• 6 AUGUST - *1907 - Gen. Macario Sakay, one of the Filipino military leaders who had continued fighting the imperialist United States invaders eight years into the Ph...
    11 years ago

......................................................................................

The Daily Tribune

(Without Fear or Favor)

Specials:

Bulatlat.com

World Wildlife Fund for Nature-Philippines

The Philippines Matrix Project

‘Little boy’ preps for war DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 12/30/2011

Friday, December 30, 2011

‘Little boy’ preps for war

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
12/30/2011
The raggedy “little girl” doll was all-too-willing a tool in the subversion of our country’s slow but fledgling popular democratic governance. For her almost canine devotion to her masters, she was rewarded with her share of the plunder by the US and the local oligarchy for nine years. But, as that raggedy doll became worn out and torn on all sides, she was amply thrown away, replaced with a “little boy puppet.” This dummy, with a wooden smile carved into a wooden face (perplexing everyone besides himself), has a wide eyed gape like the cowboy marionette of the 1950s puppet show, Howdy Doody, coupled with the jerky motions and hobbling gait of Jim Henson’s Muppets.

The past year, this little boy’s puppeteers made him over as a “hanging judge” to end 2010 with a bang. For the New Year, they are dressing him up as the “little drummer boy” and “little tin soldier” rolled into one, hobbling off to a new adventure of patriot games — even when the future of our people, our children, and grandchildren is not something to be toyed with.

Two of my recent columns raised the alert for the heightened geopolitical tensions being drummed up in the Eurasian front, centered on Syria and Iran, and in the Asia-Pacific front, on the South China Sea issue. “A creeping World War III” and “Useful idiot’s autocratic mission” are a wake-up call to the real and present danger of having a literally insane leadership in Malacañang — installed in the 2010 “Hocus-PCOS” elections, where technical shenanigans had been established and where the key to uncovering the electoral manipulation lies in the second software sneaked in. Yes, my friends, they do go to that extent to control our elections, with US software company, Dominion Voting Systems, at the core of that discredited AES of Smartmatic.

War does not just happen. It is painstakingly planned on a long-term basis. And it is seldom done so for reasons other than money. Since wars are utterly expensive in resources and lives, these are never initiated without a clear payback in mind. We see that in every conflict initiated throughout the millennia. In the latest one in Libya, the lion’s share of that country’s oil revenues now go to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) countries, leaving mere drops for the Libyans themselves.

The assaults on Syria are aimed at Iran’s oil, which, in turn, leads to the ultimate goal — aborting China’s rise as a world power. The personal assaults on Vladimir Putin by the plethora of “opposition” groups funded by Western NGOs (like George Soros’ Open Society, the National Endowment for Democracy, and Freedom House) is meant to weaken Russian politics for the ultimate assault on its sovereignty and the weakening of the Russia-China alliance.

Meanwhile, in Asia, the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security (ANZUS) partners are aiming for the China Sea issue as the casus belli against China — this, despite perfectly sound arrangements having been forged by that emerging superpower with Asean to resolve their shared maritime territorial and resource issues through peaceful dialog and joint exploitation.

Thus, with an irrational element needing to be introduced, the likely “hero” would be a little boy blue with all his insecurities covered up by his love of guns, the company of his kabarkada cronies, all while exhibiting an incompetence that has caused the most dismal Asean growth rate the past year and presiding over troubles at home that are wreaking havoc on the nation’s institutions.

Here, the perfect chance to escape all these woes is by playing soldier and patriot, egged on by a Big Brother, who promises this little “useful idiot” a steady supply of disposed guns, warships, and planes for his war games. No surprise there really — for this little dummy now struts before his generals, declaring a shift of focus, from internal security to the defense of the realm. And as the little boy now has his toys to brandish, all it takes is to provoke an overreaction from the “enemy.”

