The True Criminals Wear Barongs, Ties and Suits

Posted by BongV on Dec 24, 2013 in Featured, Government | 3 comments

I’ve intentionally cut back on blogging recently because I have more productive and worthwhile stuff going on. The point being that I wanted to unload myself of baggage called “the Philippines” and focus on creating my current and future reality. Also, I have shifted to creating memes which are posted in the Antipinoy Facebook page. For one, the meme images capture what I want to say very clearly – and I don’t have to keep on repeating myself by typing the same concepts over and over again.

Having said that, I noted the recent assaults on personal liberties of Filipinos under the guise of curbing crime. Banning hammers, caps, and sunglasses in malls has been the more recent enacted policies. And in Davao, there’s the speed limit allegedly to reduce accidents.

All of these measures are distractions from the true criminals – this group of thugs, paid for by taxpayers (who are still trapped in the consensus reality that government is needed to provide for their safety and security).

Banning hammers, caps, and sunglasses – what will they think of next – how about banning malls? That cop who said people should not be wearing sunglasses since it is in a mall anyway obviously have not heard of Corey Hart’s “I wear my sunglasses at night”. At any rate, since SM is private property, they can choose who they let into their property. Now, we, always have the option to vote with our feet and take our business elsewhere. Should more malls also engage in this assault on personal liberties – we can choose to shop online and shop naked if we want.

For instance, in Davao, the LGU has purchased speed guns, purchased speed limit signs, and imposing fines on speedsters (even if there are no accidents or damages caused on persons and property). Frankly, the reason for a huge number of reckless going on in its streets is the fact that the LTO issues licenses to people who don’t know how to drive. Frankly, the LTO exams are a sham. Any one who fails the licensing exam is not due to the lack of driving ability – rather it is the lack of ability to pay the fixers who pass on the mullah to LTO personnel. The practical driving exams are also a figment of the imagination as people get licenses without ever undergoing a practical test. When you pack the roads with people who don’t have an inkling of road courtesy and understanding of road signs and markings – and squeeze them into Davao’s congested roads – naturally you will get accidents.

The answer therefore lies in ensuring that those who are issued licenses really know how to drive. But then, the politicking officials of Davao don’t want to antagonize the pool of voters who can be easily bought – the tricycle drivers, the jeepney drivers, the bus drivers. This driving incompetence becomes more glaring when Filipinos go overseas to apply for drivers licenses. Here in the US, it is not uncommon to see Filipinos who have to take the drivers exam at least five times or more. Worse, they ask if there are contacts in the DMV who they can pay off!!!

Comparative studies in other countries such as Germany and the US have shown that speed limits are useless and only serve to slow down traffic. In Montana for instance, where speed limits have been lifted, or the German autobahn which has no speed limits – it has been shown that death races have not taken place as people only drive at speeds they are comfortable with. A comparison showed that there are actually lesser accidents in the German autobahn than there are in the US rural roads which have speed limits.

But you can bet – someone mad a whole shitload of money with the purchase of speed guns and speed limit signs – and it definitely isn’t the taxpayer. Frankly the LGU officials who condone extra-judicial killings, who assault a sheriff serving a court order, who assault the elderly in the streets are the true criminals. The indifference to impunity is plain ridiculous – and the criminals have the gall to set speed limits at that.

As government officials get away with murder and plunder, Filipinos are left wondering what can we do. I have said it time and again – government is the problem. The solution is not another government official, not another government program, not another government legislation, not another form of government – the solution is to abolish government’s intervention in our lives.

The solution lies in empowering Filipinos to think for themselves – and not have a government official to do the thinking for them.

If Filipinos can muster the effort to imagine a world where they are in control of their lives – that will be one helluva Christmas gift.

Clearly, the wrong people are in jail – and the wrong people are out of jail.

P.S. Please check out Antipinoy on Facebook – feel free to download and share the memes – happy holidays folks, have a great winter solstice everyone.

SMELL THE FLOWERS

The photos are great, but the philosophy is even better!
 
We never get what we want,
We never want what we get,

We never have what we like,
We never like what we have.
And still we live & love.
That's life...



The best kind of friend,
Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,
Never say a word,
And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.



It's true that we don't know
What we've got until it's gone,
But it's also true that we don't know
What we've been missing until it arrives..

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!
Don't expect love in return;
Just wait for it to grow in their heart,
But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,
An hour to like someone,
And a day to love someone,
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive.
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seem bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile!

