DxJayRock's Notes.

$26.3-Trillion Oil Reserves General Says Country’s Untapped Deposits Mostly In Spratlys http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/358043/263trillion-oil-reserves#.UKMeeeTBNoE MANILA, Philippines- The Philippines is “sitting on a mountain of gold,” wi th untapped hydrocarbon deposits estimated at $26.3 trillion, mostly found in the disputed Spratly chain of islands, more than enough to free the country from the shackles of poverty. Brig. Gen. Eldon G. Nemenzo, deputy commander of the 3rd Air Division of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) based in Zamboanga City, made the discovery after researching on the amount of oil reserves of the country for his thesis when he took an advanced course at the Command and Staff College of the PAF in Villamor Air Base, Pasay City. Interviewed by this writer last Saturday, Nemenzo confirmed the vast oil reserves of the Philippines in various parts of the archipelago, specifically the Reed Bank, the largest of them all, and the Mischief Reef in the Sprat...

President Ferdinand Marcos declare martial law from 1972 to 1981 to suppress increasing civil strife and the threat of communist takeover following a series of bombings in Manila. On August 21, 1971, while the opposition (Liberal Party) was having their meeting de avance two fragmentation grenades exploded. It took 9 lives and left more than 100 people seriously wounded. Some Liberal Party candidates were seriously injured including Jovito Salonga, who nearly died and was visually impaired. Marcos singled out communist forces and subversive elements as the causes of the crisis. A month of “terrorist bombing” of public facilities in Manila and Quezon City culminated on September 22 with a mock assassination attempt on Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. Claiming chaos and lawlessness was near, Marcos declared martial law, thereby suspending the 1935 constitution, dissolving Congress, and assuming total power. Six hours after the Enrile assassination attempt, Marcos responded with...

PeNoy's promises to the GUILTY SENATORS . Lol. 20 senators were promised the following: ... Angara – His son, Sonny Angara, will run for senator in 2013. Allan Cayetano and Pia Cayetano – Allan’s wife, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, has a pending electoral protest. Drilon – He wants to be Senate President. Escudero – He is running for senate reelection in 2013. He wants to be the administration’s presidential candidate in 2016. Estrada – He wants to run for VP in 2016. Erap is running for Manila mayor in 2013 against an LP candidate. Guingona, Pangilinan, Recto, and Osmeña – They are LP members and must follow Pnoy’s instructions. Honasan – He is Enrile’s henchman; meekly follows Enrile when it comes to Senate voting. Lacson – He wants to be appointed DILG Secretary since this is his last term as senator. Lapid – His son, Mark Lapid, wants to keep his post as TIEZA chief. Legarda – She wants to run for senate reelection in the administration ticket. Pimentel – He is part of UNA, b...

Ten reasons why Filipinos blame Gloria Arroyo for everything 1. Most Filipinos think that blaming the late former President, Ferdinand Marcos is so passé so they have moved on to GMA. A quarter of a century after Edsa, the Aquinos and their supporters cannot keep blaming the original “bad guy” because blaming Marcos after all these years will highlight the fact that there was nothing significant about the so-called “people power” revolution that happened in 1986 to begin with. It becomes funnier when you hear them say, “GMA is worse than Marcos” because they don’t realise that this is the same as saying, “We were better off during the Marcos years”. 2. Most Filipinos need to blame someone for the lack of progress in their own personal lives. They might still be stuck doing the same dead-end job or in the case of some, still stuck waiting for government handouts. 3. Most Filipinos are actually angry with themselves, not with GMA. Underneath that arroga...

The withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq. The withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq has been a contentious issue within the United States since the beginning of the Iraq War. As the war has progressed from its initial 2003 invasion phase to a multi-year occupation, U.S. public opinion has turned in favor of troop withdrawal. As of May 2007, 55 percent of Americans believed that the Iraq war was a mistake, and 51 percent of registered voters favored troop withdrawal. In late April 2007, the U.S. Congress passed a supplementary spending bill for Iraq that sets a deadline for troop withdrawal, but President Bush vetoed this bill soon afterwards. All US Forces are mandated to withdraw from Iraqi territory by 31 December 2011 under the terms of a bilateral agreement signed in 2008. Immediately before and after the 2003 invasion, most polls within the United States showed a substantial majority supporting war; though since December 2004 polls have consistently shown that a majo...

In-Groups and out-groups. An in-group is a social unit an individual belongs to, interacts with, and shares a sense of “we-ness” with. An out-group, on the other hand, is a social unit or group of people that an individual neither belongs to nor identifies with. The construction and maintenance of boundaries (physical or symbolic) are the primary ways by which groups establish what it means to be “in” and, by contrast, what it means to be “out.” The basis of in-group identity, then, is socially constructed through symbolic markers (boundaries) such as narratives, creeds, rituals, and social practices. Moreover, sociologists view such boundaries along a continuum of permeability (open) and impermeability (closed), which influences group member entrance and exit processes. In-group identity, in other words, is always an ongoing achievement in which group boundaries are collectively generated, affirmed, maintained, and employed to mark differences between insiders and outsiders ( Hadd...