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I think Mr. Seagram Jr. means that the record companies sell their music through the iTunes Music Store and that he wants a cut from ech iPod sold –,Gucci Handbags; yeah right! Within a short while this comment popped up:
Edgar Bronfman, Jr. does not know a lot of things. He inherited the Seagram fortune, sold its $9 Billion stock of Dupont to buy MCA, for the sole purpose of becoming a media mogul. He’s failed miserably. Here’s a great article about him on Slate [msn.com]. I especially like this quote, “Edgar Jr. has been designated the movie industry’s official idiot–a 42-year-old child who’s squandering his family (and his shareholders’) fortune on romantic Tinseltown fantasies.”

Ouch! And then this clever tongue in cheek comment:
I also suggest speakerwire be taxed per foot, since the longer the cables, the bigger the room and thus the more people can listen at the same time.

Don’t think he speaks for the entertainment industry; he’s an idiot even among those morons.

Slashdot | Music Exec Fires Back At Apple CEO
Warner Music Group CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr., has fired back at Steve Jobs in response to the Apple CEO’s claim that having variable pricing for iTunes music would be ‘greedy.’ From the article: ‘To have only one price point is not fair to our artists, and I dare say not appropriate to consumers. The market should decide, not a single retailer … Some songs should be $0.99 and some songs should be more. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that $0.99 is a thing of the past … We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don’t have a share of iPod’s revenue … We want to share in those revenue streams. We have to get out of the mindset that our content has promotional value only.’

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Stuart Kauffman:
The biosphere is rife with mutualisms. In biologist Scott Gilbert’s fine phrase, these are codependent origination—an ancient Buddhist phrase. In this open universe, beyond entailment by fundamental physics, we have partial lawlessness, ceaseless creativity, and forever co-dependent origination that changes the Actual and the ever new Adjacent Possible we ceaselessly self-consistently co-construct. More, the way this unfolds is neither fully lawful, nor is it random. We need to re-envision ourselves and the universe.

The World Question Center 2009
WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING?
“What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?”
(Via The Technium)

Hana Mochi and Re:Standard
The first issue carried the cover story “A Life With Thermos Flasks”. A Thermos flask is a simple, normal item, but it can suggest something extraordinary; a field trip with friends during which a magical moment arrives, a moment in which — in the middle of nowhere, perhaps — one is refreshed by hot tea.

“With your head and your instinct,” say the editors of Re:Standard, “you should judge what you really need. The standard things in our daily lives, we would like to translate as futsu — normal things. This is a magazine in which we think about normal things — futsu — and necessary things, neither too old nor to new. These things — abandoned in the rush for progress — can become our new standards.”
(Via Click opera)

This year I want to learn Spanish. I made a list that included Mandarin, Japanese, French and Italian, but Spanish won. I want to use the bike as my main medium of transportation. In the last two years I put less than 6,700 miles total on my car and I would like to add less than 3,000 miles to that tally in 2009. And, I ordered a Concert Zither – don’t ask, it’s something I heard in my head while I was in Germany in November.

Neither fully lawful, nor random…
And everything that happens contains a seed of opportunity. I think 2009 could turn out to be a fine seed.

and…

Here is some good reading for New Year’s Day:

What are the themes for 2009? What do we need? What is happiness? Can happiness be bought, or is it earned? Is it a thing or an attitude? To have or to be. And, how can I be useful?

Here&rsquo,Chanel Handbags;s to Twothousandnine

Today’s the day where you get to make a wish that comes true. Use that responsibility wisely.

(Via DesignNotes by Michael Surtees)

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CNT technology
Material Evolution
It???s hard to believe now, but years ago wood was the material of choice for many sporting goods. The advent of strong aluminum and titanium alloys made wood obsolete. In recent years, high-performance carbon-fiber components have one-upped their metal counterparts in terms of both strength and weight. And now, with the advent of CNT nanocomposites,Replica Handbags, Easton has unleashed a new breed of superior bicycle components.

