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Category: Malaya

Hacking negates convenience credit card offers

Photo from Techwireasia
Photo from Techwireasia
I don’t do online purchases for fear that information about my credit card would be mis-used.

That’s why I was surprised and outraged when I got a notice by email the other night that I was being charged two purchases, $39.99 each totalling $79.98 almost $80.00 or P3,600.00.

The items downloaded were both Disney story time from ITunes.

I don’t do business with I Tunes and definitely not with my credit card.

My BDO visa was hacked!

Heed Pope Francis’ appeal to end culture of waste

Filipinos first glimpse of Pope Francis Pope Francis greets and hugs two kids who gave him flowers Pope Francis rides the popemobile From Cookie Feria
Arrival photos.

This visit of Pope Francis is heartwarming as it is awesome.

To those who will brave the heat (hopefully it doesn’t rain), the long walk, the long wait, hunger and thirst, bless your courage and your determination.

I hope and pray that our love for Pope Francis will include taking care of our environment. I hope that as we try to cleanse our soul, we will make sure that we don’t dirty our surroundings.

The EcoWaste Coalition said last year, during the celebration of the World Environment Day on June 5, Pope Francis urged everyone “to make a serious commitment to respect and protect creation, to be attentive to every person, to counter the culture of waste and disposable, to promote a culture of solidarity and of encounter.”
“The Pope’s visit is an opportune time to roll out a campaign that will show our people’s unity and determination to switch to a ‘Zero Waste Pilipinas’ where waste prevention and reduction is the norm of life,” said Aileen Lucero, coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

Fired nurse in Singapore should read Elbert Hubbard

The firing of Filipino nurse Ello Ed Mundsel Bello by the Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore for his Facebook rant against Singaporeans once again demonstrates the danger of people being in social media without fully knowing its capabilities and limitations.

Bello's post
Bello’s post
Last week, Bello, under the FB name Edz Ello, ranted on his wall:

“Now the Singaporeans are loosers in their own country, we take their jobs, their future, their women and soon we will evict all SG loosers out of their own country hahaha. The best part, I will be praying that disators strike Singaporeans and more Singaporeans will die then I will celebrate. REMEMBER PINOY BETTER AND STRONGER THAN STINKAPOREANS.”

The making of the missalette for Pope Francis’ mass at Rizal Park

Pope Francis. He has reinvigorated the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis. He has reinvigorated the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis will be saying his masses (he will have three during his Philippine five-day visit) in English but in Rizal Park, he will start his homily with “Sumasampalataya ako.”

The missalette that will be used in the Rizal Park mass will be eight pages and will contain, for the first time, the Eucharistic Prayer. The text will be in red and blue.

The song, “Tell the World of His Love,” which was sang during the 10th World Youth Day visit of Pope John Paul II in January 1995 will again be sung during the Rizal Park mass.

These pieces of information were shared by Fr. Domie G. Guzman during the mass at Southmall in Las Piñas yesterday.

Je suis Charlie

Je suis Charlie
There is no justification for the ruthless assault on Charlie Hebdo magazine office in Paris killing at least 12 persons, including journalists.

The killing once again underscores the danger of those whose beliefs do not respect diversity and freedom of expression. As the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines said, “We acknowledge that there have been and will continue to be debates about the role journalistic responsibility – or lack of it – factors into such attacks on the freedom of the press. But while we acknowledge the indispensability of ethics in the profession, we also maintain that no mode of expression, however offensive or unethical it may be, deserves a death sentence.”

Amid the reprehensible violence, it is heartwarming how the whole world is rising and standing together to face head-on the terrorists. Journalists all over the world are proclaiming “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie) in solidarity with the victims of this latest terror attack.

Make Christmas meaningful by reducing E-waste

This Christmas, one of the most welcome gifts is a cellphone or a Tablet. Not only for adults but also for children who are now tech-savvy.

Ban Toxics, a group that goes by the motto that “The only world worth passing to our children is toxic- free” advises all of us to go slow on new gadgets.

E-Waste. From European Commission website
E-Waste. From European Commission website
Ban Toxics says Electronic Waste or E-Waste is the bane of the today’s Electronic Age. Discarded computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, television sets, and refrigerators are all considered e-waste. Many of these devices contain toxic metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium) and can stream into our environment if not managed properly.

Toxic materials poison the land, the waters and the air. That is poison we imbibe.

Ban Toxics says “Toxic metals, such as mercury, bio-accumulates in living organisms and can cause neurological and respiratory problems.”

Vietnam delivered when the Philippines needed it most

 Alliance forged.Pres. Aquino and Vietnam  Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Malacanang May 2014.
Alliance forged. Pres. Aquino and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Malacanang May 2014.
It means a lot to the Philippines that Vietnam submitted a Position Paper to the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations that is handling the complaint filed by the Philippines against China on the conflict in the South China Sea.

Probably so as not to further antagonize China, with whom the Philippines has rekindled relations marked by the meeting of President Aquino with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs in reaction to the statement of Vietnam was sober.

The statement, released three days after Vietnam made public the Dec. 4 submission to the U.N. Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, said: “PH has had close consultations with Vietnam, bilaterally as well as within ASEAN, on claims and issues in the South China Sea. We now understand that Vietnam has made its position on our arbitration case known to the Tribunal. This is not wholly unexpected, since Vietnam naturally seeks to protect its own interests. What we understand, however, consistent with our previous discussions, is that the Vietnam’s basic position largely accords with ours with regards to the South China Sea.

Former Rep. Jun Lozada shares his cancer treatment the Fuda way

Jun Lozada with Fuda Hospital Chief President Xu Kecheng.
Jun Lozada with Fuda Hospital Chief President Xu Kecheng.
Former Ambassador and Negros Occ. Rep. Apolinario “Jun” Lozada, Jr. relates his story on how he got to Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou, China for treatment of his prostate cancer with amusement now that he has been declared cancer-free.

But it was not so when a routine check-up last march showed a PSA (Prostatic Specific Antigen) level of over 100 when the normal count is only from zero to four.

Further tests revealed that he has prostate cancer.

The initial reaction was denial and hoping that it would be cured without going through the dreaded surgery and chemotherapy.

Binay in a freefall

Going down fast.
Going down fast.
Obviously, Vice President Jejomar Binay’s early campaigning was not enough to offset the negative impact of the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee investigation which has exposed his alleged mindboggling corruption operations in Makati City.

His scores in Pulse Asia surveys on presidential preference, performance and trust ratings are in a freefall.

In the survey conducted November 14 to 20 Binay’s rating dropped by 21 percentage points (from 66 percent in September to only 45 percent in November).

His trust rating also took a steep decline – 20 percentage points, from 64 percent in September to 44 percent in November.

China’s position paper shows wide gap with PH stand

Pres. Aquino and Pres. Xi Jinping, Beijing Nov 2014
Pres. Aquino and Pres. Xi Jinping, Beijing Nov 2014
The Position Paper of China on the case filed by the Philippines with the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal showed the wide gap between the two countries as regards their conflicting claims on th South China Sea islands, reefs and rocks.

The meeting between President Aquino and Chinese President Xi Jinping may have lowered the tension but the two countries are really far apart in attitude and perspective.

Example:

Before the meeting of Leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Beijing last month, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said their bringing unilaterally the territorial conflict with China before the U.N. court is not an unfriendly act.