MikeLigalig.com

Intricately carved altar pieces during the opening mass of the International Eucharistic Congress at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City were provided by former seminarian Glenn Mendiola. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

Catholic pilgrims attend the morning prayer during the 51st International Eucharistic Congress at the Plenary Hall of the IEC Pavilion in Cebu City Monday. Thousands of delegates are expected to attend Mass, liturgical celebrations and keynote addresses translated into 8 different languages. -- http://news.abs-cbn.com/

"Come, your anti-rabies shot is ready..."

Barton is a world traveler, lecturing and creating artwork based on light play. Before she had a stroke two years ago, she would quite literally travel around the world â€" sometimes twice in a year, to speak with various groups.

So what brought her all the way to Oregon in the first place? Born in South Africa to a member of the South African Parliament, she came to Oregon after her father died. “It was sort of like my life fell apart,” she says. “I came to the States because my brother was a physical therapist at a hospital in Oregon; then I got married and raised three children.”

But she says that “the more I traveled, the more I realized what an absolute gem it was to raise children in this little town of Newport, Oregon. Three blocks you can walk down to these pristine white beaches. It’s a safe little town and people are friendly. If you forget your wallet somewhere, they say, ‘Come back and pay me next time.’”

She is now raising an adopted daughter who is about to turn 17, and she’s looking to downsize to a smaller home that’s a little more manageable after her stroke. But it’s hard to say goodbye to the house it took her 40 years to carefully design, curate and craft. -- https://www.yahoo.com/

So she began knocking down walls, creating a large front foyer that opens up into a grand red living room with gilded beams on the ceiling and milled oak floors finished with a special Jacobean brown stain. A formal dining room connects to the other side of the dark green foyer, and a dark, wood-clad kitchen sits in the back, hidden from the rest of the home.

“One of the first things you might notice is that the house looks reasonably dark inside,” she acknowledges. “Normally American houses aim for light. But there’s a reason for that. We have 18th-century stained glass in many of the windows, and just like in a cathedral, the darker interior makes these windows light up like gems throughout the day. As the light changes, the windows change.

“It’s like living inside a Rembrandt painting.”

One bedroom is on the first floor. Two more â€" the “knight’s room,” with a suit of armor, and the master, with a fresco of Jesus on the ceiling â€" are upstairs.

It’s an insanely impressive home, one that Barton crafted especially for herself, relying on construction methods so precise she frequently had to teach the local craftsmen how to perform them.

Some of the craftsmen were even afraid of damaging the raw materials: Barton found the perfect Schumacher fabrics from France for $150 a yard, and had to search for months to find someone willing to mount them to the walls. “They were scared to mess it up because of the costliness of the fabric. The man that hung that wallpaper used to come in drunk every day because he was nervous of messing it up,” she says with a chuckle.

If it seems like this home is more fitting for British nobility than a suburban American family, you’re right. It is is owned by the Right and Honorable Dowager Countess of Shannon, Almine Barton. (She’s also a seer, spiritual master and Mystic-Visionary, according to her website.)

The difference between exterior and interior is so total, sudden, and striking that it’s hard to believe it’s the same house. But there’s a very good reason for the secrecy behind the home’s boring façade: taxes.

The home has undergone significant, and unique, additions since Barton moved in. She didn’t want her tax bill to go up â€" and honestly, your average Oregon assessor might have had a hard time assigning value to the changes anyway â€" so she simply left the exterior unchanged and never let the tax man through the door.

That, and security, of course.

Barton bought the property from the original owner in 1979. Now she has put it on the market for $399,000.

“It was an ordinary suburban house,” Barton tells Yahoo Real Estate. “The owner built it with just basic materials in a very, very sturdy way. But when I went in and saw the small little space, it just didn’t feel right to me.”

The large living room was divided into three smaller rooms that featured shag carpets, and the kitchen was small, with a tiny island in the middle.

Michelle Huffman
January 26, 2016





Outside, this home is like any other in Newport, Ore., with creamy white siding, yellowed brick, and a two-car garage.

