Rwanda’s application to join the Commonwealth will be decided on at the end of this week.  It has been almost a year since the country applied to join the international grouping dominated by ex- British colonies in January 2008.  And there seems to be debate on how smoothly the vote to include Rwanda at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago will proceed.

In an article in Rwanda’s The New Times they report that ‘reliable sources say that all member states unanimously support Rwanda joining the group mainly composed of former British colonies.’

Meanwhile, AllAfrica.com’s John Allen blogs that New Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) writes, “Rwanda does not satisfy the test of Commonwealth values.  There are considerable doubts about the commitment of the current regime to human rights and democracy. It has not hesitated to use violence at home or abroad when it has suited it.”

Despite the issue of human rights violations, Canada is backing the admittance of Rwanda.  A spokesperson for Canada’s Foreign Affairs Department told AFP, “Canada would welcome the admission of Rwanda to the Commonwealth.”

There are currently 53 countries in the Commonwealth, which gives an equal platform to small and large nations to lobby for trade deals, influence world powers and leaders such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

But Daniel Howden of The Independent alludes that there may have another reason for the African country wanting to become the 54 member of the Commonwealth. Blame over responsibility for the 1994 Rwanda genocide has caused France and Rwanda to severe ties over accusations of the others involvement, which ultimately led Rwanda to boycott the French language in support of English.  Howden reports in an article entitled ‘It’s really about Kigali getting back at Paris’ that “one cabinet minister in the capital, Kigali, was heard to remark that Rwanda must be allowed into the Commonwealth club of English-speaking nations because “French is a dying language and we want to be part of a living language”.

LONDON: Rafael Nadal was sent crashing out of the ATP World Tour Finals in a straight sets defeat to last year’s finalist Nikolay Davydenko on

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Wednesday.

The Russian won 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) in an hour and 47 minutes at London’s O2 Arena to send the Spanish world number two tumbling out of the season-ending championships at the group stage.

Davydenko’s powerful, accurate ground strokes tore Nadal’s game apart in the opening set, and though the Australian Open champion recovered some form in the 80-minute second set, it was too late to stop the world number seven from claiming victory.

Nadal went into the match with a 4-3 lead over Davydenko, though the Russian had won their previous three meetings on hard courts like the O2 Arena – including a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win in the Shanghai final last month.

The first set saw Nadal’s game destroyed by his opponent, who dominated the play with his impressive shot-making, sending the left-hander scampering round the court.

Nadal, 23, won the toss, chose to receive and was swiftly 3-0 down.

Davydenko, 28, kicked off the match with an ace and took the first game, then converted a break point on Nadal’s serve when the Spaniard misfired.

Davydenko then held serve before Nadal won the fourth game to love.

After the Russian held serve, he broke Nadal to love as the Mallorcan’s serve crumbled.

Davydenko held three set points and sealed it with an ace to wrap up the first set in 27 minutes.

Nadal was break point down in the first game of the second set but recovered to win it on the deuce.

Davydenko held serve and held break point again on Nadal’s serve but the Spaniard finally won the game thanks to a rare Davydenko error.

The Russian held serve again and had two break points on the Spaniard’s serve next game. Though Nadal pulled it back to deuce, Davydenko won the game for a 3-2 lead.

The Australian Open champion took a 15-40 lead next game but the serving Russian pulled it back to deuce and won it. Nadal served the next game to love as he revived his hopes.

He then held a key break point in the eighth game. It went to deuce when Nadal shot just long. Nadal held break point again when Davydenko hit the frame of the racquet and finally broke his opponent when the Russian shot long, the Mallorcan dropping to his knees in celebration.

That fired up Nadal further, who served the next game to love to lead 5-4.

However, Davydenko held serve and broke next game as Nadal double-faulted and hit the net twice to leave the Russian serving for the game.

But Nadal went 15-40 up with an excellent shot down the line and broke when Davydenko hit the net, taking the set to a tie-break.

At 5-3 up, Davydenko, after an extraordinarily long rally, hit the net – one of only two net points lost out of 16 in the whole game.

That gave Nadal hope and he successfully challenged a line call to keep it at 5-4. However, he hit his next service return into the net and Davydenko sealed victory with a forehand winner.

In the final round of Group B games, Davydenko plays Sweden’s Robin Soderling, who has already qualified for the semi-finals, while Nadal takes on Serbia’s titleholder Novak Djokovic.

MANCHESTER: Rodrigo Tello scored the only goal as Besiktas became the first team to win in the Champions League at Old Trafford in almost five years

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with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Wednesday.

Already-qualified United, who have reached the last two finals in the competition, had not lost at home in their previous 23 Champions League matches, since a 1-0 defeat to AC Milan in February 2005.

But a deflected effort from Chilean winger Tello was enough for Besiktas, who had only picked up one point from their previous four matches.

United now need a point from their final match, away to German champions Wolfsburg, to qualify as Group B winners.

With qualification already wrapped up, Sir Alex Ferguson made eight changes to the team that beat Everton 3-0 at the weekend.

That included a recall for South Korean star Ji-Sung Park, who had not featured since the 4-3 win over Manchester City at the end of September due to a knee injury.

And despite a positive opening from the hosts, it was Ben Foster – making his first United appearance since October 3 – who was the first goalkeeper tested, following a powerful drive from Michael Fink.

Besiktas only had the slightest chance of finishing third and reaching the Europa League but maintained their pressure, with Ismail Koybasi firing wide.

