MikeLigalig.com

By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer
Tue Sep 11, 10:09 AM ET

CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden urged sympathizers to join the "caravan" of martyrs as he praised one of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers in a new video that emerged Tuesday to mark the sixth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Al-Qaida traditionally issues a video every year on the anniversary, with the last testament of one of the 19 hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. This year's video showed hijacker Waleed al-Shehri addressing the camera and warning the U.S.: "We shall come at you from your front and back, your right and left."

The new message, which AP Television News obtained from the IntelCenter monitoring group in suburban Washington, came days after the world got its first current look at bin Laden in nearly three years, with the release of a video Saturday in which the terror leader addressed the American people.

Later in the day it appeared on militant Web sites, with a note from al-Qaiada's media production wing al-Sahab saying it was intentionally sent to television stations before being placed on the Internet.

It begins with an audiotape introduction by bin Laden. While his voice is heard, the video shows a still image of him, raising his finger. In the image, bin Laden has the same dyed-black beard and the same clothes â€" a white robe and cap and beige cloak â€" that he had in Saturday's video.

But it was not known if the audiotape was recently made. In the past, al-Qaida has used footage and audio of bin Laden taped long ago for release later.

In the tape, bin Laden praised al-Shehri, saying he "recognized the truth" that Arab rulers were "vassals" of the West and had "abandoned the balance of (Islamic) revelation."

"It is true that this young man was little in years, but the faith in his heart was big," he said.

"So there is a huge difference between the path of the kings, presidents and hypocritical Ulama (Islamic scholars) and the path of these noble young men," like al-Shehri, bin Laden said. "The formers' lot is to spoil and enjoy themselves whereas the latters' lot is to destroy themselves for Allah's Word to be Supreme."

"It remains for us to do our part. So I tell every young man among the youth of Islam: It is your duty to join the caravan (of martyrs) until the sufficiency is complete and the march to aid the High and Omnipotent continues," he said.

At the end of his speech, bin Laden also mentions the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in an U.S. air strike there. Al-Zarqawi followed in the footsteps of al-Shehri and his brothers who "fulfilled their promises to God."

"And now it is our turn," bin Laden says.

After bin Laden speaks, the video of al-Shehri appears. Al-Shehri â€" one of the hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the World Trade Center â€" is seen wearing a white robe and headscarf, with a full black beard, speaking in front of a backdrop with images of the burning World Trade Center.

"We shall come at you from your front and back, your right and left," al-Shehri said, asserting that America would suffer the same fate as the Soviet Union.

He also praised the losses the United States suffered in Somalia in late 1993.

"As for our own fortune, it is not in this world," he said. "And we are not competing with you for this world, because it does not equal in Allah's eyes the wing of a mosquito."

Al-Shehri warned Muslims who strayed to return to their religion and deplored the state of those who abandoned Muslim holy war, or jihad.

"The condition of Islam at the present time makes one cry ... in view of the weakness, humiliation, scorn and enslavement it is suffering because it neglected the obligations of Allah and His orders, and permitted His forbidden things and abandoned jihad in Allah's path," he said.

Suicide attacks for al-Qaida and other militant groups often videotape last testaments before carrying out their attacks. Every Sept. 11 anniversary, al-Qaida has used the tapes in a bid to rally its supporters by glorifying its "martyrs."

Bin Laden's new appearances underline the failure to find the terror leader that President Bush vowed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks to take "dead or alive."

On Sunday, Bush's homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend sought to play down bin Laden's importance â€" and added a taunt, saying he was "virtually impotent."

But terrorism experts say al-Qaida's core leadership is regrouping in the lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The latest National Intelligence Estimate says the network is growing in strength, intensifying its efforts to put operatives in the United States and plot new attacks.

Bin Laden's video on Saturday was his first message in over a year â€" since a July 1, 2006 audiotape. The images came under close scrutiny from U.S. intelligence agencies, looking for clues to the 50-year-old's health and whereabouts.

Good morning Sir Agila!

Welcome to Tubag Bohol and i hope your stay in this website will be long and filled with warmth and smiles! So what part of bohol are you from, sir?

Regards, sir!

The pretext of "Getting what you want and wanting what you get" should be the figurative language that symbolizes our relationship with the Almighty. The undying link between creator and created--and our eternal need for His love and grace.

¡Sr. Sigbin De las Felicitaciones! ¡Más energía a usted! ¡Espero leer más de sus postes intelectuales en el foro! ¡Felicitaciones mi amigo!

Congratulacion!!

I need to get one and wear that to class, LOL. Sweet...........

...serious ka bro? Crazy pood na..no wonder why my dad gained so much weight when he was in Saudi. Ning ka un ra diay siya...lol luuy pood si dad.

lol, haha never heard of a good smelling stalker? LOL **joke joke**

If any of my children were to need it in the future, God Forbid, I would donate one of my kidneys. And when my life passes this world either because of old age or anything---ive already agreed that I would be an organ donor.

If they need my heart, kindey, liver etc to save a life, then I am for it. What need would I have of it when I'm dead, I would already be in the company of the Lord and his Mighty Hosts.

May his message be heard..to God be the Glory.

Another classic love song:

"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7VWIrqI4evg
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This is going to be my wedding song.

Whoa ..talk about overactive AER.

I know Dr. Neri; this past summer, I did a medical internship at the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine: Podiatric Surgery group---where I shadowed surgeons in the orthopaedic specialty. I met Dr. Neri at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the largest medical clinics in the entire United States. There are hundreds of Filipino doctors in the Cleveland clinic; ranging from neurology, anasthesiology, general surgery, orthopaedic surgery, opthomology, podiatry, pediatrics, and alot of them in Emergency Medicine and in Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine.

I want to congratulate Dr. Neri in his presidency! A proud son of Bohol!

The Lonoy Massacre of Bohol

The Lonoy massacre in 1901 was a bloody American surprise attack launched on Filipino insurgents that killed over 400 in the Philippine-American War. It was fought in Lonoy on Bohol Island.

Before the actual battle, the Filipinos had laid an ambush along a narrow path and carefully concealed themselves in camouflaged pits and trenches, awaiting the unsuspecting American column. These Bohol natives were even more poorly armed than the regular Philippine soldiers. Very few had actual firearms, while nearly all were armed with daggers, machetes, and spears.

Unknown to them, the Americans had learned of the ambuscade from a pro-American native, Francisco Salas, who would lead the Americans to the rear of the Filipino defenses in a devastating surprise attack.

The Filipinos were caught totally offguard and found themselves trapped in their own trenches where they were gunned down; the Americans had received orders not to take prisoners.

In the massacre that ensued, all but seven of the Bohol natives were killed. That number totaled 406, including their commander, Captain Casenas. In striking contrast, American killed amounted to only three with ten more wounded, which came toward the end of the attack when the Filipinos tried desperately to counter-attack the Americans.

There were also a few Samareno (inhabitants of Samar) natives killed, which may have triggered the Balangiga massacre six months later.

American War Attrocities

In 1908, Manuel Arellano Remondo, in a book entitled "General Geography of the Philippine Islands", wrote: “The population decreased due to the wars, in the five-year period from 1895 to 1900, since, at the start of the first insurrection, the population was estimated at 9,000,000, and at present (1908), the inhabitants of the Archipelago do not exceed 8,000,000 in number.”

U.S. attacks into the countryside often included scorched earth campaigns where entire villages were burned and destroyed, torture (water cure) and the concentration of civilians into “protected zones” (concentration camps). Many of the civilian casualties resulted from disease and famine.

As one historian wrote about Marinduque, the first island with concentration camps:

Quote“The triple press of concentration (camps), devastation, and harassment led Abad (the Marinduque commander) …to request a truce to negotiate surrender terms… The Army pacified Marinduque not by winning the allegiance of the people, but by imposing coercive measures to control their behavior and separate them from the insurgents in the field. Ultimately, military and security measures proved to be the (essential element) of Philippine pacification.”

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Philippine Revolutionary Army Attrocities

To counter the bad press back in America, General Otis stated that insurgents tortured American prisoners in “fiendish fashion”, some of whom were buried alive, or worse, up to their necks in anthills to be slowly devoured. Others were castrated, had the removed parts stuffed into their mouths, and were then left to suffocate or bleed to death. It was also stated that some prisoners were deliberately infected with leprosy before being released to spread the disease among their comrades. Spanish priests were horribly mutilated before their congregations, and natives who refused to support Emilio Aguinaldo were slaughtered by the thousands. American newspaper headlines announced the “Murder and Rapine” by the “Fiendish Filipinos.” General “Fighting Joe” Wheeler insisted that it was the Filipinos who had mutilated their own dead, murdered women and children, and burned down villages, solely to discredit American soldiers.

Other events dubbed atrocities included those by General Vicente Lukban, the Filipino commander who masterminded the Balangiga Massacre in Samar province, a surprise attack that killed over fifty American soldiers. Media reports stated that many of the bodies were mutilated.The attack itself triggered American reprisals in Samar, ordered by General Jacob Hurd Smith, who said, "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better it will please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against the United States", and defined this as everyone over ten years old. To his credit, Major Littleton Waller countermanded it to his own men. Nevertheless, some of his men "undoubtedly" carried out atrocities.

Sergeant Hallock testified in the Lodge Committee that natives were given the water cure, “…in order to secure information of the murder of Private O'Herne of Company I, who had been not only killed, but roasted and otherwise tortured before death ensued.”

On the Filipino side, information regarding atrocities comes from the eyewitnesses and the participants themselves. In his History of the Filipino People Teodoro Agoncillo writes that the Filipino troops could match and even exceed the Americans' penchant for brutality. Kicking, slapping, and spitting at faces were common. In some cases, ears and noses were cut off and salt applied to the wounds. In other cases, captives were buried alive. These atrocities occurred regardless of Aguinaldo's orders and circulars concerning the good treatment of prisoners.

