MikeLigalig.com

Jeane Lim-Napoles in Paris.

On Monday, tens of thousands of people gathered in Manila to protest the scandal. A government investigation and local media discovered muddy mountain tracks where multimillion-peso government-financed roads were supposed to have been built. Other bogus projects include ramshackle buildings that were allegedly modern community centres.

The government says at least 6.1 billion pesos ($140-million) ended up in the pockets of politicians, with bogus organizations being set up to receive the cash. In some cases, relatives of politicians authorizing the payments were the directors of the organizations receiving the money.

Jeane Lim-Napoles posted this photo of herself to her blog with the caption: "the one with the movie awards... what i wore. Baby Pink Herve Leger Dress, Chanel Pumps, Black Chanel Clutch "

The case triggered outrage in the Philippines when photos emerged on social media sites showing Ms. Lim-Napoles’ daughter enjoying lavish vacations in Europe and the United States, posing on a Porsche, in a limousine and even in bathtub full of money, and hobnobbing with celebrities â€" including Canadian teen pop star Justin Bieber.

Filipinos outraged as photos show daughter of woman at centre of corruption scandal enjoying lavish life
Floyd Whaley, The New York Times | 13/08/29 | Last Updated: 13/08/29 9:53 PM ET



Photographs posted on social media sites by Jeane Lim-Napoles, the daughter of Manila businesswoman, Janet Lim-Napoles, show an extravagance that earned the young woman the title “the new Imelda,” after the free-spending wife of the longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos.


The woman at the centre of a wide-ranging corruption scandal in the Philippines surrendered to President Benigno Aquino Wednesday night, ending a nationwide dragnet that had detectives searching airports and yacht clubs.

Janet Lim-Napoles, a wealthy Manila businesswoman, was arrested on a warrant accusing her of the “illegal detention” of a witness who claims she helped divert billions of pesos from poverty-reduction programs into the coffers of lawmakers and their associates. U.S. Justice Department officials are also preparing charges against her related to the scandal.

To demonstrate the usefulness of their discovery, the researchers used the organoids to model the development of a rare neurological condition called microcephalyâ€"in which patients develop an abnormally small head. By modeling the condition in a lab, researchers can reverse engineer it and find out why it develops.

The research team acknowledged that they had not created a full-scale, fully functioning human brain, and that doing so is a long way off.  But, they had accomplished their initial goalâ€"to “analyze the development of human brain tissue and generate a model system…to transfer knowledge from animal models to a human setting.”

Shorter-term implications of this development include the modeling of several neurological illnesses and conditions, and potentially learning new methods for giving brain tissue a boost against them. Farther along, the research may provide pioneering insights into autism, alzhemier’s and depression, among many other diseases and disorders that have stumped medical science.

While we’re far from growing pet brains in petri dishes, we’re now closer than ever to gaining a fuller understanding of how the most complex organ in the known universe works.

http://www.forbes.com/
David DiSalvo, Contributor
PHARMA & HEALTHCARE | 8/29/2013 @ 7:18PM


Groundbreaking brain news from a laboratory in Austriaâ€" for the first time, scientists have managed to grow miniature human brains from stem cells, reports Reuters Health. The implications of this development are massive, not the least of which is eventually understanding the inner workings of severe neurological disorders and how to defeat them.

The researchers started with human stem cellsâ€"the often-controversial, undifferentiated (or “blank”) human cells that are capable of giving rise to a host of differentiated cellsâ€"and cultured them into “cerebral organoids” (more simply, “mini brains”).  Stem cells have been used to grow a variety of organ tissueâ€"including a liver and a tracheaâ€"but never before has brain tissue with multiple, distinct parts been created in a lab.

According to the Reuters report, Juergen Knoblish and Madeline Lancaster at Austria’s Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and fellow researchers at Britain’s Edinburgh University of Human Genetics cultured the stem cells with a cocktail of nutrients, and grew tissue called neuroectoderm â€" a layer of cells in the embryo from which all parts of the brain and nervous system develop.

This tissue was then placed into a spinning bioreactor that circulates oxygen and nutrients, catalyzing the eventual growth of cerebral organoids.  After one month, the tissue had organized itself into basic developing brain regions, including the retina and cerebral cortex. At two months, the tiny organoidsâ€"about4 millimeters longâ€"contained firing neurons and identifiably different types of neural tissue. In essence the scientists had created tiny, primitive human brains.

Since Napoles wants special treatment, this should be extended to her prosecution. Not just in the case of serious illegal detention filed by her relative, for which she has been arrested and is being held without bail, but especially for the accusation that she helped divert billions of pesos from the congressional pork barrel to bogus non-government organizations.

