Member’s Forum Page 2
Hotel Majestic, Prague
I’ll add another page when comments get around the 400 mark. Page 1 has some excellent discussion about barangay law enforcement, making salsa, American politics, home gardening and water use, empowering women and even men, inheritance taxes, Mother Teresa and the poor, value development, transportation solutions, using waste and recycled materials for power and other applications, lessons from Singapore, free homes for the poor, and a whole lot more.
We had no visits by trolls, and I only had to kick out one member for lack of restraint in word choice.
I find the discussion, informative, thought provoking and entertaining.
Thanks to all for your contributions, insights and good humor.
Onward to Page 2, at your will.
JA
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Now you can ride your suitcase around the airport.
Better than a wheelchair, or heavy, motorized scooter – for the able bodied and PWD traveler.
Ohh .. that will be good for flight attendants after a long tiring flight.. But it won’t look professional or practical esp with skirts or long skirts:))).. As for passengers, walking should be good for them after sitting down (or lying down) inflight for a long time I think:)
It is said that with all these conveniences that don’t exercise the muscles, humans will evolve with a big head and corresponding brains and little other parts and limbs, except for fingers to touch the screen of gadgets. Too much waste goes into feeding other parts of the body. It will also be space savers and will help conserve energy and lessen the pace of climate change.
so sorry to interdict influenced by news piece.
This is NOT ABOUT for or against anybody
This is about John Donne’s sorrow and lament
When he said any person’s death diminishes him
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-man-is-an-island/
this NOT ABOUT DU30 OR DELIMA
this is not about writers who gets food and sustained by their pens
Not about politicians or policemen or reformers
Fighting or dying for morality and immorality
Or political correctness
This is about DEATH more important than being alive
“Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind”
This is LIKE, a selfless post, the statistics of indifference
Bago lang mainit pa, parang hot pan de sal:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/%E2%80%98this-is-unprecedented-174-heroin-overdoses-in-6-days-in-cincinnati/ar-AAicOAz?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
‘This is unprecedented’: 174 heroin
overdoses in 6 days in Cincinnati’
The original numbers were startling enough — 30 heroin overdoses across Cincinnati in a single weekend.
Then they just kept climbing.
Another 78 overdoses and at least three deaths were reported during a 48-hour period Tuesday and Wednesday.
And at the end of last week, after a six-day stretch of emergency room visits that exhausted first responders and their medical supplies, the overdose tally soared to a number health officials are calling “unprecedented”: 174.
On average, Cincinnati sees four overdose reports per day, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, and usually no more than 20 or 25 in a given week.
But pure heroin is what’s responsible for that average. And that’s not what’s on the streets now, they say. The culprit responsible for the staggering number of 174 was likely heroin cut with the latest opioid boost meant to deliver consumers a stronger, extended high — carfentanil. That’s a tranquilizer for, among other large animals, elephants. And it’s 100,000 stronger than morphine.
For now, law enforcement officials have been unable to track down the source of the toxic cocktail, but believe the spate of record-high overdoses could be caused by a single heroin batch laced with carfentanil.
State, local and federal authorities have mobilized across Hamilton County — home to Cincinnati — to investigate the source or sources, Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan told the Enquirer.
Synan also heads the law enforcement task force for the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition, which was created so public health and law enforcement officials from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky could collaboratively combat the heroin epidemic plaguing the tri-state area.
Additional heroin overdoses reported in that area, plus New Jersey, tipped the total to 225+, according to reporting on Fox 13 News Now.
In the same time period of the Cincinnati overdoses, 13 were reported in Jennings County, Ind., last Tuesday, 12 were reported on Wednesday in Montgomery County, Kentucky, and 29 overdoses linked to free samples of heroin, marked with a Batman symbol, were reported between Tuesday and Thursday in Camden, New Jersey.
That comes after 27 people overdosed during a five hour period on Aug. 15 in one town in West Virginia.
But the epidemic surrounding Cincinnati has captured the most national attention — and area leaders are not sugar coating the situation.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Hamilton County Commissioner Dennis Deters told the Enquirer.
He called the startling uptick a public health emergency.
“This is unprecedented to see as many alerts as we’ve seen in the last six days,” the county’s health commissioner, Tim Ingram, told the Enquirer Friday.
Officials have even begged people to turn away from the drug while the source of this potent batch is still a mystery.
“We’re urging you, please don’t do heroin right now,” Synan said, according to WCPO Cincinnati. “If for no other reason, because we don’t know what’s in the stuff on the street.”
Carfentanil, a cousin of the less potent but still dangerous opioid fentanyl, is the strongest commercially-used opioid. As they continue to do with fentanyl, drug dealers have begun cutting their heroin supplies with carfentanil to make it stretch for longer periods of time and deliver stronger — and more addictive — highs.
“These people are intentionally putting in drugs they know can kill someone,” Synan told WCPO. “The benefit for them is if the user survives it is such a powerful high for them, they tend to come back … If one or two people die, they could care less. They know the supply is so big right now that if you lose some customers in their eyes there’s always more in line.”
Further complicating matters is that Narcan, the nasal-spray version of the drug Naxalone, which reverses the side effects of an overdose, isn’t working anymore, at least not as reliably. Usually one, maybe two doses of Narcan will stabilize a patient. But the recent overdoses required two or three times that dosage.
Tests to determine if the heroin contained fentanyl or carfentanil aren’t yet available at most hospitals in the city, the Enquirer reported.
“We can’t confirm in the short term if someone’s had fentanyl, carfentanil or heroin — the tests flag only as positive or negative for opiates,” Nanette Bentley, spokeswoman for Mercy Health, told the newspaper.
Ultimately, this past week’s outbreak has been most taxing on the first responders.
“It’s been exhausting,” Cincinnati Police Lt. Col. Mike John told the Enquirer. “They’re running from one run to another. It’s been very taxing on the officers and the fire department.”