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human,
And enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
It probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for those who cry,
Those who hurt,
Those who have searched,
And those who have tried,
For only they can appreciate the importance of people
Who have touched their lives.

When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
You're the one who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying.

Please send this message
To those people who mean something to you,
To those who have touched your life in one way or another,
To those who make you smile when you really need it,
To those that make you see the brighter side of things When you are really down,
To those who you want to know
That you appreciate their friendship.

And if you don't, don't worry,
Nothing bad will happen to you,
You will just miss out on the opportunity
to brighten someone's life with this message...

SEARCHING FOR ABUSED CHILDREN AND YOLANDA ORPHANS

By Fr. Shay Cullen

Immediately after the typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the strongest typhoon ever to hit land on 8 November this year, I wrote an article titled "The Lost Orphans of Yolanda" on 12 November in the knowledge that the children without parents are the most vulnerable to abuse, abduction, malnutrition and human trafficking. Hungry children go wandering off in search of food their parents cannot provide and you see them at city street corners begging and asking strangers for money.

That article on the orphans was based on the initial report that as many as ten thousand people had been killed by the storm surge and high winds and flying debris. The confirmed death toll has reached 6,500 dead and more bodies are uncovered as the debris is gradually removed. It was expected that there would be many homeless, hungry and orphaned children. They tend to be overlooked in the chaos that follows a great storm or disaster.

It was published in several newspapers and online and flew around the world via the internet and seemingly had its desired effect to alert the agencies, government and non-government agencies helping children in the disaster area of Yolanda to be on the lookout for homeless and abandoned orphaned children. Preda Foundation cares for almost 90 children in residential care and fifty in after care and did not have the resources for an immediate relief response until donations began arriving. Then we immediately set off to the disaster areas to assess the damage and the needs of children and learn how best we could help.

The article seemed to ignite a flurry of concern and press releases and stories about the dangers these vulnerable children faced. This may have had a preventive educational impact, I hope so. According to the DSWD Regional Director Bonoan, no orphaned children have been found, and none came into her Manila based evacuation centers. Preda social workers worked there and did not find any orphans there either. However, there are three posters appealing for information about missing children, one as young as 3 years old. Likewise in the Cebu evacuation center which we also visited, none were found according to the officer in charge. In Tacloban, reportedly there were none either, other than one family of five taken by the Council for Inter-county Adoption to an orphanage in Quezon City.

However, with 6500 people dead, it’s highly unusual that no children have been found homeless and orphaned. Perhaps relatives have taken them into their care already as informal fostering and undocumented adoption is customary. Perhaps, the fact that local government is so overwhelmed with so many other problems, they cannot cope or even know if there are orphaned children being sheltered by other families. The greatest concern is the vulnerability of boys and girls to local pimps and recruiters and foreign paedophiles disguised as government officials or charity workers.

Kandy is a 15 year-old victim of human trafficking from Samar. Before the typhoon, her parents fled the poverty and brought her and her sister, 20 years old, to Metro Manila but left them with an auntie and returned to Samar. Her sister Karina was lured to Limay, Bataan, a port, and she was ensnared in a videoke sex bar. The recruiter trafficker then texted Kandy inviting her to come and work in a bakery, she was given advance money and then to pay it off, she was forced to work in another sex videoke bar at Pexsite.  Intimidated and scared, she went and was offered as a live-partner to a Korean. She ran away from this sex-slavery but because of debts, she had to go back to another videoke bar. A concerned citizen texted Preda's hot line and within two days, Preda social workers and legal officer rescued her. She is finding a new life of dignity now at Preda home for trafficked girls. The Preda legal officer filed the criminal charges. The trafficker was arrested and is facing arraignment in Balanga, Bataan, Regional Trial Court.

Many people may know of abducted or recruited children or see trafficking or abuse happening but are afraid to report it or have no one to trust to whom they can safely and anonymously report it and get immediate action. What Preda Foundation does best is immediate response and through its highly trained personnel, it can do undercover surveillance and research on the one hand, and give public community training to develop awareness and trust in communities and empower women and children to report human trafficking and abuse of any kind through texting to the hotline mobile number +63 917  532 4453. The one utility back on in most disaster hit areas is the mobile phone systems.

Besides giving relief foods and seeds to farmers, we need to give this public education and empowerment training seminars to parents and youth on the dangers of falling for the offers of traffickers and spread the message through radio, seminars and puppet shows and distribute information cards with the contact information and hotline number.

