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Cool.

Quote from: hubag bohol on July 18, 2013, 02:53:09 PM
“Maraming kwento o usap na chineck na ‘yan [parking lot] dati kaya gusto talaga naming malaman sa imbestigasyon na gagawin ng ating kapulisan kung ano ba ang nangyari bakit hindi nila nakita noong una. Maaaring umikot lang kasi sila pero hindi nila siguro sinilip ang looban ng mga sasakyan dito,” he added.

Bitaw, kon thorough ang pagpangita ngano gud nga di makit-an sulod sa awto...

Kids died of dehydration--police
Manila Bulletin â€" 14 hours ago


Manila, Philippines -- The chief of the Southern Police District (SPD) Wednesday said that the two children found dead Tuesday morning inside a luxury vehicle might have died due to severe dehydration.

Chief Supt. Jose Erwin Villacorte, SPD District Director, disclosed that initial findings submitted by Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), also revealed that the two victims were trapped inside the black Mercedez Benz after they were "child-locked" inside.

Villacorta said based on initial investigation there were no signs of foul play regarding the two boys' death.

The bodies of Dayn Buenaflor, 3, and James Vibo Naraga, 4, were found in an advanced state of decomposition at 10 a.m. Tuesday by three children inside a black Mercedes Benz with plate number (UGX-606), which was parked in a lot near the barangay hall of Barangay Wawa.

"Their clothes and slippers are the same ones they wore when they were reported missing," Villacorte said during an interview.

A helpful guide:

Poker is a family of card games involving betting and individual play, whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and combinations of their cards, some of which remain hidden until the end of the game. Poker games vary in the number of cards dealt, the number of shared or "community" cards and the number of cards that remain hidden. The betting procedures vary among different poker games in such ways as betting limits and splitting the pot between a high hand and a low hand.

In most modern poker games, the first round of betting begins with one of the players making some form of a forced bet (the blind and/or ante). In standard poker, each player is betting that the hand he or she has will be the highest ranked. The action then proceeds clockwise around the table and each player in turn must either match the maximum previous bet or fold, losing the amount bet so far and all further interest in the hand. A player who matches a bet may also "raise," or increase the bet. The betting round ends when all players have either matched the last bet or folded. If all but one player fold on any round, then the remaining player collects the pot and may choose to show or conceal their hand. If more than one player remains in contention after the final betting round, the hands are revealed and the player with the winning hand takes the pot. With the exception of initial forced bets, money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who, at least in theory, rationally believes the bet has positive expected value. Thus, while the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by their actions chosen on the basis of probability, psychology and game theory.

Poker has gained in popularity since the beginning of the twentieth century, and has gone from being primarily a recreational activity confined to small groups of mostly male enthusiasts, to a widely popular spectator activity with international audiences and multi-million dollar tournament prizes. --Wiki

At 4pm on Wednesday, Tropical Storm (internationally codenamed Cimaron) was moving in the direction of northwest at an estimated speed of 22 kilometres per hour, according to analysis by the Philippines Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

It was most recently observed at 210 km northweast of Aparri, Cagayan with winds at 65kph in the center and gusts reaching up to 80 kph.

Areas alerted for Public Storm Signal No. 1 include Ilocos Norte, Calayan, Babuyan Group of Islands and Batanes Group of Islands.

“Isang” is forecasted to be 700km northwest o Aparri, Cagayan on late Thursday afternoon.

The Marikina River has seen a water level increase of 12.6 meters as of 2.20pm with the public within the area informed of the rise via the official twitter account.

Alarm Level 1 is used to define 15 meters above sea level with Level 2 a preparation level at 16 meters, 3 an evacuation level at 17 and 4 a critical stage at 18 meters.

Luzon, Metron Manila and Western Visayas have all seen increased heavy rain as a result of “Isang”. -- http://www.bazics.net/

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image (6:32 p.m., 17 July 2013)

Quote from: hubag bohol on July 18, 2013, 02:58:44 PM


Speaking with radio dzMM, Analyn Buenaflor, mother of Dayne, said her relatives who saw the bodies told her that the eyes of the children are missing and that they also had cuts on their chest.

"Sabi ng mga pinsan ko at kuya ko, wala daw mata tapos yung puso daw may hiwa," Analyn said, leading to suspicions that some of the organs of the children may have been taken and sold.

Kawalay puangod na lang kon tinuod...

Eyes of 2 kids found dead in Taguig missing?
by Kathlyn dela Cruz, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 07/16/2013 8:09 PM | Updated as of 07/16/2013 8:09 PM


MANILA -- The eyes of the two children found dead inside a parked car in Barangay Wawa, Taguig City Tuesday afternoon are allegedly missing, the mother of one of the children said.

The bodies of 3-year-old Dayne Buenaflor and 4-year-old James Naraga, who were reported missing last March 27, were found dead at around 2:30 p.m. at a garage in front of the barangay hall, near the victims' homes.

Speaking with radio dzMM, Analyn Buenaflor, mother of Dayne, said her relatives who saw the bodies told her that the eyes of the children are missing and that they also had cuts on their chest.