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100 years ago, the United States was ceded the Philippine Islands after a "Splendid Little War" with Spain. The United States saw the economic and military importance of the islands, but they had trouble convincing their "Little Brown Brothers" of the benefits of annexation. On February 4, 1899, the first shots of the Philippine-American War were fired. It was a war that would drag on for over three years and cost unknown thousands of lives. It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history, and the country has tried hard to forget it. Our mission was to create a webpage which provides a clear explanation of the war.

The Philippine conflict was a new kind of war for Americans. It has been called the first Vietnam, a guerrilla war fought on distant soil against a foreign people, over the right to self government. Against these "savages", frustrated American troops often abandoned civilized warfare, and brutality rose to the level of the contemporary conflicts in Cuba and South Africa.

QuoteAll you say about the Philippines, the conflict there between the Americans, military and civil, and the pig headedness of the military and their habits of setting "bulldogs to catch rabbits" is immensely cheering to me, because it is precisely what we are doing in South Africa.

--Rudyard Kipling

In the 1890's, America was a country looking to test its might against the imperial powers of Europe. The spirit of Manifest Destiny lived on, and many were looking to expand the nation's influence overseas. Many Americans saw it as their duty to carry the "White Man's Burden" to the far shores of less civilized nations. In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii after several years of occupation. Unfortunately, annexing the Philippines guaranteed the occupants no part in United States government -- America had no wish to acquire another state, but a colony.

Not all Americans supported the war in the Philippines. While the Anti-Imperialists were a small group, they were both vocal and distinguished. Their reasons for opposing the annexation ranged everywhere from belief in the higher ideals of liberty and democracy, to fear that "lesser races" would further pollute their country. Unfortunately, the voices against imperialist policies went largely unheard, lost amidst cries of expansion and war.

The White Man's Burden

QuoteTake up the White Man's burden
Send forth the best ye breed
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need:
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.

--Rudyard Kipling


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The War Phase

In 1896, a young Filipino named Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Katipunan, led yet another of these uprisings, in response to the execution of the national hero José Rizal . This rebellion ended with the Biak-na-Bato Pact in December of 1897, which exiled Aguinaldo and his followers to Hong Kong. But their exile was not to last. On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain, and on May 1, U.S. Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay. Aguinaldo returned to Manila twelve days later aboard the USS McCullock and immediately resumed revolutionary activities against the Spaniards, under the encouragement of the United States. The revolution was a success, and on June 12, 1898, the Philippines, with Aguinaldo as leader, declared themselves independent from Spain.

The remaining Spanish were driven into Manila and surrounded by Filipino troops. In August 1898 the Siege of Manila ended with the surrender of the Spanish to the Americans, who occupied Manila and barred access to the Filipinos. On August 22, General Elwell Otis arrived to replace General Merritt and become the first Military General of the Philippines. Otis refused to even negotiate with the Filipinos, and in spite of Aguinaldo’s attempts to maintain peace, tensions mounted between the two armies.

The Treaty of Paris, which granted possession of the Philippines to the United States, was signed on December 10, 1898. The treaty sparked bitter debate in the U.S. between imperialists and anti-imperialists. Later that month President McKinley issued his "benevolent assimilation" proclamation, to "announce and proclaim in the most public manner that we come not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends..." making it clear that the United States would not grant the Filipinos their long-sought independence. This further increased the strain between armies, and on February 4, 1899 the first shots of the war were fired by American soldiers. On February 5, the Filipinos were forced to retreat northward after heavy losses. The Treaty of Paris was ratified by congress the next day, giving official ownership of the islands to the United States.

Aguinaldo’s troops slowly lost ground in the following months and fled further from Manila. However, American conquest wasn’t limited to Luzon. On February 22, Cebu City on the island of Cebu and Iloilo on Panay both fell to American troops. But American victories were limited. On Luzon, American troops had made little progress. By early summer of 1899, more time than the entire Spanish-American War, American troops had only conquered thirty miles north and south of Manila. American forces were victorious at the Battle of Calumpit, but it wasn’t the devastating victory that Otis had hoped for before the rainy season. With this in mind, he undertook to destroy Filipino forces in the Battle of Cavite in early June. The Americans won, but the majority of Filipinos evaded the American trap and escaped south.

On June 12, Filipino General Antonio Luna, long time rival of Aguinaldo, was murdered by fellow Filipinos. His loss was another great blow to the already faltering Filipino army. Americans continued to defeat Aguinaldo’s army, pushing him farther north, and in December almost had him surrounded. He escaped through the courageous actions of Gregorio del Pilar, who covered his retreat at Tirad Pass. The Americans failed to capture Aguinaldo, but Pilar was killed and 1,100 Filipinos surrendered under the command of Colonel Danilo Tirona soon after. Two weeks later, American General Henry Lawton was killed in the Battle of San Mateo outside Manila.

Successive Filipino defeats weakened and demoralized the army, and in early 1900, Aguinaldo decided to abandon conventional warfare and switch to guerrilla tactics. Americans were also busy outside of Luzon; on March 17, 1900, American forces occupied the island of Bohol. The phantom Filipino forces frustrated the Americans across the archipelago by avoiding large confrontations; progress slowed drastically and General Otis was replaced as Military Governor by Arthur MacArthur on May 2, 1900.

With war raging, the Taft Commission arrived in June to set up a civilian government. This offered a new option to the beleaguered Filipinos, some of whom, after witnessing the superior military strength of the Americans, decided they had had enough of war and set up the Partido Federal to cooperate with the United States. On February 2, 1901, the same day as the formal inauguration of the Partido Federal, the Filipino forces in Panay surrendered. An even greater victory for the Americans came on March 8, at the Battle of Lonoy on Bohol. On March 15, Mariano Trias, Aguinaldo's second in command, surrendered to the Americans with 130 Caviteño troops. He claimed that "the people were demanding peace" and called on all other Filipinos to surrender to the benevolent Americans.

On Luzon, the resistance suffered a near fatal blow with Aguinaldo's capture by Colonel Frederick Funston. He was kept prisoner for several weeks before capitulating and taking an oath of allegiance to the United States. Many generals surrendered with Aguinaldo, but the resistance survived in pockets about the islands, most notably in the province of Batangas in southern Luzon. There, General Miguel Malvar took over Aguinaldo’s former position in July and continued the resistance. Soon after Aguinaldo’s capture, American leadership changed yet again, when MacArthur transferred his powers as governor to Taft, and his military powers to Gen. Adna Chaffee on July 4. Chaffee’s “Injun fighting” policies were greeted enthusiastically by American soldiers, as well as by Theodore Roosevelt, who became President on September 6, after the assassination of McKinley.

Resistance survived on the island of Samar, where the most famous incident of the war, the Balangiga Massacre, occurred on September 26, 1901. This surprise attack, masterminded by Filipino General Vincente Lukban, was half successful, though more Filipinos died in the fighting than Americans. This “massacre” enraged American troops, who then initiated a policy of “kill and burn,” under the leadership of Gen. Jacob Smith. In October, the nearby island of Cebu surrendered to American troops, and was followed by Bohol in December. But some of the events in the Philippines were starting to draw public attention, and in January of 1902, a Senate committee was formed to investigate the war. In February, Lukban was captured, and resistance on Samar ended soon after.

Meanwhile, the war was winding to a close in Luzon, where Gen. Franklin Bell had set up the infamous “zones” under orders from Chaffee. The entire civilian population was herded into select cities which served as prison camps, and everything outside the zones was systematically destroyed. On April 16, 1902, Malvar surrendered to the American forces. On July 4, 1902, President Roosevelt issued the official Peace Proclamation ending the war and granting pardon to the insurrectos.

The Philippine-American war was over, but the story of the Philippines was not. Even as the war was ending, American commanders Waller and Smith, among others, were put on trial for war crimes. In the southern islands of Mindanao and Jolo, American troops continued to fight the Moros for another eleven years. The northern islands were slowly Americanized, gaining schools, roads, sanitation, and an American-based government system. After World War II, on July 4, 1946, the Philippines were finally granted independence.

Casualties

The United States of America
4,324 U.S. soldiers dead, 3,000 wounded
2,000 killed, dead, or wounded suffered by the Philippine Constabulary

The First Republic of the Philippines (Malolos Republic)
16,000 soldiers killed
est. 250,000 to 1,000,000 civilians died of war (through combatants of both sides), famine, or disease.

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Philippine Revolutionary Army soldiers: After the battle of Manila


Philippine Revolutionary Army



Philippine Revolutionary Army

Haven't seen that yet, i really want to tho.

If I were the Governor of the Province of Bohol, the three projects that I would pursue would include:

1. Complete refurbishment of the Philippine National Police--root out the corrupt officials and promote those who are loyal to policy and the rule of law. The PNP of Bohol would be increased in size to double man power--so as to properly assess the criminal activity in the province--or deter would-be-criminals from committing crime.

2. Initiate road construction projects to fix all major roads throughout the province; and pave the roads to all barangays communities.

3. Increase funding to all public schools to hire more teachers, building more public primary schools; and also increase the size of of the colleges and universities in Bohol--providing provincial grants to help fund the education of top knotch students.

^ Thats true, te'. The power of capitalist greed....
I do hope Edwards or Clinton become president--as they plan in initiating health care reforms; but you're right tho---the lobbyist will probably just bribe senators to vote against it............

I hate my professor!! I just came back from 6 hours of lab research and to find out that my professor's grant was revoked because he will be on sabattical next semester. So basically, all the time and effort i gave in to this research (peroxidase levels in weakened samples of yersenia pestis [black plague]) was for nothing. I just wish Professor told me and 4 other student researchers like a month in advance that he was going on sabattical---

Bah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My friends are against universal health care, pero I am for it because there are over 40 million American Citizens who live day by day without health care; and luuy kastanan kai these people are children and single parents. Why shouldnt the world's richest country make efforts to provide basic health care for its own citizens? diba?

Ma suko lang ko kai our tax money is spent (over 700 billion USD spent so far in the war in Iraq) but the gov cant even provide universal health care to people that matters, the American people. From the way i think about it; the US economy enjoys a GNP of $ 13.3 Trillion..and could easily carry the weight of health care.

