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Same time, same budget OK next year EDITORIAL 11/24/2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Same time, same budget OK next year

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
11/24/2011
The Senate Tuesday approved the Malacaang-proposed 2012 national budget of P1.816 trillion, apparently without any cuts.

It only took the Senate just one week of deliberations and almost unanimous approval of the budget, despite the budget items being not only a non-transparent spending budget but also one that is not attuned to what is needed by an administrations pledges made during its campaign to spend on.

On the issue of transparency, there were again lump sum appropriations, along with the Palaces stubborn stand to make the judiciary specifically the Supreme Court (SC) bow to Malacaang, with its insistence and approval of Congress for constitutional offices to provide the Palace with reports on how many positions have been filled, despite the claim of Noynoys puppy in the Senate, Sen. Franklin Drilon, that the fund release will be automatic, even when funds will only be released when the quarterly reports to Malacanang will show that the constitutional offices have filled the positions..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111124com1.html

Egyptian military inspired by OWS crackdown

 Egyptian military inspired by OWS crackdown

Dozens have died on the streets of Cairo this week as the Egyptian Army continues to fire blindly into clusters of demonstrators in hopes of dissolving protests against government imposed-austerity measures.

According to Egyptian state television, it was the fantastically efficient police response to the Occupy Wall Street movement in America that motivated this slew of executions overseas.

"We saw the firm stance the US took against OWS people (and the German government against green protesters) to secure the state," an Egyptian state television anchor said on Sunday (as translated by Sultan Sooud al Qassemi). While it’s without a doubt a hyperbole to compare the deaths of at least 33 of this writing with the indeed brutal but comparably tame assaults carried out by US police departments, it still says something to the forces in the States that their ridiculous response to protests so far has spawned a lethal follow-up in Egypt..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/ows-police-cairo-protests-883/

Cairo carnage: Shock footage shows cop atrocities




Cairo carnage: Shock footage shows cop atrocities

Riot police are spreading tear gas and firing rubber bullets as the crowd of stone-throwing protesters at Egypt’s Tahrir Square begins to swell. RT’s Paula Slier reports from Cairo that the situation on the ground remains extremely tense.

­Some of the rubber bullets have gone astray, hitting residential buildings nearby and starting fires. Paula has encountered at least a dozen ambulances and a fire brigade quickly responding.

Tear gas was burning Paula’s eyes, and RT’s crew had to go inside one of the nearby buildings to take shelter so they could rinse their eyes with water..... MORE
SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/egypt-protesters-disperse-bullets-813/

The top 0.1 percent earns half of American capital gains

 The top 0.1 percent earns half of American capital gains

Maybe “one-tenth of a percent” doesn’t have the same ring to it or else protesters have only now uncovered the truth? Regardless, a newly published analysis reveals that those at the top of the 1 percent have used dirty tricks to get them there.

In an article posted over the weekend to the website of Forbes, its revealed that the richest-of-the-rich in America — the 315,000 or 0.1 percent of the country — has managed to make a pretty penny off of a shriveling capital gains tax which they have used to line their wallets while forgoing any scrutiny from Uncle Sam.

That small sample of the 315 million or so Americans can thank profits made through capital gains for being placed into that exclusive bracket... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/percent-half-capital-gains-887/

OWS protesters interrupt Obama's speech (VIDEO)



OWS protesters interrupt Obama's speech (VIDEO)


The 99 percent approached President Barack Obama this afternoon, surprising the commander in chief with a “mic check” during a speech he was making in New Hampshire.

Speaking from Manchester, NH Tuesday to discuss the American economy, President Obama was interrupted by protesters employing the “People’s Microphone,” a method of spreading news and alerts made popular by the Occupy Wall Street movement after demonstrators were denied usage of megaphones.

“Mic check,” a lone voice yelled during the president’s speech, which prompted a boisterous echo from other protesters in the crowd. A series of call-and-response quips ensued, overwhelming the president and causing him to momentarily stop his speech..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/obama-occupy-wall-street-985/

Did US 'climate weapon' knock-out Russian probe?

 Did US 'climate weapon' knock-out Russian probe?

Russian space experts are struggling to decode fresh telemetry signals received from the stricken Phobos-Grunt probe. Meanwhile, rumors are circulating that America’s ionosphere research site in Alaska caused the spacecraft’s failure.

On Wednesday night, the European Space Agency’s station in Perth, Australia, established communication with Phobos-Grunt, which has been rotating helplessly around the Earth since its engines failed to fire two weeks ago.

The Perth station sent a command to the Russian craft which caused it to transmit long-awaited telemetry data, which was duly forwarded to Russian specialists..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/phobos-grunt-climate-weapon-129/

‘Do you believe in Santa Claus?’ VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 11/24/2011

‘Do you believe in Santa Claus?’

