I am quite pleasantly surprised that the three brave attack dogs senators have been joined by the senators that inspire my trust Angara, and Osmeña. They were even joined by the ever memory challenged senator Marcos.
This smells fishy to me. My gut feeling is that the way that Binay is sniping at the President has once again irked the President enough to have allies commence a second offensive.
The first time I believe was the tsismis that Binay had prepared an attack ad to snipe at the accomplishments of the President. Only then as rumors say that the President allowed the invigorated attack on the VP.
A maverick currency scheme from the 1930s could save the Greek economy | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian
Why is this not known more?
In its original form, stamp scrip was a piece of paper on which a number of boxes were printed. The note would lose its validity unless a stamp costing 1% of its value was stuck in one of the boxes every month. In other words, the currency lost value over time, so there was no incentive to hoard it. Stamp scrip projects took off across Germany and Austria after national currencies collapsed in the early 1930s. In 1932, for example, the Austrian town of Wörgl was almost broke, unable to finance public works or to support its destitute population, until the mayor heard of Gesell’s proposal.
He put up the town’s tiny remaining fund as collateral against the same value of stamp scrip, and used it to pay for a building project. The workers then passed on the currency as quickly as they could. Like the magic pudding, this little pot of money kept circulating, enabling Wörgl to repave the streets, rebuild the water system, construct houses, a bridge and even a ski jump. In the 13 months of the experiment, the 5,500 scrip schillings in circulation were spent 416 times, creating between 12 and 14 times as much employment as the standard currency would have done. Unemployment vanished, and the stamp fees paid for a soup kitchen feeding 220 families.
via A maverick currency scheme from the 1930s could save the Greek economy | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian.
A maverick currency scheme from the 1930s could save the Greek economy | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian
ompare the terms demanded of the Greek government to those offered to the banks. Eurozone ministers now insist upon unconditional surrender: a national abasement that makes a mockery of democracy. But when the banks were bailed out, governments magicked up the necessary money almost unconditionally. They shyly requested a few token reforms, then looked away when the bankers disregarded them.
The German government, now crushing the life out of southern Europe, merely tickled its own banks. As the New York Times reported, though the corrupt German banking system “required a bailout bigger than the one American banks received”, “there is little appetite for change in Germany because the banking system is so deeply intertwined with its politics, serving as a rich source of patronage and financing for local projects”.
When the Greeks complain that they have been reduced to colonial subjects, they are right, but the colonial masters are not the northern members of the eurozone. They are the private banks. The governments that seem determined to destroy a sovereign state for its impudence are merely the intermediaries of power.
via A maverick currency scheme from the 1930s could save the Greek economy | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian.
Boy Scouts ‘so shortchanged’ in Alphaland deal – senators
Angara also raised a question that emerged in the wake of the deal’s exposure: how is Binay able to remain as BSP national president for nearly two decades? Binay led the BSP from 1998 to 2000, and again in 2001 up to now.
The senator said that for other government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), the President can change the head of the agency.
via Boy Scouts ‘so shortchanged’ in Alphaland deal – senators.
Boy Scouts ‘so shortchanged’ in Alphaland deal – senators
Besides the usual trio heading the investigation into alleged anomalies of Vice President Jejomar Binay, senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Sergio Osmeña III, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr joined the inquiry on Wednesday, February 18. Senators Aquilino Pimentel III, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Antonio Trillanes IV led the probe.
via Boy Scouts ‘so shortchanged’ in Alphaland deal – senators.
The myth of control | Inquirer Opinion
I am sure their answer would have been no different from that of the MILF: They didn’t know. I think that we are in no position to demand of the MILF what we do not expect our own officials to know.
Let’s face it. In our heart of hearts, we know that, despite the existence of the formal institutions of national government, political control over many parts of Muslim Mindanao is at best tenuous and unstable. The Philippine state cannot claim monopoly of force in these parts. We know only too well how every adult in Muslim Mindanao aspires to own a gun as a means of personal protection in frontier-like conditions. No one bothers to have these weapons licensed by the Philippine government.