But United responded with a Nemanja Vidic header that flew well off-target and a long-range effort from Darron Gibson that missed Rustu Recber’s goal.

And Federico Macheda also went close with a powerful run and a low shot that also trickled narrowly wide.

But in the 20th minute the Turkish side took the lead with Tello’s shot flying off United defender Rafael and past Foster.

Macheda was still at the heart of United’s best work and slipped Danny Welbeck in behind the Besiktas defence and his low effort was turned wide by Recber.

The veteran goalkeeper was worked again when Welbeck guided a pass through for Gabriel Obertan and the impressive French winger’s stab at goal was turned away.

Republic of Ireland midfielder Gibson blasted well over the bar to continue United’s frustration as the interval approached, while the visitors could have doubled their lead just before the break when Bobo laid the ball back and Fink’s delicate shot bounced wide off the outside of the post.

There was little response from United after the re-start but there was little positive play from the visitors either, with Tello failing to trouble Foster with a free kick from 25 yards.

But after Gibson sparked a quick break, the ball was worked left and Park shot wide under pressure from two defenders.

Just past the hour mark, a mazy run from Obertan took him past two Besiktas players before his low shot was pushed wide by Recber and the Frenchman went close again moments later with a looping header from Macheda’s cross that dropped onto the roof of the net.

Mid-way through the second half, Ferguson brought on Michael Owen for Park as he stepped up his search for an equaliser.

But there were few chances for the hosts to get back on terms, with another substitute, Michael Carrick, hitting a free-kick straight against the wall.

With five minutes remaining, substitute Patrice Evra had a penalty appeal turned down after going down in the box under a challenge from Ibrahim Kas.

Recber also pushed over a Macheda header from Anderson’s cross and then made a superb save from the resulting corner to deny Wes Brown, before keeping out another Carrick strike in injury time to earn Besiktas a memorable victory.

Great to see these instructions!  If you follow this, it will work.  Click here to read.

It was Monday and we just ended our daily story conference in the afternoon. I was just fixing the schedules for the RPN 9 afternoon team. I remember deploying one of my reporters to a feature story in Mandaluyong.

However, a breaking-news was flashing over ANC. Since I couldn’t see the letters from my desk, I went near the tv.  The slug went “Buluan Vice Mayor confirms death of wife, (x)  people”. Then seconds later, I saw the death toll rising and the word  being used was already “killed” and “beheaded”.

I called up my reporter and said that I was nixing the feature story and directed her to interview the Armed Forces of the Philippines Spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner.

Well, at least part of the story was wrong. Many of the victims were hacked, shot, and mutilated. I don’t think someone was beheaded.   Tsk.   I’m not sure but I won’t be surprised if there were severed heads.

A few minutes later the news was already having a life of its own.  Journalists were being mentioned as part of the convoy of Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  The Vice Mayor was not talking about the notorious Abu Sayya or any faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

He was blaming his political rival, the Ampatuans of Maguindanao, for the deaths of more than 20 people.  (The figure has now reached around 60 and I wouldn’t be surprised if it peaks to 100)

At the nightly story conference, I told the news manager that I think this story isn’t just about murder. I said that there is a killing field there somewhere and a team should be sent.  She agreed that

I called up to check our local stations in Zamboanga and General Santos City.  Being geographically challenged that I am, I asked our Zamboanga station what’s the fastest route to Maguindanao.  Then the news manager there referred Gen San.

So I called up the local office and asked to confirm the details that were being aired over the national news.

The confirmation was very unsettling.

I called up my boss and told her about the deployment plans. I couldn’t confirm any flights by the military where we could tag along.  So I just told the team to bring their clothes just in case they have an opening and immediately fly to Maguindanao.

One of the news crew whom I sent elsewhere arrived around 9 pm. They brought me food. I was exhausted not only from the new but I was tired because I was so busy downloading, talking to the phone, sending fax messages, checking media advisories, etc etc.

I knew I had to calm down. I sat down and ate the food given to me. I had 10 minutes for myself.

I said a little prayer for the victims. I knew the feeling of being harassed for doing my job. I knew the feeling of being threatened with guns and homemade shotguns by elected officials.

The journalists who were there died because they did their job. Apparently being killed was part of the job description.

I was imagining myself being there thinking that it was another regular day where I could go back to my family.

I was also putting myself in the shoes of the other victims whose only crime was passing through the Ampatuan highway.

Even for a region where violence has been already been a way of life, this was still quite harrowing.

The body count is still rising. No arrests have been made as of this posting.

Former defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro expelled the Ampatuans from the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party. You have my vote sir. You are the only presidentiable (and an administration ally) who was not afraid of doing something.

Today is a day of National Mourning.  But what good would mourning do if there is no justice? Souls are still crying from the hillside that was already prepared for them by the butchers of Maguindanao.

The United Nations defines genocide as any act committed with the idea of destroying in whole or in part a national, ethnic, or religious group. This includes such acts as:

• Killing members of the group
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
• Deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to physically destroy the group (the whole group or even part of the group)
• Forcefully transferring children of the group to another group

(See: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/treaties/genocide.asp)

What happened on November 23 was not the annihilation of a race. It was meant to wipe out a family. It was also meant to send a chilling effect against those who want to contest the power that was given to the warring clans.

What happened on November 23 was political genocide in my book.

It is already 8 am,Thursday, November 26 and the latest news was that the AFP already took the provincial capitol of Maguindanao.  I support my soldiers who have fearlessly declared war on bandits who have no respect for human rights. I laud the AFP leadership for their swift action.