This way, the people knowing about trafficked children or adults can report it without fear of retaliation or threats. It's important to involve the local officials and train and hire local youth to take on the preventive educators' job and continue the empowerment and information project. The feedback to the Preda coordinator of any trafficking or child abuse will be met with an immediate response. The hotline number for reporting trafficking or child abuse of any kind is +63 917  532  4453.  We can make this a better world for children at risk.

Donations: Preda Foundation, Metrobank, Rizal Ave., Olongapo Bank Account 144-2-14403962-3,  Swift code MBTCPHMM

Rizal’s curt advice

Commentary

By MANUEL F. ALMARIO

Philippine Daily Inquirer

9:05 pm | Sunday, December 29th, 2013

Great men of history are usually remembered for what they can teach even though they may have lived long in the past. Thus, we recall what Socrates and Aristotle said thousands of years ago for the lessons they give on politics and morality. The Philippines has its own great men, foremost among them Jose Rizal, whose martyrdom we commemorate every Dec. 30. What can he teach us regarding our most urgent problem today—a stagnant economy and its consequence, abject poverty?

Rizal is more widely known for his fight for the equality and freedom of Filipinos. But what were his views on economics? In his two novels, “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo,” he dramatized the injustices of Spanish colonial rule through the travails of their characters. Sisa, the unfortunate mother of two children brutalized by a Church deacon, was the very snapshot of poverty.

In a brief scene in the “Fili,” Rizal made known his thinking on economic development through the protagonist, Simoun, a well-travelled and wealthy Filipino businessman. When asked by a group of Chinese merchants, who were bewailing the poor economic conditions then in the Philippines, for his opinion on what it should do in order to prosper, Simoun huffed, “My opinion? Study how other nations prosper, and then do what they do!”

It seems that Philippine officials and their economic advisers, like the Spanish administrators then, have ignored this commonsense advice. What they have been following since the 1960s is neoliberalism, a theory of economic development initiated and directed by rich Western countries.

Advocates of neoliberalism back economic liberalization, free trade and open markets, deregulation, and privatization. In short, less government, as championed by US and UK leaders Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

The privatization of our power and water industries is an example of neoliberalism, which is also known as “globalization.” Among the reasons given by neoliberal economists for privatization is that government-run industries are inefficient. Inefficiency leads to higher costs, and therefore to higher prices, whereas privatization results in greater efficiency, less production costs, and lower prices.

But what we have seen is that the privatization of our power generation and water distribution has led to higher rates. Informed critics say our power rates are the highest, not just in Asia, but in the world. The cost of water services has also somersaulted upward many times, causing consumers, which include everybody, to protest loudly. The prohibitive costs of these essential services make our industries less competitive and lower our productivity drastically.

In the United States, the biggest power utility is owned by the federal government. The Tennessee Valley Authority, built at the height of the Great Depression in 1933, now runs 29 hydroelectric power dams, three nuclear power plants, nine combustion turbine plants, and five combined cycle gas plants. It provides cheap electricity to seven states. Numerous petitions to privatize it have been dismissed by the US Supreme Court on the ground that regulation of public utilities is in the public interest. On the other hand, the privatization of power in California by Enron turned out to be a disaster, resulting in blackouts and higher rates.

A look at the rise of rich nations will show that they all went through a process of economic protectionism under state direction—the opposite of liberalization—before becoming rich. Ha Joon Chang, a professor of economics at Cambridge, wrote in his book “The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism” that the United States, now the world’s richest economy, and Britain, once the richest, were both protectionist for long periods before they became rich.

Citing historical facts and statistics, Chang wrote that “the two champions of free trade, Britain and the US, were not only not free trade economies, but had been the most protectionist economies—that is, until they each in succession became the world’s dominant industrial power.” It was then that they “kicked away the ladder,” to prevent other nations from following and competing with them. During their protectionist period, from the mid-19th century to the end of the 20th, they charged the highest tariffs, 50-55 percent, versus 0-5 percent in the Philippines now.

What Rizal was telling Filipinos was that in striving for self-sufficiency and prosperity, they should look at what successful countries had done, rather than just listen to what they preached. In the postwar era, many countries emerging from colonization, like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan, followed Rizal’s advice. In the early 19th century, Japan went ahead and followed the protectionist footsteps of the prosperous Western countries which organized state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to monopolize strategic industries.

According to Chang, Singapore’s SOE sector is “twice as big” as South Korea’s, and the latter is “five times bigger than that of the Philippines.” If state ownership of strategic industries is bad for development, and privatization is good, then the Philippines should be ahead of these two other countries in economic growth.

