DPWH: dahil busy kami

More busy-body photo ops here!

from Pex

UPDATE: Wow, these busy-buddies made it to the Washington Post!

Queen Guine-beer

Your Royal Highness, were you denying that you are an alcoholic?
Bloody thirsty ain't you? uLOL.

x-x-x

Dear Santaklaws,

The queen wants to live an exciting life, to the exclusion of the mundane. Please, give her a truckload of SanMig, Redhorse, and StrongIce. And since you are near Finland, please give her a barrel of vodka, too.

riddle me ???

Yesterday, a riddle was posited by a friend. Enigmatic as it is, I was itching to ask somebody whom could have easily answered it. I was about to hit the send button, when suddenly a thought came up. NO. I would wait for it to unravel. Yes, wake me up when September ends. I would hate it if I'd spill the beans, or spoil the fun. So there, EQ points for me.

x - x - x

Dear Santaklaws, 

Are you reading this? See, I have restrained myself from spoiling the fun (I have a funny feeling about this). You owe me a gift Santa for this amazing muscle control I'm exerting. It's hard to control the muscle of my middle finger from hitting the send button.

song of rice and curry

Yey.. song and dance number :) yesssss cheeef!

coffee and coffin

My maximum intake of coffee is 1 cup, beyond that -- I would fell asleep. My limbs heavier, eye lids in auto-shutdown mode. So yes, coffee is my sleeping tonic.

And then, last night as I forced myself to sleep-- I dreamed a bad dream. It was so bad it was about death. Death of a highschool classmate. I saw the long procession of mourners. The mourners, I recognized - they are my classmates. And there's the coffin of my dead classmate, and a tarpaulin. A tarpaulin to let everyone know who is in the coffin. 

But why was I not one of the mourners? In that dream, I was even surprised that nobody apprised me of her death. (silly as I am, dreams are compartmentalize - it does not show nor tell the complete story, or maybe it does; it's just that we only remember the climax?). 

faster than fast

I wonder what would the gang of Dr. Sheldon Cooper says about this development.


Particles Moved Faster Than Speed of Light?
Ker Than
for National Geographic News
Published September 23, 2011

Neutrinos—ghostly subatomic particles—may have been observed traveling faster than the speed of light, scientists announced this week.

If confirmed, the astonishing claim would upend a cardinal rule of physics established by Albert Einstein nearly a century ago.

"Most theorists believe that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. So if this is true, it would rock the foundations of physics," said Stephen Parke, head of the theoretical physics department at the U.S. government-run Fermilab near Chicago, Illinois.

...

Relativity Still Very Close to Right

Even if the OPERA results are confirmed by other scientists, they wouldn't totally invalidate Einstein's theories of general and special relativity, Stanford University's Strigari stressed. Those theories still explain a remarkable range of observed phenomena in the universe.

"I think it's long been understood that the theories we have today aren't the full answers," Strigari said.

"If this observation holds up, then it's probably a good piece of evidence that the theories we currently have need to be reworked."

Drexel University's Goldberg agreed that physicists won't be discarding Einstein's theories anytime soon.

"Even if relativity turned out to be wrong," he said, "it's clearly very, very close to being right."

x-x-x-x

Here's how physicist converse... nosebleed. LOL

1. Andrew Foland says:

   September 23, 2011 at 3:12 pm

   The coordinate system used in their geodesy note linked above is Cartesian. Should you doubt that, you can take the square root of the sum the squares of the locations in Table 1 and find that it equals the earth’s radius. So they did not goof on curvilinear coordinates (at least, not in this way.)

   Reply
2. Conan776 says:

   September 23, 2011 at 4:34 pm

   Shouldn’t measuring the distance between two locations on Earth by the use of a satellite in orbit involve parabolas somehow, simply because the the Earth’s gravitational well? And so, like an object in a parabolic side-view mirror, the two locations might be closer than they appear?

   Reply
3. scott gray says:

   September 23, 2011 at 5:42 pm

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz-violating_neutrino_oscillations

   Reply
4. Joseph Bridgewater says:

   September 23, 2011 at 7:24 pm

   Can we review the design and simulation models for the FPGA used for time stamping?

   Reply

And if you wish to replicate and actually test the experiment, here's where you can download the OPERA paper.

valte is volta + storm

Enough of the rant. Here's something sober from Mr.Bong Austero of Manila Standard Today.

