MikeLigalig.com

the more modest original:

pagka-tingkagol.  luckily the mothers of most tblanders are saner.

Quote from: hubag bohol on March 02, 2013, 03:27:12 PM

200, hubag.  di lagi 20.

It is not clear why so many cars are crashing outside the houses but they have left the homeowners afraid to go into their own gardens

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Police inspect beer barrels after they fell off their lorry at the accident blackspot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

In February 2007 a lorry carrying beer shed its load which scattered across the gardens

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

This car crashed off the road and landed in one of the gardens in April 2012

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Yet another clear-up: A woman had to be cut out of this car on Sunday when she veered off the road

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

The accident was the second of five collisions to take place at the same spot in just 12 hours

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

mha ksp tawon.  wa sad hibaw-ig ang baho sa ilang nawong maoy angay sul-oban.

A ritual called the 'Opening of the Mouth' is performed, allowing the deceased to eat and drink again.

Finally, the body and its coffins are placed inside a large stone sarcophagus in the tomb. Furniture, clothing, valuable objects, food and drink are arranged in the tomb for the deceased.

Now his body is ready for its journey through the underworld. There his heart will be judged by his good deeds on earth. If his heart is found to be pure he will be sent to live for all eternity in the beautiful 'Field of Reeds'.

The End

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk//size]

The funeral is held for the deceased and his family mourns his death.

Finally, a large cloth is wrapped around the entire mummy. It is attached with strips of linen that run from the top to the bottom of the mummy, and around its middle.

A board of painted wood is placed on top of the mummy before the mummy is lowered into its coffin. The first coffin is then put inside a second coffin.

A cloth is wrapped around the body and a picture of the god Osiris is painted on its surface.

More linen strips are wrapped around the body. At every layer, the bandages are painted with liquid resin that helps to glue the bandages together.

The arms and legs are tied together. A papyrus scroll with spells from the Book of the Dead is placed between the wrapped hands.

A priest reads spells out loud while the mummy is being wrapped. These spells will help ward off evil spirits and help the deceased make the journey to the afterlife.

The arms and legs are wrapped separately. Between the layers of wrapping, the embalmers place amulets to protect the body in its journey through the underworld.
      

This is the 'Isis knot' amulet which will protect the body.


This is the 'Plummet' amulet which will keep the person balanced in the next life.

The body has been cleaned, dried and rubbed with good-smelling oils. Now it is ready to be wrapped in linen.

Wrapping the mummy


First the head and neck are wrapped with strips of fine linen. Then the fingers and the toes are individually wrapped.

In the past, when the internal organs were removed from a body they were placed in hollow canopic jars.

Over many years the embalming practices changed and embalmers began returning internal organs to bodies after the organs had been dried in natron. However, solid wood or stone canopic jars were still buried with the mummy to symbolically protect the internal organs.


Imsety the human-headed god looks after the liver.


Hapy the baboon-headed god looks after the lungs.

   
Duamutef the jackal-headed god looks after the stomach.


Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looks after the intestines.

The dehydrated internal organs are wrapped in linen and returned to the body. The body is stuffed with dry materials such as sawdust, leaves and linen so that it looks lifelike.


Finally the body is covered again with good-smelling oils. It is now ready to be wrapped in linen.

After forty days the body is washed again with water from the Nile. Then it is covered with oils to help the skin stay elastic.

The body is now covered and stuffed with natron which will dry it out. All of the fluids, and rags from the embalming process will be saved and buried along with the body.

One of the embalmer's men makes a cut in the left side of the body and removes many of the internal organs. It is important to remove these because they are the first part of the body to decompose.


The liver, lungs, stomach and intestines are washed and packed in natron which will dry them out. The heart is not taken out of the body because it is the centre of intelligence and feeling and the man will need it in the afterlife.


A long hook is used to smash the brain and pull it out through the nose.

Embalming the body


First, his body is taken to the tent known as 'ibu' or the 'place of purification'. There the embalmers wash his body with good-smelling palm wine and rinse it with water from the Nile.

got it...

The Mummification Story

An important man has died and his body needs to be prepared for burial.

