However, the editorial writer showed appalling ignorance of the subject matter and played fast-and-loose with the facts. As if not contented with this, it unashamedly indulged in baseless speculations and circular argumentation, even the use of the sordid "guilt-by-association" argument.

Let's dissect the editorial, part by part.

A so-called Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER) composed of lawmakers from the two chambers of Congress is railroading the passage of what it dubs an electoral reform law that is really nothing but a perpetuation of the worst features of traditional politics or "trapo" (dirty-mop politics in Tagalog slang).

CER, of which I am the chairperson, is entirely composed of civil society electoral reform advocate organizations, 48 of them at the last count.  There are no individual members, much more individual legislators.

As for railroading of the bill, the stage referred to is the third reading--when there is no more debate and only the vote for or against the bill is made. The fact that it was brought back to second reading to enable debate and entry into record of the views of those legislators who raised their questions after the third reading supports not the contention for railroading but the openness of the House leadership to accommodate these legislators.

The assertion or conclusion that it "perpetuates traditional politics" is nothing but that--an assertion unsupported by facts. Doing a conclusion at the start of an editorial is bad logic and bad writing. The editorial writer should have checked his or her facts.

Without anyone really knowing it, the CER had already held a series of workshop conferences in which the major political parties, party-list groups, members of the academe and so-called civil society reviewed House Bill 3655, "An Act Strengthening the Political Party System" and proposed changes thereto. Last Aug. 30 the bill was passed on third reading, but due to protests against its having been railroaded, it was sent back two days later by the House majority to "further plenary deliberations."

Since 2002, this has been a bill, first filed in the 12th Congress. There was not much unfavorable reaction to this bill-which was included and discussed in GMA's legacy program, in the Medium-Term Development Program, in the 2002 political party conference, in innumerable electoral reform summits, conferences, workshops, and symposia, and filed in every Congress. What, no one knows about it?

The railroading was only too obvious. By the time the bill was up for third reading, its title had become "An Act Strengthening the Political Party System, Appropriating Funds Therefor and Other Purposes." The second clause shows that the proposed law is nothing but a way of channeling state funds (what the bill calls "state subsidy") to political parties. In short, the bill seeks to fatten trapo parties with pork barrel in time for the 2010 elections. Senate versions of the bill similarly mention the state subsidy to political parties.

The editorial writer should really have checked his or her facts. The title has never changed--it is the 13th Congress bill's title, it is the 14th Congress House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms committee report title, and it is the 13th Congress Senate committee report's title.

Again in this passage, there is a leap into an empty conclusion. Pork barrel refers to largesse to individual legislators. This one is a subsidy to political parties-and under specific guidance in the bill on how to spend the money.

Remember, in our present system, it is the candidates who have the money, not the political parties. That is why the latter are weak. At any rate, failure to wisely spend the money for strengthening them can only disadvantage the parties who did it.

Principally authored by Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, HB 3655 is long on rhetoric, short on transparency. Ironically, it purports to promote transparency. According to the CER workshop, the bill aims "to institutionalize reforms in the financing of electoral campaigns, thereby promoting accountability and transparency." It further seeks to penalize political turncoatism, adjust authorized electoral expenses to current consumer price indices, and define criminal liabilities for the non-submission, non-disclosure, false reporting of financial statements, as well as overspending beyond allowable limits.

What is laughable about the bill is that while it ostensibly tries to check electoral overspending and foster transparency in party financing, it seeks to do so by subsidizing the political party system. As things stand now, political parties are not exactly candid or forthright about their financing and spending.

This is the meat or the beef (pardon the pun--it is intended) of the matter of the editorial. It is the argument that the mere existence of the party subsidy constitute a derogation of one of the bill's objectives, that is, to check overspending and foster transparency. I do not know how the editorial related the one to the other and come up with the wrong conclusion.

