Syrian rebels’ ‘liberate Aleppo’ campaign enters fourth day

Syrian rebels’ ‘liberate Aleppo’ campaign enters fourth day

The Syrian army has had to evacuate residents from several areas in the commercial hub of Aleppo as sporadic gunfire intensified, reports RT’s Oksana Boyko. Other sources say attack helicopters were sent to deal with the rebels in the northern city.

­Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, had long remained immune to the 17-month uprising against President Bashar Assad. This held true until four days ago when rebels launched a “liberate Aleppo” offensive in the city of three million.

“Sources in Aleppo report clashes in four suburbs. Residents took refuge at several university campuses,” reports RT’s correspondent in Syria, Oksana Boyko, in her Twitter microblog..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/aleppo-syria-rebels-helicopters-970/

Increasing traffic in the waters of Sri Lanka threatens blue whales

 

Pravda photo

Large numbers of animals have been killed by collisions with boats and propellers. Scientists fear that cetacean watching tourism is the cause...

In early April, whale watchers off the southern coast of Sri Lanka had a disturbing vision:  the lifeless body of a blue whale 60 feet long floating in the water about 20 miles offshore.

The body was quickly becoming swollen and there were fish-louse sucking all the animal's skin.  Even more disturbing was the condition of the tail which had been almost completely severed from the body.

"It was very clear it was caused by the propeller of a boat," said Mazdak Radjainia, structural biologist and underwater photographer, University of Auckland, New Zealand, who found the whale by chance. "It must have been a very cruel death, because the damage was enormous."..... MORE

Source:  Pravda.ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/24-07-2012/121715-whales_alert-0/

Exclusionary economics: How Aquino and Arroyos economics are the same

Exclusionary economics: How Aquino and Arroyos economics are the same

By IBON Features

In his upcoming third State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Benigno Aquino III will surely attempt to highlight how the Philippine economy has improved under his watch to show how his administration is an improvement over its predecessor.

Pres. Aquino will bring to the fore supposed economic successes such as the 6.4% first quarter growth in gross domestic product (GDP), increased budgets for social services, expanded coverage of the conditional cash transfers, and progress under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program. The president may also highlight the country’s so-called creditor nation status with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The SONA may also be an occasion to boast about more Filipinos being lifted from poverty, more lands distributed to farmers, and additional living allowances for workers.

The reality behind the so-called gains must however be assessed before concluding that the Aquino administration has indeed been the much-sought change following former Pres. Arroyo’s legacy of corruption and erosion of the people’s general welfare. Nearly ten years of the Arroyo regime saw an unprecedented rise in joblessness and poverty, growing inequality, eroding domestic production and fiscal troubles all anchored on a chain of policies that catered to local and foreign business interests. Do current indicators show a reversal of trends? More importantly, have government policies done an about-face in favor of the Filipino people?

Economic direction

Like the Arroyo administration, the Aquino government has refused to reverse any of the neoliberal policies that have caused such damage to the economy. These policies have kept the Philippine economy underdeveloped and are designed to suit the needs of the domestic elite and foreign business rather than of the Filipino people.

The entrenchment of globalization policies that have made the Philippine economy up for grabs by local and transnational firms cannot be downplayed. The removal of trade barriers has resulted in the unabated importation of cheap goods including those which the country can produce. The Philippines now has among the lowest tariffs in Asia. Under Aquino’s term, quantitative restrictions on the importation of rice are set to be lifted in accordance with commitments under the World Trade Organization (WTO). The government has also become even more liberal towards investments in agriculture, industries and services..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/07/23/exclusionary-economics-how-aquino-and-arroyos-economics-are-the-same/

Groups hit Senate’s ratification of military pact with Australia

Groups hit Senate’s ratification of military pact with Australia

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Solidarity Groups in Australia were quick to denounce the Philippine Senate as the latter ratified the Australia-RP Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) on July 24, 2012.The groups represent Filipino migrants in Australia, overseas Filipino workers and students, Australians of Filipino descent and citizens and residents of Australia.

