Sunday, May 30, 2010
Ultimate ninja 4:Naruto Shippuden
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sonic Sega&All-Stars Racing
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Breakfast Boost for Girls
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sonic and the black knight
Saturday, May 15, 2010
iron man the movie 2
Friday, May 14, 2010
‘Dear Noynoy:’ Aquino gets advice on Facebook
MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos have swamped a new Facebook page to offer words of advice and caution for their next president-apparent, Senator Benigno Aquino III—telling him he should choose upright Cabinet members and also quit smoking.
Aquino's promise to wage war against rampant corruption that has plagued the Philippines has raised hopes, especially among young who made up almost half the voters in Monday's elections.
Aquino, a 50-year-old lawmaker, was headed for a landslide victory, largely campaigning on a family name and promising to follow the legacy of his parents, who are regarded as heroes in the country's democratic struggle against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
More than 26,741have visited the Facebook site, "Dear Noynoy Aquino," and indicated they "like" it. They were posting suggestions for Aquino in the 24 hours since it was set up Tuesday by Rock Ed Philippines, a volunteer group of young professionals promoting alternative education and "thoughtful suggestions" for the new president.
Writing on the page, Patricia O. Loanzon warned Aquino that Filipinos will repeat the "people power" revolts that ousted Marcos in 1986 and President Joseph Estrada in 2001 "should you renege on your promises to change/eradicate corruption in our government."
Wilfred Alipat said he still had doubts about Aquino, "but I hope you prove them wrong."
Others urged him to distribute his family's vast sugar estate to landless farmers and workers, while Anna Ylagan wrote: "Quit smoking, President Noy. We need you to be healthy."
9-year old plane crash survivor going home
He is scheduled to leave Tripoli, Libya, at 10 a.m. Saturday and fly home with an aunt and uncle, as well as a doctor, the ministry said in a statement.
Ruben van Assouw suffered multiple fractures to his legs and underwent surgery at Al Khadra Hospital, said a doctor who declined to give her name.
Both of Ruben's parents and a brother were killed in the crash, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
Acting on a request from the boy's relatives, authorities do not plan to say where the plane will land, and the media will not be present when it does, the ministry statement said.
"His relatives have appealed to the media to exercise restraint and to leave Ruben and his family in peace at this difficult time," it said.
Authorities said Ruben was the only survivor after an Afriqiyah Airways plane crashed at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The boy's aunt and uncle arrived in Tripoli to visit him Thursday.
Saif al Islam Gadhafi, the second eldest son of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, visited the boy in the hospital along with airline chairman Capt. Sabri Shadi, according to a statement on Afriqiyah Airways' website.
More than two thirds of the passengers killed in the plane crash were Dutch, the foreign ministry said. Passengers from Libya, South Africa, Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, Zimbabwe and Britain were also among the victims, the airline said on its website.
The plane, an Airbus A330-200, departed Johannesburg, South Africa, and was at the end of its nearly nine-hour flight when it crashed.
Officials recovered the plane's flight data recorder, but investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
First Girlfriend Shalani do Filipinos ready?
In recent interviews, Aquino has spoken up about his plans to raise revenue, cut spending and investigate corruption allegations against President Arroyo and her official family. He admitted that he is still getting used to life as a public figure and has yet to decide if he will quit smoking.
He has also revealed that his high-profile sister, actress-TV host Kris Aquino, has opted not to have a role in government, while his girlfriend, Shalani Soledad, will be busy as councilor in Valenzuela’s 2nd district. (Read: Noynoy speaks on Binay, Kris, Shalani et al)
The revelation doused speculation that Soledad would be a "First Girlfriend" to the still unmarried candidate when he becomes president. Official protocol also does not grant an official title to the girlfriend of a sitting president.
Soledad's relationship with Aquino has sparked widespread interest after the death of Aquino's mother, Cory Aquino, last year launched Noynoy's presidential bid. Soledad campaigned heavily for Aquino even as she sought to be elected councilor of Valenzuela City's 2nd District. (Read: Noynoy's girlfriend proclaimed Valenzuela City councilor)
Three unmarried chief executives
Columnist Manolo Quezon said at least three unmarried people have served as the country's chief executive.
During the American occupation, US President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy as governor-general of the Philippines in 1933. Since he was unmarried, Murphy's sister stood as First Lady during official functions.