Inside, it’s a Renaissance-era castle.

Doors are thick and hand-carved. Stained-glass windows were purchased from old English churches. Some pieces date back centuries.

Hmm, di ka gusto og bitin? Kitty na lang kaha?

Kini galing diay siya ang bana...

He he...

Bana? Kon diha man gani, he must have been meowed out long ago...

DAVAO DEL NORTE -- Nagkapuliki sagang ang usa ka inahan human gidabo-dabohan og bunal og palwa sa lubi sa iyang anak, alas dose sa udto, Sabado sa Visayan Village, siyudad sa Tagum.

Samdan sa nawong si Virgie (tinuod nga ngalan gitago), ug dali nga mipunit og batuta ug gipukpok sab ang anak nga si Bert, 40, molupyo sa maong dapit.

Samdan si Bert sa ulo ug likod ug parehong nagkadugo ang mag-inahan pagresponde sa kapulisan.
"Nasuko ko niya kay nag-inom siya," ni Bert sa SuperBalita.

Gipadala si Bert sa iyang inahan ngadto sa mga pulis aron ipapriso.

Apan nasuko ang inahan sa pulis kay di prisohon ang iyang anak ug dili dal-on sa rehab.

Mga pulis naglibog kay dili man usab mokuyog ang inahan aron mopasaka og reklamo sa kaugalingong anak.

Apan si Bert mi-insister nga isulod siya sa prisohan.

"Diha ko pikas sud, sir, kuyog sa mga guwapo," singgit ni Bert sa pulis.

Mi-order pa siya og baboy ug manok (lechon) aron iyang panihapon. (Domilyn Ramos Pico)


Gipatik sa mantalaang Superbalita Davao Enero 24, 2016.

Ni JEEPY P. COMPIO


USA ka lalaki ang gibalhog sa selda sa San Pedro Police Station human nag-wild sud sa kuwarto sa usa ka motel kay wa misugot ang duha ka babaye nga makig-sex kaniya tungod kay lagi pisot siya.

Gilayong gikarga sa mobile patrol sa kapulisan si alyas Romnick, 30, taga Taragona, Davao Oriental sanglit nagmaoy siya sud sa kuwarto sa Motel ala 1:30 kagahapon sa kaadlawon, Huwebes, sa dalang Claro M. Recto, dakbayan sa Davao.

Subay sa blotter nga natala ni Police Officer 2 (PO2) Perfecto U. Tuloy Jr., duty desk officer sa presinto dos, nasayran nga nanawag og pulis ang manager sa motel nga si Joselito Subala, gumikan sa report kaniya sa room boy.

Giingon nga nadunggan sa room boy nga gipangbuak na ni Romnick ang mga gamit sud sa kuwarto nga iyang giabangan ug nangalisang na ang duha ka babaye nga iyang kauban.

Nasayran nga hilabihan ang kasuko ni Romnick gumikan di na mosugot ang duha ka babaye nga makighilawas kaniya human makita ang iyang kinatawo nga wa matuli.

Sumala sa mga babaye nga di na nila iuli ang nasabutan nga tag P500 matag usa kanila kay gisulod na sila sa kuwarto.

Dugang nilang gikanayon nga miatras sila sa sabot nga ilang lipayon ibabaw sa kama tungod sa kataw-anan  niyang kahimtang.

Kagahapon sa buntag, giingon ni Romnick nga di siya pisot pinaagi sa pagsulti nga nagpalusot lang ang duha ka babaye aron di mahinayon ang bugno nila sa kama.

Dugang pa niya nga nagtuo ang duha ka babaye nga pisot siya gumikan dugay mitindog ang iyang kinatawo tungod sa kahubog.

Bisan pa man niini, gipriso gihapon siya sa tagdumala sa motel, buhian lamang siya kung mabayran na ang nangabuak nga gamit sud sa kuwarto.

Giandam na sa kapulisan ang kasong alarm and scandal batok kaniya ngadto sa korte.