There are several witnesses in the pork barrel scandal and a paper trail has been put together by the Commission on Audit. These should ensure that the case will not become bogged down in the usual glacial pace of Philippine justice, as we are seeing in the ZTE broadband and Maguindanao massacre cases. Based on the COA documents, indictments against Napoles and her alleged cohorts in Congress can be filed ASAP without waiting for senators to finish their probe.

Lawmakers know exactly how the pork barrel system works, and the President has already announced the reforms he intends to carry out to make the budget process transparent and resistant to fund juggling. Lawmakers should not wait to be dragged screaming and kicking toward reforms in their fund utilization.

Filipinos have manifested the desire for sweeping reforms to ensure the judicious utilization of public funds. Those reforms can take root if guilt is established and punishment is imposed on those who misused the people’s money and betrayed public trust. Napoles’ case deserves special treatment, through the speedy administration of justice.

EDITORIAL - Special treatment
(The Philippine Star) | Updated August 30, 2013 - 12:00am





Even in surrendering, Janet Lim-Napoles got royal treatment. No less than the President of the republic accepted her surrender, and it was the presidential security convoy that brought her to the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame, where she is now held without bail.

Palace officials explained that President Aquino’s priority in acceding to the surrender conditions requested by Napoles was to ensure that the state would get custody of the fugitive.

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 06:11:04 PM
hehehe-who-must-not-be-named.

hehehe-who-always-names-himself.

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 06:55:53 PM


armor i do not need.  the force with me is.

Agoi, Obi-wan has turned to the Dark Side. He is now called Darth Vadlong whose mantra is, "I yam vatching jo".

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 06:27:45 PM
let it be homeric so it would come out epic.

Ah, then the hanging fish would be the rosy fingers of Dawn and philosopher cat would be old Priam at the funeral rites of Hector, tamer of horses...

One has to admire the sheer optimism of modern science: I love the fact that there is such a discipline as astrobiology, whose practitioners' task is to imagine what life might be like on other planets. Some have even populated "Goldilocks" planets (not too hot, not too cold), such as Kepler 22B, which may be an even more watery version of Earth, with giant "sky whales" that have evolved to "swim" through its fluid atmosphere. Yet here on the home planet we have profoundly strange aliens of our own. It is in the deepest undersea volcanic vents that we can look back into what life might have been like, at that moment of contamination. How odd that we see those bizarre creatures of the Stygian depths, with their eerie antennae and sightless eyes, and regard them as alien, when they are, after all, our distant ancestors.

And is it not part of our human hubris that we should presume all aliens to be weird versions of ourselves â€" somewhat ignoring the wonderful weirdness we ourselves represent? Hairless apes, pretty much inept at most things, increasingly reliant on the machines we have devised â€" and which in turn now threaten our own destruction.

In 1896, the American astronomer Percival Lowell hypothesised about "Mars as the abode of life". He presumed that an advanced civilisation had flourished on Mars, but was now dying, despite its desperate attempts to re-engineer its climate by using those canals to tap the planet's polar ice caps for water â€" and for all that it had sought to prevail over its environment: "What is found inconvenient or unnecessary to enslave, it would exterminate, as we have obliterated the bison and domesticated the dog." Lowell's vision inspired Wells's nightmare of technologically advanced but rapacious aliens invading Earth to appropriate our own resources. Doubly ironic, then, that we were the real Martians, and that many people â€" including quite a few scientists â€" believe that we're accomplishing that same doomsday scenario with equal rapacity. A century after Lowell, James Lovelock's Gaia theory posited that the planet would outlive its human infestation, shrugging it off as a temporary blight like a plague of greenfly, leaving barely a trace of our insignificent sway behind. As David Bowie, another alien who fell to Earth, sang in Life on Mars: "It's a Godawful small affair."

Long before HG Wells's War of the Worlds threatened the home counties with a Martian invasion, we humans were looking up at the red planet, coursed as it seemingly was by canals constructed by extraterrestrials, imagining the worst. From John Wyndham's scary triffids to Tim Burton's kitsch Mars Attacks!, dystopian science fiction has ever been predicated on the fearful alien other. How ironic to discover that we were the aliens all along.

There are serious questions here. For centuries philosophers have pondered the effect that the discovery of extraterrestrial life might have on human religions â€" could Christianity sustain itself in the light of evidence that we are not alone? After all, Genesis doesn't mention little green men. Yet the Vatican's chief astronomer, Gabriel Funes, recently announced that Catholics should actually welcome aliens as our extraterrestrial brothers, quoting Dante's Inferno as his mission statement: "Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars."