“Let us not embroil peace-loving Australians in internal conflicts in the Philippines. Filipinos and Australians have never been involved in any form of hostilities. The presence of Australian troops is a potential to a shooting war. A shooting war will raise animosities between our two peoples. Ten of thousands of Filipinos in Australia, migrants and citizens, will only fall victims to indiscriminate hate that may result from any escalation of armed hostilities in the Philippines,” they said.

The Senate adopted the resolution concurring with President Benigno Aquino III’s ratification of the SOVFA through a vote of 17-1. The Senate adopted Senate Resolution 788 despite the protest of Senator Joker Arroyo. Arroyo’s position is that the SOVFA would not benefit the Philippines.

“The Senate cannot simply not concur in treaties if other contracting parties have no consideration of the country’s interests. The Aquino administration only wants this ratified because of the country’s dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea,” he was quoted as saying in earlier reports.

Arroyo questioned the Aquino’s support for the SOVFA and said that it was questionable why the Philippine government was enlisting the help of Australia when it is so far away and already an ally of the United States.
“Although the agreement is not a defense pact, its symbolism cannot be lost on China. Let us not grab at straws. We must persevere,” he said on reports in GMA-7 news.

Another senator who previously took a stand against the SOVFA is Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, but she was absent during the voting. Santiago based her opposition on her reading that the SOVFA was “vague” in its provisions and that it risks putting the Philippines at a disadvantage..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/07/24/groups-hit-senates-ratification-of-military-pact-with-australia/

Gov’t summons envoy over China build-up

Gov’t summons envoy over China build-up

• Written by  Angie M. Rosales
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012 

SENATE SIGNS NEW MILITARY TREATY WITH U.S. ALLY

China’s presence build-up in the South China Sea has raised alarms in government, prompting the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to summon yesterday the Chinese ambassador to protest against China’s plans to establish a military garrison on the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The DFA said it summoned Ma Keqing to lodge the complaint, and also to object to the arrival of a military-escorted Chinese fishing fleet near the contested Spratly Islands.

As tension with China was again seen escalating, the Senate sealed the Palace’s ratification of another mutual partnership for the military, which some senators noting its urgency as a result of developments in the South China Sea.

Voting 17-1, senators concurred with Malacañang’s ratification of the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with Australia, which was signed some two years ago or during the Arroyo administration.
The Chinese defense ministry announced plans to operate troops from Chinese-held Sansha or Woody Island in the Paracels on Monday, a month after Beijing designated the island as China’s administrative centre for both the Paracel and Spratly groups..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2006-gov%E2%80%99t-summons-envoy-over-china-build-up

Noy playing safe on RH earned mostly rebuffs

Noy playing safe on RH earned mostly rebuffs

• Written by  Pat C. Santos
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012

President Aquino’s ambiguous one-liner to refer to the controversial bill on population control in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) the other day earned criticisms rather than approval from the Church which he is trying to appease but it failed to impress the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) which expressed regret over it.

In an official statement posted in the CBCP website, Fr. Melvin Castro said it was clear that the proposed reproductive health (RH) bill or Aquino’s version of it called  responsible parenthood is not about health but about birth control.

“We are ending the backlogs in the education sector, but the potential for shortages remains as our student population continues to increase. Perhaps Responsible Parenthood can help address this,” was the only part in the Sona where Aquino referred to the bill.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said  the President particularly wanted a consolidated House Bill 4244 to be passed by Congress even before the electoral climate steps in.

Valte described HB 4244 as the consolidated version of six other legislative bills on the controversial reproductive health. The consolidated version has a new title too — Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development, and for other purposes..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2004-noy-playing-safe-on-rh-earned-mostly-rebuffs

2 AFP officers charged with plunder, torture take key military posts Written by

2 AFP officers charged with plunder, torture take key military posts

• Written by  Mario J. Mallari
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012 

Daily Tribune photo

Two senior military officers facing separate cases of plunder and torture took over key positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) due to the scheduled forced retirement today of two members of the controversial Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1978.