"Sabi ng mga pinsan ko at kuya ko, wala daw mata tapos yung puso daw may hiwa," Analyn said, leading to suspicions that some of the organs of the children may have been taken and sold.

Taguig Police chief Sr. Supt. Arthur Felix Asis said, however, that no conclusion can be made yet, noting that an autopsy of the bodies will still have to be conducted to determine the real cause of death.

Asis, in a separate interview with dzMM, also pointed out that the bodies were already in an advanced stage of decomposition when found so it is possible that their eyes have already decomposed.

He added that in such conditions, it would also be hard to see if the bodies had cuts on the chest.

He said initial investigation showed that there were no signs of struggle or foul play inside the vehicle.

Police are still investigating how the two children ended up in the parked car, with Analyn saying that they had searched every vehicle in the area after the two children went missing almost four months ago.

Police said that while they still do not consider the owner of the vehicle, Gregorio Valenzuela, a suspect in the case, he will still be asked to give a statement on the incident.

The garage lot, which is owned by Valenzuela's sibling, is reportedly being used as parking for old vehicles damaged by floods brought by "Ondoy" last 2009.

An old Mercedes Benz, where the children's bodies were found, was supposed to undergo cleaning Tuesday when foul smell suddenly emanated from the vehicle, prompting residents to immediately alert the police. -- With report from Dennis Datu, dzMM

Naay di lang makaihi, makaigit pa jud...

Autopsy report out in two days

Still, the police will conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death of the two children.

“So far, wala pang autopsy report dahil kanina lang nakita ‘yung mga bangkay… Maghihintay ng dalawang araw bago magkaroon ng official report kung paano sila namatay,” said Southern Police District director Chief Superintendent Jose Erwin Villacorte.

“Maraming kwento o usap na chineck na ‘yan [parking lot] dati kaya gusto talaga naming malaman sa imbestigasyon na gagawin ng ating kapulisan kung ano ba ang nangyari bakit hindi nila nakita noong una. Maaaring umikot lang kasi sila pero hindi nila siguro sinilip ang looban ng mga sasakyan dito,” he added.

Buenaflor said he and the families of the two children could only hope for a speedy investigation.

“Hinihiling po sana namin na sa tagal-tagal ho ng paghahanap namin sa mga bata ay sana ho ay mapabilis na ang pag-iimbestiga at malaman na po namin ang dahilan ng pagkamatay ng dalawang bata,” he said. â€" Rouchelle Dinglasan/KBK, GMA News

No foul play suspected

With the discovery of the bodies inside the car, Buenaflor said they do not suspect that the two were victims of foul play.

“Hindi kami nag-isip ng masama sa pangyayaring 'yun, baka sa paglalaro ng mga bata, hindi inaasahan na doon sila naginda sa sasakyan na ‘yun,” he said.

According to the vehicle's owner, Gregorio Valenzuela, his car has been parked in that area for about one year together with other vehicles that were damaged by Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009.

Taguig acting police chief Senior Superintendent Arthur Felix said children are prohibited from entering and playing in the private parking lot.

“Nalaman po namin kanina na nakakapasok pala ang mga bata sa parking area kasi kaya nilang akyatin ang bakod. Pero pag nakikita ‘yung mga bata na naglalaro dito sa loob, sinisita naman nila. Bago ito nangyari, walang nakapansin na ganito pala ang kalalabasan,” he said in the television report.

“Kung sa first impression, mukhang walang trace ng struggle,” he said of the bodies.

“Sa kotse na po ‘yun may pinapaalis daw na patay na hayop. Tapos nung binuksan ko na po ‘yung kotse, (lumabas) na po ‘yung amoy at nung sinilip ko po ‘yung loob ng kotse nakita ko po patay na bata,” Bionisio said on the same television report.

One of the children was found in a sitting position while the other was lying facedown.

The report said the children, who were residents of the same village, were last seen on March 27 playing hide-and-seek with other neighborhood kids.

Buenaflor said they have been looking for the two in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces of Laguna, Cavite and Rizal. He added the search even reached Pangasinan, Mindoro and Bicol.

GMA News Online â€" Tue, Jul 16, 2013


Mystery shrouded the discovery of two dead children inside a parked car near a barangay hall in Taguig City on Tuesday morning.

The two â€" Dayne Buenaflor, 3, and James Naraga, 4 â€" had been missing since March, according to a report on GMA News TV's “Quick Response Team.”

“Palaisipan sa amin,” said Philip Buenaflor, an official in Brgy. Wawa where the bodies were found and also uncle of one of the victims. “Yung mga panahon na Marso hanggang Abril, may mga nagsabing nakita daw ‘yung mga bata sa Parañaque at Las Piñas. Sa katabing barangay nakita din daw ‘yung mga bata.”

The decomposing bodies were discovered by one Alvin Bionisio, who was hired to clean a black Mercedez Benz parked in a private garage in front of Brgy. Wawa’s barangay hall.

All my best wishes on your birthday, Madiba!

Quote from: Lollapalooza on July 18, 2013, 11:12:00 AM


There is a 31 year old Chimpanzee named Kanzi that knows how to start fires and cook!