But the notion that the Earth really was invaded from outer space will surely undermine Ukip and its (even) less appealing European confreres. Perhaps Prof Benner's announcement means that all of us should be sent back as illegal immigrants.

If we're all Martians now, who are the aliens?


The idea that Earth was invaded by microbes from Mars challenges human beliefs about life, the universe and everything


Philip Hoare
theguardian.com, Friday 30 August 2013 12.02 BST



An alien from Tim Burton's Mars Attacks: 'dystopian science fiction has ever been predicated on the fearful alien other.' Photograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar


"The evidence seems to be building that we are all actually Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock," Professor Steven Benner told the Goldschmidt meeting, this week's international scientific convention in Florence. The theory that microbes from Mars "infected" the Earth via meteorites, finding conditions here more conducive to their evolution, is nothing new â€" but Prof Benner's theory, that the minerals essential to life's formation were only readily available on Mars, is. Such a notion challenges almost every aspect of human culture, from biology to philosophy and faith â€" and practically every science fiction scenario in the book.

Pwede pud Platonic...

Up until now, scientists have not been able to figure out exactly how human life started on Earth. Benner’s study solves some key issues that have thus far prevented researchers from pinpointing the exact path human elements took that allowed us to turn into people instead of into tar. Organic things, when exposed to light or heat turn into a substance like tar, which could have happened to humans had an element like molybdenum not been available. Benner says his study solves this problem, which he calls the “tar paradox.”

Certain elements seem able to control the propensity of organic materials to turn into tar, particularly boron and molybdenum, so we believe that minerals containing both were fundamental to life first starting. Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently showed that there was boron on Mars; we now believe that the oxidized form of molybdenum was there too.

Benner’s study shows that humans may actually be of Martian origin, so the human race may not be too far off from the old TV show “My Favorite Martian” after all!

Benner explains how the element molybdenum could have been the spark that caused human life to develop:

It’s only when molybdenum becomes highly oxidized that it is able to influence how early life formed. This form of molybdenum couldn’t have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did. It’s yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet.

“The evidence seems to be building that we are actually Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock,” he says. “It’s lucky that we ended up here, as certainly Earth has been the better of the two planets for sustaining life If our hypothetical Martian ancestors had remained on Mars, there might not have been a story to tell.”

Benner says a meteorite traveled from Mars to Earth, and could have been the springboard that began all human life. The meteorite could have arrived on Earth because of a collision or a volcano which could have propelled it through space. Scientists know that to be a definite possibility since there are at least 100 other meteorites that exist on Earth now which are thought to be of Martian origin.

http://guardianlv.com/
Added by Rebecca Savastio on August 29, 2013.





Have you ever met someone who was so weird, you though they were from another planet? Well, you may be right; but, you, too, may also be from another planet-Mars. Steven Benner, a scientist at the Westheimer Institute of Science and Technology says that human beings may actually be of Martian origin. Benner recently gave a speech at a conference for geoscientists, and explained that he thinks the human race sprang up from elements found on Mars, including the element molybdenum, which is not found on earth. This element may be necessary for beginning human life and was available on Mars’ surface. “In addition,” Benner says, “recent studies show that these conditions, suitable for the origin of life, may still exist on Mars.” Benner also presented evidence from a new study he just completed to support his hypothesis.

Retired na galing ni siya...

This long-tailed macaque was caught on camera stealing sweets from a Thai village house. Photo: AFP

A macaque holds a box of soymilk stolen from a house in Khlong Charoen Wai village. (AFP photo)

Long-tailed macaques run off with food stolen from locals in Khlong Charoen Wai village, Chachoengsao province. (AFP photo)

Residents have been forced to seal their houses with nets, lock their windows despite the tropical heat, and secure their property the best they can.

"They pushed over a 21-inch television, which fell and smashed. They even stole a rice cooker, managed to open it and scooped out the rice to eat," said Chatree.

Local authorities tried to curb the monkey raids -- even attempting to sterilise the intruders. But that effort was on too small a scale according to deputy village head Tawin Songcharoen.

"We cannot stop them," he told AFP.

In a recent report, the conservation group said demand for farmland could strip the Greater Mekong region -- Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam -- of a third of its remaining forest cover over the next two decades without swift government action.

Between 1973 -- the first point of available data -- and 2009, Thailand lost some 43 percent of its natural woodland, the WWF said, although it praised the country for its network of national parks.

Khlong Charoen Wai's monkeys spend their days hanging out on the narrow bamboo bridges that meander across the coastal swampland at the edge of the village.