A car built from this stuff would weigh very little and would get amazing milage. This material will change our world radically and soon.

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This thought had me laughing this evening: maybe I’ll be performing de-constructed 21st century folk music, singer-song-writer stuff… only, instead of hearing a set of songs, you’ll get half a set of music and then half a set of words. How modern!

Music: Steve Stephen unreleased music

Well, we just accepted 2 offers for my Solo show next year. Both in April,gucci purses, I think, both on the Westcoast. Interesting. Ottmar Liebert: an evening of solo guitar + conversation – or something like that. What a trip! I’ll talk more in that first show than I have said on stage in the last 15 years combined. We might be unleashing a monster that is best left caged, eh?

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One of those many articles that might be interesting but really, that snippet says it all.

The West Gets Wilder
A pioneering brothel,Replica Purses, for women, is on the horizon in Nevada. But are women ready to be patrons?
(Via NYT – Fashion and Style)

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The place to go to this weekend is the Pink Kitchen in Rockwell Tent in Makati.

Pink Kitchen is a fund-raising event of ICanServe Foundation, an advocacy group of mostly breast cancer survivors that provides hope and help to those afflicted with cancer.

Pink Kitchen gathers the country’s culinary experts who will showcase their yummy treats, in the words of Bettina Osme?a, one of the organizers, for very reasonable prices. In the evening, entertainment will be provided by Bituin Escalante, Leah Navarro, Peppermint Jam, cellist Renato Lucas and the University of Asia and the Pacific Chorale.

There will also be cooking demonstrations, lecture on wine appreciation and Look -Good -Feel -Better sessions. It’s a two-day affair, Oct. 18 and 19, from 11 a.m. To 10 p.m.

Pink Kitchen is staged for the benefit of Ating Dibdibin (meaning Take Breast Care To Heart),
the country’s first and only community based breast cancer screening program.

October, being a breast-cancer-awareness month, I’m sharing this article “Breast Cancer: How to Reduce the Risk” by Lillie Shockney.

“There are several lifestyle changes we can adopt that can directly affect our risk of getting breast cancer — and I’m a firm believer in doing everything we possibly can to reduce that risk.

“ is a list of actions you can start taking today to help your breasts live a healthier life and remain attached to you!

1. Exercise 3 times a week. This doesn’t mean buying a gym membership or training to be the next Olympic running champ. Power walking around your neighborhood every other day will do it — for 1 hour, 3 times a week. Strut your stuff and reduce your risk. And why not recruit a friend to join you?

2. Stick to a low-fat diet. This doesn’t mean giving up all sweets and treats, either. Just watch how much of them you eat and don’t partake every day. This, along with exercise, will keep your weight within the desired range (which, by the way, is a crucial risk-reducer). Less weight means less body fat and, since we store estrogen in body fat, that’s less estrogen for us to be hauling around. This is a brilliant step to take because estrogen is a known promoter and nourisher of breast cancer cells, as well as of cells that are about to mutate into cancerous ones.

3.Stop smoking. Quit if you can, and steer clear of secondhand smoke, too. Believe it or not, inhaling cigarette smoke increases the estrogen levels in your bloodstream. Go figure. And research has now proven that secondhand smoke can be just as damaging to our bodies as lighting up the cancer sticks ourselves. The American Cancer Society has reported that if all tobacco products were banished today, then 80 percent of all cancers would vanish as well. Wow.

4.Limit your alcohol intake. Alcohol too can increase your risk. Are you a social drinker? That’s fine, but limit yourself to one alcoholic beverage a day or less (for a woman, that amounts to 12 oz. of beer, 6 oz. of wine, or 1 oz. of the hard stuff). Doesn’t matter what kind of liquor we’re talking about, either — beer, wine, or spirits, it’s all the same. Say “No thanks” after one drink.

“This list, you’ll notice, is short but sweet. But please do pay attention to these more healthy behaviors because they are the 4 pillars of breast cancer prevention.”