Katie Mettler, THE WASHINGTON POST
Even in fiction, Rip Van Winkle was made to wake up after twenty years ; may be impossible for some people who refuses to wake up BECAUSE THEY ARE AWAKE. How many years were that when a Chinese Drug Trafficker was tied to a post and finished by musketry? Who can remember and by what reason? Was it in 1972? Ergo 28 + 16 = 44 YEARS. Isn’t that two Rip Van Winkles natutulog sa pancitan in tandem time? Awake or asleep things are happening now with sure uncertain outcomes.
Isn’t there poetry incorrectness or perverted interpretation when J Donne is viewed as caring more for the departed than the living? His concern and emotion is more on the afterwards of dying as it affect him as an individual and not an entire humanity ?
“… I had dreamed of owning a unit before (each has a typical 100 sqm unit). Alas, I don’t have the right connection. It’s better than the condo development of today, the ones that are being touted to be for the lower middle class, but 20 sqm, and costing more than a million? Not ideal for a family of four, good only for a bachelor or bachelorette.”
Mary Grace, “those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end …”
Our old house built in 1949 stood on 202 sqm was definitely modest, sustained by an army lieutenant’s and school-teacher’s salary; housed initially a household of 9 (pa, ma, 5 children and 2 live-in maids), with non-congested elbow room; through the years accommodated a revolving number of relatives (4 from the province, studying in Manila). We could count an alumni association of those with whom we shared our house all those years. 🙂 Incidentally, our street name was Princeton. So we were defintely Ivy League; we were a stone’s throw from Araneta Coliseum. This made our household also metropolitan. Yay!
Sonny, Araneta is now being developed, it’s like Ayala, Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City nowadays. Developments are being done left and right, one tower houses almost everything one can ask for, malls on the ground and second floor, gym, pools galore, high end restaurants – basically a one-stop shop. Some are even offering penthouse units with its own private pool.
202 sqm…wow, that’s spacious enough, can accommodate a garden and 2 or 3 fruit trees. Were you able to hold on to that piece of real estate, that’s worth gold nowadays, sonny.
We still own the lot, MG. Alas we are surrounded by congestion that won’t go away any time soon. Dunno even of slim chance a mega developer will buy out all surrounding properties.
Congestion, that’s the reality now, sonny. The environment is congested, our lungs, too. If they move factories to the provinces, where will we go for retirement?
The upper right corner of this aerial picture of Munich shows the “English garden” built by Benjamin Thompson of Massachussetts (English because he was a “Loyalist” who left when the revolutionaries won) a military man and physicist also known as Count Rumford.
The garden is an urban playground today, like New York’s Central Park, but it was originally built to get fresh air into a city beset by cholera and other diseases. Luckily it remained state land even when Bavarian royalty was deposed… just like the similar areas in the south of Munich which were once created by a 19th century mayor to give the working classes some recreation… and also to bring some air into working-class quarters…
When I was a kid I read a Time-Life Book about Berlin and I saw a photo of a park where people were allowed to be naked.That was in the 70s, do they still have nude parks in Berlin?
Irineo, anybody, if you chance to come to Chicago keep in mind this is the city that Daniel Burnham designed after marveling at PH tropical green and designing the cities of Manila and Baguio. “Urbs in horto” (City in a garden) is the official motto of Chicago. The greenery he saw in the Philippines he merged into his design of Grant Park smack center of downtown and the shore of Lake Michigan. Also now the city’s, largest in the world, fresh water aquarium (SHEDD) the Philippine Reef transplanted direct from Negros and housed beside Beluga whales. Allow enough time to enjoy these along with the Field Museum of Natural History Filipiniana collection largest in the world outside of Philippines (not always on display). Outside of the city one can take advantage of bikes & trails in any of 8,710 hectares of Forest Preserves scattered within greater Chicago.
🙂 Cook County prairie forest preserve 21,516 acres (8,710ha).
*******
Parks! That was one of the things that impressed me about Oz on my arrival. Every few blocks there is a bit of life-restoring greenery. And within walking distance would be a park with picnicking facilities — gazebos with tables and benches, open barbecue stoves, and toilets — a children’s playground, and plenty of trees.
I find the idea of community as a peaceful, self-sustaining village admirable… although not in the meddling and intrusive barangay way. There should be no hierarchy.
*****
About parks in Australia. Got exactly that good feeling when I visited my daughter in Essendon last September. Coincidentally, during that visit my grandson who has grown quite a bit — played soccer, among other things — suggested on the first day: Grandpa, care to talk a walk to the park? And we did. Sunny cool weather (for a Manileno) — the street walk and the walk around the park was one of peace and contentment.
If our hearts get congested,that is already a heart failure.
The alphabet for Everyday Health Tips and useful Info’s album. Worth taking note of.
Potassium is good,take it before you have kidney issues,once kidney problems take over,potassium is a no no.
This turtle swam right up asking for help. Whatever happened to this: a Filipino inventor who came up with a biodegradable plastic.
MANILA, Philippines – Fifteen-year-old Amin Hataman, a student at the Fountain International School in San Juan City, Metro Manila, is now a certified international award-winning inventor of biodegradable plastic bags.
Last May, Hataman won a bronze medal in the 2015 International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project (I-SWEEP) Olympiad held in Houston, Texas.
Hataman won for inventing biodegradable plastic bags made from nata de coco, a byproduct of coconut, last year for a Science project requirement in their school.
The biodegradable plastic bags also won another international award for Hataman last year: a gold medal in the 2014 International Young Inventors Olympiad in Tbilisi, Georgia.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/09/17/1500728/15-year-old-inventor-wins-international-award-biodegradable-plastic
The problem is not just with the bags,in addition,there are plastic caps,microplastics thst can gome from washing clothes.
Indiscrimste throwing is one problem,another is when garbage do not reach the dumps after the gwrbsge haulers haul them.
Typos.. Littering and garbage not reaching the dump.
I have an overactive bladder, a nuisance which makes traveling long distances a bit problematic. I came across this article and would like to share this, FYI.
http://yourfellas.com/2016/08/22/number-times-pee-indicates-healthy/
Even though it may not seem much important, but the number of times you pee actually determines how hydrated you are.
