November 28, 2009
Hugg / greening the desert with permaculture
They laughed at him and said it couldn’,Replica Chanel;t be done. Nothing could be grown in that salt laden dustbowl. But Geoff Lawton had other ideas. He travels the world teaching others how to repair trashed environments that are beyond hope of becoming productive. In this story, Geoff talks about re-greening the deserts of Jordan. By applying the principles of permaculture, the Jordanians managed to salvage a heavily salted environment and turn it into a green oasis.
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November 24, 2009
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TravelVideo
By Unal Basusta, eTN Ambassador |
Air France-KLM on December 11 lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission regarding the conditions under which Lufthansa intends to takeover the Austrian flag carrier Austrian Airlines.
Air France-KLM has taken part during Fall to the initial bidding process leading to the privatization of Austrian Airlines but had unfortunately to come to the conclusion that it was not in a position to submit a financial proposal in accordance with the instructions imposed by the ?sterreichische Industrieholding AG (English: Austrian industry-holding stock corporation).
The Franco-Dutch airline group claims that the agreement reached in December 2008 between the Austrian authorities and Lufthansa does not follow the instructions imposed during the bidding process on Air France-KLM, and is in particular conditioned to a ?500 million debt cancellation by the Austrian state and based on a potentially lowered equity price for the state shareholder. The agreement signed by Lufthansa and officials of the Austrian government’s privatization agency gives the German carrier the state’s 41.56 percent share in Austrian Airlines. That deal carries a price tag of ?366,000 (US$465,000) but foresees additional payments of up to euro162 million depending on whether, and to what degree, Austrian turns profitable again. Lufthansa has also offered to buy the rest of Austrian Airlines for euro4.44 per publicly held share.
This is not the only front Air France-KLM had to face Lufthansa in the battle for European sky. Latest reports indicate Italian unions and politicians appear to be tipping the scales toward Lufthansa and leaving Air France-KLM behind over Alitalia.
CAI, a consortium of top Italian businessmen, came to Alitalia’s rescue with a 427 million euro purchase of its best assets to prevent the carrier being liquidated.
After weeks of suspense, Alitalia was kept flying after pilots and cabin crew members decided to back CAI’s rescue offer. But Italy’s powerful unions could still disrupt a deal with a foreign airline. Major unions like CISL and CGIL say they prefer Lufthansa because of its multi-hub strategy.
CAI said Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are still battling it out for a stake of as much as 25 percent in Alitalia. Despite media reports that Air France-KLM had already sealed the deal, CAI chief executive Rocco Sabelli said the competition was still open. A decision will be made by the year end, with the aim of having a foreign partner in place when Alitalia is relaunched as a smaller carrier on Jan. 12, he said.
CAI had also finalized the purchase of tiny Italian airline Air One, whose operations will be folded into those of Alitalia. It also aims to reduce the average age of Alitalia’s fleet to 8.6 years in 2009 from 12.4 years.
British Airways is also in the running to become a partner, but CAI said it favored Air France-KLM or Lufthansa because they were interested in taking a stake in Italy’s national airline, while BA only wanted a commercial partnership.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose drive to save Alitalia spurred the creation of the CAI group, said he would prefer a foreign rival to strike a commercial alliance with Alitalia rather than buy an equity stake.
Prime Minister Berlusconi has declared that Lufthansa is his preferred choice after saying that Air France-KLM’s failed deal, which he thinks wanted to acquire Alitalia on the cheap. Sensing the feeling chief executive of Air France-KLM, flew to Rome and agreed to back CAI’s decisions on hubs and the network if they were profitable.
Lufthansa, leading the pack in the European airline sector, has agreed to buy Brussels Airlines and is in talks to acquire SAS also. Some thinks Alitalia would gain from allying itself with a major partner rather than waiting to see where it is left in the end.
Now real restructuring will center around Northern Europe by Lufthansa, when they are done Air France-KLM can pick up what is left like Olympic Airlines and Malev Airlines which they look ripe for pickings.
Lufthansa wants Alitalia so that competitors won’t have the Italian market and with Alitalia alliance they can fill the 15 Airbus A380s that it has ordered.
But, Alitalia remains a tough sell given its history of labor action and failed restructuring efforts. But then again they are shopping in a buyer’s market and they’ll have to take whatever they can get.
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November 18, 2009
Frank Chavez opened the petition he filed before the Supreme Court last Friday, on behalf of his client, Army Major Jason Laureano Aquino,Replica Cartier,with a quote from Benigno Aquino Jr.,made before Military Commission No. 2 on August 2,Replica Handbags, 1973.