Maybe I should add one more, “ Get enough sleep.”

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Gloria Arroyo has lost control. She should re-sign.

She has lost control not only of herself (look up her throwing tantrum video last Monday in YouTube) but also of the government.

She should resign to spare the country further destruction, not only in terms of loss of lives but damage to democratic institutions.

Calls for Arroyo to resign are nothing new ever since the “Hello Garci” tapes surfaced which exposed her to have masterminded cheating in the 2004 elections. But she has effectively placated her political adversaries. This time, however, she has expended her political capital. Derided by majority of Filipinos, Arroyo’s words have no value.

Even MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal is not taking her seriously.

Asked by ANC’s Tony Velasquez about Arroyo’s latest policy statement abandoning negotiation and shifting to “dialogue with the communities” (whatever that means), Iqbal said, “I don’t want to comment. Kapag ang isang tao ay emotional kung ano-ano ang nasasabi.

Iqbal must have also observed that Arroyo is confused and panicking. Her statements give us reason to doubt if she has a good grasp of the situation on the ground. What does she mean by “Engagements with all armed groups shall be about disarmament, demobilization, and rehabilitation or DDR.”

Is she ordering the AFP to disarm the MILF? Is this an order for an all-out war?

At this time when the people have had enough of secrecy and obfuscation, she comes up with declarations that “From negotiations, our focus shall shift to dialogues with the communities or government conducting authentic conversations or dialogue with the people… about the people and government telling armed groups to give up armed struggle.” The people telling the MILF to give up their arms? Hello?

Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson announced the cancellation of the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement On Ancestral Domain that would have been signed last August 5 in Kuala Lumpur had it not been for the temporary restraining order by the Supreme Court. She said the government will work out a new agreement with the MILF.

MILF’s Iqbal rejected any suggestion of renegotiation.

Fr. Eliseo Mercado. OMI, who has worked closely with the GRP-MILF peace panel said, “GMA is suspect from the very start. Whether we are for GMA or not, the fact remains that her credibility and popularity are almost nil. No peace agreement anywhere in the planet can be negotiated with that standing.”

Mindanao is being held together by the military taking to heart their Constitutional duty “as protector of the people and the State.” Arroyo, the commander-in-chief, is merely catching up with the armed forces. In fact, she issued her order for the military and police “to defend every inch of Philippine territory against MILF forces, and immediately restore peace in the affected areas in Lanao de Norte” when the military was already conducting mopping up operations. MILF’s Commander Bravo was already back in his “territory” after attacking municipalities in Lanao del Norte, burning houses and killing those who resisted.

The people have to be thankful that AFP chief Alexander Yano does not share the view of his predecessor, presidential peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon who told North Cotabato Vice Governor Manny Pi?ol that it’s the policy of the government not to “sacrifice the lives of the soldiers” if communities are attacked by MILF if the MOA on ancestral domain if blocked by the Supreme Court.

Arroyo should take her cue from her 2005 visitor, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last Monday after nine years in power rather than be impeached. She is in no danger of being impeached given her hold on the pork barrel-loving congressmen. But if things get out of hand and Arroyo is seen as incapable of governing anymore, more messy scenarios could unfold.

She still has the option to resign and negotiate her exit which could include exile in a castle in Europe where she can enjoy her brandy. That’s definitely better than being ousted and landing in jail.

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Malaya editorial:

We see that the International Monetary Fund is standing four-square behind the government’s refusal to scrap the value added tax on oil and, by extension, on power rates, and sticking to providing direct support to the poor in this time of surging prices.

Government’s refusal to scrap the VAT on oil is based on the simple fact that revenues continue to lag behind spending. It needs the money and it is loathe to lose any source of revenues. We have this suspicion the purported direct transfers to help the poor cope with rising prices of food and other necessities are but an after-the-fact rationalization.

Mar Roxas, among the few senators with a solid grasp of economic issues, has noted that when the VAT system was expanded to include oil (and also electricity), crude was trading in the world market for $34 a barrel. Now the price of crude is around $131 a barrel.

