Michael Dubruiel+

Michael Dubruiel passed away today, February 3, when he "collapsed this morning at the gym and was not able to be revived despite the efforts of EMTs and hospital personnel."

His blog is one of the blogs I follow regularly. He is the husband of Amy Welborn, one of my favorite contemporary Catholic writers and bloggers.

Update: Michael's last column.

Blogs abuzz about TAC

Recent days have seen blogs writing about the possible formal entry of the Traditional Anglican Communion into the Catholic Church.  It is noted that the TAC has been exploring its communion with the Roman Catholic Church for varied reasons.  Some have mentioned that the TAC is being offered to come into the Church as a Personal Prelature.  The only Personal Prelature so far after this new juridical form was instituted in the Church is Opus Dei.  If indeed this happens, an Easter entry has been speculated, then, Welcome Home!

See here, here, here, here, and here.

Justifying terror

Judea Pearl writes an op-ed in WSJ in time for the seventh anniversary of the murder of his son, former WSJ reporter Daniel.  He writes how some people have been made as tools of the terrorists to justify not only the violence that these terrorists do, but also why they think the global war on terror is not necessary, that it has to stop.  He mentions how luminaries, the media and even universities have contributed to this way of thinking.

Excerpts:

Those around the world who mourned for Danny in 2002 genuinely hoped that Danny's murder would be a turning point in the history of man's inhumanity to man, and that the targeting of innocents to transmit political messages would quickly become, like slavery and human sacrifice, an embarrassing relic of a bygone era.

But somehow, barbarism, often cloaked in the language of "resistance," has gained acceptance in the most elite circles of our society. The words "war on terror" cannot be uttered today without fear of offense. Civilized society, so it seems, is so numbed by violence that it has lost its gift to be disgusted by evil.
...

But the clearest endorsement of terror as a legitimate instrument of political bargaining came from former President Jimmy Carter. In his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," Mr. Carter appeals to the sponsors of suicide bombing. "It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Road-map for Peace are accepted by Israel." Acts of terror, according to Mr. Carter, are no longer taboo, but effective tools for terrorists to address perceived injustices.
...

Mr. Carter's logic has become the dominant paradigm in rationalizing terror. When asked what Israel should do to stop Hamas's rockets aimed at innocent civilians, the Syrian first lady, Asma Al-Assad, did not hesitate for a moment in her response: "They should end the occupation." In other words, terror must earn a dividend before it is stopped.

The media have played a major role in handing terrorism this victory of acceptability. Qatari-based Al Jazeera television, for example, is still providing Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi hours of free air time each week to spew his hateful interpretation of the Koran, authorize suicide bombing, and call for jihad against Jews and Americans.
...

At my own university, UCLA, a symposium last week on human rights turned into a Hamas recruitment rally by a clever academic gimmick. The director of the Center for Near East Studies carefully selected only Israel bashers for the panel, each of whom concluded that the Jewish state is the greatest criminal in human history.

Spitz's the man

As I said in a previous blog, Mark Spitz is still the Man!

You would never see him like this >>>

Disgrace. Even more disgrace.

Pro-life videos

Rachel's post on Faith and Family. Go and see.

I am posting these two videos because they are breathtaking. The videos are different than what I’m used to, but I found them to be at least as powerful as any other pro-life message I have seen. Incredible to see all the different vessels God can use to spread his message.

On a related point, see how radical environmentalism (read: anthropogenic global warming alarmism) is nothing more than population control, eugenics, and, well, socialism.

More than Two Children “Irresponsible” Says Top Advisor to British Government

I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible. It is the ghost at the table. We have all these big issues that everybody is looking at and then you don’t really hear anyone say the ‘p’ word ... I am unapologetic about asking people to connect up their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate.

She refused to have them killed

"What do you suggest she should have done?  She refused to have them killed."

Can you afford?

Heritage Foundation estimates the amount the new stimulus plan will cost American families.

If all families were asked to equally shoulder the burden of the $825 billion “stimulus” package, it would be like asking them to take on an amount of debt equivalent to what they spend on food, clothing, and health care — or most of what they spend on shelter — for an entire year.

The Philippine Congress finally passed the 2009 budget that also includes a stimulus plan. What would it be worth for us here? Methinks, it would not be as much as in the US. Good luck to us all.

Rowan @ 22 weeks

By any logical measure, Angele - a strikingly attractive woman in her thirties with long  hair and a model's cheekbones - should have been on the sidelines, protesting against the marchers. After all, the divorced mother of two had been raped and subsequently exercised her choice to have a mid-trimester abortion. But things didn't quite go according to plan.

On April 1, 2005, she told me, she went to an abortion clinic in Orlando, Florida to terminate the pregnancy. A physician induced labor, but clinic employees forgot to administer the digoxin intended to stop the fetal heart. The next day, she delivered a 1 lb. 1 oz. baby boy in a toilet in the clinic's grimy restroom. He was still alive.

She can't explain what happened next. No longer a fetus, the tiny boy was now legally a person under federal law and  entitled to constitutional protection under the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. She screamed for help as she stroked and sang to the infant she had tried to kill the day before. When she realized that clinic employees would not help her save him, she had a friend call 911, but help never came.

Excerpt from Barbara Hollingsworth's column on January 26.

Why not?

In a Sunstar Cebu report "‘Little mayor’ nabbed in raid", the little mayor was named but the name of the present town mayor was not. Nothing wrong there really, except that further into the news report, another person was named as probably on the take, and he is described as a technical assistant of the acting mayor of Cebu City, the report also including the name of the acting mayor. Why is there a difference in the treatment? Isn't the name of the town mayor as important as the acting city mayor's?

The welcome page of the online edition of Sunstar has a picture of the little mayor, the caption accompanying it states the name of the town mayor. So perhaps there is fairness in treatment? What do you think?

"This will end in tears"

It is frightening to think there is a real possibility that the entire world economy could go into complete meltdown and famine kill millions. Yet Western - and British - commentators are cocooned in a warm comfort zone of infatuation with America's answer to Neil Kinnock. We should be long past applauding politicians of any hue: they got us into this mess. The best deserve a probationary opportunity to prove themselves, the worst should be in jail.

It is questionable whether the present political system can survive the coming crisis. Whatever the solution, teenage swooning sentimentality over a celebrity cult has no part in it. The most powerful nation on earth is confronting its worst economic crisis under the leadership of its most extremely liberal politician, who has virtually no experience of federal politics. That is not an opportunity but a catastrophe.

Gerald Warner

Are these for us?

QUESTION: Mr. Boehner, you had three strong words in reaction to the Democratic House proposal. What was your message to President Obama?

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH): You know, I’m concerned about the size of the package and I’m concerned about some of the spending that’s in there. How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives – how does that stimulate the economy?

You can go through a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with growing jobs in America and helping people keep their jobs. Thanks.