Mothers lounge with babies slung across their chests, while others leap between nearby mangrove trees.

They tend to flee when approached. But when nobody seems to be looking, they climb onto roofs, leaving trails of muddy footprints as they stalk into homes through any openings they can find.

Conservation group WWF said people have encroached on the monkeys' habitat -- not the other way around.

"People have moved closer to nature, that is why there is an increased chance of interaction between human and animals," WWF Thailand director Petch Manopawitr told AFP.

"Macaques can adjust their behaviour quite well -- they learn in similar ways as humans -- and when they know that they can find food in a village, they come."

The spread of villages into formerly dense jungle has caused other clashes between people and beasts in Thailand.

"Wild pigs eat farm plants. But the villagers can also shoot the pigs and eat them," said Petch, adding that elephants and tigers were a less edible source of village disruption.

And the WWF says the problem is accelerating.

Around 150 households in the shrimp farming community in Chachoengsao province on the east coast, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Bangkok, have suffered raids by so-called "sea monkeys" -- long-tailed macaques -- for about a decade.

An increasing number of shrimp farms, coupled with the associated deforestation, is thought to be behind a surge in monkeys venturing into built-up areas.

"They could find food easily in the past but when there is less forest, they have to find food in people's houses," said village headman Chatree Kaencharoen, expressing frustration at some villagers who give food to the incorrigible creatures.

"Sometimes, a few hundred monkeys come at once -- especially at dawn and dusk when it is cooler. They know it is time to be fed," he said.

AFP Apilaporn Vechakij 22 hours ago



Long-tailed macaques sit on bamboo bridges in Chachoengsao province on July 15, 2013.


In a Thai village, homes are raided, property is pinched and locals are attacked by dastardly gangs operating beyond the law -- but the perpetrators are not men, but monkeys.

"They creep into my house when they see me sleeping, they go into the kitchen and take cooking oil, sugar and even the medicines that I hide in a cabinet," said Chaluay Khamkajit, after years battling with pesky primates who are thought to have been drawn into Khlong Charoen Wai village by habitat loss.

"They took my snacks, I can buy new ones, but the medicines are important to me," the 72-year-old said, as she and her husband demonstrated a variety of anti-monkey devices including a homemade lock for the fridge and the more direct deterrent of a sling-shot.

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 10:54:47 AM
aray!  if i were putin, i should complain that the artist didn't make me feminine enough.

He he, mao...

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 10:47:20 AM
kakyuuuutttt!

As in, Botoy kaayog dating?

Veggie tripping ta ron...

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 10:33:16 AM
has he gone away, toy?  i cannot see him...

Sorry, bad website. How about this now?

Mas classy ang mousies...

Wa pud palupig si kitty...

More, more...

Botoy of late...

Quote from: islander on August 30, 2013, 09:10:35 AM
goodah.  let's bask in the sunshine.  but indoor lang ta kay ang skin, hehe.

Hmm, like this?

Philosopher cat pondering on the mystery and melancholy of hanging fish

The Telegraph reports that police haven’t specified which laws were violated by the painting titled “Travesty,” in which a slip-clad Putin combs the hair of a curvaceous Medvedev in a lingerie set. The seizure was characteristic for Putin, known for his lack of humor, unrelenting censorship and inhumane laws, like one that prohibits anyone from insulting state leaders or another that outlaws “homosexual propaganda.”

Police launched the search-and-seizure sans warrants and wound up shutting down the entire gallery, which included risque parodies of President Obama and other world leaders, its manager told reporters.

What’s idiotic, besides the blatant censorship, is that Putin pushed an obscure painting he hates into the national spotlight, catapulting the image from an audience of maybe hundreds to millions across the globe. We call it the Streisand effect, named after the singer who in suing to get a photo of her house off a government website drew national attention to the image.

Anyway, above is the verboten image, the one Putin made famous. Here’s the rest of the gallery. And here’s a collection of more images Putin probably doesn’t want you to mock. Enjoy.

By jennifer-wadsworth@blog.timesunion.com (Jennifer Wadsworth)



Putin and Medvedev all sexy-like. (Photo credit: AP / Yelena Palm, Interpress)


He doesn’t mind fly-fishing half-naked, but Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t stand the sight of him and his buddy, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in nothing but women’s underwear.

Authorities raided the satirical cross-dressing depiction from St. Petersburg’s Museum of Power and shut down the exhibition this week, shortly after the artist, Konstantin Altunin, fled to France for asylum.

Bwahaha! Unforgiven si Ondoy!

2 more senators

During the same hearing, Tan likewise said that two more senators will soon be implicated in the alleged pork barrel scam.