"But as a teacher, I feel I need to remind Valte three things.

First, the Palace should not take student protests lightly—aside from the fact that Benigno Simeon Aquino III (and the late Corazon Aquino, for that matter) owe the presidency to the student protest movement, history has shown that the collapse of many governments can be traced to sustained student protests.

Second, Valte probably needs someone to explain to her that the students are protesting something that affects them directly. In fact, if students take matters sitting down, they may not have the opportunity to do exactly what Valte tells them they should be doing; they may not be able to go to school anymore.

And third, I don’t know if Valte joined protests when she was a student (if she did, she probably didn’t learn anything from them), but there are a lot of things students can learn from joining rallies and demonstrations. I am not embarrassed to admit that I attribute many of my competencies (dealing with all kinds of people, public speaking, writing manifestos in ten minutes or less, even assertiveness, among others) from having joined and led student demonstrations when I was in college."

Bagyong Pedring

Sunday Rant: F*ck You Valte!

How can you tell the students and the faculties of the SUCs to focus on their studies when they stand to lose from these budget slashes?

And since you are a product of a private university, you are ignorant of the plight of the students from the SUCs, you are ignorant of their traditions. You despise these walkouts and protests and dismiss it simply as annoyance, or a nuisance. But your fat face and pearl accessories won't be able to understand any of these because you refused to do so. You are nothing but a barking dog. A lawyer by profession, yet nothing brilliant comes out of your f*cking fat mouth.

Yes, madam, you are one of the trash talkers of Malacanang, nothing but trash comes out of your fat mouth. Yes, this is non- sequiturs, and ad hominems, but you cannot deny the fact that you spout nothing but trashes! Please send sensible message.

Why not explain why the budget should be slashed that hard, explain perhaps why the funding for the CCT needs to be increased, explain why the President needs an X amount-in-billion personal budget.

And like you, I am barking at the wrong tree, I want to shoot the messenger who brings nothing but trash, don't you dare go to an SM mall.

So, yeah-- f*ck you Valte!

CCT v. Budget Cuts

picnapped: JOSEPH AGCAOILI/InterAksyon.com

I hope this administration wakes up from its vaunted narrow-minded path, and developed more sensible policies especially for education.

I was hoping that the amended UP charter will somehow unshackle the university from this yearly budget squeeze. Or at least, that was one of the selling point of that amendment. That had UP been declared a national university, the government would have no choice but to take care of it. 

It really is stupid to expect from our legislators, a number of them graduated from the State U, to passed a decent budget for the SUCs because after all they are focused on how much they could get for themselves. Or of kowtowing to what the palace wants so that their pork barrels would be released faster.

How could they explain these cuts? Why not abolish the CCT and realign its billion budget to something that is worth this country's while -- education, job creation. etc.

Hoy, gising! 

say cheese :)

Pnoy and other leaders at the Open Government Partnership in New York.

crashing

http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/2114/1/1/how-to-draw-a-meteor.htm

A Falling Satellite Catches the Popular Imagination
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: September 22, 2011

The odds that a falling satellite will kill you on Friday are probably zero — but maybe not quite.

NASA, via Associated Press -- A dead hulk of a NASA satellite the size of a bus is skimming the top of the atmosphere, and as air molecules bounce off, its orbit is decaying until gravity finally pulls it down as a fiery meteor.

To be specific, 26 large pieces of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, the heaviest about 330 pounds, are expected to survive all the way and hit the surface. The debris will stretch along a 500-mile path.

...

Launched in 1991 by the space shuttle Discovery, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was decommissioned in 2005 and placed into a lower orbit so it would not cause any problems for the International Space Station. Now, in what NASA calls an “uncontrolled” re-entry — there is no more fuel to guide it — it will plop down somewhere on Friday afternoon, give or take a few hours.

planking o flunking

Grabe. Henyo. Palakpakan para kay Rep. Castelo ng QC!

May anti-planking bill. Ano na nangyari sa FOI?

eh, kung anti- Dynasty bill na lang kaya ipasa niyo?!

Doctor No_y

Honoris Causa from Fordham, a Jesuit institution

sm +

SM now has a new moniker,


Suicide
Mall.