That situation was very eruditely described in the Asia Sentinel, a prestigious Web magazine that features well-known Asian writers. In a Dec. 20 article there (“US Playing a Dangerous Asia-Pacific Game?”), Gavin Greenwood says: “On Dec. 14, Philippine President Benigno Aquino formally commissioned his country’s latest and most capable warship, a 46-year-old former US Coast Guard cutter. Renamed the Gregorio del Pilar after a young revolutionary general killed fighting American troops in 1899, the navy’s new flagship… along with many other small warships, form what military strategists like to call ‘the tip of the spear’… The significance of this ageing vessel’s deployment, however, is not its manifest inability to defend itself — let alone the Philippines — from almost any other warship afloat in the region but that such an attack could invoke the country’s 60-year-old mutual defense treaty with the US… The role of the Gregorio del Pilar may be seen as simply to remain at sea long enough to get in the way of a potential enemy — invariably seen as China — and introduce a layer of uncertainty over the consequences of any direct action against the Philippines or its state assets…

“By providing the Philippines with even the most limited means to confront an opponent at sea, backed by Clinton’s explicit signaling her government’s resolve to stand by its treaty obligation, Washington may have handed over the potential detonator for an armed confrontation with China to the crew of an elderly ship that had once borne the name of the first US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton’s caution that ‘when the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation’…”

Such a sword — in the hands of a little tin soldier boy imbued with a growing sense of insecurity over his domestic failures and the conflicts he has spawned, who is moreover nervous and fretful of the consequences of his rapidly disintegrating governance — can certainly come in handy, with Big Brother eagerly awaiting the consequences.

(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Saturday, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives) .... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111230com4.html

Iran vs the West: Who’ll be the first to blink?



Iran vs the West: Who’ll be the first to blink?

As tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s threats to block a crucial oil supply route increase, there is much speculation whether the situation will evolve into a full-scale military conflict. But could it be just a game of chicken?

The US has positioned two warships in the area where the Iranian navy has been carrying out military drills..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/iran-west-hormuz-conflict-967/

LulzXmas goes on: ‘Robin Hood hackers’ rob military retailer

LulzXmas goes on: ‘Robin Hood hackers’ rob military retailer


Hacktivists from Anonymous have allegedly gained access to thousands of passwords and credit card numbers from Specialforces.com, an online military and law enforcement equipment retailer.

­Fourteen thousand passwords and 8,000 credit card numbers were stolen several months ago and posted online right after Christmas, a statement purportedly by Anonymous on pastebin.com explained..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/military-retailer-anonymous-specialforcescom-931/

Payback for paid revolution? Egyptian police raid US NGOs (w/ Video)



Payback for paid revolution? Egyptian police raid US NGOs

Police in Cairo have today raided 17 civil society organizations as the country’s military rulers seek to find out exactly who has been funding the Egyptian revolution.

­As several of the pro-democracy and human rights groups were at the forefront of the revolution that swept through the country last January, Egyptian authorities have become increasingly interested in the foreign funding many of these groups receive..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/

Bloggers unite to crush SOPA

Bloggers unite to crush SOPA


The war over copyright infringement on the Internet might seem like an easy one for some members of Congress, but for supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act, Capitol Hill is about to battle it out with some big opponents: bloggers.

From micromessages warning of the dangers of the act on Twitter in under 140 characters to affectations manifested in lengthy diatribes ripe with legalese, the blogosphere is brimming with concern over what the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, will do to the Internet. While lawmakers insist that the legislation is necessary to curtail copyright infringement, some users of the Web are writing on their sites that the Internet as we know it will be brought down by the act, weblogs and all..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/sopa-web-blog-internet-847/

P-Noy’s ‘shock and awe’ operations C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 12/30/2011

P-Noy’s ‘shock and awe’ operations

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S
Jonathan De la Cruz
12/30/2011
Those who continue to be perplexed by P-Noy’s seemingly unorthodox governance ways and practices need not fret and worry a minute longer than necessary. They should banish the thought that he is clueless about a lot of things or, worse, way off his rocker.