The COA chief said her agency will release next week a report on the Philippine Forest Corp., which will supposedly contain the name of two senators involved in the alleged anomaly.

Senator Franklin Drilon asked Tan to name these two senators, but the COA official said she can't do so pending the release of the audit report.

Tan however said that these two lawmakers to be implicated were "not in the hall" when she made the allegation.

Aside from Drilon and Guingona, the senators who were seen inside the Senate plenary hall at that time were Senators Francis Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Ralph Recto, Bam Aquino, Juan Edgardo Angara, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Aquilino Pimentel III, Grace Poe and Antonio Trillanes IV. â€"  LBG/KBK, GMA News

Tan said NGOs supposedly linked with Napoles are:

-Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc (AEPFFI),
-Agriculture Para sa Magbubukid Foundation, Inc. (APMFI),
-Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development (CARED) Foundation Inc.
-Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Inc. (MAMFI),
-People's Organization for Progress and Development Foundation Inc (POPDFI),
-Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI), and
-Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc. (SDPFFI).

Senator Teofisto Guingona, who chairs the blue ribbon committee doing the probe, said there seems to be a pattern that these NGOs had ghost projects and locations, or that the intended beneficiaries did not receive the items that were supposedly purchased through government funds.

By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA NewsAugust 29, 2013 11:07am


(Updated 5 p.m.) Four senators had channeled over P1 billion of their pork barrel funds to seven non-government organizations linked with businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles from 2007 to 2009, Commission on Audit chairperson Grace Pulido Tan said in a Senate probe Thursday.

According to the COA chief, these lawmakers were Senators Bong Revilla Jr. (P483.49 million), Juan Ponce Enrile (P332.7 million), Jinggoy Estrada (P262.575 million) and Gringo Honasan (P14.55 million).

Tan also said Revilla, Enrile and Honasan confirmed their signatures on documents that disbursed these funds, but Estrada did not give a response.

All four senators earlier denied close ties with Napoles, who surrendered to President Benigno Aquino Wendesday night after weeks of hiding from the law..

Napoles is facing charges of serious illegal detention for the alleged kidnapping of pork-barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.

Quote from: hubag bohol on August 25, 2013, 11:29:47 PM
He he, kini ra ba kunong sobra kauwagan sa bata pa, inigkatiguwang mabajot...

Quote from: hubag bohol on August 26, 2013, 10:04:21 PM
Padingoldingol uroy ang bajot...

Quote from: Chongki on August 27, 2013, 05:58:42 AM

Quote from: taga tigbao on August 27, 2013, 10:33:49 AM
Hahahahahaha.

He he, ang estorlong nagsigi lag estorbot, wa juy estoryot...

Quote from: hubag bohol on August 29, 2013, 07:44:11 PM
"Being a solitary monkey is definitely not a good thing," Garber said.

Mao diay nga monas ginhawa nga moapil sa grupo bisag klaro nga dili welcome...

In this case, the howler likely didn't see the snake, said study lead author Júlio César Bicca-Marques, a researcher at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul. The study suggests that "snakes may play a stronger role as predators of New World monkeys than previously thought," he told LiveScience.

After the snake struck, the victim's companion approached the snake and hit it a handful of times. But the snake showed no reaction, and the other monkey soon withdrew, watching the macabre affair. Seventy-six minutes later, after strangling the monkey to death, the snake ate the howler headfirst.

"According to observations on predation attempts on howler monkeys made by other researchers, howlers often don't do anything to defend the victim," Bicca-Marques said.

It's possible that the monkey might not have been eaten if it had stayed closer to the group. "Being a solitary monkey is definitely not a good thing," Garber said.

Vulnerable to predators

Predation does happen to primates and monkeys, particularly by snakes, large raptors and big cats â€" but it has not been witnessed very often, Garber told LiveScience. That's due in part to the fact that primates live in groups, wherein each member looks out for threats, providing "coordinated predator detection," he said. Primates also generally have good vision that enables them to spot would-be attackers. It's also possible that the presence of scientists watching primates helps drive predators away, he added.

But sometimes the group's defenses are not enough. In this incident, which occurred in the western Brazilian Amazon, an adult female Purús red howler monkey (Alouatta puruensis) was seen climbing away from its group of five other monkeys, trailed by another adult female in the rain forest canopy. Without warning, a hidden boa struck at the monkey, wrapping the primate in the muscular coils of its body and crushing it.