THE-NUMBER-OF-TIMES-YOU-PEE-INDICATES-HOW-HEALTHY-YOU-ARE
The assistant professor of urology at the Mount Sinai’s Hospital’s NYC, Dr. Neil Grafstein explains about the urine related questions.
As a matter of fact, if we drink too much water, we pee more often. In addition to that, if we consume alcohol, coffee or some other bladder irritants, it is expected to go to the bathroom more often. Some people have more sensitive bladders and in other words that mean that they have the urge to pee at the slightest urge. On the other hand, some people can hold their pee until their bladders are about to burst.
CAN WE PEE TOO OFTEN?
According to experts, that is possible. Namely, if you pee more than 11 times daily, and if you drink 2 liters of fluid, this could indicate certain problem with pee frequency. At some people, too often visit of the toilet is resulted by overactive bladder, which probably is contracting more than it is necessary. The result of this is feeling the urge to pee too many times.
As Dr. Grafstein explains, people can train their bladder. The condition is that people actually don’t have incontinence problems.
OTHER URINE RELATED FACTS
People pee more often over time, as they get older.
Unless it starts to hurt, holding of the pee isn’t bad
Still, habitually holding of the pee may increase the risk of bladder infections.
Pee color which is considered as normal is see-through yellow.
Certain types of foods may have impact and change the color of the pee. For example, eating blackberries can change it to pink.
Asparagus will make your pee foul-smelling.
The pee is consisted of 95% water.
The sweet-smelling urine indicates diabetes
It is considered that average stream of pee is about 7 seconds.
Ah, now we are talking about a subject my wife and I discuss more than my children. We are both septuagenarian going to be octogenarian soon.
I invited my wife to read the link about the pee frequency and state of health. She said — you dwelt on that link because you saw the picture of the slim woman on the right, didn’t you? I answered with — ah … er … no, it is really about the health and peeing. (Frankly, I dwelt more than I should on that link. 🙂 )
About avocados: I like them and and indulge more when its in season.
*******
What slim woman on the right? Help! Am I going blind?
*****
I shall refrain from asking what your interest is in the slim woman on the right.
*******
I, too, shall refrain from answering that I have only aesthetic purpos… Aargh, who am I kidding?
*****
edgar, Joe:
I don’t know if different devices arrange the contents including ads in the same way, but in what I viewed from Mary’s link, there is this before-and-after images of a woman with a nice “after slimming” image at the right hand of the screen.
Hahaha. Much ado about the ad. 🙂
NH, I’m seeing a half photo of Hillary Clinton in a bikini top, is that what you see? I’m not clicking on it! LOL!
*******
😦 I use an adblocker. 😦
*****
i was told that nocturnal peeing indicates proststate problems,is that correct?
@Karl,
Most likely. Men, when they start to urinate often at night does not mean that they have drunk too much beer or tea(as my husband’s case) rather this means they have over active bladder or prostate problem. According to my husband’s urologist, prostate problem could start earlier in other men (30 years old) thus a need to have PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen)tests. Better do early than late. My husband’s PSA reached high as 7,he had TURP and the problem was solved. By the way, PSA is not an indicator of malignancy. There are cases when PSA is low yet there is a developing C in prostate.
Precaution is the best medicine.
Many many thanks Thea.
What slim woman? I don’t see anyone.
Please see my note above, date-stamped
August 26, 2016 at 10:02 pm.
Depending on the device — smartphones, tablets, laptops of different brands — advertisements may be displayed in different ways on the screen (and may not appear in some?). Not a techie here, but I believe that is what happened. Or this Septuagenarian saw what he wanted to see. 🙂
I saw what you saw. (am also 70-something) 🙂
*******
Sexa-, septua-, octo-, nona-genarians, unite! You have nothing to lose but your visions!
*****
Ah yes, and what dreams may come. 🙂
🙂 🙂 🙂
My ad blocker was on.
I self-studied reflex massage and found it out to be very good in almost any kind of illnesses that modern medicine could not find a cure for.
It so happened that the topic Mary Grace wrote about is one that I am teaching old people to deal with without using diapers when going on long trips or walking long distances.
There are reflex points on the body that corrects problems that concerns uncontrolled peeing which are easy to learn and make a good habit of. And learning anything must not stop with the onset of old age. No…I always say it’s advanced age which should not be a hindrance to achieving something only dreamed of by so many.
And I happened to be averse and allergic to synthetics and, of course, to medical professionals who are only good at writing prescriptions.
nice.
karl, this might bring you solace (and pride 😉 ),
http://www.harvardprostateknowledge.org/does-frequent-ejaculation-help-ward-off-prostate-cancer
” Two relatively large studies of this question, reported in 2003 and 2004, yielded good news for sexually active men: high ejaculation frequency seemed to protect against prostate cancer.
As part of Harvard’s Health Professionals Follow-up Study, 29,342 men between the ages of 46 and 81 reported their average number of ejaculations per month in young adulthood (ages 20–29), in mid-life (ages 40–49), and in the most recent year. Ejaculations included sexual intercourse, nocturnal emissions, and masturbation. Study participants also provided comprehensive health and lifestyle data every two years from 1992 to 2000. The scientists found that men who ejaculated 21 or more times a month enjoyed a 33% lower risk of prostate cancer compared with men who reported four to seven ejaculations a month throughout their lifetimes.
An Australian study of 2,338 men came to a similar conclusion. In all, men who averaged 4.6 to seven ejaculations a week were 36% less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 70 than men who ejaculated less than 2.3 times a week on average. The study found no connection between prostate cancer and the number of sex partners. (An earlier study, however, found that men who had sex with 30 or more women were two to three times more likely to develop prostate cancer than men with only one partner.)
Further study is needed to investigate possible protective mechanisms. In theory, emptying the prostate of potentially irritating or harmful substances might be one such mechanism. Regardless of the reason why, take comfort in the fact that ejaculation is not only pleasurable, but also may convey health benefits. “
😜😉😋
When we sleep our system switches except for the heartbeat, much like hibernation. So we should’nt be waking up for the night pee. When we get little kids to pee and they are not co-operating, we use to whistle. For some reason. whistling makes the urge the pee. So I think if you wake up to pee at night, the reason might be your breathing problem. Sleep with your mouth zipped close. Open mouths may cause whistling sounds that triggers your urge to pee. Is this wisdom or what?