H/T: MM

(A) Chance is good

British chemist, inventor, and environmentalist, James Lovelock, whose work on atmospheric CFC's led to a gloabl ban on CFC's granted an interview with the New Scientist. He says, among other things, that "most of the "green" stuff is verging on a gigantic scam. Carbon trading, with its huge government subsidies, is just what finance and industry wanted. It's not going to do a damn thing about climate change, but it'll make a lot of money for a lot of people and postpone the moment of reckoning."

He finds that we may have a chance against climate change, "through the massive burial of charcoal. It would mean farmers turning all their agricultural waste - which contains carbon that the plants have spent the summer sequestering - into non-biodegradable charcoal, and burying it in the soil. Then you can start shifting really hefty quantities of carbon out of the system and pull the CO2 down quite fast."

Lovelock will turn 90 this year and will be a space tourist, a guest of Mr. Branson.

Shelby Steele

I direct you to Shelby Steele's The Wall Street Journal piece on January 21.

Here's the last paragraph:

Of course the bad economy has checked some of Mr. Obama's progressive ambitions. He will live with the Bush tax cuts for the time being, and he may include some business tax cuts in his stimulus package. But he clearly wants a more redistributive and socially activist government. And he will be helped in this by two unique sources of authority: the urgency of our economic troubles and his moral authority as the first black president. Again, I am not hopeful for him here, and I despair at seeing the moral capital of my race put to these ends.

More money cometh

Update: Friday, he will!

Update: Not today!

On Thursday, January 22, President Obama is expected to issue an executive order lifting the ban on the use of federal dollars by non-governmental organizations that discuss or provide abortions outside of the United States. January 22 is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This means that groups working towards reproductive rights outside of the US will again have more funds available for them. This policy ban is known as the "Mexico City policy", and was first used in the time of Pres. Reagan. The ban was lifted during the Clinton presidency and later instituted again during Pres. Bush's two terms.

Read more here.

Let's pray for global warming

It is time. We are in the beginnings of an ice age. Russia's Vostok Station in Antarctica has core sample evidence that suggests that the 12,000-year Holocene period may be over. Core samples also show that CO2 levels follow the earth's temperature rise.

Here's John Tomlinson. Excerpts below:

If you're wondering why North America is starting to resemble nuclear winter, then you missed the news.

At December's U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?"

I asked myself, why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing? But it turns out he's right.

The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels.

Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What's more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.

In other words, during what was supposed to be massive global warming, the biggest chunks of ice on earth grew larger. Just as an aside, do you remember when the hole in the ozone layer was going to melt Antarctica? But don't worry, we're safe now, that was the nineties.

Dr. Kunihiko, Chancellor of Japan's Institute of Science and Technology said this: "CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or the other ... every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so." Now why would a learned man say such a crazy thing?

By the way, did any of the environmentalists and global warming alarmists measure the carbon footprint or emissions from the O-nauguration? Anyone? Anyone? None. Thought so.

Here is one estimate:

What about the carbon footprint of your inauguration?

The President-elect forgot to mention that Disa orchids will be flown in for his inauguration from New Zealand within 24 hours of being picked!

The total bill for Mr Obama’s inauguration, including cost of the security, which will be paid by the taxpayers, will probably exceed the $160million [Figure revised according to the media estimates on January 20, 2009.] At a global average of 584g of CO2/GDP dollar, the inauguration carbon footprint on cost basis alone would be 93,400 metric tons [MT] of CO2.

[But, hey, that's nothing compared with the trillion-dollar bailouts being handed out to any bank/corporation large enough to blackmail the state!]

As for the additional CO2 created by an estimated 2 million people swarming Washington DC for the ceremony, add another 44,000 MT. By January 21, 2009, the inauguration carbon footprint will have exceeded 137,400 MT of CO2.

Another one:

It ain't easy being green, and in the case of Barack Obama's inaugural, it seems like he's not even trying to green it up. According to the Institute for Liberty, the Obamathon in Washington will produce about 575 million pounds of CO2 emissions.

A similar estimate:

Even though Obama proposes job-destroying tax hikes on employers who emit carbon dioxide, the Institute for Liberty reports his $170 million inauguration had a total "carbon footprint" of 575,000,000 pounds.

According to the EPA, the average American coal-fired power plant produces 10,237,509,070 pounds of CO2 per year. That's 112,191,880 pounds of CO2 every four days.

Also, I was directed to a NYT article about China overtaking the US as the number one CO2 emitter. NYT corrected that article after two days to say: An article on Saturday about the growth in greenhouse-gas emissions from China referred incorrectly to carbon dioxide. It is the main heat-trapping gas produced by human activity; it is not the main heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, which is H20 water vapor.

We knew that of course, right?

All hail the chief!

My President Is Black

Yeah Be The Realest Shit I Never Wrote
I Aint Write This Shit By The Way Nigga
Some Real Shit Right Here Nigga
This Will Be The Realest Shit You Ever Quote

{{Hook}}

My President Is Black, My Lambo’s Blue
And I Be God Damn If My Rims Aint Too
My Momma Aint At Home & Daddy Still In Jail
Tryna Make A Plate Anybody Seen The Scale

My President Is Black, My Lambo’s Blue
And I Be God Damn If My Rims Aint Too
My Money’s Light green And My jordans Light Grey
And They Love To See White Now How Much You Tryna Pay
Lets Go!

{Verse 1}

Today Was A Good Day Hope I Have Me A Great Nite
I Dunno Wat U Fishin For Hope U Catch You A Great White
Need I Say Great White Heavy As Killer Wales
I Cannot Believe This Who Knew It Came In Bails
Who Knew It Came Wit Jail Who Knew It Came With Prison
Jus Cuz You Got An Opinion Does That Make You A Politician
Bush Robbed All Of Us Would That Make Him A Criminal
& Den He Cheated In Florida Would Dat Make Him a Seminal
I Say And I Quote We Need A Miracle
And I Say A Miracle Cuz This Shit Is Histerical
By My Nephews And Nieces I Will Email Jesus
Tell Him Forward To Moses And CC: Allah
Mr Soul Survivor Does That Make Me A Konvict
Be All U Can Be Now Dont Dat Sound Like Some Dumb Shit
When You Dogged Of Crew Orders Black As My Nigga Boo
It’s Really A Desert Storm Thats Word To My Nigga Clue
Catch Me In Las Vegas, A.R. Arizona
Rep For Them Real Niggaz Im Winnin In California
Winnin In Tennessee Hands Down Atlanta
Landslide Alabama On My Way To Sevana