Wowowee! I like this a real lot. It is truly simply inspiring.

Brayt jud, nadato gud (kuno)...

Tungod kay pinangga ang asawa...

Lain pung kalaki...

He he, lahi ang practical, lahi pud and ceremonial...

Quote from: islander on July 18, 2013, 11:10:02 AM
most welcome, lord hubag.

your modest aquarium is truly modest.  i cannot see any fish nor water.

Modesty properly addressed. You can see it now, Reply # 11.

Botoy's modest aquarium...

Simply fantastic. Thanks for posting, Madam. What sights for eyes sore from reading inanities...

Simply fantastic. Thanks for posting, Madam. What a relief, opening threads like this!

Hundreds of astronomers around the world are watching to see what happens next. Will the accelerating gas cloud create a bow shock, like the bow of a boat? Will it fall into the black hole with '"a nice firework show?" asks Frail, whose radio telescopes are making monthly observations of the galactic center to watch the whole, slow-motion show.

With G2 spiraling toward its glorious demise, astronomers have a once-in-a-lifetime chance "to make predictions and actually test them," says Frail. "You get to make the measurements in real time to see if you were right or you were wrong. It's just a great opportunity."

Gillessen and Genzel won't give a particular date to the moment when the gas cloud rounded the bend, like a comet slingshotting around the sun. "The cloud is so stretched that the close approach is not a single event, but rather a process that extends over a period of at least one year," wrote Gillessen.

G2's origins are still unknown, though there are plenty of theories, which these new observations have been testing. Some astronomers thought that the gas cloud could have been created from stellar winds blowing from stars near the black hole. Others argued that the gas came from a jet at the galactic center. Many theorized that there must be a star at the heart of G2, like the frozen slushball at the heart of a comet. This last theory predicted less stretching than appears in the new observations, so Gillessen and his colleagues argue that it now seems unlikely.

The latest measurements, made in April, show that the front end is moving over 7 million miles per hour (3,000 km/s) â€" and it's heading back towards us, say the German scientists.

"The most exciting thing we now see in the new observations is the head of the cloud coming back towards us at more than 10 million km/h along the orbit â€" about 1% of the speed of light," wrote Reinhard Genzel, leader of the research group that has studied this region for nearly twenty years, in a press release. "This means that the front end of the cloud has already made its closest approach to the black hole."

"We'll be able to map it out in detail, when it turns on as a radio source," he says. The VLBA can resolve smaller things than optical telescopes can â€" and believe it or not, even a gas ribbon billions of kilometers long is small when it's as far away as the center of the galaxy.

Astronomers have been watching G2's slow spiral towards destruction for over a decade. When Gillessen and his colleagues published their findings last year, they described it as a "a dusty cloud" with three times as much mass as Earth, but four times bigger than our solar system â€" the whole loop of Neptune's orbit. Even then, this unthinkably enormous but mostly empty cloud of gas was en route to the center of our galaxy, heading for the encounter that has now begun. Over the years, the German astronomers measured G2 accelerating: its front end doubled in speed from 2004 and 2011, rushing headlong towards its date with destiny. (Or at least density.)

Eventually, G2 will be stretched too far, and snap. The surviving pieces will be "eaten" by the black hole, and Gillessen's team â€" along with hundreds of other astronomers around the world â€" will be watching to see exactly how it happens.

"When you fall into a black hole, the effects of gravity are so strong that they tear the atoms apart as they fall in. If you or I fall into the Grand Canyon, we'd just go splat. But if you fall into a black hole, you actually experience all kinds of interesting physical effects, including tidal forces. Atoms are getting ripped apart, but as they're ripped apart, they emit radiation," says Dr. Frail, who is the assistant director of the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA)."Material falls into the gravitational potential well and basically screams, 'Help, help, I'm being torn apart.'" G2 hasn't started to scream yet, but Frail's radio telescopes are listening for those radiation emissions to "turn on."

The gas cloud, now named "G2," isn't getting sucked in all at once. The front end â€" the end closest to the black hole â€" is being pulled many times faster than the back end, with the result that G2 is getting stretched thinner and thinner, like caramel on a hot day.

"The gas at the head of the cloud is now stretched over more than 160 billion kilometres around the closest point of the orbit to the black hole," wrote Stefan Gillessen, whose team discovered G2, in a statement released Wednesday.

His team's measurements, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, show that G2 has gone from an egg-shaped blob in 2004 to a long ribbon of gas today, as can be seen above. Dr. Gillessen, who is based at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, describes it this way: "Like an unfortunate astronaut in a science fiction film, we see that the cloud is now being stretched so much that it resembles spaghetti."

We've all heard about black holes, the giant, galactic vacuum cleaners that suck in anything nearby. That's the science fiction version, anyway, and it's reasonably close to reality.

So what happens when you get sucked in? We're about to find out.

A giant cloud of gas is rocketing toward death, spiraling around our galaxy's black hole like water down a drain, but at an unbelievably giant scale.

"As the cloud plunges into a black hole, you're getting a beautiful opportunity to sample the environment near a black hole," says Dale Frail, an astronomer with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in New Mexico, which was made famous in the movie "Contact." "These things happen once in a lifetime."

