MikeLigalig.com

The Jackson Hole study highlights a shift in conventional economic thinking, which used to champion an open flow of money between countries, regardless of the consequences.

"Macroprudential policies are necessary to restore monetary policy independence for the non‐central countries," wrote Helene Rey, professor at the London Business School. "They can substitute for capital controls, although if they are not sufficient, capital controls must also be considered."

That, said the study, is because countries with floating exchange rates, the dominant global practice, would be abdicating their control over interest rates and credit creation from sources outside their control.

"Independent monetary policies are possible if - and only if - the capital account is managed, directly or indirectly, via macroprudential policies," Rey said. These can take many forms, including efforts to restrain credit growth in particular areas of the economy.

Reuters â€" 14 hours ago
By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa


JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - Emerging market nations can be adversely affected by large swings in investment and, therefore, must develop tools to control credit flows or risk relinquishing any independent monetary policy, a study shows.

These findings were presented at the Kansas City Federal Reserve's monetary policy symposium at Jackson Hole, which highlighted the global impact of the unconventional monetary policy of the United States and other major central banks.

Many countries, including India and Brazil, have recently experienced steep sell-offs in their currencies, linked in part to the prospect that the Fed might soon dial down the pace of its bond-buying monetary stimulus.

AFP 2 hours ago



An Australian saltwater crocodile.


A 24-year-old man was snatched by a crocodile in front of at least 15 onlookers as he swam across a northern Australian river with a friend, police said Sunday.

Northern Territory police said the man was with a group celebrating a birthday at the Mary River Wilderness Retreat, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) from Darwin, on Saturday when he decided to plunge into the water.

"They were watching him swim across," senior sergeant Geoff Bahnert told AFP of the group.

"And they just saw a crocodile with him in its jaws."

It might lessen the blow to know there are exceptions, but here’s the blunt truth.

Unless you are well-known, famous, or a celebrity in your own right, nobody cares about you, your experiences, or your opinions.

Unless you’re doing something interesting, involved in something extraordinary, doing something that can affect a massive group or cause, or provide a service where your opinion or your experience matters (i.e. a psychic, a doctor, a journalist, a politician, an activist, expert, etc.), people will skim or skip whatever you’ve written especially if you begin your piece with I, me or my.

Why we get bored

You probably skimmed (or skipped) the first two paragraphs because you wanted to get to the point. And that’s my point exactly. You didn’t click on this post to know more about me and mine. You clicked to get information, to satisfy a curiosity, to know WHY. And the reason is…

No one cares about you.

As harsh as it sounds, it’s true. No one cares about YOU, the world only cares about what it can get FROM you. I know it sounds negative, but there’s a lot to learn from the negatives. Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows and sometimes it helps to know the harsh truths.

Why Blogging about Yourself is Boring
from http://leslieleesanders.com/


When I browse titles of articles and blog posts, I look for headlines that jump out at me, a title that states something similar to the information I’m seeking at that particular time. For example, if I’m looking for tips on writing great headlines, the article titled “How to Write Great Headlines” catches my eye.

When I begin reading the article, I’m expecting the answers to my questions immediately. I mean, that’s the point in reading the article, right? So when I have to skim through several paragraphs of, “Me, I, we, us,” etc., I immediately get bored. Just get to the point already!

Quote from: islander on August 25, 2013, 12:45:33 PM
this is great.  what a piece.  i've always wondered why people express their discomfort in their own insignificance by imagining an internet audience is interested in their lives.

Agoi, naay gibali-balig tamparos ani. Hmm, "discomfort in their own insignificance"? How apt...

Hmm, substitute "Tubag Bohol" for "Facebook"--and this becomes a sound piece of advice for you-know-who.

What's more, the pigeons that raised them would be a different species, with differing mothering techniques. "The environment is different in every respect," Ehrenfeld said.

Temple took a more moderate view. "If we're going to try to do this seriously, it's probably in everyone's best interest that the early attempts have a high probability of success," he said.

Resurrecting a creature like the passenger pigeon or woolly mammoth has a strong appeal to the public's imagination, Temple said. "But the species that are often hyped don't meet those criteria at all," he said.

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 11:45 a.m. ET August 19 to correct the age when woolly mammoths existed.

The prospect of bringing species back from extinction would lead Congress to support the destruction of natural habitats, because animals that go extinct could be revived in a lab, Pimm told LiveScience.