The process of mummification has two stages. First, the embalming of the body. Then, the wrapping and burial of the body.


(the difference, then, is that mummification goes a step further with the wrapping of the body.)

a scary thread and real downer, remembering my dear departed loved ones.  but i read through anyway.  i wonder if this is what the ancient egyptians did to mummify their pharaohs and queens.

A woman reacts near a giant screen showing the departure of Pope Benedict XVI from the Vatican City.

http://www.voanews.com/

28 February 2013


A helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI takes off from inside the Vatican on its way to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life "hidden from the world".

http://www.voanews.com/

damo ba anang pitota, bolbs.  waay ba gid tuli nga ang exchange rate mubo na man subong?

First united decision

Jamalul himself wrote to the President in 2011 and in 2012. When the sultanate received no response, the Kiram brothers met in November last year and agreed to the issuance of a “royal decree” authorizing Agbimuddin’s journey home to Sabah.

Idjirani said it was the first united decision of the Kiram brothers.

“They may have argued many times on policies and actions but the sultan and his brothers were never at odds as to their stance that Sabah belongs to the sultanate of Sulu,” Idjirani said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

Ignored for five decades

Abraham Idjirani, secretary general and spokesman of the sultanate of Sulu, said the appointment of Agbimuddin as ISRRC chairman was the basis for the crown prince’s exercising “authority” over Sabah, thus the six-hour “journey back home” to Sabah on Feb. 11 (most reports date the Sabah trip to Feb. 9).

In his letter to Aquino, Agbimuddin expressed his clans’ exasperation at being ignored through five decades of the discussions of the Sabah claim.

Agbimuddin said the heirs of the sultanate suspected that vested interests in the previous administrations were behind the claim’s being denied the attention it deserved.

The letter ended with the clan’s expression of hope of seeing “a change in the treatment of the Sabah issue” under Aquino’s administration.

Agbimuddin also said any treatment of the Sabah claim must be “consistent with the laws of the Philippines” and in consideration of the sultanate’s “legal, historic rights, cultural traditions and heritage.”

International forums

Agbimuddin wanted Aquino to articulate two points for the clan: The special power of attorney given by the sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo to the Philippine government was revoked in August 1989 for lack of political will to push forward the claim by previous administrations from the time of then President Diosdado Macapagal, and the ISRRC had been legally established instead, taking over all actions pertinent to the Sabah claim.

Agbimuddin was appointed chairman of the ISRRC by his elder brother, the sultan, in June 2010.

Seeking guidance

Specifically, Agbimuddin in the letter asked for guidance from the new President on what course of action the ISRRC should take, especially involving the Sabah claim.

“With highest esteem, may we inform His Excellency that during the consultation process, we asked our supporters what action, under the guiding light of your administration, the ISRRC of the sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo would take or adopt anent the Sabah issue, which became the national contract between the government of the Philippines and the sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo pursuant to the filing of such claim in the United Nations against Great Britain and Malaysia in 1962,” Agbimuddin said.

Anticipating Aquino’s participation in international forums such as the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders’ summit, Agbimuddin stated his clan’s position on the Sabah claim to guide the President in discussions on the issue in meetings with representatives of Malaysia.

Dismissed as such, the letter was relegated to the pile of papers deemed not needing presidential attention.

The OPAPP officer who made the decision was considered an expert in Muslim affairs.

After the Sabah standoff began three weeks ago and the letter was mentioned in the early reports of the Inquirer, a source in Malacañang said the President inquired about it. Aquino was reportedly disappointed to learn that no one kept the letter or a copy of it.

The same source, who asked not to be identified, quoted the President as saying: “Next time, when a letter is addressed to me, give it to me so I can read it.”

After congratulating and expressing his clan’s support for the new Aquino administration, Agbimuddin informed Aquino about the creation of the Interim Supreme Royal Ruling Council (ISRRC) under the sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo as a result of the series of consultations in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi; KM-4 Indanan, Sulu; and Kawit, Zamboanga City, on June 20, 25 and 26, 2010.

There is probably another reason why the letter got lost in Malacañang.

The letter was dated June 28, 2010, two days before Aquino took his oath as President. Technically, then, he was not yet officially the sitting President.