Giant gas cloud 'resembles spaghetti' as it plunges toward a black hole


A giant gas cloud is on a suicide mission to the black hole at the center of our galaxy. As the cloud spirals into oblivion, the black hole's extreme gravity is stretching it thinner and thinner.

By Liz Fuller-Wright, Correspondent / July 17, 2013



Series of position-velocity diagrams from 2004 to 2013, which were scaled to identical peak luminosities. Over time, the gas cloud becomes increasingly stretched, as can clearly be seen, due to the gravitational shear of the black hole. (Courtesy of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics)

Quote from: hubag bohol on July 09, 2013, 06:38:52 AM
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Powerful jud tuod ang pusil, kana lagi kon mobuto pa...

Clutching an imaginary friend...

Example of a common felon:

Kahadlokan jud tuod and terorista kon itandi sa common felon.

Ang unang hitabo didto sa San Pedro Cathedral niadtong Disyembre 26, 1993. Sunod mao ang bomba sa waiting shed atubangan sa karaang Davao International Airport niadtong Marso 4, 2003, dayon sa Sasa Wharf niadtong Abril 2, 2003.

Sa maong teroristang kalihukan, si Duterte nagpahimangno sa mga station commanders nga mahimong alerto sa selebrasyon sa Kadayawan sunod buwan.

"Ngayon ang i-prepare ninyo ang Kadayawan. That's the most serious of all problems--terrorism," suma sa mayor.

Ang administrasyon ni Duterte sud sa pito ka termino, suma niya, nagtumong sa balaod, kahusay ug kalinaw.

Iya sab gimandoan ang kapulisan nga magpabiling abtik. ANC

SuperBalita Davao
Thursday, July 18, 2013


SI DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte naila sa iyang kaisog batok sa mga kriminal, apan dunay usa ka butang nga makapakurog kaniya, ang terorismo.

"That's one thing na medyo nagpapalamig ng kamay ko. I never talk about it. Napapawis ang kamay ko," suma ni Duterte ngadto sa mga station commanders sa kapulisan atol sa command conference didto sa Grand Men Seng Hotel niadtong Lunes.

"Hindi nyo lang alam ang sugat ko. Hindi nyo lang nakikita eh. Ang nakikita nyo patay na criminal," dugang niya.

Si Duterte nagsulti sab ngadto sa kapulisan nga atol sa iyang termino isip mayor, dunay tulo ka mga pagpamomba ang nahitabo sa siyudad sa Davao nga mipatay sa daghang kinabuhi.

Previously, gay and lesbian couples could enter into "civil partnerships" in Britain that carry almost the same rights as marriage. About 50,000 partnerships have been registered since 2005.

Under the new legislation, religious clerics of any denomination must "opt in" to offer religious weddings to same-sex couples. The Church of England is banned by law from celebrating such marriages, and several denominations still remain opposed to the idea, while others such as Quakers and liberal Jewish congregations are in favor.

The bill introduced in January has caused division among lawmakers, especially within the ruling Conservative party. Some of its members have accused the  government of bulldozing the law through Parliament. Other Conservatives, including Prime Minister David Cameron, have voiced full support for the change.

Marriage for same-sex couples is already possible in France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and Portugal.

The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are expected to take place next summer, after government agencies work out logistical details and procedures for such unions, for gay couples already in civil partnerships to switch their status if they choose and for religious organizations to "opt in."

By Janet Stobart
July 17, 2013, 9:18 a.m.


LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II gave final approval Wednesday to Britain’s controversial same-sex marriage bill, bestowing her royal assent as is common to all new laws.

The measure passed its final legislative hurdle on Tuesday when the House of Commons approved the bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in religious and civil ceremonies.

The announcement in the House of Commons of the queen's action prompted cheers from lawmakers.

Based on data collected by the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM), the National Capital Region registered the highest total crime volume nationwide in the first quarter of the year.

Metro Manila accounted for 21 percent (31,022) of the total 145,056 crime volume in the country for the same period, followed by Western Visayas (18,531 or 13 percent) and Calabarzon (17,805 or 12 percent).

The region also posted the highest number of index crimes or crimes against persons or property nationwide from January to March this year with 6,999 out of a total 73,480 cases. It also recorded 6,597 cases of murder, homicide, physical injury and rape on top of 10,402 cases of robbery, theft and stolen vehicles. With a report from Inquirer Research

Purisima said many victims were discouraged by the tedious process of reporting their experience, following up their case and attending court hearings should the suspect be arrested and charged.

According to him, the police often have to verify actual crime incidents with barangay officials since some law enforcers deliberately tamper with the police blotter to reduce the crime rate in their area.

Purisima said that he had asked the Directorate for Police Community Relations (DPCR) to find ways to make reporting a crime easier.

“I have already tasked the DPCR to find ways like upgrading a Twitter account where [people] can report incidents so that these will be recorded and then we can act appropriately. We have to know where the crimes are,” he added.

Asked by reporters why Quiapo was not among the five hotspots, the PNP chief said that the area was just traffic-prone.