VIEWPOINTS
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz
11/24/2011
There is this innocent and lovable seven-year-old boy who lives in his little world of sights and sounds, who loves joyful occasions and enjoys simple gatherings prepared by his parents. But more than anything else, he looks forward to Christmas.

Oh, Christmas! It is a magical day. Lights go on and off. Many songs are sung. Great food is on the table. For him, Christmas is a day of marvels and delights. While it is a most profound and very significant day commemorating the birth of the Lord Jesus, and while it is a signal day reminding Christians about His Mother Mary and foster father Joseph, for the little innocent boy, it is a day of Christmas trees, Christmas gifts — not to mention Santa Claus.

Hence, he asks the question that has been his little head long since, and that has been somehow bothering him although deep in his heart, he knows the answer..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111124com6.html

Noy hints at defying all unfavorable SC rulings Charlie V. Manalo and Pat C. Santos 11/24/2011

SAYS TRUTH, MORAL RIGHT AND PEOPLE ARE BEHIND HIM

Noy hints at defying all unfavorable SC rulings

Charlie V. Manalo and Pat C. Santos 11/24/2011

All signs and presidential speeches point to moves being made by President Aquino to ensure worsening the ongoing constitutional crisis and bringing it to a head in his bid to establish a dictatorship.

In his speech delivered during the National Bureau of Investigation’s 75th anniversary yesterday, he implied that no matter what the law or legal order coming from the highest court in the land says. as long as he believes these to be biased against him and favor only a select few, he intimated broadly at defying the Rule of Law, saying that he is ready to do this because “at my side are the moral right and judgment, and truth, and more than anything, the Filipino people are on my side,” he said in Tagalog.

His speech came a day after the media reported that Hacienda Luisita, the Aquino-Cojuangco case filed by the farmers who asked for the distribution of the lands to them through a motion for reconsideration, has been resolved but its promulgation delayed due to an Arroyo-appointed high court justice’s refusal to submit her dissenting opinion..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111124hed1.html

Prosecutors ‘fear’ lost cause in Dacer case By Benjamin B. Pulta 11/24/2011

Prosecutors ‘fear’ lost cause in Dacer case

By Benjamin B. Pulta 11/24/2011

State lawyers said they fear it is a lost cause in their bid to prosecute the case against administration lawmaker Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Michael Ray Aquino for the November 2000 killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

The development arose after the Manila regional trial court announced that the Supreme Court had ruled to dismiss the appeal filed by the daughters of Dacer to reverse a ruling of the Court of Appeals nullifying the criminal charges against Lacson and declared that prosecution witness, former policeman Cesar Mancao, is “not a credible witness.”

Senior State Prosecutor Phillip Kimpo said with the ruling of the high court on Lacson’s discharge as suspect, the prosecution panel is in quandary on how to treat Mancao’s testimony insofar as Mancao’s alleged role in the killing is concerned..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111124hed3.html

Too much politics eating up RP sports By Aldrin Cardona 11/24/2011

WHAT CAUSED SEAG TRAGEDY?

Too much politics eating up RP sports

By Aldrin Cardona 11/24/2011

Two deaths resulting from a football final stampede as the 26th Southeast Asian Games closed the other day did not dampen Indonesia\'s overwhelming triumph in the biennial meet that is nearing the level of the bigger, tougher Asian Games.

Indonesia is back on top of the sporting region after 14 long years of absence when it was relegated from being Asean\'s powerhouse to second fiddle, sometimes a happy third.

It arrived with a big push, the kind of rev expected from a muscled up car, as it hosted the Games for the first time since 1997..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/sports/20111124spo1.html

NPC unveils marker for martyred Maguindanao journalists 11/24/2011

NPC unveils marker for martyred Maguindanao journalists

11/24/2011
The National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) unveiled yesterday a memorial marker containing the names of the 32 journalists who were murdered in Maguindanao two years ago.

The marker will serve as an eternal reminder of the violence faced by journalists in this time and day, said NPC president Jerry Yap as he condemned the culture of impunity that fuels the unabated attacks on journalists and on press freedom.

“This is an affront to the freedom we cherish. Two years after the gruesome Maguindanao massacre, justice remains elusive for all the victims and their families,” he said in a statement emailed to various media organizations..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111124met5.html

Solon slams delay in release of SC decision on Luisita dispute 11/24/2011

Solon slams delay in release of SC decision on Luisita dispute

11/24/2011
“The delivery of justice requires no less than a decision for the immediate and unconditional redistribution of Hacienda Luisita. If the magistrates of the Supreme Court (SC) have already penned their decision then time must not be wasted in making the Supreme Court decision public.”

This is according to Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan following news that the SC is set to release a ruling on the dispute involving the 6,000-hectare sugar plantation owned by the Aquino-Cojuangco family.

Ilagan stressed the delay in the release of the Hacienda Luisita ruling not only denies justice to the farm-worker beneficiaries, it also raises suspect on the high court’s intent..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111124met4.html

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