I personally think that Aquino was murdered by another party; probably an anti-marcos supporter and shot Aquino---knowing full well that Marcos would be blamed for the exiled Senator's death.

Aquino's death was the straw the broke the camel's back, and the force that riled the will of the Filipino people.

My views regarding Pres. Marcos remains unchanged; he was a great man--and a brilliant politician. He did what he had to do during the time era he lived in.

Bro,

It isnt safe diay sa outside of the compoud?? Do they limit the rights of our kababayans over there sa Saudi??

Thank god you're safe, Pare! Next time someone does that to you, just knee them where the sun doesn't shine.
Always stay safe, ladies!

You rock dude!! Stay safe over there in Saudi, peace!

Salamat, Mohandis!

Quote from: Bohol on August 23, 2007, 07:38:32 AM
By Shannon Brownlee
Washington Monthly

Sometime in the late '80s, the CEO of the drug company Glaxo-SmithKline realized he had a problem. Glaxo's lead drug at the time was Zantac, which accounted for one-third of the company's bottom line and was also the world's bestselling ulcer medicine. Zantac had to stay the world's bestselling ulcer medicine for another few years while Glaxo scientists searched for replacements because the drug was slated to lose its patent protection in 1997.

The problem was, evidence had been accumulating for several years suggesting that ulcers are not caused by an excess of stomach acid, which Zantac was really good at suppressing, but rather by a bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori. "The implication, hopeful for patients," as author Greg Critser puts it, "was also dismal for Glaxo." Scientists from Glaxo and other companies pooh-poohed the bacterial theory, but by the early 1990s, clinical trials had shown that antibiotics could, in fact, effectively clear up ulcers, leaving Glaxo and Zantac in search of a new market.

The company's salvation lay just north of the stomach, with the condition Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD. GERD occurs when the esophageal sphincter, the ring of muscle at the top of the stomach, allows acid to creep up the esophagus. Basically, GERD is chronic heartburn--heart-burn so bad it can eventually damage the cells lining the esophagus. Zantac was great at treating GERD, too, but there was just one problem: GERD isn't common. Heartburn, on the other hand, is; but, unfortunately for Glaxo, most people considered heartburn nothing more than one of the wages of overindulgence, treatable with an over-the-counter remedy or a little more self-control at the dinner table--not with a prescription drug. What Glaxo needed to do was persuade people that ordinary heartburn was an early-warning sign of GERD.

So, Glaxo and its marketing team set about popularizing GERD and its potentially dire consequences through a marketing technique that is now used routinely by drug makers, and which came to be known as "condition branding," or selling a disease along with a drug. To brand GERD, Glaxo launched a public relations campaign called "Heartburn Across America."

The campaign used the graphic of an erupting volcano to illustrate to consumers the severity of GERD. The company also set up the Glaxo Institute for Digestive Health, which funded research as a way to reach out to physicians. It enlisted the help of the American College of Gastroenterology, the professional organization for doctors who specialize in treating diseases of the stomach and gut, a campaign that deliberately and effectively conflated GERD, which is serious, and heartburn, which is not, in the minds of both consumers and doctors.

The rest, as they say, is history. Zantac sales skyrocketed, hitting $2 billion a year at its peak, two-thirds of which was for GERD. Physicians began to view Glaxo as a leader in the field of gastroenterology; consumers started worrying that their heartburn was potentially dangerous. Condition branding was soon being used by other drug makers to sell everything from high-cholesterol medications to Viagra.

And, as writer Greg Critser argues in this fascinating, often funny but ultimately flawed book, the drug industry's brilliant marketing techniques also helped turn Americans into a nation of pill poppers, or "Generation Rx." The book's first half is devoted to a detailed and compellingly told history of the transformation of the pharmaceutical industry from a group of conservative companies, focused on research and development, into marketing powerhouses. Drawing on his decade as a pharmaceutical business reporter, Critser, who is also the author of Fatland: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, chronicles the rise of DTC, or direct to consumer advertising.

Before the 1980s, the idea of advertising directly to consumers seemed unethical to most drug companies, an attitude that was on display in a remarkable set of letters written to Congress in 1982 by pharmaceutical executives. In one letter, Charles Hagan, vice president and general counsel of American Home Products, wrote, "[Direct to consumer] advertising would make [patients] extraordinarily susceptible to product promises." The head of Smith, Kline & French wrote that "advertising would have the objective of driving patients to their doctors' office," while the head of Abbott Laboratories worried that advertising to consumers would lead them to pressure their doctors to prescribe drugs "that may not be needed."

Drug company executives would change their minds about DTC advertising over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, once a few maverick marketers used DTC ads to drive up sales. A series of Supreme Court cases, brought by consumer groups and the advertising industry, eroded the boundary between commercial speech and individual free speech, and forced the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees drug industry marketing, to change its rules. New, liberalized regulations issued in 1997 sent drug sales through the roof, ironically bringing about many of the pharmaceutical executives' predictions.

The industry now spends on the order of $3 billion on DTC advertising, and sees $4.20 in return on every dollar invested in "driving patients to their doctors' offices." The result has been rapidly rising pharmaceutical drug use. In 1993, the average number of prescriptions filled per person per year was seven. In 2000, it was 11; it was 12 four years later. Some 27 percent of elderly Americans are on nine or more medications simultaneously, compared with 17 percent in 1997.

It really is disgusting how powerful the drug companies are; coincidentally, I think the United States should provide universal health care such as Canada, the UK and most of the EU nations.

Boo! I'm the stalker

Mohandis, unsa manang 'Bisdak'? Bisaya ba na?

Oo bitaw kaibao raba na si Mohandis ug Aikido. Pre, do you find the papuan girls attractive?? Ingoon ra ba na sila--the darker the meat--the fiercer..

Sigoro...

Quote from: C2H4 on September 10, 2007, 12:39:44 PM
careful lang, Mr Mohandis kay grabe ra na malaria didto, and some tribes daw are still into cannibalism...

ampay raba jud ka sa cannivals kay virgin pa ka...you'll be offered to the Gods as a sacrificial lamb 

hahahahahahahaha sacrificial lamb? Tinuud ka 'te, naa pa diay na sila ug cannibals?? Ngeeeks! In that case--then Mohandis wont have a problem---kai head hunters manang Boholano sa unang panahon.

Go hunt some heads, Mohandis

Ahong pariente na siya, Asian. Pero i haven't met him before---kaila ka ni Casiano Salise Salvo? (He is my lolo) or Mierto Salvo? Jesus Salvo? Manang Donesia Salvo? Manong Ricardo Salvo?

Amazing. Why did Sweden's population remain relatively small and how is it that Philippines boomed at 90+ million??

Wow, looks almost like star trekkish and star warish...

Quote from: EL MUNDO on September 10, 2007, 09:38:36 PM
yeah, when i was in europe, they thought am malaysian...  and other people...and i answered them am a "hot blooded" mexican LOL

Hahaha Leo. I can relate with you man, out here in western Pennsylvania, the people are what i would call 'red necks' and have been depraved of multiculturalism, to say the least. They think everyone who is dark skinned as 'Mexican' or anyone with semblance of oriental phenotype as being 'chinese'. So the last time my family came to visit me in college--we went to a nice country restaurant--and the waitress mistook my father, myself and my younger brother as being 'Mexican' LOL and that momma and my younger brother as 'chinese' LOL. We had to explain to them that we were Filipino--and sad to say the waitress didnt even know what that was; or in her own words "Y'alls look the same to us--and sorry 'bout da misconception".

But thinking about that, it really does strike home to me how mixed the Philippines is. I mean you have Filipinos who have some semblance of Hispanic facial features (like my dad's side) and then there are those who have some kind of east asian phenotypic features (from either chinese, vietnamese or japanese ancestry) and then there are those who are endowned with the beauty of Malay features. In the form of a beautiful and attractive brown or tan skin tone; thick and shiny black hair.

Quote from: Ginger on September 10, 2007, 07:56:28 PM
how about this?

Hazel, tha is a really beautiful picture. Its as if the heavens are staring back..
It reminds me that no matter where we are, what language we speak, what food we eat etc; in the end we live in the same planet, look at the same sun, and share similar hopes.

Leo, didnt you meet Amb. Kenney? Can you tell us about her personality and character? Was she easy to get along with?

Much Thanks.

Quote from: Bohol on September 07, 2007, 01:21:43 AM

Hey Mike, who's the cute Pinay?

Good afternoon ladies and gents!!

So what are you up to this bright and early Monday morning (or tuesday for our kababayans in da Philippines)? As for myself, I just finished two classes today and now relaxing and taking it easy until its 2:30 PM and then back to laboratory work. Its slighty muggy here in Meadville as it was down-pouring last night---but its supposed to be sunny later afternoon. Hows the weather where you guys are at?

Remember, to make the best of your day! Dont forget to smile!

See ya guys at the forum,,
Much regards.

Di pood contageous disease; I would say that it is a form of a contageous forum! Where like minded peoples are able to share ideas and discuss things related to Bohol. With all my heart, Tubag Bohol, is a blessing--as it provides many expatriates the ability to talk to fellow boholanos as if we were back in Bohol.

Quote from: ms da binsi on September 10, 2007, 12:56:55 AM
Ako raba i always admired people driving cars which i really like. I like Jaguar a lot, and everytime i saw that car on the road next to me i always give them "thumbs up" sign..plus "i love your car"...Akong banana dili gyud sa Jaguar kay dili kuno american, pessti gyud ning amawa ni...

Does he like chrysler and Cadillac?

Happy, im addicted to the song you posted of "Ikaw Pa Rin". ADDICTED!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yMeZbcXyTec 

I know theres more of us Fil-Ams in here!

Quote from: Franklin on August 18, 2007, 11:58:16 PM
What good is more police? Just cost more money, and there is nothing worse than too many bad cops.
The ones in Tag. don't do their job.
Traffic tickets? just for regular citizens and a money maker for the Mayor.