Purisima, meanwhile, urged victims of street crimes to report their experience to the police since the PNP was in need of more accurate data in planning the deployment of its men.

“We really need these reports. If the data is not accurate, we will focus on other crimes,” he said.

The PNP chief cited a survey done last year which estimated that about 70 per cent of street robberies and other crimes went unreported.

By Dona Z. Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:20 am | Thursday, July 18th, 2013


Five busy areas tagged as “hotspots” for street crimes will be getting extra attention from the Philippine National Police (PNP) from now on.

PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima identified these areasâ€" which he described as prone to robbery and holdup incidentsâ€"as Aurora-Edsa in Cubao, Quezon City; Monumento in Caloocan City; Baclaran and Edsa-Taft in Pasay City; and the University Belt area in Manila.

“There are five places in Metro Manila that we’ll focus on to reduce street crimes. The public has to feel the presence of their police,” Purisima said, adding that more law enforcers would be deployed to these areas to conduct patrols.

A remembrance of storms past...

Quote from: chicogon on July 18, 2013, 03:58:54 AM

PUBLIC STORM WARNING SIGNAL No. 1
(Winds of 45-60 kph is expected within the next 36 hours)

Aurora
Quirino
Isabela,
Ifugao
Mt. Province
Abra
Kalinga
Apayao,
Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Sur
Cagayan incl. Calayan and Babuyan Group of Islands
Batanes Group of Islands

Typhoon “ISANG” will enhance the Southwest Monsoon which will bring light to moderate rains and thunderstorms over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and Western Visayas according to PAGASA.

Residents living in low lying and mountainous areas under public storm warning signal #1 are alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides.

Estimated rainfall amount is from 5 â€" 15 mm per hour (moderate - heavy) within the 300 km diameter of the tropical Depression.

PAGASA issued typhoon “Isang” forecast, update
http://www.thesummitexpress.com/
Tuesday, July 16, 2013 Posted by Admin


The weather bureau PAGASA issued forecast, July 16, 2013 for tropical depression "Isang".  Typhoon 'Isang' has maintained its intensity and expected to make landfall over Isabela-Cagayan area after midnight.

Location of eye/center of 'Bagyong Isang' as of 10:00 PM today was estimated based on all available data at 80 km East Northeast of Casiguran, Aurora (16.7°N, 123.0°E). It has maximum winds of 55 kph near the center and expected to move Northwest at 15 kph.

Tropical Depression “ISANG” is expected to be at 110 km Northwest of Aparri, Cagayan by tomorrow evening. By Thursday evening it will be at 470 km North Northwest of Aparri, Cagayan or 310 km Northwest of Basco, Batanes.

Amigos y amigas, please allow me to pinch-hit for my friend Bay Tigs...

Hmm, apil ba kaha sa ihap ang armalite nga di na mobuto...

Bennett ties these numbers back to last year's tragedy in Newtown, Conn.:

Still in the arena as well are the families of Sandy Hook. Despite the glare of a spotlight that has forced them to repeatedly relive their darkest hour and subjected them to a stunning level of personal vitriol, they continue to come to Washington, meet with senators and talk to the press. They accepted early on that this was a long roadâ€"that a 20-year gridlock on gun policy was not likely to change in an instant.

The motto of Sandy Hook Promise is: "Our hearts our broken; Our spirit is not." And the extraordinary generosity of spirit that these brave people bring to this nasty, brutish political debate could, in the end, make all the difference.

National Journal
Matt Berman 22 hours ago


In 1994, the United States was home to about 200 million privately owned guns. Today, that number has ballooned to between 270 million and 300 million. That's almost half of all privately owned guns worldwide, according to a new essay from the Brookings Institution.

The essay, titled The Promise by Matt Bennett, looks back at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings and the way ahead for gun control. The piece breaks down some other big numbers surrounding the battle for more gun regulation: More than 10 firearm deaths per 100,000 Americans every year; 600 annual accidental shootings; 11,400 murders; about 31,000 total gun deaths. The most common age of people who commit gun crimes is 19, then 20, then 18. That's despite regulations that bar licensed dealers from selling handguns to anyone under the age of 21. Almost 100 million adults live in a home with a gun.

Quote from: islander on July 14, 2013, 09:15:31 PM
ekskyus me, kang gollum is "prreciousss".

He he, suheto jamo sa Gollum pronounce...

Now let's see if I can get you back into a pessimistic mood: Let's say you are right that we humans can persist for another million years. Why do we deserve to persist? What's so great about humans, anyway?

Whether or not we deserve to persist isn't really relevant to whether we will do it. "Deserving" is an ethical concern, not a survival issue. Even if humans are bastards, we are going to survive. We have all the traits of a survival species, just like Lystrosaurus. Saying that we deserve to go extinct doesn't solve our problems â€" it leads to both moral and practical paralysis. Humans are life forms, and life forms always fight to survive, no matter what. It's in our most fundamental, biological natures. So we'd better accept that, and work on making the future as comfortable as possible. As human animals, we have evolved the ability to plan a better future for ourselves. We can even stop a mass extinction. It's not too late. We don't have to be angels to preserve our ecosystems. We just have to be practical, and not waste our time wondering whether we are good enough to deserve it. Let's not debate the magnitude of our sins. Let's get to work saving the world!