He knows what he is doing and will do everything possible, legal or otherwise, to achieve his goals. He is really a man of his word and will act accordingly. As Kris Aquino said, her brother P-Noy, the President, “is not like you and me.” And not just because he is the highest elected official of the land. But, perhaps more importantly, because he has the courage of his convictions.
.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111230com5.html

CJ seeks preliminary hearing from Senate By Angie M. Rosales, Gerry Baldo and Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 12/30/2011

PROSECUTORS BALK AT CORONA’S ‘TECHNICALITIES’

CJ seeks preliminary hearing from Senate

By Angie M. Rosales, Gerry Baldo and Virgilio J. Bugaoisan 12/30/2011
Prosecutors may just be two steps behind Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona and his legal team when it comes down to constitutional, legal and courtroom niceties, as they appeared surprised by the latest move of the CJ’s legal team in submitting to the Senate a motion for the senator-judges to conduct a preliminary hearing on the charges filed against him.

Corona, in the seven-page motion submitted yesterday afternoon, has asked the impeachment court to hear first what he had earlier claimed to be infirmities and defects of the Articles of.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111230hed1.html

DFA pleads to over 4,000 Pinoys: Leave Syria now By Michaela P. del Callar 12/30/2011

DFA pleads to over 4,000 Pinoys: Leave Syria now

By Michaela P. del Callar 12/30/2011

Amid the dismal turnout of Filipinos joining government-organized evacuation from strife-torn Syria, the Department of Foreign Affairs again appealed to the more than 4,000 Filipinos still in the country to leave “while there is still time.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario expressed concern over the safety of the Filipinos due to escalating violence in the country as he assured them that the government will shoulder all repatriation expenses to Manila..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20111230hed4.html

AFP claims 23 provinces liberated from NPA influence By Mario J. Mallari 12/30/2011

AFP claims 23 provinces liberated from NPA influence

By Mario J. Mallari 12/30/2011
Twenty-three provinces nationwide were liberated from the influence of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) during the first year of implementation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) anti-insurgency internal peace and security plan (IPSP) “Bayanihan.”

At a press briefing, AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said that development is next to the 23 provinces freed by the government from the influence of the NPA in 2011.

The provinces freed were Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Biliran, Cebu, Bohol, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, South Cotabato, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Cavite, Marinduque, Romblon, Guimaras, Siquijor and Northern and Southern Leyte..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111230nat5.html

NBI arrests Italian priest Tentorio’s killer By Pat C. Santos 12/30/2011

NBI arrests Italian priest Tentorio’s killer

By Pat C. Santos 12/30/2011

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested the killer of Italian missionary Faustino Tentorio in North Cotabato in an incident that happened in October 2011.

This was revealed by Department of Justice Leila de Lima yesterday after she said that the principal suspect, identified as Jimmy Ato, was arrested in his house at Sitio Mahiwakwak, Koloman Valley, Arakan, North Cotabato at around 3 a.m. by operatives of the NBI Region XII.

Ato was the subject of a massive manhunt and was ordered arrested on the strength of warrant issued by Cotabato Regional Trail Court Branch 13 on charges of destruction, arson with homicide under criminal case 2245, explained De Lima..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20111230nat1.html

Caloocan receives ‘Seal of Good Housekeeping,’ entitled to get financial assistance from DILG 12/30/2011

Caloocan receives ‘Seal of Good Housekeeping,’ entitled to get financial assistance from DILG

12/30/2011
Caloocan Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri has expressed his appreciation to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which chose the city as one of the four localities in the National Capital Region (NCR) to receive the “Seal of Good Housekeeping.”

This means the local government will be entitled to receive financial aid from the DILG via the Local Government Support Fund. The money will be used in projects concerning Millennium Development Goals and the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, according to the mayor..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111230met3.html

Makati ready for New Year’s Eve countdown; Binay appeals for donation to ‘Sendong’ victims 12/30/2011

Makati ready for New Year’s Eve countdown; Binay appeals for donation to ‘Sendong’ victims

12/30/2011
All roads lead to Makati tomorrow (Dec. 31) for the New Year’s Eve Countdown at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay is encouraging residents and even those from neighboring Metro Manila areas to forego the use of pyrotechnics and fireworks and instead join the “Magical, Musical Makati 2012” countdown.

“It’s a safer way to welcome the New Year and we have the chance to extend help to the victims of tropical storm ‘Sendong,’” Binay said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111230met2.html

Blog Archive