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PCOS buy in limbo FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/27/2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

PCOS buy in limbo

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
04/27/2012
Not too fast, Sixto Brillantes and his lapdog commissioners in the poll body — not when the Supreme Court has issued a restraining order on the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s P1.8-billion purchase of used precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines which brought about electoral fraud — and anybody who believes that the automated elections of 2010 were fraud-free should have his head examined.

Brillantes and company probably thought that, by using the same old excuse of there being no time to have automated elections through a different automated system, would work, or that conjuring up the fear that we can not afford to go back to the fraud-filled manual system and slow count as yet another excuse for the Comelec to push through with its quickie purchase of the flawed PCOS machines, just won’t fly.

There certainly was enough time for the Comelec commissioners to look for another system that carries more safeguards and are glitch-free, especially after the poll body’s IT team had already junked the PCOS machines precisely due to their unreliability and too many flaws that Smartmatic-TIM has not even bothered to correct all this time..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120427com2.html

CISPA passes House in unexpected last-minute vote

CISPA passes House in unexpected last-minute vote


The House of Representatives has approved Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act with a vote count of 248-168. The bill is now headed for the Senate. President Barack Obama will be able to sign or cancel it pending Senate approval.

Initially slated to vote on the bill Friday, the House of Representatives decided to pass Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) Thursday after approving a number of amendments.

Apart from cyber and national security purposes, the bill would now allow the government to use private information obtained through CISPA for the investigation and prosecution of “cybersecurity crime,” protection of individuals and the protection of children. The new clauses define “cybersecurity crime” as any crime involving network disruption or hacking..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/house-cispa-vote-thursday-083/

Zero-gravity shenanigans: Astronauts return from ISS (PHOTOS, VIDEO)



Zero-gravity shenanigans: Astronauts return from ISS (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The astronauts of the Soyuz TMA-22 got up to some mad micro-gravity antics before their scheduled return to Earth after six months aboard the ISS. Before the ship’s undocking from the station, its crew found time to let their hair down…

The team of six astronauts took advantage of zero-gravity to pose for a tongue-in-cheek photo, three lined up side by side with their compatriots hovering upside-down above them.

NASA was also treated to a live display of aerial acrobatics as astronauts took turns to spin each other in multiple somersaults in the International Space Station’s laboratory..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/soyuz-space-astronaut-hijinks-097/

Journalist calls for euthanasia of disabled newborns (w/ Video)



Journalist calls for euthanasia of disabled newborns

 The article titled “Finish it off so it doesn’t suffer,” which calls for the euthanasia of disabled newborn children, has caused public outrage in Russia and has led to fierce debates in the blogging community.

In the article under question, the author Aleksandr Nikonov argues that the birth of a disabled child for many families would be an unbearable tragedy, “a hell”, and that “the killing of the newborn is in fact the same as an abortion”. He states that depriving infants, who will never be able to take care of themselves, of life is “true humanism”. He also calls to give parents of such children a right to euthanize their newborns, like relatives of patients in a vegetative state can allow doctors to shut down life support..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/journalist-euthanasia-disabled-newborns/

The ultimate babysitter? iPads for infants stir debate FEATURE 04/27/2012

The ultimate babysitter? iPads for infants stir debate

FEATURE

04/27/2012
PARIS — Twenty-two-month-old George sits on a tiny blue chair, at a baby-sized desk, playing with a grown-up toy — an iPad, sign of a powerful trend that has set alarm bells ringing among child development experts.

Leaning over the tablet, the little Parisian finger-stabs the duck icon on “Moo Box,” an application with animal images that let out moos, oinks and barks.

For his mother Aurelie Mercier, 32, the beauty of iPad apps is they can expand her son’s world, like a virtual piano that lets him play music in the absence of the real thing.

“It’s a window onto tons of things that we don’t have at home and that can be condensed into a very small object,” she told AFP..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120427com5.html

What did Leonen promise? CROSSROADS Jonathan De la Cruz 04/27/2012

What did Leonen promise?

CROSSROADS
Jonathan De la Cruz
04/27/2012
We will take the word of GRP panel head, former UP law Dean Marvic Leonen, in the ongoing peace talks with the MILF at face value.

Interviewed after signing the so-called “GRP-MILF Decision oints on Principles” in Kuala Lumpur with his MILF counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal, in the presence of the Malaysian facilitator, Leonen reiterated that contrary to the observations of some sectors, he did not sign off on the creation of a BangsaMoro Substate. There is no such word in the document. Rather, what was envisioned was an expanded autonomous entity since both parties considered the existing one as a “failed experiment” and therefore no longer acceptable.