{{Hook}}

{Verse 2}

Woke Up This Morning Headache THIS BIG!
Pay All These Damn Bills Feed All These Damn Kids
Buy All These School Shoes Buy All These School Clothes
For Some Strange Reason My Son Addicted To Polos
Love Me Some Spinach Dip Im Addicted To Use This
And If The Numbers Is Right I Take A Trip Out To Houston
A Earthquake Out In China A Hurricane In New Orleans
Street Dreams Tour I Showed My Ass In New Orleans
Did It For Soulja Slim Brought Out B.G.
Its All Love From The Beginnin You Pimp C
You Know How The Pimp Be
That Nigga Go’n Speak His Mind
If He Could Speak Down From Heaven
He Tell Me Straight All My Crimes
Tell Him Im Doin Fine Obama For Mankind
We Ready For Damn Change So Ya’ll Let The Man Shine
Stuntin On Martin Luther Cuz Im Feelin Just Like A King
Guess Dis Is Wat He Meant Wen He Said Dat He Had A Dream

{{Hook}}

{Nas}

History, Black History
No President Ever Did Shit For Me
Had To Hit The Streets Try To Flip Some Keys
So A Nigga Wont Go Broke
Then They Put Us In Jail Now A Nigga Cant Go Vote
So I Spend Dough All These Hoes Is Trippin
She Aint A Politician Honeys A Polotician
My President Is Black Rolls Golden Charms
22 Inch Rims Like Hulk Hogans Arms
When Thousands Of People Is Riled Up To See You
That Can Arouse Ya Ego You Got Mouths To Feed So
Gotta Stay Tru To Who You Are And Where You Came From
Cuz At The Top Will Be The Same Place You Hang From
No Matter How Big You Can Ever Be
For Whatever Fee Or Publicity Never Lose Your Integrity
For Years Theres Been Surprise Horses In This Stable
Just Two Albums In I’m The Realest Nigga On This Label
Mr Black President Yeah Obama Fa Reel
They Gotta Put Ya Face On The $5000 Dollar Bill

{{Hook}}

{Outro}

So Im Sittin Here Right Now Man
Its June 3rd Haha 2:08 Am
Nigga I Wont Say Win, Lose Or Draw
Man We Congratulate You Already Homie
See I Motivate The Thugs Right
You Motivate Us Homie
Thats What It Is, This A Hands On Policy
Ya’ll Touchin Me Right
Yeah 1st Black President
Win, Lose Or Draw Nigga Haha
Matta Fact You Know What It Is Man
Shouts Out Jackie Robinson
Booker T Washington Homie
Oh Y’all Aint Think I Knew That Shit!
My President Is Black
I’m Important Too Though!

Another one from Ann

Ann Coulter, this week, will again raise eyebrows from the left. While beginning to point out that NYT's January 2 front-page article on violent crimes by returning GI's is more of the same from last year when it refused to to give comparable and relative statistics, she jumps on to ask, "But as long as the Times has such a burning interest in the root causes of murder, how about considering the one factor more likely to create a murderer than any other?"

The answer, as she says: That is the topic we're not allowed to discuss: single motherhood.

Read all here.

As I describe in my new book, "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America," controlling for socioeconomic status, race and place of residence, the strongest predictor of whether a person will end up in prison is that he was raised by a single parent. (The second strongest factor is owning a Dennis Kucinich bumper sticker.)

By 1996, 70 percent of inmates in state juvenile detention centers serving long-term sentences were raised by single mothers. Seventy percent of teenage births, dropouts, suicides, runaways, juvenile delinquents and child murderers involve children raised by single mothers. Girls raised without fathers are more sexually promiscuous and more likely to end up divorced.

A 1990 study by the left-wing Progressive Policy Institute showed that, after controlling for single motherhood, the difference in black and white crime disappeared.

Various studies come up with slightly different numbers, but all the figures are grim. A study cited in the far left-wing Village Voice found that children brought up in single-mother homes "are five times more likely to commit suicide, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape (for the boys), 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home."

With new children being born, running away, dropping out of high school and committing murder every year, it's not a static problem to analyze. But however the numbers are run, single motherhood is a societal nuclear bomb.

Many of these studies, for example, are from the '90s, when the percentage of teenagers raised by single parents was lower than it is today. In 1990, 28 percent of children under 18 were being raised in one-parent homes -- mother or father, divorced or never-married. By 2005, more than one-third of all babies born in the U.S. were illegitimate.

That's a lot of social problems in the pipeline.

Think I'm being cruel? Imagine an America with 60 to 70 percent fewer juvenile delinquents, teenage births, teenage suicides and runaways, and you will appreciate what the sainted "single mothers" have
accomplished.

Even in liberals' fevered nightmares, predatory mortgage dealers, oil speculators and Ken Lay could never do as much harm to their fellow human beings as single mothers do to their own children, to say nothing of society at large.

But the Times won't run that series because liberals adore single motherhood and the dissolution of traditional marriage in America. They detest the military, so they cite a few anecdotal examples of veterans who have committed murder and hope that no one asks for details.

Advanced copy of inaugural address of The One

Leaked?  Sounds familiar ...

Four Two score and seven years ago our my father(s?) brought forth on this continent a new nation Messiah, conceived in Liberty Kenya, or Hawaii, or somewhere, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, unless they’re rich or successful. And where they are not equal it is the job of the Government to make them equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war depression. Not The Great Depression, but the next closest thing. And I plan on testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated to capitalism and personal freedom, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war big open area in front of the Capitol building. We Many of you have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. your lives to The One. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground Me, anymore than you have already done. The brave men , living and dead, and women of the press who struggled here to get me elected, have consecrated it, far above our your poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say do here over the next four years, but it can never forget what they did I say here, for I am The One. It is for us the living Government, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work of total Government control which they who fought here have thus far so nobly in years past we could only partially advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion you have elected Me—that we here highly resolve that these dead ideas and ideals shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–Where my wife, for the first time in her life, can be proud to be an American—and that government of the people Government, by the people elected who know better, for the people control of all power, shall not perish from the earth.

H/T:  Bright and Early

Scale back

President-elect Barack Obama said reviving the U.S. economy will require scaling back on his campaign promises and personal sacrifice from all Americans.

“I want to be realistic here, not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace we had hoped,” Obama said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” program broadcast this morning. “Everybody’s going to have to give.”

Why am I not surprised? Only shows that candidates always promise the moon, even if the facts on the ground cannot support the promises.

She says, but They say

She says:

There is no more debate. Global warming is due to the polluting greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide and methane. The dirtiest source of carbon dioxide is coal, the fossil fuel used to provide us with electricity. The other sources are oil and gas, which we use for transportation. Methane from the landfill, dump sites and farms is another greenhouse gas responsible for increasing the earth’s temperature. Humans are the cause, thanks to our unsustainable lifestyle and habits. The fate of our planet rests on each one of us for the solutions. But time is of the essence. We need to move fast.

They say otherwise here, here, here.  I'd put my trust in these climate scientists than a ... a lawyer?

Hubris more than arrogance

The golf brawl mess takes another turn.  Valley Golf and Country Club says that based on its investigation, Delfin de la Paz started the fight.  He is banned for life from the club.  His two children have been prohibited too.  The sons of Sec. Pangandaman have also been banned from the club.  The secretary has been suspended from the club for two years.

