Environmentalists protest against Aboitiz Coal Power Plant in Davao

Hundreds of environmentalists occupy the entrance of Davao City’s Sanggunihang Panglunsod Building as the councilors meet on a special session on Monday to overturn Mayor Sara Duterte’s veto on the land reclassification ordinance that will materialize the proposed establishment of the 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the city. .... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/15/environmentalists-protest-against-aboitiz-coal-power-plant-in-davao/

Noche Buena traditions through generations Timpla't Tikim By SOL VANZI

Noche Buena traditions through generations

Timpla't Tikim

By SOL VANZI

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino Noche Buena traditions have evolved through the years, just as the country underwent socio-political changes in the various eras since the start of the 20th century, when the Philippines went through peacetime (before WWII), wartime (the Japanese occupation), liberation (the Commonwealth era under the Americans), independence (1946-1972), martial law, EDSA1 and EDSA2..... MORE

Source:  MB.com

URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/345700/noche-buena-traditions-through-generations

Tracking-all-the-way: NORAD keeps Santa under surveillance

Tracking-all-the-way: NORAD keeps Santa under surveillance

As Santa is once again moving along his annual route around the globe, the penetrating eye of NORAD is tracking his every move. And with Big Brother watching, Old Saint Nick cannot afford to let things slide and leave some good kid without a present.

­During the holidays, the North American Aerospace Defense Command's mission is to make sure Christmas comes with all the trimmings. The operation began on 2am EST on December 24, and the tracking crew will stay on high alert until 3am Mountain Time on December 25..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/norad-santa-route-tracking-605/

Strange natural phenomena observed in North Korea after Kim Jong-il's death

23.12.2011

 

Strange natural phenomena have been seen in North Korea after the death of the country's leader Kim Jong Il, reports state news agency KCNA.

In the morning of December 17, ice cracked with a loud noise at Lake Cheongju, located in the crater of Baekdu mountain. The mountain is sacred to the Koreans: this is the place, where, according to legend, the would-be leader was born. According to the group of researchers studying the "heavenly lake", the sound of the cracking ice sheets surpassed all of the sounds that had emanated from the mountains before...... MORE

Source:  Pravda.ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/23-12-2011/120066-kim_jong_il_north_korea-0/

Naval thrills: Iran flexes muscles at world’s key oil transit channel

Naval thrills: Iran flexes muscles at world’s key oil transit channel

Iran is starting ten-day naval exercises in one of the world’s busiest oil passageways – the Strait of Hormuz. These actions have raised fears that the Strait might shut down, disrupting oil transit worldwide.

­The exercises, dubbed “Velayat-e 90”, will take place over a wide area from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Aden and will involve new ground-to-sea missile systems and different classes of submarines, such as the Tareq and the Ghander..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/terrorism-credit-cards-government-613/

Cash is trash: Big American Brother gives hints on how to spot citizen terrorists (w/ Video)

Cash is trash: Big American Brother gives hints on how to spot citizen terrorists

Do you own flashlights? Or pay with cash instead of a credit card? And do grocery shopping for the week? I do. You probably do – and guess what, according to the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, that could make both of us terrorists.

Recently, a Department of Homeland Security video has been making its way around the Internet; it tells people in no mixed terms that “paying cash is suspicious and weird.” In an assertive, yet calm voice, the narrator tells viewers that, “if a patron appears nervous or anxious, or insists on paying cash, contact security personnel. This IS suspicious behavior.”.... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/terrorism-credit-cards-government-613/

DA acts to stop rice bug infestation in Northern Samar

DA acts to stop rice bug infestation in Northern Samar

December 25, 2011, 5:54pm

NORTHERN SAMAR, Philippines (PIA) – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is rushing to implement immediate and extensive measures to mitigate the proliferation of rice black bugs (RBBs) in Northern Samar, a problematic situation with potentials to cause widespread damage to crops in the province.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala has issued the instruction earlier to DA-Region 8 director Antonio Gerundio, after the latter reported that 17 out of 24 municipalities in the province were RBB-affected..... MORE

Source:  MB.com

URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/346015/da-acts-stop-rice-bug-infestation-northern-samar

Pope laments Christmas consumerism and glitter

Pope laments Christmas consumerism and glitter

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI decried the increasing commercialization of Christmas as he celebrated Christmas Eve Mass  Saturday night, urging the faithful to look beyond the holiday’s “superficial glitter” to discover its true meaning.


Benedict presided over the service in a packed St. Peter’s Basilica, kicking off an intense two weeks of Christmas-related public appearances that will test the 84-year-old Pontiff’s stamina amid signs that fatigue is starting to slow him down..... MORE

Source:  MB.com

URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/346015/da-acts-stop-rice-bug-infestation-northern-samar

PATULOY…

PATULOY…
Ni Sonny Mallari
Bulatlat.com
I
Kinakalawang na ang antigong makinilya sa ilalim ng teheras…
Nababalot na rin ng lumot ang gasgas na pluma sa ibabaw ng maalikabok na lamesa…
Nanginginig na rin ang kamay at daliri sa bawat pagtipa ng letra…
Pero patuloy pa ring nakatangan sa bote ng tinta…
Na ngayon ay binubukalan ng malapot na dugo mula sa mga kakosang itinumba.