Let the critics shut their mouth first until the military finishes its mission in capturing those who have committed the atrocities against our people, against our innocent brothers and sisters, against the journalists.

You will be just creating noise amidst the wailing of an already heart-broken nation.  The AFP is our light and our hope at this time.  They will deliver justice, in whatever means.

Barbaric acts have no place in any society. I support my military in their endeavor because I am angry and because they are our only hope.

I will never forget…11/23/09… The Massacre in Ampatuan…

BUDAPEST: Liverpool’s miserable season continued as they were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage despite a 1-0 victory over

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Debrecen at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium on Tuesday.

The five-time champions needed to win to stand any chance of progressing from Group E but Fiorentina’s 1-0 victory at home to Lyon meant the Serie A side joined the French outfit in the knockout phase at Liverpool’s expense.

David Ngog gave Liverpool an early lead with a neat close-range finish but Liverpool laboured thereafter and struggled to inject any kind of energy into their play after news of Fiorentina’s goal filtered through.

The victory at least secures a berth in the Europa League but it will be scant consolation for a side whose last group-stage exit came in 2002-03.

“The disappointing thing was having to rely on other people,” said Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, whose side are already 13 points behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League.

“We played well tonight but now we have to try and move on, build on tonight and, with a lot of players coming back from injury, try and win the Europa League.

“Of course it’s disappointing. The Champions League is the main trophy at the start of the season but the only consolation now is to try and win the Europa League.”

Fernando Torres’s absence has given Ngog his first real chance to shine in a Liverpool shirt and the Frenchman gave the visitors a nerve-settling early lead when he converted with a backheel after Fabio Aurelio’s right-wing cross had been headed back across goal by Jamie Carragher.

Liverpool dominated possession despite a heavy, uneven surface but they received a reality shock mid-way through the first half when the stadium’s tannoy announcer broadcast news of Fiorentina’s opening goal.

Vukasin Poleksic twice denied Ngog, first comfortably and then with a spectacular flying save, before Gergely Rudolf spurned an excellent chance to equalise when he headed wide from eight yards as the hosts began to threaten.

Liverpool continued to dictate proceedings in the second period but they frequently ran into a wall of white shirts as the home side packed the midfield and dropped back to defend the edge of their penalty area.

Gerrard twice came close to extending the away side’s advantage, first seeing his shot superbly blocked by Norbert Meszaros and then forcing a good save from Poleksic with a side-footed effort.

The game in Florence hung heavy over the second half, with Lucas glancing a header wide from Dirk Kuyt’s right-wing centre and Carragher also nodding off-target as Liverpool vainly sought to quicken the tempo.

Gerrard lashed over from 20 yards after a slaloming run from Daniel Agger, while Fabio Aurelio and Javier Mascherano both tested Poleksic, but there was precious little zip to the visitors’ passing.

Rafael Benitez elected to withdraw Ngog for midfielder Yossi Benayoun with just over 10 minutes remaining and Liverpool’s profligacy was almost punished moments later when Jose Reina had to palm over Rudolf’s goalbound strike from wide on the right.

Reina then had to save from substitute Adamo Coulibaly with the last action of the game as Liverpool clung to a faint hope that was swiftly extinguished when the final whistle sounded in Tuscany.

For the Week That Wasn’t

It being Thanksgiving Week, nothing exciting was planned for activities. But we all know how that goes. If you want to hear God laugh, tell him you have a plan.

We have been for a number of weeks lobbying our Board of County Commissioners here in Josephine County over two issues. A long standing push has been to get the County to engage in the legal process known as “coordination” with the feds regarding the use of our federal forests. We are of course in favor of sustainable harvests. The enviros are not.

Then last week our Senators Wyden and Merkley and Representative DeFazio without notice sent a letter to the heads of Agriculture and the Interior asking for a moratorium on mining on an additional 34,000 acres of public land in the county. We lobbied the Board for an official letter to the same departments denouncing th request of the Oregon delegation.

Monday afternoon, we received word that both issues were set for decision today at 10:45 am. Also
we were made aware that the enviros had launched an e-mail campaign supporting the mining withdrawal. E-mail was being received from Seattle, the Sacramento Delta, Brookings, Ashland, and Talent – with lots of unknowns.

We did a flash blast in response and our people overwhelmed the other campaign. At the hearing we out numbered the proponents four to one.

Two important speakers appeared for the enviros. A spokesman for the Siskiyou Project presented a very cogent argument full of alleged facts. Fortunately we had our experts present who put the record straight. A spokesman from the Social Justice Alliance opined that jobs are not really a problem if the government would only take all the wealth from those that have any and use it to provide what is needed by those who would simply enjoy nature. We all realized that is the whole problem but we left it alone.

We won by votes of 2 to 1. The County is renouncing the Wyden plan and is implementing a plan of mandatory “coordination” by the BLM and USFS.

For a week that was supposed to be a zero, we scored two important wins.

Tell me this isn’t all about grass roots.

Jack

There are many situations that require you to restore backups to different computers, other than the one from where the data was originally backed up from. In the case of Apple’s Time Machine the restore procedure to different machines is not very intuitive. You have to use the “secret” option key…

There is a supported way to restore Time Machine backups of other computers using the “option-key” click on the Time Machine menu. If you want to use it just do the following:

1. Connect the Time Machine disk to the Mac you want to restore the files to
2. Set the “Show time machine status in the menu bar” In System Preferences -> Time Machine.
3. Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and keeping the mouse button pressed, press the “Option” key.
4. Select “Browse Other Time Machine Disks”
5. Select the disk you want
6. click Use Selected Disk

The Time Machine will open with the selected disk and you can use it to restore the files.