As I wrote in my earlier post, the subsidy is to enable political parties to minimally maintain its organization, tighten its influence on individual party candidates, provide an alternative to contributions by private vested interests and illegal fund sources, and act as a lever to open party accounts, monitor them, audit them, and  promote accountability of party funds. Party subsidy from public funds is a major feature of strong political party systems in many countries, including those in the United States and Europe.

But let there be no question about it. The Philippines has no law governing political parties other than the Omnibus Election Code, and there are no laws regulating political finance outside the campaign period. There are no limits on spending or contributions, no required declarations of assets and liabilities, no reporting requirements, and no disclosure of financial records to the public or a governmental body. Electoral reform groups have called for a law to regulate party practices and finances between elections.

So where's the beef? The bill exactly addresses these concerns. CER is the electoral reform group calling for the passage of the law. It is also a member of the Pera at Pulitika Working Group--the pioneering campaign finance monitoring project that exposed the overspending of candidates in the last 2007 elections.

In the meantime, a bill seeks to check party finances and expenses between elections by providing state subsidy to political parties in order to-again check the rhetoric- "professionalize parties and make them viable and accountable partners in development and good governance." The subsidy is invariably called a "political party development fund," which echoes the euphemisms about the standard pork barrel of congressmen and senators-"countrywide development fund" and "priority assistance development fund." The connection is all too readily evident!

The worst logic-guilt by association or, in this case, guilt by two similar words.

It seems that for all their good intentions, our lawmakers can't help but show their true colors. In seeking to reform the political party system, they end up perpetuating its worst features, especially the unseemly side in which politics and public service become tickets to self-entitlement and -enrichment.

Assertions, assertions... Where's the facts and the argument?

It can't be otherwise, perhaps. Congress is filled with political families that have been battened through the decades; so it wouldn't be expected to pass an enabling law to realize the constitutional proviso against political dynasties. Now it is trying to pass a law to enable parties to earn more business from government. Our dirty rotten trapos are relentless. The way they are railroading HB 3655 and its Senate version, we are yet witnessing what's literally a rags to riches story.

This is pure speculation and irrelevant to the subject matter. Dynasties are one thing, political parties are another. The editorial writer mixes the two. And ended up with a non-editorial.

           As I was once told by someone, rumors can cause harm to somebody... whether it is their reputation, integrity, and/or physically... and that harm could become so severe that it could take a long time to get all that all that back or it could be irreparable and as a result they would never get their reputation back.

Tina was pressed for time. She had to go. But once at the orthodontist's office she called Megan: Did you sign off?

"No, Mom. They are all being so mean to me."

"You are not listening to me, Megan! Sign off, now!"

Fifteen minutes later, Megan called her mother. By now Megan was in tears.

"They are posting bulletins about me." A bulletin is like a survey. "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."

 

 

 Megan was sobbing hysterically. Tina was furious that she had not signed off.

Once Tina returned home she rushed into the basement where the computer was. Tina was shocked at the vulgar language her daughter was firing back at people.

"I am so aggravated at you for doing this!" she told Megan.

Megan ran from the computer and left, but not without first telling Tina, "You're supposed to be my mom! You're supposed to be on my side!"

On the stairway leading to her second-story bedroom, Megan ran into her father, Ron.

"I grabbed her as she tried to go by," Ron says. "She told me that some kids were saying horrible stuff about her and she didn't understand why. I told her it's OK. I told her that they obviously don't know her. And that it would be fine."

Megan went to her room and Ron went downstairs to the kitchen, where he and Tina talked about what had happened, the MySpace account, and made dinner.

Twenty minutes later, Tina suddenly froze in mid-sentence.

"I had this God-awful feeling and I ran up into her room and she had hung herself in the closet."

Megan Taylor Meier died the next day, three weeks before her 14th birthday.

Later that day, Ron opened his daughter's MySpace account and viewed what he believes to be the final message Megan saw - one the FBI would be unable to retrieve from the hard drive.

It was from Josh and, according to Ron's best recollection, it said, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you."

 

 

- St. Charles Journal story by Steve Pokin (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)

 

The media has help tried to paint him as maverick and now a reformer but I'm happy to tell you that it is all untrue.

