Hacienda Luisita is a 6,435-hectare sugar plantation estate in Tarlac. It is today owned and operated by the Cojuangco-Aquinos, a powerful political clan with business interests spanning everything from basic utilities to real estate.

The land was never theirs to begin with, and was leased to the Cojuangcos by the Philippine Central Bank, on the back of a questionable deal made in the 1980s, on the clear condition that the land would eventually be turned over to small farmers who have tilled it for generations.

This never happened.

Five presidents later, the same farmers have received neither land nor compensation apart from slave wages, sophisticated legal maneuvering and bogus land distribution programmes at the behest of the President’s relatives.

In 2005, the Department of Agrarian Reform issued a new resolution, calling for full land redistribution and scrapping the “stock distribution option” altogether, which it declared illegal according to agreements made in 1989.

The farmers called for nothing less than complete control over their lands – not stocks – in a series of oral arguments at the Supreme Court in 2010.

Two years later, in response to mass public protests, the court reached a final decision in April 2012: total land distribution. It also ordered the Cojuangcos to pay the farmers their long-overdue compensation, amounting to some 1.33 billion pesos from illegal sales of estate properties by Hacienda Luisita, Inc.

The farmers have, to date, received little of what was promised, with the bulk of nominal land distributions made through Carper going instead to ‘beneficiaries’ not on the original redistribution lists – or to individuals closely linked with the Cojuangcos: personal friends, drivers, household help and staff.

Their struggle for land and basic rights is one that plays itself out across the country, where poverty and impunity go hand in hand.

For this they have faced militarization of their communities, frequent legal and physical harassment by authorities, extrajudicial killings, and at least two major massacres of peasants and activists: once under the ‘pro-democracy’ Cory administration in 1987 in Mendiola – and again in 2004 under Arroyo.

New deals with big business interests have once again strengthened the clan’s hand, further weakening hopes for stable employment and genuine agrarian reform for some five thousand-plus farmers and their families who have yet to recover lands historically theirs in a struggle well over two decades in the making.

Please see:

http://bulatlat.com/main/luisita/
http://haciendaluisita.wordpress.com/about/
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/182081/hacienda-luisita-timeline
http://www.interaksyon.com/hacienda-luisita

“Sa Ngalan ng Tubo” (Tudla Productions)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebetyUHC9hE

“Ang Pagbawi sa Luisita”(Mayday Multimedia)
http://www.maydaymultimedia.org/2010/11/17/ang-pagbawi-sa-luisita-reclaiming-luisita/

Related articles

• KMP slams master list of Luisita land reform beneficiaries
• DAR list signals long struggle ahead for Luisita farm workers
• What Went Before: Hacienda Luisita farmers’ saga
• Luisita farm workers slam DAR’s promissory note requirement
• DAR releases final list of Luisita beneficiaries

June gold tried to regain some of its footing through the day, settling at $1,361 but in after hours – following a similar pattern to Friday’s post-regular session trading – plunged to a new low for the day of $1,322 an ounce by 9pm EST.

The last time gold traded at this level was in January 2011 and constitutes an almost 12% retreat from Friday’s close of $1,501.

The two day decline – gold ended Friday $88 down – is the worst during gold’s 12-year bull run, but in February 1983, the yellow metal fell from $475 to $408.50 over two days, a 14% decline. That is still in percentage terms the biggest one day drop for the metal.

The gold price is down more than 18.7% this year and Friday’s sharp decline dragged the metal it into official bear territory, defined as a 20% decline from a high.

Gold hit a record $1,909 an ounce intra-day on 23 August 2011, but a the next day suffered one of few triple digit one-day losses when it plummeted $105, ending the week down more than 10% from the all-time high.

Adjusting for inflation, gold’s highest price point ever was on January 21, 1980 when the precious metal hit $850 only to plunge the very next day to $737.50, a 13% fall.

Years of medical misappropriations has caused deep seeded resentment amongst communities that have been repeatedly used as lab rats. In the case of Henrietta Lacks, an African American mother from Baltimore Maryland essentially had her genes hijacked by the medical community when it was found that a rare cancer that she possessed, could benefit other areas of medical revelations.

