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Charter for Compassion (post 2)

from http://charterforcompassion.org/

A call to bring the world together…
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

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Stupidity::Comelec says gay party 'immoral'

as I stated previously, as Abraham Lincoln said: If this isn’t wrong, nothing is wrong.
I refuse to discriminate anyone on the basis of who or what gender they choose to love. This is wrong.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/11/12/09/comelec-says-gay-party-immoral

Comelec says gay party ‘immoral’
________________________________
by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 11/12/2009 8:56 PM
Comelec Rules that Ang Ladlad poses ‘risks’ to Pinoy youth
Ang Ladlad to appeal decision
Danton Remoto: Comelec’s ideas on homosexuals are ‘obsolete
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday rejected Ang Ladlad for party-list accreditation on the grounds that the party advocates “sexual immorality” and “immoral doctrines.”
Ang Ladlad is an organization of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT).
In a ruling dated November 11, the Comelec said that although the party presented proper documents and evidence for their accreditation, their petition is “dismissable on moral grounds.”
Page 5 of the ruling states that Ang Ladlad’s definition of the LGBT sector as a marginalized sector who are disadvantaged because of their sexual orientation “makes it crystal clear that the petitioner tolerates immorality which offends religious beliefs.”
The document quotes passages from both the Bible and the Koran (taken from internet site www.bible.org) that describe homosexuality as “unseemly” or “transgressive.”
The Comelec goes on to state that accrediting Ang Ladlad would pose risks for Filipino youth.

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rePost::AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification

If perchance there is a randomized trial here in Manila please text me I’m volunteering.

AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification
Category: Obama Administration • drug war • drugs • health policy • marijuana • medicine
Posted on: November 11, 2009 12:37 PM, by Nick Anthis
Yesterday, the influential AMA (American Medical Association) announced that it would cease its opposition to the concept of medical marijuana and instead advocate for a change in federal classification of the drug. From the LA Times:
The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.
The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.
In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.
“Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis,” said Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, noting that the limited number of studies was “insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product.”
via AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification : The Scientific Activist.

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rePost::Paul Collier — Five myths about elections' power to change nations

4. Elections compel new democratic governments to overspend, worsening economic policies and performance.

When I investigated elections’ effect on economic policy in newly democratic countries, I found that populist pressure does cause policies to deteriorate somewhat in the year before an election. They certainly did in Ghana in 2008. But governments that face frequent elections have significantly better economic policies when they are averaged over the political cycle, and governments that become subject to elections improve their policies.
Unfortunately, there is a caveat: Elections in which there is misconduct have, at best, no effect on economic policy because governments are off the hook of accountability. For example, President Robert Mugabe chose to wreck the Zimbabwean economy precisely when he was facing contested elections. His policies were not even populist; he simply relied on fraud and intimidation to establish policies that benefited only a tiny political elite.
via Paul Collier — Five myths about elections’ power to change nations – washingtonpost.com.

This is a good reason why we cannot just let the alleged (damn political correctness)  election cheating/corruption/graft and overall crookedness of the present administration.

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rePost::Letters of Note: If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I might take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power.
via Letters of Note: If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.

I am beginning to believe that this is how we are going to view same-sex marriage(same-sex Civil Union).

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Site Redesign

Spent the better part of the day on this redesign.
I used a new theme (color green has grown on me).
I customized most of the settings, even the ads.
Hope you like the changes.
I was inspired by seeing this quote

A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.
Victor Hugo
French dramatist, novelist, & poet (1802 – 1885)

I’ve been so absorbed in thought lately that I was questioning myself. I did this because the invisible labor was weighing me down. I wanted to do something, anything that I could see.
Once again, Hope you like the changes!
Loved listening to this:

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rePost:On Trust:Thanks Matt for listening… (Scripting News)

There isn’t enough trust in the world, imho. People can’t tell, or don’t take the time to find out, if someone is trustworthy. The other day I asked this question of an editor at a major newspaper — why don’t you trust your readers? I ask this of Apple, why don’t you trust your users? What about the government, why doesn’t it trust its citizens? Ultimately all these institutions must listen to the people they serve. The news and tech industries, even governments — will eventually listen.
The reason people are reluctant: If you extend trust, sometimes you’re going to get burned. And if you never trust anyone, you’ll never be hurt. But you won’t have much of a life. So you have to develop a sense of who and what you can depend on.

via Thanks Matt for listening… (Scripting News).

This paragraph really hit me hard. It made me ask the question are you someone you would trust? I am not ok with my answer to that question!

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Philippine Internet Users Part 2

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Internet users as percentage of population, Philippines
5.97% of population – 2007
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
www.google.com/publicdata
via internet users philippines – Google Search.

PHILIPPINES
PH – 97,976,603 population (’09) – Area: 300,000 sq km
Capital City: Manila – GNI p.c.US$ 1,170 (’04) per World Bank
24,000,000 Internet users as of Jun/09, 24.5% penetration, per N-O
967,600 broadband subscribers as of Mar.31/08, per ITU

picture above from here

Was really piqued in an interview of Noy’s Media Manager Yolanda Ong with her data of 26 million internet users. as shown by my post here . Luckily Google was awesome enough to release google public data WOOT! this is so cool, probably my super time sink for this week!
PS: the 26 million figure was only about 1-2 million more than the estimate of 24++ so good enough!