But don't take my word for it. Give a listen to McCain himself and then...decide.

See for yourself...if you're brave enough.

…och ungdomar och Utbildningsministerns krav på utbildningen. Man kan väl säga att

”ingen rök utan eld”

när man läser BRÅ:s Kriminalstatistik för 2007. http://www.bra.se/

Där kan man i statistiken läsa att antalet misstänkta personer har ökat i nästan alla åldersgrupper.

Ökningen var dock störst i åldersgruppen 15–17 år som ökade med 9 procent.

 Det är en åldersgrupp som i de flesta fall faller under skollagen bland annat, där också Utbildningsministern har ett ansvar.

Håller nog med de lite mer striktare regler som man vill införa.

Big winners saturday and More winners Sunday! opening Sunday kick off special to all who contact me , get the Picks for Sunday and get Monday Night and  NEXT week thrown in FREE,  Yes MORE free picks.

I will post Sundays Free Pick at 8 am PST, 11 am EST... if you need it early , send me a message! Big saturday for all, here is what I bet:

Saturday nights winner on Miami +24, ( the closing line in vegas, thats why I bet late)

BC-6 , lost, WV-7, lost

Air Force +3.5 wins, Washington +10 wins, Ole Miss+8 wins, Oklahoma-21, wins

5-2 not bad, My football season record since July 31, is 39-26-1, yee-ha!

Statue available here:http://www.catholicshopper.com/products/inspirational_sport_statues.html

The banks and mortgage brokers didn’t care because they sold the loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Those two government sponsored companies apparently did not review many of the loans that were made by the banks and mortgage brokers.  The consequence is that “a record 9 percent, were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June.”  To believe that the people managing these enterprises did not realize the folly of their ways is equivalent to adults believing there really is a Santa Claus.  To make matters worse the Federal Reserve did nothing to interfere with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Where were our congressmen?  The Financial Services Committee of Congress headed by Barney Frank of Massachusetts has a web site that advises its responsibilities.

The Committee oversees all components of the nation's housing and financial services sectors including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities. The Committee continually reviews the laws and programs relating to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and international development and finance agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Committee also ensures enforcement of housing and consumer protection laws such as the U.S. Housing Act, the Truth In Lending Act, the Housing and Community Development Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, and financial privacy laws. 

Actually this mess goes back to a Republican lead Congress as this situation came to light about two years ago.  So what have the Democrats done to prevent the meltdown of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?  Apparently the answer is nothing.  The cost to taxpayers will be in the billons.  Who made money on this situation? The real estate brokers, banks, and mortgage brokers.  I foresee new laws and regulations but they are coming after the animals have left the barn.

I Doooooo!!!!!!!

For the first time since 1985, the Florida Gators defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 26-3. Let me say that again. the Gators, defeated the Hurricanes twenty six points to three!!!

In the beginning, the Gators had me on the edge of my seat, actually for the first half of the game UF had me scared. I won't go through all of the specifics, but Miami was shutting our defense DOWN. How? They were reading every single play and blocking. Blocking like the fat friend in the club, who was slighted by the wingman. Straight blocks. Our offense for the most part was on point. There were some spotty times, but we had the most trouble with our defense team. We need to be able to learn how to adapt in the face of adversity. Ok you see that Miami can read your plays, switch it up. Try something different. Try to block them before they block you. For example you set up a play, and you see that Miami has figured out your play, on the next down, attempt to prevent them from even getting the chance to read your play. I'm not a football expert, so I really don't know how to do that. All I know is that you need to make something happen.

