Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Have you Read this????
A guy goes to the supermarket and notices an attractive woman waving
at him. She says hello. He's rather taken back because he can't place
where he knows her from.
So he says, 'Do you know me?' To which she replies, 'I think you're
the father of one of my kids.' Now his mind travels back to the only
time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, 'Are you the stripper
from the bachelor party that I made love to on the pool table with
all my buddies watching while your partner whipped my butt with wet
celery??? '
She looks into his eyes and says calmly, 'No ........ I'm your
son's teacher.'
Monday, July 28, 2008
Battle Brewing at the WTO, Again!
GENEVA -- French objections to a planned global trade pact added to bad tempers here Monday as accusations flew between major economies over the slow progress of World Trade Organization negotiations.
On day eight of hard bargaining, China, India and the United States traded harsh words during a morning meeting, while in Paris, France said it would reject the proposals currently on the table.
Other big players sought to calm nerves, saying that a deal was too close at hand to throw away the past week's hard-won gains.
In a meeting with all 153 member states, the United States accused India and China of threatening to shatter a fragile deal reached by key parties in Geneva over the week, according to a statement obtained by Agence France-Presse.
"All their invocations of development during the past years ring hollow when these major players threaten the development benefits already on the table that are absolutely vital to the vast majority of the membership," the US deputy head at the Geneva mission to the WTO, David Shark, said.
The accusations met with a sharp retort from the Chinese, diplomats attending the meeting said.
In reply, Chinese Ambassador Sun Zhenyu said during the morning session that China had "tried very hard" to contribute to a successful round.
"It is a little bit surprised that at this time the US started this finger pointing," he said.
He also turned the tables on the United States, saying that while Washington had offered to cut the ceiling of its agricultural subsidies to $14.5 billion, the actual annual spending was only $7billion-$8 billion a year.
That suggested that the United States could continue to keep current subsidies, with room to even increase the volume.
"Where is the new market access to the developed countries?" asked Sun.
India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath also bluntly rebutted the US charge.
"We are not holding up the talks," he told AFP on the sidelines of Monday morning's meeting.
"Who's holding up this round I think are the large developed countries... who are looking for commercial interests and enhancing prosperity rather than looking for content which reduces poverty."
Meanwhile, other ministers from key nations sought to calm nerves, calling for focus to be kept on achieving a deal.
Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said that countries had been very patient and that "we can understand a degree of frustration."
"It's normal in any negotiations so we've got to overcome the frustrations and not lose sight of the objectives," he told AFP, adding that the state members were "so close" to a deal that "we need to try and conclude it."
Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim also tried to play peacemaker, saying: "The main problem is to keep the nerves down."
Optimism had grown after a perceived breakthrough on Friday in deadlocked talks, followed by further encouraging signs from key players after discussions on the services sector.
But resistance toughened over the weekend, with emerging nations saying that the draft on the table remained unbalanced.
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Monday: "We'll see what happens today. A number of major developing countries and groupings still have major reservations on parts of the text."
Pangestu, who leads the G33 group of developing countries, said the deal tabled still had an "imbalance... there has to be a level of compromise."
In Paris, France added fuel to fire, as the government said that "the project currently on the table is not acceptable as it stands."
It also emerged that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had rung European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso over the weekend to complain about the proposed deal.
Sarkozy had also demanded that EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson travel to Paris to explain his position -- a demand that was refused, a European source told AFP.
Current negotiations at the WTO are handled by Mandelson who holds the mandate to negotiate here on behalf of the European Union.
However, any proposals would have ultimately to be put to all countries in the EU and ratified.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Filipinos in Mexican History
| I found this article at http://www.ezilon.com/information/article_476.shtml and boy, wait till my dear mexican classmates in grad school get to read about this and our close historical links. it's very interesting indeed. ================================================= Filipinos in Mexican history By Floro L. Mercene Jan 28, 2005, 00:21 |
In fact, according to Pinzon, two Filipinos became brigade commanders in the army of General Jose Maria Morelos in the state of Guerrero in the Pacific Coast of Mexico from 1810 to 1821.
***
Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain was started by a priest, Fr. Miguel Hidalgo in Dolores in 1810. Morelos picked up the fight in Western Mexico and recruited about 200 Filipino-Mexicans to join his army. The Filipinos were placed under the command of General Vicente Guerrero, who later became the first black president of Mexico.
***
The Filipino brigade commanders under General Guerrero were identified by Ric Pinzon as Francisco Mongoy and Isidoro Montes de Oca. They distinguished themselves in battles against government troops that in Guerrero they are regarded as folk heroes.
