â€" a long-out-of-print gem, typeset, bound, and illustrated by Enrico Arno, who had fled Nazi Germany due to his Jewish descent, spent some time in Italy, and eventually settled in the United States to become an acclaimed book designer and album cover artist. -- http://www.brainpickings.org/

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,
Some of which we may disregard:
The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,
The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),
And the childish â€" which is not that of the child
For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel
Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree
Is not only a decoration, but an angel.

The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
So that the glittering rapture, the amazement
Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,
So that the surprises, delight in new possessions
(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),
The expectation of the goose or turkey
And the expected awe on its appearance,

So that the reverence and the gaiety
May not be forgotten in later experience,
In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,
The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,
Or in the piety of the convert
Which may be tainted with a self-conceit
Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children
(And here I remember also with gratitude
St. Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):

So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By “eightieth” meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.

CEBU. Outside their new temporary homes in Cebu City’s South Road Properties, young survivors of typhoon Yolanda spend some time playing with their hula hoops. (Alex Badayos)

http://thechive.com/

Gold told SPACE.com that it’s not a matter of ifthe moon will be utilized for commercial activities, it’s a matter of when and who will enjoy those benefits.

“The moon represents an unparalleled commercial opportunity, and Congress should be looking for ways to expand commercial space operations beyond low-Earth orbit," Gold said. "I hope Chang’e 3 inspires a renewed effort for commercial lunar development but I’m afraid the lack of reaction in Washington speaks volumes."

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is former director of research for the National Commission on Space and is co-author of Buzz Aldrin's new book "Mission to Mars â€" My Vision for Space Exploration" published by National Geographic. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

Lunar development

How United States politics and China’s moon landing of Chang’e 3 play together is far from clear, said Mike Gold, director of Wash., D.C. Operations and Business Growth for Bigelow Aerospace, a private space firm eager to kick up its own commercial lunar dust.

“The success of this mission was yet another victory for long-term Chinese aerospace planning, progress, and execution,” Gold said. “Chinese leadership clearly understands the importance and potential benefits of lunar activities and we here at home ignore the moon at our own peril.”

Political boost

Independent of the LEAG letter writing campaign, a U.S. return to the moon is getting a political boost from Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA).

In a Dec. 19 letter to President Barack Obama, the lawmaker calls on the president to hold a White House conference early in 2014 to develop a mission concept for a U.S.-led return to the moon within the next 10 years. The conference would bring together “the best minds from around the country and among our international partners” to forge the initiative, Wolf said.

“As China prepares to send a series of increasingly advanced rovers to the moon in preparation for what most observers believe will ultimately be human missions, many are asking why the U.S. is not using this opportunity to lead our international partners in an American-led return to the moon,” Wolf said.

Wolf’s letter said that the Obama administration’s “recalcitrance in leading a lunar mission is creating a crisis of confidence in the U.S. space program, both at home but also among our partners, including Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia.”

In his three-page letter, Wolf urges Obama to direct the U.S. space program toward a “lunar-focused human exploration program that will reaffirm America's space leadership for the 21st Century.”

Nearest near-Earth object

Stephen Mackwell, director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, advocates a return to the moon.

“The brief Apollo missions were terminated before we could start investigating the requirements for longer term missions away from Earth,” Mackwell told SPACE.com.

“Before we set off to distant destinations, like Mars, it makes sense to use our nearest near-Earth object â€" the moon â€" as a test-bed to see how humans will cope with longer duration periods distant from Earth, including on the surface of another planetary body, and how effectively we can make use of in-situ resources to sustain our presence elsewhere,” Mackwell said.

'Destination Moon' Flyer of LEAG
Credit: LEAG

Destination Moon supporters are rallying around other key points:

Lunar resources can be used for fuel and life support for operations in Earth-moon space as well as for voyages to Mars and beyond.

America can still lead the world beyond low Earth orbit by forging collaborations to make the frontier of space accessible to all.

Scientific investigations on the surface of the moon uniquely support studies of early Solar System events that have been erased from Earth’s record.

Gateway to the solar system

“We were waiting to see if Chang’e 3 landed successfully and it did! Now we want to champion the moon from the U.S. side,” Clive Neal, a leading lunar scientist at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences told SPACE.com. He is a member of LEAG’s executive committee.