Ninoy Aquino’s words: “There is something that transcends all other considerations, something that is unique in the case against me. Two years ago, on August 24, 1971 – three days after the horrible massacre in Plaza Miranda – I was accused and pronounced guilty of the same charges by the President himself, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces…With due respect to all of you, how can this Military Commission reverse the President? Even if you want to because of your sense of justice, nonetheless, under Presidential Decree No. 39, the President has the power to change or reverse your decision.
“Sirs, I know you to be honorable men. But the one unalterable fact is that you are subordinates of the President. You may decide to preserve my life, but he can choose to send me to death…
“I have therefore decided not to participate in these proceedings: first, because this ritual is an unconscionable mockery…”
Chavez said, “Thirty-four years after the impassioned oration of the well-known martyr before a court martial, the county is again forced to witness a vicious spectacle of an innocent individual being hailed before a court martial that has been created and constituted by the very person who had already pronounced him and several of his co-accused guilty of the crimes charged and who retains the power to affirm or reverse the judgment against them.”
Ninoy Aquino and Jason Aquino are not blood relatives, but as Chavez noted, “the circumstances of the then and now are eerily identical. The surnames are even the same.”
Maj. Aquino stands accused, together with 27 Army and Marine officers headed by Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, for attempting to create mutiny and conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman before a special general court martial No. 2 (SGCM2) created by AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon. They were originally 38 but cases against 10 were dismissed. The case is in connection with the alleged planned withdrawal of support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006.
Chavez avers that the SGCM2 was illegally constituted by respondent, Esperon, who is the accuser/prosecutor of and witness against the persons charged and reviewer of the conclusions of the panel hearing the case.
Chavez said the continued prosecution of Maj. Aquino and his co-accused for violation of Article 67 of the Articles of War (attempting to create mutiny) cannot take place since its very basis, the Pre-trial Investigation Report, contrarily exonerated the accused officers.
Esperon overturned the recommendation of the PTI panel headed by Col. Al Perreras. Chavez said the Manual for Court Martial does not provide any specific power for the appointing authority to countermand the findings of investigators particularly in regard to the dismissal of charges.
Chavez underscored the injustice that Maj. Aquino had been subjected to as a result of the unjust and illegal proceedings conducted by the SGCM2. Aquino,Replica Wallets, he said, “has been incarcerated with neither warrant nor bail for his temporary liberty for more than a year now. For several weeks, he had been subjected to solitary confinement before being transferred to the detention facilities at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal where he is still detained.
“Despite the fact that the proceedings before the SGCM2 and petitioner’s continued prosecution for alleged violation of Article 67 of the Articles of War are illegal, unjust and unconstitutional,” Chavez said, Maj. Aquino “is still suffering the unbearable torment of being torn away from his family and deprived of liberty.”
Jason’s wife, Maria Fe, is on the family way and is due to deliver next month.
Before Aquino’s petition, General Miranda, Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, Col. Armando Ba?ez, Lt. Col. Custodio Parcon, Maj. Jose Leomar Doctolero, and Capt. William Upano had also filed a similar petition three weeks ago. Col. Ariel Querubin had also filed for a TRO before the Court of Appeals in December 2006 which remains unacted on.
Chavez filed a supplementary urgent motion for special raffle and urgent plea for court action because SGM2 proceedings are scheduled to resume on Thursday, April 27. That’s three days from today.
Chavez said that for Ninoy Aquino only history was able to absolve him. In the case of Maj. Jason Aquino, however, Chavez said, “It is not yet late for the courts of law to step in and render justice.”
Chavez pleaded: “Maj. Aquino seeks justice NOW, not vindication tomorrow, when this darkest chapter of the nation’s history would have already been written. Otherwise, not even God may spare this generation and its children from the dreadful curse of infamy.”
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Dear Ms. Tordesillas:
This pertains to your article titled “Nautical Highway” which appeared on your column in the Malaya Newspaper on 09 February 2007.
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Bukas (Oct. 28) na raw ang deklarasyon ni Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero para sa kanyang kandidatura para presidente.
Dapat matuloy na itong kanyang deklarasyon dahil sa kanyang kaka-postpone, akala tuloy ng marami hindi na siya matutuloy. Lalo pa ang kanyang original political team na kinabibilangan ni dating senador Serge Osme?a, advertising executive na si Yolly Ong, at political adviser na si Malou Tiquia ay umalis na sa kanya.