In the 1950s, the Philippines, under Presidents Magsaysay and Garcia, adopted import and exchange controls to push industrialization, in defiance of the “open market” championed by neoliberalism. This lifted our country next to Japan in economic growth. There were full employment and high wages. But when the protectionist measures were scrapped at the beginning of the 1960s, the Philippines started sinking and is now at the bottom of the economic scale in Southeast Asia.

In La Liga Filipina, which he founded on July 3, 1892, Rizal introduced the rule of “mutual protection” of Filipinos. It also stipulated that “the introduction of machines and industries, new or necessary, shall be favored.” He learned from his travels and historical readings that without mechanization and technological competence, nations would fail. He was envisioning a Filipino society that is highly industrialized, like America and Europe. His idea of economic development was not derived from theory but from observation. It’s time we adopted Rizal’s pragmatic and curt advice.

Manuel F. Almario (mfalmario@yahoo.com) is a veteran, semiretired journalist. He is also spokesman for the Movement for Truth in History, Rizal’s MOTH.

How to grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 square feet

On many occasions, we've been tempted to grow our own potatoes. They're fairly low maintenance, can be grown in a pot or in the ground, last a fairly long time if stored properly, and can be very nutritious (high in potassium and vitamin C). Here's more incentive: according to this article, you can grow 100 pounds of potatoes in 4 sq. feet. Learn how after the jump...According to this article from theSeattle Times, potatoes planted inside a box with this method can grow up to 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet. All that is required:

• Lumber
• Seed potatoes
• Soil
• Careful attention to watering

The Times' guide for building a potato growing box yields up to a 100 lbs. of potatoes in a mere 4 square feet is shown below:

Plant as early as April or as late as August 1, with an approximated 3 month till harvest turnaround time.

Here are some pointers from the article:

• Cut apart larger seed potatoes, making sure there are at least two eyes in each piece you plant.
• Dust the cut pieces with fir dust, which seals the open ends from bacteria.
• Fertilize with 10-20-20 fertilizer at planting and a couple of times during the season.
• Water so that the plants are kept at an even level of moisture.
• Don't plant in the same area in consecutive years or use the same soil to fill your potato box, as potatoes can attract various diseases.

"To save space, Lutovsky recommends building a box and planting inside it, adding sides to the box as the plant grows and filling the new space with mulch or soil. When the plant blossoms, it starts setting potatoes in this added soil. Soon after that, you can start removing the bottom boards from your box and "robbing" the plant, reaching in carefully and pulling out new potatoes."

And if you're unsure of the nutrition content of potatoes, here's a handy label, compliments of the US Potato Board:

Seattle Times via LifeHacker.

These Disturbing Fast Food Truths Will Make You Reconsider Your Lunch

The Huffington Post  |  By Renee Jacques Posted: 11/20/2013 1:31 pm EST  |  Updated: 11/22/2013 1:56 pm EST

Fast Food, Video, Disgusting Facts About Fast Food, Gross Fast Food Facts, Gross Mcrib,Gross Taco Bell Meat, Old Mcdonalds Hamburger, Papa Johns Ingredients, Taco Bell Meat, Taste News

McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell -- which one are you craving today? It's pretty likely that you have a favorite fast food chain and that you love many of the tasty options offered at these restaurants. It's hard to miss them. As of 2012, there were 263,944 fast food restaurants in America with a combined revenue of well over $100 billion.

With a Gallup poll revealing that 8 in 10 Americans eat fast food at least monthly and half saying they eat it weekly, these companies know they have a good thing going. And with all the savvy marketing they do, it's no wonder you're itching for that Big Mac. But before you scarf one down, you might want to truly evaluate what's going on with your fast food. Here are some truths that may make you wonder if you still want to go to there for lunch.

Look at this delicious egg sandwich from Subway:

Too bad you're eating a lot more than just eggs:

David DiSalvo, a writer at Forbes, decided to really look into the eggs in popular fast food breakfast sandwiches. What he discovered was that their "eggs" are really a strange concoction that includes eggs and "premium egg blend." Some things that are in this special blend include glycerin, a solvent found in soap and shaving cream, dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicone that can also be found in Silly Putty, and calcium silicate, a sealant used on roofs and concrete. The age of just cracking an egg and cooking it has long since passed.

Here's what you get when you order McNuggets:.