Elpidio Quirino was already a widower when he won the presidency in 1948. His daughter, Vicky, stood as First Lady.
Finally, Corazon Aquino, mother of Noynoy Aquino, was a widow when she became president in 1986.
Quezon said an unmarried president is not unheard-of in political circles, pointing out that Noynoy's own mother did not have a spouse to escort her during state functions.
He added that being single could help Aquino avoid the controversies hurled against the spouses of Philippine Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Arroyo.
So far, none of Aquino's sisters have shown any interest in being First Lady of Malacañang if their brother is President.
Aquino's sister, Viel, said the entire family is supportive of Aquino's relationship with Soledad. She added, however, that their brother is too busy with the campaign to even think about marriage.
"I think it's better if he has a wife so hindi na kami magkakapatid ginugulo niya. I think it's not an immediate priority for him and he said so. We like Shalani and if [the wedding] happens, then good," she said. -- based on interviews and reports of Ces Oreña Drilon, ABS-CBN NewsSchool in China attacks children as young as 3
HANZHONG, China (AP) – Children as young as 3 years old were among the victims targeted in an attack at a kindergarten in northwestern China that killed seven toddlers and two adults, a doctor said Thursday.
The attacker who charged into the kindergarten Wednesday and hacked at his victims with a cleaver was also a familiar figure to them, said another doctor. The killer, 48-year-old Wu Huanming, committed suicide at home following the attack.
The assault, which left 11 other children hospitalized, was China's fifth such school rampage in less than two months, and occurred despite heightened security countrywide, with gates and cameras installed at some schools and additional police and guards posted at entrances.
The attacks have raised concerns about the rising emotional stress in China's high-pressure, rapidly changing society, along with a dire lack of infrastructure to diagnose and treat severe mental illness.
It was not clear if security had been increased at the private Shengshui Temple Kindergartens on the rural outskirts of Hanzhong, an industrial city of nearly 4 million people. Images taken from local TV and posted online portrayed the school, which only had about 20 students, as a tumble-down, two-story farmhouse.
"We've never seen anything like this before, never," said Zhao Fangling, a doctor overseeing care for six of the most seriously wounded survivors at the 3201 Hospital in Hanzhong. The other five survivors were being treated at a separate hospital.
The four boys and two girls under Zhao's care were between the ages of 3 and 6-1/2. He said they were in stable condition in intensive care with head wounds.
"When we saw the mothers in pain who had lost their children, all of us were in tears," said Zhao, himself visibly shaken.
Another hospital official, Cui Xiangbin, said the killer was known to the children.
"The children all knew him, they saw him every day. I can't describe how it made me feel when I heard about the scene, I felt terrified and my heart went cold," Cui said.
The carnage started as class was beginning Wednesday, the local government said.
It said Wu entered the kindergarten and killed school administrator Wu Hongying and a student on the spot, then began hacking at the 18 others, according to a city government statement.
Six students and Wu Hongying's 80-year-old mother died later in the hospital of their wounds, it said. None of the 11 hospitalized survivors was in immediate danger.
Wu is a common Chinese surname, and it wasn't clear if the assailant and administrator were related.
Citing the police, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wu Huanming had rented his house to Wu Hongying for the kindergarten without government approval. He then demanded the property back, but Wu Hongying had asked to hold onto it until the children went on summer vacation.
Sociologists say the recent attacks that have left 17 dead and scores wounded reflect the tragic consequences of ignoring mental illness and rising stress resulting from huge social inequalities in China's fast-changing society.
"The perpetrators have contracted a 'social psychological infectious disease' that shows itself in a desire to take revenge on society," said Zhou Xiaozheng of Beijing's Renmin University.
"They pick children as targets because they are the weakest and most vulnerable," Zhou said.
The recent attacks are classic "copycat crimes," the effects of which may be amplified by media coverage, Zhou said.
Boosting security at schools would provide only a temporary solution unless the root problems of social injustice and economic inequality are addressed, he said.
It's also difficult to protect so many places.
About 500 kindergartens, primary and high schools in Beijing have hired more than 2,000 professional security guards to increase safety, said He Gang, a police officer at the Beijing Public Security Bureau. Thousands more guards are needed for the city's remaining 4,500 kindergartens, primary and high schools, He said.
The government has sought to show it has the problem under control, mindful especially of worries among middle-class families who, limited in most cases to one child due to population control policies, invest huge amounts of money and effort to raise their offspring.