*******
Ahaha! It’s a conditioned response? Whistling is used to train horses, dogs, and kids. It’s called the whistle method.
“In traditional societies, cueing sounds for peeing often resemble the sound of flowing water, or urination itself. It’s interesting that these sounds are quite similar from continent to continent. From India to Botswana to Peru, a “sss, sss” sound had become an almost universal mothering signal. In places, a sharp “pssss” or a softer “shhh” or “shuuss” is used. In Japan, the childhood euphemistic equivalent of pee-pee is “shii shii”. A low whistle is also sometimes used in Japan, and a steady whistling sound is the primary signal in China.”
*****
This is very interesting piece of cultural conditioning, guys!
Is there a noise equivalent for pooping? And is it as uniform across the globe as “sss” or “shhh”? These onomatopoeias tend to either be similar or totally different, no betweens— it’s really weird (like rooster sounds, but dog barks are universal).
You see, this connects to my issue with pampers and doggy poop bags being thrown everywhere, the most responsible throw them in trash (but the danger of sewage not being properly dispose off is the same, goes back to our drinking water or we end up swimming in it).
When I go camping out in the wilderness or simply out hiking, the two things you see a lot of are empty water bottles/wrappers of all sorts, then doggy poop bags and pampers. I usually carry a plastic bag for collecting trail trash— but pampers and poop bags you can’t stick into your trash (it’d ruin your hike, though for volunteer clean ups, this is sadly routine).
So my question is, can you condition babies as well as dogs, to poop and/or pee on command, digging a deep hole in the ground (away from water source) would actually be better than throwing away these things (actually it’s illegal to throw fecal matter in solid waste systems, ie. trash),
can you wean babies off of pampers? how early? with this conditioning method, can you do so at such an early age that there’ll be no need for pampers, at all? Let’s take down the pampers industry! and publicly shame, dog poop bags throwing.
A simple PR campaign stressing that it is illegal to throw poop (human, dogs, etc.) into the trash and a hefty fee. Over there with poop more ubiquitous, will the re-introduction of this conditioning practice make a dent? I know people pee anywhere and everywhere over there, but so long as it gets diluted, it’s not really as big an issue (even good for plants).
@ Edgar your vocab of urinary sound is impressive
@ Lance, we have an equivalent sound to coax babies to poop. Sorry its a sound that defies the alphabets capability to represent. Imagine you have a 10 constipation, how do you coax yourself sitting on the throne, face grimacing, teeth clasped tight, breadth held in, orifice muscle tightened and s queer sound escaping your closed lips. That’s the sound.
*******
1. I would like to distinguish between 3 sounds:
1.1. The good food sound
1.2. The orgasm sounds
1.3. The poo sounds.
2. The good food sound is represented by the letter “M.” The “mmm” sound, also known as the Yummy Sound, is a purely consonant sound and can be three m’s long or longer. It is produced from the throat and modulated between the palate and the tongue with the lips closed and compressed.
3. There are basically two orgasm sounds: the difficult and the easy.
3.1. The difficult orgasm sound is represented by the letters “ungh.” It is a combined vowel and consonant sound. From the male perspective, the sound is expressed pre-climax when the tension of non-release becomes unbearable. It is produced from the throat and modulated between the palate and the nasal cavities with the mouth slightly open.
3.2. The easy orgasm sound is represented by the letters “ahh.” Like the easy sound, it is a combined vowel and consonant sound, but can be classified as a monophthong. The sound is expressed mid- and post-climax when the tension of release… is released. It is produced from the throat and modulated — unmodulated? — between the palate and the tongue with the mouth fully open.
4. Like the orgasm sounds, there are two poo sounds: the difficult and the easy.
4.1. The difficult poo sound is represented by the letter “N” or, more accurately, the letters “NG.” It is a purely consonant sound and can be three n’s or longer. It is like when you pronounce the word “sing” without the “si” prefix. It is produced from the throat and modulated between the palate and the nasal cavities with the lips slightly open.
4.2. The easy poo sound is exactly the same as the easy orgasm sound.
***
I wager you all tried these sounds while you were reading. 🙂
*****
Hahaha it’s much ado about nothing….but it’s only Edgar who can nano detail anything. If you were an artist doing a portrait I can see you painstakingly tracing all fine wrinkles and facial hairs.
Is this a joke? Pokemon Go powered by US GPS system the article says is being used to gather info on Chinese military facilities. So China is developing its own Pokemon Go version powered by the Chinese BeiDou system equivalent of GPS to do its own military info gathering of the opposition. Along with this is the massive speedy reorg of the military undertaken by Xi, the article says. Does anyone at TSH have anything on this?
Psychological warfare? Or psycho story?
http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Pokemon-Go-lies-behind-China-s-unprecedented-military-overhaul
NH, I can see Pokemon Go being used to locate certain areas. The Children’s Hospital here is a hub for various types of Pokemons because players who’ve earned enough points can set up lure sites w/in the hospital to lure them so the kids (who are sick) don’t have to go far to find Pokemons, so there is an element of players interacting with the GPS/map feature—- but locations has to be accessible, so a site that requires personnel to surrender their phones, and/or restrict the public won’t be able to do too much.
Military over there, I presume would be more controlled, while over here, I can see military personnel playing Pokemon Go on base—- since the advent of Google Maps the security aspect of GPS and military or secured sites has been rendered moot. But not so in China, though secured sites located in urban areas I think can be similarly treated like the Children’s Hospital over here when playing the game.
By virtue of being an “open” society, China’s obviously “stolen” more info virtually from the US, while it’s harder for the US to pay in kind. Pokemon Go is simply Google Maps gamified, and GPS/Google maps have been around for quite awhile now, so I’m sure China’s set-up countermeasures to render such threats minimal to none.
