Green Technology

Many countries around the world will participate in this year’s Earth Hour tomorrow, March 27. This is a global event held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their unnecessary lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. I am fully supporting this worthy cause and I’m strongly encouraging everyone to participate and help raise awareness in the increasing need to address the effects of climate change.

However, I do hope that this advocacy is not only good for one hour. We should look for ways on how we can conserve energy and save our planet. We should look for other sources of alternative energy which will not contribute to global warming. Perhaps, more research should be focused on opportunity fuels and other sources of renewable energy as these can provide cheap and reliable alternative to fossil fuels. It is a good thing that clean coal technologies were developed to help mitigate the effects of climate change. This is a good start.

I do hope that more efforts will focus on converting waste to energy more efficiently. It will be good if organic wastes or waste streams can be utilized or recycled to produce valuable products. It will be a big relief to government and municipalities if there’s a more efficient technology that will address their bio solids and waste products.

This is the technology that N-Viro International Corporation has successfully developed and patented. Their processes employ lime and/or mineral-rich, combustion by-products to treat, pasteurize and convert wastewater sludge and other bio-organic wastes into biomineral agricultural and soil-enrichment products. What’s good about their technologies is it safely and efficiently transform waste streams into beneficial reuse products.

If you want to know more about their technologies and facilities, visit their website at http://www.nviro.com for more information.






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MM - MYX Daily Top 10 (March 22, 2010) Featuring "Telephone" by Lady Gaga Ft. Beyonce

For today’s MYX Daily Top Ten, Justin Bieber’s “Baby” is still on the number 1 spot while “Telephone” by Lady Gaga Featuring Beyonce took the second spot dislodging “Beautiful Girl” by Christian Bautista who settled for the number 3 spot.

“Telephone" is a song from the second studio album “The Fame Monster” of the American recording artist Lady Gaga featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. It was said that Lady Gaga originally wrote "Telephone" for Britney Spears but plans did not push through.



MYX Daily Top 10 - March 22, 2010

10. Whataya Want From Me- Adam Lambert
9. Right Here Waiting- Sarah Geronimo (Re Entry)
8. Alice- Avril Lavigne
7. World Behind My Wall- Tokio Hotel
6. The Only Exception- Paramore
5. Sorry Sorry Answer- Super Junior
4. Oh!- Girls Generation
3. Beautiful Girl- Christian Bautista
2. Telephone- Lady Gaga Ft. Beyonce
1. Baby- Justin Bieber

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

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Brillante Mendoza’s "Lola" won in the Miami International FilmFest

Filipino director Brillante “Dante” Mendoza’s winning streak is not yet over. After winning the Best Driector at last year's Cannes Film Festival in France for his film "Kinatay", her latest film “Lola” won the Grand Knight Award which is equivalent to the Grand Jury Prize in the world competition category of the 27th Miami International Film Festival in the US held from March 5 to March 14, according to the event's official website.

The Filipino film bested eleven other entries from filmmakers in the World Competition, the category that celebrates the works of up-and-coming moviemakers from around the world.

Mendoza took home the prize of US$25,000 from the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The movie “Lola” or “Grandmother” is about two elderly women who bear the consequences of a robbery-homicide incident involving their respective grandsons–one is the victim, the other is the suspect.

Top-billed by Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio, “Lola” also won the Second Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival last year and the Best Film award in Dubai.



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Fun food for the family

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Tony's Pizza. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sunday is customarily our family day. It is a day dedicated to myself and my family. I don’t have to go to the office during weekends, not to mention that I don’t need to wake up early and I don’t need to think of anything work-related. How fun can that be? All I need to do is rest, relax and eat my favorite foods. My day is usually spent at home with my family if there are no planned outings, most of the time watching TV or DVD, reading books or playing PC games.