The Supreme Court grapples Monday with the question of whether human genes can be patented. Its ultimate answer could reshape U.S. medical research, the fight against diseases like breast and ovarian cancer and the multi-billion dollar medical and biotechnology business.

“The intellectual framework that comes out of the decision could have a significant impact on other patents — for antibiotics, vaccines, hormones, stem cells and diagnostics on infectious microbes that are found in nature,” Robert Cook-Deegan, director for genome ethics, law & policy at Duke University, said in a statement.

SOURCE

ROLL CALL:

There are many ramifications that could result from this type of radical step to protect one’s genes. There could also be many reasons that are unknown to the general public for such a need.

What happened to client confidentiality? When anyone goes to a lawyer, doctor or other medical facility-the treatment received and the information shared is now no longer protected by that caveat. Playing God is rampant and must be controlled. Many clients seeking the assistance of medical professionals are not versed in clearly stating their preferences, desires, needs and boundaries. Yes boundaries!

Recently while exploring a possible hernia, it was made abundantly clear to the medical staff that was selected to explore the situation-that being a human guinea pig was not an option. Invasive irrelevant medicines were also not an option. Invasive irrelevant surgeries was also not an option. However, in trusting the medical community to know what they are doing with regards to very individual anatomical beings is a crap shoot.

As stated, this protection comes well after the case of Henrietta Lacks but may in fact be valuable in the families case to retroactively regain what was stolen from their mother’s medical petri dish and given to the world without their knowledge nor consent. It is highly unlikely, but the arguement may finally be heard regarding curtailing rogue methods exacted by medical communities to extract organisms from other unsuspecting clients.

It is concerning that the internal threat of ‘stealing’ ones genetic composition is very present within this society. Medical companies are becoming more vigilant in their pursuits to be the ‘stand out’ go to company for healing and/or temporary remedy.

….and we must stand ready to advocate on our own behalf!

              The Wall street Journal had an article back in March titled “Regulators Are Concerned About Municipal-Bond Deals“. The tax subsidy in question is tax-exempt bonds. The government allows state and municipalities to issue such binds to subsidize indirectly their financing by making it less costly for the local governments. It turns out that private businesses are able to finance many of their business-related projects through such very bonds that are in theory only available to local governments to finance public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and schools.. As you might have already guesses its not small businesses that are reaping the benefits. The beneficiaries are McDonald, Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America, Chevron Corporation, etc…

              The way these mega corporations get to be the beneficiaries of tax-exempt bonds meant for local governments is by having local and state governments to issue them on their behalf. State and local governments are happy to provide such services because they want to attract businesses (big business) into their states. Since 2003, such bonds amounted to more than $65 billion. The cost to federal government is lower tax revenue. Because of accelerating federal debt and ever growing debt deficit, “the Obama administration would take a different approach, capping the value of the tax break that wealthy bond buyers enjoy, whether they buy private activity bonds or conventional municipal bonds.” You heard it right, the remedy the Obama administration wants or such loophole is to tax the individuals on tax exempt bonds interest, instead of eliminating the loophole and make it impossible for corporations to issue tax exempt bonds.

             I’m not defending rich people here, but at issue here is corporation tax avoidance, and the solution is not to punish an unrelated party. Why should McDonald, a corporation with more than $30 billion in retained earnings build restaurants through tax-exempt bonds. Other capital projects that have been funded through tax-exempt binds include; Kmarts, private golf courses, tennis clubs, topless bar, adult bookstore, stadiums, hotels, you name it.

            In my humble opinion, the only corporations that should be allowed to utilize such funds are airline companies, who have a hard time to making a profit. Airline companies are known to have used such bonds to build new terminals, but such works deserve indirect subsidy, because they improve infrastructure and transpiration.  Other than the type of scenario I described, tax-exempt securities should not be available to corporations.

Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323550604578411123063809056.html

]]> http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/my-peoples-petition-for-abbott-to-reveal-his-other-ipa-policies/ Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:14:04 +0000 The Geek Rulz http://australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/my-peoples-petition-for-abbott-to-reveal-his-other-ipa-policies/

By Tom Cummings (@cyenne40)
April 15, 2013

The Australian Labor Party is often accused of being at the beck and call of the unions. Of course there is a decent element of truth in this, in so far as they both tend to focus on workers rather than corporations, and the historical links between Australia’s unions and the ALP are many. However, in recent years those links have weakened (although never broken) and the dynamic of today is different than it was 20 or 30 years ago.