The letter was coursed through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) but since Secretary Teresita Deles had not yet assumed office at the time, another officer there received the letter and it was this officer who decided it was “not urgent.”

What’s inside Kiram’s lost letter to Aquino

By Arlyn dela Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Friday, March 1st, 2013

What was in that letter so that Sultan Jamalul Kiram III could say that had the President paid attention to it, he and his followers would not have taken matters in their own hands?

It was lost not in translation but in the appreciation of its urgency and significance.

That is what happened to the letter sent to President Aquino in 2010 by Agbimuddin Kiram, crown prince of the sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, expressing his clan’s stand on the Philippine claim to the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah and the peace process in Muslim Mindanao.

wow.  a political campaign in the guise of diplomatic concern... boo, dynasty!

mag-agad ba kaha sa sunod nimong post?  depende sa confusion...

nominally, it is as if it belongs to us, they being filipinos just like us.  so our country owns sabah, historically because of the sultanate.  china is calling on a similar claim-- historical, they say, about their claim to the spratlys and scarborough/panatag shoal.  are we backing out?  not at all.  don't expect malaysia to back out as well.  that is why the philippines is treading so carefully on this issue. 

we all understand that as children, we didn't get our way with tantrums.  we even end up getting spanked.  so it is in this case. 

people just can't go to a place, much less a place administered by a foreign country for decades, and expect to seize it as their own.  there are many other considerations (historical, economic, etc.) and channels (legal, diplomatic, international standing, etc.) for such desires to bear whatever fruit.

closer to home and on a smaller scale, tag-iya tag yuta nga daghang squatters, mapusilan pa ta kun atong papahawaon, gawas sa decades of fighting in court for your right to your own property.  it's sickening, but a proper process is a proper process.

Quote from: taga tigbao on March 01, 2013, 06:54:17 PM
I quote from yahoo Philippines:

Imagine telling the Sultan and his followers asserting their right over their property in the hands of Malaysia that it is a “hopeless cause.”

the way i understand it, the context of the statement is such that the "hopeless cause" refers to the way the sultan's grievances are being expressed, not the validity or non-validity of his claims to sabah.  i quote the full text thus:

"And so this is my appeal to you: These are your people, your people. It behooves you to recall them. It must be clear to you that this small group of people will not succeed in addressing your grievances, and that there is no way that force can achieve your aims," he said in a statement he read during the briefing. The text of the statement was posted on the Official Gazette website after the briefing. Aquino added Kiram should use his influence "to prevail on countrymen to desist from this hopeless cause." 

“He has said he will be invisible to the world, but we’re hoping one dayâ€"when all the commotion has died awayâ€"we can throw a party for him in the square, and he will sit down and eat with us.”

Benedict will spend the first two months of his retirement here in the papal summer residence perched high on a rocky outcrop with views of a lake and the sea, before withdrawing to a monastery within the grounds of the Vatican.

“It’s a place he’s come to love, an oasis of calm,” Monachesi said, pointing to Benedict’s phrase immortalized in a plaque on the town hall opposite the palace.

It reads: “Here I find everything: a mountain, a lake, I even see the sea… and good people.”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

Benedict celebrated a Mass every year during his eight-year pontificate in Diletti’s small parish church of San Tommaso di Villanova.

“Everything I thought I knew about him changed when I first met him. He would cry out, ‘Oh, here is our dear parish priest!’ and once I cheekily replied: ‘Here is my dear parishioner, who doesn’t always attend my services!’” Diletti said.

Local residents prepared for a torch-lit procession later on Thursday to mark the actual moment Benedict’s pontificate ends.

“Benedict’s been such a big part of our lives, we want to make him an honorary citizen of Castel Gandolfo,” said local mayor Milva Monachesi.

“We’ve been privileged to see a different, more humane side to him over the years, and grown to love him,” she said, adding that she had named her eight-year-old daughter Benedetta in honor of the pope.

“Thank you Benedict, we are all with you!” read huge inflatable silver letters strung next to the small parish church, where parish priest Pietro Diletti spoke of the pope he had befriended.