Brig. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, of PMA Class of 1982 and incumbent deputy commander of the Army’s 9th

Infantry Division, was elevated as acting chief of the 9th ID with the retirement of Maj. Gen. Josue Gaverza, of PMA Class of 1978.

Also taking over as acting commandant of the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) was Brig. Gen. Benito de Leon, of PMA Class of 1981, replacing Rear Admiral Victor Emmanuel Martir, also of PMA Class of 1978 which became controversial for having former President and now detained Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo as honorary member..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/2002-2-afp-officers-charged-with-plunder-torture-take-key-military-posts

MILF slams police raid on Lanao del Sur base

MILF slams police raid on Lanao del Sur base

• Written by  Mario J. Mallari
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has asked the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) to investigate the July 16 raid launched by the Philippine National Police (PNP) elite Special Action Force (SAF) at an MILF base in Lanao del Sur where they allegedly looted civilian properties.

Muhammad Ameen, chairman of the MILF secretariat, said elements of the SAF, supposedly from Region X, conducted a raid at an MILF base in Lanao del Sur purportedly in pursuit of the members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

The MILF claimed that the SAF operatives raided the vicinity of the MILF’s Camp Darussalam in Butig, Lanao del Sur without prior coordination with the secessionist group...... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/nation/item/2000-milf-slams-police-raid-on-lanao-del-sur-base

Supreme Court upholds JBC authority to process applicants for CJ

Supreme Court upholds JBC authority to process applicants for CJ

• Written by  Benjamin B. Pulta
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012 

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a petition questioning the proceedings before the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to screen the next chief justice.

In a two-page resolution released by the high court yesterday, the SC en banc citing precedents upheld the JBC’s action in accepting applications and nominations for the position of chief justice as well as the President’s power to appoint one as the member of the SC.

Petitioners in the case are Homobono Adaza, Alan Paguia, Herman Tiu Laurel and Uriel Borja..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/1995-supreme-court-upholds-jbc-authority-to-process-applicants-for-cj

Malacañang announces new NBI director

Malacañang announces new NBI director

• Written by  Fernan J. Angeles
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Malacañang must have realized that the charter creating the National Bureau of Investigation specifically requires a lawyer for one to qualify as the agency’s director, compelling President Aquino to junk Deputy Customs Commissioner Danny Lim and instead appoint a government prosecutor as the permanent NBI director.

Appointed to the top government detective bureau is Nonnatus Caesar Rojas who, incidentally, has been the NBI officer-in-charge replacing Magtanggol Gatdula who was fired in January after he was linked to the kidnap and extortion of an over-staying Japanese sometime last year..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/1993-malaca%C3%B1ang-announces-new-nbi-director

VP Binay eggs PNP, NBI to step up hunt for Delfin Lee

VP Binay eggs PNP, NBI to step up hunt for Delfin Lee

• Written by  Tribune
• Wednesday, 25 July 2012 

Saying fugitive property developer Delfin Lee “is no Ping Lacson,” Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday appealed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to redouble their efforts to capture Lee who faces arrest for syndicated estafa.

The Vice President issued the appeal after lawyer Willie Rivera, Lee’s counsel, said in a television program that his client is still in the Philippines but is in hiding. Lee’s lawyer also likened the case of his client to Sen. Ping Lacson who went into hiding during the Arroyo administration.

“Delfin Lee is no Ping Lacson. Senator Lacson was a critic of the Arroyo regime while Lee defrauded Pag-Ibig Fund of almost P6 billion by using fake borrowers and fake documents and destroyed the dreams of thousand of working Filipinos,” he said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/metro-section/item/1994-vp-binay-eggs-pnp-nbi-to-step-up-hunt-for-delfin-lee

Sin tax sins Written by Herman Tiu Laurel

Sin tax sins

• Written by  Herman Tiu Laurel
• Monday, 23 July 2012 

The Filipino people are besieged on so many fronts by forces of oligarchy, global and domestic, with the aim of impoverishing the nation. We who are aware have watched this process creep and then now gallop like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: globalization, deregulation, privatization and lastly, trade liberalization or the removal of affirmative action for our domestic economy.