Ang asawa kasi ni Osme?a ay si Bettina Lopez. Siyempre kapag Lopez, Noynoy Aquino yun. Malaki ang utang na loob ng mga Lopez kay dating Pangulong Cory Aquino,LV Wallets, na ibinalik sa kanila ang Meralco at ABS-CBN na kinumpiska ni Ferdinand Marcos nang siya ay nagdeklara ng martial law.
Ang sabi ng isa sa grupo ni Chiz, sabi raw ni Yolly, kaibigan raw yata niya sina Aquino o ang kanyang mga adviser. Nang mawala na ang mga kasamahan ni Malou, sumunod na rin siya.
Tinanong ko si Malou kung lilipat din siya sa kampo ni Noynoy katulad nina Serge Osme?a at Yolly Ong. Sabi niya, “I will be above the fray.” Ang pagka-intindi ko hindi siya sasali sa ibang kandidato.
Si Lito Banayo ang bagong campaign manager ngayon ni Chiz.
Ang pagka-alam ko ang isang dahilan kung bakit na-antala ang pagdeklara ni Chiz, maliban sa kalamidad, ay ang kanyang bise –presidente. Gusto kasi ng Nationalist People’s Coalition ay si Sen. Loren Legarda na miyembro din ng NPC. Siyempre kailangan kumbinsihin si Loren na bumaba sa pagkabise na ginawa naman niya noong Biyernes.
Kaya lang naman sobra naman ang arte.Hanggang ngayon hindi niya sinasabi kung kanino siyang magiging bise. Nandiyan yung nililigawan daw siya ng kampo ni Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro ng Lakas-Kampi. Kinukuha daw siya ni Sen. Manny Villar ng Nacionalista Party.
Ang dating ay mukha yatang nagpapa-presyo si Loren. Pangit ang dating. Kahit ba marami ang nag-aalok sa iyo. Pipili ka dapat base sa prinsipyo, kung sino ang kandidato sa pagka-presidente na angkop sa iyong prinsipyo dahil bise-presidente and iyong tinatakbuhan. Dapat ang tumatakbo para presidente ang may programa at susuportahan yan ng bise- presidente.
Kaya humanga ako sa Samahang Magdalo sa kanilang desisyun na si Escudero ang susuportahan kahit na sa ngayon ay dehado si Chiz. Alam naman ng lahat na sinusuyo sila din sila ng Liberal Party.
Sabi ni dating Air Force 1Lt Ashley Acedillo, ang kanilang batayan sa pagpili ay character, vision, at leadership at lamang si Chiz kina Noynoy,Gucci Handbags, Villar at Erap.
Paliwanag sa akin ng isang Magdalo na opisyal: “Bago namatay si Pangunong Cory, at si Mar Roxas pa ang kandidato ng LP, sinimulan na nila ang pagtimbang ng mga mga presidentiable. Nang namatay si Cory,gucci replica bags, hindi naman naalis o nag-iba ang mga katanginan nay un ng mga presidentiable. Nawala lang si Mar Roxas sa kumpetisyun. Pinalitan ni Noynoy. Kung leadership ang pagbabatayan, mas lamang nga si Mar kay Noynoy.”
(Miyerkules
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by Gerard Naval
Malaya
From the Inquirer: SC sees no need for a TRO on payments
Elections chair Jose Melo yesterday rejected the call of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) to withhold the initial payment to Smartmatic/Total Management Information for the 2010 poll automation contract saying it would be tantamount to the complete stoppage of the entire project.
“It’s almost like imposing a temporary restraining order on ourselves,Burberry Handbags,” he told reporters.
“,Cartier Handbags;Why should we not pay them if they were able to deliver? They might not send their next deliverables if we don’t pay the previous deliverables,” Melo told reporters.
The group, led by UP Prof. Harry Roque last Monday asked the Supreme Court to stop the Comelec from releasing payments to Smartmatic/TIM saying the Philippine government stands to lose money if the High Court eventually nullifies the P7.2 billion automation contract.
The contract states the poll body will deposit in a bank the entire payment for the whole exercise.
It said Smartmatic/TIM can only withdraw the payments each time it delivers its goals and deliverables to the Comelec dubbed as “milestones”.
The Comelec’s calendar for the 2010 elections indicates that the first set of milestones – the “project initialization, set up project management team, and project systems including delivery of all software licenses and firmware” – is scheduled the end of the month with a payment amounting to 10 percent of the contract or about P720 million.
Melo said the poll body is putting up a project management office, to be headed by Comelec executive director Jose Tolentino.
Sen. Francis Escudero urged Smartmatic/TIM to proceed with the groundwork instead of insisting on a down payment of 40 percent from the Comelec or about P2.88 billion.