“I’ve met the pope many times, we’ve eaten together, we’ve joked together, and it’s an immense gesture of friendship on his part that he has chosen us for his last goodbye,” said Diletti.

After waiting for hours in the chill wind, chanting Hail Marys and huddling together for warmth, the crowd gazed eagerly up into the sky to catch a glimpse of the papal helicopter arriving from the Vatican, which Benedict left just minutes earlier for the last time as pope.

“It was all over so soon. What a joy to see him, but how sad to think it is for the last time,” said Giuseppina, a 23-year-old local waitress, wiping away a tear.

Others could be seen tearing up as the pontiff told the crowd he was soon to be just “a simple pilgrim” like them, before blessing them and retiring into the palace, and out of sight from the world.

“It means a huge amount to us that Benedict has chosen to say his final goodbyes here, it’s a very emotional day,” said Patrizia Gasperini, 40, standing next to the imposing wooden doors of the papal palace that will close at 1900 GMT, indicating the end of Benedict’s reign.

A crowd in tears at Benedict’s farewell

By Ella Ide
Agence France-Presse
Friday, March 1st, 2013


HIDDEN FROM WORLD Members of the public and the media wait for Vatican Swiss guards to close the main door of the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Benedict XVI greeted the faithful for the last time as pope on Thursday, telling tearful well-wishers that he is beginning the final stage of his life as “simply a pilgrim,” hours before he becomes the first pontiff in 600 years to resign. AP/ALESSANDRA TARANTINO

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italyâ€"Pope Benedict XVI’s final goodbye before he retires was met with tears and applause in the tiny hilltop town of Castel Gandolfo near Rome Thursday, where thousands had gathered to hear his emotional last words.

“Thank you, thank you for your friendship,” the 85-year old pontiff said as he stepped out onto a balcony of the papal residence here, smiling widely and holding out his arms to the crowd of flag-waving families, priests and pilgrims, who cheered wildly and chanted “Be-ne-detto!”

Cathedral bells rang out to announce the arrival of the soon-to-be former pope, as local residents crowded onto balconies and rooftops surrounding the square of this mediaeval town, which has a bond with the papacy going back centuries, where locals have grown to know and love Benedict.

Castel Gandolfo (Latin: Castrum Gandulphi, colloquially Castello in the Castelli Romani dialects) is a small town or commune located approximately 15 miles southeast of Rome, Lazio, Italy. Occupying a height on the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, Castel Gandolfo is perhaps best known as the summer residence and occasional vacation retreat for the pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome. The town has a population of around 8,834 residents and has been voted as one of the most beautiful towns in Italy. (wikipedia)


Castel Gandolfo and the Lake of Albano

The Pope's summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Benedict XVI will be temporarily staying

On 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI informed the cardinals gathered in Consistory that he had decided to resign the papacy, for health reasons, effective 28 February 2013. At a little past 5:00 PM, Vatican time, on 28 February 2013, less than three hours before his resignation was to become effective, Benedict left the Vatican by Italian military helicopter, headed for Castel Gandolofo, where he arrived around 15 minutes later at 5:24 PM. He will stay at Castel Gandolfo during the conclave, after which he will permanently retire and live in relative seclusion at Mater Ecclesiae, a former monastery inside Vatican City. (wikipedia)

wow.  what a credible and balanced analysis.  thanks for the post, expat.

confused vegetables

Quote from: balong on March 01, 2013, 05:09:35 PM
so it all comes down to MONEY. mao diay ni naka ingon sa gera. mas maajo pa tingali ug wa na lay kwartahay. balik ta ug barter system.

here are hopes then that with all your money, you are not ready for war.

Roxas, in a subsequent interview with radio dzMM, said he will not yet comment on Fatima's tirades.

"Well, baka 'di ko na muna papatulan dahil 'di ko naman nadinig. Ang punto lang dito, patuloy na ang pamahalaan ay buong-buo na sinisikap gawin ang lahat para malutas ang sitwasyon na ito," he said.

Roxas also said he has not yet received any confirmation that 10 people indeed died during the gunfight on Friday morning, the first major one to occur since the sultanate's followers arrived in Sabah last February 12.

