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Weakling EDITORIAL 10/22/2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Weakling

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
10/22/2011
Almost every Filipino is outraged over the killings by the secessionist rebels of our soldiers — except the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Noynoy Aquino, and his peaceniks Teresita “Ging” Deles and the government negotiator, Marvic Leonen, who have been treating this massacre of 19 soldiers as an “isolated” incident — even as it has been followed by yet another “isolated incident” in Zamboanga Sibugay, where the MILF killed five more soldiers and wounded many others.

Noynoy and his peaceniks refuse to have the military retaliate against the MILF for the deaths of our soldiers and keep on talking about continuing with the peace talks and even refuse to suspend temporarily the ceasefire agreement. And worse, he even shows his “disappointment” of the military over the Basilan carnage.

Noynoy has ruled out an all-out war against the rebels, telling reporters that he won’t judge the entire MILF organization just because of “one rotten egg.”

One rotten egg when it is the entire MILF organization that even proudly proclaims that its fighters had ambushed two army trucks in a convoy?.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111022com1.html

Savagery begets savagery FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 10/22/2011

Savagery begets savagery

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
10/22/2011
Libyan fighters now have a new government, yet one wonders just how just and humane the new Libya would be, considering the way the “New Libya” cold-bloodedly killed Moammar Kadhafi, when the Libyans had already caught him alive, and had even asked those who found him hidden in a drain pipe, not to shoot him, only for them to shoot Kadhafi in the head and chest, after which, they took off his clothes, dragged him across town even when he was already dead.

A civilized Libya should at least have brought Kadhafi before a court to try then judge him, and sentence him to death, if death is the sentence of the judge, just as Saddam Hussein was captured, then brought to trial and sentenced to hang.

While it is probably accurate to state that Kadhafi incurred the hatred of the Libyans — after four decades of his rule, said to be dictatorial and brutal, the new Libyan leadership should not have allowed such an assassination of Kadhafi and such savagery, despite the hatred they had for him, as they have become no better than Kadhafi.

Even as the victors freed Libya of Kadhafi and are the recognized leaders by the world, there can hardly be peace or unity in Libya, and the victors also were as brutal toward the Kadhafi loyalists as Kadhafi was to the then rebels. Libyans are still largely tribal, and certain tribes that were loyal to Kadhafi may never forget that which today’s victors have done to them and their families..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111022com2.html

Gaddafi "Death": A Tragedy for the World Stage

Gaddafi "Death": A Tragedy for the World Stage

 Setting: Benghazi, Libya. Props: a drainpipe, a golden pistol. Cast: Listed below. Lights dimmed, the music starts: maqrum, sound increases slowly. Voice offstage: Once upon a time from the sands of Libya arose a lion who fought bravely against those who wanted his territory. Prompt: (hissing) No! No! The other text! The revised version!


The cast
Aban: Narrator
Hinzir: Terrorist 1
Kalb: Terrorist 2
Himar: Terrorist 3

Abdul-Hakim: Officer of the Jamahiriya Armed Forces

The mob: a motley collection of foreign mercenaries, terrorists, looters, rapists, racists, murderers, thieves, arsonists and vandals

The Traitor: A thin, trembling, quivering coward who jumps at seeing his own shadow.

The FUKUS Three: Noam Zimbalist: CIA operational (An evil-looking shifty little man with horn-rimmed glasses and a seemingly bottomless suitcase from which he pulls out wads of dollar bills)

Sir Bartholomew Burlington-whatt-Botty: British General (An ageing Englishman with a handlebar white moustache, which twitches; on his chest an array of medals with the names of the Massacres in which he participated; a bright red spiked pith hat on his head).... MORE

SourcePravda.ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/21-10-2011/119409-gaddafi_stage-0/

The Other Occupation: How Wall Street Occupies Washington

The Other Occupation: How Wall Street Occupies Washington


By ZAID JILANI
ThinkProgress
Truthout.org

As ThinkProgress has previously noted, the 99 Percent Movement has been set off thanks to long-standing economic inequities and and a recession caused primarily by Wall Street’s misdeeds.

Wall Street did not engage in reckless financial behavior — which plunged 64 million people worldwide into extreme poverty — in a vacuum.

In order to engage in these practices that brought the world’s economy to its knees, Wall Street had to make sure that the federal government based in Washington, DC would both de-regulate the financial industry (and provide lax oversight) and that Congress and the Federal Reserve would bail out banks with few strings attached if they were in danger of failing.

The way the financial industry and big banks won this kid glove treatment from the federal government is by occupying Washington — flooding it with campaign contributions, lobbyists, and its own staffers and executives to occupy key positions of power. ThinkProgress has assembled a rundown of three ways Wall Street has occupied Washington:

1. Wall Street Occupies Washington With Massive Campaign Contributions: On Nov. 12, 1999 President Bill Clinton signed into law the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, a Depression-era law that created a firewall between commercial and investment banking. Repealing this law was one of the top legislative goals of the financial industry. In the 1998 election cycle, commercial banks spent $18 million on congressional campaign contributions, with 65 percent going to Republicans and 35 percent going to Democrats.