As I take the club findings to be correct, I apologize for what I had written in a previous post. 

Weep not for them

From Jules and Jawa:



See also this.

Googling isn't green

Apparently, googling could increase carbon dioxide levels. Foxnews.com reports:

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.

While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2. Boiling a kettle generates about 15g.

“Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”

Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions.

With Google searches increasing CO2 emissions, maybe this is the reason Google CEO Eric Schmidt did not want the chief technology officer position that The One promised he would create. It wouldn't jive with The One's green mind.

I wonder what "internet founder Al" would say about this? His use of the internet, notwithstanding. Anything? Guess not.

Do as I say ...

If you can't see why, well ...

H/T: PlanetGore

Who said this?

"All of us who have served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual. And we wish you all the very best. And so does the country."

These words or similar words were never heard from the opposition when he started his second term.

In my country, these words could not be uttered by the opposition as well.

Who are the statesmen around?

Choice of words

A cardinal isn't exempt from making a better choice of words. It would have not mattered much, perhaps, if he in the past has also minced words about the atrocities of Hamas against the citizens of Southern Israel. Feels like he has the Hamas talking points with him as he said those words.

For what it's worth, read Sandro Magister at Chiesa.

Give me por(n)

Now it is reported that the porn industry in the US is asking for some kind of bailout. Do you think the new stimulus package will include porn, er, pork for the "entertainment" industry? Why? As Chuck says "because they think porn is as American as apple pie, their sales of video's have dropped in the past year some 30%, they lost money, plus they want to revitalize America and believes everyone needs porn. I am sure they'll try to get House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to press top congressional Democrats to "pad this pork" into their agenda's, and call it a massive economic stimulus recovery bill. And then get President-elect Barack H. Obama to sign it as soon as he takes Office."

Who is next to ask?

Do you think we Pinoys can ask for part of the bailout package as we are partners in the war on terror, and this "war" costs money.

This, and our government's (plus others') war on global warming -- although even as we have not done anything to mitigate GW, world temperatures have been dropping.

Global temperatures are not rising. The warmest year in the past century occurred a full decade ago, in 1998. Temperatures have been gradually and steadily falling for most of the past decade. Temperatures in 2008 were no warmer than temperatures in 1980. (Ten Global Warming Truths to Keep Us Sane in 2009)

Why, even Putin thinks there is no more global warming. No kidding. Why would he cut off gas supply to Europe via Ukraine? Here's Jeff Poor:

It’s not often that meteorology intersects with geopolitics – but Europe could be in store for another Cold War, literally.

Accuweather.com’s chief long-range and hurricane forecaster Joe Bastardi observed that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s recent cut of gas flows to Europe via Ukraine may have been done so in anticipation of a global cooling cycle on the Jan. 6 “Glenn Beck Show” radio program. Bastardi has a solid reputation among Wall Street traders for understanding weather’s impact on energy commodities.

View from the other side

As we seem to get more of the same from MSM on the Israel attacks on Hamas, we can check this out:  Pajamas TV.

For context, here is Roger L. Simon in The MSM, Gaza and Pajamas TV:

If your only information about the current Middle East crisis came from CNN, you’d think it boiled down to a bunch of high-tech Israeli bullies running around Gaza torturing Palestinian women and children, while tossing smart bombs on hospitals and blowing up UN schools with Merkava tanks. Almost no context is given. That Israel had done virtually nothing for the three years since voluntarily withdrawing from Gaza but grin and bear it, as missiles after missile, many courtesy of Iran, flew willy-nilly into the Southern part of their country – a fusillade no nation on Earth, civilized or uncivilized, would begin to tolerate – is barely mentioned or mumbled into a half-audible mike while the video plays bloodied Palestinian infants screaming for mama.

The New York Times may be worse. Bending over backwards in a morass of cultural relativist obfuscation, the paper seems to have imbued moral equivalence with a religious fervor usually found at Lourdes.

Of course, the Israelis have the media ticked off. Remembering well the media’s role in the second Lebanon War when some, notably AP and Reuters, went so far as to try to palm off Photoshopped Hezbollah pictures as authentic photos from the front when the forgeries were so obvious bloggers caught them in minutes, this time the IDF has the media cordoned off miles from the action. This time they don’t have the chance to lens endless photos of the same “green man” popping up at one scene of “Israeli brutality” after the other.

Who could blame the Israel government for having had enough of the propaganda wiles of the MSM? I had to laugh when I heard CNN’s Ben Wedeman complaining last night that the network had to rely on their Palestinian stringers inside Gaza, but assuring us they were excellent and reliable. We’re supposed to take that seriously from the network whose former executive director finally admitted after several years that they had covered up (effectively lied about) Saddam’s atrocities in order to get access inside Iraq? Have these people no shame? Well, I guess not.

So that brings us to Pajamas TV. We have decided to help right this imbalance in our small way by emphasizing coverage from Israel as long as this crisis is going on. We have a live camera in Jerusalem and we are going to feature the following talent there, among others: Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, our own Middle East Editor Allison Kaplan Sommer (a Tel Aviv resident), Richard Landes of Boston University and a part-time Jerusalem resident and Nitsana Leitner of the Israeli Law Center. We admit we are biased in favor of Israel, in favor of the side we view as the good guys in a moral struggle. So bear that in mind when you tune in, but tune in every day for our Gaza Update.

"Red faced and red handed"

► Red Faced and Red Handed: Top Ten Pro-Abortion Moments of 2008
by Katie Walker

H/T: MM

Leaves a bad after-taste

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Anthropogenic arrogance

Chad Myers last week talked to Lou Dobbs, and said something that would probably cause him his job, or to change tune soon (which we hope he does not). What did he say? He dissed on the arrogance of those who are beholden to the mistaken belief in man's great effect on weather (global warming, what else?). Isaac MacMillen in Arrogant Consensus quotes part of that interview:

“To think we could affect weather all that much is pretty arrogant. Mother nature is so big. The world is so big. The oceans are so big. I think we're going to die from a lack of fresh water or die from ocean acidification before we die from global warming, for sure. But this is like you said, in your career; my career has been 22 years long. That's a good career in TV. But in talking about climate, it is like having a car for three days and saying this is a great car. Yes, it was for three days, but maybe in day five, six and seven it won't be so good. That's what we're doing here.”

So little so late

What will two weeks do to change what is thought to be unchangeable? Again, in PDI,

As Nobel Prize-winning Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the UN Climate Panel, appeals to people worldwide to eat less meat to fight global warming and lessen greenhouse gas emissions, at the local front health experts are echoing this appeal, urging Filipinos to minimize meat in their diets during Christmas and New Year. Pachauri is a vegetarian.

Here they go again

Wadayono? The proverbial whipping boy is being blamed again for future food crisis. In today's Philippine Daily Inquirer, the United Nations World Food Programme:

... on Wednesday warned of hunger "spiraling out of control" as global population increases and as the effects of the global financial crisis start to be felt.