The Hanzhong city government vowed to "leave no stone unturned, learn from the mistakes, and strictly ensure nothing happens like this again."
The city government said about 2,000 police officers and security guards had been assigned to patrol public schools, kindergartens and surrounding areas beginning last week.
The string of assaults began with an attack on a primary school in March in the city of Nanping, where eight children were slashed to death by a former doctor with a history of mental health problems.
The man convicted for that crime was executed April 28, the same day a 33-year-old former teacher broke into a primary school in the southern city of Leizhou and wounded 15 students and a teacher with a knife.
The following day, in the city of Taixing, a 47-year-old unemployed man with a knife wounded 29 kindergarten students — five seriously — plus two teachers and a security guard.
Hours later, a farmer hit five elementary students with a hammer in the eastern city of Weifang before burning himself to death.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Bloodest day in Iraq: 100 people dead
Officials were quick to blame insurgents linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq for the shootings in the capital, saying the militants were redoubling efforts to destabilize the country at a time of political uncertainty over who will control the next government.
Shiite Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi stressed the importance of quickly forming a government that does not exclude any major political group to try to prevent insurgents from exploiting Iraq’s fragile security.
“The terrorist gangs perpetrated new assaults today on our people and armed forces,” he said. “We call on all political blocs to work seriously for the benefit of the country and ... start to form a national partnership government including all political parties without marginalizing any one.”
More than two months after the March 7 election, Iraq’s main political factions are still struggling to put together a ruling coalition. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite bloc has tried to squeeze out election front-runner Ayad Allawi — a secular Shiite who was heavily backed by Sunnis — by forging an alliance last week with another religious Shiite coalition. The union, which is just four seats short of a majority in parliament, will likely lead to four more years of a government dominated by Shiites, much like the current one.
Sunni anger at Shiite domination of successive governments was a key reason behind the insurgency that sparked sectarian warfare in 2006 and 2007. If Allawi is perceived as not getting his fair share of power, that could in turn outrage the Sunnis who supported him and risk a resurgence of sectarian violence.
The relentless cascade of bombings and shootings — hitting at least 10 cities and towns as the day unfolded — also raised questions about whether Iraqi security forces can protect the country as the US prepares to withdraw half of its remaining 92,000 troops in Iraq over the next four months.
The US and Iraq have claimed major blows again al-Qaeda in Iraq over the last month — most notably the killings of two militant leaders Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri in an April 18 raid on their safehouse near Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit.
But US Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza, the top military spokesman in Iraq, said Monday’s attacks show “there is a threat out there that we have to be concerned about, and the threat is still capable.”
The violence began before dawn in Baghdad in a series of attacks against checkpoints and patrols, targeting security forces. Gunmen disguised as cleaners used weapons fixed with silencers to spray security forces with bullets. At least 10 people were killed.
Most of the day’s casualties were in two Shiite-dominated cities where wounded victims screamed their fury at the government for failing to protect them.
The worst violence hit the Shiite city of Hillah, the capital of Babil province 95 kilometers south of Baghdad. First, two parked car bombs near a textile factory exploded as workers were leaving the factory around midday, said Babil provincial police spokesman Maj. Muthana Khalid.
Then as rescuers and workers were trying to help the injured, a suicide attacker with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up in the crowd.
At least 45 people were killed and dozens more injured, according to Khalid and al-Hillah hospital director Zuhair al Khafaji.
“It was a horrible scene with human flesh and blood on the ground,” said Jassim Znad Abid, a taxi driver who lives in Hillah. “I saw dead people, some burned and crying, wounded people on the ground that was covered with pools of blood.”
Babil provincial Gov. Salman Nassir al-Zargani ordered flags lowered to half-staff and a three-day mourning period. In an interview with Iraqi state TV, he said he was informed Sunday that the factory was under threat, but cited too many security gaps across Babil to protect all sites he feared could be targeted.
“There are many fragile places especially in the north of Babil... and there are a lot of security gaps there,” he said. “So we are facing a daily challenge in Babil.”
Hillah has been the site of horrific bombings in the past, including blasts in 2007 that killed at least 120 people and a suicide car bomber in 2005 that killed 125 people, mostly police and national guard recruits.