Police lounging around in groups in front of the BQ, looking at girls.
Poor performance and bad impression.

I can't get over seeing police drinking beer in public, in uniform on duty.

More police is not the answer.
Cleaning the system from the top to the bottom is the answer.

People in the Philippines are afraid to speak out. And for good reason, maybe the cops would kill them.

These statements usher in the philosophical concepts of the Khmer Rouge and of the Russian Purge of the late 1930s. To do so would destabilize the entire country and as a result, unrestrained activity of gang violence, domestic crimes as well as rebel insurgency would be manifested. To go ahead with your plan would destroy the credibility of the Republic of the Philippines and could result in the collapse of the entire country.

His Excellency Pesident Ferdinand E. Marcos best addressed this matter,
"When authoritarianism is no longer necessary to protect the welfare of the people, I will be the first to move for its dismantling. But the easy, casual wave of the hand dismissing the dangers that confront the worsening world situation and us is not for me. It is for those who insist that I dismantle martial law against my best judgment but, legally and morally, cannot be held liable for any Kampuchean-like tragedy that would be fall our people if I followed their advice. But I would be liable. I would be called all kinds of names. I would be called stupid, naïve and obstinate. History and our people would hold me accountable not only perhaps for lack of wisdom, but for lack of courage if I followed such advice. "

OI! sorry Yadz, naa ba ka nickname?

Okay ko aning condom show kai mo promote na sila ug safe sex, especialamente con maraming sa maraming aids infection without condom awareness.

Quote from: ..yadz.. on September 10, 2007, 09:58:19 AM
ms da binsi., ako lang ibalik imo link gihatag about sa THE SECRET kay dili makita...

http://www.slide.com/s/z1ntv3uk4T8VL-VNMCt9z8UVz5y0zApJ?referrer=hlnk

lorenzo, you can check the site..it's a very good book/documentary.

Thanks 4 da link, ma'am yadz.

Quote from: C2H4 on September 10, 2007, 09:58:01 AM
Sakto gyud na, dong. Study sa gyud. When you become a doctor, all the sexy nurses are gonna throw themselves at you. Joke!

Taas jud ka'g EQ, dong. Murag kadtong commercial sa Promil, the kids with the higher EQs, gi antos jud intawon nila wala kan-a ang marshmallow coz they were promised that if they held back, they would be given another one. The kids with low EQs, wala jud pakialam, gilamon jud dayon ang marshmallow. Bwahaha! Studies have shown that the kids with the higher EQs became more successful in life later on.

Wahehehe! Ako kay super low jud ning akong EQ.  

Hahaha saba dinha 'te! Taas imuhang IQ kai naa gyud ka sa abroad
Mao jud te'! Gi tagaan ko promil sa inahan ko sa bata-bata ba ko. LOL. Mao na---big boned ko karon.hahahahhahahaha!

Sexy nurses ba? Okay ko ana

Quote from: ms da binsi on September 10, 2007, 09:47:51 AM
I met my banana sa LV once only and we talked for several months (over the phone), katawa2x, jokes2x, and then away2x, dayun luoy2x dayun. then came nga na intimate na ming duha to the extent nga naay gyuy ninglupad ug red eye flight kay naay ga kurog2x, and we met in chicago, bahala ug kalgkag ang mga buhok... ug si Lawrence pa, couldn't get enough sa lips...!  igat gyud no???

Hahaha--na bu**** ko sa adtong bajii---thats why i dont trust myself with having a gf right now during college. Di jud ko maka control/constrain myself ana---ma uwag uwag ra kaligaw....di pood ko gusto ana kai patyon ko sa ahong inahan ug amahan---lol. Siguro after im done medical school. You should hook me up with some single pinays over in LA, 'te!

Never heard of 'The Secret'; unsay story ana diay?

LOL!

Here is my example, te':

I want a gf to be with, but I dont need one right now (kai if i do..ill be too busy with sleeping ug walay energy left for study study )

Caffeinated sleepy ko, ikaw?

What I want is what I dont need; and what I get is what I need.

Nag utot si Bambs

Yadz, is that your daughter in your avatar? She's so cute!!

Very physical and full of emotions. Couldnt get enough of her lips..

Mao man jud na bambi, thats the only reason why the military doesnt mandate the use of kevlar for all troops; most troops prefer not to use it because of the weight; di pood mo help kai init kastanan man sa iraq.

The US Army already invented this:


In an effort to protect soldiers faces from flying derbis in war zones, a company called MTek has been testing a product called Predator Facial Armor. Because of the increased risk of airborne fragmentation threats, resulting from improvised explosive devices, also known as IED’s, MTek has produced the Predator Facial Armor System Technology, or FAST for short. The FAST G1, was designed for use by vehicle mounted personnel, more specifically crew served weapons operators.

The Philippine Navy recieved a U.S-made Cyclone ship in 2004; which is already part of the modernizational program to upgrade the capability of the navy to enforce its territorial jurisdictionary right in its seas. There are plans to aquire more of these ships for the Philippine navy:

The Armaments of the Cyclone ship:

Length 170 feet

Beam 25 feet

Draft 5.8 feet

Displacement 328.5 tons

Engines 4 Paxman Diesels (3350 HP each)
4 Fixed Pitch Propellers
2 Caterpillar Generators (155 KW)

Speed 35 knots

Endurance 2,000 nautical miles

Complement 4 Officers, 24 Enlisted,
plus 9 SPECWAR/LAW Detach

Armament 2* Mk.38 25mm cannons
a Stinger missel station and
4 pintles that can hold either
machine guns or grenade launchers.
+++++++




The newly refitted BRP General Mariano Alvarez (PS38), the Cyclone Class patrol ship

On February 23, 1995, the Philippine Congress enacted into law Republic Act 7898. This Act was known as the “Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act.” And in compliance with this Act, the President submitted to Congress the AFP Modernization Program, which the latter approved in Joint Resolution Number 28 on December 19, 1996.

Included in the AFP Modernization Program is the Philippine Navy Modernization Program. It specifies the projects and activities that the Navy will undertake to develop into a respectable armed force that will be able to reasonably provide a credible measure of deterrence. Thus, ensure effective sea control over the country’s maritime areas. The program, in essence, is concentrated on developing certain capabilities, particularly its materiel and technology, in the furtherance of the primary objective of modernizing the Navy both in form and function.

++

To implement the Philippine Navy Modernization Program, the Naval Modernization Office was created. Its task is to undertake and manage all the Navy’s modernization projects. The NMO, as it is called, belongs to the personal staff arm of the Flag Officer In Command, PN. The Director of the NMO reports directly to the FOIC, PN for matters relating to the implementation of the modernization projects.

While being primarily responsible for the implementation of the Philippine Navy Modernization Program at the Philippine Navy level, the NMO performs the following specific objectives:

a) formulate plans, policies and procedures for the implementation of the program;
b) coordinate with the AFP headquarters for the successful implementation of the program;
c) oversee the project management teams (PMTs) that were created to identify, define and implement their cognizant modernization projects; and
d) conduct market research and maintain an appropriate library of new products, processes, technology and trends to enhance the navy’s capability.

Towards these objectives, the NMO endeavors to facilitate the processes involved equipment procurement through skillful management using the best commercial practices and standards and employing the latest in project monitoring software.

What the US Army needs to regiment is the use of total armour for front line troops; like this:


Full body kevlar armour. Its protective, but the trade off is lack of maneuverability due to the weight and bulkyness.

New Found Glory:

"My friends over you"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uMs_29qFly0

"Head on collision"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tblaWLrpcdA

Congratulations to Mr. Jun Ayag!!

lol! hahaha i can remember my Tito Simon karaoking to this song.

Congrats to Jimmy Okusa! Proud of ya little man!

Tinuud jud pre, ang saying "You can take the Filipino out of his country, but you cannot take the Filipino out of the man". Deep jud na---

Quote from: ms da binsi on September 09, 2007, 04:23:34 AM
mao na inyong giinom gabii??? Wa gyud ko kasulay ana Soy, unsa may lami ana mora2x ug whisky?, rum?, vermouth? brandy? cherry? describe kuno...

Strong kaayo na ang cognac--pariho na sa ug hard southern whisky with a drawl in the end. It is something that shouldn't be consumed quickly like...vodka or rum. Cognac is something that should be enjoyed slowly. What we did last night was heat our glasses of cognac---kay the flavor really comes out.

If you smoke a cigar---its a great combination with cognac.

Guapo ba ja dinha sa Norway?? Buutan ba ang tao dinha?

It is disgusting, jud. If they are so uncomfortable, they should go back to Russia and out of Israel.

Before being a member of Tubag bohol and meeting all you incredible ladies and gentlemen, I had a lacking sense of being a 'Boholano' and was very limited in knowledge of what was going in Bohol. I really learned alot from this place, history, culture, respect for many, and also discovered something about myself that was dormant for a long time---from reading all your experiences and from laughing with jokes--i can really notice that there really is such as 'Boholanoism' lol. From reading about stories about families in tagbilaran, food, etc----i cant help but want to go back home. God bless you all, and God Bless Mike. Who without him...we wouldnt be posting here--sharing ideas. A great THANKS to Mike--for everything, man, you bridged us Boholanos together man. Distance really does make the heart go fonder.

I am guilty of this at times, Jun. And I ask God to grant me the strength to evade from doing it again. We should all try to do the best--even with our frail abilities; afterall we are the change we yearn in the world. Right?

I agree, we're all brothers and sisters in here and I mean it when I say

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!

Beautiful....thank you for this, Mike. This article had me crying..

It is told that when, in the days of Legaspi, the capital was moved from Cebu to Manila, the authorities decreed that the image of the Sto. Nino should also be moved to the new capital.

So, the image was crated and shipped to manila, but the crate arrived there empty. The image miraculously disappeared, reappearing in its shrine in Cebu. It was recreated, and the crate placed inside another box, and then shipped to manila. Again, the boxes arrived in Manila empty. The image was crated a third time, and the crate placed not in one but in two boxes - but in vain. The Santo Nino was back in Cebu.