The past months we have seen Filipino poultry and livestock producers rise in protest of dumping of such commodities from the US and China. Our rice production has reeled from importations and smuggling. Where we used to produce our own from shoes to patis the country is now deluged with imports. Don’t tell me that it’s because Filipinos don’t know how to be productive; as the legend goes, when we are OFWs we become known to be the hardest working.

What is it inside the boundaries of this country that dampen, if not suppress, the energy and productivity of our nation? It’s really not difficult to see when the country’s legislators and Executive officials sit by while the highest power cost in Asia continues and basic water needs of the people are becoming beyond their means — all for benefiting a few oligarchs.

Industriousness and frugality are simply met with continuing disincentives from government legislators and executives. In recent weeks another example of this is seen in what the Lower House of Congress approved — the new sin taxes, particularly on the tobacco sector. The sin tax proponents in government, the health sector, business, media and academe are not leveling with the people: they argue that higher taxes will discourage the habit of smoking, that the new taxes will raise more revenues, and there will no economic dislocation. But what they are not telling the public are the following basic facts.

Before the bill reaches the Senate let us review the most important factor, the tax tiering proposed:
Current cigarette excise rates on the local low priced cigarette brands are at P2.72 per pack, mid priced at P7.56 per pack, high priced at P12 per pack, while mainly imported foreign “premium” brands are at P 28.30 per pack.

Under the proposed new Sin Tax HB 5727, the low priced cigarette tax will increase from 2.72 to 12.00 on year 1 (341-percent  increase), and P22 on year 2 (700-percent increase) ; for the mid and high priced, their respective rates of 7.56 and 12.00 will rise to P28.30 on year 1 (135-percent increase) and P30 on year 2 (150-percent increase), going to the rate of premium imported brand tax bracket (P28.30) on year 1 (135-percent increase) and P30 on year 2 (150-percent increase) — equalizing with the rate of premium brands tax bracket (P28.30) in year 1 and on.

The DoF, the main proponent of the new sin tax, knows there is practically no revenue and volume at the premium imported brand tier. The main sources of revenue are high, mid and low tiers which contribute 55 percent, 12 percent and 33 percent  of excise revenues. Why does the DoF insist on raising the level of tax to premium tier where there is no revenue?

The new sin tax proposal threatens to finish off the local tobacco growing and local cigarette production sectors. The major beneficiary of the new sin tax would clearly be the foreign premium brands, in particular this is the British American Tobacco Corp. (BAT), which has been the one making a case for the new sin tax rates. BAT tries to counter the local tobacco farmers and cigarette producers’ objections by promising to invest $200 million in exchange for the new sin taxes being enacted into law. But will it still need to invest that if its imports have the same high tax rate as local brands already? That’s one for the Marines doubtful, as a report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which can be found on the Internet:
“Washington, Feb. 2, 2000 — In its search to maintain and enlarge cigarette markets and corporate revenue, BAT — the world’s second largest tobacco multinational and parent company of Brown & Williamson — exploited a sophisticated network of smuggling routes throughout Asia. A review of more than 11,000 corporate documents, conducted over a six-month period by the ICIJ at the Center for Public Integrity, shows that, as with corporate operations in Latin America, BAT managers and executives used a series of euphemisms in corporate correspondence to discuss smuggling operations that helped them gain a greater share of smokers and profits.”

The DoF’s  health benefits argument, dutifully supported by the DoH and some well intentioned but naïve health practitioners ignorant of the economic ramifications, is contradicted by its welcome to BAT’s offer of $200-million investment. If the goal is to reduce smoking why invite more investment in the field? BAT is counting on Filipino smokers to continue smoking even with high taxes, and it premium brand will win out.

The hope that the tobacco farmers and cigarette producers will not be dislocated is contradicted by the DoF delighting in BAT’s promise to bring in $200-million investment. While I expect a lot of disinformation from Malacañang (which reportedly got a $ 4-million campaign contribution from the BAT in the last election) and from the US controlled SGV pet Purisima leading the DoF, I thought I could expect more from some journalists reporting and opining on this and find comprehensive reporting — but many of them omit presenting the absolutely anti-Filipino and pro-BAT tobacco and cigarette in the new sin tax, HB 5727 tax-tiering scheme that is at its sinful heart.