In another Shiite city, the southern port of Basra, three bombs, including one that targeted a marketplace, killed at least 16 people, hospital and police officials said. Basra has been relatively quiet since the days when Shiite militias allied with Iran ruled the streets; al-Maliki, with heavy US support, routed the militias in 2008.
A pair of bombs struck the small town of Suwayrah, 40 kilometers south of Baghdad, killing 11. Three different bombings in the town of Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad that killed at least six people.
Twelve more were killed in five separate attacks stretching from the northern city of Mosul to the western city of Fallujah in Anbar province to the Shiite city of Musayyib south of Baghdad.
The attack in Mosul killed at least two people near a checkpoint run by Iraqi security forces, Kurdish security forces known as the peshmerga, and US troops. The joint checkpoints were set up earlier this year under US supervision as a way to get Iraqi and Kurdish forces working together in areas claimed by both the Kurds and Iraq’s federal government.
Noynoy keeps leading
As this developed, his bitter rival – Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Senator Manny Villar – as well as administration presidential bet former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., Bagumbayan candidate Sen. Richard Gordon, and Ang Kapatiran standard-bearer JC delos Reyes all conceded to Aquino Tuesday.
Despite glitches with new computerized counting machines and violence that claimed at least lives, election officials hailed Monday's vote as a success in a country where poll fraud allegations have marred previous contests.
Senator Aquino, whose father was assassinated while opposing a dictatorship and whose mother led the "people power” revolt that restored freedoms, was leading the ninecandidate presidential race with 40.19 percent of the votes from about 78 percent of the precincts, while his closest rival, former President Joseph Estrada, had 25.46 percent.
There is no runoff in the Philippines, and whoever has the most votes is declared winner.
In his first public remarks after Monday's vote, Aquino thanked Filipinos for the huge support and said he would deliver on a campaign promise to fight corruption and government malaise.
“I will not steal, but I'll have the corrupt arrested,” Aquino told a news conference in his northern home province of Tarlac.
In a bid to save money, Aquino told The Associated Press that he will avoid foreign trips and trim the Cabinet, adding he hopes the days when Filipinos have to resort to street protests to address government ills are over. He added that he was seriously considering Teodoro for a Cabinet position.
Aquino's sudden political rise has bolstered hopes among his supporters for a clean leadership after nine years of a scandal-tainted administration that was rocked by coup attempts and protests.
He campaigned on a strong anti-graft platform, promising to start prosecuting corrupt officials within weeks of his election and restore integrity to Congress and the judiciary.
It was only after former President Corazon Aquino died of cancer last August that her son, a quiet 50-year-old lawmaker and bachelor, decided to run, spurred by the massive outpouring of national grief for the leader who helped oust longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1986 “people power” revolt that restored democracy to the Philippines.
She had inherited the mantle of her husband, Benigno Aquino Jr., an opposition senator gunned down by soldiers at Manila's airport in 1983 upon return from U.S. exile to challenge Marcos.
Aquino's closest political lieutenant, former Education Secretary Florencio Abad, said he rode on the crest of a national yearning for an honest leader after corruption scandals under outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“This means he really has to deal with the problem of corruption and deal with the people identified with nine years of corruption,” Abad told The Associated Press.
“The other thing that he needs to do is to translate the dividends of good governance into direct benefits for the poor – education, health, food, lower prices, jobs, basic services,” he said.
Villar concedes It was a fight well fought.
This was Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar, Jr. Statement as he conceded to his rival Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.
Villar, wearing a white barong, faced the media at the NP headquarters in Mandaluyong City, congratulated Aquino who is continually topping exit polls in the recently conducted automated elections.
He said he respects the decision of the majority of the Filipinos who voted for his closest rival.
“Nagpasya na ang mamamayang Pilipino. Malinaw na sa kabila ng ating pagpupunyagi, hindi tayo nabiyayaan ng tagumpay sa halalan noong Lunes. Humaharap ako sa inyo ngayon upang tanggapin ang pasyang ito. Upang igalang ang boses ng sambayanang Pilipino,” Villar said. (The Filipino people have already made their decision. It is clear that despite our effort, we were not lucky to be blessed with victory in last Monday's elections. I am now facing you to accept and respect the people's verdict.)
“I congratulate Sen. Aquino on his victory. The challenges he and our country face are enormous and we should all work together,” he further said.
Some of Villar's staff were seen emotional after he made the announcement.