"Pinapa-verify natin ang reports. Of course nababahala tayo. Sinisugurado nating mananatiling ligatas ang mga kababayan doon. Iyan ang dailan kung bakit ginagawa ang lahat at nananawagan ang pamahalaan natin sa lahat ng panig na manatiling marahan at hindi hayaan ang dumating pa sa karasahan ang sitwasyong ito," Roxas said.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/

"Nasaan na ang pagka-patriotic o pagka-Pilipino? Kapag ang mga kapatid natin ay nasaktan sa ibang lugar, bakit natin ipapagtanggol ang mga kalaban natin?"

Fatima issued this statement following a gunfight between the Malaysian forces and the the sultan's followers, led by crown prince Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram. The gunfight claimed at least 10 lives, according to the sultanate's spokesman Abraham Idjirani, citing information he gathered from the crown prince.

ABS-CBN News has yet to verify the report.

Out of frustration, Fatima blurted: "Is he anti-Muslim? I think he is, I can say that he is anti-Muslim!"

Mar speaking for Malaysia, says sultan's wife

By Dharel Placido, ABS-CBNnews.com
Updated as of 03/01/2013 2:51 PM

MANILA â€" Fatima Kiram, wife of Suu Sultan Jamalaul Kiram III, on Friday accused Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II of siding with Malaysia in the Sabah standoff.

Fatima lamented Roxas's recent statement that Malaysia had been very patient in dealing with the sultanate's followers, who have been holed up in Sabah for over two weeks now to assert their ownership of the territory.

"Is he the spokesperson of Malaysia to the extent of sacrificing the lives of our 10 Tausug warriors? I don't know. I really don't know if he is spokesperson, speaking in behalf of Malaysia," she said at a press conference.

the blame game begins--

Sultan Kiram didn't listen to PNoy: Mar

Posted at 03/01/2013 1:11 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noBhPfF9eho#

MANILA - Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas said the Kiram clan should have listened to the President when he appealed to Sultan Jamalul Kiram III to order his followers to leave Sabah.

An exchange of fire occurred between the royal army and Malaysian police authorities Friday morning in Lahad Datu town where Kiram's followers have been holed up since February 12.

"Malinaw na malinaw 'no. With all due respect sa pamilya Kiram, malinaw na malinaw ang plano ng gobyerno. Matagal nang sinasabi ng gobyerno na pauwiin na natin ang ating mga kababayan dun. Eh matigas ang ulo. Ayaw makinig 'no," Roxas told radio dzMM.

Roxas also said that with the reported shooting incident in Sabah, this is not the right time to argue on who should reach out first.

more at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/03/01/13/sultan-kiram-didnt-listen-pnoy-mar

"What we have from the Malaysian ambassador is that 10 men of the Kirams surrendered and 1 owner of the house where Kiram stayed was killed. From the Malaysian authorities, 2 were killed and 1 was wounded after the Malaysian police vehicle was fired upon by the Kiram group," he said.

Two of Kiram's men also escaped and ran towards the sea, according to the Malaysian ambassador. Hernandez said they have no information if those who left Kiram's group were able to escape. 

He said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario asked the Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines for a full briefing of the operations conducted by Malaysian forces in Lahad Datu.

He said del Rosario submitted a note verbale to the ambassador, asking for full access to Raja Muda's group so that the Philippine government could give medical treatment to the wounded and provide consular assistance to the rest of the group

"Secretary del Rosario also requested clearance for the Philippine Navy ship AT-296 BRP Tagbanua to proceed to Lahad Datu to enable Philippine medical personnel abroad to attend to the wounded and ferry them and the remaining members of the group back to their respective homes and families," he said.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/

another development--

DFA: Sabah standoff over; 2 Malaysian cops killed

by David Dizon, ABS-CBNnews.com
Updated as of 03/01/2013 3:45 PM

10 from Kiram group surrender; others on the run

MANILA - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said 2 Malaysian police officers were killed and one wounded after being shot at by followers of Datu Raja Muda Agbimuddin in Sabah, Malaysia.