“Pokemon Go” is a conspiracy between Japan and the U.S. to undermine the BeiDou system, Chinese national security officials say in earnest. Using GPS, the game makes it possible to draw maps and take photos of restricted areas and identify the locations of missiles by positioning game characters in various places across China, they say.
The claim suggests China may plan to probe military facilities around the world by releasing a Chinese version of “Pokemon Go” that will use the BeiDou system. If China realizes a “military that can fight” through Xi’s reforms, the military balance between the U.S. and China may be affected.
So the first part of that is not so much an issue, I’m sure; but the the second part, further use of the BeiDou IMHO is the point… But I really doubt that Pokemon Go had anything to do with actual info/intel gathered (there’s two aspect to the story, counter-intel and Pokemon Go, I don’t think the reporter was able to connect the two stories ). Though my question is why Xi needed this “scandal” to push for promoting BeiDou system? They got Huawei/ZTE and other telecomm assets perfectly in place, just come up with a cool game 😉 .
To provide some info on how Pokemon Go got it Poke-stops: It came from their previous game titled ‘Ingress’ which had been running since November 2012. But instead of Poke-stops, they had ‘portals’ in which people from different factions had to gain control of through some sort of ‘king of the hill’ system. Those ‘portals’ are implemented and gathered through user-submitted locations and a picture of the said location will be required. The most popular ones of these portals had then been carried over to Pokemon Go. But given Pokemon Go’s popularity and marketing potential, custom locations for it had also been added. So in a way, the locations are still basically crowd-sourced. Given this, if the location security gets compromised, it would have been the fault of their own personnel. Not Niantic’s.
But then again, there is still metadata. Because given two data points, you can actually interpolate some other data in between and so on. But metadata isn’t exclusive to Pokemon Go though. There is usually no complete privacy as long as you connect to the tubes. As they say, if you put it online, it usually stays there. Forever. Privacy is usually a myth. D=
IP, LCpl_X:
Thanks for providing some light — on the matter of Pokemon Go, global posititioning system, and Intel/security.
YipeeYaYeY
Landfills are rich source if recyclables.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill_mining
Another rich source are buildings residential/office/mixed about to be demolished.
So instead of demolishing them,why not deconstruct them? When squatters do voluntary demiolitionthey take out reusable stuff first,that is the basic idea in building deconstruction.
A rich source of construction materials.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction_(building)
———
If we recycle via landfill mining and decinstruction,we do not have to import a lot of stuff.
Time for me to go out and restock my supply of facepalms.
Or you could try to find Joe and set up a nice discussion at the beach….nice weather now …. 🙂
“All public works stems from military engineering (Romans perfected this), so stick a hospital/clinic in there too, along with low-cost housing for teachers, nurses and college students. It should be a self-contained unit, like a battalion.”
Taylor Housing Projects and Cabrini-Green Housing Projects were well-intentioned responses to social displacement due to the American Civil War. Chicago Housing Authority should have taken the Roman military playbook and applied the principles to the projects. It is not too late to apply to gang warfare in urban American. We will produce engineers, medical techno-personnel, scientists and philosophers, etc. instead.
Just watched the Philippine production of IGNACIO DE LOYOLA. Powerful, powerful film biography of the founder of the Society of Jesus. Must see.
sonny, I’m a big fan of the Jesuits, and think their “Life on the road”
should be emulated everywhere. In the US military the expansion of the Foreign Area Officer program to include enlisted personnel. In the Philippines, more people should be encouraged to move about, live here, live there, just keep on moving. I know gian talked about travelling around the Philippines when he was younger, why not make this the official national past-time? Over here the tiny-house, living in a trailer, movement has become popular with millennials , so long as there’s solar panels, generator and wifi connection, all work can be done on the road.
RV parks are a lot easier to maintain than motels, IMHO, just have an empty lot and toilets (ELOO would be perfect! 😉 ) There should be more RV parks to cater to travelers than short time motels there (though the last helps in national prevention of prostate cancer, LOL! but I guess RV parks too if you think about it , make traveling around the Philippines sexy) , if the Philippines doesn’t take any other lesson from the Jesuits, apply their life on the road philosophy!
LC, you and me both. My takeaway quote from the movie: from the Spanish grand inquisitor to Ignatius – “the Church has always raised the right individuals for the times; maybe this time she needs a soldier!” Yesss. 🙂
Lance,
I hope you are writing your articles on the justice system and I hope you do a follow up on mother nature.
karl,
I’m still kicking it around in my head.
I read your Chief Justice press conference link, but was wondering if you’d have more on the ground legal (criminal) process, the Justice on Wheels was interesting, but it seems a drop in the bucket. What’s the actual process at the local level? Do you have a link for that? Over here there’s public defenders offered to you by the gov’t but they’re so overwhelmed, swamped, with cases that they don’t really make a difference,
so there’s a big criminal defense industry, from small time individual cases like DUIs to big corporate type cases (or big celebrity cases). If you have any more on the ground links I can compare to the system of here (also broken), that would be great.
As for Mother nature article, I was inspired by Mary’s story of her grandpa caging up a pig to ensure good tasting upon slaughter, maybe we can write a how to make money by doing the opposite of normal but aligned with True Gnosis and environmentally sound? like when Joey started operationalizing some of his ideas on wind turbines and solar, https://joeam.com/2016/07/14/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night/#comment-190343
Does “Shark Tank” show there? Maybe we can get chempo to say if it’s a good idea or not, whether he’d invest or need more work. So instead of just writing these things, lets offer blue prints (for Bam’s Negosyo Centers, etc.)
So more on the ground re criminal justice over there, and more ideas like Mary’s we can bring to market or cause some sort of movement like Joel Salatin, but specific to Philippines— with chemp’s, Joe’s and everyone else business acumen.
In the comment section of your ACLU article, maybe you can find something there.
The intent of justice on wheels was for those jailed with their cases still pending on court,some has not even been tried. Other’s are just for mediation.