Annalee Newitz is on Twitter at @annaleen; her book is Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction.

A principle goal of Scatter, Adapt, Remember, you write at one point, is "to get us off this crowded planet and into space." This leads to some of the most insane-sounding stuff in the book â€" the "space elevator," for instance. You're talking about a million-year time frame, so it's perfectly understandable that you'd venture into territory that is essentially beyond our imaginations. But still: Did you encounter any schemes that were just too crazy to include?

The most implausible ideas I encountered were all about what humans would do in the long term instead of going into outer space. Humanity has a long history of exploring, starting a million years ago when our ancestors first left Africa. By the time Homo sapiens evolved, our ancestors had already invented tools and fire. So we literally never knew a world without technological modifications (however crude). We are a species of tool-makers and explorers, and we're damn good at it. So I find it extremely unlikely that we would give up on exploring space. I think it's even more unlikely that we would choose to upload our brains to computers and live in virtual worlds instead of what we know as the physical world. I'm sure some people will do that, maybe temporarily while traveling through space. But just staying here on Earth when there are so many other awesome places to go? Like Saturn and Alpha Centauri and maybe even other dimensions? Whenever I encountered that idea, I found myself unable to accept it. But that probably reveals my own pro-space prejudices!

You write that "science fiction … may be among the most important survival tools we have," essentially because science fiction writers can help us envision what researchers might not be able to imagine. Ray Bradbury's conviction that humans would be on the moon in his lifetime supposedly resulted in him being treated like a crank. Today writers like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling are viewed almost like seers in some quarters. Have we become more accepting of the view that science fiction can be highly relevant to everyday life?

Science has become part of everyday life, and therefore it's no surprise that science fiction is one of our most popular forms of storytelling. We crave stories about science because it helps us make sense of our civilizations. Science fiction can take something incredibly complex â€" like, say, genetics â€" and show us how it fits into our personal lives, or how it shapes society. Notice that I'm not talking about science fiction as a genre that predicts the future. There are many kinds of stories that try to tell us about the future, or alternate realities, and science fiction is merely one of them. I don't think that SF's popularity today comes from people seeking answers about the future â€" they're searching for meaning in the present. That said, I think SF helps us think about what possible consequences might follow from a scientific or technological discovery. Equally as important, SF stories can help us think about society itself as a vast experiment, where each political regime or cultural power bloc is another attempt to solve our problems as a species.

I think my second turning point was when I began questioning why so many books focus on extinction and apocalypse and never tackle the arguably more important topic of survival. If we don't explore ways to survive, then we'll never do it. So looking at survival is useful. But I think survival stories are also far more rich and interesting than extinction stories. Survival is complicated and heroic and surprising. Death is always the same.

As someone who often laments my fellow humans' apparent focus on the short term â€" a complaint that's often linked to the way we use technology â€" I was amazed at the long-term-focused science and technology infrastructure you explore in the book. Was there any area of long-term tech research that surprised you the most?


What surprised me over and over again was how a lot of these seemingly far-fetched technologies are already in our grasp. For example, if an asteroid were headed for Earth right now, we'd almost certainly see it coming several years out. We have space-based telescopes that are monitoring over 90 percent of the nearby rocks that could hit us, and astronomers are constantly looking for more. All it would take are a few space probes of the kind we already have to go out into space, meet one of those asteroids, and just push it out of an intercept course with Earth. No need for nukes or fancy-pants antigrav technology. We also have the technology to build carbon-neutral cities and even carbon-neutral factories. It was surprising to me to realize how much of our planet's future really is in the hands of humanity. We don't need to wait for a miracle, or for a new scientific discovery. We just need to implement the knowledge and tools we already have. We can do it!

By the end of the journey, you can see why Newitz is optimistic that tech innovations could help our species persist for another million years. But should you believe it? We had some questions. Happily, Newitz had answers.

You write that you "set out to write a book about how we are all doomed," but you ended up writing about ensuring humanity's next million years of not being doomed. Was that a gradual shift in your thinking, or were there particular turning-point moments in your reporting and research?

The first turning point came when I was learning about the survivors of the Great Dying, a mass extinction 250 million years ago which took out 95% of all species on the planet. It was the worst mass extinction in Earth's history, caused by disastrous climate changes in the wake of a super volcano. And yet a humble little creature called Lystrosaurus (whom I've written about here), who looked something like a cross between a pig and a lizard, managed to survive this horrific period. Pretty much every other animal on land went extinct. And Lystrosaurus survived just by sleeping in protected underground burrows, and walking into new environments where it adapted to the new world that was emerging in death's wake. I figured that if this little pig-lizard could do it, so could we. I think at that point I realized that humans are no worse and no better than other animals â€" we are so good at adapting to new circumstances that it's likely we'll follow in Lystrosaurus' path.