Securities and investment firms donated over $40 million. The mega-bank Citibank spent $1,954,191 during that cycle, and it was soon able to merge with Travelers Group as a result of the repeal of banking regulations. Between 2008 and 2010, when new financial regulations were being written following the financial crisis, the finance, insurance, and real estate industries spent $317 million in federal campaign contributions, with $73 million of that coming from Political Action Committees (PACs). The hold of campaign contributions is starkly bipartisan. As Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) explained to Real Clear Politics in an interview last year, he couldn’t get a vote on a windfall profits tax on bonuses at bailed out banks due to campaign contributors. “I couldn’t even get a vote,” Webb explained. “And it wasn’t because of the Republicans. I mean they obviously weren’t going to vote for it. But I got so much froth from Democrats saying that any vote like that was going to screw up fundraising.”.... MORE

Source: Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/17/the-other-occupation-how-wall-street-occupies-washington/

Santa residents assert protection of their natural environment and resources

Santa residents assert protection of their natural environment and resources

 By JOAN GARCIA
Bulatlat.com
ILOCOS SUR – 386 kilometers north of Manila, the town of Santa, Ilocos Sur boasts of being in the center of the Ilocos Range, Abra River and the China Sea.

If one is traveling from Manila to Vigan, there is no shortage of eye candy when passing through Santa: the green mountains on the right and clear blue waters on the left immediately calms the mind and makes the long journey worth it.

Home to around 14,000 people, most of its residents derive their livelihood from the sea. Santa is one of the towns wherein ipon (gobiidae) can be caught.


The aerial view of the island barangay of Oribi taken last Sept 15, 2009. The red line shows the original land area.(Photo courtesy by Google files / bulatlat.com)
Ipon is a tiny specie of fish that can only be found in certain coastal areas of Northern Luzon. It can sell for as much as P300-P400 ($6.95 – $9.30) per kilogram during the first release and is a favourite buy for Filipinos living in Hawaii.

However, no matter how rich its sea is, when typhoons hit the Philippines, Santa is one of the towns that is most affected.

High risk during natural calamities
A total of 2,390 families with 11,950 individuals were affected during Typhoon Pepeng last October 2009. Seventy six houses were damaged and livestock loss amounted to P 578,800 ($13,460) while the damage to crops amounted to P 10,507,100 ($244,000).

Only recently, an alarm signal 3 was raised when Typhoon Pedring hit Ilocos Sur. Although no heavy rains were felt in Santa, the typhoon caused a storm surge that affected the coastal barangays: 294 families with 1470 individuals were affected with 23 totally damaged houses and four partially damaged..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/11/santa-residents-assert-protection-of-their-natural-environment-and-resources/

America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases: Its Full Extent Revealed for the First Time

America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases: Its Full Extent Revealed for the First Time


A ground-breaking investigation examines the most secret aspect of America’s shadowy drone wars and maps out a world of hidden bases dotting the globe.

By NICK TURSE
AlterNet and TomDispatch

They increasingly dot the planet. There’s a facility outside Las Vegas where “pilots” work in climate-controlled trailers, another at a dusty camp in Africa formerly used by the French Foreign Legion, a third at a big air base in Afghanistan where Air Force personnel sit in front of multiple computer screens, and a fourth that almost no one talks about at an air base in the United Arab Emirates.

And that leaves at least 56 more such facilities to mention in an expanding American empire of unmanned drone bases being set up worldwide. Despite frequent news reports on the drone assassination campaign launched in support of America’s ever-widening undeclared wars and a spate of stories on drone bases in Africa and the Middle East, most of these facilities have remained unnoted, uncounted, and remarkably anonymous — until now.

Run by the military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and their proxies, these bases — some little more than desolate airstrips, others sophisticated command and control centers filled with computer screens and high-tech electronic equipment — are the backbone of a new American robotic way of war. They are also the latest development in a long-evolving saga of American power projection abroad — in this case, remote-controlled strikes anywhere on the planet with a minimal foreign “footprint” and little accountability..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/11/santa-residents-assert-protection-of-their-natural-environment-and-resources/

Noy to AFP: Don’t fight the MILF By Mario J. Mallari and Charlie V. Manalo 10/22/2011

SOLONS SCORE AQUINO FOR FOMENTING MILITARY DEMORALIZATION

Noy to AFP: Don’t fight the MILF

By Mario J. Mallari and Charlie V. Manalo 10/22/2011

President Aquino, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, during the command conference with the military yesterday, virtually signed the death certificates of more soldiers stationed in Mindanao as he instructed the military not to pursue or fight the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as he insisted on upholding the agreement of a ceasefire between government and the MILF, despite yet another two attacks owned by the MILF against the government troops that left seven government troops fighting in Zamboanga Sibugay, dead, with several wounded.