Most species are going extinct in tropical forests, Pimm said. Saving a species through de-extinction when humans are burning forests and destroying native communities is a joke, he said.

Biologist David Ehrenfeld of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, agrees de-extinction would impede conservation. "It's very negative, very expensive and not going to achieve any conservation goal as far as I can see," Ehrenfeld said.

For example, the passenger pigeon was a very social bird known to form flocks of millions. When their numbers dwindled to a few thousand, the birds stopped breeding, Ehrenfeld told LiveScience. De-extinction methods would produce just a handful of birds, so "who's to say they would reproduce?" he said.

The challenges aren't trifling. Even if researchers succeed in creating a mammoth, passenger pigeon or other extinct creature, it has to survive in the wild. This means having the right food and habitat, and evading predators â€" especially humans.

Conservation controversy

Critics of de-extinction say reviving extinct animals would do more harm to conservation efforts than good.

"I don't think it has any merit at all," said conservation ecologist Stuart Pimm of Duke University, N.C. "It totally ignores the very practical realities of what conservation is about."

Woolly mammoths next?

Other scientists dream of bringing back a beast that roamed the Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago: the woolly mammoth. Well-preserved mammoths have been dug out of the Siberian tundra containing bone marrow, skin, hair and fat. If a living mammoth cell were found, it could be grown in a lab and coaxed to form an embryo. The embryo could be implanted into the closest living relative of mammoths, an elephant, which would give birth to a baby mammoth.

Finding a living mammoth cell is very unlikely. But South Korean biomedical engineer Insung Hwang hopes to find just a cell nucleus and produce a clone from it, like Dolly the sheep. The nucleus would be implanted into an elephant egg whose nucleus had been removed. But this is no easy feat â€" no one has yet successfully harvested an elephant egg.

You can't simply clone a passenger pigeon museum specimen, because they no longer have fully intact genomes. But there could be another way: Using fragments of the passenger pigeon DNA, scientists could synthesize the genes for certain traits and splice the genes together into the genome of a rock pigeon.

The cells containing the passenger pigeon DNA could be transformed into cells that produce eggs and sperm, which could be injected into rock pigeon eggs. The pigeons that hatched would be rock pigeons, but their offspring would resemble passenger pigeons. Scientists could then breed these birds and select for specific traits, as a dog breeder might. Eventually the resulting offspring would appear very much like the passenger pigeon.

But that's not the only extinct animal scientists have their sights on reviving.

"We can use some of these techniques to actually help endangered species improve their long-term viability," said ecologist Stanley Temple of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Where it gets controversial is when we start talking about species that have been extinct for a very long period of time," Temple said.

Reviving the passenger pigeon

The passenger pigeon filled the skies of North America in flocks of millions during the 19th century. But hunting and habitat destruction steered the birds to extinction. The world's last passenger pigeon, Martha, died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio.

But what if scientists could bring them back? Writer and environmentalist Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, and his wife Ryan Phelan, founder of the genetics company DNA Direct, wondered if it were possible. Working with Harvard biologist George Church, they figured out a possible way to revive passenger pigeons.

LiveScience.com
Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer 12 hours ago


The passenger pigeon, the dodo and the woolly mammoth are just a few of the species wiped off the Earth by changing environments and human activities.

Now, advances in biotechnology could enable scientists to bring extinct animals back from the grave. But critics argue the practice would only hinder conservation efforts, by resurrecting creatures that could not survive in the wild.

First popularized by Michael Crichton's novel "Jurassic Park," the process of de-extinction has become more than a sci-fi concept. In 2003, biologists brought back a Pyrenean ibex by making a clone of frozen tissues harvested from the last of these goats. The clone died within minutes of its birth due to a lung deformity, but the experiment proved de-extinction was possible.

Quote from: hubag bohol on August 20, 2013, 08:48:10 AM
Counting The Mad

So far, only one. Daghan lang og personalities...

Discreet jud hinuon tuod...

The nine so-called "sex boxes" will be available to prostitutes and their clients from Monday onwards, in a former industrial zone in the west of the city.

Inspired by a similar initiative in Germany, the Zurich authorities want to alter the image of the city's Sihlquai district, where sex workers openly ply their trade each night, to the dismay of residents.

