MikeLigalig.com

While the identification of memes as "units" conveys their nature to replicate as discrete, indivisible entities, it does not imply that thoughts somehow become quantized or that "atomic" ideas exist that cannot be dissected into smaller pieces. A meme has no given size. Susan Blackmore writes that melodies from Beethoven's symphonies are commonly used to illustrate the difficulty involved in delimiting memes as discrete units. She notes that while the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony form a meme widely replicated as an independent unit, one can regard the entire symphony as a single meme as well.

Memes as discrete units

Richard Dawkins initially defined meme as a noun that "conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation". John S. Wilkins retained the notion of meme as a kernel of cultural imitation while emphasizing the meme's evolutionary aspect, defining the meme as "the least unit of sociocultural information relative to a selection process that has favourable or unfavourable selection bias that exceeds its endogenous tendency to change." The meme as a unit provides a convenient means of discussing "a piece of thought copied from person to person", regardless of whether that thought contains others inside it, or forms part of a larger meme. A meme could consist of a single word, or a meme could consist of the entire speech in which that word first occurred. This forms an analogy to the idea of a gene as a single unit of self-replicating information found on the self-replicating chromosome.

Some commentators have likened the transmission of memes to the spread of contagions. Social contagions such as fads, hysteria, copycat crime, and copycat suicide exemplify memes seen as the contagious imitation of ideas. Observers distinguish the contagious imitation of memes from instinctively contagious phenomena such as yawning and laughing, which they consider innate (rather than socially learned) behaviors.

Transmission

Life-forms can transmit information both vertically (from parent to child, via replication of genes) and horizontally (through viruses and other means). Malcolm Gladwell wrote, "A meme is an idea that behaves like a virus--that moves through a population, taking hold in each person it infects." Memes can replicate vertically or horizontally within a single biological generation. They may also lie dormant for long periods of time. Memes spread by the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. Imitation counts as an important characteristic in the propagation of memes. Imitation often involves the copying of an observed behaviour of another individual, but memes may transmit from one individual to another through a copy recorded in an inanimate source, such as a book or a musical score. Adam McNamara has suggested that memes can be thereby classified as either internal or external memes, (i-memes or e-memes). Researchers have observed memetic copying in just a few species on Earth, including hominids, dolphins and birds (that learn how to sing by imitating their parents or neighbors).

Concept

Dawkins used the term to refer to any cultural entity that an observer might consider a replicator. He hypothesised that one could view many cultural entities as replicators, and pointed to melodies, fashions and learned skills as examples. Memes generally replicate through exposure to humans, who have evolved as efficient copiers of information and behaviour. Because humans do not always copy memes perfectly, and because they may refine, combine or otherwise modify them with other memes to create new memes, they can change over time. Dawkins likened the process by which memes survive and change through the evolution of culture to the natural selection of genes in biological evolution.

Dawkins defined the meme as a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation and replication, but later definitions would vary. Memes, analogously to genes, vary in their aptitude to replicate; memes that are good at getting themselves copied tend to spread and remain, whereas the less good ones have a higher probability of being ignored and forgotten. Thus "better" memes are selected. The lack of a consistent, rigorous, and precise understanding of what typically makes up one unit of cultural transmission remains a problem in debates about memetics. In contrast, the concept of genetics gained concrete evidence with the discovery of the biological functions of DNA. Meme transmission does not necessarily require a physical medium, unlike genetic transmission.

Origins

The word meme originated with Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins cites as inspiration the work of geneticist L. L. Cavalli-Sforza, anthropologist F. T. Cloak  and ethologist J. M. Cullen. Dawkins wrote that evolution depended not on the particular chemical basis of genetics, but only on the existence of a self-replicating unit of transmissionâ€"in the case of biological evolution, the gene. For Dawkins, the meme exemplified another self-replicating unit with potential significance in explaining human behavior and cultural evolution.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A meme is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.

The word meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme (from Ancient Greek μίμημα Greek pronunciation: [míːmɛːma] mÄ«mÄ"ma, "something imitated", from μιμεῖσθαι mimeisthai, "to imitate", from μῖμοÏ, mimos "mime") and it was coined by the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, fashion and the technology of building arches.