When Guerrero finally surrendered in 1829, he was accompanied by two Filipinos acting as his aides, Miguel de la Cruz and a certain Atieh.
***
Ric Pinzon traveled from Acapulco to Mexico City for our interview. A great fan of the Filipinos and their contribution to Mexico’s growth as a nation, he is writing a book on the Filipino presence in his country, a fact largely ignored by historians.
Filipino sailors on the Manila galleons had been traveling to Mexico between 1570 and 1815. Many of them married local girls and settled in Mexico.
***
By Pinzon’s estimate, there are about 200,000 descendants of Filipinos in southern Mexico. They are concentrated in the Costa Grande north of Acapulco. The town of Coyuca 35 miles north of Acapulco was called Filipino town in the old days. There is also a large Filipino community in Colima, about eight hours ride north of Acapulco.
***
Pinzon says three former governors of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located, may have Filipino ancestry. Juan Alvarez, born in Espinalillo, a Filipino colony, became president of Mexico. His son, Juan Alvarez, became governor of Guerrero in the 1870s.
Alejandro Gomez Maganda figured in the 1910 Revolution and also became governor of Guerrero in the 1940s.
***
Filipino influence on Mexican culture is very apparent, especially on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, where people today continue to imbibe tuba, the drink derived from the coconut tree. They are also engage in games like kite-flying which they make with papel de China. Their names for their fishing boats is panga, which they suspect is of Filipino origin.
***
In the 18th century, the Manila galleons were attacked by pirates from England and the Netherlands. To fight them off, the Spanish authorities created a small army of Filipinos called the chino brigade in Acapulco. A total of 108 galleons were built in the Philippines during two and a half centuries of its existence. Four were captured by pirates and about 30 were sunk by typhoons.
The trade ended when the Mexican independence movement began in 1810. The last galleon to reach Acapulco was the Magallanes.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Old Family Photos: Frial-Salcedo / Balagot Nuptials 12 May 1940
This is an old family Photograph of my Grandmother Gilda's cousin's wedding back in 1940. My Grandma wears a spectacular Black Terno (leftmost). Wow! |
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Guess what I saw on the road while driving tonight . . .
I saw two foxes, crossing the road and back again to the woods. wow!!! Fitch Ratings maintain Stable outlook for RP
I know many of my countrymen will lambast this article and me for posting this. it's a concept they don't understand, but I still personally hold this very very important in our country's bid for economic stability. The underpriviliged will always say, they never feel anything good coming out of all these economic "good news" and that it's all a farce. It's old news but hey, sometimes, a government can only do something, much of it all depends on your own diligence really. The government can not just give alms to all the economically challenged, especially those who breed like rabbits.
Here is the news feed from inquirer.net
====================================
Fitch Ratings maintain Stable outlook for RP
Maintaining a healthy fiscal position ranks high on Fitch's to-do list for the Philippines, followed by worries over inflation risks.
Fitch Ratings head of Asia Sovereigns James McCormack said the country's fiscal deficit might likely overshoot government forecasts this year specially if the government implements a subsidy program to help households deal with higher food and energy prices.
"Even with subsidy numbers we're using, we didn't anticipate making any changes to the rating because it wouldn't fundamentally change the structure (of the country's) public financing," McCormack said following a forum sponsored by UnionBank at the Philippine Stock Exchange in Pasig City.
"The reduction in debt and deficit for the past couple of years have been good, to the extent that if there will be a subsidy program to be introduced as a response to higher commodity prices, we view that as a cyclical and not a structural issue," McCormack added.
He also said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Philippine Daily Inquirer) was faced with a tough decision to bite the bullet now with another interest rate increase after its 50-basis-point hike in key rates to curb accelerating inflation, which could also soften economic activity.
Fitch sees weaker GDP growth at 5.5 percent this year, from 7.2 percent in 2007, which already assumes more interest rate increases by the central bank. Fitch's growth projection is a tad below the government's forecast of between 5.7 to 6.6 percent.
"It's weaker than last year but still a reasonable growth," McCormack said.
"Depending on where inflation is, that tells you where the policy rates needs to be. If inflation goes higher then clearly interest rates will move higher as well," McCormack said.
My Sanuks
and now for a very shameless (albeit unpaid for) plug, I am featuring My Sanuks. . . This has got to be the most comfortable pair of shoes i've ever worn, Seriously, they feel like you're walking on clouds . . . And I bought em in Manila just last March. hehe.
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My Corner, My Crib
Don Miguel's little corner by the fireplace . . .
Lazy Ass!
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