The attack was typical of boa constrictors, which crouch and wait for prey. The snakes have been known to lurk in one place without moving for more than a month, according to the study. Typically boas eat smaller prey, such as rodents and small birds. Most adult female howler monkeys weigh about 13 pounds (6 kilograms), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

LiveScience.com By Douglas Main, Staff Writer 21 hours ago
NatureLiveScience



A boa constrictor eating an adult female Purús red howler monkey. Usually boa constrictors have been known to eat samller animals.


If a snake eats a monkey in the forest and no one sees it, does it make a difference? New evidence suggests that it does.

For the first time, scientists have witnessed a boa constrictor attacking and eating a howler monkey. The finding, and boa-eating-monkey video, is noteworthy since reports of primates being eaten by predators are relatively rare, according to the study, published this month in the journal Primates.

"This may cause us to rethink how vulnerable [these] primates are to predation," said Paul Garber, a primatologist at the University of Illinois, who wasn't involved in the study.

Quote from: balong on August 29, 2013, 04:21:44 PM

Baratohon man ni...

Quote from: Mike Ortega Ligalig on September 01, 2007, 04:32:42 PM
Tubag Bohol encourages free debate, freedom of speech. You can laugh, get mad, and cry here.

Get mad? Not mad as in angry but mad as in insane? Well, one of us does not have to strain to be so, kay kaliwat nang daan...

News of the attack on the boy - who had a cleft palate - instigated outrage from hundreds of Weibo netizens.

“This is extraordinarily vicious,” said one Sina Weibo user. “How and why could someone be so cruel?”

“A truly tragic boy,” said another poster.

Professor Arthur Caplan, a spokesman for Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting who was interviewed by the UK-based Daily Mail for his view on the story, did not rule out the possibility of organ trafficking, saying that Binbin's situation was horrific but unfortunately not surprising.

"In-demand corneas for corrective eyesight operations can be taken from any age and body type," Caplan reportedly said. "Anyone who knows where the corneas are located in the eye can extract them, and I fear for the unsterile conditions and the barbaric methods used, and that infection may add to [Binbin's] suffering."

Binbin is currently still recovering in a Shanxi orthoptic hospital. His is the latest case in a series of organ removal incidents that have occured throughout China, including a mid-August crackdown on a group of black market organ sellers in Wuhan and several cases where teenagers sold their kidneys in illicit transplant operations, using the proceeds to buy iPhones and iPads.

New details revealed by Shanxi authorities have said that these missing cornea reports are incorrect, however, potentially ruling out the possibility of organ traffickers.

No further information has leaked, but police have offered a 100,000 yuan (HK$126,707) reward for information leading to the arrest of the case's sole suspect.

Original reports indicated that the kidnapper was male, but new details, including a testimony from Binbin, have revealed that the suspect is female. Binbin said that she threatened him and had an accent, a sign that she was likely from another province. 

"Don't cry. Don't cry and I won't gouge out your eyes," the kidnapper alledgedly said.

Binbin was drugged and “lost consciousness” before the attacker removed his eyes, state broadcaster China Central Television said on its account on Sina Weibo, China’s foremost online social network.

Six-year-old boy's eyes gouged out in gruesome attack
The Shanxi province boy may have been targeted by organ traffickers
Wednesday, 28 August, 2013, 1:01pm
Jeremy Blum and Agence France-Presse in Beijing


A boy lies on his hospital bed with his eyes covered with bandages as his mother sits next to him in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi province on Tuesday. Photo: AFP


A six-year-old boy in China had his eyes gouged out in a gruesome attack that may have blinded him for life.

The boy, named Binbin, was a native of Linfen city in the mainland's Shanxi province, Xinhua reported. According to his mother, he had gone missing while playing outside his house on the afternoon of 24 August. He was later found covered in blood by family members some three to four hours later.

“He had blood all over his face. His eyelids were turned inside out. And inside, his eyeballs were not there,” his devastated father told Shanxi Television reporters.

The child’s eyes were found nearby but the corneas were missing, early reports said, implying that an organ trafficker may have been behind the harrowing attack.

Quote from: islander on August 29, 2013, 12:38:59 AM
Kapunan said Napoles decided to surrender to the President over fear of her safety following the P10-million reward offered by the government for her arrest.

Luoy baya pud. Posible tuod nga naay gustong motiklo ani niya...

Quote from: Mike Ortega Ligalig on September 01, 2007, 04:32:42 PM
My friends,

We have this deep, passionate concern for an evil-free society. We have witnessed several shocking events in our province and in our city.

Tubag Bohol encourages free debate, freedom of speech. You can laugh, get mad, and cry here.

However, if discussing a topic may jeopardize the solution of a crime or if posting and replying to a topic may compromise the security of certain individuals, I suggest you use Personal Message (PM) in our site. If it is best to talk over a sensitive information outside the website, send a private message to one of our members.