Proponents theorize that memes may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. Memes do this through the processes of variation, mutation, competition and inheritance, each of which influence a meme's reproductive success. Memes spread through the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagate less prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread and (for better or for worse) mutate. Memes that replicate most effectively enjoy more success, and some may replicate effectively even when they prove to be detrimental to the welfare of their hosts.

A field of study called memetics arose in the 1990s to explore the concepts and transmission of memes in terms of an evolutionary model. Criticism from a variety of fronts has challenged the notion that academic study can examine memes empirically. However, developments in neuroimaging may make empirical study possible. Some commentators question the idea that one can meaningfully categorize culture in terms of discrete units. Others, including Dawkins himself, have argued that this usage of the term is the result of a misunderstanding of the original proposal.

Hmm, unsa man diay ang angay niyang ikauwaw?

Quote from: TUBAGBOHOL.com on January 22, 2013, 07:53:22 PM
Mura man ug overweight ni nga kahigwaos.

He he, mao jud. The unbearable dead weight of desire...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 05:54:03 PM
yikes, is she sitting on a baby's tram?

Look again, my pet...

In 1997 he had elaborated on this position by describing his role as a scientist with respect to NOMA:

Religion is too important to too many people for any dismissal or denigration of the comfort still sought by many folks from theology. I may, for example, privately suspect that papal insistence on divine infusion of the soul represents a sop to our fears, a device for maintaining a belief in human superiority within an evolutionary world offering no privileged position to any creature. But I also know that souls represent a subject outside the magisterium of science. My world cannot prove or disprove such a notion, and the concept of souls cannot threaten or impact my domain. Moreover, while I cannot personally accept the Catholic view of souls, I surely honor the metaphorical value of such a concept both for grounding moral discussion and for expressing what we most value about human potentiality: our decency, care, and all the ethical and intellectual struggles that the evolution of consciousness imposed upon us.

In a speech before the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Gould stressed the diplomatic reasons for adopting NOMA as well, stating that "the reason why we support that position is that it happens to be right, logically. But we should also be aware that it is very practical as well if we want to prevail." Gould argued that if indeed the polling data was correctâ€"and that 80 to 90% of Americans believe in a supreme being, and such a belief is misunderstood to be at odds with evolutionâ€"then "we have to keep stressing that religion is a different matter, and science is not in any sense opposed to it," otherwise "we're not going to get very far."[4] He did not, however, consider this diplomatic aspect to be paramount, writing in 1997: "NOMA represents a principled position on moral and intellectual grounds, not a mere diplomatic stance."

In a 1997 essay "Non-Overlapping Magisteria" for Natural History magazine, and later in his book Rocks of Ages (1999), Gould put forward what he described as "a blessedly simple and entirely conventional resolution to . . . the supposed conflict between science and religion." He draws the term magisterium from Pope Pius XII's encyclical, Humani Generis (1950), and defines it as "a domain where one form of teaching holds the appropriate tools for meaningful discourse and resolution", and describes the NOMA principle as "the magisterium of science covers the empirical realm: what the Universe is made of (fact) and why does it work in this way (theory). The magisterium of religion extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry (consider, for example, the magisterium of art and the meaning of beauty)."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) is the view advocated by Stephen Jay Gould that science and religion each have "a legitimate magisterium, or domain of teaching authority," and these two domains do not overlap. He suggests, with examples, that "NOMA enjoys strong and fully explicit support, even from the primary cultural stereotypes of hard-line traditionalism" and that it is "a sound position of general consensus, established by long struggle among people of goodwill in both magisteria." Despite this there continues to be disagreement over where the boundaries between the two magisteria should be.

Quote from: BolBuhol on January 22, 2013, 05:49:27 PM
bwaahahaha gid pod bisong way gid ko makita sang ritrato na post nimo haw.

Hala! Gingsinsor galing sang gabirmint mo dira hang aksis mo sang intirnit haw...