(Watch Destiny Cable GNN’s HTL edition of Talk News TV, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11:15 p.m. and Sunday; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)


(May pahintulot ng muling paglimbag mula kay Ka Mentong)

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/1884-sin-tax-sins

SONA 2012: A chronicle of lies foretold

SONA 2012: A chronicle of lies foretold

 
Sidebar: Anti-SONA 2012 protests in regions against privatization, rights violations
MANILA – The much awaited annual extravaganza called State of the Nation Address (SONA) starring the current Philippine President, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, supported by his cabinet, leaders of Congress and thousands of government troops and police, unfolded as predicted by various progressive groups in the parallel SONAngBayan or Peoples’ SONA held along Commonwealth Avenue.

Progressive groups warned that based on the Aquino administration’s two-year record, it will spew lies, “big lies,” in his SONA this Monday. Predicting Aquino’s speech is all sweet talk and rhetoric and short on truthfulness, the participants of Peoples’ SONA brought a two-faced 14-feet Aquino effigy for burning. “The people won’t be fooled,” said the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in a statement.

“Having two faces means being deceptive. That is what this government has excelled in the past two years,” said Crisanto de Leon, chairman of artists collective UGATLahi, which conceptualized the effigy with Bayan (New Patriotic Alliance). He explained that one of Commander-in-Chief Aquino’s faces is doing the sweet-talking while the other face is doing the selling-out and ordering the repression of Filipinos for the enrichment of a few.

“For the third time we are again bamboozled with sweet promises and rhetoric, but in the end, women, and the Filipino people would still ask: Who really benefits from all of Aquino’s claimed progress?” said Joms Salvador, deputy secretary general of GABRIELA women’s alliance.

Aquino’s democracy: red-carpet for the best-dressed, road blocks for the masa 

Right from Aquino’s opening statements in his SONA, he immediately proved the accuracy of the statements of progressive groups. Aquino recalled for starters the oppression brought about by military dictatorship. He claimed that democracy has been restored. He shared that having witnessed the hardship of his family and others during martial law, he would now side with anyone who is being taken advantage of and whose rights are being robbed. Yet, outside Congress as he spoke, the police and soldiers were beating back protesters from marching nearer to Congress, as should have been their right.

PeoplesSona streetart. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

“As with the previous Arroyo regime, the people are once again pushed as far away from Batasang Pambansa as possible,” said Renato M. Reyes Jr., secretary-general of Bayan. Lawyers who joined the Peoples’ SONA explained that all the barricades put up by the police and soldiers and firemen blocking the protesters’ march to Batasang Pambansa were “illegal,” unless the law’s permit requirement is just an excuse.

The peoples’ SONA participants had “duly complied with the procedural requirements for their planned protest actions and timely applied for a permit to stage the same,” said Edre U. Olalia, secretary-general of National Union of Peoples’Lawyers (NUPL).

The Aquino regime thinks highly of itself but it can’t even follow the Constitution and its own Public Assembly Act, said Reyes of Bayan. Nearly a hundred protesters including three media workers had been hurt in tensions that broke out between the police and the protesters, who had tried to march through the police barricade to the Batasang Pambansa as early as six in the morning.

Aquino’s improved economy: no longer a joke but a farce
 
Aquino’s 90-minute speech, said to be one of the longest SONAs in recent memory, highlighted achievements that progressive groups shot down either as just a deception, a half-truth at best, or simply meaningless. Among others, “Aquino’s ‘achievements’ consisted of an S & P credit upgrade, a rise in stock market, some record gross international reserves, a loan extended to IMF – all quite meaningless to ordinary Filipinos facing high prices, low wages and landlessness,” said Renato Reyes Jr., secretary-general of Bayan (New Patriotic Alliance)..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/07/24/sona-2012-a-chronicle-of-lies-foretold/

Discarding the people’s mandate Written by Ninez Cacho-Olivares

Discarding the people’s mandate

• Written by  Ninez Cacho-Olivares
• Tuesday, 24 July 2012 

Doesn’t the Philippine Constitution count for anything anymore under the Noynoy government?