Said Leonen: “what is clear that the MILF has dropped its demand for independence and that the new autonomous political entity being envisioned is not a separate state and is inseparable from the Republic of the Philippines. So it is inaccurate to call it a BangsaMoro substate.” So, are some of the critics totally mistaken and are simply exaggerating when they claimed that the Leonen panel like the last Arroyo administration panel was outfoxed yet again and signed off on a reminted version of the BangsaMoro Juridical Entity (BJE) that was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120427com6.html

Palace drags foot for Noy over HLI By Rocky G. Nazareno and Benjamin B. Pulta 04/27/2012

‘PRESS STATEMENT NOT SC DECISION’—LACIERDA

Palace drags foot for Noy over HLI

By Rocky G. Nazareno and Benjamin B. Pulta 04/27/2012

The Palace on behalf of President Aquino issued ambiguous statements about Aquino’s official position on the recent Supreme Court ruling stating with finality its decision upholding land distribution at Hacienda Luisita owned by the clan of the President with presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda even injecting doubts on the accuracy of the interpretation of the SC ruling by Court Administrator Midas Marquez.

“A press statement is not a Supreme Court case decision,” Lacierda said. Marquez, who also speaks for Chief Justice Renato Corona in his ongoing impeachment trial, had already made public the high tribunal’s decision Tuesday.

Lacierda also maintained that President Aquino, whose family owns the Luisita Hacienda, has yet to issue a statement or reaction to the matter more than two days after the SC released its decision, affirming its Nov. 22, 2011 decision calling for the distribution of the estate to its workers..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120427hea1.html

Cuisia slams US exec’s racist slur vs Pinay nursesBy Michaela P. del Callar By Michaela P. del Callar 04/27/2012

Cuisia slams US exec’s racist slur vs Pinay nursesBy Michaela P. del Callar

By Michaela P. del Callar 04/27/2012

The Philippine ambassador to the United States blasted a Washington DC official for making disparaging comments against Filipino nurses and demanded an apology for the racial slur.

What drew the ire of Ambassador Jose Cuisia were the remarks of District of Columbia council member Marion Barry who criticized their local hospitals for hiring Filipino nurses and called the practice “deplorable.”

Cuisia said this was not the first time such “intolerant and narrow-minded comments” were made by Barry. Just three weeks ago, the latter allegedly made the observation that Asian-owned businesses were “dirty shops.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120427nat1.html

Army panel to probe Ifugao ambush 04/27/2012

Army panel to probe Ifugao ambush

04/27/2012
A military board of inquiry (BoI) was convened to look deeper into the ambush of Army troops in Ifugao province last Wednesday by the New People’s Army (NPA) that resulted in the killing of 11 soldiers, one of them a captain.

Army 5th Infantry Division (ID) spokesman Col. Miguel Puyao yesterday said Maj. Gen. Rommel Gomez, 5th ID chief, immediately ordered the creation of the BoI headed by Col. Rey Labanin, deputy commander of the Army’s 502nd Brigade.

“The board of inquiry (was created) to know what really happened,” said Puyao.

Asked if the BoI will look into possible lapses that led to the military setback, Puyao replied “yes, everything…lapses maybe…or all information regarding the ambush.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120427nat2.html

‘JV’: Family supports Erap’s plan to run for Manila mayor By Gerry Baldo 04/27/2012

‘JV’: Family supports Erap’s plan to run for Manila mayor

By Gerry Baldo 04/27/2012

The plan of former President Joseph Estrada to run for the mayoralty post in Manila will get the support of his family members despite some objections from other members of the Ejercito clan who would rather see the Estrada patriarch “relaxing” and “enjoying his grandchildren.”

According to San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, the Ejercito clan would fully understand the decision of the former President who has a soft spot for the poor.

Ejercito said his father has nothing to prove when it comes to “serving the people.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120427met4.html

VP Binay hails CA decision vs Globe Asiatique owner 04/27/2012

VP Binay hails CA decision vs Globe Asiatique owner

04/27/2012
Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday hailed the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) allowing the filing of syndicated estafa charges against Delfin Lee and his co-accused.

Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund), called the decision to allow the Department of Justice (DoJ) to file charges a “welcome development.”

“Now we can finally continue our quest to seek justice for the ordinary workers defrauded by Globe Asiatique,” Binay said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120427met2.html

Echiverri orders probe of ‘botcha’ used in ‘siomai’ 04/27/2012

Echiverri orders probe of ‘botcha’ used in ‘siomai’

04/27/2012
Caloocan City Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri has ordered an investigation into reports that some unscrupulous businessmen are using “botcha” or double dead meat in their siomai recipes.

At the same time, the mayor directed the City Veterinary Office to immediately conduct inspections of alleged places where botcha is clandestinely incorporated in siomai-making, with the finished product being sold later to residents.

Echiverri, a lawyer, purposely did not reveal the locations of the alleged illegal activity so as not to pre-empt the inspections..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120427met3.html

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