"Prostitution is a business basically. We cannot prohibit it, so we want to control it in favour of the sex workers and the population," said Mr Michael Herzig, director of social services for sex workers in the city.

Published on Aug 25, 2013   
12:56 AM



A man standing in front of a so-called "sex box" during a tour on an open day at a sex drive-in, west of Zurich on August 24, 2013. A year after voters backed the plan to ban street street walkers from the city centre in a bid to make prostitution safer for both sex workers and customers, a sex drive-in will be officially opened on August 26. After passing a check-in gate drivers, who must be alone in their vehicles, follow a marked route, negotiate a rate with one of the 40 prostitutes stationed there and drive on to one of nine partially enclosed wooden booths to have sex. The facility includes a social room, toilets and showers for the working women, who have to buy a "worker ticket" each evening. Panic alarms are also installed in the wooden sheds. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


ZURICH (AFP) - As the Swiss city of Zurich opens the country's first sex drive-in to better regulate prostitution and move the sex trade outside the city centre, residents, politicians and sex workers remain divided over the scheme.

Main road of Monkey Bay

Kompleto sa witwit...

Wa may tag-iya nga nag posing2x...

Sus, kakyut ni baby kitty. Morag si Botoy...

Quote from: bugsay on August 25, 2013, 09:34:12 AM
nangawat ug kalipay?...

He he, mao. Kalipay nga idlas tungod kay gigugol ang panahon pagbugtaw sa tingusbawan...

Kang kinsa kaha ni...

Cool...

Calls for a Million People March on Monday took shape in a social networking site after netizens expressed outrage over the P10-billion pork barrel scam involving senators and congressmen accused of pocketing public funds through fake nongovernment organizations put up by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Asked if he personally knew Napoles, Estrada said, “Before, I saw her in one party.”

A Commission on Audit report showed that his son, Senator Jose “Jinggoy”  Estrada, had given P191.58 million out of his PDAF to NGOs linked to Napoles.

Asked what advice he would give his son regarding the controversy, Estrada said: “Face the music, just like the way I faced the music.”

Estrada himself was ousted from Malacañang through a similar mobilization dubbed “Edsa II” in 2001, over allegations that he received payoffs from “jueteng” (an illegal numbers game). He was convicted of plunder in September 2007 and pardoned weeks later by his successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Even when I was President, I never stopped all those rallies in front of Malacañang. At my first Sona, I let them inside,” he recalled during an interview with Inquirer editors and reporters Thursday night.

He was referring to his first State of the Nation Address in 1998, during which he said that the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as pork barrel, should be abolished.

“Projects should belong to the executive. Legislators are there to make laws,” Estrada said.

By Erika Sauler
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:49 am | Saturday, August 24th, 2013



THE REAL PORK WORTH KEEPING. Even at this evacuation center for flood victims in Barangay Banaba in San Mateo, Rizal province, for sure they still get to talk about the P10-billion pork barrel scam. One look at this portly refugee can get the conversation going. JOAN BONDOC


MANILA, Philippines â€" Even without a permit, he would allow the August 26 Million People March at Luneta, said former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.

“It’s a free country. (People are) free to express their sentiments. No need to get a permit as long as they ensure that the rally will be peaceful,” said Estrada, whose son Jinggoy is among the lawmakers being linked to the pork barrel scam, the main issue behind the expected huge gathering on Monday.

Unggoy ang nanguna. Talaw lagi...

Hmm, abi lang naa tay discrimination...





He he...

Gigi’s birthday

Luy said that Napoles once boasted to them that she was the one who paid for the 50th birth anniversary party of Reyes at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel last year.

Luy, who acted as Napoles’ bookkeeper, was able to save records of the transactions from an old computer that they kept after JLN Corp. upgraded its equipment.

The documents were eventually submitted to the NBI.

“It was providential that she changed computers and she gave the old ones to us,” Luy said. With a report from Norman Bordadora

“There were no conduits with the other congressmen because we know they talked to Madame Janet personally,” Luy said.

He said some of the congressmen visited the JLN office at Discovery Center to get their money.

“Others were done through fund transfer bank to bank, others in checks and others wanted managers checks,” Luy said.

“Madame Janet, or she would instruct us to follow up (the letters) to expedite the process,” Luy said.

The whistle-blowers also said that most of the congressmen who conducted transactions with Napoles did not appoint conduits.