But what about the Liberal Party? What of their affiliations, their preferences? They have always come across as friends of industry and big business rather than the workers; their focus on ‘getting what you pay for’ is well in keeping with their conservative ideology and reputation.

The difference between the ALP and the Liberal Party in this respect is that, while the former is vilified for their union associations, the latter is largely forgiven for their industry bias. This may well be because the corporations they support are largely responsible for helping to shape and drive the public perception of such things, although that is a situation that is rapidly changing as non-traditional news outlets gain popularity and credibility.

But the Liberal Party of today has stronger, more visible links to the conservative side of town through its leader. Tony Abbott makes no secret of his relationships and associations with certain individuals within the Catholic church, the media and big business; and his fondness for sound-bites ahead of policy has left a vacuum that his friends seem only too happy to fill.

Nowhere was this more obvious than at the recent 70^th anniversary dinner of the Institute of Public Affairs. The IPA is not well known to the majority of the public, yet this ‘independent libertarian think tank’ had News Ltd boss and IPA member Rupert Murdoch as their guest of honour. Right-wing commentator Andrew Bolt was the MC. Cardinal George Pell and mining magnate Gina Rinehart were in attendance. And Tony Abbott himself gave the speech welcoming Murdoch to the occasion (Murdoch’s ‘class war’ speech is published here).

One of the most frightening things about that night is that Abbott joked about a list of 75 policies that the IPA had published and encouraged him and his party to adopt. He listed which policies his Coalition had already taken on board: abolishing the carbon tax and the mining tax, privatising Medibank and slashing the public service were just a few.

“So, ladies and gentlemen, that is a big ‘yes’ to many of the 75 specific policies you urged upon me in that particular issue of the magazine….but Gough Whitlam I will never be!”

 - Tony Abbott

The question here is this: where will Tony Abbott stop? How many more of the IPA’s radical policy suggestions entitled ‘Be like Gough’ will he adopt as party policy, before or after the election? We all saw last week what happens when Abbott tries to be creative with policy; the alternative NBN announcement with Malcolm Turnbull was an unmitigated disaster. How likely then that he will resist any further policy announcements for as long as possible, only to cherry-pick from the list the IPA has so kindly put together for him?

Because that list, and the 25 additional policies that the IPA subsequently released to make it an even 100, make for truly terrifying reading. It is a libertarian vision for the future, one without safety nets, one without protections, and one without regard for the individual.

That’s why I started a petition, calling on Tony Abbott to clarify which of the IPA’s 75 policies the Coalition plans to implement. Of course I have no illusions that this petition will ever reach Abbott, or that even if it did, that it would make an iota of difference to his actions. A friend of mine called it their “favourite useless waste of time” petition, and I can honestly see why!

But some people are reading it.  Some people are seeing the list of 75 IPA policies, are seeing that Tony Abbott is already committed to implementing a number of these policies, and are concerned. Already the petition has attracted more than a thousand signatures… far more than I thought it ever would.

Because the common wisdom is that Tony Abbott will be prime minister before the end of the year. We need to think about that, and scrutinise what it will mean. It’s not good enough for him to hold all his cards close to his chest and promise that life will be better under his government. We deserve better than that; we deserve to be told.

Sign the petition now:

Thatcher’s most despicable crime is her major contribution to the enslavement of the Eastern Europeans by the so-called free market — capitalist Imperialist — forces.

The Iron Curtain of Freedumb and Democrazy has now firmly descended on Eastern Europe, plunging the half-continent into an oppressive darkness.