But it will not be fun staying at home, without food and I mean good food. We normally have to call food delivery so we can have something to eat while we are watching TV or movies or when we feel like eating but food deliveries can be expensive at these times. It’s a good thing that we have discovered that stacking frozen foods like pizza is a lot better alternative. It even saves you both time and money. We can have frozen pizza anytime of the day and it is very much easier to prepare. Our frozen pizza is ready to be heated at the comfort of our home and it tastes as yummy!

One of the best frozen pizzas in America today is Tony's Pizza. They have great tasting pizza at a very affordable price. I love their Tony’s Original Crust Pizza and the new Tonys’ Crispy Crust Pizza. The latter’s crisp crust is baked and it claimed to have zero grams of Trans fat. With Tony’s, you can only expect great tasting pizza loaded with all your favorite toppings. They surely provide fun food for your family.

Speaking of fun, Tony’s Pizza is giving away free bowling coupons for every purchase of specially marked Tony’s Pizza. This, I think is a perfect combination: free bowling and mouth-watering pizza. And it is more fun if you will spend it with your family or friends.

So if you haven’t tried Tony's Pizza, now is the time. Treat your family to a great pizza meal and get the chance to bowl for free!



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Who is Gibo Teodoro?

Had he not declared his intention to run for the highest post in the land, I wouldn’t have known Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo "Gibo" Cojuangco Teodoro, Jr. According to his online biography, he was the youngest person who was appointed as Secretary of the Department of National Defense at the age of 43 and now he was aiming to become the third national defense secretary to become president after Ramon Magsaysay in 1953 and Fidel V. Ramos in 1992 with the administration machinery behind him.

I don’t know if it is a good thing that the former secretary and three-term congressman was keeping a low profile and not as well-known as the other presidential contenders as it may mean that he was not implicated in any government scandals but it could also mean that whatever he did as a legislator and a cabinet secretary did not impact the lives of ordinary citizens.

Admittedly, Gibo, as this was his chosen campaign name, is one of the most eloquent and smartest among the presidential candidates. After all, he was a bar topnotcher and was Harvard-educated. He also appears convincing and confident during presidential debates. He appears to have a good grasp of social and political issues. No wonder, youths easily bought his “Galing at Talino” slogan and I believe that some are inclined to support him.

Will his “Galing at Talino” slogan enough to win the Presidency?

If you will believe the surveys that are coming out, then Gibo clearly fell short. He has not even reached the two digit mark on his rating, placing only a far fourth in this nine-cornered fight. Some blame it on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s supposed kiss-of-death. They may be right to some extent but I don’t think that this is the only reason. Had Gibo used his “galing at talino” to successfully reform the Department of National Defense or had he provided excellent emergency response during Ondoy and other typhoons that hit the county, I’m sure he will not have a hard time convincing people to vote for him.

Unfortunately for him, his stint in the Defense Department was forgettable. Sure, he tried to reform the DND and called for more funds for the military modernization program, but was he successful? Was he able to stop corruption in the department? Can you still remember the boxes of firearms and ammunition that were dug by the military during the wake of the Maguindano massacre? The boxes even had the tag of the DND. Gibo was too quick to defend himself that those firearms were released not during his term as secretary which was probably true. But what the incident was able to establish was corruption was rampant in the department. The question is what did he do to clean the department during his watch? Was he able to catch anybody? Or this is just like one of the many ills of this administration that this gentleman doesn’t know about. What kind of leadership can he offer to the public if he is turning a blind eye to the many anomalies and scandals hounding the government?

Gibo was also one of the first to release infomercials last year about disaster preparedness. He was not yet Gibo back then but simply Gilbert Teodoro, he spelled out his last name TEODORO as an acronym on what to do in case of emergency. However, when Ondoy struck, it appeared that he himself and the disaster council had made no prior preparations for disaster. If you were living in Marikina or Cainta, you will know what I’m talking about. It took days before the rescue came if it ever came.