“It’s they who appeared in the documents and who made the follow-up,” Luy said.

He said only Manalo was listed as a conduit for Napoles in the House of Representatives.

“These were letters of release of funds for the [Department of Budget and Management] and the letter of endorsement to the implementing agency,” the whistle-blowers said.

Apart from letters of endorsement, the conduits also issued certificates of acceptance of delivery on behalf of the lawmakers, the whistle-blowers said.

The conduits for Napoles produced two kinds of letters, they said.

One letter was for the release of PDAF funds for the DBM and another was an endorsement addressed to the head of the implementing agency, they said.

Sample transactions

Baligod furnished the Inquirer with copies of sample transactions of the conduits, but requested that only one sample transaction be published for each conduit.

The record showed Corpuz also received P630,000 from JLN “for media.”
Cambe received P9.5 million on April 11, 2007, drawn from a P20 million project of Revilla in 2008.

Luy’s record also showed that Tuason received P60 million, but it was not clear if she received it for Enrile or Estrada.

The whistle-blowers’ lawyer, Levito Baligod, requested that the name of the courier not be disclosed for security reasons.

Part of the evidence that Napoles submitted to the Department of Justice in the illegal detention case involving Luy was a ledger that showed Corpuz, a staff in Sotto’s office, took an advance of P2.750 million on a P10 million project.

But the project fell through, so the advance would be “offset from the next program listing in 2013.”

“We never dealt with Attorney Gigi and Ruby Tuason, because it was only Madame Janet who talked to them. But the other senior staff, we spoke to them and even exchanged e-mails (with them),” he said.

“The e-mails were usually letters addressed to heads of implementing agencies, which we crafted for their approval,” he said.

The whistle-blowers said Evangelista’s role was to provide documentation to JLN.

“We had no knowledge if Evangelista received money from Napoles, but we know that bags of money were being brought to the house of Attorney Gigi by one of the employees,” Luy said.

Contact persons

Luy said the conduits were also the contact persons of employees of Napoles’ JLN Corp. in the offices of the senators.

“We talked to them personally to follow up endorsement letters from the senators,” Luy said.

He said the conduits had authority to sign the letters on behalf of the senators.

Luy said he and the other JLN employees never dealt directly with Reyes, but talked and exchanged e-mails with the other conduits.

Enrile was not immediately available for comment, but an earlier text message from his former chief of staff, Reyes, involving another issue indicated her denial of being a “contact” of Benhur Luy, when he was involved in the racket.

In another controversy earlier this year, Enrile said that he had authorized his former chief of staff to sign documents on his behalf.

“I do not know Benhur Luy and I challenge him to prove his claim that I am ‘their contact’â€"whoever he was referring to,” Reyes said.

Luy is the principal witness in the pork barrel scam.

Marcos’ staff said his phone was out of the coverage area, while the staff of Revilla said he was in the middle of relief distribution in Laguna.

Senator Estrada’s chief of staff, lawyer Raquel Mejia, confirmed that Labayen is connected with their office.

“She is the appointment secretary of the senator.  As for Ruby Tuazon, we don’t have any staff by that name,” Mejia said in a text message.

“The senator had not read nor heard of the allegations about Ms. Labayen’s connection or relation with Ms. Napoles,” Mejia added.

The other senators had yet to comment on the whistle-blowers’ statements as of press time last night.

Legarda said, “Any person outside of my office who claims to be handling my projects is unauthorized and indulging in malicious and vicious imputations and should be held criminally liable.”

She added, “We continually conduct due diligence as we always do in the monitoring of all our projects.”

Sotto said he knew a Jen Corpuz, but denied having links to Napoles.

“The Jen Corpuz I know is with the media and helps my office in our media requirements.  I’m not aware of any Napoles connection to my office,” Sotto said in a text message.

They also named a certain Mae Catherine Santos as Napoles’ connection to Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda.

The whistle-blowers did not link Legarda and Sotto to Napoles’ alleged racket in their earlier disclosures.

Legarda said Mae Catherine Santos was neither a member of her staff nor a consultant to her.

“I know her as she has been in the government, in the National Anti-Poverty Commission,” Legarda said.  “Anyone who uses my name or my office may be held criminally liable,” she said in a text message.

Asked if she denies any dealing with any nongovernment organization associated with Napoles, Legarda said, “I do not know any of these people and have never dealt with them.”