Millions of Eastern Europeans are now slaves to Imperialist capitalist corporations, most of them under predatory Anglo-Dutch control and under the control of the resurgent (and soon to be revanchist) Germany and are now victims to legions of Anglo-Dutch, French and German scammers, thieves and hedge fund operators and all kinds of other scheming and stealing Western human filth unleashed on them together with the hordes of Western pedophiles and perverts of every description corrupting, raping their young sons and daughters, making prostitutes and unwilling amateur porn actors out of them and otherwise abusing them and violating every natural orifice in their young, tender and defenseless bodies while the formerly free citizens of Eastern Europe (like the people of Western Europe before them) can do nothing, are powerless and are now left with nothing — no own land, no own homes, no industries, no independent economies, no own currency, no factories or plants, no national companies, no savings in the banks (what little there are can be taken away from them on orders of EU bureaucrats at any moment) no hope and no future other than living scared from one crippling crisis to another, from bust to bust with no boom in between, and even in fact with no national identity as their nation states have been eroded, virtually destroyed and rolled into one huge dumb EweroPEEon blob and basically made cease to exist whereas during the much better times of Socialism they, their cultures and the products of their industries were known, celebrated and renowned all over the world and their children had happy childhoods, excellent care, protection from Western filth and free education and otherwise the best society could offer.

And that is surely the most evil of Maggie’s evil crimes.

Wicked witch

Spring has finally sprung in New York.  Rip off the roof and stay in bed!

Yes, I know that the first day of spring was technically on March 20th, but it has been unseasonably cool in the Big Apple until earlier this week when the temperature actually hit the high 70s.  Sure, it’s back to the 50s this weekend, but whatever.

The warm weather brings smiles to the faces of the most jaded New Yorkers.  It also brings the tourists.  They’re easy to spot as they walk around the streets of Manhattan in capri pants and really white sneakers (and that’s just the men) gazing up at the tall buildings and filling the air with a UN assembly’s worth of accents and languages.  Although I have been known to get annoyed from time to time at the throngs of visitors who take over my urban island this time of year, I must admit that I secretly love tourists. I appreciate anyone who wants to come to New York City to explore the sights.  And since I’m an avid traveler myself (I just got back from Dubai and Istanbul), I like to follow the “do unto others” philosophy, as I always appreciate being treated well by the natives of the lands I visit.

I live near The Dakota, the iconic residential building in Manhattan’s upper west side outside of which John Lennon was shot 33 years ago.  Double decker tour buses line up outside the building, sending hoards of visitors to check it out along with Strawberry Fields and the Imagine mosaic which are located across the street in Central Park.  And my office building is at the top end of Times Square and there’s actually a Broadway Theater in the ground floor.  (Current production:  Cinderella.)  I can’t sneak out for a Chipotle burrito bowl without weaving through hundreds of excited folks finding their way to the Museum of Modern Art or queuing up for discount theater tickets at TKTS.

I don’t know if it’s because of my corn-fed midwestern roots or if it’s because I don’t shy away from making eye contact with strangers, but I am one of those people who gets stopped a lot by out-of-towners who are looking for directions. I take it upon myself to be a one-man welcome wagon on behalf of my fair city.  In fact, I carry around a laminated multi-fold Streetwise Manhattan map in my man-bag at all times.  If someone asks me for directions, I whip out the map, show them where to go, then give them the map as a friendly gesture.   (Then I immediately buy another map so I can give it to the next person who asks.)  My hope is that they’ll go back to Duluth or Dublin or wherever they’re from and tell their friends how helpful and friendly New Yorkers are.

Seeing all these folks navigating NYC for the first time makes me think of the many movies in which the main characters do that very thing.  The humor stems from the “fish out of water” — who aren’t used to the wacky ways of Gotham — getting into mischief at various iconic landmarks. Hilarity ensues.  Here are just a few examples, most of which are, curiously, from the 1980s:

Big  (1988)

Fish out of water:  Joshua (Tom Hanks)

Key New York landmark:  FAO Schwarz

Big Business  (1988)

Fish out of water:  Sadie and Rose (Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin)

Key New York landmark:  The Plaza Hotel

Coming to America  (1988)

Fish out of water:  Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy)

Key New York landmark:  Madison Square Garden

Crocodile Dundee  (1986)

Fish out of water:  Mick (Paul Hogan)

Key New York landmark:  Columbus Circle Subway Platform

Enchanted  (2007)

Fish out of water:  Giselle (Amy Adams)

Key New York landmark:  Times Square

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York  (1992)

Fish out of water:  Kevin (Macaulay Culkin)

Key New York landmark:  Central Park

The Out-of-Towners  (1999)

Fish out of water:  Henry and Nancy (Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn)

Key New York landmark:  Grand Central Station

Splash  (1984)

Fish out of water (literally):  Madison (Daryl Hannah)

Key New York landmark:  Rockefeller Center Ice Skating Rink

You get the idea.