Gipatik sa mantalaang Superbalita Davao Enero 22, 2016.

7 hours ago


Lynea Lattanzia has no problem calling herself a crazy cat lady. With more than 1,000 cats living with her, there’s really no denying it.

“I’m gonna say I’m at the top of the list of eccentric, crazy cat ladies,” Lattanzia says.

She says she has taken in and lived with, at some point, 28,000 cats total. But right now, she only has 800 adult cats and 300 kittens.

“I like cats because they’re independent. They’re beautiful.  They are just graceful and I enjoy watching them,” she says.

When she was first starting out, she had 60 cats in her bedroom, along with dogs, and decided it was too much. The sheer volume of cat in the house forced Lattanzia to move out of the main house (“there wasn’t room for me anymore”). So she moved to a rental home on the property.

“I went from a 4,200-square-foot, five bedroom home with a pool and a wet bar and a view of the river to 1,600-square-foot mobile home with a view of a rusty shed,” she says. “I’ve really come up in the world.”

Of course, even that home is full of cats (and a few dogs).

Her home, called The Cat House on the Kings, is a sanctuary for abandoned and feral cats, the largest in California, in case you had any doubt. They sleep on benches, eat on tables and wander around the carpeted floors. They even mill about in the street outside her property, sunning themselves on the asphalt.

It costs about $1.6 million to run her home of cats. She trained to be a veterinary technician to keep costs low, and hired staff to help with feeding and cleaning. She has a cat-proof fence around the property, which she was able to expand and run through a donor’s estate.

Lattanzia, who fully embraces her ‘crazy cat lady’ rep by wearing a green cat sweatshirt with fanny pack in the video, offers the cats up for adoption. -- http://news.yahoo.com/

BY THEODORE ROETHKE





I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;   
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:   
The shapes a bright container can contain!
Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,
Or English poets who grew up on Greek
(I’d have them sing in chorus, cheek to cheek).

How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin,   
She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand;   
She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin;   
I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;   
She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,
Coming behind her for her pretty sake
(But what prodigious mowing we did make).

Love likes a gander, and adores a goose:
Her full lips pursed, the errant note to seize;
She played it quick, she played it light and loose;   
My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;   
Her several parts could keep a pure repose,   
Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose
(She moved in circles, and those circles moved).

Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:   
I’m martyr to a motion not my own;
What’s freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.   
But who would count eternity in days?
These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:   
(I measure time by how a body sways).

Reuters
January 21, 2016


A homeless woman gave birth on a cardboard box just outside St. Peter’s Square early on Wednesday in near-freezing temperatures and later received an offer of one year’s hospitality in a Vatican institution.

Police said the 35-year-old Romanian woman had gone into labour at about 2.30 a.m. in an Italian square just metres (yards) away from the Vatican.

An Italian policewoman, Maria Capone, helped deliver the baby, a girl, and her colleagues covered both with their jackets until an ambulance arrived.

“I think it was close to zero,” Capone told Italian television.

“The baby regained colour on her face after we covered her,” another policeman said.

The head of Pope’s Francis’ charity office, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, later visited the woman and baby in a hospital a few blocks away and offered her one-year’s free accommodation in a Church-owned apartment, the Vatican spokesman said.

He said Krajewski knew the woman and her partner, also a Romanian, because they use showers and food services the Vatican has started to help the growing number of homeless in the area.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Gareth Jones; Photo: Reuters)

Kaayo rang pabuthan og Super Lolo ang mga bugan aning magtiayona...

Bisan sa pagpakita sa iyang identification card sa kompaniya ug ubang mga papeles nga usa siya ka engineer, wa gihapon motuo ang mga pulis hangtod nga gikuha ang iyang cellphone.

Didto makita ang mga mensahe gikan sa iyang mga kauban nga nagmatuod nga nagtrabaho siya sa Cemex company.

Niana nang pagka alas otso sa gabii, gibuhian si Fajardo, apan nibati na siya og kauwaw sa mga tawo nga nakakita sa pagsikop kaniya.