“We are losing more time. Smartmatic/TIM should be paying more attention as to how it intends to carry out its mandate of automating the elections as contained in the contract it signed with Comelec,hermes belts,” he said.
“Problems are now piling up and it does not look good for the consortium to insist on payment first without doing anything,” Escudero, co-chair of the congressional oversight committee on poll automation, said.
“It’s going to be a nightmare rolling out poll automation in one year. Now the real work should begin and this is what Smartmatic/TIM should be paying attention to, not billing,” he said.
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Naghamon ang Malaca?anang ng debate tungkol sa ekonomiya nang magpalabas ang Genuine Opposition ng isang advertisement sa mga diyaryo ng tunay na kalagayan ng ekonomiya.
“Call,” sabi ng GO. Ngunit ang pag-usapan ay hindi lang ekonomiya. Lahat na isyu.
Oo nga naman. Lahat ay magka-kabitkabit. Ang nangyayari sa pulitika ay may epekto sa ekonomiya. Ang pandaraya ni Gloria Arroyo sa eleksyon ay dahilan ng sinasabi niyang “instability” sa bansa. Kaya maraming pinapatay na mga aktibista at manunulat dahil maraming tinatago si Arroyo. Kapag walang tiwala ang mamamayan sa hustisya at batas, nakakaroon ng kaguluhan. Kapag may kaguluhan, bagsak ang ekonomiya.
Sabi ni Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, “Gusto ng mga tao makita at marinig ang mga plano ng mga kandidato para sa kanilang kinabukasan. Ayaw nila ng mga reklamo.”
Sabi ni GO spokesman Adel Tamano: “Gusto nila magdebate lang sa mga GDP at kung anong numero na kanilang pinapalabas. Ayaw nila pag-usapan ang mga totoong isyu na nagbabagabag sa sambayanan katulad ng “Hello Garci”, ang walang pakundangang pagpatay sa akbisita at sa mga journalsits, ang kurakutan sa pamahalaan.”
Dagdag pa ni Tamano, “Simpre lang naman para sa Filipino ang ekonomiya. Kung maganda, may trabaho sila at may spaat silang pagkain. Kung masama, marami ang walang trabaho at marami ang nagugutom.”
Ano ba ang sitwasyon natin ngayon. Bakit ba marami sa ating mga kababayan ang nagkukumahog mag abroad kahit sa mga bansang delikado katulad ng Iraq at Lebanon? Sado ng marami,Chanel Handbags, “Ayaw naming mamatay na nakadilat ang mata”. Sa gutom.
Sabi rin ng GO, ayaw nila sa Manila Hotel. Dapat sa Plaza Miranda.
Ayaw ng TUTA (Team Unity, Tuta ni Arroyo). Sabi ng kanilang spokesman na si Ace Durano,Replica gucci, “Gusto namin maayos. Ayaw namin ng sigawan. Kung sa Plaza Miranda natin gagawin, mayadong bukas ang lugar. Kahit maayos ang manood, baka may mga bastos sa paligid.
Sabi naman ni Tamano, “Dapat bukas sa publiko lalo na sa masa. Dapat sa Plaza Miranda para hindi lang mayayaman ang mismo personal makapanoong kungdi pati na rin ang mahihirap na masa.
Talaga. Ang pangit pa naman ng sound sa Manila Hotel.
Noong una,Hermes Purses, nang wala pang TV, sa Plaza Miranda talaga ang mga rally. Di ba doon nabomba sina dating Sen. Gerry Roxas at Jovito Salonga?
Ang paborito na tanong kapag may isyu ay, “Ma dependehan mo ba yan sa Plaza Miranda?”
Ang isyu ngayon ay si Gloria Arroyo, ang kanyang pandaraya at pagnanakaw. Kaya ba niya dependehan yan sa Plaza Miranda?
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November 17, 2009
Authorities have rounded up the remaining Magdalo soldiers involved in the six-hour standoff and herded them to one side of the Manila Peninsula Hotel lobby. ,Mulberry Handbags
The soldiers were ordered to strip to their shorts and lie face down; their hands were bound behind their backs.
Two Magdalo soldiers–Armand Pontejos and Francisco Bose–,Hermes Purses;were reported missing.
Authorities have banned journalists from taking footage inside the hotel.
Members of the media and other civilians,replica prada, including Francisco Nemenzo, Bibeth Orteza and myself, were prohibited from leaving the hotel.
PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’,replica prada;s Asher Dolina told us we’ll be taken to Bicutan for “processing.” Intel officers are taking photos of us.
I have asked the Malaya news desk to provide me a lawyer, in case I need one.