The MILF said this was done in retaliation on the attack of the military in Basilan against the MILF, insisting that the soldiers went deep into MILF-held area.

Aquino continued to ignore the proposed suspension of the ceasefire agreement with the MILF and instead ordered the military to review its organizational set up, particularly in Basilan where the 19 elite Army troops were killed in an encounter last Tuesday..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111022hed1.html

UN rights chief calls for probe into Kadhafi’s death 10/22/2011

UN rights chief calls for probe into Kadhafi’s death

10/22/2011
GENEVA — The circumstances surrounding the death of Libya’s ousted despot Moammar Kadhafi are unclear and an investigation is needed, the UN human rights chief yesterday said.

“On the issue of Kadhafi’s death yesterday, the circumstances are still unclear,” Navi Pillay’s spokesman Rupert Colville said.

“There should be some kind of investigation given what we saw yesterday.”

Question marks remained about how Kadhafi met his end — mobile phone footage appeared to show him captured bloodied but still alive and then killed by his captors..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111022hed2.html

MILF owns up to killing of soldiers, cops in fresh Zamboanga attacks By Mario J. Mallari 10/22/2011

MILF owns up to killing of soldiers, cops in fresh Zamboanga attacks

By Mario J. Mallari 10/22/2011

Eight soldiers and policemen were killed in a latest clash between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters in Mindanao, raising the death toll among security forces from an unexpected wave of violence this week to 27, with both sides accused each other of firing first, although the MILF owned up to its ambush of government troops.

MILF rebels ambushed two Army convoys and a joint military-police patrol in Zamboanga Sibugay province on Thursday night, military and police officials said.

Four soldiers were killed and six wounded in the first ambush while another soldier was missing, Army 102nd Brigade commander Col. Santiago Baluyot said.

A soldier was wounded in a MILF ambush on another military truck two hours later, and four policemen were killed in a third ambush shortly afterwards, he added..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111022hed5.html

PDEA welcomes House approval for amending RA 9165 10/22/2011

PDEA welcomes House approval for amending RA 9165

10/22/2011
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) welcomed the approval by Congress of the bill amending Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, particularly Section 21 of Article II.

PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. said the new bill is a welcome development and demonstrates the support by the House of Representatives to PDEA and the drug enforcement community as a whole. “The approved bill would help prevent the dismissal of drug cases due to technicalities in the custody and disposition of drug evidence,” Gutierrez said.

House Bill 4660, approved by Congress on a final reading on Oct.10, amended the present provision of the law for the presence of three witnesses together with the accused or his counsel during inventory of drug evidence. The house bill is reduced of its required number of inventory witnesses of drug evidence from three to only one – an elected public official, or a representative from the Department of Justice (DoJ) or the media..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111022nat9.html

Frenchman goes berserk when Pinay GF was no-show at NAIA By Conrado Ching 10/22/2011

Frenchman goes berserk when Pinay GF was no-show at NAIA

By Conrado Ching 10/22/2011

A French national was sedated by airport medical doctors when he became unruly inside the arrival area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after his Filipina girl friend (GF) did not show up to pick him up.

Dominique Albert George Fremond, 55, arrived in the country from Paris aboard a Saudi Airlines flight Thursday afternoon. He was spotted roaming all over the terminal looking for his Filipina girlfriend who was supposed to pick him up at the airport.

The foreigner was seen making calls on his cellular phone trying to get in touch with his friend, Michelle, but to no avail.

“Fed up, the foreigner must have lost his temper and started throwing tantrums inside the terminal,” according to a witness..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111022met1.html

Makati mayor orders immediate evacuation of families at rockslide site 10/22/2011

Makati mayor orders immediate evacuation of families at rockslide site

10/22/2011
Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay yesterday ordered officials of Barangay East Rembo to immediately evacuate around 10 families living in a declared “danger zone” below the ridge along C-5 on 12th Avenue where a rockslide occurred Thursday, injuring at least four persons.

Binay said a team of city engineers have conducted an ocular inspection of the area and found some portions of the ridge to be “unstable” and prone to more rockslides, hence the need to immediately clear the area of all settlers.

“The Makati Social Welfare Department (MSWD) is now closely coordinating with the barangay officials of East Rembo to arrange for the immediate evacuation of the affected families to a safer place. I have also given specific instructions to Barangay East Rembo officials to ensure that no other structure shall be allowed in areas that may put lives in danger,” Binay said.

MSWD officials and social workers, together with barangay officials, called the concerned residents to a dialog yesterday to discuss arrangements for relocation..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111022met4.html

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