“Nasagmuyo gyud mi sa gihimo sa mga pulis sa akong bana. Gisayonsayon ra gyud nila og posas bisan wala silay basehanan, Sir,” matod ni Sanchie Fajardo sa Sun.Star Superbalita.

Ang bag-ong hepe sa Carbon police station nga si Sr. Insp Omar Bognot nipasalig nga iyang ipaubos sa imbestigasyon ang tulo niya ka mga sakop.

Iyang giangkon nga wa siya masayod sa nahitabo sanglit niadtong mga tungora na busy sila sa pagpangandam sa paghatag og siguridad alang sa Sinulog grand parade.

“Gagawa tayo ng imbestigasyon. Ipapatawag natin yung dalawa nating police upang alamin ano ang nangyari,” matod ni Bognot.

Apan matod pa niya nga kon nakahimo og kalapasan ang iyang mga sakop, siya na ang mangayo ug pasaylo sa ilang nasaypan pagdakop ug misaad nga di na kini masubli pa.

“Sana mapagpasensyahan nila ang aking mga tao,” sigon ni Bognot.

Apan si Fajardo gustong mopatawag sa tulo ka mga police sa Police Regional Office 7 ug andam siya nga mopasaka og kaso.

“Dako kaayo ang kasagmuyo namo. Salig nga usa lang ka sibilyan. Nganong giingon ana ka sayon pagdakop. Maayo mag kriminal na akong bana nga ingon anaon, gidiretso og guyod sa gawas,” matod ni ginang Fajardo.


Gipatik sa mantalaang Superbalita Cebu Enero 22, 2016.

Ni ARNOLD BUSTAMANTE


ENGINEER sa Cemex Philippines nga naa nahimutang sa dakbayan sa Naga nireklamo human nasaypan sa duha ka mga pulis nga isnatser sulod sa South Bus Terminal.

Gikalitan siya pagdakop sa duha ka mga pulis nga sakop sa Carbon police station niadtong Enero 13 sa hapon.

Si Engineer Wilmar Fajardo, 41, taga Hallow Block subdivision, Brgy. Lagtang, dakbayan sa Talisay natanggong sa police station sa Carbon sud sa tulo ka mga oras human gitumbok nga maoy nilabni sa cellphone sa usa ka pasahero sud sa terminal.

Giila ni Sanchie Fajardo, asawa sa engineer, ang duha ka mga pulis nga maoy kalit nga ningposas sa iyang bana nga sila si PO1 Elmer Quijado ug PO1 Nathaniel Nudalo, beat patrol nga nadestino sa N. Bacalso Avenue, Cebu City.

Padung na mosulod sa Save More si Fajardo, apan nangabot ang duha ka mga pulis ug way daghang estorya, diretsong niposas sa iyang duha ka mga kamot.

Gipasanginlan siya nga nanglabni ug giingong gitudlo sa duha ka mga saksi nga siya ang nikuha sa cellphone.

Bisan kon nipaila si Fajardo nga engineer sa Cemex Philippines, wa motuo sila si Quijado ug Nudalo, gidala siya sa police station.

Matod ni Mrs. Fajardo nga sulod sa police station, giatubang siya ni SPO1 Artemio Tumakay, investigator sa alert team sa police station.

Giingong giyaga-yagaan pa ang iyang bana sa imbestigador ug namulong og “Ikaw engineer? Ka maru gud nimo.”

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab
@MJcayabyabINQ
INQUIRER.net
07:19 PM January 21st, 2016


The Ombudsman dismissed from service former Labason town Mayor Wilfredo Balais of Zamboanga del Norte for facilitating the sale of his car to government at a higher price.

In a statement, the Ombudsman said it has dismissed from service Balais after finding him guilty of grave misconduct and serious dishonesty.

The Ombudsman also meted out the penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office, cancellation of eligibility, and forfeiture of retirement benefits.

