Giancarlo Angulo's Blog
Published platforms
December 23, 2009 by mlq3
Filed under Daily Dose
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See my previous entries, Platforms and Platform time begins November 30.
In chronological order, the platforms thus far, are the following.
via Published platforms : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose.
Manolo Quezon is a gem. He has compiled all published platforms of Presidential Candidates to the 2010 National Elections of the Philippines.
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With the deal gutted, the heads of state session concluded with a final battle as the Chinese delegate insisted on removing the 1.5C target so beloved of the small island states and low-lying nations who have most to lose from rising seas. President Nasheed of the Maldives, supported by Brown, fought valiantly to save this crucial number. “How can you ask my country to go extinct?” demanded Nasheed. The Chinese delegate feigned great offence – and the number stayed, but surrounded by language which makes it all but meaningless. The deed was done.
via How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room | Mark Lynas | Environment | The Guardian.
Taking a vacation and using the Mayon Volcanic activities as excuse initially infuriated be when I read the reports. I am less mad now. I believe the President didn’t know if she was going to be China or USA’s lackey, might as well not get in the oven and get burned in the process. Shrewd move.
Copenhagen was a disaster. That much is agreed. But the truth about what actually happened is in danger of being lost amid the spin and inevitable mutual recriminations. The truth is this: China wrecked the talks, intentionally humiliated Barack Obama, and insisted on an awful “deal” so western leaders would walk away carrying the blame. How do I know this? Because I was in the room and saw it happen.
China’s strategy was simple: block the open negotiations for two weeks, and then ensure that the closed-door deal made it look as if the west had failed the world’s poor once again. And sure enough, the aid agencies, civil society movements and environmental groups all took the bait. The failure was “the inevitable result of rich countries refusing adequately and fairly to shoulder their overwhelming responsibility”, said Christian Aid. “Rich countries have bullied developing nations,” fumed Friends of the Earth International.
All very predictable, but the complete opposite of the truth. Even George Monbiot, writing in yesterday’s Guardian, made the mistake of singly blaming Obama. But I saw Obama fighting desperately to salvage a deal, and the Chinese delegate saying “no”, over and over again. Monbiot even approvingly quoted the Sudanese delegate Lumumba Di-Aping, who denounced the Copenhagen accord as “a suicide pact, an incineration pact, in order to maintain the economic dominance of a few countries”.
Sudan behaves at the talks as a puppet of China; one of a number of countries that relieves the Chinese delegation of having to fight its battles in open sessions. It was a perfect stitch-up. China gutted the deal behind the scenes, and then left its proxies to savage it in public.
Here’s what actually went on late last Friday night, as heads of state from two dozen countries met behind closed doors. Obama was at the table for several hours, sitting between Gordon Brown and the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi. The Danish prime minister chaired, and on his right sat Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN. Probably only about 50 or 60 people, including the heads of state, were in the room. I was attached to one of the delegations, whose head of state was also present for most of the time.
What I saw was profoundly shocking. The Chinese premier, Wen Jinbao, did not deign to attend the meetings personally, instead sending a second-tier official in the country’s foreign ministry to sit opposite Obama himself. The diplomatic snub was obvious and brutal, as was the practical implication: several times during the session, the world’s most powerful heads of state were forced to wait around as the Chinese delegate went off to make telephone calls to his “superiors”.
via How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room | Mark Lynas | Environment | The Guardian.
This was sad.
This is big. What this means we really have to guard against alot of the things we hear from the media, we must always try to correct media people when they report the things incorrectly. This probably means almost nobody is immune! Better Press Corp Please!
Does Biased News Have a Time Bomb Effect?
A European study shows that, over time, even the most sophisticated readers can be manipulated.
By: Melinda Burns | November 09, 2009 | 05:00 AM (PST) |
Even the most hardened Europeans may succumb to media manipulation and change their political views if they are bombarded long enough with biased news.
There's nobody more cynical about the media than your average European.
Only 12 percent of Europeans claim to trust the media, compared to 15 percent of North Americans, 29 percent of Pacific Asians and 48 percent of Africans, the BBC has found.
Yet new research out of the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests that even the most hardened Europeans may succumb to media manipulation and change their political views if they are bombarded long enough with biased news.
via Politics Articles | Biased News Has Delayed Impact | Miller-McCune Online Magazine.
This is so meta, blogging about a news report on a UN report.
Unless I’m reading this incorrectly, the word the writer was thinking of was comprises not compromises.
UN report – Children hardly figure in national budget
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:09:00 10/30/2009
Filed Under: Population, Justice & Rights, Human Rights
MANILA, Philippines–While they compromise almost half of the country’s population, children hardly figure in the budget and allocation for their concerns and needs remain measly every year, according to the report of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child.
via UN report – Children hardly figure in national budget – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.
This was a nice piece of reportage! I’ve had this meme copied from prof Brad Delong of a better press corps. Praise to those who deserve it ! Nice piece ! Hope you continue doing good work!
Waterway settlers brace for both ‘Ramil’ and demolition
JUN VERZOLA with BRENDA BARRIENTOS, GMA NEWS RESEARCH10/20/2009 | 05:05 AM
As typhoon Ramil, the fourth typhoon to enter the country in 30 days, starts to threaten Luzon, nearly 108,000 urban poor families living as “informal settlers” along Metro Manila waterways are unsure which disaster will befall them first.Will it be another monster flood rushing across their makeshift communities? Or will it be forced evacuation and eventual relocation under a government program aimed at clearing the clogged waterways of the metropolis?In the wake of the double-whammy cyclones “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” that hit the country since late September, President Arroyo had ordered the forced relocation of urban poor communities living near waterways and other danger areas in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.In particular, the disastrous killer floods that engulfed wide swaths of Metro Manila at the height of “Ondoy” brought again to the fore the long-standing question about the role of these urban poor communities. The shanty-towns and their garbage block the flow of water, thus worsening the impact of typhoons, so goes the criticism.
via Waterway settlers brace for both ‘Ramil’ and demolition – Nation – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News.