Eventually, the shippers sent the image out in a series of Chinese boxes, one inside another, with the seventh and inner-most box containing the image. In this manner, the image arrived in Manila and was enthroned in the Augustinian church of the capital city. The image, however, kept disappearing from the Augustinian church and reappearing in its shrine in Cebu. And so, it is told, the Manila Augustinians decided to cut off one of the Holy Child’s legs to stop it from escaping and returning to Cebu. This proved of no avail. The Santo Nino still kept on returning to Cebu

Manila finally gave up and Cebu kept its little Lord. Today, it is said, one can still notice how unevenly the Santo Nino stands. It is a sign of how, at one time, it had been amputated to keep it from returning to its beloved home.

In other versions of this story, the image was shipped not to Manila but to Spain. Whatever the version, however, it is a story told to show how intimately wedded to each other Cebu and the Santo Nino have become.

IMAGE OF SANTO NIÃ'O - Considered as the oldest religious relic in the Philippines. It was on April 14, 1521 that Magellan gave the image to Queen Juana as a baptismal gift. Forty-four years later, on April 27,1565 when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived, Fr. Andres de Urdaneta who formally Christianized the Cebuanos, found the Native hostile. Legaspi besieged the settlement and set the village on fire. It was on one of the burnt houses that Juan Camus, a soldier, found the image of Sto. Niño unscratched. Since then, the miraculous image has been venerated by the Cebuanos as its patron saint. At present, the miraculous image is kept in the parish convent, and a replica is adorned with gold and precious stones and enshrined in glass. It is housed in a side altar inside the Basilica Minor del Santo Niño.


The Original statue of the Blessed Sto. Nino.

Naa ba mo statue of Sto. Nino de Cebu sa inyong bay dinha? Ug naa ba mo--even if wala mo'y statue--what is your relationship to the blessed Sto Nino? Feel free to share stories in here...



The Message of Santo Nino de Cebu:

Santo Niño de Cebu is a representation of the Child Jesus, somewhat related to the Infant Jesus of Prague. Santo Niño de Cebu literally means "holy child of Cebu". The image was brought to the archipelago that would later become known as the Philippines on Ferdinand Magellan's near-circumnavigation and in 1521 was given to the Queen Juana of Cebu, who was later baptized into the Catholic faith along with her husband, Rajah Humabon, and their people. After the Spaniards turned against the Cebuanos, the Spaniards burned a good part of Cebu, and the image was caught in the blaze.

In 1565 with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors led by Miguel López de Legazpi, the image was found relatively unscathed. The image was quickly acknowledged as miraculous, and a church was later constructed on the site of the discovery. Today, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is an important historical and religious landmark in Cebu, with devotees forming long queues to pay their respects to the Holy Child.

Native Cebuanos were not fully Christianized and continued to believe in their native, animistic, gods; recognizing the Santo Niño only as another "anito" (idol).

Even so, many myths and folklore surround the image as brought on by the religious beliefs of the people. Local helpers at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño have reported that the Santo Niño sometimes disappeared from its glass case at night only to return with grass stains on its clothes. This sparked speculations that the Santo Niño took long walks at night. There were never any official accounts of these stories and they were often dismissed as local superstitions but this did not lessen the number of devotees to the Santo Niño.

To date, the Santo Niño is still considered miraculous by some Cebuanos.

While the Santo Nino has been popular recently in the Philippines, perhaps its predecessor can be found in Spain during the 1400s which were still occupied by Muslims. Then pilgrims still travelled to the Holy Land and were often harassed on the road during their arduous journey. Sometimes it was said that a Christ Child had appeared to them at night dressed in fine clothes such as the Santo Nino of Cebu wore although in addition he bore a staff in his left hand where hung a gourd full of fresh water and also he bore a basket of bread in his right hand. These he would share with the famished pilgrims, perhaps appearing to another group of them the same night.

The image resided in a local chapel where parish women would tend to its fine apparel with special attention to see the Santo Nino's shoes were clean and bright. Often the parish ladies would arrive in the morning to find that the Christ Child's shoes which they had left so clean the day before had become soiled overnight as if he had been walking the roads. Spanish clergy heard the pilgrims' tales of the Santo Nino and went to witness the road beaten shoes when only the evening before they had been clean. They soon declared the Holy Child was miraculous and Santo Nino's fame spread around the world.

+++

Blessed is the Lord, who Works in Mysterious Ways.

Thanks ba ja, te'!

1. Ms da Binsi
2. Ondoy Lorenzo
3.
4.
5.
6.

hahahaha laurence of Arabia dah!

Quote from: EL MUNDO on August 08, 2007, 08:59:30 PM

Darn...she looks hot.

I dont believe in prophesy or any kind of arts associated with the occult. I only believe in two things: My Lord God and in myself.

+++

Deuteronomy 18:9â€"12. Moses addresses the people just before they cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land and drive out the pagan nations. He says,

When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur (that is, an enchanter, one who looks for and uses omens), or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord; and because of these abominable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you.

Moses mentions eight spiritist activities: divination, soothsaying, augury, sorcery, the use of charms, mediums, wizardry, or necromancy. These are not clearly distinct activities; they overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably. What they have in common is that they all involve efforts to obtain knowledge which is ordinarily hidden, and the means of attaining it is through dealings with the spirit world or with mysterious supra-natural forces.

By: KIT BAGAIPO


Maj. Gen. Jovenal Narcise (r) takes the 302nd Brigade's flag from outgoing commander Col. Jessie Dellosa (c) and passes it over to new brigade chief Col. Cesar Yano during turnover rites yesterday morning at the Camp Rajah Sikatuna in Carmen. Foto DANNY REYES

The new commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade formally assumed post yesterday vice Col. Jessie Dellosa who was appointed as new commandant of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

The new 302nd commander is Col. Cesar Yano, a younger brother of newly installed Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano.

Prior to his new assignment, Col. Yano, a member of PMA Class 1980, was formerly the assistant chief of staff for operations of the Philippine Army.
          

The command turnover yesterday was presided by 3rd Infantry Division commander Major Gen. Jovenal Narcise at the 302nd IB headquarters in Camp Rajah Sikatuna, Carmen town.

Col. Dellosa held the brigade's command post since January this year until Friday when Pres. Gloria Arroyo approved the designation of new commanders in the Philippine Army.

Col. Yano's appointment to the 302nd IB completed the list of new appointments to the Army's major units.

By: KIT BAGAIPO

The arrested members of the notorious Meloy Garcia Robbery Group could not apply for bail.

This was the assurance given by police provincial director SSupt. Edgardo Ingking, in an interview with the Chronicle who allayed public fears that anyone of the six now in police custody may be temporarily granted liberty.

Ingking's assurance was backed by Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Bohol president Atty. Isabelo Sales Jr. in a separate interview with the Chronicle.

Sales said robbery with homicide is a non-bailable crime when the evidence is strong against the accused.
          

One of the group's alleged members, Rodolfo "Dopong" Atega, who was captured by Cebu City police in San Miguel town was granted bail Tuesday but was felled by assassins a few minutes after he was released from detention. He was on his way to the Cebu City pier to take a homebound ferry.

Casimiro "Meloy" Garcia, Gelvin Nuez, Arsenio Polo, Gerardo Fuentes, Cresencio Reguya and Sofronio Remoreras were all charged with robbery with homicide at the City Prosecutors Office.

Except for Reguya who is recovering at the Gov. Gallares Regional Hospital, the suspects are detained at the City PNP lock-up jail.

Doctors handling Reguya say that he may be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
According to police, Garcia revealed in an interrogation that there are 24 other members of their gang who are still at large.

This group could strike anytime, police said.

FIRST RADIO VISIT. US Ambassador Kristie Kenny makes on record as the first US ambassador to visit a radio station here. She was interviewed by DYRD General Manager Peter Dejaresco during her radio visit last Friday.

The visit of US Ambassador Kristie Kenney last Thursday left some lasting good impressions on the Boholanos.

She personally launched an environmental project dubbed as "Going Green: An Environmental Toolkit for the Tourism Sector in the Philippines."

Her whirlwind visit ot the province just lasted for eight hours. HOwever, her first official visit brought her closer to thousands of Boholanos since she made an unprecendented radio visit to dyRD that beamed a 20-minute live interview during the prime afternoon program "Action Line" last Thursday.

"The people remain as the vital link between the US and the country," she declared while citing that friends and relatives of the same countries have long shared in the partnership.

She was amazed on the tourism potentials of Bohol, including the natural green and the tarsier.

The exclusive interview over dyRD gave a firsthand account of what the ambassador has to say on various concerns.
          

On corruption, Kenney said that ther is no any other way to minimize corruption except by "becoming mre transparent" with dealings in governance.

The US governmetn also adheres to the need to enhance tax collection by government.

She cited the growing economy in the country today, saying the Arroyo government is doing well in inviting investors to pour their resources into several business ventures in various parts of the country.

In fact, she said, Bohol should be doubly proud because of its resources which has become a tourist attraction in the country today.

The uniqueness of the spots found here is coupled with the warm hospitality of the Boholanos, the US envoy stressed.

Commenting on alleged human rights violations, Kenny stressed that every case should be investigated.

Quote from: ms da binsi on September 10, 2007, 12:38:37 AM
kana pod ay ambot... kanang mga bag-o  karon nga yaw2x wa na gyuy hinugndan... huy kumusta naman injong inom diha??? pahulay na ka no? kay back to school naman ka ugma, tuon na ka karon???

hahaha oo ning inum2x man kami sa friday night, te. "Rest and relaxation" hahaha. mo tuon ko karon gabii--pero right now just chillen. Ikaw te? How was your weekend?