Roxas said this means that government was collecting around $4 in per barrel when VAT was first applied on oil. Now is it collecting $14 barrel.

The irony here is while the government is decrying the runaway prices of world crude, it is in fact earning handsomely as a result of the price escalation.

Since prices of oil have a cascading effect on practically all goods and services, government VAT earnings increase proportionally as we go down the production chain.

(We have heard some officials muse about taxing oil companies for the extra-ordinary gains they made from old oil stocks by selling their products based on current crude prices. Doesn’t the same apply to the government’s windfall collections from the VAT on oil?)

Surely this is not the intention – to collect more revenues simply as a function of price increases – when the VAT was expanded.

Let’s take a deeper look into the anomaly. Had oil prices stayed at $34 a barrel, the government deficit would now be higher by an amount equivalent to the windfall VAT collections from $130 a barrel crude. What’s the conclusion we can draw then? It’s this: The government has miserably failed in collecting taxes from sources other than VAT. Despite all the claimed reforms in collection efforts, taxes raised from income have not grown as fast as the government makes us believe.
Malaya editorial:

The government, in effect, has been trying to make us believe all is well on the collection side because of the windfall from VAT.

And what about this purported wisdom of giving direct cash transfers to the poor instead of a society-wide relief from the VAT on oil?

In theory, there’s nothing objectionable to the policy. In practice, it means more money to steal as the funds flow from the treasury to the purported beneficiaries.

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Ping: “I-know-nothing’ witness took a phone call

by Dennis Gadil
Malaya

Connect the dots, if you please, or if you will.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday said his “surprise” witness, Leo San Miguel, was overheard by members of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) during a break in Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the ZTE deal talking to a person he addressed as “Ma’am.”

On the other side of town, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that President Arroyo was “elated” by San Miguel’s testimony that he knew nothing of supposed kickbacks in connection in the deal.

“Narinig siya ng OSAA, may kausap siyang ‘ma’am.’ ‘Yes ma’am, opo ma’am, ide-deny ko po ma’m,’” Lacson said.

Lacson said he doesn’t believe that San Miguel was just talking to his wife or staff.

“Ewan ko, baka asawa niya ang kausap niya pero ‘ma’am’ ang tawag niya. At madiin ang ‘yes ma’m, opo ma’m, ide-deny ko po ma’m,’” Lacson said.

He said the phone call was coursed through lawyer Marcelino Agana IV of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO).

“Nakausap niya si Attorney Agana na siyang nasa PLLO sa Senado. Maya-maya meron siyang kausap sa telepono na ‘Ma’am’,” he said.

“Lalong tumibay nang makausap si ‘Ma’am. Isa lang naman ang ‘Ma’am’ na ina-address ng ganun,” he said.

He said after the call, San Miguel appeared to have further firmed up, denying anything about the supposed kickbacks and commissions that the “Greedy Group” of former elections chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. were supposed to get.

Agana admitted that he talked to San Miguel Monday night before the ZTE consultant met with Lacson and before the Senate inquiry Tuesday morning.

But Agana said San Miguel only told him that he was going to testify on whatever he was going to be asked.

Agana, who said he was San Miguel’s lawyer when the businessman was president of the Philippine Cable Television Association, denied that he tried to influence San Miguel’s testimony or that President Arroyo or Malaca?ang had instructed him to do so.

In his testimony Tuesday, San Miguel said he had no “direct knowledge” of the alleged $41 million in advances that he and other alleged members of the “Greedy Group Plus Plus” were supposed to have received from China’s ZTE Corp., which had bagged the $329 million contract.

Lacson was caught by surprise by San Miguel’s testimony, saying it was contrary to what was related to him in their previous meetings.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz labeled San Miguel as incredible for “unfathomably” lying before the Senate inquiry.