Thank you - Mike

Always a timely reminder...

Agoi, mahimong Napolechon diay...

Yehey!

Fair weather as ‘Nando’ exits
Philippine Daily Inquirer
6:10 am | Thursday, August 29th, 2013



MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image 5:32 a.m., 29 August 2013


MANILA, Philippinesâ€"Fair weather is expected to prevail over the entire country beginning Thursday as tropical storm “Nando” finally exits Philippine territory after almost a week, the weather bureau said on Wednesday.

The storm (international name Kong-Rey) had already passed Batanes Wednesday but the area was still experiencing stormy weather as Nando moved toward Okinawa, said chief forecaster Rene Paciente at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Thus, public storm signal No. 2, indicating 61 to 100 kilometer per hour winds, was still up over the Batanes group, and storm signal No. 1, indicating 45-60 kph winds, over the Calayan and Babuyan group.

Health food na pood...

Ni Darrel A. Carumba/WC (Banat) | Updated August 29, 2013 - 12:00am


CEBU, Philippines - Patay na nga namat-an sa iyang asawa ang  panday  niyang  bana nga gituohang giurom  didto sa barangay Cabcaban sa lungsod sa Barili kagahapon sa ala 1:26 sa kaadlawon.

Ang patay na nga gidala sa tambalanan mao si Romualdo Grado, 33, adunay kapuyo ug mga anak ug usa ka panday nga nagpuyo sa maong lugar.

Si PO1 Florentino Cuadero sa Barili Police Station mibutyag  sa  Banat News   nga  segun  sa nasayran  nila  kang  Loreta Bajenting, hingkod,  nga  kapuyo ni Grado nga  human sa ilang panihapon  nanan-aw og salida sa telebisyon.

Apan  matud  pa ni Bajenting   nga  nahibulong  siya kay  samtang  nagtan-aw  sila  sa salida  sa TV, nagpunay  og  pasalamat  kaniya  si Grado  tungod   sa kabusog   niini  sa  ilang  panihapon.

Nianang mga alas 10:00 sa gabii nangatulog sila ug paglabay sa pipila ka oras namatikdan niya nga nagsigi og  yawyaw  si Grado samtang nahinanok sa pagkatulog.

Apan dihang iyahang  gipukaw nianang pagkakaadlawon namatikdan niya nga namugnaw  na  ang  mga  kamot  niini  ug dili na motubag bisan   giunsa nila og pukaw. Busa  nanangpit  si  Bajenting  sa ilang  silingan ug    nangayo og panabang sa kapolisan. Gisuwayan unta nila kini  paghatud  ngadto  sa Barili District Hospital apan gideklarar sa mga doctor nga dead on arrival (DOA).

Gituohang sa mga doctor nga giurom  si Grado samtang  natulog    nga  maoy usa sa nakaingon sa iyang kamatayon. (BANAT NEWS)

Na hala, ato na lang tiwasan...

By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com) | Updated August 28, 2013 - 12:26pm





MANILA, Phiippines - The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Avelino Razon Jr. and 32 others in connection with the anomalous repair of several light armoured vehicles (LAV) in 2007.

Aside from Razon, the anti-graft court issued arrest warrants against former and incumbent PNP officials , including ex-PNP comptrollers Geary Barias and Eliseo de la Paz.

The court sid that the warrants were served on Wednesday to the respective addresses of the accused.

The Sandiganbayan's 4th Division found probable cause on the cases of malversation through falsification of public documents against the police officials regarding the repair and maintanenace of several LAVs in 2007.

The alleged anomalous transactions fetched a whopping P400 million.

Incas and other pre-Columbian people left behind some extremely puzzling trinkets. Some of the strangest are probably the so-called Ancient Aeroplanes, which are small, golden figures that closely resemble modern jet planes. Originally thought to be zoomorphic (meant to resemble animals), the statues were soon found to have features that look very much like fighter planes’ wings, stabilizing tails, and even landing gears. They were aerodynamic enough that when ancient astronaut believers (allegedly) made model planes with their proportions and fitted them with propellers and (again, allegedly) jet engines, they flew perfectly. All of this has led to speculation that the Incas may have been in contact with (likely extraterrestrial) people who were able to build advanced jet planes, and who perhaps even possessed the technology themselves.

Well, that, or these wonderful statuettes might just be artistic representations of bees, flying fish, or other winged creatures. As always, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. -- http://listverse.com/

If I recall correctly, Vincent killed himself out of passionate boredom.

Pangpalaway...