7 Napoles conduits named in NBI affidavits
Whistle-blowers say staff signed for solons
By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:57 am | Sunday, August 25th, 2013


Senior staff members of four senators and a staff member of a congressman served as conduits for channeling funds to Janet Lim-Napoles, according to the whistle-blowers in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

In affidavits submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the racket allegedly masterminded by Napoles, the whistle-blowers identified the conduits as Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Gonzales-Reyes, chief of staff of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile; Jose Antonio Evangelista, Enrile’s deputy chief of staff; Pauline Labayen, deputy chief of staff of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada; Richard Cambe, chief political adviser to Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.; Jen Corpuz, a member of the staff of Sen. Vicente Sotto III; and Lourd Dexter D. Manalo, chief of staff of former Rep. Conrado Estrella.

The whistle-blowers also named Ruby Tuason, former social secretary of former President Joseph Estrada, now mayor of Manila, as Napoles’ conduit in the offices of Enrile and Senator Estrada.

He he...

Why there are still monkeys? Ambot bitaw nganong nia man lang gihapon...

Quote from: taga tigbao on May 31, 2013, 04:51:54 PM

He he, unggoy bitaw. Mao rang unggoya...

Living standards

In March 2003, the then-Malawian President Bakili Muluzi held a rally in Monkey Bay, and promised to help reduce poverty. The charity Save the Children are active in the Monkey Bay area. According to a German development volunteer working with the Back to School Foundation, the residents of Monkey Bay are not living at the poverty line, but at the existence line. Houses are simple clay cottages, and few households can afford electricity, as the connection costs alone are three times the average monthly wage.

The Million-People protest aims to see the pork barrel scrapped, and for the senators and congressmen involved in the alleged pork-barrel scam “investigated and charged accordingly, with full media coverage for the people to see.”

The protest march was still scheduled to continue, despite Friday's announcement by President Benigno Aquino III that the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel was abolished as protesters were concerned that the government's move was merely cosmetic. “We were heard but we want him to listen. We have more to say,” read an announcement in the protest's web page.

Elsewhere, other cities said they would be joining Monday's protest as they will have paralel marches. Puerto Princesa Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete, and Iloilo cities have said that they, too, would hold Monday protests. â€" Rie Takumi/DVM, GMA News

Meanwhile, the National Parks and Development Committe was apprehensive over the protesters' insistance that there be no sole organizer for the event, as it would make it difficult for fines to be handed out if park facilities were damaged.

Margaux Salcedo, spokesperson for Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said that the mayor would allow the march to go ahead despite the lack of a permit, but with police supervision.

“There will be police on standby but he respects freedom of expression and will not interfere as long as the gathering is peaceful,” she said.

Since the Million People March event page was created in August 17, thousands have said they were joining the protest. According to the event page, the number of people who have so far said they were joining was at 16,317.

Marchers, Manila police gird for Monday's pork-barrel protest
August 25, 2013 1:23am



Activists prepare for anti-'pork' rally on August 26 . Despite President Aquino's announcement calling for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), activists gather on Mendiola Bridge on Friday, August 23, to urge the public to join the August 26 'Million People March' against the pork barrel system at the Luneta Park. Benjie Castro


Representatives of groups joining Monday's Million People March, a protest against the allegedly graft-ridden pork barrel fund, met with top officials of the Manila Police District Saturday to discuss security arrangements.

Manila police were on full alert by Saturday afternoon in anticipation of the protest march, with a part of Roxas Boulevard from T.M. Kalaw to P. Burgos to be closed by 9 a.m. of Monday.

Agoi, magubot ang Pinas tungod sa nationwide anti-pork protests aning adlawa...

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, the LPA was spotted 330 kilometers east of Surigao City. It is said to be embedded along the monsoon trough and would affect Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

NDRRMC spokesman Maj. Rey Balido said the LPA is expected to bring moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms over Visayas and regions of Northern Mindanao that may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

“Residents (there) are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures,” Balido said.

The Department of Health (DOH), for its part, issued an alert for people with leptospirosis.

“Symptoms of leptospirosis are expected to start coming out this weekend so we’re also expecting to see people coming to hospitals. We don’t want them to ignore leptospirosis,” DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said.

Tayag warned leptospirosis could lead to renal failure, which can be reversed if treated immediately and properly. Otherwise, the illness could become fatal.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that can be acquired by getting in contact with water or soil contaminated with the urine of infected animals, particularly rats.