"We are at a critical juncture where we risk watching hunger spiral out of control as the world's population is set to climb toward nine billion mid-century," said WFP executive director Josette Sheeran, speaking from New Delhi during her first visit to India, the country with the single largest population of undernourished people in the world.

In a statement made available by the local WFP office, Sheeran asked rich countries to allocate $5.2 billion for the UN agency's 2009 program to feed almost 100 million of world's hungriest people, including 59 million children.

WFP's urgent call comes in the wake of historically high food prices earlier this year and continued market volatility. The global financial crisis, which is putting the developed world in recession, is spreading into the developing world as incomes go down, and trade, capital flows, and remittances slow.

How much are we spending for global warming mitigation? How much are we spending for a purported world climate crisis (that "experts" say is going to happen, so why spend for it?)? How much are we spending for research and possible production of alternative energy sources when making more efficient production and consumption of fossil fuels may be more effective? How much are lost to corruption that line the pockets of politicians for projects as varied as brideges-to-nowhere to pay-for-play US Senate seats?

How much are we contributing and spending for "reproductive health services" that eventually will kill more babies?

Then again, maybe we should spend more for these services so that eventually there are no more mouths to feed. BTW, how much more does an adult eat compared to a child?

The 650

More than 650 scientists express their dissent to the 2007 UN IPCC Summary for Policymakers. This number is more than the 52 "scientists" who authored the IPCC report. The dissenting opinions will be included in a US Senate Minority Report that will come out some hours from now -- in time for the ongoing UN global warming conference in Poznan, Poland.

A hint of what the upcoming report contains:

“I am a skeptic…Global warming has become a new religion.” - Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever.

“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical.” - Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.”

Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in the history…When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” - UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

“The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn’t listen to others. It doesn’t have open minds… I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists,” - Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia at Punjab University and a board member of the UN-supported International Year of the Planet.

“The models and forecasts of the UN IPCC "are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity.” - Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

“It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don’t buy into anthropogenic global warming.” - U.S Government Atmospheric Scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA.

“Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact, as water vapour and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will.” – . Geoffrey G. Duffy, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland, NZ.

“After reading [UN IPCC chairman] Pachauri's asinine comment [comparing skeptics to] Flat Earthers, it's hard to remain quiet.” - Climate statistician Dr. William M. Briggs, who specializes in the statistics of forecast evaluation, serves on the American Meteorological Society's Probability and Statistics Committee and is an Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review.

“For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on?" - Geologist Dr. David Gee the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress who has authored 130 plus peer reviewed papers, and is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp…Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact.” - Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland, who reversed his belief in man-made warming to become a skeptic, is a former member of the Dutch UN IPCC committee.

“Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined.” - Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.

“Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is a dangerous nonsense…The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control, a pretext for major businesses and political battle. It became an ideology, which is concerning.” - Environmental Scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal, the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast group, has more than 150 published articles.

“CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or another….Every scientist knows this, but it doesn’t pay to say so…Global warming, as a political vehicle, keeps Europeans in the driver’s seat and developing nations walking barefoot.” - Dr. Takeda Kunihiko, vice-chancellor of the Institute of Science and Technology Research at Chubu University in Japan.

“The [global warming] scaremongering has its justification in the fact that it is something that generates funds.” - Award-winning Paleontologist Dr. Eduardo Tonni, of the Committee for Scientific Research in Buenos Aires and head of the Paleontology Department at the University of La Plata."

In addition, the report will feature new peer-reviewed scientific studies and analyses refuting man-made warming fears and a heavy dose of inconvenient climate developments. (See Below: Study: Half of warming due to Sun! –Sea Levels Fail to Rise? - Warming Fears in 'Dustbin of History')

H/T: planetgore

Remember the reason for the season

When the reason for the upcoming season is forgotten, it will come to this:

A Politically Correct Christmas Story

And Joseph went up from Galilee to Bethlehem with Mary, his espoused wife, who was great with child. And she brought forth a son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

And an angel of the Lord spoke to the shepherds and said, "I bring you tidings of great joy. Unto you is born a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

"There's a problem with the angel," said a Pharisee who happened to be strolling by. As he explained to Joseph, angels are widely regarded as religious symbols, and the stable was on public property where such symbols were not allowed to land or even hover.

"And I have to tell you, this whole thing looks to me very much like a Nativity scene," he said sadly. "That's a no-no, too."

Joseph had a bright idea. "What if I put a couple of reindeer over there near the ox and ass?" he said, eager to avoid sectarian strife.

"That would definitely help," said the Pharisee, who knew as well as anyone that whenever a savior appeared, judges usually liked to be on the safe side and surround it with deer or woodland creatures of some sort.

"Just to clinch it, throw in a candy cane and a couple of elves and snowmen, too," he said. "No court can resist that."

Mary asked, "What does my son's birth have to do with snowmen?"

"Snowpersons," cried a young woman, changing the subject before it veered dangerously toward religion.

Off to the side of the crowd, a Philistine was painting the Nativity scene. Mary complained that she and Joseph looked too tattered and worn in the picture.

"Artistic license," he said. "I've got to show the plight of the haggard homeless in a greedy, uncaring society in winter," he quipped.

"We're not haggard or homeless. The inn was just full," said Mary.

"Whatever," said the painter.

Two women began to argue fiercely. One said she objected to Jesus' birth "because it privileged motherhood." The other scoffed at virgin births, but said that if they encouraged more attention to diversity in family forms and the rights of single mothers, well, then, she was all for them.

"I'm not a single mother," Mary started to say, but she was cut off by a third woman who insisted that swaddling clothes are a form of child abuse, since they restrict the natural movement of babies.

With the arrival of 10 child advocates, all trained to spot infant abuse and manger rash, Mary and Joseph were pushed to the edge of the crowd, where arguments were breaking out over how many reindeer (or what mix of reindeer and seasonal sprites) had to be installed to compensate for the infant's unfortunate religious character.

An older man bustled up, bowling over two merchants, who had been busy debating whether an elf is the same as a fairy and whether the elf/fairy should be shaking hands with Jesus in the crib or merely standing to the side, jumping around like a sports mascot.

"I'd hold off on the reindeer," the man said, explaining that the use of asses and oxen as picturesque backdrops for Nativity scenes carries the subliminal message of human dominance. He passed out two leaflets, one denouncing manger births as invasions of animal space, the other arguing that stables are "penned environments" where animals are incarcerated against their will. He had no opinion about elves or candy canes.

Signs declaring "Free the Bethlehem Two" began to appear, referring to the obviously exploited ass and ox.

Someone said the halo on Jesus' head was elitist.

Mary was exasperated. "And what about you, old mother?" she said sharply to an elderly woman. "Are you here to attack the shepherds as prison guards for excluded species, maybe to complain that singing in Latin identifies us with our Roman oppressors, or just to say that I should have skipped patriarchal religiosity and joined some dumb new-age goddess religion?"