Very beautiful song, 'te. Spiritual jud no??
Try this:

Bridge Over Troubled Waters **my personal favorite spiritual song**

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kqrmRLFEZkM


When youre weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
Im on your side. when times get rough
And friends just cant be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When youre down and out,
When youre on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
Ill take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
Im sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

Quote from: Happy on September 10, 2007, 12:24:24 AM
naa may tagalog version ani Onic, wala man siin ko ksabot ana oi hehe ganahan raba ko maminaw aning kantaha pud, sa tagalog version diay

Naa ba? Anong pangalan sa tagalog version diay?

By SANDRA SIERRA, Associated Press Writer
Sat Sep 8, 11:27 PM ET




CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez says the chief of Colombia's largest rebel group has contacted him as the Venezuelan leader seeks to mediate between the leftist guerrillas and Colombia's U.S.-allied government.

Chavez, who is trying to broker an exchange of rebel-held hostages for imprisoned rebels, said Saturday that he received a letter from Manuel Marulanda, commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC, while the smaller National Liberation Army rebel group held talks in Caracas with Colombian officials.

Three U.S. defense contractors are among about 45 prominent hostages held by the FARC.

"I started off accepting the role of observer but not anymore â€" I've fallen into the role of mediator," the socialist president said in televised remarks. "There are manifestations of good faith to open paths, to dialogue."

Chavez said he received Marulanda's letter two days earlier and that the FARC leader said he would send a representative to talks.

"He still can't come to Venezuela. He's inviting me to go to Colombia. It's difficult for me to go into the jungles of Colombia," said Chavez, who did not reveal all of the letter's contents. "But we're moving along."

Chavez has said he expects to meet soon with a high-ranking representative of the FARC in hopes of arranging a possible exchange of imprisoned guerrillas for rebel-held hostages. The Colombian government and the FARC have voiced support in principle for the swap but have long argued about how to achieve it.

Chavez held a lengthy meeting Friday night with Colombian peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, who met separately with a delegate of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, during two days in Caracas. The rebel group was represented by Pablo Beltran, and the government said Venezuela's ambassador to Colombia, Pavel Rondon, participated in one of the meetings.

The ELN previously has held talks with the Colombian government in Cuba, but negotiations have stalled.

Chavez is for the first time stepping squarely into Colombia's long-running conflict as a facilitator, initially invited by a Colombian senator and accepted by President Alvaro Uribe's government.

"If I have to go to the gates of hell to try for a humanitarian accord â€" and beyond that a peace accord in the beloved sister nation of Colombia â€" well I will go there with your approval," Chavez told supporters during a speech in Caracas.

Sun Sep 9, 3:40 AM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - India and around 10 other countries will remain excluded from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum for at least three years, Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced Sunday.

"We agreed to revisit the issue of membership in 2010," Howard said at the end of APEC'S annual summit in Sydney, at which the accession of India to the regional grouping was discussed.

Backed by Australia, which hosted this year's summit, India has been knocking on the door of the forum for years and had been hoping the end of a 10-year moratorium on new members from 1997 would help its case.

India believes its geographical location, trade and investment interaction and the size of its economy all serve to strengthen its bid to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which was set up in 1989.

No reason was given for the exclusion of new members, but immediately before announcing the moratorium would continue, Howard said: "Leaders also endorsed a number of measures to strengthen and professionalise APEC as an institution."

That would fit with a reported recommendation by senior officials that APEC should first consolidate its existing work before any enlargement.

But there were also suggestions that while Australia backed India's entry some unnamed Western countries were concerned that it would tip the balance of power in the organisation towards Asia.

Philippines' chief trade negotiator Jose Antonio Buencamino told reporters that the western members were not opposed to admitting smaller countries such as Panama and Colombia, but drew the line at India.

"Once the Indians come in, the weighting would become heavier in this part of the world," he said on the sidelines of preparatory meetings last week.

Aside from India, other potential APEC candidates include Colombia, Ecuador, Macau, Mongolia, Pakistan, Panama, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

By MERAIAH FOLEY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 7, 10:42 PM ET



SYDNEY, Australia - Leaders from Russia and Australia signed a deal Friday to export Australian uranium to fuel Russian nuclear reactors, but promised it would not be transferred to Iran's disputed atomic program.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Prime Minister John Howard signed the deal during bilateral talks on the sidelines of a summit of Pacific Rim leaders in Sydney.

While the agreement forbids Russia from selling Australian uranium to any other nation or using it for military purposes, critics of the deal worry that it could make it easier for rogue states to obtain the raw material.

The U.S. and other Western countries accuse Iran of trying to enrich uranium to develop atomic weapons; Iran says its enrichment program is for peaceful purposes.

Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear power plant, has walked a delicate line in preserving its financial interests while pressuring Iran to abandon its enrichment program.

Putin said Russia planned to build an extra 30 nuclear power plants over the next two decades and needed Australian uranium to complete the expansion.

Australia has the world's largest reserves of uranium, but has no nuclear program of its own. Exporting uranium for nuclear power remains a touchy issue among many Australians, who are uneasy about its environmental impact and potential for weapons use.

Critics say the inflow of Australian uranium would allow Russia to divert its own supply of the atomic resource for military or export purposes.

"The problem is that there is no way of actually verifying what they do with it," Graeme Gill, a Russia expert from the Sydney University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Putin has called for the creation of a system of international centers that would enrich uranium to be used for civilian purposes by other countries while easing proliferation concerns, and Russia is developing a facility for this purpose in Siberia.

___

Associated Press writer Steve Gutterman in Moscow contributed to this report.

By Randall Palmer
Fri Sep 7, 7:36 PM ET



OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's three largest political parties called on the agency that runs federal elections on Friday to reverse its decision to allow Muslim women to stay completely veiled when voting.

"It just doesn't make sense," federal Conservative Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said of the decision by Elections Canada not to require voters to show their faces to election officials when establishing their identities.

"Common sense is being trumped by political correctness. It's the kind of thing that results in ordinary people just shaking their heads," he said in a statement.

The two largest opposition parties, the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois, also called for the federal agency to require all voters to show their faces.

The fourth party in the House of Commons, the leftist New Democratic Party, declined to join the other parties, saying if there were irregularities it would file complaints.

The issue came to a head this week as Elections Canada disclosed that it would allow voters wearing the burqa or niqab to have someone else vouch for them or present extra identification, while still staying covered.

Advanced voting in three elections to fill vacancies in the House began on Friday, and it was the first time new federal legislation requiring better identification was being applied.

In a provincial election in Quebec earlier this year, the authorities there had at first allowed veiled voters to stay covered but then reversed the decision after a public outcry.

Elections Canada had no immediate response to the calls.

by Danny Kemp
1 hour, 28 minutes ago



ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan put airports on high alert and detained hundreds of opposition activists Sunday as former premier Nawaz Sharif prepared to fly home from exile to challenge President Pervez Musharraf.

Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, has defied international appeals to stay away and could face immediate deportation to his Saudi Arabian home-in-exile or even be arrested on his expected arrival on Monday.

The looming return of the two-time prime minister threatens to further destabilise the nuclear-armed Islamic republic ahead of key elections due in coming months, with the popularity of key US ally Musharraf flatlining.

"I and my brother Shahbaz are going back to Pakistan on September 10 and that will be the day of the people's victory," Sharif told a news conference in London on Saturday.

Sharif was due to leave London's Heathrow airport at 1930 GMT Sunday to return to Islamabad, via Muscat, arriving in the Pakistani capital at 11:45 am (0645 GMT) on Monday, his spokesman Nadir Chaudhri said.

"His plan is to go back to play his role in Pakistani politics, which is his right," Chaudhri told AFP. "He's head of his own party. Elections are coming up. He will mobilise his party for those elections."

The Pakistani government on Sunday placed all major airports on high alert, an airport security official told AFP, amid speculation that Sharif may try to land somewhere other than Islamabad or be diverted by the government.

Former industrialist Sharif, 57, says he plans to lead a triumphal motorcade from Islamabad to Lahore, his family's power base -- recreating a procession by the country's top judge earlier this year when Musharraf tried to sack him.

"Nawaz Sharif should respect his commitment to the most revered Muslim country (Saudi Arabia) and its leadership and complete 10 years in exile," Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said.

Sharif was sentenced to life in prison on tax evasion and treason charges but was released in December 2000 on condition that he and his family live in exile in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.

Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled last month that they could fly back.

Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief and the influential son of assassinated former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri at the weekend joined calls from Musharraf for Sharif to scrap his plans.

A senior Pakistani cabinet minister told AFP that the Saudi comments meant the government "now has the justification to send him back to Saudi Arabia if he defies the agreement and flies into Pakistan."

One Middle Eastern diplomat told AFP that the Saudis would support such a decision.

Another option is to arrest Sharif, whose terms in power from 1990-1993 and 1996-1999 were tainted by corruption claims.

Media reports say a cell in a centuries-old fort has been prepared for his possible arrival, but such an option risks sparking mass protests.

"He's not worried about that. He'll face any charges in court," said Sharif's spokesman.

With growing public support behind him, Sharif is a potential obstacle to a power-sharing deal that Musharraf is trying to reach with another former premier, Benazir Bhutto, which could see the president quit the army.

An apparently nervous administration has ordered a police crackdown against workers from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party. Party leaders claim more than 2,000 have been arrested.

"Despite hurdles and the arrest of more than 2,000 people, our workers will reach the airport in large numbers," senior party official Saad Rafiq said, adding that several hundred were seized overnight.

Human Rights Watch called on Musharraf to immediately release the supporters.

"The government should release arbitrarily detained opposition activists immediately and allow them to peacefully welcome Nawaz Sharif freely and without threat of violence," said the group's South Asia researcher, Ali Dayan Hasan.

Several dozen Sharif supporters staged a protest in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, on Sunday.

An anti-terrorism court Friday ordered the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif in a murder case and the government asked another court to grant an arrest warrant for Nawaz on corruption charges.

By PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer
52 minutes ago



HSINCHU, Taiwan - With a deafening roar, eight Mirage fighter jets shoot upward from the darkened runway at Taiwan's Hsinchu Air Force Base, armed with a deadly array of missiles and a mission to knock out incoming Chinese warplanes.