Rob Walker, Yahoo News 17 hours ago


If you’ve ever worried, or even wondered, about the ultimate fate of humanity itself, then here is the book for you: In Scatter, Adapt, and Remember, Analee Newitz takes on the enormous topic of “how humans will survive a mass extinction.”

As that phrase (the book’s subtitle) indicates, Newitz proves to be an optimist about the science and potential technologies of long-term survival â€" but she didn’t start out that way. And while she makes her case in conversational tones, her argument reflects sweeping research: Methodically but entertainingly walking the reader through evolutionary history starting with mass-extinction events from billions of years ago, she works her way into the laboratories of contemporary researchers devising hard-to-believe innovations to save humanity from every future calamity you can imagine. Along the way the reader meets techno-thinkers and scientists grappling with pandemics and other threats, devising wild-sounding bio-energy alternatives, "converting urban spaces into biological organisms," preparing for the possibility of a planet-threatening asteroid, storing the sum of human knowledge in a discreet set of computer files and figuring out various methods of traveling to other planets â€" including a “space elevator.”

Quote from: taga tigbao on July 15, 2013, 12:21:24 PM
Kagwang man nis Bay Hubag. Sa dihang tanto naho ug research research ug unsa gajud ni, ahong gicombine ang rat + monkey nga keywords pastilan, maoy miguwa! Hahahahaha.

Mao diay kono ni Sumatran Rat-Monkey. Fictional ra ni sija nga being. So no worry, er, naa diay gihapon kay basin may matakdan sa espiritu ani!

He he, dia ra ang kagwang, Bay Tigs...





Mas kyut ni siya kaysa imong Sumatran aydol...

Quote from: wardiflex on July 16, 2013, 03:17:02 PM
bira ro, kaya pa na kay gamay pa..hahahha

He he, kawras jud--in the air...

Quote from: islander on July 16, 2013, 11:14:23 PM
now i know why kapila na ko dayungi ug mga lamok.

Hmm, kay nanimaho kang cheese?

Quote from: hubag bohol on July 13, 2013, 03:29:00 PM



Gitambalan ba kaha ni si doggy o unsa ba...

Nadugay nahong tan-aw mora mag gi-hypnotize si doggy...

Baldoz said the information-gathering and fact-finding mission in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the team interviewed several OFWs and Filipino community leaders, including those who may have information and knowledge about the allegations.

“They also interviewed Philippine Embassy and Philippine Overseas Labor Office officials and employees. They also received oral testimonies, letters, and e-mails related to the issue, and documented these submissions,” Baldoz said.

She added that “the team also gathered information, pursuant to its expanded task, on the operational aspects of the POLO, to provide guidance on the institutional reforms that the DOLE has pursued.”

“Under the DOLE Rules on Disposition of Administrative Complaints and Cases issued pursuant to the CSC Revised Rules in Administrative Cases, the Panel has 60 days to conclude its investigation. Within 15 days after the conclusion of the formal investigation, the Panel shall submit its report, recommendation and draft decision to the disciplining authority. The disciplining authority has 30 days from receipt of the formal investigation report to issue the decision,” she added.

The fact-finding team is composed of Atty. Ophelia Almenario of OWWA, Atty. Rose G. Duquez of the POEA, Atty. Leah T. Fortuna of DOLE and Atty. Edna Yasay, an observer from the DFA. The team left for the Middle East on 28 June.

“The team will recommend to the disciplining authority the filing of a formal charge. Should the recommendation be approved, the DOLE Hearing Panel chaired by Asst. Sec. Gloria Tango, earlier constituted to expedite the proceedings of the case, will receive and evaluate the formal charge including all the supporting documents, statements and evidence. Should the respondents opt for a formal hearing, the Panel was instructed to conduct marathon hearings,” Baldoz said in a statement.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Villafuerte plans to get a private lawyer to defend himself against accusations from three female overseas Filipino workers that he had sexually abused them.

The three labor officers were linked to the sex-for-repatriation  scam where distressed female OFWs were allegedly given plane tickets to travel back to the Philippines in exchange for sex.

“The fact-finding team that gathered information and pertinent documents from overseas Filipino workers, Filipino community leaders, and Philippine Embassy officials on the allegations about the ‘sex-for-flight’ issue, and to validate such information, arrived the other day from Jordan,” Baldoz said.

By Vito Barcelo | Posted on Jul. 17, 2013 at 12:02am


The Labor Department announced on Tuesday that it has terminated the services of a Philippine Overseas Labor Office staff and recalled two labor attaches’ linked to the “sex-for-repatriation” cases in the Middles East.

Dismissed was POLO officer Blas Marquez, a local hired office staff in Kuwait, while Jordan assistant labor attaché Mario Antonio and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Assistant Labor Attaché Antonio Villafuerte were recalled from their posts after the DoLE fact-finding team completed its fact-finding mission abroad.

Like vampires, they prefer dark clothes

Dark-colored clothing can increase your risk of falling victim to the little bloodsuckers, compared to lighter-colored garments, says Dr. Koehler. In one study comparing the appeal of various hues to mosquitoes, the researchers reported  the following results:  black (most attractive); red (very attractive); grey and blue (neutral); khaki, green, light khaki, and yellow (less attractive).