The next time you see a tourist struggling with getting around your home town, think of these movies and lend a hand.  Hopefully they’ll go home and sing the praises of your friendliness.

TODAY’S POLL:

What’s your favorite ’80s movie about out-of-towners navigating the streets of New York City?

Big

Coming to America

Crocodile Dundee

Splash

The foundation of God is secure. The events of life do not change it. The words of the politicians and celebrities do not change it. They are a SURE revelation, and they are all still true. The Gospel plan of salvation is still valid. The hope of eternal life is still sure and steadfast. God’s plan for His people as individuals, as local churches, and within nations is still valid. None of this changes at all.

AMERICA’s Foundation is God. That is not what the left-wing politicians are saying. Nor is it what the NEA bound teacher’s are teaching our children, but Truth doesn’t change. America’s foundation is still God regardless of what our leaders may say.

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

READ THE REST

But that is HISTORY, not now. Now, American’s are ridiculed and mocked if they choose to live a life of faith. Now, Americans are told to leave God at home, tucked safely out of sight lest someone be “offended” by the sight of an act of faith. Now, American’s bicker over the details, the symptoms of our sick and depraved society, now disavowing SCIENCE in favor of sin! Now, God is relegated to the closet while morally ignorant Americans or simply lost Americans revel in their ignorance. Politicians and celebrities proudly proclaim the glory and “freedom” of our Modern society while crime rates soar, hatred divides, bigotry spreads, and mental/emotional illness reaches astronomical proportions.

• Divisions based on hatred and mistrust are better than neighborly communities? REALLY?
• Violent crime rates climb and Politicians only seek a bandaid not a cure? REALLY? Chicago has the toughest gun restrictions in the nation and still their crimes rates continue to increase.
• The numbers of impoverished Americans (with flat screen TV’s, cars, a/c etc, and daily trips to McD’s, but not enough real food) climbs above the number of WORKING Americans, and still no jobs in sight, but this is progress? REALLY?
• Our economy is about to collapse, like Cyprus, Italy, and France, but sure, let’s print more paper money. BETTER?

Our nations medical care is undergoing a major change that was supposed to take care of the poor and help those with pre-existing conditions. OOOPS! It’s going to cost the POOR $2500 a year and those pre-existing conditions? Sorry, can’t help! There is a net result. There will be less/worse care for most people or higher costs or both.

One “seeker” has built a movement he calls, the THRIVE Movement based on a molecular structure called a torus, a self-generating, self-managing system. My question is … Did this “torus” create itself, or was God the designer? If God designed it, why not seek to build a relationship with the Designer, more than the Design? Just sayin …

The Solution is really much simpler than all that.

Our Foundation!

Thomas Jefferson, letter to Henry Lee, 1825 – “This was the object of the Declaration of Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.” MORE HERE

In fact, GOD is so intimately entwined (not just the idea of God, but HIM) into the fabric of this nation that it is unconscionable to think of the America we see today without the recognition of our God barred from public life. God is in our Anthem, our songs, our poetry, our stories, and permeates our history thoroughly. As Thomas Jefferson recognized (in the banner of this blog,) there is also an intimate relationship between the calamities that began with 9/11 and the rapid decline in our nation economically, morally, and socially. God is our nation’s Foundation, and if a building’s foundation is damaged, disrupted, or destroyed, what happens to the building? COLLAPSE!

This is not what GOD wants! He wants to help America, to rescue us from this horrendous downward spiral. POLITICS, however important, will NOT solve the problem. Hollywood cannot solve the problem. MONEY cannot solve the problem. BIG BUSINESS cannot solve the problem. What is left? Exactly! GOD!!! We are beyond all human help at this point, crashing down upon the consequences of doing things our own way, our human way. It will not work! It is up to the individual American to save America by coming into agreement with our Creator. It is only as we rediscover who GOD really is and learn HIS ways that the destruction brought about by our godlessness can be reversed. Otherwise, calamity awaits!