But this is what they may have looked like before:

"Mechanically-separated meat" is a mixture created when the bones and carcass of a leftover chicken are mixed together in a food processor. There's been a lot of back and forth about what that lovely pinkish sludge actually looks like, but chef Jamie Oliver decided to create a chicken mixture, shown above, to show what it might theoretically look like. This slime is then molded into a nugget shape, breaded and fried. Reddit user "Dfunkatron," who claimed to be a former McDonald's employee, told a horrifying story about his workplace:

" [...] I accidentally left a whole bag of about 100 chicken nuggets out on a counter for way too long. They melted. Into a pool of liquid. I never understood why. But they were completely indiscernible as being the nuggets i once knew."

Here's a Doritos Locos taco from Taco Bell:

And this is what the meat looks like before it goes into that taco:

This meat-in-a-bag looks extremely appetizing ... it sort of reminds us of gingerbread. Back in 2011, Taco Bell came under fire over claims that its meat was only 36 percent beef. While the controversy has been cleared up and we now know that Taco Bell is serving meat, there's something weird about the fact that it gets delivered in plastic-wrapped sheets.

Mmm, here's a yummy McRib:

And this is how it was delivered to your McDonald's:

Recently, the limited-time only McRib created headlines when a Reddit user shared what the McRib "patty" looks like frozen. Don't worry, the "breaks" in the meat aren't real bones.

Maybe you're trying to be healthy with a side salad:

But unfortunately it may have some questionable chemicals in it...

Unsurprisingly, most fast food restaurants don't list the exact ingredients in their lettuce -- you wouldn't think they'd need to -- but many places dust their salads with propylene glycol to keep the leaves crisp. While considered safe for consumption, propylene glycol can be found in antifreeze and sexual lubricants. Above, a picture of someone's Burger King "side salad." We can't tell what's on it, exactly, but it looks sad.

You love the tomato-based sauces at your favorite chain restaurant...

But the FDA is cool if that sauce has maggots and fly eggs in it...

On the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's reports on "Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement and Criminal Investigations," the agency says it's acceptable for sauces to contain "30 or more fly eggs per 100 grams" and "1 or more maggot per 100 grams." At those levels, you probably wouldn't notice, and if you did, it's really just protein anyways. But still ... yum.

Here are America's favorite fries:

And here are those fries after aging for three years:

(Credit: Imgur/atopiary)

These McDonald's and KFC fries were sealed in these jars in 2008, and the photo was taken in 2012. A little more than three years later and the McDonald's fries show few signs of aging. Marion Nestle, chairwoman of NYU's food studies program, told Salon that you can thank heavy servings of preservatives for that ageless quality. She said McDonald's would have to use "a lot of sodium propionate to prevent bacterial or mold growth." If only eating fries would keep you looking so young.

There's nothing like an order of Papa John's pizza:

But the company refuses to tell you what's actually in their pies...

Their motto may be "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza," but Papa John's won't let you in on just what those "better ingredients" are. Melanie Warner, a writer for US News,found out firsthand when she called a Papa John's and asked about the ingredients. The employee told her, "I think they're listed on the website." When Warner realizedthe complete ingredient information wasn't actually listed there, she called Papa John's customer toll free number. She was told that if she wanted "additional information on allergen or nutritional info," she should leave a message with a certain representative. She left two messages and never got a call back.

While we're still largely in the dark, at least we know that Papa John's has pledged to stop raising sows in gestation crates, which confines pregnant pigs in small enclosures in which they cannot move. While mystery still remains as to what exactly is in Papa John's pizza, they're not the only ones who withhold this information.

Perhaps you would like to warm up with some Wendy's chili:

It's filled with sandy goodness...

Wendy's claims their chili has an "award-winning taste." Maybe that's because it has silicon dioxide in it. Also known as silica, silicon dioxide can be found in quartz or sand. It also serves as an "anti-caking agent,” allowing the chili to stay looking fresh.

Here is the McDonald's classic: a tasty hamburger:

And it looks like you can still eat it 14 years later:

Yes, that is what a McDonald's hamburger looked like after a man forgot it in his coat pocket ... in 1999. David Whipple, revealed to the TV show "The Doctors," that this 14-year-old burger appeared to have never aged. In 2010, J. Kenji López-Alt conducted a series of tests for Serious Eats to figure out if various burgers would rot over time. He theorized that the burger didn't "because its small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast. Without moisture, there's no mold or bacterial growth." We dare you to take a bite.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post stated antifreeze contains propylene glycerol; it in fact contains propylene glycol.