Our local officials and police in these areas know this, but choose to look the other way. All kinds of armed groups operate in this region. They put up checkpoints demarcating the territories they consider theirs, and collect fees in exchange for passage. So long as they do not kill or abduct people for ransom, or destroy government facilities and private property, our authorities do little to suppress them—in prudent observance of peaceful coexistence. But, out of ignorance or for reasons of our own, we in Manila continue to promote the fiction that Muslim Mindanao is an integral part of the Filipino nation-state. On paper, it is so. But, in practice, Filipino sovereignty over Muslim Mindanao is at best a work in progress.
via The myth of control | Inquirer Opinion.
Who won in new DAP ruling? | Inquirer Opinion
Who won? Plainly, the government won because the Court partially granted its motion for reconsideration by limiting personal liability only to the “authors” of the DAP, and only after other tribunals find evidence showing bad faith and culpability. Otherwise stated, the DAP decision cannot, by itself, be a source of liability.
Clearly, the above-quoted constitutional exception is quite difficult to comprehend. In fact, on March 5, 2013, the Court itself asked for the cross-border transfer of P100 million from the Department of Justice’s budget to the judiciary for the construction of the Malabon Hall of Justice. This request was, however, withdrawn on Dec. 23, 2013, after the petitions questioning the constitutionality of the DAP were filed.
This shows that even the keenest legal minds can misconstrue the exception. Hence, it is fair and reasonable that the doctrine of operative fact should validate past acts, and that everyone, including the “authors,” should be given the presumptions of innocence, good faith, and regularity in the performance of official duties.
Far from condemning it, the DAP, said the Court, “is a policy instrument that the Executive, by its own prerogative, may utilize to spur economic growth and development.” Moreover, unlike in the case involving the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund), the Court did not find any public money malevolently flowing into private pockets, or to pseudo foundations, or to fake nongovernment organizations.
At bottom, I think it is reason, logic and fairness that really won.
via Who won in new DAP ruling? | Inquirer Opinion.
Who won in new DAP ruling? | Inquirer Opinion
Who won? Plainly, the government won because the Court partially granted its motion for reconsideration by limiting personal liability only to the “authors” of the DAP, and only after other tribunals find evidence showing bad faith and culpability. Otherwise stated, the DAP decision cannot, by itself, be a source of liability.
Clearly, the above-quoted constitutional exception is quite difficult to comprehend. In fact, on March 5, 2013, the Court itself asked for the cross-border transfer of P100 million from the Department of Justice’s budget to the judiciary for the construction of the Malabon Hall of Justice. This request was, however, withdrawn on Dec. 23, 2013, after the petitions questioning the constitutionality of the DAP were filed.
This shows that even the keenest legal minds can misconstrue the exception. Hence, it is fair and reasonable that the doctrine of operative fact should validate past acts, and that everyone, including the “authors,” should be given the presumptions of innocence, good faith, and regularity in the performance of official duties.
Far from condemning it, the DAP, said the Court, “is a policy instrument that the Executive, by its own prerogative, may utilize to spur economic growth and development.” Moreover, unlike in the case involving the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund), the Court did not find any public money malevolently flowing into private pockets, or to pseudo foundations, or to fake nongovernment organizations.
At bottom, I think it is reason, logic and fairness that really won.
via Who won in new DAP ruling? | Inquirer Opinion.
Ignorant, or arrogant, in the Senate | Inquirer Opinion
If, say, 500 MILF rebels join the BIFF in rejecting the final shape of the Bangsamoro, that would still leave some 11,500 of the MILF ready to join the Philippine mainstream for the first time. That would make the deaths, not only of the SAF 44, but of the 120,000 killed in the conflict since the 1970s, worth the sacrifice.
via Ignorant, or arrogant, in the Senate | Inquirer Opinion.
Ignorant, or arrogant, in the Senate | Inquirer Opinion
There is much more to this issue than the bluster of Santiago, the opportunistic emotionalism of the Cayetanos, or the insidious obtuseness of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.When Marcos pretends to be shocked! shocked! that the MILF still considers itself a revolutionary movement, before the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro takes full effect, does he even remember that his own mother negotiated with the Moro National Liberation Front when it was still an insurrectionary movement? Of course something remains what it is until change is complete; to think otherwise is to raise impossible expectations.
via Ignorant, or arrogant, in the Senate | Inquirer Opinion.