"Malaysian authorities, particularly the Malaysian police, are now pursuing the group. Two were killed and 1 wounded from the Malaysian police after their vehicle(s) were fired upon by the Kiram group. The ambassador said the standoff is now over," Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement.

Hernandez said the DFA is still validating a report from the group of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III that 10 followers of Raja Muda were killed while 4 others were wounded in the shooting.

"Nagbabarilan na! Mayroon ng tinamaan sa amin, isang wounded," he said.

"Putukan na rito. We are surrounded! Tapos na ang salita, Tapos na ang salita! We will fight today."

Princess Fatima Kiram, wife of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, said she received unconfirmed reports that Malaysian authorities have arrested Kiram, the leader of the group in Lahad Datu.

She said that before the encounter, the Malaysian police were only 200 meters away from the group of Kiram.

"Lahat nanduon sa paligid nila," she told radio dzMM.

more at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/01/13/spokesman-confirms-exchange-fire-sabah

one philippine version--

Kiram: Putukan na rito. We are surrounded!

ABS-CBNnews.com
Updated as of 03/01/2013 12:10 PM

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) â€" Malaysian forces have opened fire at the royal army of the Sultanate of Sulu in Sabah, Malaysia, the sultanate's spokesperson confirmed on Friday.

Abraham Idjirani, speaking to ANC, said: "The first shot was done by the Malaysian police authorities. And as been said by (crown prince) Datu Raja Muda (Agbimuddin Kiram), if that happens wala na silang option except to fire back."

"There was an exchange of fire," he added.

Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram told DZRH they have been surrounded by Malaysian authorities. He said at least one of their group had been wounded in the firefight.

Kiram says he is the head of the Islamic Sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled parts of Borneo including the site of the stand-off, as well as southern Philippine islands.

The sultanate leased northern Borneo to Europeans in the 1870s.

While the sultanate's authority gradually faded as Western colonial powers exerted their influence over the region, it continued to receive lease payments for Sabah.

The former British colony became part of the federation of Malaysia when it was formed in 1963.

Kiram and the other heirs of the sultan still receive nominal annual compensation from Malaysia in the equivalent of about $1,700.

Idjirani suggested last week that the men would stand down if the compensation were substantially raised.

http://news.malaysia.msn.com/

"They are not leaving," he said of Kiram's men. "The fighting will continue."

President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Ricky Carandang said the Malaysian authorities had briefed Manila about how the Malaysian forces had fired warning shots.

He stressed they did not receive any reports of casualties.

"This was not a firefight, that's what we were told. What we know is that there were some members of the party who tried to break out of the area where they are being contained and they were arrested by the Malaysian authorities."

Carandang added: "The foreign department and other concerned cabinet members are talking to Malaysian counterparts for this to remain peaceful."

However, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Filipino Muslim sultan who sent the men to Sabah to stake their territorial claim, alleged the Malaysian authorities had shot dead 10 members of the group.

Scores of followers of Jamalul Kiram II, the self-proclaimed heir to the Filipino Muslim sultanate of Sulu have been facing off with Malaysian forces in the village for more than two weeks.

The group, which includes about 30 gunmen according to Filipino authorities, sailed from their remote southern Philippine island homes to Lahad Datu on February 12.

Abraham Idjirani, Kiram's spokesman, claimed snipers from the Malaysian forces had killed 10 of the sultan's men and wounded four other members of the party.

"I talked to (the group's leader) by telephone just now and asked him how many of his men were martyred. He told me 10. I enquired about the wounded and he said four," Idjirani told a news conference at Kiram's Manila home.

one version, as reported from malaysia --

Updated: Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:32:41 GMT | By Agence France-Presse

Filipino gunmen open fire on Malaysia forces: officials

Malaysia said Friday that Filipino gunmen had opened fire at the scene of a tense stand-off over a territorial dispute, but denied they had returned fire as rebels claimed 10 of their group were killed.

Malaysia's Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein wrote on Twitter that shots had been fired in the Sabah village of Lahad Datu, but that security forces had not retaliated and that the group continued to be surrounded.

"I confirm that our security forces have not taken a single shot but were shot at at 10am this morning!" he tweeted.