Running won’t help you

Both the carbon dioxide we exhale and substances in sweat, such as lactic acid, help mosquitoes home in on their prey. As a result, Dr. Koehler reports. “You’re more likely to be bitten if you’re running or exercising than when you’re at rest, since you’re breathing harder and sweating more.” In fact, physical activity ups risk for bites by as much as 50 percent, according to AMCA.

Mosquitos know if you’re expecting

Moms-to-be get bitten about twice as often as women who aren’t pregnant, increasing their risk for bug-borne diseases, according to a study conducted in Gambia. The researchers hypothesized that since women in the later stages of pregnancy exhale 21 percent more volume, mosquitos were drawn in by the moisture and carbon dioxide in their breath. They also found that pregnant women's abdomens are nearly 1 degree warmer, which may cause more volatile substancesâ€"released in sweat and attractive to mosquitosâ€"to be present on their skin. Not only do several other studies have similar findings, says Dr. Koehler, but “there’s also evidence that women are more attractive to mosquitoes during certain phases of the ovulation cycle.” Studies have mixed results as to whether men or women are more likely to get bitten, he adds.

Keep your socks on

The pungent aroma of dirty feet is apparently irresistible to mosquitoes, as a brave scientist, Bart Knols, discovered when he sat in a lab in his underwear to find out which parts of the body the pests are most likely to target. He found that 75 percent of the bugs homed in on his feet, but after he washed them with deodorant soap, the mosquitos bit randomly. His team also reported that stinky cheeses, such as Limburgerâ€"which has the same odoriferous compound responsible for foot odorâ€"also draws mosquitoes.

Watch out for the full moon

The tiny bloodsuckers are 500 times more active when the moon is full, reports the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA). Overall, the highest risk times for mosquito bites are dusk and dawn, with the females of some species migrating up to 40 miles in pursuit of a meal. (Male mosquitoes don’t bite.)

Beer drinkers beware

Swigging just one bottle of beer can significantly boost your risk of being bitten, according to a study published in Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. The researchers reported that, “Mosquito landing on volunteers significantly increased after beer ingestion compared with before ingestion.”

Mosquitos prefer blood type O

In their quest for a meal, mosquitoes are nearly twice as likely to land on people with type 0 blood than those with type A, according to a Japanese study.  Indeed, the biting pests consider type 0 more delectable than any other blood type, the researchers reported. Most people secrete substances that allow mosquitoes to identify blood type before they bite.

http://health.yahoo.net/
By Lisa Collier Cool
Jul 15, 2013


If you feel as if every mosquito in a 50-mile radius has you locked in its sights, while your friends are rarely bitten, you could be right. Up to 20 percent of us are highly alluring to mosquitoesâ€"and scientists have discovered some surprising reasons.

“Both your metabolism and your unique body chemistryâ€"which is as distinctive as a fingerprintâ€"play an important role in determining whether or not you’re a mosquito magnet,” says University of Florida entomology professor Dr. Phil Koehler. “Also, there’s evidence that your degree of attractiveness to mosquitoes can change over time.”

Here are some intriguing discoveries about why some of us are particularly tasty targets for the tiny vampires:

Agoi, napakasakit, Kuya Carlo and company. Hmm, bawion ba kaha ang medalya...

Te said that the magistrates voted 12-1-2, granting the 38-page petition of National Artists Virgilio Almario, Napoleon Abueva, Benedicto Cabrera, Bienvenido Lumbera, and Arturo Luz questioning the validity of the presidential proclamation.

In their petition filed August 2009, the national artists called Arroyo's decrees a "grave abuse of discretion" in "disregarding the rigorous process for screening and selection of National Artists in substituting her own choice for those of the National Artist experts panel."

"Any act of the President or officers and/or agencies acting under her or on her behalf that would diminish arts and culture would be compelling reason for this court to act," the petition also reads.

By Camille Diola (philstar.com) | Updated July 16, 2013 - 3:18pm


MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has voided the national artist awards granted by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to four people, including film director Carlo J. Caparas.

SC spokesperson Theodor Te announced that the high court also voided the national artist awards to fashion designer Pitoy Moreno, Philippine Educational Theater Association founder Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and architect Francisco Mañosa.

“Foremost of these reforms are our initiatives to discipline our rank and file, cut red tape, modernize our facilities, and implement an efficient travel control system in our ports of entry for the convenience of international travelers,” he said.

David said he hopes that his successor “will continue what we have started and to remain focused on the path of the President's 'tuwid na daan'.”

Last September, Aquino publicly scolded David for the supposed failures of the bureau, including letting high-profile fugitives leave the country and allowing hundreds of foreign cybercrime human trafficking syndicate members into the Philippines.

Accomplishments

In his letter, David, who was military chief of staff from June 2010 to March 2011, boasted of his accomplishments in the bureau.

“We surpassed all our revenue targets, major final outputs and performance indicators during my term,” he said. We were also able to boost our revenues to record high levels as a result of our efforts to ensure that all fees due the government are collected and remitted to the national coffers.”

David also said that he was able to institute reforms in the bureau.