I love the ESPN commercial when Kirk Herbstreit was screening the coach's call. That was cute in and of itself, but what took it to the next level was his ringtone. This mofo has the ice cream truck jingle as his mobile phone's ringtone. How cool do you have to be to have that as your ringtone? That says so much about his cool. Not to mention the actual commercial itself, unfortunately I cannot find it. But the gist is all the college coaches blow Kirk's phone up to talk about the game, someone in the truck asks him why won't he pick up the phone. Herbstreit tells him that the coaches constantly call him to discuss the games and that he can't really deal with it. As soon as he finishes his sentence, the camera pans to the left and the coach who was calling him asks why won't he answer his calls. Herbstriet lies and says that his celluar doesn't receive great reception in the bus, and as soon as he says it the coach calls him again. So they tell us that the coaches are constantly phone stalking him, then they show it with his ringtone being the ice cream truck jingle. Everyone who has grown up in America, for the most part, can equate that jingle with desire. Everyone desires Kirk. That's HAWT!!!

Watching the Swamp on tv almost made me cry. I miss teh ville. I remember when I went to games in the Swamp. I remember when I ran stadiums in the Swamp. I remember walking around campus in the middle of the night. I remember all of my friends. Seriously that was not fair.

Damn I miss teh ville.

HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THE GO GATORS GATOR NATION VIDEO!!!!??? Again the symbolism in this commercial just pulls at my heart strings every time. I love how they are saying that the future of the University of Florida lies with the cutest, brown baby girl ever! This happens two ways. In the begining of the commercial other gators greet each other by saying go gators. Then it switches to telling other gators to go achieve great activities, and then the commerical ends again by saying go gators. Simple logic. The commerical established that you greet gators by saying go gators, then the commerical switches to greeting other gators by saying go [accomplish something great], then go [accomplish something great] is the same as go gators because they are both used to greet gators (in this commerical). And secondly the little black girl is the last person we see, youth is a constant metaphor for the future, therefore we can say the little black girl is the future for the Gator Nation. ::sigh:: makes me cry tears of joy.

I may have to come back.

Signed,

[INITIALS]

p.s. I so wish I could change the background of my blog to a gator theme

We want to eat delicious food and of course learn how to do culinary delights.

On Monday Sept. 15th we'll meet around 6pm to do Sushi at Maxi's place.

To do the Sushi we collect $3 of each participant, so that Hiroko can buy the ingredients. Sushi for THREE DOLLARS! 3 dollars!!  Come on that's a great bargain :)

Unfortunately we have only limited space.. so sign up next meeting or find out more about our Mexican dinner!!

Alma E. Muñoz

Enlace directo: La Jornada

To check out complete details Visit - SNAP Test 2008 Notification

Filipino-American Ryan Roberts will wear the Mister International Philippines sash in the international male pageant to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Nov. 23.

After outshining 14 other candidates during the pageant’s night held Sept. 1 at the A.Venue Events Mall in Makati, Roberts walked home with P20,000, a trophy, and the prestige to be called Mister International Philippines 2008 winner.

Twenty-four-year-old Ryan, who practically grew up in the US, graduated at Fort Walton High School and had served the US Army 101st Airborne Division for four years in Iraq. He is a product of an interracial marriage between his Filipino mother and American father who met in Clark Air Base more than two decades ago.

At six feet tall, Ryan was a crowd favorite during the event and received an overwhelming applause when he gave his answer during the interview portion. He was asked: “Which one is more important: your family or your friends, why?” “Family is the most important thing, but friends are also important. To me, family first and then friends.”

Ryan, who is also into mixed martial arts and surfing, grinned before the judges.

Male pageant veteran Jeff Surio was announced first runner-up and Marikina’s teen hottie John Bardo “JB” Espiritu, second runner-up.

Controversial candidate Ian Porlayagan was not able to fulfill his dream but made it to the top 8. Ian was Mister International Philippines 2007 winner who failed to compete in last year’s international event held in Malaysia. Local organizer and pageant director Mike Lim told the press that he gave Ian another chance for the young man was really upset when previous local organizers were confronted by problems and failed to send him to the international competition.

“We gave him [Ian] another opportunity, after all everybody deserves a second chance,” Lim clarified. “Now, I will make sure that Ryan Roberts signs the contract as a proof that he will fly abroad to represent the country,” he chuckled during the pageant’s coronation party.