I will try to dig more info. On mother nature,Yes Mary has time and again shared some links and stories.
https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/mariacarlinecabizares/presentation1-15219003
http://youwerenoteventhere.blogspot.com/2011/08/philippine-criminal-justice-system.html
Above are two links that pertains to our criminal justice system,I hope it helps.
http://mabuhaylaw.blogspot.com/2010/08/public-attorneys-office-list-of.html
A link about the services offered by the public attorney’s office.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Legal_Assistance_Group
The free legal assistance group wiki page
re: home schooling.
when it was discussed here,at that time i was not that receptive. well,i am beginning to like the idea.
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/236458/homeschooling-diy-learning-works
Some of you suggested that I do a series of articles on homeschooling as I have been homeschooling my son who is in fourth grade now. I might submit one soon as a newbie. It’s not for everyone, but when its in the family routine, you can enjoy a vacation even during school days. In our case, off-season so it’s a lot cheaper (haha).
Glad that you will push through with the article,Grace.
I was thinking of your comment when I posted about home schooling.
Hi karlgarcia. Sorry, I was not able to do any article since I posted here because a lot of things happened. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in Feb 2017 and she eventually passed away May this year. I will try my best to do the series maybe next year. Best regards to all.
Deeply sorry for your loss; my condolence to you and the family. Your membership in TSH makes one seem like a member of the traditional family.
So sorry to hear that. May your mother rest in peace. Best regards, Grace.
*******
Grace,
Sorry for your lost.
As you can see, we are still plugging away, waving lightsabers, cutting through the web of ignorance and malice.
Thank you and best regards to you as well.
*****
COMBINING SOME ASPECTS OF THE HOUSING NEEDS AND REHABILITATION OF DRUG DEPENDENTS
1. First, some preliminaries. The number of Filipino drug addicts seems to be a nebulous one even talking in nominal terms. A week ago at the Senate General de la Rosa gave a number of 1.8m. Almost on the same day his Boss, PRD, gave the number as 3.0m. Today (2016-08-29) DZMM Teleradyo quoted The President as saying: 3.7 milyong Pilipino lulong sa droga sa Pilipinas (3.7m Filipinos addicted to drugs in the Philippines.) I am puzzled by the accelerating value of the numbers reported.
2. Whatever the exact figure, we may reasonably assume that the number is large. We may, for discussion purpose here, assume that 1.0m need to be rehabilitated so these people do not regress to the old ways and can be productive members of the society; and thus, bring benefits to their families. A program of rehab will entail major expense, but it must be done.
3. We already know that a serious government-supported program of housing will be expensive.
4. The concept, say, for the next 6 years of the present Administration will be one where the Housing Needs and DDR (Drug Dependent Rehab) are treated in concert with HUDCC, DSWD and PMS (Presidential Management Staff) — the latter advising and giving feedback to the President so the program will run as it should.
5. The kind of expenses in Billions of Pesos for the Rehab may run like the following for the next 6 years: 70, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5. On the other hand, the value added by the rehabed DD for the next six years may run like: 0, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50. That is, a net value over expense after 6 years of P150B (= [0+5×50] – [70+10+4×5])
6. That value of P150B is focused on inputs to the Housing Needs which itself requires massive gov-private sector support-funding. The Housing Program provides the “captive work” and captive employer.
TECHNICAL NOTE
– The expense side of the DDR. Say P200/day is aloted for each DD including subsistence meals, medicine, facilities and staff. That comes to 73B for the year (= 1.0mxP200/dayx365days/year). Round this to P70B for the first year, P10B for the second year, and P5B each for the succeeding 4 years. Round this to P70B for the first year, and maintenance budget of P10B, and P5B/year for the next 4 years — when during the last five years the DDs are now productive.
– The gain side. This comes from the productive efforts of the rehabilitation of the DDR. Zero gain for the first year while the initial year of rehab is on-going. Let us say we are lucky and from the 2nd to the 6th year the DDR are productive. Let us say for each one we have an average pay of P300/day — not an un-reasonable amount considering, from the DD profile sourced from the Dangerous Drug Board, that some have skills that should have fetched higher pay, reduced only by their drug dependencies. Each year the pay of these rehabed people from the “captive” housing program — the synergy in action — comes to P75B (= 1.0mx300/dayx250days/year excluding Holidays). Let us grant that the DD entails 1/3 expense while working, so the net will be P50B per year.
– Note that to the Housing Program which provides the “captive” work for the DD, the value to them is P75 per year (2nd to 6th year) which it pays to the DDs.
CAVEAT
The ideas above and the numbers are notional or conceptual to provide some support to my post.
I reiterate the idea of the lgus buying properties from bir auctions of foreclosed properties of those who failed to pay taxes and from banks for those who failed to pay their loans.
Even if it is as is where is some houses or buildings maybe in good condition.
That can solve the places for rehab and many other stuff like public school shortage and housing shortage.
What say you manong NH ?
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/810917/as-drug-cases-go-up-more-jails-being-built
The jail shortage is attempted to be addressed.
For rehab,in the SONA,he mentioned military facilities.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/08/01/1608968/duterte-asks-military-give-hectare-land-rehab-facility
I say fine. All hands on deck to help on the requirements. But some gov agency will have to integrate all of these.
Contrary to the ideas I presented earlier on the extent of drug menace in the country, a group of graduate students from the University of the Philippines authored an article on RAPPLER showing statistics on the drug menace. They admit to the dearth of hard accurate data but nevertheless presented the result of their research which implies that the drug menace has decreased over the years. Here is the link to that article:
http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/144331-data-drug-problem-philippines
An sample of the contents of that article is the following chart:
A group of UP grad students who, understandably, prefer to remain anonymous have analyzed drug-related statistics from relevant government agencies. The numbers are from 2012 (the last release from government) but it might be possible to extrapolate. Worth a look: http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/144331-data-drug-problem-philippines
Sorry, Grasya, I did not notice that you already posted the item before I posted the item above.
Chempo,
Repost here some of the funny stuff you post on fb.So we could have comic relief.
Karl don’t know which you meant, but here’s one to oblige the Librarian:
“Quote:
Guys, the next time your partner ask why you love her, do you have the b…s to tell her this :
“Tell me why the stars do shine,
Tell me why the ivy twines,
Tell me what makes skies so blue,
And I’ll tell you why I love you.