The Ombudsman investigation showed that Balais sold his Nissan Patrol to a certain Eduardo Ayunting for the price of P500,000 in Nov. 2010.

On Jan. 2011, Ayunting then entered into a contract with the local government of Labason to sell the same vehicle for a higher price of P960,000.

The deed of sale was signed by then vice mayor Virgilio Go.

The Sanggunian in Aug. 2011 passed a resolution rescinding the contract for being disadvantageous to government.

“(A)s the vehicle’s previous owner, respondent Mayor knew that the price was exorbitant having sold it two months earlier at a much lower price,” the Ombudsman said in its decision.

“In fact, if (Balais) is truly concerned, he should have warned the respondent Vice-mayor not to proceed with the sale, yet he did nothing until the sale was perfected,” the Ombudsman added.

The Ombudsman also said the acquisition of the vehicle was not in accordance with procurement laws.

The Ombudsman also suspended for three months without pay Municipal Accountant Christy Buganutan and Municipal Treasurer Melchor Chipoco, who were found guilty of neglect of duty for processing the disbursement voucher and the check for payment of the vehicle.

The Ombudsman had earlier indicted Balais, Go and Ayunting for graft. TVJ

Spain


#3 in Best Countries: Adventure
#16 in Best Countries





Maritime strength and colonial wealth established Spain’s position as a global leader through the 16th and 17th centuries, a standing that declined as the nation lagged behind great global movements such as the industrial revolution. A civil war brought dictator Francisco Franco into power in 1939, and it was only after his death in 1975 that Spain could make strides to level itself with international progress.

Ascension into the European Union in 1986 was a jump-start to the modernization of Spain’s infrastructure, industry and economic policy. More open trade brought high demand for a diverse set of exports, including textiles, footwear, machinery, olives and wine.     

Continued growth built the nation’s tourism, housing and construction industries up into bubbles that eventually burst during the global financial crisis, throwing Spain into a severe economic recession in 2009. However, a resilient export market, as well as a European Union-funded restructuring effort in 2014, have helped Spain on its way to recovery. Efforts have been made to implement labor, pension, health, tax and education reforms, but unemployment continues to beset about a quarter of the population.

Spain is a parliamentary democracy, with a popularly elected legislature led by a prime minister and a monarch as chief of state. However, each of the 17 autonomous regions within Spain has its own authority and many have their own language. A growing separatist sentiment, especially in the Basque region to the north and Catalonia in the northeast, which includes Barcelona, challenges national unity.

Cultural achievements, from the artistic mastery of Velazquez, Goya and Picasso to the globally renowned novel “Don Quixote” by Cervantes, and traditions like flamenco music and dance are a source of unity and national pride.

Spain is party to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the World Trade Organization, among others.


$1.4 trillion GDP  46.4 million POPULATION  $33,711 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP

‘Cloud Child’ by Iyan De Jesus from Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery. Photo courtesy of Art Fair Philippines.

Bwahaha!

Italy


#2 in Best Countries: Adventure
#13 in Best Countries





Italy’s history started with the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that was eventually supplanted by the Romans in the third century B.C. Italy’s city-states were the first to embrace the European renaissance. The country became unified in the 19th century. 

Italy is a republic with about 61.8 million people. Its capital, Rome, is its largest city. About 80 percent of Italy’s population is Christian, with most people identifying as Roman Catholic.  But about 20 percent of people claim to be atheist or agnostic â€" despite living in the Pope’s backyard.

In some ways Italy’s economy, the third-largest in the Eurozone, is essentially two economies: a higher growth economy in the developed industrial north and a more sluggish one in the less-developed south. Italy’s main exports are machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, apparel and wine. 

From the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci to the fashion houses of Milan, Italy’s cultural influence has always been profound. Remnants of Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilization dot the peninsula. The country’s regional cuisines inspire chefs worldwide.

While Italy may make an ideal tourist destination, life in the country is more complicated. Italy is persistently plagued by organized crime and corruption. Slowing economic growth and high youth and female unemployment remain large concerns.

