25 years

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei's becoming a personal prelature. Tanti Auguri!

The most important person

Awww and a half. It isn't Mother's Day, but hey, any day is Mother's Day! So to all the Mothers out there:

The most important person on earth...

“The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral- a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body…Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature. God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation…What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?”

-Joseph Cardinal Mindzenty


H/T: Elizabeth Andrew

Spin as you like

Remember this AP poll that was headlined in the news as Poll: Most OK birth control for schools? There is a typical AP spin on this poll as Sweetness and Light puts it.

Says S&L: What a typical piece of carefully crafted mendacity from the Associated Press.

The entire article and the poll itself were obviously geared towards producing the headline and lede that the AP wanted to foist on the great unwashed.

Read all.

Walk out

Despite my beef re her "eating" pictures, I admire our Cebu governor. A news article lead says this:

CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia walked out of a beauty pageant on the eve of the fiesta celebration of Boljoon town last Friday. Garcia was invited to watch the contest after she attended a procession of the town's patron saint, Nostra Señora de Patrocinio de Maria (Virgin Mary). She was to receive a plaque of appreciation at the program. The province had given P3 million in assistance to help renovate Boljoon church, the fourth oldest church in the country. She was told that the beauty pageant would showcase "old, traditional Filipino costumes" but ...

Read all here.

Conned

Code Pink DC came out with a faux press release re Blackwater. Fooled a lot. Fact checkers on holiday leave.
Here's FrontPage Magazine's inside story.

H/T: MM.

Sweet

Justine Henin won the Sony Ericsson Championships against Masha in Madrid, the last tournament of the year. The win was number 10 for Justine, the only time a player has won in double digits in a season since Martina Hingis in 1997. There are other records Justine set with this win. The sweetest thing about this win: this limited Masha to only one win in the season.

I'll take your share

Since I was not a participant to the IPCC, I can't.

Mr. John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a participant in the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, does not want his share.

He opens his WSJ piece: I've had a lot of fun recently with my tiny (and unofficial) slice of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But, though I was one of thousands of IPCC participants, I don't think I will add "0.0001 Nobel Laureate" to my resume.

The other half of the prize was awarded to former Vice President Al Gore, whose carbon footprint would stomp my neighborhood flat. But that's another story.

Read all here.

Wilson writes about Dual Training

WHAT do companies such as TMX, Lear, Fairchild, Cebu Mitsumi, Western Wats, Olympus, Asahi Optical, Teradyne, Celestica, General Milling, Globe Telecom, Dash Engineering, Tsuneishi Technical Engineering, Lexmark, Primary Structures and Aboitiz have in common? They are the leading corporations in Cebu, and they are all Dual Training System Partners of the Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (Cite).

So starts Wilson Ng's column yesterday: Dual Training. Wilson heads Ng Khai, our DTS partner for many years. Thanks for writing about the Dual Training System at CITE.

Read all here.

What's happening SJ?

Some weeks ago, a friend told me he was sorry that my university Alma Mater lost a very important basketball game against that arch-enemy learning institution along Taft Avenue in Manila. I told him I stopped cheering for that team a long time ago, since the last school I attended was UP for my masters -- true UP has not fared well in so many editions of the UAAP basketball tournament -- so I consider myself a UPian.

I will always say Thank You for what my "alma mater" has taught me when I was there. But as I told a friend some years ago, I wasn't really in my element in that campus. Since a high school teacher recommended that I go there, I won a scholarship, and my best friends decided to skip UP if I did, I set myself up to try out the bianco-azzuri.

Not that it is bad in itself, but the "openness" that has been embedded in the minds of students there made me uncomfortable. Still does. Suffice it to say that the "openness" could be very dangerous many times. And to read about certain events (links later in the blog) happening in similar institutions like my alma mater (hint: run by the "same" people) makes me believe my previous statement even more.

Read at your own risk: here, here, here, here, here, and here. (h/t: Cardinal Newman Society)

Greenpeace vs. Apple

Even as I do not subscribe to many, if not all, of the rantings of Greenpeace, this study done by Greenpeace is another example of Al Gore's hypocrisy. Y'see, even as Apple has a safe environment campaign and a Steve Jobs apology last May, it still made use of hazardous substances in it's new iPhone.

So where does Gore fit in all this? And why hypocrisy? Clean your own backyard, man.

Update (22Dec2007): There could be some abuse in Greenpeace's use of data (see, I told you I do not subscribe to many, if not all, their rantings. Most media accounts failed to note that Greenpeace didn’t actually measure how much of these chemicals were in Apple’s products, and how much actually leached out.

Polomolok, My Polomolok

Did you know that in 2006, Polomolok topped all municipalities in Region XII in terms of percentage allocation of expenditures on social services? In a whiff of small-town love, I thought I'd share this bit of news. I guess all this is also due to the local government's social concern. If I am not mistaken, the mayor's kids attended my alma mater, Dole Philippines School.

The link is here. You can read the pdf file of the report.

Thanks Fr.ancis for the tip.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Un-Bee-Lee-Vuh-Bull.

Al Gore and IPCC win Nobel Peace Prize.
Nuff said.

11 points against

The The New Party's Stewart Dimmock's legal case against the UK's efforts to distribute "The Inconvenient Truth" is moving forward. The judge has found 11 inaccuracies and therefore will order new guidelines for the film's exhibition in UK schools.