Nuclear fusion makes stars to shine,
Tropisms make the ivy twine,
Raleigh scattering make skies so blue,
Testicular hormones are why I love you. ”
….Isaac Ashimov
Unquote”
Actually the scientist in Ashimov could’nt differentiate between LOVE and WANT.
That’s the one,but I know there is more.😜😉
Lance,
Also on the link on new jails,something about tele-hearings was mentioned,I believe it was intended for the safety of the inmates,as they would no longer need to be transported to courts.
I keep on clamouring for guest articles to keep the fire burning.
Reiterating the Singapore solution to car ownership and traffic.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/96922/taxing-traffic
Private car reduction is should be a major part of any traffic improvement scheme in NCR. However, before you take them off the roads, you need to provide alternatives first. Improve public transport first.
A hotch potch approach will simply create utter confusion and up the anger meters. Case in point — banning CV vans from Edsa. The vans will simply spill onto other roads to create other traffic jams. All commuters end up spending even more time on the roads.
Yeah,we just move traffick elsewhere,more roads is no solution.More roads will tempt people to buy more cars. chicken egg mass transport,first before limiting car ownership.
Josephivo mentioned population density,but that is another problem.
The economic impact of traffic.
https://www.virgin.com/disruptors/what-is-the-economic-impact-of-traffic?tcptid=I7cYfjOPKe4qEu42QkyU4
It’s rare that the Philippines get a mention on media in Australia.But there is a recent program on ABC’s Radio National which I have just discovered. It seems balanced and well researched. The link is to the transcript but the audio is also available.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/president-duterte-and-the-philippines/7762774#transcript
Queerly the program ‘Rear Vision’ is a history program. But this particular issue is about the current situation in the Philippines with some background.
Thanks,
will read it later.
Quote for the day
Neri Colmenares: The dishonored should not be honored.
*******
🙂
*****
I know thst I am being a broken record with regards to wasye to material and waste to energy.
I found a 118 page thesis on land fill mining,hopefully our solid waste management and clean air laws will be adjusted so that waste to material and waste to energy will be fully maximized.
Click to access PubDat_238235.pdf
We were talking about housing in the last open forum.We ask why government has to provide housing. We completely forgot about Gawad Kalinga.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawad_Kalinga
If it was not controversiall,disfunctional,etc
it could have been nice, it partners with large corporstions,it prevents mendicancy due to to the so called sweat equity meaning you work for what you get and you get what you give.
It is hard to mix religion and secular groups,they clash,they intrigue,and they become disfunctional.
An ideal program,hope it get its act together.
Another group is the Habitat for humanity,I head about this from former US president ,Jimmy Carter,I understand they are active in the Philippines as well.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_for_Humanity
And yet we still have a housing backlog,we still have squatters professional or otherwise.
As in all programs,we need continuity,but we are famous for being ningas cogon.
We demand for continuity,but this can not happen,because we already had a taste of “continuity” in Marcos,and we do not want that continuity.
In my daughter’s former secondary school, they were made to do voluntary community service during their third year and it is part of the curriculum. Some went to visit an orphanage in Cambodia and some went to volunteer building houses in partnership with Habitat for Humanity also in Cambodia, Vietnam or mostly Asean countries. The minimum age should be 15. I believe there would also be this kind of volunteer arrangement for local schools but mostly private schools could afford this kind of activity.
The spirit of volunteerism to the impressionable minds of the students leaves a lasting and profound effect.
That is nice.And it would also be nice if it would be a mix of public schools and private schools.
Re emergency powers.
Another short cut,we love shortcuts,because we say it is the only way to solve a perrenial problem,we need an element of surprsise(how due you translate gulpi de gulat?)
Drastic measures must be done,but we know they never last.
We never follow through.
we do emergency powers for six months,then what happens after that?
We still have a bloated bureaucracy,we still have circuitous processes,we still have laws that are hard to understand and also circuitous and supposed to prevent short cuts.
It is so complicated,might as well ignore it.
One suggestion.
Amend the procurement law to have a balance of strict and smoothness,I do not know how,but why on earth do we need emergency powers,if it is not to strict?
Congress will never run out of things to do,they need to repeal a lot of unnecessary laws,and amend some,condolidate some.Of course,they must have perfect attendance.
But try to imagine how long will it take to repeal, amend and consolidate these many redundant and unnecessary laws without emergency powers. I guess this is why there is a need for it: A “reboot” of the system.
But still, these emergency powers shouldn’t really just be given to the government with no questions asked. Conditions and parameters should be set and agreed upon so that it won’t be abused by those in authority.
ok short cut first,but don’t forget the long term.Make the circuitous a straight line,simplify the complicated,etc.
So no more need for short cuts,because everything will be cut short.
I believe the emergency powers relate to the procurement process. That’s fine, but what if the plans are not that good, in which case, what does the emergency powers to facilitate that procurement means? Simply getting a lousy plan implemented faster. So far there has’nt been much insight into what the plans are.
Maybe handpicked or cherry picked projects from JICA proposals.They must tell us what are they planning to do instead of calling people names for thinking of martial law and what they call conspiracy theories.
Click to access 20140917_01_0rev20150206.pdf
And that is some of the things that really need to be clarified indeed but Sen. Grace Poe seems to have brought it up already, soo good for us. I also agree with karlgarcia with regards to getting plans from the JICA master plan. However, a minor revision could be first prioritizing BRTs for some transport corridors rather than jumping into trains immediately. A minor allevitation would probably do wonders.
And as for some addition points re: emergency powers, I found a good article about it.
=========
”
– They need emergency powers to help them get some relief from some laws and bureaucratic procedures to get their job done faster.
– They will need emergency powers to immediately take possession of land for expropriation as part of the Right of Way (ROW) for a major project like the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project of San Miguel. That project is expected to ease traffic in both EDSA and C-5 by 50 percent. They still have to acquire 90 percent of the land they need.
– No long court battles… no TROs… land values will be determined according to market value used by the BIR, amount deposited in escrow until all the paperwork has been accomplished. But in the meantime, the bulldozers can move in and the construction of the elevated expressway will not be delayed.