He later told The Star newspaper that there had been "no deaths".

Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokeswoman Abigail Valte told reporters that security forces had fired "warning shots" but played down reports of a firefight.

"Warning shots were fired. There was no gunfight. There were no casualties," she said.

Malaysia's ambassador to the Philippines told Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario that the gunfire had stopped and there were no reports of casualties, foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said on local television.

Firefight Breaks Out in Sabah

By Edd K. Usman
March 1, 2013

After three weeks of the Sabah standoff, a firefight broke out today at about 10 a.m. as members of the Malaysian police allegedly attacked the camp of Rajah Muda Agbimuddin Kiram in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu.


Rajah Muda

(a developing story from Manila Bulletin as of 10:51 a.m., Philippine time)

http://www.mb.com.ph/

Quote from: Lorenzo on March 01, 2013, 01:33:42 PMI'm thinking of traveling to Europe this summer. I'm thinking of three countries to visit: France, Netherlands, Germany.

go, go, go!  you owe it to yourself after all the hard work.  take a tour bus, the better to see the countryside.  naturally, there's always the landmark eiffel tower of paris (ugly), but don't miss madeleine church (some corners on the outside smell of urine, but that was long ago...) and the hunchback of notre dame, hehe.  see to it that you take along fr chic to moulin rouge at the boulevard de clichy, after a visit to rue du bac.  do pass by hamburg in germany.  it's one of the most beautiful cities in europe.  the windmills of your mind in the netherlands cannot be missed.  amsterdam cheese is the best for me.  (bland swiss cheese is a disappointment.)  boy, do i wish to go back to those places, lorenz.  kuyog pod ko ninyo ni fr chic bi... dream ba lang.

Quote from: hubag bohol on February 12, 2013, 09:29:55 AM
Itsahan lagi dayon tag Bibliya ba...

aw, kun ang bibliya pareha kadak-a anang naa sa museum sa baclayon church nga nagtangag pa gyod ug kadena, di gyod ka magmahay.

Quote from: Lorenzo on March 01, 2013, 01:14:43 PM
hahaha. be fruitful eh? kujawa pod.

by laying more eggs?  that must be an eggful.

Quote from: Lorenzo on March 01, 2013, 01:35:52 PM
Balong, make it $200 !

jawohl!  since it cannot be $2,000... $200 will do.  go, go, go, sir balong!

meanwhile, here's a source of my additional wonder that requires a suspension of disbelief...

this is supposedly another kind of money plant:


others know this as 'century plant' or 'climbing ivy'.  one of my favorites, i had this long ago on my windows, letting its lush growth climb on grills.

one day, in desperation over office politics, i went to a faith healer to pour my heart out.  i was stumped.  she who had never been to our place said without hesitation that i have a plant on my windows that is making me vulnerable to all those intrigues.  i have to give up that plant called "mabudhion".

what else was there to do but to believe her, because she knew i had those plants when she didn't even know where i lived, much less had ever been to our place?

it was this particular plant, "mabudhion" (betrayer, disloyal, unfaithful), which turned out be a money plant for others.  oh, the strange world of myths.

my solution: since i cannot kill such a beautiful plant, i transferred it to a pot, brought it to the office, and offered it to all takers, with due warning to be fair.  it was snapped up before i could finish explaining why i was giving it up.  it's disappearance from the house made me feel lighter, but the intrigues went on anyway.  needless to say, the money didn't come either.

while i do not exactly believe such plants can bring in money (hard work is the real money plant), i like to have one only because of the feeling of freshness such plants bring.  their leaves are shiny and sturdy and they don't require delicate care.  add to that the imagined feeling of prosperity that their presence brings; in a word, psychological, but definitely not real.

hehe, just imagine if this were true and all households in the philippines will have one money plant.  do we end up as a country with the biggest number of millionaires per capita?

such differences made me curious, so i traveled through the internet highway to try to know why.  i'll be posting in a while such differences and why there are many kinds of money plants in another thread (under general topic).   