In a span of 5 days, 2 shooting incidents have been reported to have occurred in 2 different SM mall. The same involves matter of the heart. Sadly, today's shooting involves a minor. And the past week has been abuzz about how minors today are so brazen in committing petty and serious crimes for they know that they won't be punished.

How and Where did this minor get his gun?
How does the DSWD, or the police force determine if the minor has acted with discernment?

picnapped from : http://www.flickr.com/photos/life_begins_with_4t/2344050462/

daddy bieber

He represents the extreme left of my celebrity bell curve-disgust. He makes me puke (why Selena, why?). On the extreme right belongs to "the" Madame Auring and whoever is the granny's newest boytoy from some far-flung mountain, literally.

Yeah, the platitudes of love. love-conquers-all-drama. I am not against the teen pregnancy issue. Why would I, when it is happening in this gad-forsaken-baby-factory-3rd-world-country. It is a reality in this   predominantly Christian country whose literacy rate exceeds 85%, where the priests would rather savor in this reality than let the government inform the populace and distribute some condoms.

I am simply disgusted by Bieber. owo-howo-wohoho.period.

Galing & Talino*

MANILA, Philippines - The government must play its role as a conduit to the peace process but the ultimate solution must come from the people of Mindanao, former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said the other day.

picnapped: http://jefreyapuli.blogspot.com

Style

Patricia Evangelista wrote:

"This is Manila, home of the brave, the bold, the beautiful. This is where Manny Pacquiao fought his way to number one, and whose image a president once hoped to use in a tourism campaign. This is the Philippines of white beaches and giant eagles, where every hand is outstretched in welcome and every man, woman and child stands proud. This is the Philippines that ad agency Campaigns & Grey persisted in selling in spite of the creative limitations imposed by committing plagiarism. This is the Philippines that the new tourism secretary claims will sell as easily as Chickenjoy."

I like the way she juxtapose the events... 

yami-er version

pneruda: puedo escribir...

Si Becky

My officemates were huddling in a corner, heads down, as if sniffing each others breath. I caught some words they were murmuring... Becky... Si Becky. With all these office politics, I wonder who Becky was... A new employee? a promoted employee? 

From murmurs, day passed and they now talk about Becky in normal decibels. But still, I don't know who Becky was. She seems to be the subject of an undying chismis.

So, I hazard to ask one of my officemates, Ms.X, who this Becky is -- the one person who's always the subject of their animated conversations.

I was confused with the reply, I was confounded by her reaction, She's looking at me with disbelief as if she cannot decide who's funnier --- Becky or the fact that I don't know who Becky was.

coke zero mode+

PNoy hurls issue of ARMM reform back at SC

13-Sep-11, 4:31 PM | Chichi Conde, InterAksyon.com
 

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 2 - 7:51 p.m.) A disappointed President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday hurled back the issue of reforms in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at the Supreme Court after it issued a temporary restraining order against the appointment of officers-in-charge for the region.
...

Reacting to the TRO, Aquino said “the issue is simple” and raised four questions for the SC:

“Are you happy with the situation in the ARMM? Are you happy about the COA (Commission on Audit) report about the loss of 80 percent of (ARMM) funds that should have benefited the people? Is it that easy to forget the 57 people massacred in Maguindanao? Is it reasonable to expect reforms to happen if those who run and win if the (ARMM) elections push through are politicians whose focus will be to stay in power?”

x--x--x--x--x--x

Pnoy is barking at the wrong tree. Sir, no matter how noble your intentions are if they are stupidly against public interest and is palpably unconstitutional, the courts have to strike it down. If, you sir, think they are within the bounds of law, have your lawyers defend them as if their lives depended on it. But alas, poor craftmanship and dictatorial tendencies has caught up with your follies.


WTF, asking the court if they are happy? KAMOWN, are you serious mr. president? I guess, it would be easier if the courts would just decide cases base on their happiness of how things are, indeed, they are simple -- and laughable.

winner # 3

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) stopped Tuesday the implementation of Republic Act No. 10153 that postponed the election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and synchronized it with the 2013 national elections.

During its full court session, the SC also stopped the law’s provision that allowed President Aquino to appoint officers-in-charge for ARMM until the 2013.

..............................