In their website, The New Party says:

Inaccuracies in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth

The decision by the government to distribute Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth has been the subject of a legal action by New Party member Stewart Dimmock. Although a full ruling has yet to be given, the Court found that the film was misleading in 11 respects and that the Guidance Notes drafted by the Education Secretary’s advisors served only to exacerbate the political propaganda in the film.

In order for the film to be shown, the Government must first amend their Guidance Notes to Teachers to make clear that 1.) The Film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument. 2.) If teachers present the Film without making this plain they may be in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination. 3.) Eleven inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children.

The inaccuracies are:

• The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government’s expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.
• The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.
• The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government’s expert had to accept that it was “not possible” to attribute one-off events to global warming.
• The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government’s expert had to accept that this was not the case.
• The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr Gore had misread the study: in fact four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm.
• The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream throwing Europe into an ice age: the Claimant’s evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.
• The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim.
• The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.
• The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting, the evidence was that it is in fact increasing.
• The film suggests that sea levels could rise by 7m causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40cm over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration.
• The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.

Rhett's birthday today

Rhett Pelaez would have celebrated another birthday today. I believe he is celebrating in Heaven. This year nothing as extraordinary as last year happened, but we still remember Rhett fondly. This year's blog will have pictures.

Rhett with some members of CITE's Board of Trustees and Management Staff (1st: 5th from left; 2nd: 2nd from right).

Below, Rhett with some visitors he brought to CITE.

Teen driver, victim?

The Inquirer story Teen killed as actress’ SUV slams into motorcycle says that "'Definitely, Kristine Hermosa’s driver has legal accountabilities as the victim died in the accident,' Posadas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of the INQUIRER.net." Fine. Reckless driving that also results to death is appalling. It is only fit to hold the van driver accountable. But never was it asked, "What the hell was a 16-year old doing driving a motorcycle with a companion backriding?"

Either way that kid was "illegal" -- driving without a license or driving with a spurious license. If he had a license, who issued the license? C'mon, if he weren't driving, because he shouldn't have, he wouldn't have met his death. And what of his parents who allowed him to drive (or did they?). Should they be charged as well.

I am sorry for the death and the injuries. But not as much.

Be Afraid. Be very Afraid. or NOT.

AP ran a piece by SETH BORENSTEIN in September.

Rising Seas Likely to Flood U.S. History

Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Va., as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting.

In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased. Global warming -- through a combination of melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warmer waters expanding -- is expected to cause oceans to rise by one meter, or about 39 inches. It will...

As always he is again terrifying us with his GWA. Thing is, he has his science wrong. And AP is fitting another mold -- Alarmist Press?

Thanks to discussglobalwarming.com, we see who is really in denial.

Update: The AP archive for Seth's story sells for USD 1.50. Forget about "buying" the story. You can go to breitbart for the story, free.

Who's next?

Who's next to follow? A judge in the UK will rule that schools showing "The Inconvenient Truth" will need "to warn pupils that there are other opinions on global warming and they should not necessarily accept the views of the film."

Here's a report of the actions of the good judge.

BTW, there is still the USD 125,000.00 up for grabs. About 60 days have gone by and no takers yet. Tsk, Tsk.

And we still demand debate.

Global warming primer and then some

The National Center for Policy Analysis "has published a new primer to explore some of the main scientific, economic and political issues surrounding the topic of global warming in an easy to understand graphic format. The primer can be downloaded or viewed online here."

You can read more about global warming here.

Or you can read a couple more...

Michael R. Fox, Ph.D. writes "Junkscience in Global Warming Theory?: Let's Count the Ways"

He ends with this: The low quality of the debate displayed by the warmers is notable and extraordinary, suggesting that personal and political agendas are at play, instead of science. This is a destructive way to make national science and energy policy.

Now, wouldn't you read the rest?.

Václav Klaus writes "Global Warming Hysteria or Freedom and Prosperity?"

He says: The threat I have in mind is the irrationality with which the world has accepted the climate change (or global warming) as a real danger to the future of mankind and the irrationality of suggested and partly already implemented measures because they will fatally endanger our freedom and prosperity, the two goals we consider – I do believe – our priorities.

Read on.

When 2 is better than 3!

Sometimes two is better than three. Franz said it. I didn't watch the game, but exchanged that opportunity to be in the beach with friends at Dominic and Alma's. Besides, AdMU doesn't do too well against the team from that place in Taft when I watch the game, even on TV. My friends know this, and some of them asked me not to watch (although some, who did not know my "record", also sent invites for me to watch with them). I know this all sounds ridiculous, but anything to help the team.

In any case, this is all good for our humility. And we say, win or lose, it's the school we choose. Thing is, 5 consecutive years saying this can be frustrating.

'Hope the Reds win. In basketball.

re Crossing ethical lines

re: Crossing ethical lines.

Hello Ma'am,
It is all true. I think these ABS-CBN TV Patrol CV "newsmen" finally caught on with the rest of the world, huh? Why, even Reuters, BBC, AP, etc. have used fauxtography. To sell their news, to push an agenda, maybe?
See here, or here, or here.
Or you can google "fauxtography" and see more than 300T links.
Un.believe.able.

Peter
--


Update: In 03X07 Sunstar Cebu story: TELEVISION network ABS-CBN fired three of its five employees who squabbled with Senior Insp. Jose Liddawa after a traffic accident at dawn last Sept. 17...

Some MSM should follow ABS-CBN's lead.