Leaders have also sounded alarms over Italy's birth rate â€" which has recently reached historic lows â€" and the economic ramifications of an aging population. Tensions are simmering over immigration issues, as tens of thousands of migrants from southeastern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East try to reach Italy’s coastline.

Italy is a member of several international organizations, among them the European Union and the United Nations. It’s also a charter member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization.


$2.1 trillion GDP  61.3 million POPULATION  $35,486 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP

Brazil


#1 in Best Countries: Adventure
#20 in Best Countries





Brazil gained independence from Portugal in the early 19th century, and its government evolved from monarchy to military dictatorship to civilian rule. Today, Brazil is a democratic federal republic.

Rich with natural resources, Brazil’s economy is active in the agricultural, manufacturing, mining and service sectors. The nation is a top producer in coffee production. Brazil’s economy grew rapidly during the first decade of the 21st century, and it now has one of the world’s largest economies in terms of gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The boom has faced a slowdown in recent years, which in turn has triggered growing public anger over long-standing issues of poverty and allegations of corruption cutting across the nation’s social, economic and political institutions. Brazilian studies estimate that corruption annually costs the country billions of dollars.

Brazil’s culture draws from Portuguese, indigenous and African influences. Its music merges European and African elements. The sports-crazy nation loves football â€" soccer to a North American and Australian audience â€" as well as volleyball.

The scale of Brazil’s landscape is massive. Its coastline with the Atlantic Ocean stretches for more than 4,600 miles. The Amazon River is the world’s second longest. It is considered to have the greatest variety of plants, mammals and fish of any nation in the world, thanks to the sprawling Amazon rainforest.

Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations, and is an active member of major international and regional organizations, including the Group of 20, BRICS and the Organization of American States.


$2.3 trillion GDP  206.1 million POPULATION  $16,096 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP

Adventure Rankings


The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust. Popular travel destinations such as Brazil and Italy top the list.

Ni Christell Fatima Tudtud (Banat) | Updated January 21, 2016 - 12:00am


CEBU, Philippines â€" Mga pinayuhot nga imported frozen processed meat nga walay permit gipangsunog kagahapon sa usa ka bakanteng lote sa Mactan â€"Cebu International Airport Dakbayan sa Lapu-Lapu kagahapon sa buntag.

Si Dr. Arnie Delas Marias, quarantine officer sa Bureau of Animal Industry sa MCIAA nagkanayon nga anaa sa 200 ka kilong karne ang gidauban.

“(They) have no permit that means it is smuggled. Bisan gamay ang dad-on (sa karne) o personal consumption dili pwede,” matud ni Delas Marias sa mga tig-balita. Ang mga karne gikumpiska sugod sa miaging Disyembre hangtud sa sayong bahin sa Enero ning tuiga ug gikan pa kini sa laing nasud sama sa South Korea, Hong Kong ug Japan.

Matud ni Delas Marias pulos kini mga branded nga produkto sa processed meat apan walay mga import permit.

Ang pagsunog sa maong mga karne gihimo aron pagpamatuod nga dili dad-on aron kan-on sa mga taga Bureau of Quarantine ang masakmit nga karne human adunay nanggawas nga estoryang ilaha lang kining dad-on sa ilang pamilya.

“This is to show people nga amo gisunog ug wala namo gikaon,”  dugang ni Delas Marias.

Saksi sa pagdaob sa mga karne ang mga opisyal sa GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation, Bureau of Customs, Commission on Audit ug ang Aviation Security Unit-7. â€" /EIM) (BANAT NEWS)

Cosmic clues

The roots of Brown and Batygin’s discovery come from another distant solar system object discovered by Brown. Sedna is a weird object on an odd orbit that doesn’t fit in with the behavior of other distant icy objects (including Pluto) in what’s called the Kuiper Belt. When astronomers Chad Trujillo and Scott Sheppard discovered a second Sedna-like object in a weird orbit, Brown and Batygin got suspicious.