If, like me, you are using a non supported Time Machine configuration, where the backup disk is mounted using SMB or AFP (see this post on how to enable that) then the procedure above will not work directly. In my case I backup to my Buffalo TeraStation NAS, and the “Browse Other Time Machine Disks” window shows up empty, with no disk to select.

In order for this to work you need to first mount the Time Machine disk by hand in using the command line.

1. Mount the shared folder where your Time Machine backups are stored
2. Open a Terminal window and cd to the Time Machine volume. in my case I called it backups

   sudo cd /Volumes/backups

3. use hdiutil to mount the specific Time Machine .sparsebundle file

   sudo hdiutil attach <time_machine_file.sparsebundle>

Now you should be able to see the mounted volume in Finder, with all the backups listed as folders, and you can copy any files directly from it. Remember that mounting the disk may take some time due to the size of the disk and network connection speed, especially If you do this over a WiFi network.

Another option is to repeat the supported Time Machine procedure  outlined in the beginning of this post. You should now see the mounted disk as a Time Machine disk. Select the the disk and click “Use Selected Disk” and Time Machine will open on the selected disk just like with a Time Machine supported back up disk.

Personally I like to copy them directly from the Finder but your preference may vary so I document both ways of achieving this goal. Hope this helps.

]]> http://ekranmemuru.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/zararli-ve-tam-da-bu-yuzden-unlu/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:21:47 +0000 Ekran Memuru http://ekranmemuru.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/zararli-ve-tam-da-bu-yuzden-unlu/ http://blog.crisiscenter.com/2009/11/23/ren-scott-productions-wins-philanthropic-small-business-of-the-year/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:08:06 +0000 Crisis Center of Tampa Bay http://blog.crisiscenter.com/2009/11/23/ren-scott-productions-wins-philanthropic-small-business-of-the-year/

National Philanthropy Day is a time set aside for nonprofit entities to honor the best of the best. It is a day to recognize and pay tribute to the great contribution that philanthropy – and those people active in the philanthropic community – have made to our lives, our communities and our world. This year, the Crisis Center honored Ren Scott of Ren Scott Productions by nominating his company for Philanthropic Small Business of the Year through the Association of Fundraising Professionals Suncoast Chapter. 

Ren was honored along side other philanthropists from the Tampa Bay community. This amazing company of creative individuals specializes in storytelling through their wonderful video productions. They helped the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay spread our message of help, hope and healing. The Crisis Center chose Ren Scott for his amazing generosity in producing a video for the Crisis Center’s development efforts. Below is a shorter version of the video that Ren Scott created especially for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay’s Cup of Compassion breakfast in February 2009. The full-length video and other Crisis Center videos can be watched on our YouTube Channel (CCTampaBay).

Ren Scott Productions is also one of the Crisis Center’s Corporate Partners, who help us to continue serving the Tampa Bay community through their commitment to partnership. We are excited and thrilled to say that Ren Scott Productions received the Philanthropic Small Business of the Year Award for 2009!

Congratulations Ren Scott! We appreciate all that you do for us and the community.

- The Ambassador

The article I wrote for AFP on the weekend

CARDIFF (AFP) – Not even a record win over the Pumas was enough to stop Wales coach Warren Gatland admitting his team “needs to go up another level” against Australia next weekend.

Two tries from Shane Williams, which moved him to equal third on the world all- time try list with England’s Rory Underwood, with 50, allowed Wales to make it two wins from three in their Autumn Series as they leap-frogged Argentina in the world rankings with a 33-16 win.

“We still feel there is another level in us and another level we will have to go to if we are to beat Australia,” said Gatland.

“We had a deserved victory last year over them and they will be smarting over that.

“What’s been important in this autumn is that we have improved game-to-game and week-to-week. Overall it was a very pleasing win over the pumas.

“Our lineout was excellent, the defence was good and we tried to play some rugby. This is only our third game together for seven months and we feel we are making some progress. It’s nice to have the Australia game as our last game.”

Gatland was also delighted to see his record breaking wing Williams, voted the IRB Player of the Year in 2008, dance his way to two more tries for Wales to take his test tally to the half century mark.

“It’s been difficult for him with that world player of the year tag hanging round his neck for the past twelve months. He knows he hasn’t played as well as he did last year, so this will be great for his confidence.

“He is such a talented rugby player and it’s great for a team to go out there with someone who can create something out of nothing.

“He made hard work out of his first try but then you saw what he can do in broken play with his second.”

Argentina skipper Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe pointed to defensive lapses as the cause of their defeat, and he was disappointed with a second successive defeat in Britain that cost them seventh place in the IRB rankings.

“We made three mistakes which give them three soft tries,” said Lobbe. “You simply can’t do that at this level, against a team with the calibre of players like Wales.”

He added: “We’re very disappointed with the margin of defeat. We leaked those three tries, which really hit us hard, but I thought we defended well otherwise.

“Wales had spoken about wanting to attack us, but I thought we handled them well. We felt comfortable in our defence but then made those crucial mistakes.”

While Wales prepare to round off their four match autumn series against the Wallabies, Argentina head north to play Scotland.