The Destination Moon movement is predicated on the value of exploring the moon, from opening the gateway to the solar system, pioneering development of new technologies, as well as advancing economic expansion, enabling new scientific discoveries and promoting international partnerships.

“The moon is the most accessible destination for realizing commercial, exploration, and scientific objectives beyond low Earth orbit,” the flyer reads.

by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist   |   December 23, 2013 03:32pm ET



Rekindling a human return to Earth’s moon is viewed as opening the gateway to the solar system.
Credit: Dan Durda/FIAAA


China’s Chang’e 3 robotic landing on the moon has helped spur a political crusade in the United States to more aggressively explore and utilize the moon.

At the heart of the campaign is the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), a group chartered by NASA Headquarters to assist in planning the scientific exploration of the moon.  LEAG is organizing a letter writing campaign to Congress to underscore the importance of the moon.

The LEAG scripted strategy is being orchestrated under the banner “Destination Moon” with a key, straightforward goal highlighted in a flyer: “Use the moon to create a sustained human space-faring capability, advancing exploration of the Solar System.”

The flyer is to be sent, along with a cover letter, to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate committees that have influence on NASA funding, and to all the lawmakers of the LEAG executive committee members.

Miri Krismas gid man sang imon, Madame Islander, kung saan ka man naroroon karon ug upod bulahang Bag-ong Tuig!

Ang ilang batasan way kalainan sa ilang mga nawong...

Seattle attorney Andrew Basiago says that when he was a child, he and William Stillings were “chrononauts” in a secret United States government time travel program called Project Pegasus. The purpose of the program was threefoldâ€"to protect Earth from threats from space, to establish territorial sovereignty over Mars, and to acclimate Martian humanoids and animals to our presence.

The best part of Basiago’s and Stillings’ claim, however, is that one of their fellow time travelers was none other than a 19-year-old Barack Obama, who went by the name “Barry Soetero.” In 1980, the three men and seven other youths from their “Mars training class” at California’s College of the Siskiyous (a real institution) traveled to Mars via a top-secret teleportation “jump room” modeled on technical papers found in Nikola Tesla’s apartment after his death. They jumped through a field of radiant energy into a tunnel, and when the tunnel closed, found themselves at their destination.

The White House has officially denied that Obama ever went to Mars. -- http://listverse.com/

Hmm, VP Binay was in Berlin just this past June, Ms. Hof. You would have had the chance to look down on him. Taga-ilok ra tawon siya ni FM Westerwelle.

Kakyut jud, oi...

DAVAO. Anak sa lumad naminaw og kanta sa cellphone sa iyang amahan ug nagpaibog ngadto sa laing bata didto sa Mintal gym, dakbayan sa Davao. (Seth delos Reyes)

MANILA, Philippinesâ€"Television host and Inquirer columnist Solita “Winnie” Collas-Monsod on Thursday said Makati Mayor Junjun Binay was “taking advantage of his position” when he ordered the arrest of three security guards of Dasmariñas Village, Makati City.

Monsod, a resident of the village, said: “The guards were correct… And Mayor Binay was obviously wrong. He was taking advantage of his position and trying to be above the law. And anything that goes above the law is wrong.”

Monsod told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview that she was familiar with the policy of the village restricting access to one of the main gates after 10 p.m.

“His alternative was to go about 150 meters away to the gate that was open. But he wanted to show his…I don’t know,” Monsod said.

“And the fact that his guards pulled out their weapons is…this is an indication of how Binay is going to rule the country,” she added. -- http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/549261/winnie-monsod-guards-were-correct-binay-was-wrong#ixzz2o1jMKbxA

Father and son

Mayor Junjun Binay with Vice President Jejo Binay

Mayor Junjun Binay

This Christmas I plan to focus on little heroes and the hope they bring, instead of on the gremlins who steal our hopes. Join me if you are so inclined in hailing the two guards (still to be named) who stood their ground and the whistleblower who outed the tapes as heroes of the land. They remind us that there is hope for this country despite how many times thugs have stolen hope. They give us a glimpse of the grim future we have to avoid. If more people acted like the two guards, this country would be far ahead.

Let me leave you with one thought.

When you are young, Christmas just magically happens to you. The cool Siberian air, the overcast clouds, and the snippets of carols afford us, without us raising a finger, a transport to the outer reaches of gladness. But as we grow older and more exposed to the tragedies and cruelties in the human condition like the Dasma thuggery, Christmas magic does not just arrive; it gets stolen by the gremlins. The magic comes empty-handed. But we can still touch the high sierras of gladness; we can make Christmas happen. We make Christmas happen by acts of caring and generosity. But everything is in vain without justice.