Quote from: Mr.Money on March 01, 2013, 04:25:08 AM

this is my money plant, and it looks different from yours, mr. money.


i once owned a plant like this, given by someone who said it's a money plant.  again, it obviously is different from your money plant and my current one. 

aguy.  pwera sa mga maayo, naunsa na man intawon ning atong mga pulis uy.  buslot ba ang atong recruitment process ani?

UPDATE--

28 February 2013

China restaurant takes down maritime dispute sign

A Beijing restaurant has removed a sign banning customers from three Asian neighbours currently involved in simmering maritime disputes with China.

The sign at the Beijing Snacks restaurant had said Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese patrons were not welcome - and neither were dogs.

The move provoked an angry reaction, with online comments accusing the restaurant of "extremism" and "racism".

The owner did not comment further on the row when contacted by the BBC.

The restaurant owner, named only as Wang, said he had not been forced to take the sign down but had done so of his own volition because it had generated "too much bother" and too many calls from the media.

the AFP agency reports that he had "no regrets" and refused to apologise for any offence caused.

more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21618283

• About 90 percent of Christians live in countries where Christians are in the majority; only about 10 percent of Christians worldwide live as minorities.

more at: http://www.tauntongazette.com/lifestyle/x352572619/Religion-News-10-countries-with-the-largest-number-of-Christians#ixzz1icugIjUb

• Nigeria now has more than twice as many Protestants (broadly defined to include Anglicans and independent churches) as Germany, the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation.

• Although Christians comprise just under a third of the world's people, they form a majority of the population in 158 countries and territories, about two-thirds of all the countries and territories in the world.

• Although Christianity began in the Middle East-North Africa, that region today has both the lowest concentration of Christians (about 4 percent) and the smallest number of Christians (about 13 million) of any major geographic region.

• Taken as a whole, Christians are by far the world's largest religious group. Muslims, the second-largest group, make up a little less than a quarter of the world's population, according to previous studies by the Pew Forum.

• Christians are diverse theologically as well as geographically. About half are Catholic. Protestants, broadly defined, make up 37 percent. Orthodox Christians comprise 12 percent of Christians worldwide. Other Christians, such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, make up the remaining 1 percent of the global Christian population.

• Almost half (48 percent) of all Christians live in the 10 countries with the largest number of Christians. Three of the top 10 are in the Americas (the United States, Brazil and Mexico). Two are in Europe (Russia and Germany); two are in the Asia-Pacific region (the Philippines and China); and three are in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia), reflecting Christianity's global reach.

Rank/Religion/No. of adherents

1   Christianity                 2.0 billion
               Catholic                           1.5 billion
               Orthodox                            225 million
               Anglican/Episcopalian            70 million
               Lutheran                              66 million
               Methodist/Wesleyan                8.3 million
               Reformed/Presbyterian            2.5 million

2   Islam                           1.3 billion
               Sunni                                 940 million
               Shia                                   120 million

3   Non-Adherent              1.1 billion
(Secular/Atheist/Agnostic) 

4   Hinduism                        900 million

5   Chinese Traditional        394 million

6   Buddhism                       360 million

7   Sikhism                            23 million

8   Taoism                             20 million

9   Judaism                            14 million

10  Mormonism                     12.2 million

11  Spiritism                          11 million

12  Falun Gong                      10 million

13  Seventh-day Adventists  10 million

14  Bahá'í Faith                       5-7 million

15  Jehovah's Witnesses        6.5 million

16  Confucianism                    5-6 million

17  Cao Dai                             4-6 million

18  New Age                         ~5 million

19  Jainism                             4 million

20  Shinto                               3-4 million

21  Unification Church           1-3 million

22  Wicca                                1-3 million

23  Rastafari movement         1 million

24  Aladura                              1 million

25  Hare Krishna                     250,000 - 1 million

26  Unitarian Universalism     800,000

27  Druze                                 500,000

28  Scientology                        100,000 - 500,000

29  Eckankar                            50,000 - 500,000

30  Christian Science               150,000 - 400,000

31  Zoroastrianism                  200,000

32  New Thought                     160,000

33  Bön                                     100,000

34  Nation of Islam                  10,000 - 100,000

-   Church of Satan                    Unknown

http://www.conservapedia.com/