My Luke Charteris article from www.wru.co.uk

Luke Charteris admits Wales must improve if they are to complete the Invesco Perpetual Series with a victory over Australia. Charteris played an integral role in the 33-16 win over Argentina at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday which saw the hosts run in three opportunistic tries.

Now the Newport Gwent Dragons lock believes Wales will need to be better against the Wallabies in Cardiff this weekend.

Charteris, 26, said: “I felt we did well. I enjoyed it and I certainly want to go out there again. It’s been a tough month, we’ve all worked hard and everyone in the squad wants to be involved against the Wallabies.

“We managed to get a good win against a very good team, but we know we need to get better. If we want to beat the likes of New Zealand and Australia we have to improve.

“We’re happy with the performance, we played well and dominated the game but there are still more gears we can go to and we hope we can show that against Australia next week.”

Charteris was also keen to praise the Welsh front row, who were expected to struggle against the Pumas.

He added: “The front row was outstanding. I thought Paul James, Gethin Jenkins and Matthew Rees did really well. There was a lot of talk in the week about how they were going to run us backwards but we held our own.

Charteris put in a notable performance himself and made use of all of his 6ft 9ins frame to make the charge down which led to Shane Williams’ first try.

Charteris added: “I did all the hard work and Shane just had to run it in! But it’s something Ive been working on and lucky enough it came off.

“Shane is a quality player and world class. For the first try he could have run straight to the corner but he decided to beat four or five people just for fun. He’s probably the only person in world rugby who could do that.”

I had the pleasure of attending the National Philanthropy Day luncheon hosted by the AFP Suncoast Chapter and made meaningful by these fabulous honorees:

• Philanthropist of the Year: Hinks and Elaine Shimberg
• Gayle Sierens Volunteer of the Year in Philanthropy: Mary L. Shuh
• Philanthropic Service Youth Organization of the Year: Jesuit High School Key Club
• Philanthropic Service Adult Organization of the Year: West Pasco Sertoma Club
• Philanthropic Corporation of the Year: Valpak Direct Marketing Systems
• Youth in Philanthropy: Thomas Burley
• Spirit of Philanthropy: Bob and Cathy Smith
• Philanthropic Small Business of the Year: Ren Scott Productions

It’s been a bit hectic for me lately and I had not reviewed the honorees ahead of time. What a surprise to see our own Paul Dietrich receiving the J. Lloyd Horton Lifetime Achievement Award! If you can bear the background noise of tables being cleared take a minute and listen to Paul give his side of the story.

3 tugboat crew dinukot sa Zamboanga

INILUNSAD na ng mga awtoridad ang search and rescue operations sa pagkakadukot sa tatlong tripulante ng isang tugboat sa Zamboanga del Norte kamakalawa.
Sa paunang ulat mula sa Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM), lulan ang naturang tatlong crew sa tugboat na M/T Marinero na hinarang ng mga armadong suspek dakong alas-9 ng gabi sa bisinidad ng Siocon Bay.
Kinilala ang mga biktimang sina Felipe Miranda na siyang kapitan ng tugboat, Chief Mate Cecelio Layasan at Chief Engineer na si Radsie Magtanong.
Sinasabing hindi pa matukoy ngayon kung ilan ang mga armadong suspek na kumidnap sa tatlo.

lalaki, arestado sa pagpatay ng umano’y kalaguyo ni misis

PATAY sa pamamaril ng isang mister ang lalaking pinagdudahang kalaguyo ng kanyang misis sa Oas, Albay kamakalawa.
Idineklarang patay sa pinagdalhang ospital ang biktimang si Cesar Beniza Jr., 22-anyos at residente ng Barangay Ilaor Sur, nabanggit na bayan makaraang paulanan ng bala sa loob ng palengke sa Barangay Poblacion.
Arestado naman ng mga otoridad ang suspek na si Arnel Yuzon.
Sa paunang pagsisiyasat ng pulisya, nakaabot sa kaalaman ni Yuzon ang balitang naging lover ng kanyang misis ang biktima kaya nagpupuyos ito sa galit.
Bunsod niyon ay inabangan ng suspek ang biktimang naglalako ng panindang gulay at prutas bago isinagawa ang pamamaslang.
Inihahanda na ng mga awtoridad ang kaso laban kay Yuzon.

tibo, tinodas dahil sa selos sa antique

TINUTUGIS na ng pulisya ang isang lalaking suspek sa pagbaril sa bunganga sa isang tibo sa Antique kamakalawa ng gabi.
Sa ulat sa Kampo Krame, nakilala ang biktima na si Matilde Sinolan, 32, residente ng Barangay Beha, Bugasong sa nabanggit na lalawigan.
Natukoy naman ang suspek na si Leonides Honejar, 33 taong gulang na mabilis na tumakas pagkatapos ng isinagawang krimen.
Sinasabing nagkasagutan sina Sinolan at Honejar bago ang naturang insidente.
Sinisilip ng mga awtoridad ang anggulong nagselos ang suspek dahil sa napapabalitang panliligaw ng biktima sa dalagitang anak nila ng kanyang live-in partner.