Clearly, Rep. Lagman is correct when he said that Noynoy's folly “violates the constitutional guaranty of elective and representative regional officials in the ARMM.” You know that something's not right with the palace's legal think tank when their proposals and issuances are being trashed by the Supreme Court left and right.

winner # 2

Because nobody's perfect. God must have really thought that letting her win will make her perfect. But no, God is fair.

UPDATE: While busy here, my cousins outside are watching bandila. Shamcey is currently answering stupid questions from Karen Davila, and you really have to admire Shamcey for not blurting expletives towards the stupid questions of Karen. Wow, she's really grounded. No tinge of bitterness. Many have their say, some even question the question of Lea Salonga for being too easy. Many are downtrodden and affected as if the world has conspired to rob Shamcey of the crown. Yet listening to Shamcey and her explanations give you this feeling of fulfilment, a sense of balance that many if not most of the critics lack.

Winner

Yeh bah!

ninEleven

picnapped: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com

Terrorism is not new, but the scale and audacity of the attacks in New York and Washington make it obvious that familiar defensive strategies are inadequate and that the fight against terror must move from the periphery to the center of American national security planning and operations. An unconventional and frightening assault on the American homeland has commenced. The American people and their leaders must mobilize the resources to meet it.

...

Americans have long known that these resentments existed. The nation must now recognize and address the fact that hatred has turned into a malignant threat that can destabilize the underpinnings of the world economy and civil society. The World Trade Center was not just a symbol of American prosperity. It was an economic nerve center.

As horrible as it is to imagine, the United States must also consider a future in which the assaults carried out yesterday may be overshadowed by even more lethal nuclear, biological or chemical attacks by terrorists. We have long known that these dangers could be part of our future. It is now clear they may be nearer than most people thought. A concerted national effort to remake the nation's defenses must begin immediately.

NOTE: This is an editorial published by NY Times a day after the attack.

song & dance number

we need not be needy :)

sounding the alarm

“[In] 2016 I’m going to run [for] vice-president. No more boxing at [sic] that time” - Manny Pacquiao

wish list # 2

Dear Santaklaws,

I wish for a British Accent, i know right... I think Mr. Soriano's disdain for the language of the kalye (by the way SantaKlaws, he said it was just a satire, just that- a satire) and the love for the language of Math, Science, and pretensions is incomplete without this accent. This will surely separate me from the posse and the pretentious. By then, I am on a higher level of pretentiousness.

wish list # 1

Dear Santaklaws,

At the corner of my puny brain, I wanted a porsche. Please, pretty please... If not this year, may be next year. or the year after next. But you really have to give me a porsche, santa.

I wanted it, not because our president once owned a carrera but because someday I want to step out of my shiny porsche and walk to a guard and punch him in the head, in his mouth, in his belly, and kick him like a poor animal. I really like the "angas" of one of our legislators from the south. Like him, I would treat everyone like oompaloompas -- fealty creatures, because unlike them, I knew I am born into nobility, a sense of entitlement etched and flowing in my veins.

P.S.

Santaklaws, is there a school or an institution that would train me how to have that "angas"? Maybe you can also give me a GC for that.

what say you?

The drop in the ranking of UP, Ateneo, DLSU, and UST in the list of top universities have been worrying many sectors, and currently being debated upon. For one, Ateneo must be fuming mad since it is actively seeking to improve its rank, while UP publicly claims it was not participating yet emerges as the top PH school.

Only UP (or other State U's) can claim that the meager budget it received from the government has a direct correlation with what facilities it can maintain and how much happy their staff and faculties would be, but the same cannot be claimed by the private universities.

So what ills our schools?

Kaabang-abang

Dear Santaklaws,

Si Maja na lang po sana i-regalo niyo sa akin, para mailayo ko siya kay Coco at Matteo.

Oo nga po pala, inaabangan ko ang sasabihin ng palasyo. Kung paano nila sasabihin na mali ang mga ipinahayag ng embahada ng Amerika na ikinakalat ng wikilieaks tungkol sa "diffident and unassertive" na si Noynoy pero tama na kasangkot sa smuggling si Mike Arroyo.

Paano rin po kaya nila babawiin ang sinabi nila na ang dating Ambassador na si Kristie Kenney ay na co-opt ng Malacañang gayung malinaw na meron din naman pala silang cable tungkol sa malawakang pangungurakot na pinangunahan ng dating unang ginoo.

P.S.