As it turned out, the six most prominent objects in the far-outer reaches of the solar system all have orbits that point in the same direction and make their closest approach to the sun in very similar locations. The chances of that happening entirely by chance were estimated by Batygin as being, well, astronomical. All of a sudden, the scientists â€" who entered into the process hoping to disprove the hypothesis that there was an undiscovered big planet knocking around the outer solar system â€" suddenly started to wonder if it might actually be true. When they discovered that their projected Planet Nine accurately predicted the existence of some other weird distant solar-system objects, things really fell into place.

Astronomers have been hunting for an undiscovered “Planet X” for nearly two centuries, generally without success. The notable exception: Neptune’s presence in our solar system was predicted by observing irregularities in the orbit of Uranus â€" and then later proven by observation through telescopes. Brown and Batygin’s finding is similar, in that they’ve done the math that strongly suggests the presence of a large planet in an weird orbit way beyond Pluto. But until someone spots the planet with a telescope, it’s just a theory.

Until recently, conventional wisdom held that we were done finding large objects in our solar system. In 2006, when Pluto was demoted, Brown recalls telling many people, “That’s it. That’s the end of planets. We get eight in this solar system and that will have to be enough.” A survey by NASA’s Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite essentially proved that there couldn’t be anything Saturn-sized or larger hiding out beyond Pluto.

Batygin and Brown’s theoretical “Planet Nine” â€" the scientists have even set up a website at findplanetnine.com â€" slides under the WISE size limit, because it’s smaller than Neptune. That far away from the sun, there’s very little light and heat, making it extraordinarily difficult to detect smaller objects. The search is already underway at ground-based telescopes around the world, but it’s a little like searching for a needle in a haystack in the dark. Brown and Batygin are using the Subaru telescope in Hawaii to search for the object, but it might take as much as five years for them to find it.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/
Jason Snell
January 21, 2016



(Image: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC))


A decade ago Mike Brown helped get Pluto demoted from a “planet” to a mere “dwarf planet.” Now the astronomer and one of his CalTech colleagues may have plotted the orbit of a new ninth planet in our solar system, dramatically larger than Pluto and much, much farther away.

As described by Brown and fellow astronomer Konstantin Batygin Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal, this new planet would be roughly 10 times the size of the Earth and would take as much as 20,000 years to make a single orbit around the sun. Its theoretical size â€" between the size of the Earth and Neptune â€" is unlike any other body in our solar system, but fits into the most common size of exoplanets detected in other systems.

Although she might not be a canine, Virginia really does act just like a pup. Her owner says she's potty-trained, knows how to use the doggy door and loves to cuddle.

"She is obsessed with my boyfriend," pigpimpin wrote. "As soon as he sits down, she jumps up onto the couch and climbs in his lap. She makes a lot of weird noises: snorts, screams, little coos."

This Pig Thinks She's A Dog, And It's Adorable
The Huffington Post  |  By Cavan Sieczkowski
Posted: 06/17/2014 1:34 pm EDT Updated: 06/17/2014 2:59 pm EDT





A pig named Virginia is having an animal identity crisis, and it couldn't be cuter.

Virginia is a Juliana pig who lives with two boxers at a home in Colorado and thinks she is one of them. Her owner, Reddit user pigpimpin, uploaded photos of the three pals, and thousands of Redditors had questions about the porker's life.

"I think the dogs realize that Virginia is not a dog," her owner explained on Reddit. "They are a lot gentler with her when they play than they are with each other. I don't think Virginia realizes that she isn't a dog. We got her when she was 3 months old so she grew up around them."

His 'sheep dog' even plays like a hound.

The birth has prompted thousands to flock to his farm in Shaanxi Province to see for themselves.

Mr Liu told how he found the unusual baby animal shortly after it was born in one of his fields.

‘I was herding the sheep, and saw a sheep licking her newborn lamb on the grassland. The lamb was still wet,’ he said.

‘When I went up close to check on the lamb I was shocked because it looked so weird, like a cross between a sheep and a dog.