2 npa timbog sa catanduanes

ARESTADO ang dalawang itinuturong miyembro ng New Peoples Army (NPA) sa Catanduanes makaraang madakip ng pinagsanib na pwersa ng Philippine Army (PA) at pulisya kamakalawa.
Ayon sa tagapagsalita ng 9th Infantry Division na si Major Harold Cabunoc, unang nasakote ng mga awtoridad ang isang Jodel Tohot alyas Arnel sa Brgy. Napo, bayan ng Viga.
Sinasabing si Tohot ay aktibong kasapi ng NPA na kumikilos sa naturang bayan.
Sa follow-up operation ng mga awtoridad at sa tulong na rin ng impormasyong ibinigay ni Tohot ay sumunod na nasukol naman si Nelson Alegre, na sinasabing nakabase sa bayan ng Caramoran, Kasam.
Samantala, nakubkob ng mga elemento ng military ang isang kampo ng NPA sa Surigao del Sur.
Pinamumugaran umano ang naturang kuta ng mga tauhan ng Front  Committee 21-B ng NPA na nakabase sa gitnang bahagi ng Sibagat at Bayugan mountains sa nasabing lalawigan.
Ayon kay Maj. Michelle Anayron, ng 4th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, nagkaroon pa muna ng sugapaan ang magkabilang panig bagamat walang naiulat na nasaktan.
 

Ang mga susunod na malalathala rito ay ang ilan sa mga malalaking na nangyari sa loob ng isang araw, partikular na sa tinututukang mga ahensya ng manunulat.

The Amanda Palmer concert last night was amazing.  I loved every single second of it… god, the show was just… so fucking awesome. 

Nervous Cabaret opened for her, and they were her backup band.  They were really awesome- guitar, bass, drums, miscellaneous percussion, trumpet and trombone.  Great vocals. Had a great heavy swing thing going on, but it was more than that.  Fantastic sounding live.

Then there was Amanda.

Oh my fucking god.

As usual she put on a hell of a show, pouring everything into it.  The music sounded perfect, she was in great voice, she rocked the place.  It was so amazing.  I know I’m overusing the word but really Amanda is epic.  Epic.  With a capital E.  Whether you like her music or not, nobody can deny what a great performer she is.  She did some covers- house of the rising sun, that’s not my name, and I think one other- and a couple Dresden Dolls songs and then the rest from her album.  Soooo good.  She did Miss Me, which is one of my favorites, and Ampersand, which is my favorite of all that she’s done.  I was a happy girl.

Missed my Furball though.  Really badly.  I have to admit I talked about him… a lot.  A Lot.  I hope he had a good night, I felt sorta bad about not being able to “tuck him in,” so to speak.  Well.. I prefer to be able to tuck him in.  I have a neat bit of news for him today though, which may make certain plans easier.  Have I mentioned I missed my Furball?

The Abundance Farming Project (http://www.abundancefarming.org/) is a social venture based in Portland, Oregon, USA. In the words of founder Paul Osterlund, the AFP seeks to “Offset water scarcity and increase food crop yields and quality for rain-fed farmers in developing economies”.

To help marginal farmers achieve this, the AFP seeks to spread the use of Zeba, a unique starch-based, superabsorbent soil additive. Zeba superabsorbent granules mix with the soil and work by absorbing 500 times their mass in water, so when it rains they store water, then between rains, slowly release 95% of the water. Continuing for a year and more, each hydration cycle stores then releases water and soluble nutrients as the plant needs it.  The granules ultimately biodegrade, feeding micro-organisms in the soil.  With basic rain-fed farming, this unique starch-based product offers a way for food crops to survive intermittnet rain fall and increase crop yields, so subsistence farmers facing water scarcity grow their way out of poverty.

Vigyan Ashram is working with the AFP to evaluate Zeba in Indian conditions. We recieved a 15-pound shipment of Zeba from the AFP in July, and decided to launch a small trial on capsicum (bell pepper) for the duration of the monsoon season. Open Field trials on cereals and fodder crops were to be conducted after the monsoon season ended. Unfortunately, we have had to call off the capsicum trial after one of the greenhouses with the control plots suffered severe damage due to stormy weather.

Erratic weather has accompanied our association with AFP from the beginning, with a poor monsoon, and major unseasonal storms. Crops across the province (Maharashtra) have suffered as a result. Products like Zeba, therefore, show great promise in India’s vast, yet underserved agri-business market.

Our field trials are due to begin soon, and progress will be updated regularly.

Uma amiga, depois de viver 2 anos no exterior, me disse quando voltou que nosso Brasil não é um país sério.

Fiquei puto da vida com ela e pensei: Se lá fora é tão bom porque não ficou por lá?

Mas vendo noticias como estas, pensando no que o Daniel acabou de escrever e fazendo uma análise um pouco mais crítica do que acontece em nosso país é até possível dizer que ela pode ter razão. Porém sou um cara otimista por natureza, acredito que as coisas se resolverão com um pouco de diplomacia e bom-senso. Mas onde está a diplomacia e o bom-senso mesmo???

Alison Endler

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Zelaya não planeja sair da embaixada do Brasil

Ter, 17 Nov – Yahoo noticias

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) – O presidente deposto de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, não tem qualquer previsão para abandonar a embaixada do Brasil em Tegucigalpa, onde está refugiado desde 21 de setembro passado, garantiu nesta segunda-feira um assessor do político.

“Ainda não há qualquer plano” para sair da embaixada do Brasil, “acredito que ao menos até a realização das eleições ele (Zelaya) estará aqui na embaixada, como símbolo”, declarou à AFP o assessor Carlos Eduardo Reina.

“Até agora também não se falou, em nenhum momento, em asilo político” de Zelaya, que “está como convidado na embaixada do Brasil, e nada indica que isto possa mudar”, destacou Reina.