If the election was held after the onslaught of Ondoy, I will hands-down vote for Dick Gordon who heads the Red Cross at that time as he was clearly more prepared than Gibo. Gibo was clearly ill-prepared so he did what he can do better at that time, speak on TV and radio.

I’ve searched the internet even Gibo’s own website for bills or laws that he authored that may have benefited Filipinos. I was looking for bills reflecting his “Galing and Talino” but I was disappointed with what I have discovered. Most of the House bills he authored were bills converting Tarlac municipal roads to national roads and colleges to universities. Like Noynoy Aquino, he also served three terms as representative of the first district of Tarlac and was even an assistant minority leader in the 11th congress. Observers say that Gibo is best remembered not for the bills he authored but for the political moves that he supported or even initiated in the house.

In 2003, he led his party mates in the Nationalist People’s Coalition in a controversial move to impeach the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide that almost resulted in a constitutional crisis. Sure, it was a bold move but he was later accused of acting in the interests of his uncle Danding Cojuangco, founder of his old party Nationalist People’s Coalition, who had pending cases to the high court.

And how can he prove that he is not a GMA lap dog when he has consistently supported efforts to amend the Constitution and voted against all moves to impeach the president?

Do we really need a president with “Galing and Talino”? If these qualifications are what the country needs at this time then I can’t help but to wonder why we are in our present state after prolonged years of leadership from brilliant minds like the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. I don’t think that anybody can question the intelligence and competence of these two leaders.

Will I vote for Gibo Teodoro? Not at this time. I may consider voting for him if he is running for the Senate or Congress but not quite for the presidency.


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MM - MYX Daily Top 10 (March 15, 2010) Featuring "Wag Kang Magtatanong" by Yeng Constantino

Asia’s pop idol and romantic balladeer Christian Bautista is still on top of the MYX Daily Top 10 with “Beautiful Girl” while "Baby" by Justin Bieber is on the second spot.

Meanwhile, Yeng Constantion has entered the countdown with a new song entitled "Wag Kang Magtatanong" which debut at number 9 on the countdown. Yeng won as "Grand Star Dreamer" of Pinoy Dream Academy, the Philippine edition of Endemol's reality TV show Star Academy.


MYX Daily Top 10 - March 15, 2010

1. Beautiful Girl- Christian Bautista
2. Baby- Justin Bieber
3. Sorry Sorry Answer- Super Junior
4. Oh!- Girls Generation
5. Right Here Waiting- Sarah Geronimo
6. World Behind My Wall- Tokio Hotel
7. Whataya Want From Me- Adam Lambert
8. The Only Exception- Paramore
9. Wag Kang Magtatanong- Yeng Constantino (New Entry)
10. Alice- Avril Lavigne

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!




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Manny Villar: Was he ever poor?

He served three terms in the Lower House from 1992 to 2001, and was the House Speaker from 1998 to 2000. After that, he served as senator from 2001 up to the present, and was Senate President from 2006 to 2008 which earned him the distinction of being the first post-war government official who became both Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President of the Philippines. That is how we can sum up the colorful political career of Manuel “Manny” Bamba Villar, Jr. in two sentences.

As if 18 years in public office is not enough, the country’s richest senator is aspiring for the highest post in the land and become the 15th president of the republic. I don’t see anything wrong with this. With his years of political experience and undoubted managerial skills, he certainly has the skills to run for the presidency. What I am wary is on how he is running his campaign. There’s just too much deception and lies that are being dished out to the electorate that is making me doubt his intentions.

First is the big fuss about Villar being “poor” once in his life as you can see in the multitude of paid ads on TV and radio. Needless to say, election season is the only time when opportunistic politicians would want to become poor. At least, they want to project that they were “one of us” to lure the masa or even the gullible voters to support them enough to catapult them to victory. They would project that they know how it is to be poor and they have the long-awaited remedy on how to free people from poverty. This is a time-tested propaganda by traditional politicians. But it was even raised to another level by Villar, who claimed to have ended his own poverty.