In the early stages, it could be characterized by high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, redness of the eyes, chills, jaundice or yellowish skin, abdominal pain, hemorrhage in the skin and mucous membranes, diarrhea, vomiting and rash. â€" With Evelyn Macairan, Sheila Crisostomo

Flashfloods, landslides may hit Visayas, Mindanao
By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 25, 2013 - 12:00am





MANILA, Philippines - Possible flash floods and landslides may threaten parts of Visayas and Mindanao due to the low pressure area (LPA) hovering near Surigao province, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said yesterday.

The NDRRMC issued the warning as the state weather bureau said the LPA has an equal chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next 24 hours.

If it becomes a tropical depression, it would be locally called “Nando,” said Alvin Pura, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

May reklamo? Bigyan ta ka ron...

He he, duda ko nga naay special rules ni nga basketball. Mokatkat dagway sa lubi aron maka-shoot...

Geography

Monkey Bay is on the shore of Lake Malawi and is one of the lake's main ports. It is at an elevation of 1,630 feet (500 m).

Monkey Bay is situated 4 miles (6.4 km) away from Chimpamba, 2 miles (3.2 km) away from Zambo, 1 mile (1.6 km) away from Msumbi and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) away from Mbalamanja.

Bwahaha!

Cool...

Included in the presidential pork funds are:

Calamity fund for typhoon victims
Contingency fund for overseas Filipino workers affected by unrest abroad
Money for emergency response by the police and the military
Pension funds
Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of LGUs
Debt servicing

“It is not practical for the executive branch to go to Congress during an emergency situation to get the appropriate budget that’s why special funds are created in the budget,” he said.

Abad appealed to those “claiming to be experts on the budget” to stop putting the President in bad light by muddling the issue on the abolition of the pork barrel system.

By Julliane Love De Jesus
INQUIRER.net
6:27 pm | Saturday, August 24th, 2013


MANILA, Philippinesâ€"Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad on Saturday defended the presidential pork barrel, saying it is necessary so the Palace could act swiftly during emergency situations.

Amid allegations that the P10 billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers was funnelled to dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs), President Benigno Aquino on Friday announced that “it’s time to abolish pork.”

Aquino’s speech in Malacañang garnered criticisms from several groups, public officials and netizens questioning the P449.95 billion worth of President’s Social Fund (PSF) earmarked for the 2014 national budget.

The budget chief backed the lump sum nature of the presidential pork, saying it is needed to allow the Palace to respond promptly to “emergency situations.”

The plot thickens...

Hmm, naa ba kaha puy Bohol version ani nga anti-pork barrel protests karong Lunes...

Youth and civil society groups

Aside from the local protests set by citizens, many youth and civil society groups will also join the Monday protests.

Among the various organizations who have called on their members to march are: Freedom of Information Youth Initiative (FYI), Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, Christian Convergence for Good Governance (CCGG), EcoWaste Coalition (EWC) and Simbahang Lingkod Bayan.

Top universities have also expressed their support for the protest.

On August 22, De La Salle University (DLSU) President Br Jose Mari Jimenez, FSC wrote an open letter to the De La Salle community inviting Lasallians to “renew (their) commitment to good governance” by participating in the mass action on Monday.

Lasallians are encouraged to wear white shirts and green armbands. They are set to meet at the Cory Aquino Democratic Space of the DLSU Manila campus at 7:30 am before marching to Luneta.

Ateneo de Manila University ADMU students are also spearheading campaigns to support the anti-pork barrel protest.

#TayoAngBoss was started to encourage students to attend the Luneta protest. Free transportation will be provided for limited students on a sign up basis.

The Million People March Against Pork Barrel first started on a Facebook page created after news on the alleged grave misuse of pork barrel broke out. -with reports from Karlos Manlupig, Allan Rey Camata/ Rappler.com

Protests spring



Poster of Cebu Peaceful Protest Against the Pork Barrel


In Cebu City, netizens organized the Cebu Peaceful Protest Against the Pork Barrel set on Monday. Protesters will meet at Fuente Osmeña and then march to Plaza Independencia.

Palaweños will also stage a protest in Baywalk, Puerto Princesa. Protesters are encouraged to wear white. Palawan and the national government are currently in a wealth-sharing dispute over the Malampaya funds.