Zelaya enviou no sábado passado uma carta ao presidente dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, reafirmando sua decisão de ignorar o acordo firmado com o governo de fato, liderado por Roberto Micheletti, que atribuiu ao Congresso hondurenho a decisão sobre a volta do presidente deposto ao poder.

Reina destacou que o presidente deposto “desistiu da restituição” para não legitimar um “golpe de Estado e um processo eleitoral fraudulento”.

“Zelaya é o presidente eleito de Honduras e seguirá sendo até 27 de janeiro”, data da posse do vencedor das eleições de 29 de novembro, afirmou Reina.

Depois desta data, “continuará de outra trincheira lutando pelas mesmas causas que o levaram à presidência”.

Zelaya voltou clandestinamente a Honduras após ser derrubado e expulso do país por um golpe de Estado, em 28 de junho passado, em meio à tentativa de realizar um referendo para mudar a Constituição e aprovar a reeleição presidencial.

Nesta segunda-feira, o padre salvadorenho Andrés Tamayo deixou a embaixada do Brasil, onde integrava o grupo de apoio a Zelaya.

“O padre Andrés Tamayo foi levado pelo consul de El Salvador, Nelson Cardoza, ao consulado” de seu país, disse o oficial da polícia Orlin Cerrato, em declarações à rádio América.

Tamayo deve voltar a El Salvador para resolver uma questão familiar, revelaram à AFP pessoas ligadas ao sacerdote.

O padre, que ingressou na embaixada do Brasil com Zelaya, em 21 de setembro, celebrava todos os domingos uma missa na sede diplomática.

Logo após seu retorno, Zelaya era acompanhado por mais de 300 pessoas na embaixada, mas hoje restam apenas 20, incluindo sua mulher, Xiomara Castro.

Tribunal Constitucional establece Precedentes Vinculantes para el trámite y aplicación supletoria en los procedimientos de desafiliación de las AFPs.

Por Andree C. A. Tudela Tello[1]

En la sentencia recaída en el Exp. N.° 07281-2006-PA/TC (publicada el 04/05/2007),  de la acción amparo interpuesta por Santiago Terrones Cubas contra la Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) Profuturo, en resguardo de su derecho de libre acceso a la seguridad social, con el objeto de que se disponga su retorno al Sistema Nacional de Pensiones (SNP), administrado por la Oficina de Normalización Previsional (ONP), se le devuelva los aportes legales que efectuó, con sus intereses legales, se ordene que se haga entrega de su bono de reconocimiento a la ONP, la cual deberá proceder al pago de su pensión de jubilación, y se disponga a su favor el pago de costos y costas del proceso.

 El tribunal declaró fundada la demanda y señala que “el Estado protege a los usuarios ante la falta de información o la insuficiencia de la misma; por lo que constituye un supuesto jurídico legítimo para que se pueda dar inicio al trámite de desafiliación de una determinada AFP. Asimismo precisa que el procedimiento a ser utilizado en el trámite de desafiliación debe ser el que el Reglamento de la Ley N.º 28991 determine; mientras ello suceda, será de aplicación supletoria el procedimiento previsto en el artículo 52º de la Resolución N.º 080-98-EF-SAFP”.

 Dicho pronunciamiento del Tribunal Constitucional, que tiene el carácter de precedente vinculante para el trámite y aplicación supletoria en los procedimientos de desafiliación, estos que hemos resumido y que a continuación detallaremos en el siguiente cuadro:

 CUADRO RESUMEN: TRIBUNAL CONSTITUCIONAL, PRECEDENTES VINCULANTES Y DESAFILIACIÓN

El Tribunal llega a la conclusión que al demandante se le ha brindado una deficiente información por parte de los promotores de las AFPs –‘una distorsionada información’–. Y es por esta razón, que el tribunal concluye que debe ser estimada la demanda planteada en el extremo que invoca como causal de desafiliación la falta o insuficiencia de información, prevista como habilitante para el retorno parcial al SNP.

Sin embargo agrega que, como se ha sostenido en toda la sentencia, lo que se permitirá al recurrente solamente será el inicio del trámite de desafiliación por parte de la AFP demandada y de la SBS, pero no a la desafiliación inmediata.

Por ello – como se señaló en párrafos precedentes- se declaró FUNDADA la demanda constitucional de amparo por vulneración al derecho al libre acceso a las prestaciones pensionarias; en consecuencia, ordeno a la SBS y a la AFP el inicio, a partir de la notificación de la sentencia, del trámite de desafiliación conforme a los argumentos desarrollados en dicha sentencia.

Creemos acertado, lo señalado por el tribunal constitucional respecto a la protección del libre acceso a las prestaciones pensionarias, empero, debemos precisar que para que éstos actos no sigan ocurriendo, deberían de legislarse penalidades ó indemnizaciones por las demoras que ocasionan las AFPs en el trámite de la Desafiliación, y no dejar a la suerte a los aportadores al realizar éstos un trámite de responsabilidad civil.

Ver texto completo de la sentencia en:

http://www.tc.gob.pe/jurisprudencia/2007/07281-2006-AA.html

[1] Bachiller en Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad San Pedro, Miembro Fundador, Asociado Activo, Past Presidente y Past Director del Área de Investigación del Centro de Investigación Jurídica Iuris per Tottem, Past Director General de Sapientia et Pax – Revista de Derecho. Practicante Profesional en el Área de Defensoría del Usuario de la Superintendencia Nacional de los Registros Públicos – Oficina Registral de Chimbote, y otros.