“There is a way which seems right to a man
and appears straight before him,
but at the end of it is the way of death.” Prov 14:12

B U T

“Then if my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves,
if they will pray and seek me and stop their evil ways,
I will hear them from heaven.
I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14

After years of endless criticism for its record on the nutritional value of its food, sustainability of its offerings, low paid jobs and the litter that inevitably comes with a McDonald’s branch the business is now under pressure.   2011 and Subway overtook McDonald’s with the most number of outlets worldwide. And in 2012 for the first time in a decade sales volumes slumped and have yet to show any sign of recovery.

McDonald’s have promised to improve things for their customers and staff alike.  A US spokesperson said,  “we now offer more choices and variety on our menu, as well as nutrition information so customers can make the choices that are right for them,” the spokesperson added that they “most recently reinforced our commitments to sustainability in the areas of fish and coffee and we continue to offer a variety of training and professional development opportunities for employees who want to move from crew to management”.

But…

1. The pay gap between CEO and a crew member has doubled in the last year!
2. The company gives away over 1.5 bn toys each year so encouraging the view that they target children with high fat low nutrition “Happy Meals”
3. McDonald’s over-reliance on soya beans is contributing to deforestation of vital rain forests
4. One of its franchisees has been accused of paying below minimum wage and providing sub-standard housing to student guest crew members
5. The company had to pay out $500k to a 79 year old Stella Liebeck when she suffered 3rd degree burns from spilt coffee
6. Reported in the Times of India, the company has been accused of using out of date Chinese chicken
7. McDonald’s out-right refuses to assess its impact on childhood obesity
8. During recent years McDonald’s has encouraged staff to work on public holidays; including Christmas day!
9. McDonald’s oatmeal breakfast option, according to the New York Times is just as (un)healthy for you as the option its supposed to replace
10. The McLobster and other such products more than regularly crash as an offering

So will the company recover?  Er, probably, but I hope not.

McDonald’s is an example of a globalized business that aims to squeeze out the local alternatives.  With a McDonald’s comes planetary destruction (okay they contribute, but you know what I mean), low paid jobs; the now famous McJob and litter, in fact loads of litter.  Add to this the obvious contempt for their Clients health and you have a company peddling disaster on a world-wide scale.

Sorry Samurai Cop, your shit stinks!!!

Like a lot  of Allen movies, To Rome With Love takes a look at the awkward challenges relationships can hurl at you, but this time in Rome, baby! Woody returns to the screen, and I gotta say, the dude still makes me laugh.

Crimes and Misdemeanors serves two stories that makes us question morality. Thought-provoking, funny and dark.

A solid story with a few laughs, but I’m sick of animations relaying on the same gags over and over…at least Brave didn’t have a slow motion shot of a character screaming…really getting sick of that one!

Touching the Void is a tedious adventure. Just as you get immersed in the tale, it ends abruptly.

Read my review here.

An interesting concept with a bland after taste. Big Business gets it’s gears moving towards the end, which is unfortunately rushed. Also, I’ve got a new drinking game for this film. Every time Bette Midler widens her eyes like a dopey cartoon character, you drink absinthe – good luck!

The film begins with Bart Layton focusing on the gripping subject, but eventually this documentary deflates when we’re guided away from truth that needed more exploration, to an accusation the leads to nowhere.

Sinister introduces some neat elements – if stretched, the end result could have been a breath of fresh air to the horror genre. Instead, Sinister leads us down a the same silly road, where the murderer is an uninspired character that made me laugh harder than Freddy Kruger playing with the Power Glove!

An interesting look into human behavior, and how we instantly follow orders from authority figures. My only beef (get it?) is with the Dreama Walker, who gave an unbalanced performance.

Clive Barker is undeniably the master of creating monsters in this visually enticing flick. Beyond this attraction, nothing else carries any weight whatsoever. Did I care about any of these characters? No. Was the plot a tad interesting? No. Would I prefer to watch The Room? HELL YES!

I thought somebody smeared feces across the screen, until I realized G.I. Joe: Retaliation begun 40 minutes ago.

Big thanks to all of you guys who are posting reviews for the books. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart!!! I’m so thankful I busted out with the colors! I want to marry each of you! Wow, that’s illegal and makes me sound like a tramp.