“I really don’t know what happened to him. He is obviously lying because for him to be asked by a senator to undergo a lie detector test is something. The man sounded incredible to many senators,” said Cruz, a former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

San Miguel’s insistence that he does not know anything about the supposed bribe advances was contrary to the statements of Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jose “Joey” de Venecia III and Dante Madriaga, who all said San Miguel was part of the negotiations of the deal.

Cruz said it is evident that “someone powerful” made San Miguel testify the way he did.

“It can only mean two things: either he was threatened or he was convinced not to tell the truth of what he obviously knew so much of,” Cruz said.

Gov’t officials too

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Palace is open to allowing government officials linked to the ZTE deal to undergo a lie detector test.

Ermita said they also welcome the proposal of Sen. Mar Roxas Tuesday night for Lozada, De Venecia, Madriaga and San Miguel to undergo a lie detector test. All except De Venecia have agreed to the proposal.

Ermita denied that Malaca?ang or the President herself may have had contact with San Miguel or even know him.

He also denied that there are efforts to influence him or any of the other witnesses. – Dennis Gadil, Gerard Naval and Jocelyn Montemayor

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Tuwing may isyu ang sagot ni Gloria Arroyo at ng kanyang mga alagad ay “dalhin sa husgado.”

“Bring it to court” ang kanyang mantra.

Okay lang ang hayaan ang husgado gumawa ng decision sa mga usapang legal sa normal na sitwasyon. Ang problema hindi na normal ang nangyayari kasi sinira na ni Arroyo ang lahat na institusyon na pangdemokrasya. Noong Martes nakita natin na pati Korte Suprema, sira na rin.

Hawak na ni Arroyo ang Korte Suprema. Wala nang maasahang hustisya ang taumbayan sa Supreme Court. Mas marami na ang bulag at bingi at busog ang mga tiyan. Mas mahalaga sa kanila ang ma-protektahan si Arroyo kaysa ang kapakanan ng bansa.

Kitang- kita natin ito sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema sa kaso ni Romy Neri ng NBN/ZTE. Dating director ng National Economic Development Authority (chairman na siya ngayon ng Commission on Higher Education) si Neri at siya ang nag-apruba telecommunications project na gagawin ng ZTE, isang Chinese firm. Ang proyekto ay gagastusan ng $329 milyon na uutangin natin sa China.

Sa imbestigasyon ng Senado lumabas na umabot sa $200 milyon ang patong ng grupo nina dating Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos. Inamin ni Arroyo alam niyang may problema ang kontrata sa ZTE ngunit itinuloy parin ang pirmahan na kanyang dinaluhan. Natigil lang itong kontrata dahil sa imbestigasyon ng Senado .

Pinigilan ng Malaca?ang si Neri na sagutin ang tatlong tanong tungkol sa papel ni Arroyo sa NBN/ZTE deal kaya pumunta ang Senado sa Korte Suprema.

Sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema na isinulat ni Justice Teresita de Castro, na siya ring nag-conict kay dating Pangulong Estrada, sinabi na covered raw ang “executive privilege” ang mga taong tungkol sa papel ni Arroyo sa NBN/ZTE dahil nakakasira sa relasyon natin sa China sa ating pambansang interes.

Ano ba yan? Hindi pareho ang interes ni Arroyo at ng bayan. Nakakasira kay Arroyo ang pagbulgar ng katotohanan. Ngunit ito ay makakabuti sa bayan.

Amg sumang-ayon kay De Castro ay sina Associate Justices Leonardo Quisumbing, Renato Corona, Dante Tinga, Minita Chico-Nazario, Presbiterio Velasco, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Ruben Reyes at Arturo Brion.

Ang mga hindi sumang-ayon ay sina Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Associate Justices Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Adolfo Azcuna and Antonio Carpio.

Klaro na na sira na ang Korte Suprema. Wala tayong maasahang hustisya sa mga kampon ni Arroyo na siyang nakakarami diyan.

Kung gusto natin maisalba ang bayan at ang ating kinabukasan, isama natin ang pagbuwag ng Korte Suprema ni Arroyo.

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