"None of the above," said the woman, "I just wanted to tell you that the Magi are here."

Sure enough, the three wise men rode up.

The crowd gasped, "They're all male!" and "Not very multicultural!"

"Balthasar here is black," said one of the Magi.

"Yes, but how many of you are gay or disabled?" someone shouted.

A committee was quickly formed to find an impoverished lesbian wise-person among the halt and lame of Bethlehem.

A calm voice said, "Be of good cheer, Mary, you have done well and your son will change the world."

At last, a sane person, Mary thought. She turned to see a radiant and confident female face.

The woman spoke again: "There is one thing, though. Religious holidays are important, but can't we learn to celebrate them in ways that unite, not divide? For instance, instead of all this business about 'Gloria in excelsis Deo,' why not just 'Season's Greetings'?"

Mary said, "You mean my son has entered human history to deliver the message, 'Hello, it's winter'?"

"That's harsh, Mary," said the woman. "Remember, your son could make it big in midwinter festivals, if he doesn't push the religion thing too far. Centuries from now, in nations yet unborn, people will give each other pricey gifts and have big office parties on his birthday. That's not chopped liver."

"Let me get back to you," Mary said.

Lifted from here. H/T: Chez

No surprise here

From the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, in part.

TV news election coverage of Barack Obama was twice as favorable as John McCain’s and Sarah Palin’s coverage, according to the a new report from the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) Election 2008 NewsWatch. Obama’s coverage was more favorable than any other presidential nominee’s coverage since CMPA began tracking TV election news in 1988. The study also found that Fox News Channel’s coverage was heavily negative toward Obama, but their coverage of McCain and Palin was also negative.

MAJOR FINDINGS:

President-elect Barack Obama received 68% positive evaluations on the network evening news shows during the general election. His treatment was twice as favorable as John McCain’s 33% positive and Sarah Palin’s 34% positive evaluations. ative.

Obama’s 68% positive press is the strongest showing CMPA has ever recorded for a presidential candidate, since we began monitoring election news in 1988. He easily eclipsed previous leader John Kerry’s 59% positive evaluations on network news in 2004. Conversely, McCain’s tally of 33% positive evaluations was the worst showing since George H.W. Bush received only 29% positive press in 1988.

Averaged across the all elections since 1988, broadcast network coverage of the six Democratic presidential nominees has been evenly balanced – 50% positive vs. 50% negative press. The average coverage of the six Republican candidates has been 34% positive vs. 66% negative, a margin of 2 to 1 negative.

Obama’s 2 to 1 lead in good press also held true for the candidates’ issue coverage, which includes evaluations of their policies and proposals. A slight majority (53%) of statements about Obama’s policies and proposals were favorable, compared to one out of four (24%) favorable comments about McCain and one out of six (16%) favorable toward Palin. The combined totals were 52% positive issue coverage of the Democrats and 24% positive toward the GOP.

The whole PR here.

Go into green business

While many industries are cautiously looking to 2009 as a difficult year, some are looking at ways to cash-in on the economic slowdown. Over the past few years, one of the fastest growing businesses has been the green business. Yep, those that trade on carbon offsets, those that advocate the cap-and-trade. Steve Milloy writes in Green-on-Green Violence today that:

"Environmentalism has become an industry of sorts. According to a recent Forbes report, the 11 largest environmental groups have combined annual revenues of about $1.8 billion and own billions of dollars of assets. By selling out, Big Green has cashed in.

Read the rest. The greens are going against one another.

It will be interesting to see whether the hardscrabble green groups that seem to really believe in a coming climate apocalypse will succeed in pressuring the limousine Greens to return to the fold, or whether the haves will make the have-nots an offer they can’t refuse.

"We're expected to do more with less."

All of us, at one time or another, face the prospect of not being able to do what we ought to or dream of, because of a lack of means. Many times, we whine about that situation, ending up not achieving anything at all. Then, there are also times, under the same circumstances, that we win over the lack of means, and achieve what we set out to do -- doing more with less.

Like Tom Faber in USA Today.

In part:

Tom Farber gives a lot of tests. He's a calculus teacher, after all.

So when administrators at Rancho Bernardo, his suburban San Diego high school, announced the district was cutting spending on supplies by nearly a third, Farber had a problem. At 3 cents a page, his tests would cost more than $500 a year. His copying budget: $316. But he wanted to give students enough practice for the big tests they'll face in the spring, such as the Advanced Placement exam.

"Tough times call for tough actions," he says. So he started selling ads on his test papers: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final.

San Diego magazine and The San Diego Union-Tribune featured his plan just before Thanksgiving, and Farber came home from a few days out of town to 75 e-mail requests for ads. So far, he has collected $350. His semester final is sold out.

H/T: Debbie

No more love (so soon)?

I link you to CNN's Campbell Brown most recent "Cutting through the Bull" segment taking Obama to task about questions from the press. Cracks in Obamedia?

In part:

Reporter: You talked about the importance just now of having different voices and robust debate within your administration, but again going back to the campaign, you were asked and talked about the qualifications of the -- now your nominee for secretary of state and you belittled her travels around the world, equated it to having teas with foreign leaders. And your new White House counsel said her resume was grossly exaggerated when it came to foreign policy. I'm wondering if you can talk about the evolution of your views of her credentials since the spring?

Obama: I think this is fun for the press to try to stir up whatever quotes were generated during the course of the campaign. No, I understand, and you're having fun.

There we go again. The pesky media, all we want to do is have a little fun, stir things up for our own amusement.

Really, how silly of that reporter to dare ask you, Mr. President-elect, how it is that you completely mocked Hillary Clinton's foreign policy experience just a few months ago and yet now you think there is no one more qualified than she to lead your foreign policy team?

It's a clever device, treating a question so dismissively in an attempt to delegitimize it, as annoying as you may have found it. It is a fair question.

...

You could have explained the evolution of your thinking, instead of belittling a question you didn't like.

Mr. President-elect, reporters we hope are going to ask you a lot of annoying questions over the next four years. Get used to it.

That is the job of the media, to hold you accountable, but this isn't about the media, it's about the American people, many of whom voted for you because of what you said during the campaign, and they have a right to know which of those things you meant and which you didn't.

Apparently, as you made clear Monday, you didn't mean what you said about Hillary Clinton. So what else didn't you mean?

The media is going to be asking, and you were wrong Monday. Annoying questions are about more than just the press having fun. Annoying questions are about the press doing its job, and the people's right to know.

