Category: Philippines

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rePost::John Cusack's Reddit AMA on Freedom of the Press Foundation – Boing Boing

We need something like this for the Philippines!

On Reddit today: “Hey, it’s John Cusack. I’m here talk to about Freedom of the Press Foundation, among other things. Ask me anything.”
More from his intro:
Hey Reddit, I’m John Cusack. I make films and we can talk about that if you like, but I’m also on the board of directors of a new organization called Freedom of the Press Foundation. My fellow board members include legendary whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, writers Glenn Greenwald and Xeni Jardin, award-winning documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, and EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow.
We all came together in December to try to start a broad movement to help protect and defend the First Amendment, given secrecy is at an all time high and whistleblowers have never been under greater attack. I wrote about it for Huffington Post here. You can also read the two talks I did with leading free speech law professor Jonathan Turley and Kevin McCabe here and here.
Back in 2010, WikiLeaks was cut-off from payment processors despite committing no crime, after unofficial pressure from a couple Congressman. We wanted to make sure that doesn’t happen to another journalism organization again, but we also wanted to help other organizations bring transparency to government.
So, we’re taking donations to WikiLeaks, but also supporting three other innovative organizations, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Truthout, and Public Integrity.
They each have a specific secrecy-busting projects on US drone strikes, the Guantanamo trials, and US defense spending your money will fund. And every two months, we’re going to support a new bundle of organizations similar to these. You can go to our website and donate to any or all of these organizations here: https://pressfreedomfoundation.org
So hopefully you donate. But whether or not you do, spread the word around and read and support these organizations that are doing such important work. Obviously everyone can’t afford to donate, but awareness and knowledge is just as important.
Ask me anything though.
You can follow me on Twitter here and Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Twitter account is here.
Proof it’s me.
via John Cusack’s Reddit AMA on Freedom of the Press Foundation – Boing Boing.

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Scary 2012 09 25

was riding a bus going home. One of the passengers got his mobile phone stolen and the robber threatened to use his knife against the driver who was too slow to open the bus.  I think the men at the front were just waiting for the driver to make a move, fortunately the people at the back were shouting at the driver to just open the fucking door so that the wouldn’t be put in danger.
 
I was sitting at the front so I knew that the driver had a metal tube beside him and had the advantage of the gas pedal.
 
Part of me wanted to beat that criminal to death.
 
The criminal ran towards NIA road. Fucking criminals.

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Sad State of PAGASA

It seems the employees of PAGASA after 5 months of keeping silent have all but lost hope in their sad plight.
It seems because of lack of fnds their SALA (Subsistence Allowance and Living Allowance) and Hazard pay has not been given to them.
This effectively reduces their gross pays by about 10-35% according to reports on TV.
This is sad because highly specialized/ highly skilled individuals like those of PAGASA really can walk away and transfer to other nations where they probably will have a better career and life in general. As is apparent from their muted protest and a marked guilt in protesting the people of PAGASA are doing this with a heavy heart.
 
 
I hope the good people of the DBM find ways to make the plight of their fellow government employees better.
 
I hope we can find a way to help our government scientist and specialist continue serving our country while not causing a disservice to their families.

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rePost::Learning to breathe underwater

Every problem contains within itself the seed of its own solution. The solution to flooding is really very simple: Give the excess waters a place to go. That is the function of wetlands, ponds, and lakes.
But what have we done? We have paved with concrete all available lands – including wetlands, low-lying, and flood-prone areas – and turned them into housing subdivisions and commercial centers. In other words, where there used to be water, we built our human settlements. And then we complain that there is water in the form of floods. Sino ang tanga d’yan? Ang tubig o ang tao?
via Learning to breathe underwater.

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Valdez: TRO issuance is a moral choice

He said that it will be difficult for judges to decide on petitions for a TRO with “moral grounds” as basis. “Moral choice is not an element” in the Courts decision-making process on TROs, he said.
via Valdez: TRO issuance is a moral choice.

 
To this  I will hide behind some of the giants of the US Supreme Court.  To say that Moral choice is not an element betrays a lack of appreciation of how important the judgement of the Supreme Court is. The reason that the Constitution is a living document is that it assumes that there is an element of statesmanship within the three branches of government but probably foremost in the Supreme Court Justices because of their non elected status.

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rePost:: Reading Club 2000 ::Ex Libris By: Ruel S. De Vera Philippine Daily Inquirer

For Guanlao, this is all he can ask for. The lessons learned from the 12 years spent watching over the Reading Club are extras. Foremost of this is trust. “It’s so hard to develop trust, but this has helped develop my trust and confidence in strangers.”
Another learning he has shared with people is how, despite the rise in the cost of living, some of the best things in life remains free. Guanlao recalls how people are shocked when they ask about the price of the books and he tells them they’re free. “They can’t believe it especially in a city like Makati.  Then they take their pick and walk away happily into the sunset.”
In the spirit of the Reading Club, Guanlao himself owns no books of his own-all of them are available for other people to read and take. “If I keep it, it’s useless,” he says. “You read it and just tell me the story. That’s my attitude.”
This is Guanlao’s chosen devotion, to make sure that here, in this unexpected nook of the city, you can find a good book, leaf through it amid the smell of freshly-cooked fishballs and the machine-gun clatter of tricycles, and fall in love with books again. •
The Reading Club 2000 is located at 1454 Balagtas St., Barangay La Paz, Makati City. For inquiries, call 0915-7291526 or e-mail readingclub2000@yahoo.com

Ex Libris By: Ruel S. De Vera Philippine Daily Inquirer
 
I’d like to emulate his example.