Okay, I’ll shut up now and give you the link to check out her blog: Book Review Blog (this lovely lady does not mess around with her reviews–crazy amounts of detail–it’s like a thesis!)

I’ll get back to my online dating blog (for those of you in the dating world, I think you’ll enjoy it) tonight or tomorrow.

Big hug to you all! Have a great night!

During a recent trip I was having dinner with a friend and colleague when the conversation turned to interpretation in the booth. We talked about the ‘old days’ when the interpreters spent a significant amount of time just talking in the booth because there was nobody to interpret for. I am sure many of you have faced the same situation where you do not see anybody wearing headphones in the audience, you ask over the interpretation equipment if anybody is listening, and you double-check with the technician who tells you that nobody has checked out equipment for that session. For many years that meant that you were going to spend the whole afternoon in the booth without interpreting. It wasn’t so bad. We were getting paid as we sell our time and we showed up ready to work, and we had an opportunity to share glossaries, talk shop, and speak of personal things. This was the reason why many friendships among interpreters developed.

Then, one day as we were going through one of these situations, a representative from the agency or the event organizer showed up at the booth and told us that even though nobody needed our services in the auditorium, they were videotaping and audio recording the conference so we needed to interpret  for the recording. Of course this meant that the ‘socializing in the booth’ was over, but we are professionals so we interpreted. This has been my experience for a few years. There are a considerable number of conferences or presentations where nobody requires of the services of an interpreter and we are interpreting for the CD that later on the organizer will sell to others who did to attend the presentation.  This is big business.

Because I also do voice-overs I immediately thought of what happens on that other job; in many ways it is very similar. Some colleagues who had not worked doing voice-overs or commercials loved the new experience. I continued to provide the service for years… and then it hit me! They were recording my work and selling it to many consumers all over the world. They were making a profit from a product that only existed because I had interpreted the workshop or presentation. Yes, it is true that I got paid for doing my job in the booth during the conference, but so did the organizer who charged to those who attended the conference. This was different. They continued to profit from that workshop or presentation and I did not get any piece of the pie.

When you do a voice-over or dubbing you get paid for your services, and then for a few years you get paid for every time the disc is sold or the video is played. Here we were making zero money! I believe that we as interpreters need to receive royalties (like the ones we get for voice-overs and dubbing) every time the company sells or rents a disc that includes our interpretation. I am now including this provision every time I sign a contract to interpret an event that will be recorded. As always, some clients have reacted favorably, others have not. I would like to hear your opinions, and if possible, please share your experience when you ask for royalties.

On April 5, 2013 (CNN) — A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the morning-after birth control pill available to people of any age without a prescription.

The order overturned a 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17.

The FDA said it couldn’t comment on an ongoing legal matter. But the U.S. Justice Department indicated an appeal of the ruling was under consideration. “The Department of Justice is reviewing the appellate options and expects to act promptly,” department spokeswoman Allison Price said.
SOURCE

ROLL CALL:
1. Have any studies been conducted to determine the effects of the administration of this drug on children and under aged developing young women?

2. What in the world could possibly motivate this type of decision?

3. Could this one act, potentially cause long lasting sterility issues with girls and young women? The same with the HPV vaccine?

4. Is it possible that pharmaceutical companies may have ‘encouraged’ this decision?

At one point in the United States, there were two political parties that each served as a balancing force to the other.  There was a time when both parties were much further to the left of the political spectrum than they presently are.  There have been many times when the two parties were starkly different from one another.  That time is no more.  Sure, there are some topical issues that they debate to keep the public interested, but those issues are usually related in some way to different biblical viewpoints.  For example, we protest (and rightly so) the Supreme Court in the ongoing debate over gay marriage, but miss the provision in H.R. 933 that gives bio-tech companies like Monsanto immunity from prosecution for the sale or distribution of any illegal genetically modified food sources.