Plan for Mindanao modernization

Culled from Sunstar

In effect, Mindanao 2020 is a strategic plan for modernizing Mindanao. It upgrades earlier medium-term and long-range plans for achieving enduring peace and sustainable development in Southern Philippines, Palawan included. The principal partners/cooperators for its operationalization consists of, but not limited to, the:

(a) Confederation of Provincial Governors, City Mayors, and Municipal Mayors Leagues of Mindanao (CONFED) headed by South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes;

(b) Mindanao Bloc, the group of lawmakers from Mindanao led by House Speaker Prospero Nograles;

(c) Mindanao Business Council, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and various business support organizations, chaired by Vic Lao;

(d) Kusog Mindanao, a group of civil society organizations headed by Rey Teves;

(e) Mindanao Studies Consortium Foundation, Incorporated, an association of academic institutions chaired by Fr. Bert Alejo;

(f) Bishop-Ulama Forum headed by Archbishop Fernando Capalla, Ulama League of the Philippines led by Aleem Mahmod Adilao, and United Church of Christ in the Philippines chaired by Dr. Mariano Apilado; and,

(g) Mindanao Indigenous Peoples headed by Datu Lipatuan Joel Unad, and PANAGTAGPO Mindanao under Datu Victorio Siway.

For the day-to-day implementation of Mindanao 2020, MEDCo is assisted by:

(a) Team of Experts – former Cabinet members working in partnership with Mindanao-based experts;

(b) Eminent Persons Group – respected leaders with extensive knowledge of Mindanao issues to provide general directions and insights; and,

(c) Team Mindanao – representatives/lead convenors of stakeholders actively involved in peace and development advocacy.

The refining process

True to its mandate, MEDCo is undertaking a scientific process to transform the existing Mindanao 2000 framework into a more refined roadmap – which is Mindanao 2020. These step-by-step activities are:

Phase I: Assessment of Mindanao 2000;

Phase II: Review of related studies and documents;

Phase III: Planning consultations;

Phase IV: Formulation of Mindanao 2020;

Phase V: Validation and finalization;

Phase VI: Launching of Mindanao 2020;

Phase VII: Advocacy activities; and

Phase VIII: Monitoring, evaluation, review and updating.

"Super region" speeds up 27 projects

The implementation of 27 major infrastructure projects under PGMA’s Mindanao "Super Region" concept is making progress. Roads, airports, seaports, hospitals, irrigation facilities, power and electrification projects are undergoing construction, while implementing agencies are meeting regularly to resolve bottlenecks.

Land transport along Western, Central, and Northeastern Mindanao routes is expected to improve as seven major road projects report positive progress. These include the Sibuco-Sirawai-Siocon-Baliguian-Gutalac Road (connecting Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur) and Surigao Sur-Davao Oriental Coastal Road.

The private financial and business sectors are also encouraged to invest in "ready-to-go" projects like the Panguil Bay Bridge and Kabulnan Irrigation Project-Phase II.

Still missing, however, is a critical link in an inter-modal transport system that is still on the planning boards – the Mindanao Railway System (MRS). To fulfill the potential of MRS as a vital catalyst to increase productivity by enhancing the delivery of people, goods and services, an enabling authority must be provided to attract private sector investments in the railways industry. Speaker Nograles has announced the harmonization and prioritization of pending MRS bills, principally: H.B. 1855, "An Act Creating the Mindanao Railways Corporation;" and H.B. 2656, "An Act Creating the Mindanao Railways Authority."

The plan for an MRS can be traced back to 1994 when FVR directed the DoTC, DPWH, NEDA and LGUs to collaborate with lawmakers on the proposed Mindanao Railways that should first connect Cagayan de Oro and Iligan (the C-I Corridor). Among the earliest sponsors of an MRS law was Senator Santanina Rasul in the 9th Congress.

BIMP-EAGA and CEAGPOL: Benefiting beyond borders

Among the international components of Mindanao 2020 are the well-known BIMP-EAGA launched in 1994 and – as mentioned in last Sunday’s Part I of this series and in our 21 September column – the emerging Central East Asia Growth Polygon (CEAGPOL).

In a "convergence" meeting in Davao City last March, the EAGA tourism and airline groups agreed to develop "tour brands" utilizing existing BIMP-EAGA aviation packages including a 4-day tour cluster for Davao-Zamboanga-Sandakan-Kota Kinabalu destinations. A similar enticement is the Davao-Singapore-Kuching route utilizing Cebu Pacific’s Davao-Singapore flight started last May.

Port-to-port bilateral talks among the four BIMP-EAGA member-countries are on-going to set up One Stop Action Centers (OSACs) wherein government and private agencies that process, approve, and record export documents are housed under one roof. OSAC operations will be initially pilot-tested in the areas of Davao, Zamboanga, and Puerto Princesa; Sandakan and Kudat in Malaysia; and Manado in Indonesia. OSACs support the efforts to harmonize and streamline Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) rules, regulations and procedures, with the goal of reducing costs of doing business and, therefore, curtailing corruption.

The Mindanao Economic Development Authority (MEDA)

The recent flurry of planning and integrating activities by executives, experts and lawmakers on two broad fronts – peacemaking and socio-economic development – augurs well for the people of Mindanao. Since its creation in 1992 until recently, all these multifarious activities were being handled by Malacañang thru MEDCo. By virtue of a new Executive Order, however, MEDCo has just been detached from the Office of the President and put under the NEDA; thus, in a very significant way, diluting MEDCo’s direct access to the President, and the power of PGMA’s authority over matters of crucial importance to Mindanao.

In this latest situation, it appears that there is again a tug-of-war over turf, logistics and influence over Mindanao solutions – which is an undesirable but recurring phenomenon in Philippine governance.

Let us recall that if there was measurable and palpable success in Mindanao programs for peace and development during the Ramos Administration, it was mainly because just one official – and only one – Presidential Assistant for Mindanao (PAMIN) Paul Dominguez was clothed with sufficient authority to make on-the-spot decisions over Mindanao matters already covered by national or Presidential policy. This efficient set-up quickly disintegrated during the succeeding Estrada administration with the appointment of 3 PAREs (Presidential Assistants for Regions) in Mindanao – which resulted in inevitable rivalry for Presidential attention and "goodies" by his 3 "com-pares."

The solution: Legislate meda

Considering Mindanao’s recent history of "sulong-atras" (forward-backward) governance, it is essential to maintain the momentum of peace and development by establishing a lasting institutional mechanism to insure a continuous coordinative and integrative process in formulating and implementating Mindanao-wide, inter-regional development plans, programs and projects for maximum impact and benefit.

The creation by law of MEDA will enhance coherence, consistency and optimization of Mindanao development. At present, with MEDCo being merely an agency created by Presidential Order, threats of its discontinuity and abolition are always a probability. Along with such uncertainties are apprehensions of unholistic integration, monitoring and evaluation.

Thus, MEDCo Chair Leyretana recommended last November 7, to PGMA for certification – as among Malacañang’s priority bills – H.B. 5255, "An Act Creating the Mindanao Economic Development Authority (MEDA), Defining Its Powers and Functions, and for Other Purposes, and Providing Funds Therefor." In support of Mindanao’s leaders, I strongly endorse this bill’s enactment by the 14th Congress. And, PGMA’s imprimatur thereon will effectively advance Mindanao’s peace process and grassroots progress.

