oh god idk why this part made me laugh but it did
Davao Gulf is one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world and thus has been identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as one of its priority areas.
Currently, it is under threat from such activities as destructive fishing and improper waste disposal, gravely affecting marine life.
You can help save the Davao Gulf thru Text to Donate. Smart subscribers anywhere in the Philippines can make a donation by simply texting WWF <amount> to 4483. Valid amounts (in Pesos) are 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 and 1000.
Funds raised will be used by WWF-Philippines to rehabilitate and preserve the fisheries within the Davao Gulf and to protect its endangered dugongs and sea turtles.
Here is a video of two marines dancing with each other to “Barbie Girl” — the video was uploaded with the caption “killin time after an 18 hour patrol”, and one of them posted a comment on YouTube that reads “btw? neither of us r gay”. These guys are hilarious! I love it when the bald guy said “you can brush my hair”, but he obviously has no hair, ha! And it’s nice to see that they’re making the best out of everything after long hours of work. Love, love, love this!
On September 1, 1909 Baguio was incorporated as a city by the Philippine Assembly.
Above is the original masterplan of Daniel Burnham for the City of Baguio; thus was born the City of Pines and one of the finest Summer Capitols in the world. Though it was originally founded on the site of a Ibalois settlement. It really was originally conceived to be a city of leisure and beauty. The plans tried to use the gorgeous geography of the area to best benefit.
It is sad how far Baguio has fallen; even compared to the 1980s. It can be, it should be, one of the premier rest destinations in the country, and even the region. It lends itself to that. But with the coming of major enterprise, small business that used to lend so much charm to the city have been driven out. The older homes, built during the early American era, are being lost; homes that bring charm and a uniqueness to the city. Those homes should be preserved, just as the indigenous culture and the city’s ecology must be as well. The City has to be involved; they need to take their cues from other cities (such as Iloilo City or Cebu City) which have created heritage zones to preserve their built heritage.
I remember the Baguio of my childhood (which was not too long ago); it was beautiful and fresh and even clean. There was a vibrancy to it that has been lost, I fear. The city itself feels too much like any other big city; just with the added complication of hills. Instead of Baguio being a walking city, as originally envisioned (much like San Francisco), it has become a morass of gridlocked vehicles, stuck at odd angles throughout the city. Hills covered in lush greenery are now covered in rusting corrugated roofing.
Though there still is hope for a renewal; the city has to be lead. SM killed off Session road, but the nostalgia still remains. The city has to work with its art and culture communities to bring back Session Road, to reinvigorate the artistic side of the city. That could very well the beginning of a renewal in our Summer Capitol.
(via iwriteasiwrite)
Adam Levine Thinks MTV Is Full Of Crap
Adam Levine wants everyone to know that MTV is no longer about music. During the weekend, Adam tweeted “The VMAs are the one day a year when MTV pretends to still care about music,”, adding “I’m drawing a line in the sand. F**k you, VMAs”. Frankly speaking, I’m on Team Adam here. The man’s got a point. I mean, MTV is airing a bunch of stupid reality shows, instead of music videos. Why host the VMAS if they broadcast little to no musical output?
It’s really interesting and hilarious to watch what is being discovered in Gaddhafi’s compound, from his photo album of Condi to his yacht magazines and his kinky DVDs and his daughter’s gold mermaid couch. Most of seems confirmation that he was completely eccentric and self-obsessed and that his children lead horribly spoiled lives while he made the Libyan people suffer. New documents discovered also showcase his political paranoia, and confirm that he was not so sure of his forces as he may have claimed.
The Guardian reports that the search of the Bab Al-Azizia compound revealed a major lobbying effort by Gaddhafi to end Operation Unified Protector. Documents show that the Libyan government was desperate and terrified that NATO forces were going to launch a full-scale ground offensive. They approached a number of people in lobbying efforts, including trying to get Rep. Dennis Kucinich to come to Libya. The Libyan Prime Minister contacted Kucinich, offering to pay his expenses to come and negotiate with them.
Kucinich told the Guardian:
He had taken note of the fact I was making an effort to put forward a peace proposal. I had several requests to go to Libya. I made it clear I could not negotiate on behalf of the administration. I said I was speaking as a member of Congress involved in the issue and willing to listen to what they had to say. But given that Libya was under attack, it did not seem a promising place to hold meetings.
It would seem, that despite the classic dictator bravado that Gaddhafi has shown in all his speeches and appearances since this war began, that he was not, indeed, totally confident in the abilities of his forces to withstand NTC and NATO assaults.
Above: Posing on Aisha’s gold mermaid couch (Sergey Ponamarev/AP); fighter wearing one of Gaddhafi’s hats (Sean Smith/Guardian); a looted golden gun (Sean Smith/Guardian); pretending to ride Gaddhafi’s jetski (Alfred de Montesquiou/AP); Saadi Gaddhafi’s living room (Keystone/Rex Features).
Filipino is the “language of the streets” – “how you spoke to the tindera when you went to the tindahan, what you used to tell your katulong that you had an utos, and how you texted manong when you needed sundo na.”
These lines, found in a “Manila Bulletin” column now circulating on social media, aroused sentiments that champion the Filipino language Thursday as the nation winds down its commemoration of August as the National Language Month.
James Soriano, who wrote the column titled “Language, Learning, Identity, Privilege,” contextualized his piece in his experience of learning English as his “mother language.” Soriano said he was required to speak English at home, had all his books in English, and even prayed in English.
“Filipino, on the other hand, was always the ‘other’ subject — almost a special subject like PE or Home Economics, except that it was graded the same way as Science, Math, Religion, and English,” he said in his column originally posted Wednesday.
“My classmates and I used to complain about Filipino all the time. Filipino was a chore, like washing the dishes; it was not the language of learning. It was the language we used to speak to the people who washed our dishes,” Soriano added. - GMANews.TVRead Language, learning, identity, privilege by James Soriano here.
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Edit: The column has been deleted/removed by Manila Bulletin, but you can still read it from Google Cache or PP.