(The author is a National Scientist of the Philippines and a former dean of the University of the Philippines School of Eocnomics.)

The blue guards who stood up to the Binays to enforce the rules are real heroes in my book. They could have been shot and killed right there but they stood fast. And yet they got the raw end of the deal. I would not be surprised if firing them was not demanded of the security agency. Will Dasma residents turn their backs on these heroes?

Contrast this: When the board of directors of one subdivision along Commonwealth, QC, decided to fire a security guard for reporting the loss of subdivision property and finding the same in the possession of a prominent board member, the residents rose up in collective anger and forced the board to rescind its order.

When the said board member concerned sued the guard for forcible entry, one resident executed an affidavit that said there was no forcible entry and another resident, a lawyer, took up the guard’s case pro bono. Bravo!

But such episodes of celebrating true heroism is all too uncommon. The sad fate of the country is that heroism by small fry gets punished; thuggery by powerful vermin earns them public office. And a proposed exemption from income taxes!

First, the security agency, Right Eight Security, employers of the blue guards, issued a statement of apology to the mayor! And forced the guards to apologize! For what??? For lapses of procedure such as dutifully enforcing rules they are supposed to enforce! Subtext 1: Rules are enforced only for the lowly but not for the high and mighty thugs, or, to paraphrase George Orwell in Animal Farm: "All animals are equal but pigs are more equal than others." Subtext 2: All businesses in Makati doing business with us can be pressured to disengage. So we lick.

Second, the Dasmariňas Village Association president Mr. Pantanga confirmed the incident but can only say that this "... has already been settled."

The police chief said that the arrest and detention was for verification purposes. The DVA showed singular capacity for grovelling before the Binays by keeping mum about the affair.

And we have still to hear from Dasma residents, perhaps because the incident was so well covered up or worse. It is, after all, their rules; they should stand by them and by those who stood up to enforce them. Everyone was cowed to silence!

‘Hindi mo ba ako kilala?’
http://www.bworldonline.com/
Posted on December 19, 2013 09:06:10 PM
By Raul V. Fabella


IN ACCORDANCE with the rules promulgated by the Dasmariñas Village Association (DVA) that no exit be allowed at that gate after 10 p.m. which everyone follows, the blue guards refuse to raise the boom for the four-vehicle convoy of mayor Binay of Makati, reportedly also ferrying a senator Binay of the same family.

"Hindi mo ba ako kilala?" (Don’t you know who I am?) was the threat issued and bodyguards brandished firearms to drive home the point.

A cellphone call by the capo and foot rugs also known as Makati police arrived to arrest the blue guards and detain them for four hours.

How can this be true? Can the CCTV camera be politically motivated? If you haven’t had a heart attack by now but want to experience everything once, read on.

Quote from: islander on December 19, 2013, 09:23:46 PM

Arctic Fox, Canada --- Photograph by Norbert Rosing, National Geographic --- Before dawn, a brilliant full moon illuminates the snowy landscape of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, home to an arctic fox. The fox's coat changes color with the seasons; as the snow melts it begins to turn grayish brown.


http://news.yahoo.com/

Photoshopped...

Sabagay, budlot baya ang simod ni Michelle bisan wa maglagot...

By: InterAksyon.com
December 19, 2013 7:55 PM


MANILA, Philippines - Three Filipino women were reportedly among the six fatalities in a fiery car accident in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, The Star Online reported Thursday.

The Filipino victims were identified as Aileen Siso, 30, Maileen Montejo, 26, and Mary Grace Macaraig, 24, who died after the blue Nissan Skyline they were riding lost control, hit a concrete pillar, and burst into flames near the Kampung Pandan roundabout past midnight Wednesday.

The other fatalities were identified as 40-year-old Simon John Hall, manager of Leighton Offshore, and Myanmar nationals Pi Pi, 20, and Esther Sui, 26.

All of the female victims, except for Siso, reportedly worked as waitresses of a bar in Bukit Bintang, a shopping and entertainment district in Kuala Lumpur.

Hall, the driver of the ill-fated vehicle, was a friend of the five victims, according to the report.

Makes us miss da milyonir...