In Cagayan De Oro, the Kagay-anon Kontra Sa Korap protest is set to happen in Gaston Park at 2 pm on Monday.

Similarly, Ilonggos will also join the movement. The local protest will start at 9 am on August 26 in Plaza Libertad in Iloilo City.

In Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Negrosanons Kontra Korapsyon will stage the protest called “Tipon Tipon Sa Lagoon” in front of the provincial capitol building.

Dumagueteños will also stage a protest in Dumaguete City’s Rizal Boulevard on Monday, 9 am.

Similar protests have also been organized in Dagupan City, Baguio City, and Digos City, Davao Del Sur.

Davao protest

Davaoeños are also planning to mobilize on National Heroes Day. Various posts circulating on Facebook urge residents to participate in a gathering on Monday morning at the city’s Rizal Park.

Several social networking site users are pooling in resources for the materials that will be used in the protest. No group has claimed leadership of the campaign, making it a public initiative.

Militant groups under Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region will also stage a march protest around the city on August 26 to express their support in the clamor to end corruption.

“This is to show our unity for the junking of the pork barrel system and to make the politicians and businessmen involved in the scam pay for syphoning people’s money,” Bayan-SMR spokesperson Sheena Duazo said.

Ateneo de Davao University expressed its support for the campaign calling for the abolition of the pork barrel system.

President Fr Joel Tabora SJ in his Twitter and Facebook accounts on August 23, encouraged Catholic schools, workers and professionals in the city to join the protest march in Davao City.

"Let working people think of money withheld in taxes from their salaries, then come to Rizal Park Monday in indignation versus PDAF corruption," Tabora said.

Naga movement

In Naga City, Camarines Sur local civil rights groups and individuals organized “Halion an Pork Barrel! Naga March,” a protest set to happen at 9 am in Plaza Rizal.

The movement was initiated by Victor Dennis Nierva through a Facebook post, which was later picked up by various local rights groups and concerned citizens.

Nierva said the protest is a fitting tribute to the late Jesse Robredo, a former mayor of Naga, known for his good governance record.

Jan Rev Davila, an online coordinator for the event, said the protest will supplement the Luneta protest.

“We need to call for reforms, and we need to say it the loudest way possible. I believe the Luneta rally won't be enough, the clamor must be held throughout the country. After all, the effects of all plundering of the people's money are felt even in the outskirts,” Davila said.

BY DAVID LOZADA
POSTED ON 08/24/2013 4:47 PM  | UPDATED 08/24/2013 6:01 PM



NATIONWIDE. Filipino from different provinces will join the anti-pork barrel protest on August 26. Photo by Leanne Jazul/ Rappler


MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos nationwide will hold anti-pork barrel protests in different provinces and cities in solidarity with the Million People March Against Pork Barrel at the Luneta on National Heroes Day, August 26.

This, despite President Benigno Aquino III’s announcement on Friday, August 23, of plans to overhaul the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Agoi, kalami! Pero di ba kaha ni makapangag...

Kyut jud, oi. Hinuon, naay laing linalang nga mas kyut pa ani...

In case you didn’t hear the breaking news yesterday, the RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg (in 1912). Of the 2,435 passengers and crew aboard, only 705 survived. One of those people was Charles Joughin, a chef. On the night of the accident, he ordered his fellow crew to hand out food and supplies to the women and children in the lifeboats, after which he retreated to his cabin and drank several tumblers of whiskey. The ship sank, and Joughin found himself treading in the icy water. Luckily for him, the alcohol in his bloodstream was able to kept him feeling warm for several hours until he was found and pulled into a lifeboat. -- http://listverse.com/

May araw ka rin, unggoya ka...

Quote from: Raquelproud boholana on August 24, 2013, 11:47:53 AM
wow generous jud ka Toy

Salamat, Raqz. Pero mas generous jud ang mokatkat unya mopungko sa ring dayon mosabwag og kwarta aron ilogan sa katawhan...

He he, wais pud...

Gu registered a company in 2000 with Devillers to buy the six-bedroom villa in the French Riviera, with a view to secure the financial future of, Gu Kailai and Bo Xilai's son, Bo Guagua.

Gu, wanting to distance herself from the company, transferred her half of the company to Neil Heywood in 2007.