Please send any comments to fvr@rpdev.org. Copies of articles are available at www.rpdev.org.

Probably another useless court

Lawyers call for international court for the environment - Telegraph

Stephen Hockman QC is proposing a body similar to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to be the supreme legal authority on issues regarding the environment.

The first role of the new body would be to enforce international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions set to be agreed next year.

But the court would also fine countries or companies that fail to protect endangered species or degrade the natural environment and enforce the "right to a healthy environment".

How about a court to try blabbermouth journalism? Then again, next time, might be wise not to talk to media.

‘We thought we were safe... then CNN stepped in!’
Gunned down moments after he phoned the BBC

I beg your pardon

Don't include me, please. 

Enteng Romano was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer saying that "each Filipino is partly to blame for the failed impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ... “Every single Filipino citizen is partly to blame. We are all accountable for what is happening to our country."

I am not party to your impeachment complaint.  You brought this failure upon yourselves.

"In Spite Of A SJ Education"

Inside Catholic's Deal Hudson writes about Joseph Cao in "The Jesuits Produce A Great Political Candidate." As I was reading Hudson's article, I remembered some things I have written in this blog on many occasions about my Jesuit education (just search for them as I will not link this time).

Then I scrolled down to the comments. I found some that echo my own sentiments precisely. The title of this blog is copied from one comment's title.

Darn the cafeteria

“I pick and choose”

“I start every one of my days praying,” says Maria Shriver, wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I go to church every week. I went to Catholic schools my entire life.” But, says Shriver, when it comes to Church teachings, “I pick and choose… I think I’m probably a ‘Cafeteria Catholic.’”

The greed continues

Businessweek publishes the story FHA-Backed Loans: The New Subprime.  Where is the change?  See also ST, who says, this won't help a bit.

As if they haven't done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers—many of them the very sorts of firms that helped create the current financial crisis—are going strong. Their new strategy: taking advantage of a long-standing federal program designed to encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for buyers of modest means.

You read that correctly. Some of the same people who propelled us toward the housing market calamity are now seeking to profit by exploiting billions in federally insured mortgages. Washington, meanwhile, has vastly expanded the availability of such taxpayer-backed loans as part of the emergency campaign to rescue the country's swooning economy.

For generations, these loans, backed by the Federal Housing Administration, have offered working-class families a legitimate means to purchase their own homes. But now there's a severe danger that aggressive lenders and brokers schooled in the rash ways of the subprime industry will overwhelm the FHA with loans for people unlikely to make their payments. Exacerbating matters, FHA officials seem oblivious to what's happening—or incapable of stopping it. They're giving mortgage firms licenses to dole out 100%-insured loans despite lender records blotted by state sanctions, bankruptcy filings, civil lawsuits, and even criminal convictions.

Pass it on

When we "err on the side of life" (KL), we end nicely, actually.
Pass this on. (by way of MM).

And, it pays to wait. Lauren will live -- parents now in agreement: their daughter must live.

Here's the racist?

How come no one calls him racist? Maybe he is crazy, that is why? Of course his words were called "demeaning racial term", but he is never called racist.

H/T: MM. Will they talk to him, dialogue with him now?

We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

Who is a racist?

The Philippine Daily Inquirer (on-line) today published Why Fil-Americans Tried to Defeat Obama. I find this typical writing of a racist. Why? Simple. It almost says "If you did not vote for Obama, you are racist."

But it has been very obvious that a lot voted according to race. Now, who is being racist?

Then again, US electoral history has shown that when the economy fizzles in an election year, the incumbent in the White House or Congress gets the boot.

Sore losers

Michelle:  "The insane rage of the same-sex marriage mob"

You have been warned

Warning! Graphic!

More here. IF you have the stomach for it.

On the pro-life front

The Uruguayan President vetoed legislation that would make the small nation one of the few in the region to legalize abortions. President Tabare Vasquez made good on his promise to veto the legislation the Congress approved. Read here.

Check this site: abortionchangesyou.com
The group behind this put out ads in New York City's subways, and the site has had a lot of hits in a short time.

H/T: JillS

Global warming has been licked

And it is nothing that we did.  All natural.  Prof. Don J. Easterbrook tells as why here.


He starts:

Despite no global warming in 10 years and recording setting cold in 2007-2008, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC) and computer modelers who believe that CO2 is the cause of global warming still predict the Earth is in store for catastrophic warming in this century. IPCC computer models have predicted global warming of 1° F per decade and 5-6° C (10-11° F) by 2100 (Fig. 1), which would cause global catastrophe with ramifications for human life, natural habitat, energy and water resources, and food production. All of this is predicated on the assumption that global warming is caused by increasing atmospheric CO2 and that CO2 will continue to rise rapidly.

However, records of past climate changes suggest an altogether different scenario for the 21st century. Rather than drastic global warming at a rate of 0.5 ° C (1° F) per decade, historic records of past natural cycles suggest global cooling for the first several decades of the 21st century to about 2030, followed by global warming from about 2030 to about 2060, and renewed global cooling from 2060 to 2090 (Easterbrook, D.J., 2005, 2006a, b, 2007, 2008a, b); Easterbrook and Kovanen, 2000, 2001). Climatic fluctuations over the past several hundred years suggest ~30 year climatic cycles of global warming and cooling, on a general rising trend from the Little Ice Age.

And ends thus:

Global warming (i.e, the warming since 1977) is over. The minute increase of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere (0.008%) was not the cause of the warming—it was a continuation of natural cycles that occurred over the past 500 years.

The PDO cool mode has replaced the warm mode in the Pacific Ocean, virtually assuring us of about 30 years of global cooling, perhaps much deeper than the global cooling from about 1945 to 1977. Just how much cooler the global climate will be during this cool cycle is uncertain. Recent solar changes suggest that it could be fairly severe, perhaps more like the 1880 to 1915 cool cycle than the more moderate 1945-1977 cool cycle. A more drastic cooling, similar to that during the Dalton and Maunder minimums, could plunge the Earth into another Little Ice Age, but only time will tell if that is likely.

Jennifer Rubin writes

But why should it end? The MSM championed Barack Obama throughout the primaries, clubbed his opponent, lauded him during the general election, and is now marveling at his transition. There’s no reason to stop now. If the mainstream media cared about unbiased reporting and exacting investigation, they would have made some effort earlier to balance the coverage. And now that the election of Obama has fulfilled their dreams and aspirations, why should they return to the humdrum tasks of quibbling with the press secretary, investing inter-agency squabbles, and questioning the lack of progress or the outright repudiation of campaign pledges? That might scuff up the President’s image. And it might put them on the outs with their hero.

Really, I think it’s too much to expect that the lapdog media will turn into attack-dogs or watchdogs anytime soon. After all, they have a President to help succeed.

The whole piece here. H/T: ST