Maypa matay...

Bwahaha!

Agoroy, godbay Pilipins...

Ni Romeo T. Limpangog ug Darrel Carumba (Banat) | Updated January 22, 2013 - 12:00am


CEBU, Philippines - Kritikal  ang  kahimtang  sa  usa ka trabahante  sa barko  human nasabak  ang kinatawo niini   sa bala sa mipusil  kaniya    didto  sa barangay Tuburan Sur, dakbayan sa Danao  sa miaging  gabii.

Ang biktima mao  si Ramil Batican, 29, minyo ug canvasser  sa usa ka shipping line sa maong dakbayan.

Si PO3  Arnold Labine sa kapolisan sa maong dakbayan nga nahinabi sa Banat News miingon nga paingon na unta sa iyang trabaho ang biktima dihang kalit lang gisugat sa duha ka wala hiilhing lalaki nga nagsakay  og  motorsiklo ug  ang  naglingkod  sa likud maoy  mipusil  niini.

Dugang pa ni PO3 Labine nga dali  kaayong  miikyas  ang  mga  kriminal  human  matumba  ang  biktima  sa karsada  kinsa  nasabak sa tulo  ka  mga bala  sa armas  de fuego  nga wala  hisayri  ang  kalibre.

Matud pa ni PO2 Labine nga ang biktima nga naigo sa iyang paa ug kinatawo  dali nga  gidala sa pipila ka molupyo sa maong dapit ngadto sa Danao Provincial Hospital apan gibalhin usab  dayon  ngadto  sa Vicente Memorial Medical  Center sa dakbayan sa Sugbo.

Si PO3 Labine miingon nga sa kasamtangan wala pa nila masayri ang  hinungdan sa maong pagpamusil   apan  padayon    pa  nilang  gipangita  ang  mga  kriminal. (/WC) (BANAT NEWS)

He he, war freak galing...

By Cheryl M. Arcibal (philstar.com) | Updated January 22, 2013 - 5:08pm


MANILA, Philippines - Apparently becoming frustrated with China's adamant stand on claiming almost all of the South China Sea as the latter's territory, the Philippines on Tuesday said it initiated arbitration to resolve the dispute.

Beijing has always refused to discuss the territorial row under any arrangement save bilateral negotiations between the Philippines and China.

"This afternoon, the Philippines has taken the step of bringing China before an Arbitral Tribunal under Article 287 and Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in order to achieve a peaceful and durable solution to the dispute over the West Philippine Sea (WPS)," said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

He said a note verbale was handed by Assistant Secretary Teresa Lazaro to Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing on Tuesday afternoon.

Del Rosario  said the initiation of the arbitral proceedings is pursuant to Article 287 and Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was both signed by the Philippines and China.

The Philippines has been claiming that Scarborough Shoal, which triggered a standoff between Manila and Beijing in April, is within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines as provided for by the UNCLOS. China, on the other hand, has been claiming the territory on the basis of historical claims.

"The initiation of Arbitral Proceedings against China on the nine-dash line is an operationalization of President Aquino's policy for a peaceful and rules-based resolution of disputes in the WPS in accordance with international law specifically UNCLOS," Del Rosario added.

"The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China. On numerous occasions, dating back to 1995, the Philippines has been exchanging views with China to peacefully settle these disputes. To this day, a solution is still elusive. We hope that the Artbitral Proceedings shall bring this dispute to a durable solution," he added.

Del Rosario said the Philippines asserts that China's so-called nine-dash line claim that encompasses virtually the entire South China/West Philippine Sea is contrary to UNCLOS and thus unlawful.

The DFA chief also said Manila is hoping that the arbitration tribunal will direct China to respect the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ, continental shelf, contiguous zone, and territorial sea over the West Philippine Sea.

Arbitration has been defined both by the 1899 and 1907 Hague conventions as "the settlement of differences between judges of their own choice and on the basis of respect for law."

An arbitration tribunal may be composed of a single arbitrator or a collegiate body. Contracting parties would have to shoulder arbitration costs.