How do we measure poverty? Is it enough to call a person poor only because he was born in Tondo? Villar’s infamous jingle suggests that you need to “swim in a sea of garbage or spend Christmas in the middle of the streets” for you to be considered poor or “one of us.” How preposterous!

Clearly, this is a myopic view of poverty and it only shows how ignorant this candidate on the real plight of the poor people in this country. Clearly, he or his handlers doesn’t know how it is to be poor. And the only reason I can think of is because he was never really poor.

He was probably poor when compared to Noynoy Aquino or Gibo Teodoro but even his online biography on his own website did not mention that he came from a poor family. It says: “He was born to a simple family in Moriones, Tondo, Manila. His father, Manuel Montalban Villar, Sr., a government employee, hailed from Cabatuan, Iloilo and his mother Curita Bamba, a seafood dealer, came from Pampanga and Bataan. Manny is the second child in a brood of nine.”

Simple may be the right word but not poor. Poor is when you hardly make both ends meet. But if you have parents who were both working at those times, you were not poor. The family was middle-class perhaps, but not poor. To top it all, the family’s resources were enough to support nine children and even send young Manny to private schools! Yes, it was not on his website but one quick search in Wikipedia would yield the following information about Villar: “As a child, Villar attended Holy Child Catholic School, a private Catholic school in Tondo…. He finished his high school education at the Mapúa Institute of Technology in Intramuros.”

If he was poor then I may have been a beggar since I spent all of my school days in public schools. I don’t think that a poor family with 9 children will have enough resources to send the children to private schools at that time. What then will you call those families who are lucky to have one meal a day because their parents were unemployed? Or those children who cannot afford to go to school and yet at their early age had to work in garbage sites just to earn something that they can put in their empty stomachs?

I take it as an insult that someone who made a fortune out of selling houses to poor people at exorbitant prices and interests will now claim to be "one of us." This man owes his billions to unfortunate people who bought houses from him who cannot even claim that they own the houses until they have paid the price in full. I think it is more apt to describe him as "yumaman dahil sa mahihirap" than "galing sya sa hirap."

And what is the big deal about being poor when has done nothing to help alleviate poverty in the country? If he is Tony Meloto who spearheaded Gawad Kalinga or Jimmy Carter who is with Habitat for Humanity, I may be singing a different tune now. But he is Manny Villar who is a cold-blooded businessman.

What has he done so far to end poverty aside from giving houses and scholarships in Wowowee which we all know were done for the media mileage and with his eyes firmly set for 2010? After serving three terms as a congressman in Las Pinas, has he ended poverty in this city? If he cannot do it in Las Pinas, why claim that he can end poverty in the entire country.

In fairness to him, he may have done a good job as a legislator having authored laws during the 12th Congress, among them are: RA 9178 Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Act, RA 9189 Overseas Absentee Voting Act, RA 9208 Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act, RA 9257 An Act Granting Additional Benefits and Privileges to Senior Citizens, and RA 9262 Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act. But to say that Villar has been championing the cause of the poor is purely hogwash.

I am also not at ease with how Manny Villar has been handling the accusations against him. Instead of delving into the issues, he is simply brushing off the allegations as “politically motivated” and he has allies in Congress to back him up. I won’t go into the merits of the accusations being hurled against him about the C-5 extension project I just thought that it should have been faced head-on by the senator if there were no truths to the allegations. Does he think that all these allegations will die down once he become the President? I don’t think so. Without a proper closure to all these controversies, this will forever haunt him and will cause divisiveness in the country in case he managed to win the presidency. He should learn from PGMA and look at how the “Hello Garci” controversy has been haunting the administration and how it has affected the president’s credibility.

Can the country endure another six years of political instability and disarray? I still think that Filipinos deserve better than the quality of leadership that we now have. We deserve better leaders… and a better life.

How about you? Will you vote for Manny Villar?

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