Camp Phoenix, on the outskirts of Kabul, is run by US forces, with some NATO member nations maintaining a presence there.

It is also a base for the Afghan army, which is being trained by international forces in the hope it can take over the responsibility for fighting the Taliban insurgency.

The camp occasionally comes under attack, mostly from rocket and mortar fire, though without casualties.

Camp Phoenix has never been mortared.  It’s never been rocketed.  Not while I was there.  Not while I was at Camp Eggers and not in the past 3 years.  I’d know.  I lived at Camp Phoenix for one year.  I lived on Camp Eggers for a year as well and visited Phoenix frequently.  I’ve been to Camp Phoenix several times over the past 3 years as well.  I have friends at Camp Phoenix right now.  One who has been there for 3 years.

Camp Phoenix has never been a training base for Afghans either.  Not the ANA or the ANP.  There are two Camps about ten miles down the road called Camp Blackhorse and the Kabul Military Training Complex (KMTC).  Afghans are trained there.  Afghans are trained at Darulaman and there are 2 or three ANP training bases within and around Kabul on which ANP are trained.

I see this happening all the time.  The Associated Press (AP) picks up a story written by some idiot who never leaves the safe confines of his hotel room or villa in Shahr-e Naw or Wazir Akhbar Khan.  These morons report as if they are on the scene.  They mix up place and location.  They hack together stories based on second hand information and pawn it off on the public as gospel truth.  The guy who wrote this story should be fired.  He printed a hand full of lies and sent it in as if he had actually visited the places about which he wrote.  A bunch of older hacks will probably award this poltroon a  Pulitzer and they’ll all sit around in a smoke filled chamber and congratulate each other on their bravery and literary brilliance.

I’ve seen this kind of irresponsible writing of lies and half truths all over the globe.  Korea when Kim Il Sung died.  When Qandahar was attacked.  In Kabul after various attacks.  In Herat after suicide bombings.  From whom do these morons obtain their “facts?”  Dr. Suess?  The Brothers Grimm?  Hanna- Barbera?  Does anyone back home in America fact check or edit their hotel room ramblings?

I read the newspaper and online journals and I often wonder if these folks are even in country.  What happened to reporting from the front?  These guys are reporting from the whorehouse or from the tea parlor.  They’re definitely NOT on the scene.  Not here in Afghanistan.  I can assure you of that.

Lubha talagang kaduda-duda ang paglalagay kay Berting Gonzales – ang matapat at maamong tauhan ni Aling Gloring – sa tuktok ng Department of National Defense na binakante ni Berto Teodoro, na kandidato ng Palasyo sa halalang 2010.

Maraming galit sa kanya – kay Berting, hindi kay Berto – lalo na yung mga kongresista at senador na madalas niyang isnabin sa mga pagdinig. Hindi ba’t bigla na lang “sumakit” ang dibdib niya noong minsang humarap sa isang pagdinig sa Senado? Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, tungkol iyon sa pag-upa niya ng mga tao sa Estados Unidos para mag-lobby at humingi ng suporta sa Charter change dito sa Pinas.

May dahilang matakot ang mga tao sa kanya, dahil sa mga ideya niyang kakatwa kung hindi man katawa-tawa. Nung huling ibinuka niya ang bibig, sinasabi niyang kailangan ng bayan ang isang “transition government” dahil wala na umanong pag-asa ang kasalukuyang pulitika sa bansa. Sirang-sira na ang kredibilidad umano ng Comelec at wala nang respeto ang tao sa Kongreso. Hindi niya sinabing pamumunuan ng amo niya sa Palasyo ang iminungkahi niyang transisyon pero batay sa disenyo, si Aling Gloring pa rin ang naroon at magpapatuloy siya sa pamumuno kahit lagpas na ang 2010.

Noon pa man, lagpas na sa eleksyon ang plano ni Berting. Magtataka pa ba tayo kung may mag-isip na “No-El” o no election ang maaaring tumbukin ng pagpapaupo kay Gonzales sa DND? Sabi nga ng ilang kongresista, hindi aksidente ang pagpwesto niya sa mahalagang ahensya ng gobyerno. Sigurado anilang merong nilulutong hindi masarap ang administrasyon, kasama ang pandaraya umano sa halalan.

Anila pa, magdudulot lamang ng lalong pag-aalburoto ng mga pulis at sundalo ang pagmumukha ni Berting sa DND.

Matatandaang pinagbintangan si Berting ng ilang rebeldeng sundalo na nasa likod umano siya ng mga pagpapasabog para bigyang katwiran ang deklarasyon ng emergency ni Aling Gloring.

“To give everybody a brief background of Norberto Gonzales, he is one of the masterminds of the Light-a-Fire Movement in the 70’s, the anti-Marcos group responsible for several bombings in Metro Manila, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of Filipinos. This information is readily available in the Internet and was even documented in the memoirs of Ed Olaguer, one of the leaders of the Light-a-Fire Movement. In short, this man is very much capable of wreaking havoc to our society. He is the true terrorist,” sinabi minsan ni Sen. Tonying Trillanes.

Ingles ’yun pero hindi na kailangang isalin pa dahil baka lalo lamang tayong matakot sa mama.

Sana nga ay pansamantala lamang siya sa posisyon. Dapat siyang palitan agad para lamang bigyan tayo ng kasiguruhan na matutuloy ang eleksyon sa Mayo 10, 2010.

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