As for the cost  of the proceedings that the Filipino people would have to pay for, Del Rosario said "one can not put a price in the concerted effort of the Filipino people and government in defending our patrimony, territory, national interest and national honor."

Ngano kahang iya mang gitabonan ang iyang nawong?

Hilaw pa gid...

Abraham Lincoln is often put on a pedestal as one of the greatest opponents of slavery for freeing the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. In fact, he struggled with conflicting and ambiguous views on slaveryâ€"not to mention sexualityâ€"during his entire Presidential career. He wasn’t a stalwart supporter of abolition; he only wanted to do what would make the Union stronger (remember, this was a time when the Confederate states had split from the Union and were at war).

In his own words: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.” This is called talking out of both sides of your mouth.

The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t really touch on racial equality or human rights. It was a wartime decision: “as a fit and necessary military measure. . . . All persons held as slaves in the Confederate states will thenceforward . . . be free.” In other words: only the enemy’s slaves were freed. Hooray to the great emancipator!

Let’s face itâ€"if Honest Abe really wanted equality, Martin Luther King probably wouldn’t have a holiday named after him. -- http://listverse.com/

Master of muscle control--the octopus, of course, not the lady...

Wow, kyut! Pigpay hopya?

KSP lang galing nis Ondoy...

(Kulang Sa Pakong)

Quote from: Lollapalooza on January 22, 2013, 11:41:46 AM
bisan unsa pa ka seryoso ang topic... wa gyud..

Bwahaha! Wa pa gani moentra si Bugs ug si Bolbs... 

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:38:57 AM
mangutana tang bugsay, the tb tirador.

Agoi, abtik pas manatad tong molihay...

...kag manugkalibang gid man...

Quote from: BolBuhol on January 21, 2013, 09:21:42 PM
istatuwa man na haw. nailad gid mo.

Manugdumalagandalagan gid hang statyo haw...

Quote from: islander on January 20, 2013, 11:41:32 PM
frozen na tingali nang itloga uy, syaro.

Basin eggless...

Bwahaha! Poding? May naa pud pigpay?

Quote from: Lorenzo on January 22, 2013, 06:48:24 AM
kana may silent millionaire.

Kon naay silent millionaire, naa puy noisy millionaire, silent non-millionaire, ug last but not least, noisy non-millionaire...

Kaila ka kinsa ning bataa?

Quote from: hubag bohol on January 22, 2013, 04:11:23 PM
"The honor of this chamber must be spared from the rapacity and the sly, cunning and ruinous machinations of some people among us who only have their political ambition and self-interest in mind.

One Senator is so desperate that he has repeatedly and shamelessly invoked and sought Malacañang’s involvement and intervention just to get enough support to oust me. He continues to make a mockery of the Senate as an independent institution.

Of threats and coup rumors, we have had enough. I am way too old to be threatened by anyone, least of all by cowards and hypocrites."

He he...

By Rio Rose Ribaya | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom â€" 23 hours ago





(UPDATE) Embattled Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has moved to vacate the Senate's top post but instead got a show of support from his colleagues.

In a privilege speech, Enrile nominated some of his critics â€" Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Antonio Trillanes IV, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Pia Cayetano to take his place.

"I ask that my motion be immediately put to a vote to pave the way for Madam Miriam Defensor Santiago, Senator Antonio Trillanes, any of the Cayetano siblings, or anyone else here who may share the same sentiments against my leadership and who may be secretly interested in this job the chance to be nominated and to seek the majority’s support to be elected as the new leader of the Senate," he said.

Enrile also took the chance to answer his critics.

"The honor of this chamber must be spared from the rapacity and the sly, cunning and ruinous machinations of some people among us who only have their political ambition and self-interest in mind.

One Senator is so desperate that he has repeatedly and shamelessly invoked and sought Malacañang’s involvement and intervention just to get enough support to oust me. He continues to make a mockery of the Senate as an independent institution.

Of threats and coup rumors, we have had enough. I am way too old to be threatened by anyone, least of all by cowards and hypocrites.

I therefore move that the position of Senate President be declared vacant," Enrile said in his privilege speech.

But Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto objected while Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson moved to divide the upper House.

Eleven Senators, including Senate pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada, voted against Enrile's motion while Senators Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel and Antonio Trillanes IV voted for Enrile's motion to vacate the post. Senators Joker Arroyo and Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. abstained from voting.

"The motion of the Senate president is lost," Estrada said.

Hmm, mga tinood nga milyonir ray maka-afford ani nila...

Ginawistiln kay nagalabaw na gid...

Gikan sa Oac...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 01:26:51 PM

Robert Frost, 1961 John F. Kennedy inauguration

The Gift Outright

Robert Frost

The land was ours before we were the land’s.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were England’s, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.

Kennedy asked if Frost planned to recite a new poem. If not, could he recite "The Gift Outright," a poem Frost has called "a history of the United States in a dozen [actually, sixteen] lines of blank verse." Kennedy also requested changing the phrase in the last line to "such as she will become" from "such as she would become." Frost agreed. The original last line, which Frost claims to have written in the middle of the Great Depression, was first published in the spring 1942 issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review and read, "Such as she was, such as she might become." It seemed appropriate that Frost agreed to further change the poem to reflect the optimism surrounding the new Presidency. -- http://www.poets.org/

Posted on: 4:25 pm, January 21, 2013, by Ali Scotti





(CNN) â€" Britain’s Prince Harry has acknowledged that he killed Taliban insurgents on his latest tour of duty in Afghanistan as a crew member of an Apache attack helicopter.

Harry has been serving for four months as a co-pilot gunner (CPG) in southern Helmand province â€" considered a Taliban heartland â€" and flew on scores of missions with the trigger to rockets, missiles and a 30mm cannon at his fingertips.

No one is saying how many insurgents Harry might have killed but toward the end of his deployment, the 28-year-old, known to his comrades as Captain Wales, shared some of his feelings about combat with reporters while on duty in the massive military base known as Camp Bastion. He said it was sometimes justified to “take a life to save a life. That’s what we revolve around, I suppose.”

Harry explained how the roles of Apaches and CPGs have changed since his previous deployments in 2007 and 2008. “It used to be very much: front seat, you’re firing the whole time.

“Now, yes we fire when we have to but essentially we’re more of a deterrent than anything else.

“Our job out here is to make sure the guys are safe on the ground and if that means shooting someone who is shooting at them, then we will do it,” said the prince, third in line to the British throne.

“It’s not the reason I decided to do this job. The reason to do this job was to get back out here, and carry on with a job.”

Away from his helicopter, the prince mixed freely on base, eating in the canteen with everyone else and relaxing by playing video games with others in the 130-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (AAC). With those comrades, he was just “one of the guys.” -- http://myfox8.com/

BFF

Hagwa

Way atrasay

Usa ka buntag niana

Masulob-on

Tambok baya

Photogenic

Iring sa daplin sa dalan

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:35:39 AM
because we really are one big family here.

Klaro nga family kay naay black sheep...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:34:41 AM
ma-dead ta ni bolbuhol ani da.  ipadaplin ang way sala.

Way labot si To Bol kay secretive ang kanahan, sa iyang hambog wa iapil ang personal history...

He he, minghoy ang Wistiln Yonyon?

Quote from: bugsay on January 22, 2013, 10:07:04 AM
gikan ni namista sa balingsya...

He he, siya diay...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:37:48 AM
kanyahay ra nigimaw ug ahat bisag nagsimuaw pa sa pista sa balingsya.

Hmm, basin wa kasuroysuroy, natanggong sa balay kay nagkalibanga...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:32:24 AM
meaning, tirador diay si richard blanco?

O kaha, nabiktima niya ang usa ka tirador?

Quote from: bugsay on January 22, 2013, 10:09:06 AM

human sa inyong panagtagbo?..

...nga way nahitabo kay ikaw maoy iyang gipangandoy...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:29:54 AM
kini gyod si bugsay... take note nga maoy gasugod ug liko ani.  tirador ra gyod.