II
Walang patid ang pagtagas ng mapulang dugo sa keyboard na ngayon ay patuloy na binabalot ng lagim…
Habang ang mga bayarang demonyo at kanilang mga patron ay patuloy rin sa kanilang walang awang pagkitil…
Pero hindi nila kayang supilin at itumba ang buong hanay…
May mga mabubuwal sa dilim ng gabi at tirik na araw…
May mga mawawala at maglalahong walang hanggan…
May mga mabubusalan at kakadenahan…
Pero patuloy na may aawit at tutula ng paglaya gapusin man sila ng tinik at tanikala..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/02/patuloy%E2%80%A6/

Not a merry Christmas for Americans, Europeans

Not a merry Christmas for Americans, Europeans

As the Christmas and New Year holidays approach, the air of economic uncertainty dampens the traditionally anticipated spirit of merriment and hope among the people in the United States and Europe.

Why? The financial and economic measures requiring more austerity instead of more spending, adopted by both the US and European Union leaders after laborious negotiations, fall short of what are needed to break the recession since 2008 in these industrialized states.

In fact, Nobel Prize economist Paul Krugman, who with like-minded colleagues had called for bigger state spending to create jobs and bolster growth, this week bluntly wrote: “It’s time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression.”

True, the 1930s Great Depression is not being fully reprised. “But that’s cold comfort,” Krugman argues. “Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/22/not-a-merry-christmas-for-americans-europeans/

Pentagon under 24/7 DARPA surveillance

Pentagon under 24/7 DARPA surveillance

The Pentagon will soon be prying through the personal correspondence and computer files of US military personnel, thanks to a $9-million program that will put soldiers’ private emails under Uncle Sam’s microscope.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has awarded the grant to five institutions led by Georgia Tech to help develop a system of spying on solderis’ Internet and computer habits, a multi-million dollar investment that they say will serve as a preemptive measure to make sure “insider threats” can’t materialize in the military..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/pentagon-darpa-prodigal-email-537/

'For fair elections': Tens of thousands at Moscow biggest protest (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

'For fair elections': Tens of thousands at Moscow biggest protest (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Just two weeks after the Russian capital saw its biggest opposition rally in nearly twenty years, Russians unhappy with the results of the December 4 parliamentary elections have gathered once again.

But this time, it's in even bigger numbers, with the hopes that their collective voice will be heard. They are coming together to protest against vote fraud – and to demand a new ballot..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/russia-elections-fraud-protests-543/

Nike sneakers frenzy as US police resort to pepper spray and arrests

Nike sneakers frenzy as US police resort to pepper spray and arrests 

A new brand of Nike basketball shoes has triggered shopping madness across the US complete with fights, arrests and even pepper spraying. It’s nothing new, though - “sneaker wars” involving mugging and even killing have broken out in the past.

­Fights erupted in queues across the nation for the new version Air Jordan XI Retro Concords, which went on sale at midnight on Friday. Thousands of people had been waiting in the cold for hours to grab the sneakers for $180. The sneakers are already on sale on eBay for more than $500..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/nike-us-sneakers-frenzy-591/

'Bayanihan' thrives in North Cotabato December 24, 2011, 9:32pm

'Bayanihan' thrives in North Cotabato

December 24, 2011, 9:32pm

COTABATO CITY (PNA) — An alliance of municipalities in North Cotabato's first district has intensified its "bayanihan" spirit and implemented infrastructure projects in underdeveloped villages.

The PALMA+PB — which stands for the initials letters of the towns of Pigcawayan, Aleosan, Libungan, Midsayap and Alamada plus Pikit and Banisilan — has pulled its resources and equipment to implement road development projects in 17 villages of Midsayap.....MORE

Source:  MB.com

URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/345984/bayanihan-thrives-north-cotabato

Skip fireworks, donate money saved

Skip fireworks, donate money saved

By ELLALYN B. DE VERA

December 24, 2011, 3:21pm

MANILA, Philippines — An environment and health group on Saturday urged Filipinos to celebrate the holidays without firecrackers and fireworks, and instead channel the money saved to support disaster relief and rehabilitation work in storm-hit areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The Eco-Waste Coalition reiterated its call for “Iwas PapuToxic” as President Benigno S. Aquino III urged the people to let the thousands of grieving families devastated by Storm “Sendong” “feel they are not alone.”.... MORE

Source:  MB.com

URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/345933/skip-fireworks-donate-money-saved

Peterson eyed as Pacquiao foe

Peterson eyed as Pacquiao foe

By NICK GIONGCO

December 24, 2011, 7:01pm

MANILA, Philippines — The short list of possible Manny Pacquiao opponents is starting to get longer.
Add the name of Lamont Peterson to the handful of guys drooling over the prospects of facing the Filipino superstar in mid-2012.

Even Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach likes the idea of seeing Pacquiao face off with Peterson, who just recently upset touted British hero Amir Khan..... MORE

Source:  MB.com

URL: http://mb.com.ph/articles/345944/peterson-eyed-pacquiao-foe