It's only a simulation, of course, but the tensions are always real, and lately have ratcheted up over an ambitious political gambit by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian that has rattled both China and the U.S., Taiwan's closest ally.

At issue is Chen's plan for a public referendum next year on Taiwan seeking entry to the United Nations. Beijing views the referendum as a direct challenge to its claim that Taiwan is part of China.

No one expects war anytime soon, but Chen's move worries U.S. officials enough that they have publicly criticized it. The United States is wary of getting dragged into a scrap between a democratic friend and its giant neighbor across the Taiwan Straits.

Chen's initiative is a "mistake," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said last month. Seeming to support China's view, he said the referendum would be "a step towards ... a declaration of independence of Taiwan," and urged Taiwanese authorities to "behave in a responsible manner."

China hardly wants war either. That would cast a giant shadow over its economic leap forward and next summer's Beijing Olympics. But ignoring Chen would give new impetus to Taiwanese independence â€" a prospect Beijing abhors.

The controversy boils down to a name.

Taiwan has applied for U.N. membership before â€" more than a dozen times since it was expelled from the world body in 1971 when the China seat was transferred to Beijing. But except for a failed attempt this year, it always did so under its official name â€" the Republic of China.

That's what Gen. Chiang Kai-shek called the island when he and his Nationalist forces fled there in 1949 as Mao Zedong's Communists took control of China.

Mao and Chiang hated each other, but they agreed on one thing: There could only be one China. Chiang was no less vehement than the Communists in resisting any notion of an independent Taiwan. Many of those who laid the groundwork for Chen's Democratic Progressive Party once served in prison for advocating independence.

Now Chen wants the electorate's permission to apply for U.N. membership under the name Taiwan â€" a crucial difference because it implies a rejection of the "one China" concept.

The referendum would ask whether the territory should apply for U.N. membership as "Taiwan." The Mainland Affairs Council, which implements Taiwan's China policies, published a poll in August putting support at more than 70 percent.

Any name would be symbolic. The U.N. Security Council would have to approve Taiwan's membership, and China has a veto.

The "aim is to provoke conflicts from the two sides, cheat Taiwanese people to get more votes and realize plans of Taiwan independence," said Yang Yi, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Yang's reference to votes reflects a widespread Taiwanese perception that Chen, although a longtime supporter of independence, is holding the referendum mainly because he thinks it's a huge vote-getter.

The referendum is expected to take place during elections to choose Chen's successor in March, and it puts the main opposition Nationalist Party in a bind â€" to oppose the measure and lose credibility, or support it and appear to be a DPP clone.

For the time being, Nationalist presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou has adopted a middle ground, supporting U.N. membership, but as the Republic of China.

Taiwan specialist Shelley Rigger of Davidson College in North Carolina said U.S. officials aren't panicked, but they are concerned. She says many of them feel Chen cares more about the election than about preserving his relationship with the United States.

"The worry is that he will do things to rally his hard-line base â€" including deliberately provoking Beijing," Rigger said in an e-mail interview. "I also think there is growing concern that Chen is trying to box in his successor, to force the next president to continue his policies."

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 36 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - President Bush's top two military and political advisers on Iraq will warn Congress on Monday that making any significant changes to the current war strategy will jeopardize the limited security and political progress made so far, The Associated Press has learned.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who has been less forthcoming than Gen. David Petraeus in advance of his testimony, will join Petraeus in pushing for maintaining the U.S. troop surge, seeing it as the only viable option to prevent Iraq and the region from plunging into further chaos, U.S. officials said.

Crocker and Petraeus planned to meet on Sunday to go over their remarks and responses to expected tough questioning from lawmakers â€" including skeptical Republicans. But they will not consult Bush or their immediate bosses before their appearances Monday and Tuesday, in order to preserve the "independence and the integrity of their testimony," said one official.

Petraeus and Crocker did have lengthy discussions with the president, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when Bush visited Iraq on Labor Day.

Crocker, a career diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East who opposed the war when it began in 2003, is pushing for political change where progress has been elusive and the administration's options are limited under the fragile Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Yet the diplomat will say that as poorly as al-Maliki's government has performed, it would not be advisable at the moment for the U.S. to support new leadership or lobby for a different coalition of Iraq's fractious Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, the officials said.

Crocker also will discuss the challenges of corruption, reconciliation, de-Baathification and the difficulties of enacting wide-ranging legislation such as an oil law, according to officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.

Both Crocker and Petraeus will say the buildup of 30,000 troops, bringing the current U.S. total to nearly 170,000, has achieved some success and is working better than any previous effort to quell the insurgency and restore stability, according to officials familiar with their thinking.

Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Crocker were in the Washington area on Saturday working separately on final drafts of opening testimony on Capitol Hill. Later in the week, Bush plans a national address.

The assessments by Petraeus and Crocker are intended to be considered equally. But officials expect Congress to focus on military matters, particularly possible troop withdrawals. Unless there are changes, the increase comes to a natural end starting in the spring and continuing through the end of next summer.

At the same time, officials close to Crocker pointed out that any revisions to the military strategy will have a profound affect on the political side.

"Clearly, the political, economic and diplomatic elements are directly related to what happens with security and our involvement in it," one official said.

The officials disputed suggestions that either Petraeus or Crocker would recommend anything more than a symbolic reduction in troop levels and then only in the spring.

Petraeus offered some insights into his testimony on Friday. In a letter to troops serving in Iraq, he cited "uneven" but quantifiable progress in the security situation and acknowledged that the political side "has not worked out as we had hoped."

"We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field," he wrote. It was perhaps the clearest indication he favors carrying on with the troop increase.

Officials said Crocker is focused on trying to do the best he can with the tools available to him now before completing his tour in Baghdad and retiring. More is at stake for Petraeus because he is believed to have higher ambitions, including possibly elected office.

In their testimony, the two will lay out for Congress the situation on the ground, discuss the merits of possible revisions to Bush's strategy, including troop drawdowns and a reduction in support for embattled al-Maliki and conclude that such changes are unwise, officials told the AP.

The testimony will set the stage for an announcement by Bush on how he will proceed in the face of widespread public unhappiness with the war and criticism from congressional Democrats, especially senators seeking the party's 2008 presidential nomination.

Petraeus and Crocker previewed their thoughts to Bush during his stop in Anbar province last Monday. It is one of several regions where the administration has claimed success with the additional troops, with decisions by local leaders to join with U.S. forces against insurgents, the officials said.

To that end, the presidential advisers will press lawmakers to recognize achievements at the local level and argue that such results will force Iraq's national leaders into action.

But that development is not covered by any of the 18 military and political benchmarks Congress set out for judging the effectiveness when it approved the new policy that was announced by Bush in January and reached its full strength in July.

In their testimony, Petraeus and Crocker are expected to repeat the assertions made in the White House's July report that progress is being made, official said. A new updated report is due Sept. 15.

They also are expected to make the oft-stated case that an independent report by congressional auditors, who found only three of 18 benchmarks fully met, set unfair standards for judging success, the officials said.

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer
Sun Sep 9, 7:25 AM ET



JERUSALEM - In a case that would seem unthinkable in the Jewish state, police said Sunday they have cracked a cell of young Israeli neo-Nazis accused in a string of attacks on foreign workers, religious Jews, drug addicts and gays.

Eight immigrants from the former Soviet Union have been arrested in recent days in connection with at least 15 attacks, and a ninth fled the country, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, in the first such known cell to be discovered in Israel.

All the suspects are in their late teens or early 20s and have Israeli citizenship, Rosenfeld said.

"The level of violence was outrageous," Maj. Revital Almog, who investigated the case, told Israel's Army Radio.

A court decided Sunday to keep the young men in custody. They covered their faces with their shirts during the hearing, revealing their tattooed arms, and did not comment.

News of the arrests came as a shock in Israel, which was founded nearly 60 years ago as a refuge for Jews in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust and remains a most sensitive subject. Any forms of anti-Semitism around the world outrage Israelis, and the discovery of such violence in the country's midst made the front pages of newspapers and dominated talk on morning radio shows.

The gang documented its activities on film and in photographs. Israeli TV stations showed grainy footage of people lying helpless on floors while several people kicked them, and of a man getting hit from behind on the head with an empty bottle.

Police found knives, spiked balls, explosives and other weapons in the suspects' possession, Rosenfeld said. One photo that was seized showed one suspect holding an M16 rifle in one hand and in the other, a sign reading "Heil Hitler," he added.

Police discovered the skinhead ring after investigating the desecration of two synagogues that were sprayed with swastikas in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva more than a year ago, Rosenfeld said.

Police computer experts have determined they maintained contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, and materials seized include a German-language video about neo-Nazis in the U.S.

The group planned its attacks, and its targets were foreign workers from Asia, drug addicts, homosexuals, punks and Jews who wore skullcaps. In one case they discussed planning a murder, Rosenfeld said, without providing details.

Some of the victims filed official complaints with police, and other victims were identified after police viewed the films and photos.

In the past, there have been only isolated cases of neo-Nazi activity in Israel. "This is the first time that we've ... arrested such a large number of individuals who are part of an organized neo-Nazi group," Rosenfeld said.

Under Israeli law, a person can claim citizenship if a parent or grandparent has Jewish roots. Authorities say that formulation allowed many Soviets with questionable ties to Judaism to immigrate here after the Soviet Union disintegrated. About 1 million Soviets moved here in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Rosenfeld said all the suspects had "parents or grandparents who were Jewish in one way or another."

Israel doesn't specifically have a hate crimes law, and suspects in past cases have been tried as Holocaust deniers, he said.

The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that fights anti-Semitism, condemned the neo-Nazi cell, but urged Israelis not to stigmatize the entire Russian immigrant community based on the acts of what appeared to be a marginal group.