‘I was a bit frightened, as I've been raising sheep for 20 years and had never seen such a creature.’

Yue Guozhang, a researcher at Xi'an City Animal Husbandry Technology Centre, said sheep and dogs were different species.

‘It's not possible that a sheep could become pregnant with a puppy,’ he said. ‘It's likely that this is just an abnormal lamb.’

Ewe have got to be kidding! The 'puppy' born to a SHEEP
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
UPDATED: 19:29 GMT, 25 March 2011


Vets say it’s impossible - but to Chinese farmer Liu Naiying his birth is a miracle.

For Mr Liu insists one of his sheep has given birth to a dog.

The 'puppy' has wool like a lamb but its mouth, nose, eyes, paws and tail look more like a dog's.



'Miracle': The sheep/dog and the ewe that allegedly gave birth to him in Shaanxi Province, China

Kini kay gi-improve and nawong ni Col. Sanders...

Hmm, pwede pud kusahos...

Manggiluluy-on tuod siya nga pagka hired killer, gamay rag singil...

Marauders on hovercats...

Hala, mora jud tuod og si Kylo Ren...

"Instead of an economy that works for the prosperity of all, for future generations, and for the planet, we have instead created an economy for the 1%," Oxfam's report says.

The trend over the period that Credit Suisse has been carrying out this research has been that the proportion of wealth held by the top 1% fell gradually from 2000 to 2009 and has risen every year since then.

In fact, it is only in the 2015 figures that the proportion held by the top 1% overtakes the share taken by them in the first report in 2000.

Oxfam calls on governments to take action to reverse this trend.

It wants workers paid a living wage and the gap with executive rewards to be narrowed.

It calls for an end to the gender pay gap, compensation for unpaid care and the promotion of equal land and inheritance rights for women.

And it wants governments to take action on lobbying, reducing the price of medicines, taxing wealth rather than consumption and using progressive public spending to tackle inequality.

'Misleading'

Some free market think tanks questioned the credibility of the figures.

The Institute of Economic Affairs' director general Mark Littlewood said the statistics were "bogus".

"The methodology of adding up assets and subtracting debts and then making a global 'net wealth' distribution implies that many of the poorest in the world are those in advanced countries with high debts.

Whilst we might have sympathy for the Harvard law graduate's plight, it is unclear that worrying about her should be the focus of a development organisation," he said.

The Adam Smith Institute's head of research Ben Southwood also said the data was "misleading".

"More meaningful measures show greater equality. Those in the middle and bottom of the world income distribution have all got pay rises of around 40% between 1988-2008. Global inequality of life expectancy and height are narrowing tooâ€"showing better nutrition and better healthcare where it matters most.

"What we should care about is the welfare of the poor, not the wealth of the rich," he added.

Oxfam said that the 62 richest people having as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the population is a remarkable concentration of wealth, given that it would have taken 388 individuals to have the same wealth as the bottom 50% in 2010.

http://www.bbc.com/
18 January 2016


The richest 1% now has as much wealth as the rest of the world combined, according to Oxfam.

It uses data from Credit Suisse from October for the report, which urges leaders meeting in Davos this week to take action on inequality.

Oxfam also calculated that the richest 62 people in the world had as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population.

It criticised the work of lobbyists and the amount of money kept in tax havens.

Oxfam predicted that the 1% would overtake the rest of the world this time last year.

It takes cash and assets worth $68,800 (£48,300) to get into the top 10%, and $760,000 (£533,000) to be in the 1%. That means that if you own an average house in London without a mortgage, you are probably in the 1%.

The figures carry various caveats, for example, information about the wealth of the super-rich is hard to come by, which Credit Suisse says means its estimates of the proportion of wealth held by the 10% and the 1% is "likely to err on the low side".

As a global report, the figures also necessarily include some estimates of levels of wealth in countries from which accurate statistics are not available.

Hmm, ang iyang pagkaswerte, tungod ba kaha kay dili siya hangol, i.e., kay according to the news item, modawat siya og assignment bisan gamay rag bayad?