– They will need emergency powers to completely revamp our bus transportation system. Bus routes will be rationalized and franchises canceled and reformulated in a way that will provide the right number of buses serving the right routes at the right time. Without emergency powers, they will be tied down by TROs and court suits.
– Indeed, emergency powers will be needed to also reformulate the jeepney and UV routes. What we have now grew out of chaos and that is why it is a mess out there.
– I am sure there are other things they need to do that will be helped by emergency powers other than getting exemption from the Procurement Act.
– Then again… emergency powers can be used to quickly get the spare part needed to fix the ILS of NAIA. Or the spare parts needed by MRT-3.
– Emergency powers may be needed to complete the extension of LRT-2. At least two other contracts needed were not awarded by the Abaya DOTC. We may end up with the superstructure completed, but no train can run on it yet.
– Emergency powers? Sure the Transport department needs it to speed up its work. But there are also a lot of things they can do right away without it. They just have to know which is which.
”
http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/08/29/1618119/emergency-powers-revisited
Expropriation due to Right of way can move people out of Metro Manila,if the price is right.
MRT 1 extention ROW problems will finally be expedited,NLEX SLEX connector road,Cavitex ,Pasig river hi-way,subway systems( if ever they have ROW issues).wish they did not shelve the Laguna Lake Dam hi way.
Bicutan to Los Banos could have been faster.
Back to the too many cars problem,where will you park your car,if mass transport is too far? If the singapore solution makes it more expensive to own a car, more fake plates for unregistered vehicles might be the unintended consequence.
Statement from Poe. as translated by Inquirer.
My intention in the Senate is that it would be approved before Christmas but even if it’s already approved in the Senate, DOTr won’t implement it immediately because even though there’s already emergency powers in the procurement process, it can’t be done in a week or two. Why? Because you still need to look for suppliers.
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/813029/list-of-projects-under-emergency-powers-submitted-to-senate-poe#ixzz4JO7o2hCi
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
It is hard to source supplers. Contractors,need sub contractors,etc.
Contractors supply chain must be vertically integrated if possible.
Going back to sourcing.
license plates example-they say old suppliers in the philippines can not provide the security features. But that is ridiculous,if we are to believe reports of double plates (identical plate numbers)in this new set of plates.
Trains,ships,planes,cars can ideally be done here but many factors of Unknown knowns or wachamacallit prevent it from happenning.
Come bidding time a filipino company loses before it starts.
Lack of technology,inrellectual property,original design,negative slippage….
One thing will be eliminated for sure,no losing bidder to cry foul,and no bidder will dig dirt of other companies and expose anomalies,etc.
I don’t think it’s solvable. Manila is the most densely packed city on the planet. As per worldpopulationreview.com “Manila is the world’s most densely populated city with 42,857 people per square kilometer, or 111,002 people per square mile. The Metro Manila population is estimated at 12 million but the larger urban area has a population estimated at 21.3 million.The Metro Manila population swells during the daytime, however, to about 15 million. This density is much higher than that of Mumbai (23,000 people/sq km), Paris (20,150 people/sq km), and Toyko (10,100 people/sq km).” It will only get worse.
People live longer,due to advances in medicine,and other factors. Demographic winter made our care givers migrate to other areas where there is space like Canada, migration did not contain over population,or it should continue until objective is achieved,but what on earth is the objective? We complain of brain drain,yet we have many who stayed,what are they chopped liver?
The problem is still education. Education can instill discipline supposedly,it is always about how we use knowledge.
You tell the poor to buy condoms or take the free condoms we give you after educating them of reproductive health,but if there is no will to comply,all is for naught.
We have population problem,lack of jail ,rehab,school hospital problem,office space problem( even with high unemployment),housing
Yet we have idle lands,foreclosed lands…….
@Karl
The biggest denominator of the present problems in traffic, unemployment, poor mental and physical health,denigration of the environment,etc. is nothing but over population. As you said, if people will not comply, all is for naught. Therefore, an emergency power to halt the population for a period of time. Not forever like China’s population control as it will back fire in time. A study must be done of what is adaptable in the country. Like, 2 children only after 30 years old. No stable job,no child. That is, IMHO, a long term solution.
Gone are the days where a big family is a happy family (in Philippine scenario)where there are is no food on the table.
I think any policy that directly fixes a mandatory max number of child a couple can have, or places a restrictive criteria on child bearing, is an affront to the Bill of Rights. The state should instead work on incentives for less children, and dis-incentives for more children.
Sorry for the late reply Thea,that maybe the long term solution,but according to Chempo,it also did not work in Singapore and now they relaxed their migration policies.
Good ideas by the way.
Also Chempo’s disincentives for more children.
http://www.pacificcoastcities.com/masterplanned-solution
Build all roads leading to it like SCTEX to Nueva Ecija to Aurora.
And shortcuts to northern Quezon and Southern Aurora.
Plus the tycoon Romy Roxas should talk to other known tycoons. And make it a big Public-Private partnership.
But urbanization should not destroy agriculture in Nueva Ecija,that is our main source of rice.
In the latest March 7th 2016.entry at http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm it had a population of 24,123,000. Almost 1 in 4 Filipinos live in or near the city.
As long as the cities are spread enough and agricultural lands are not idle,more than half of the problem is solved.
When you define your friendship based on the gifts or even assistance that you receive instead
of realizing how much you have grown because of that friendship, then you will miss out on the opportunity
to offer the same to someone else. We are a people who have learned to take opposite positions
and not resort immediately to each others extermination. I do not imply that such emotionally driven
actions do not exist among us but we humor first and debate second before we retreat into some social alignment
and then regretfully comply with the mob. Other cultures, retreat immediately into social alignment
and then join the mob. It is not innate that we humor first and debate second. We were educated this
way. We are a literate people and enjoy it immensely and with that literacy we enjoy the ability
to blend anywhere in the world. We have become this way because of our friendships in the past 100 years.
It is understandable that we often base our sentiments on our personal experiences but we should at
least recognize the diversity of everyone else’s experiences.