Way lipod2x, deretso ang kanahan sa iyang piborit tapik...

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:29:15 AM
unsa man diay na?  nakatilaw na diay ka ana?

Luspad man nang tira-tira ni To Bol...

Quote from: bugsay on January 22, 2013, 10:15:40 AM
ginapiko ug ginapala ang personal history?...

He he, wa pul-ig balik2x sa pagyagyag sa mabulokong mga anib sa makaiibog niyang mga kasinatian sa upat ka eskina sa kalibotan?

Quote from: islander on January 22, 2013, 11:26:43 AM
hinawayon.

Sori. Ingnon ta na lang diay nga ang iyang balak morag tira-tira...

Chopped turgid prose...

Kwartang malabo diay...

Quote from: bugsay on January 22, 2013, 10:03:35 AM
abi nako'g ang nag bikangkang ang gitirahan...

Agoi, nitumaw uroy ang tirador...

Quote from: BolBuhol on January 21, 2013, 09:48:29 PM
may ara pa ba ni subong?

Di man ni tira-tira...

Quote from: BolBuhol on January 22, 2013, 12:11:15 AM
mamangkot lang ko bla diin pode makita, magbakal unta ko haw?

Manughimo ka na lang gid, di ba lapad gid hang katubhan mo haw...

Quote from: BolBuhol on January 21, 2013, 09:53:33 PM
Ano gid may ara ka na pwede mo ikapang hambog mo sang iban?

Abaw linti may naa gid ako damo ikapagtikal haw, ginapala kag ginapiko pa ya...

Quote from: Lollapalooza on January 21, 2013, 01:52:37 PM
bawal nakasimangot sa opis

Kini, pwede ra?

Quote from: Votives on January 21, 2013, 01:44:45 PM

Hmm, smiling to strangers?

"It's troublesome," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Navy's top spokesman. "Navy leadership is taking a look at why personal conduct seems to be a growing reason for why commanding officers are losing their commands. We're trying to get to the root causes. We don't really fully understand it."

He and other military leaders agree that poor leadership, bad judgment, and ethical lapses, rather than operational failures, are growing factors in the firings. But Kirby said it's not clear whether that has anything to do with the strains of the past 10 years at war or simply reflects deteriorating morals among the general population.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the ethics review in November. He said that "when lapses occur, they have the potential to erode public confidence in our leadership and in our system for the enforcement of our high ethical standards. Worse, they can be detrimental to the execution of our mission to defend the American people."

"I think we're on the path. I think the last two defense secretaries have made this a very high priority and have very much held people accountable. But we've got a ways to go," said Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defense under President Barack Obama.

She said the military must enforce a "zero tolerance" policy and work to change the culture so service members are held accountable and made to understand that their careers will be over if they commit or tolerate such offenses.

"The policy is in place," she said. "I don't know that it's as evenly and fully enforced as intended."

For top officers, the numbers are startling.

Eighteen generals and admirals, from one star to four stars, were fired in recent years, and 10 of them lost their jobs because of sex-related offenses; two others were done in by alcohol-related problems.

The figures show that 255 commanders were fired since 2005, and that 78 of them were felled by sex-related offenses. A breakdown: 32 in the Army, 25 in the Navy, 11 in the Marine Corps and 10 in the Air Force.

Alcohol and drug-related problems cost the jobs of 27 commanders â€" 11 in the Navy, eight in the Army, five in the Marine Corp(s and three in the Air Force.

The statistics from all four military services show that adulterous affairs are more than a four-star foible. From sexual assault and harassment to pornography, drugs and drinking, ethical lapses are an escalating problem for the military's leaders.

With all those offenses taken together, more than 4 in every 10 commanders at the rank of lieutenant colonel or above who were fired fell as a result of behavioral stumbles since 2005.

The recent series of highly publicized cases led to a review of ethics training across the military. It also prompted Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to conclude that while training is adequate, it may need to start earlier in service members' careers and be reinforced more frequently.

Still, officials struggle to explain why the problem has grown and they acknowledge that solving it is difficult and will take time.