It was bad enough that the Supreme Court (SC), along with Noynoy, amended the constitutional proviso on the decreed membership of the Judicial and Bar Council, which stated clearly that the JBC would be composed of the Chief Justice and the Secretary of Justice, among other members.

That proviso does not state that the CJ as member can be replaced anytime by an acting CJ and down the succession line, if the other justices, for one reason or another, does not participate in the JBC proceedings.
Neither does the same proviso state that the President of the Republic can name an alternate representative of the executive for the Justice chief. But there it is, Noynoy and the SC amended that constitutional provision illegally, as they have no power to amend the Charter.

Not content with raping the Charter twice over, there went a House leader who proposed yet another mode of amending, or drafting an entirely new Constitution.

 The mode proposed is a fourth mode, known as the Bernas mode, on account of it having been proposed by a supposed constitutionalist, Fr. Joaquin Bernas.

The fourth mode, which does not exist in the Constitution by way of amending the Charter, calls for, and takes the route of the legislative process..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/1945-discarding-the-people%E2%80%99s-mandate

Trust thy neighbor Written by Tribune Editorial

Trust thy neighbor

• Written by  Tribune Editorial
• Tuesday, 24 July 2012 

It took the adroit diplomacy from Indonesia to come up with an agreement that gives a lot of promise on defusing tense situations in the South China Sea involving territorial claims where China is staking an aggressive claim.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa shuttled among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members to mend the rift at the recent Asean Regional Forum meeting in Cambodia where a traditional statement affirming unity and at the same time come up with a binding code on disputed territories did not materialize.

It was a mediation coup since the code of conduct that would likely come out from the issuance of the six-point Asean statement had China’s commitment to abide by.

The Chinese government would likely use the Indonesian move to illustrate the effectiveness of settling disputes within the region without the involvement of the United States which is what the Philippines wanted and was among the reasons China was vehemently against the proposed communiqué in the Asean meeting in Phnom Penh. A heated debate erupted over the mention of territorial disputes in the statement that resulted in an impassé, with the Philippines and Vietnam accusing Cambodia of being influenced by China while the Philippines and Vietnam were accused of holding up an agreement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/editorial/item/1946-trust-thy-neighbor

Dirty Deeds: Iranian nuclear program hit by 'AC/DC virus'?

Dirty Deeds: Iranian nuclear program hit by 'AC/DC virus'?

Iranian nuclear facilities have been reportedly attacked by a “musical” virus, turning personal computers in laboratories on at nighttime and starting playing AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” out loud.

­The Chief Research Officer of Finnish company F-secure, Mikko Hypponen, has made public a letter he received over the weekend from an unknown Iranian scientist from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The Iranian claims that another virus has struck AEOI’s facilities in the Natanz Uranium enrichment facility in central Iran and secret bunker research facility in Fordo, southwest of Tehran.

The unknown Iranian respondent reports that the virus has turned off automated system operations at both abovementioned research centers. The equipment, supplied by Germany’s Siemens Corporation, has reportedly also been taken out of operation..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/iran-computer-virus-acdc-940/

Internet giants, privacy advocates in 'Do Not Track' showdown

Internet giants, privacy advocates in 'Do Not Track' showdown

Washington has proposed a "Do Not Track" mechanism that would give Internet users better control of their personal information. The measure has Internet firms facing off with privacy groups over how tough the rules should be.

The Obama administration is considering the creation of an agency that would set standards for Internet governance, and the "Do Not Track" option has been proposed with a deadline in order to push privacy advocates and corporations to the negotiating table.