But by early-2011, Heywood and Gu had began to fall out, and Gu wanted to transfer the 50 per cent share to the girlfriend of Xu Ming to manage.

Devillers said this prompted Heywood to demand 1.4 million pounds or he would "expose everything".

"I've never seen Neil so angry before," Devillers said. "He was saying he was lied to and was fooled by her."

It was during this period that Gu said she began to fear for her son's safety, which ultimately led her to murder Heywood on November 15, and in turn set in train China's worst political scandal in a generation. - Sydney Morning Herald

But Bo Xilai angrily contested her version of events, saying that Gu Kailai after becoming "insane", had been pressured by investigators to implicate him.

"How much of her testimony is credible?" he said. "Gu Kailai's changed, she's gone mad and always lies."

But in the video, Gu Kailai laughed when asked if she had been coerced in anyway in giving her statement.

The court on Friday, which restricted access to public but provided detailed transcripts via its official microblog account, heard in great detail about Neil Heywood's involvement with the family before his death in November 2011.

Testimony heard from witnesses Gu Kailai, Wang Lijun and French architect Patrick Devillers also helped paint the fullest picture of why Neil Heywood was ultimately murdered.

In an 11-minute video recorded on August 10 and played in court on Friday, Gu Kailai looked nervous, spoke in a soft voice, and had her hands tightly clasped together in front of her on the desk for virtually the whole duration of the interview.

Wearing a casual black-and-white striped top and sporting short cropped hair, she looked thinner than her previous public appearance during her trial for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

When quizzed about whether Bo was aware of the largesse from Xu Ming, she hesitated to provide a certain answer - initially saying "he should have known" given the close relationship the businessman had with the family.

Asked if she had told her husband directly about Xu Ming's money, she first said "I guess it counts as though I've told him", before giving a more definitive "yes, I told him", when probed further.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/
PHILIP WEN
Last updated 13:13 24/08/2013



GIVING EVIDENCE: Gu Kailai, wife of Bo Xilai, former Chongqing Communist Party chief.


The corruption trial of Bo Xilai has taken an explosive turn with the fallen political star angrily dismissing his wife Gu Kailai as an "insane" compulsive liar after she provided recorded video testimony corroborating evidence of his bribery charges.

Bo's former police chief and right-hand man Wang Lijun also submitted written testimony which suggested he was well aware of the $US3.2 million French mansion, paid for by billionaire Dalian businessman Xu Ming, at the centre of the case's main bribery charge.

But Bo angrily dismissed Wang's statement as "bull**t".

Nalingaw uroy...

10 Rules for Creative Projects from Iconic Painter Richard Diebenkorn
http://www.brainpickings.org/
By: Maria Popova


“Do search. But in order to find other than what it searched for.”


On a recent visit to the Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966 exhibition at San Francisco’s De Young fine arts museum, I was taken with a small, simple sheet of paper handed to visitors, printed on which were the artists’ ten rules for beginning a painting â€" a sort of manifesto that applies in various degrees and various dimensions to just about every creative or intellectual endeavor, making a fine addition to these favorite manifestos for the creative life. Friend-of-Brain Pickings and frequent contributor Debbie Millman, who knows a thing or two about hand-lettered wisdom and typographic poetics, has kindly rendered Diebenkorn’s script here in her signature script â€" please enjoy:

New LPA may intensify into a storm - Pagasa
By: Jaime Sinapit, InterAksyon.com
August 24, 2013 9:50 AM


State weather bureau Pagasa on Saturday said the Low Pressure Area (LPA) spotted east of Mindanao may intensify into a storm anytime between Saturday evening and Monday.

"It may strengthen into a storm as it's still out at sea," where it can gain energy, said forecaster Aldzcar Aurelio. For the moment, however, the LPA is still not affecting the Philippines.

If the LPA becomes a storm it will be named "Nando".

As of 4 a.m. Saturday, the LPA was around 630 kilometers east of Davao City.

Eastern Visayas and the provinces of Surigao were forecast to have cloudy skies with moderate to ocassionally heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms on Saturday. Authorities warned that oncoming rains may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

MIMAROPA and the rest of Visayas and of Mindanao will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms. Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest to south will prevail over Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest to west with slight to moderate seas.

Meanwhile, the lingering southwest monsoon will continue to affect the western section of Luzon, Pagasa said.

friends forever

Paetz. Smol milyonir na lang diay...