The program that started two hours late was however a record-breaking event for any pageant. It lasted for more than an hour with a fashion pageant concept—an idea of Lim who is also a Public Relations professor at the De La Salle University. There were no special awards given and everything was fast paced. The successful pageant itself indeed serves as a benchmark for all male pageants because it raised the standard and was made truly classy.

The contestants sashayed on the runway wearing creations by Eric de los Santos (Casual Wear), Barge Ramos (Barong Tagalog), Freego (Jeans) and Rickie Abad (Swimwear). They were judged according to their looks, physique and personality that reflected during the interview portion.

The contestants were trimmed down to eight and those who made it to the short list were: Leo Reyes, Bryan Baculi, Ryan Roberts, Ian Leonel Porlayagan, John Bardo “JB” Espiritu, Sary Alsiyed, Jeff Surio and Christian Ang-Cayabyab. The eight were then individually asked a question to test their intelligence. The host told the finalists that language proficiency is not a measure of intellect. Finalists were encouraged to speak the language they are comfortable with. The questions were asked in English and then repeated in Filipino.

The complete list of 15 who made it through the stiff selection process were: Leo Reyes, Bryan Baculi, Ricswartz “RS” Sibal, Mike Lee, Ryan Roberts, Ian Leonel Porlayagan, Gilbert Lopez, John Bardo “JB” Espiritu, Sary Alsiyed, Jeff Surio, Juan Lorenzo “Enzo” Quitiquit, Aaron Jimenez, Dennis Torres, Philip Ramos and Christian Ang-Cayabyab.

As people in the audience (who were mostly men or looks can really be deceiving) drooled while the 15 gentlemen paraded and flaunted their chiseled torso during the swimwear competition, proportionally, 15 judges as well made crucial decisions in choosing the country’s legitimate representative to the upcoming international pageant.

The board of judges was chaired by Bohol socialite Lani Schoof. Other judges were A.Venue’s Nancy Coo, celebrity columnist Crispina Belen, designers Paul Cabral, Barge Ramos, Ricky Abad and Renee Salud, Aficionado’s Joel Cruz, Manila Times Entertainment editor Ricky Gallardo, PR man Donnie Ramirez, entrepreneur Caloy Varela, Malayan Bank executive Chris Jalandoni, dermatologist Joni Dizon, and fashion and events director Robbie Carmona.

The advances and convergence of information and communication technology (ICT) and multimedia
techniques have brought about unprecedented possibilities and opportunities. To prevent abuses of the usage of ICT and multimedia techniques, the study of multimedia forensics and security has emerged in recent years as a new interdisciplinary area encompassing aspects of digital cryptography, digital watermarking, data hiding, steganography, and steganalysis. Moreover, multimedia forensic techniques have also opened up a new horizon for helping companies, government, and law enforcement agencies in combating crime and fraudulent activities. The past decade has seen an exciting development of techniques revolving around the issues of multimedia forensics and security.

Aiming at serving this purpose, this book contains a collection of informative and stimulating chapters written by knowledgeable experts and covers a wide spectrum of the state-of-the-art techniques for tackling the issues of multimedia forensics and security. Each chapter is a self-contained treatment on one aspect of the broad subject, allowing the readers to follow any order of their liking. The chapters are selected to suit readers of different levels with various interests, making this book an invaluable reference for beginners as well as experts alike.

Le explico un poco con palabras que no existen lo que me pasa, y seguro que me entiende porque él es "de esos" tan raros que... ya sabéis. Levanta la taza o la copa y bebe largos sorbos, o cortos. Con él no importan estas minucias. Da igual si lo toma sentado sobre la mesa de caoba o en un desierto. Importa una puta mierda. Viajar a Groenlandia es muy caro, le digo, y vuelve a reir tras sus manos como garras.

No tiene gracia mi dolor, pero todo esta mezclado en la isla sobre el nexo. Maldición, pienso, es su presencia próxima la que me hace desvariar, la inconexión, este escalofrío como a "los buenos tiempos se terminan" cuando ni siquiera me había dado cuenta de que había buenos tiempos que disfrutar.