The rider to H.R. 933 (section 735), was snuck into the bill and the International Business Times reported on their website the following:

Many members of Congress were apparently unaware that the “Monsanto Protection Act” even existed within the bill they were voting on. HR 933 was a spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown and ensuring that the federal government would continue to be able to pay its bills. But the Center for Food Safety maintains that many Democrats in Congress were not even aware that the provision was in the legislation:

“In this hidden backroom deal, Sen. [Barbara] Mikulski turned her back on consumer, environmental and farmer protection in favor of corporate welfare for biotech companies such as Monsanto,” Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, said in a statement. “This abuse of power is not the kind of leadership the public has come to expect from Sen. Mikulski or the Democrat Majority in the Senate.”

It is well known that members of congress often do not read the bills that they vote upon….but why?  Is it a sort of “plausible deniability”?  What are these people elected for?

The start reality that we are facing is that there is now little difference between our political parties.  Both serve the interests of the corporate elite and most of them are, in fact, part of that elite.  They are wealthy and they serve their own needs.  They are smooth-talking, power hungry, and more than anything else, they are greedy.

Our political parties, corporate pawns, are ruling over a country that is entering a free fall.  The catering to the banks and corporate giants at the expense of the citizens is the cause of this fall.  We witnessing the crumbling of the infrastructure of our country.  We are seeing corporate dominance of our food and water supplies, our money, our media, and not to mention the terrible state of public education.  They have the people fighting over gay marriage, abortion, and other biblical issues, while they assume control and ultimate power over all of the facets of society.  They control the food.  They control the money.  They control the media.  They control public education.  Essentially, they control everything and the real kicker is that WE ELECT THEM!

The elite rule society primarily through the presence of fear.  We are a fear mongering nation.  We sell “national security” to a sleeping public that is more concerned about the latest adventures of the Kardashians than U.S. foreign policy in the middle east or Korea.  They create this idea that the U.S. is threatened by these countries and then, as we have seen with the Patriot Act and the development of the Department of Homeland Security, quietly take away the freedoms that Americans once held.

Divide and conquer is alive and working well for the governing plutocracy.  Until we start holding them accountable for the jobs that they are being paid to do, this will free fall will continue.  We need to ask ourselves what we hold sacred.  Do your elected officials share your view?

 PIG ON THE ROCKS
(To tune of, “Love on the Rocks,” by Neil Diamond and Gilbert Becaud from the 1980 movie “The Jazz Singer.”)

Verses:
Pig on the rocks
Pour me a drink
It packs a jolt
Bacteria’s stink
That’s what you get
When you let,
Business alone

Huangpu’s the pond
Where pigs made a splash
Shanghai’s not fond
Of pig farmer’s trash
Drink if you dare
The farmers don’t care
Where it flows

Bridge:
They’ll get you to buy it
How they’ll justify it?
“Got to keep the profit high
Of jobs go on the skids.”
And if some group hollers,
Quiet them with dollars,
Ever think what kind of world
We’re leaving to our kids?

Verse:
Pig on the rocks,
What’s to prevent?
When lobbyists buy,
The whole government
Big business too big
And we’re drinking pig
On the rocks.

Lyric © 2013 by Robert S. Steinberg, Esquire
All rights reserved

Today Gabe is wearing a green jacket, a grey sweatshirt, khaki pants, and brown shoes.

You guys, it’s snail season. What does this mean? It means my whole life has now become 100% about walking through my neighborhood staring straight down, everywhere I go, day and night, to avoid crushing a tiny snail shell under my shoes.

Last spring, I had my worst experience of 2012 (when I told Gabe this fact, he seemed doubtful that it was the *worst* thing that happened to me that year, and maybe he’s right, but this was still pretty terrible). Anyways, I was walking to my car early on a damp, misty morning. The sidewalks were wet, and the snails were out, and long story short – I stepped on one.

It was just awful.

I usually wear little ballet flats with super thin soles – and I was wearing them that morning – so I could feel the crunch all through my foot. And when I looked back, the snail was just sitting there with a crushed shell and there just wasn’t anything I could do about it.

It was awful.

And ever since then, I’ve structured my entire spring-and-summer life around this never happening again.

Which is also awful, because I live in a beautiful neighborhood! Especially when it’s warm out. There’s water, mountains, beaches, and trees, but to me – it’s all sidewalk. All the time.

This morning I just narrowly avoided stepping on one. Hello, spring. This year is mine. (And the snails’.) (I hope.)