"The suspicion that immigrants to Israel could have been acting in praise of Nazis and Hitler is an anathema to the Jewish state and is to be repelled," the statement read. "The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazis they strive to emulate."

Amos Herman, an official with the semiofficial Jewish Agency, which works on behalf of the government to encourage immigration to Israel, said the phenomenon was not representative of the Russian immigration.

He called the gang a group of frustrated, disgruntled youths trying to strike at the nation's most sensitive core.

"We thought that it would never happen here, but it has and we have to deal with it," he said.

oh heck ya! I already am ready to clash with my buds cuz they're big penn state fans. 

How about ya?

He has too many connections..

I know..that was such an upset!! Wasnt the ending score like 34-32? We'll see though, but I have my bets on Ohio State.

By The Associated Press
56 minutes ago



As of Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, at least 3,760 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 3,071 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is 12 higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 168 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, South Korea, one death each.

___

By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago



Osama bin Laden's latest message is a hodgepodge of anti-capitalist vitriol, impassioned Islamic evangelism and what can best be described as a twisted attempt at reconciliation: Join us, or we'll kill you.

Analysts say the video that came out days before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is more about timing than substance, an attempt by history's most wanted fugitive to thumb his nose at the forces arrayed against him and remind the world that he hasn't been caught.

He ridiculed President Bush on Iraq, saying events there have gotten "out of control" and comparing the American leader to "one who plows and sows the sea: He harvests nothing but failure."

Despite widespread fears, al-Qaida has so far failed to launch a second attack on the scale of Sept. 11, and many believe the video message â€" bin Laden's first since 2004 â€" was also an attempt to stay relevant.

Anne Giudicelli, a former French diplomat specializing in the Middle East who now runs the Paris-based consultancy Terrorisc, said bin Laden is well aware that his reappearance on the world stage â€" looking fit and with his beard dyed a youthful black â€" was itself a victory that went beyond anything he actually said.

"The objective is obviously to show that despite everything in place against him, he has survived. That's the No. 1 message," she said. "The mere fact of appearing in a video is already a message."

Louis Caprioli of the risk management firm Geos, and former head of the French intelligence agency DST's anti-terrorism operations, said, "What's important is that he made an appearance."

"The question everyone was asking is, is he dead or alive?" Caprioli said. "Now we have proof that he's alive, surprising a lot of experts who thought he was dead."

In the tape released Friday, bin Laden mentions the anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. He also refers to the Democratic Party's congressional victory in last fall's election and to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected in May.

Ben Venzke of the IntelCenter, a U.S.-based intelligence group that monitors terrorism messages, said the Hiroshima reference means the earliest the tape could have been made is on or shortly after Aug. 9 â€" less than a month ago.

While this was bin Laden's first message in a year, and the first time he appeared in a new video since 2004, other al-Qaida leaders have been using the airwaves more and more in recent months. They have also been reducing the time it takes to get tapes out, a troubling sign that analysts and intelligence experts say could mean that the terror leaders are in greater command than previously feared, and perhaps better able to launch attacks.

The new video, which came just days before Tuesday's sixth anniversary of the devastating attacks on New York and Washington, was released on the heels of two thwarted terror plots in Europe in the past week, both linked to al-Qaida.

German authorities say a cell there sought to launch an imminent attack on Frankfurt International Airport and America's Ramstein Air Base, among other targets. In Denmark, officials arrested eight people, all of whom were allegedly in contact with what Danish anti-terror officials called "leading al-Qaida persons."

Still, bin Laden made no overt threats of new attacks in the video released Friday. In fact, he seemed more concerned with lecturing on the evils of capitalism and the dangers of global warming, and even making reference to the sub-prime mortgage crisis roiling the United States.

In the video, bin Laden tells the American people his fighters are duty bound to "escalate the fighting and killing against you" in Iraq. But he adds that there is a solution to the bloodshed, saying: "I invite you to embrace Islam."

Caprioli said bin Laden took pains in the video to present himself as a statesman, attempting to put himself on the same level as world leaders.

"He wants to change his role, to be a leader who speaks to other leaders, and to cast himself as a champion of the oppressed."

"At other times, he has been a lot more threatening," Caprioli added. "Here we don't have a direct threat, because he's talking on a strategic level. He says, 'we will continue operations,' he doesn't say, 'We're going to blow up your planes, your pipelines, your boats."

Whether the video will resonate on the Arab or Muslim street is not at all clear. In Iraq, where disillusionment with the United States runs high, most people voiced disgust with bin Laden's latest message.

"This man (Osama) has nothing to do with religion," Saad Ubo Mustafa, a local resident in Baghdad, told AP television news. "He is killing Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Christians, Jews and foreign people. Islam has got nothing to do with such kinds of people."

Added another man, Abu Basheer: "This man lives in prehistoric times. No one should pay attention or listen to him."

But even if the tape produces outrage or revulsion in most people, history shows that some will listen to what bin Laden has to say, and a few may even be moved to join him.

Bob Ayers, a terrorism expert at London's Chatham House think tank, said that while bin Laden professes to be speaking to the American people, his message is not really aimed at them.

"The people who are going to follow are the ones who are already converts and radicalized," he said. The other audience is almost certainly Western leaders â€" particularly Bush â€" who have so far failed to find him.

Ayers said bin Laden is thumbing his nose at U.S. leaders by "saying I've killed thousands of your people ... and you're ineffective."

___

Associated Press reporters Angela Doland in Paris, and Romina Spina in London contributed to this report.

Did you see the game yesterday?? Haha Rutgers vs Navy??

How much are the bulldogs loosing by?

^ Give my regards to Lola, bambi! God how I miss my Lola Nating and Lola Luz.

Wa ko kaibao ana, 'te. Ingoon man na sila they've been wearing the same style since they came here during colonial times. They dont use electricity--or any modern equipment. Naka kita ka--dili jud na sila mo use canang automobile---ku an ra jud, kanang, horse and buggie.

Quote
The Amish are united by a common Swiss-German ancestry, language, and culture, and they marry within the Amish community. The Amish therefore meet the criteria of an ethnic group. However, the Amish themselves generally use the term only to refer to accepted members of their church community, and not as an ethnic designation. Those who do not choose to live an Amish lifestyle and join the church are no longer considered Amish, just as those who live the plain lifestyle but are not baptized into the Amish Church are not Amish. Certain Mennonite churches were formerly Amish congregations. In fact, although more Amish immigrated to America in the 19th century than during the 18th century, most Amish today descend primarily from 18th century immigrants, since the Amish immigrants of the 19th century were more liberal and most of their communities eventually lost their Amish identity.[2]

In some circumstances, Mennonites of Amish descent may still consider themselves Amish, especially in Canada. The former Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (WOMC) was made up almost enitirely of former Amish who reunited with the Mennonite Church in Canada. The author Orland Gingerich, for instance, wrote a book entitled "The Amish of Canada" which devoted the vast majority of its pages, not to the Beachy or Old Order Amish (although it dealt with them too), but to congregations in the former WOMC.

+++++++++++++++++++

Like some Mennonites, the Amish are descendants of Swiss Anabaptist groups formed in the early 16th century during the radical reformation. The Swiss Anabaptists or "Swiss Brethren" had their origins with Felix Manz (ca. 1498â€"1527) and Conrad Grebel (ca.1498-1526). The name "Mennonite" was applied later and came from Menno Simons (1496â€"1561). Simons was a Dutch Roman Catholic priest who converted to Anabaptism in 1536 and was baptized by Obbe Philips after renouncing his Catholic faith and office. He was a leader in the Lowland Anabaptist communities, but his influence reached Switzerland.

The Amish movement takes its name from that of Jacob Amman (c. 1656 â€" c. 1730), a Swiss-German Mennonite leader. Amman believed the Mennonites were drifting away from the teachings of Simons and the 1632 Mennonite Dordrecht Confession of Faith, particularly the practice of shunning excluded members (known as the ban or Meidung). However, the Swiss Mennonites (who, because of unwelcoming conditions in Switzerland, were by then scattered throughout Alsace and the Palatinate) never practiced strict shunning as the Lowland Anabaptists did. Amman insisted upon this practice, even to the point of expecting a spouse to refuse to sleep or eat with the banned member until he/she repented of his/her behavior. This strict literalism brought about a division in the Swiss Mennonite movement in 1693 and led to the establishment of the Amish. Because the Amish are the result of a division with the Mennonites, some consider the Amish a conservative Mennonite group.


An old Amish cemetery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1941. The stones are plain; the inscriptions are simple.The first Amish began migrating to the colony of Pennsylvania in the 18th century, and were part of a larger migration from the Palatinate and neighboring areas. They came, along with their non-Anabaptist neighbors, largely to avoid religious wars and poverty, but also to avoid religious persecution. The first immigrants went to Berks County, Pennsylvania, but later moved, motivated both by land issues and by security concerns tied to the French and Indian War. Many eventually settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Other groups later settled in or spread to Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Maine, and Canada. The Amish congregations left in Europe slowly merged with the Mennonites. The last Amish congregation to merge with the Mennonites was Ixheim Amish congregation which merged with the neighboring Mennonite Church in 1937. Some Mennonite congregations, including most in Alsace, are descended directly from former Amish congregations.[3] No Old Order movement ever developed in Europe and all Old Order communities are in the Americas.

Most Amish communities that were established in North America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. The original major split that resulted in the loss of identity occurred in the 1860s. During that decade Dienerversammlungen (ministerial conferences) were held in Wayne County, Ohio, concerning how the Amish should deal with the pressures of modern society. The meetings themselves were a progressive idea; that bishops should get together to discuss uniformity was an unprecedented notion in the Amish church. By the first several meetings, the conservative bishops agreed to boycott the Dienerversammlungen. Thus, the more progressive Amish within several decades became Amish Mennonite, and were then later absorbed into the Old Mennonites (not to be confused with Old Order Mennonites). The much smaller faction became the Amish of today. As the non-Amish world's usage of electricity and automobiles increased, a tourist industry sprang up around the Amish in places such as the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and Wayne County, Ohio.