Paano po kaya na-e-enjoy ni Mike Arroyo ang pinaghirapang niyang kulimbating yaman, gayong mahina naman ang kaniyang katawan? O nagpapanggap lang po siyang mahina?

Eto po pala reaksiyon ni Noynoy, lubhang hindi talaga siya nagiisip ano?


"US should improve Intel"


Sa tingin po pala ni Noynoy eh malalim na intel at pag e-ispiya ang ginugol ng nasabing embahada para lang maidikit sa katauhan niya ang nasabing diskripsiyon. Tsk.

diffident and unassertive

Use diffident and unassertive in a sentence:

“Previous contacts with Senator Aquino, often accompanying his mother... left the impression of a diffident, unassertive man continuing a political tradition handed on by his parents but not carving his own legacy” 

~ Former U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 001901 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM RP
SUBJECT: SENATOR AQUINO DECLARES PRESIDENTIAL BID 
 
REF: A. MANILA 1856 (MOMENTUM FOR AQUINO PRESIDENTIAL 
        BID GROWS) 
     ¶B. MANILA 1845 (DEFENSE SECRETARY DISCUSSES 
        ELECTION PROSPECTS) 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)...

COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10. (C) Senator Aquino's confident, energetic announcement today was a stark contrast to his diffident performance last week, when he appeared unwilling or unable to sustain the momentum created by Senator Roxas' decision to abdicate in favor of his colleague.  Aquino's spiritual retreat with the 
Catholic nuns who served as his mother's spiritual advisors appears to have strengthened his conviction to launch a full-fledged campaign.  It remains unclear whether Aquino can turn his shy, reserved qualities into strengths, appealing to 
voters by portraying himself as a man drawn reluctantly into the race by the will of the people rather than by ambition. 
However, in the span of just one week following his personal sequestering, he seems to have grown in confidence to carry out a grassroots campaign in the spirit of his mother and father, who are the most widely cherished figures in Philippine politics.  Aquino may be perceived as having had a 
lackluster political career, but he also appears to have a relatively clean record with no baggage of scandals, which could be a distinct advantage. 

Stimulate

Columnist Maceda wrote:

"President Aquino had expected his huge CCT releases to stimulate the economy. It did not. Isn’t it time to rethink the CCT program which is programmed to cost (the government) P306 billion up to 2015 with P39 billion programmed for 2012."

Questions:

1. Did the President really think CCT will stimulate the economy?
2. How? 

*** CCT is tantamount to a government gratuity, it's main purpose is to "transfer cash" to DSWD-identified recipient (supposedly the poorest of the poor) so that they will continue sending their god-forsaken kids to school. From this premise, the effect of this program would not be felt until this god-forsaken kids actually graduate, find jobs, and uplift their status to poor (from poorest of the poor).I never liked this CCT, not before (Arroyo), not now (Aquino). The gall of Sec. Soliman to increase their funding is beyond appalling.

fck

inquiry #1

Dear Santaklaws,

Paano po si Senator Ping, napaka naughty niya (eto po santaklaws ang babasahin) -- he does not deserve any gift from you. Siguro po ampalaya diet siya habang nagtatago noong nakalipas na taon. Nasabi ko po ito kasi walang tigil ang pagkalkal niya sa mga nakalipas na anomalya.

Hindi naman po sa hindi ito dapat halukayin. Sana po, mag file na lang sila ng mga kaso sa korte, kesa naman po sayangin ang oras ng senado para sa mga ito.

Dear Santa, pag lang po may natanggap na regalo si Senator Ping, at wala akong natanggap... I will cry.

good deed #1

Dear Santaklaws,

Eto ang unang good deed ko to qualify sa list mo ng mga mabibigyan ng regalo. Nahanap ko na po ang long lost sister ni Flo Rida - at sikat din pala ito. Malamang maganda ang genes nila, hanglalaki ng mga braso, e.

Ang mga larawan ay nakuha sa:

• http://www.ritmic.com/music/img/es/gal_florida096.jpg
• http://www.essence.com/2010/07/03/serena-williams-wins-fourth-wimbledon-ti/

ultimate Xmas song

The making of a classic xmas song (daw). enjoy!

At dahil ayokong may magsumbong kay SantaKlaws na naughty ako, i'll try real hard to be nice. Like this very original and xmas-inducing-mood mtv. Very relaxing. :)