Nothing against the former president but This is fucking pathetic!
The nationwide survey of 1,500 respondents was made June 19 to 22, a few weeks before the death of the late president Corazon Aquino which is believed to have changed the political landscape for the 2010 elections.
via Villar again tops new SWS survey – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.
Ex-sexy star Aleck Bovick lightens up Senate mood
AMITA LEGASPI, GMANews.TV
05/18/2009 | 10:24 PM
Email this | Email the Editor | Print | ShareThis
MANILA, Philippines – Former sexy actress Aleck Bovick had a share of the limelight, albeit short, during the Senate session Monday.
The name of Bovick came up after Senator Loren Legarda delivered a speech on the alleged racial slur by Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin against Filipinos.
Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri referred her speech to the Committee on Women.
Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, who is presiding the session, asked Zubiri in jest if he was referring to Aleck Bovick.
Zubiri replied: “I know Aleck Bovick is a personal friend of yours but [we are referring to] Alec Baldwin.”
via GMANews.TV – Ex-sexy star Aleck Bovick lightens up Senate mood – Entertainment – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News – BETA.
McCarney and Starr have appeared together only a handful of times since the Beatles disbanded in 1970, the last time at the 2002 “A Concert for George,” a tribute to the late Beatles guitarist George Harrison.
via McCartney, Starr ‘come together’ for charity – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.
![The Philippine senator Francis "Chiz"...](http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chiz_0061.jpg "The Philippine senator Francis \"Chiz"...")
Escudero is either trying to appear more stupid everyday, or someone has kidnapped him and replaced him with a small intellect, will do say anything to get in the news papers guy. First there was this stupid comment on educational system of the Philippines (writeup from a blogger here), now we have these stupid comments on ghost riders.
Escudero: Gov’t should take over MRT
By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net First Posted 22:26:00 03/17/2009
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Francis Escudero on Tuesday called on government to take over the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRT) instead of spending millions of pesos on “ghost riders.”
Hate it when politician pretend to be stupid, as I assume he is trying to do, the previous statements basically sidesteps the BOT scheme that the government got into, this is the real reason that the government is spending millions, they guaranteed return now we have to bear with the program.
Escudero said his calculations indicate that the government shells out a subsidy of about P42 per passenger, computed against the amount of public funds funneled into the MRT.
I think the figure is not that far of although a little in the small side.
“It is like paying for almost three riders more at the current fare…of the MRT, which on the average, is P14 per passenger. The government is paying for riders who are non-existent,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The worlds that were emphasized is what really got me riled up. First this is a mischaracterization of the problem, why? You see what the government is actually doing is subsidizing the people who use the MRT. I’ve been aware of this subsidy for a long time, that’s why when I started working in ortigas I took the mrt whenever I am in a good mood enough to brave the crowds. Why? simply put 42 pesos for a ride at two rides per day at a conservative figure for days worked per month of 20 gives us a monthly subsidy of about 1680 per month which is a non trivial part of the taxes paid by people earning less than 20 thousand pesos per month, which based on the median monthly earnings of filipino workers constitute a large block of people.
Riding the MRT made me feel that in some ways at least for me the Government is having a Neutral to Beneficial effects on me.
Now based on the useless hearings in the senate and congress and all the useless government expenditure that the government lavishes on a whole class of people in this country I think that people like me, People who actually earn their keep , pay their taxes etc have a right to at least be given small services such as the mrt.
I’ll exercise some inner rantiness and plain petiness and simply say,
“In some ways you could close the senate and congress and probably we wouldn’t even notice, but close down the MRT or other govt services that actually work and we notice right away “
“The MRT has long been bailed out by the government. While its coaches are always full, its coffers are always empty,” Escudero said, noting the government spent P579 million in 2007 and P618 million in 2008 to subsidize the mass rail transit system.
In fairness to the senator I suspect that he knows all of this and is just trying to find a way to communicate things effectively to the Filipino people.
My real problem is that instead of using this as an opportunity to increase the level of debate in our country he goes down to the level everyone has already been accustomed to, an interpretation of reality that is far from grounded in facts.
I can’t end in a bitter note so I’ll post what I believe Chiz got right:
Aside from these, Escudero said the MRT has a maintenance contract with a Japanese firm, which he described as “onerous” compared to what the Light Rail Transit Authority pays for the upkeep of the two lines it runs.
He said the MRT has a high maintenance contract with a Japanese firm, which is onerous if compared with lower fees the LRTA is paying for the upkeep of its two lines.
“To top it all, MRT’s debt carries a high 12.5 percent to 15 percent annual interest rate,” Escudero said.
He said it would be better if the government simply took over and ran the MRT.
Taking a line from alot of liberal bloggers/commentators is not a crime especially if it is so apt in this situation. This is what he should have emphasized.
“If we own it, then let’s run it. And let it be a reminder that when it comes to private-public ventures, never again should we end up privatizing profits while debts are nationalized,” he said.via Escudero: Gov’t should take over MRT – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.