Arrest warrants were issued against Napoles and her brother in connection with the illegal detention case filed by her former employee and pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.

Napoles and her brother have eluded arrest and remain at large, prompting authorities to urge to the public to carry out a "citizen's arrest" of the embattled businesswoman.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima believes that Napoles and her brother are still in the Philippines.

"All existing leads na nakakalap ng [National Bureau of Investigation] ngayon point to the fact that they are still here but they are hiding," De Lima said Tuesday during the press briefing of the Inter-Agency Graft Coordinating Council.

Siegfred Mison, BI officer-in-charge, said they have coordinated with their counterparts from Indonesia and Malaysia and requested that they be on the lookout for Napoles and her brother.

(philstar.com) | Updated August 28, 2013 - 11:08am


MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday announced a P10-million reward for information that will lead to the arrest of fugitive and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Aquino made the announcement after three yachts allegedly owned by Napoles are now missing as claimed by the Bureau of Immigration.

Napoles is the alleged brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam, accused for setting-up bogus non-government organizations that received lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

A report by the Commission on Audit last week revealed that some NGOs linked to Napoles received the pork barrel of lawmakers from 2007 to 2009.

By Raphael Satter (Associated Press) | Updated August 28, 2013 - 11:07am


LONDON â€" Twerking, the rump-busting up-and-down dance move long beloved on America's hip-hop scene, has officially gone mainstream. It's got the English dictionary entry to prove it.

Britain's Oxford Dictionaries said the rapid-fire gyrations employed by U.S. pop starlet Miley Cyrus to bounce her way to the top of the charts had become increasingly visible in the past 12 months and would be added to its publications under the entry: "Twerk, verb."

Although Cyrus's eye-popping moves at Monday's MTV Video Music Awards may have been many viewers' first introduction to the practice, Oxford Dictionaries' Katherine Connor Martin said "twerking" was some two decades old.

"There are many theories about the origin of this word, and since it arose in oral use, we may never know the answer for sure," Martin said. "We think the most likely theory is that it is an alteration of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar ways, with dancers being encouraged to 'work it.' The 't' could be a result of blending with another word such as twist or twitch."

"Twerk" will be added to the dictionary as part of its quarterly update, which includes words such as "selfie," the word typically used to describe pouty smartphone self-portraits, "digital detox" for time spent way from Facebook and Twitter, and "Bitcoin," for the nationless electronic currency whose gyrations have also caught the world's eye.

Oxford Dictionaries is responsible for a range of reference works, including Oxford Dictionaries Online, which focuses on modern usage, and the historically-focused Oxford English Dictionary, which probably won't be adding "twerk" to its venerable pages any time soon.

The definition: "Twerk, v.: dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance."

Also, the groups claimed the deportees needed medical attention and counseling.

Many had symptoms of depression such as “attempted suicide, insomnia, skin disorders, ulcer, aches and difficulty in breathing,” they added.

Both groups met with key Philippine government agencies Tuesday and conveyed their findings, the CBCP said.

"There are about 200,000 Filipinos living and working in Japan, with additional 5,700 undocumented," the CBCP added.

Last July 6, Japan deported 75 illegal Filipino migrants. The CBCP said Japan for the first time chartered a plane to implement the mass deportation.

However, supporters from Japan and the Philippines such as the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and the Scalabrini Migrants Center feel "the deportees’ urgent needs and concerns are not met and that they would fall into poverty without proper assistance."

“They have no money to start a new life, with some who are left under the care of their relatives with meager income, while others have no family or relatives to return to,” they added.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/
Wednesday, August 28, 2013


MANILA â€" The International Catholic migrant welfare groups expressed concern Tuesday over what they called the inhumane deportation of undocumented Filipinos in Japan.

“We question and oppose the forced mass deportation of the 75 undocumented Filipino migrants because we found that their human rights were violated and their welfare is disregarded,” the Catholic Commission of Japan Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move (J-CaRM) said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site Tuesday.

J-CaRM is a sub-commission within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan’s (CBCJ) Commission on Society, the CBCP said.

Last Aug. 20 to 26, J-CaRM and the Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ) interviewed the deportees to check on their reintegration into Filipino society.

“Their physical and psychological conditions deteriorated while in detention. Having lived in Japan for more than a decade, they feel alienated and helpless in their home country, and they are afraid to even venture out to the streets,” they said.

Quote from: islander on August 28, 2013, 11:01:38 AM
seriously, what a beautiful bird.  so who wants to eat black chicken meat?

Medicinal baya kuno ang unod nga patani...

Islander kaayog dating bataa, nginisihan pay imo...

He he, GOP bitaw kaayog dating ondoya...