Le digo a mi amigo "el cuervo" que no tenga razón, porque cuando la tiene es horroroso y todo vuelve a su espintónfala habitual y es como tumbarse sobre la gravilla desnudo, bajo el sol del verano, húmedo del agua fresca del río. Parece hermoso. No lo es. Hay un sabor amargo a derrota en lo simple. El día a día acondicionado es el fin de las mentes nobles. Quiero mi guerra, "cuervo", le imploro, pero él está tumbado en la cama de otro mundo donde dientes enormes han picoteado en otras carnes, hay jardines dentro de tiendas de campañas, una lejana explosión nuclear que se acerca como un canto de sirena.

Abrir los brazos, dar las gracias (natabriz) por la derrota... y adiós para siempre, piel blanca.

Del insomnio tenaz  en que te abrazo

Quiero tus ojos y busco tu regazo

 y escucho tus palabras seductoras

Digo tu nombre en sílabas sonoras

Y escucho el marcial acento de tu paso

Te abro mi pecho y el falaz abrazo

Humedece en mis ojos las auroras

Esta mi lecho lánguido y sombrío

Porque me faltas tu sol de mi antojo

Ángel por cuyo beso desvarío

Miro la vida con mortal enojo

Y todo esto me pasa dueño mío

Porque hace una semana que no cojo

SALVADOR NOVO

Hay días en que la realidad no basta para hacerte feliz, o es muy cruda para dejar completo tu día; es cuando sólo te queda, después de una jornada atareada, refugiarte en tu imaginario, en soñar lo alcanzable, lo que puedes palpar pero que necesita esfuerzo, lucha.

Amor, fue en una de aquellas veces en que esta humilde pandita se refugio en si misma, y su mente voló hacia ti. Seguro en aquel sueño estaría la habitación de cualquiera de los departamentos que han servido para contar innumerables anécdotas que aún no existen y que están en espera.

Pero sabes, siempre he pensado que los sueños no solo se sueñan, sino que se trabajan, se construyen. Es por eso que temprano te dedico esta canción. Te quiero.

Porque no hay en esta calle, en esta gente, en esta luz, nada comparado a lo que tú me dabas, a tu agua, a tu sol.
Y así, cercana a ti me voy perdiendo, soñando fantasías de lo que algún día tuve, de lo que un día, quizás por descuido, perdí 
Y veo como tú, poco a poco te alejas, te encierras, te desbaratas, te reinventas sin mi, sin esta tuya que sólo sabe pronunciar tu nombre. Sabines tiene razón, esta desazón es agria, parecido a estar saliendo de un manicomio para entrar a un panteón.
 
 
 
ESPERO CURARME DE TI
 
Espero curarme de ti en unos días. Debo dejar de fumarte, de beberte, de pensarte. Es posible. Siguiendo las prescripciones de la moral en turno. Me receto tiempo, abstinencia, soledad.
¿Te parece bien que te quiera nada más una semana? No es mucho, ni es poco, es bastante. En una semana se puede reunir todas las palabras de amor que se han pronunciado sobre la tierra y se les puede prender fuego. Te voy a calentar con esa hoguera del amor quemado. Y también el silencio. Porque las mejores palabras del amor están entre dos gentes que no se dicen nada.
Hay que quemar también ese otro lenguaje lateral y subversivo del que ama. (Tú sabes cómo te digo que te quiero cuando digo: «qué calor hace», «dame agua», «¿sabes manejar?», «se hizo de noche»... Entre las gentes, a un lado de tus gentes y las mías, te he dicho «ya es tarde», y tú sabías que decía «te quiero»).
Una semana más para reunir todo el amor del tiempo. Para dártelo. Para que hagas con él lo que quieras: guardarlo, acariciarlo, tirarlo a la basura. No sirve, es cierto. Sólo quiero una semana para entender las cosas. Porque esto es muy parecido a estar saliendo de un manicomio para entrar a un panteón.
 
JAIME SABINES