The idea for such a mechanism has been floating around Washington since 2007..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/do-not-track-showdown-901/

A+ A A- Another alternative view of Syria Written by Ken Fuller

Another alternative view of Syria

• Written by  Ken Fuller
• Tuesday, 24 July 2012 

Last Feb. 21, this column was entitled “Alternative Views on Syria,” and I feel the time is ripe for more of the same. Why? Because my stomach turns every time I see the likes of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, David Cameron and William Haigh condemning the violence in Syria as if they are solely motivated by humanitarian concern.

Tipping the balance was the recent assassination of Syria’s defense minister and two other high officials by a suicide bomber. I’m still waiting for the sanctimonious talking heads — or, come to that, the BBC or CNN — to condemn this as an act of terrorism.

One has to look elsewhere for believable coverage of the Syrian conflict — which is not to say that the Assad regime is spotless. Chris Mathlaco, coordinator of the South African Peace Initiative has an interesting piece in the current edition of Peace Messenger, journal of the World Peace Council. “The world’s major mainstream media outlets,” he writes, “are hard at work churning out every possible reason to justify military intervention and are awash with whipping up emotions in preparation for the final moment of assault against the peoples of Syria.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/1942-another-alternative-view-of-syria

‘Deleveraging’ Written by Archbishop Oscar V.Cruz

‘Deleveraging’

• Written by  Archbishop Oscar V.Cruz
• Tuesday, 24 July 2012

It is great to have a new word — a novel term — in town! There is this additional vocabulary, a fresh — though not necessarily refreshing — terminology that was recently invoked and wherefore even quoted by the major dailies.

This simply means that there can be new human thought or modern objective realities that require an equally update language for the consideration and even amazement of all those concerned. However, this does not preclude the possibility that the unique word can be an element of vocabulary gymnastics — intended to confused people and/or to cover up a painful reality.

“Deleveraging.” Behold the unique and intriguing terminology. What does it mean? It was lately used to explain the fact that no less than five rather big banks in the country closed or simply closed shop. These were the American Express, the Societe General, the Union Bank of California, the First International Bank and the Fortis Bank. The reason for the closure?  Here: “Deleveraging.” Translation: it was said that the countries they are identified with are those presently suffering from big financial woes. Hence, they are getting rid of their banks — by selling out.

Question: What about the other some 35 banks in the Philippines that also called it quits in the past 18 months or so? If the reason is not “deleveraging” — whatever this means — then what? The country is reportedly fast developing and progressing in its socio-economic stature as loudly proclaimed and repeatedly assured by the present administration..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/commentary/item/1943-%E2%80%98deleveraging%E2%80%99

Maita Gomez (1947-2012): Beauty transfigured

Maita Gomez (1947-2012): Beauty transfigured

By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO
“The new woman, the new Filipina, is first and foremost a militant…She is a woman who has discovered the exalting realm of responsibility, a woman fully engaged in the making of history…”
- Ma. Lorena Barros, “Liberated Women II”

I only met Maita Gomez, one of two fabled beauty queens turned revolutionaries (the other one is Nelia Sancho), after she had already surfaced from the underground in the early ‘80s and became one of the leading lights of the resurgent women’s liberation movement in the Philippines. She helped found the nationalist and democratic women’s alliance GABRIELA, the anti-dictatorship women’s alliance WOMB (Women for the Ouster of Marcos and Boycott) and, after the Marcos Dictatorship had been overthrown, the first all-women political party, KAIBA (Kababaihan para sa Inangbayan), under whose banner she ran but lost for a seat in Congress representing the Malate district in Manila.

Still, she and I were only peripherally acquainted with one another. She was then studying for her masters degree in Development Economics, was involved with several non-government organizations that were politically more liberal than Left and, except for the annual March 8 International Women’s Day rally and some other GABRIELA activities, seemed busy with concerns other than mainstream Leftist projects or activities.

It was only as recent as 2008, when a long-time common friend asked us out to lunch, that Maita and I warmed up to each other. I had till then no idea that she had been holding some kind of grudge against me because she had been told I was spreading nasty rumors about her. She casually brought it up and when I denied it as completely false, she immediately took my word for it, setting the matter aside..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/07/19/maita-gomez-1947-2012-beauty-transfigured/