Villar was the first among the nine presidential candidates to concede defeat. Based on the latest Comelec tabulation Tuesday, Villar was still stuck at number three behind Sen. Aquino and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) candidate former President Joseph Estrada.
But Villar did not attempt to hide his displeasure over the outcome of his campaign.
He said he hopes that he would be given a chance to clear his name in the future.
“Ako ay naniniwala na sa darating na mga araw ako ay mabibigyan ng pagkakataon na linisin ang aking pangalan upang maliwanagan ang ating mga kababayan,” he said. “Iyan ay mahalaga sa akin higit sa anu pa man bagay,” he stressed. (“I believe that in the days ahead, I will be given the chance to clear my name so that our people will be enlightened. For me, that is far more important than anything else.”)
At the same time, the NP bet assured his colleagues that he would continually support them.
“To all my fellow Nacionalista candidates whose fights have not yet concluded, rest assured that I and the NP will be behind you until your last vote is counted,” he said.
Villar, however, vowed he would remain a “champion of the poor.”
“For the rest of my life, I will remain their champion. Even if I was not lucky, my dream to end poverty will not stop. I will continue it even through other means,” he said in Filipino.
Villar also thanked his supporter and volunteers and his family whom he said made big sacrifices in support of his presidential bid.
He likewise thanked mediamen who covered him, saying he will never forget the three-month gruelling campaign which gave him the chance to mingle with our millions of his countrymen, especially those who are languishing in poverty.
He also did not forget to thank the Lord who, he said, guided and secured him from harm during the 90-day campaign period.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) lauded Villar for conceding to Sen. Aquino, saying it was an act of real statesmanship.
“The Commission expresses its deep admiration for Sen. Villar’s act of statesmanship in conceding the elections,” ComelecChairman Jose Melo said.
By right, he said, the senator could have insisted on seeing this contest through to the bitter end.
However, he chose not to do that; instead he chose to set aside personal ambition to sped up the process of political reunification and recovery this country needs to go through after these elections,” he added.
Melo also thanked Villar for his vote of confidence in the Automated Election System (AES).Aquino leads results in Comelec tabulated
Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III garnered the most number of votes based on the tabulated precinct results of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
As of 9:45 p.m. Monday, Aquino got a total of 5,853, 537 votes or 40.44% out of the 38.25 % of votes.
Joseph “Erap” Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) followed next with 3, 728, 723 votes (25.76%) while Sen. Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party got 2,024,119 votes (13.98%).
Lakas-Kampi- CMD bet Gilbert Teodoro got 1,541,199 (10.64%) while Bangon Pilipinas standard bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva got 453,016 (3.12%).
Other candidates' ranked as follows: Vetellano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (61,704), Richard "Dick" Gordon of the Bagumbayan Party (256,552), Independent bet Nicanor Perlas (19,196), Independent-running Jamby Madrigal (17,556) and John Carlos "JC" de los Reyes of the Ang Kapatiran Party (15,842).
In the vice presidential race, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of PDP-Laban leads the pack with 5,881,127 votes or 40.63 percent.
He is followed by Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party (5,310,355), Loren Legarda of the Nationalist People's Coalition (1,542,687), Bayani Fernando of Bagumbayan Party (422,607), Edu Manzano of the Lakas Kampi CMD (249,025), Perfecto Yasay of the Bangon Pilipinas Party (144,471), Jay Sonza of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (24,616), and Dominador Chipeco of the Ang Kapatiran Party (17,971).
The top 12 senatorial candidates based on the official precinct results are Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. (7,662,751), Jinggoy Estrada (7,626,925), Miriam Defensor-Santiago (7,019,693), Franklin Drilon (6,410,400), Juan Ponce Enrile (6,385, 226), Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos (5,582,048), Pia Cayetano (5,574,951), Ralph Recto (4,995,723), Tito Sotto (4,414,286), Sergio Osmena III (4,569,595), Lito Lapid (4,345,674) and Teofisto Guingona III (4,143,702).
Others are Risa Hontiveros (3,755,855), Rodolfo Biazon Jr.(3,521,513), Joey de Venecia III (3,402,287), Gilbert Remulla (3,078,411), Danilo Lim (3,020,234), Ariel Querubin (3,688,673), Sonia Roco (2,682,810), Gwendolyn Pimentel (2,313,828), Neric Acosta (2,313,805), Alexander Lacson (2,038,379), Adel Tamano (1,626,493) and Liza Maza (1,142,485).