WASHINGTON (AP) â€" Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, fired from his command in Afghanistan last May and now facing a court-martial on charges of sodomy, adultery and pornography and more, is just one in a long line of commanders whose careers were ended because of possible sexual misconduct.

Sex has proved to be the downfall of presidential candidates, members of Congress, governors and other notables. It's also among the chief reasons that senior military officers are fired.

At least 30 percent of military commanders fired over the past eight years lost their jobs because of sexually related offenses, including harassment, adultery, and improper relationships, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

The figures bear out growing concerns by Defense Department and military leaders over declining ethical values among U.S. forces, and they highlight the pervasiveness of a problem that came into sharp relief because of the resignation of one of the Army's most esteemed generals, David Petraeus, and the investigation of a second general, John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press â€" 3 hrs ago



Associated Press/U.S. Army, File - FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair. Sinclair, fired from his command in Afghanistan in May 2012 and now facing a …more  court-martial on charges of sodomy, adultery and pornography and more, is just one in a long line of commanders whose careers were ended because of possible sexual misconduct. (AP Photo/U.S. Army, File)

Quote from: islander on January 20, 2013, 05:10:17 PM

Ah, democracy is alive and kicking...

Hmm, kublan og itlog si Manoy...

In March of 1867, two dozen American sailors washed up on Taiwan’s beaches. The native Paiwan people who found the sailors greeted the Americans in the traditional manner: beheadings for everyone. It was nothing personalâ€"the Paiwan warriors greeted mariners of all nationalities in much the same way.

Three months later, the United States summoned up enough righteous indignation to address the “East Indies” situation. Local custom or not, those beheadings needed to be punished, and 181 US sailors and marines landed at Taiwan, June 13, 1867.

The US force marched into the jungle, planning to take any Paiwan villagesâ€"that is, if they could find them. All the Americans found was a series of ambushes. The Paiwans never allowed the Americans to close in, and few Americans even glimpsed the enemy. The day-long game of cat and mouse saw just a single casualty: Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie. At this point the Americans fired one last volley in the general direction of the natives, and high-tailed it back to the ship. -- http://listverse.com/

Bwahaha!

Quote from: Lollapalooza on January 20, 2013, 05:41:37 PM
Gabaha na... Thankfully dire sa Digos wala pero sige ug ulan..



Jade Valley Subdivision, Davao City

Ang atong kalsada nahimong kanal. Sa Amsterdam, ang ilang kanal nahimong kalsada (nga gigamit isip skating rink)...

Quote from: TUBAGBOHOL.com on January 19, 2013, 04:52:39 AM
kada kadlawon tikong-kong ta ani.

OK lang kon naay ga tikang-kang...

Hmm, morag si Bay Bugsay ang gihuwat ani niya...

Not so fast. Abilidaran baya si Ondoy...

The preferred entrance to the Berliner Volksbank.

Police said it was a 'professional' job. It was elaborately constructed and even had ceiling supports.

The tunnel had ceiling supports.

The man police want to question in connection with the robbery.

Berlin Bank Heist Tunnel Pictures Released
http://www.oddnews.org/



A policewoman stands at the entrance to the tunnel.

The tunnel originated in a nearby underground parking garage and must have taken the robbers weeks if not months to dig through. As this illustration from Die Welt showed, the robbers probably used their cars to haul away dirt from the dig:

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/01/18/Berlin-Bank-Robbery-Tunnel/#tl-3a8ce3c7

Friday, January 18, 2013 at 4:00 PM
http://www.neatorama.com/





It's straight out of the movies! Earlier this week, police discovered that robbers had dug a 100-foot long tunnel into the safe deposit room of a Berlin bank. They looted the safety boxes within, which some reports have said to be worth up to â,¬10 million. Afterwards, they set fire as they left to cover up their tracks.

From The Telegraph (Image: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters):

Police were alerted to the break-in at the Berliner Volksbank branch early on Monday morning when a security guard noticed smoke coming from the vault.

They besieged and eventually stormed the safe room where the thieves had holed up only to find out they had escaped through a tunnel dug by accomplices.