Students and Police Pose in front of the Bus at Quirino Grandstand

What are they thinking? They are just triggering more ire from the Hong Kong nationals!

By tomorrow, these students would make the news for sure.

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When Streets Turn Into Rivers. What's Your Experience?

Last Sunday July 26, 2009, we were all welcomed by this very strong and long unexpected rain that flooded Metro Manila. What happened to our drainage system? Won't it work if the rain stayed for 4 hours straight?

I took the photo below around 1130pm in the intersection of Araneta Avenue QC

As you can see in the photo above and below. Araneta Avenue was converted into a river for several hours!

I've never seen this happen before!!!

Sorry for the blurry photos. I took them while crossing Araneta Avenue - E. Rodriguez intersection -- while driving.

Although I love rain, I pity those who live in that area because the QC government or whoever must be concerned is not really concerned. But remember, we can't put ALL the blame on the government. Sometimes, it's actually the residents that causes the drainage to clog because they throw their trash anywhere.

Take for example some areas in Caloocan where floods reached 2nd floor! I saw a chapel in the news that got aesthetically damaged and disoriented. :( My friends living in Talayan Village got home 2am because they waited the floods to subside.

That same night, we were supposed to hold a party but unfortunately, it was canceled when ea lot called and informed us that the floods were unusually high. It's also nice to know some roads where the floods won't be as high compared to the other streets. Here are some of the streets that weren't flooded at the height of the strong rains last Sunday, when a lot of streets were already more than knee high:

1. When going to Libis, pass through Camp Crame then Camp Aguinaldo.
2. When in Ortigas going to Libis, take a left in Edsa then Right turn at the street after Corinthian Gardens. Take a left (It's a deadend) and right again at the street of Camp Aguinaldo. (I am soo not good with street names)

Some areas that aren't passable to light vehicles: (Espana excluded because everyone already knows this.)
1. E.rodriguez (De Los Santos Medical Center and Walter Mart area)
2. Araneta Ave from E.rod and Araneta Avenue from Quezon Ave (Talayan Area)
3. Dapitan St
4. Retiro near Araneta Ave

Those are just some as I didn't have the energy and resources to do rounds that night just to complete my list :)

Anyway, just post in the comment below if your area won't be passable or otherwise when strong rains hit us again.

Do share your good/bad experiences too if any. :)

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A Hero Born in Every Minute - Hudson river crash Flight 1549

Reuters reports that a small plane carrying more than a dozen people has splashed down intact into the Hudson River near Manhattan. Via US News

The first news came from, guess what? Not CNN but Twitter!
You can see the actual photo from where the news came. It was posted by jkrums.

This is his photo and the actual URL on where it was posted:

Photo from: http://twitpic.com/135xa
Photo caption: Wait, are they serving the first class passengers first?

In just a few hours, that page already reached 91,000 views (as I am typing this). This is a sample work of modern technology + online media combined.

Going back, the pilot was a hero. The captain, named last night as ­Chesley Sullenberger, has 29 years' experience with commercial airlines and is a former US airforce fighter pilot. Most tourists and people around that area said that they thought it was a seaplane landing! There was a loud bang 40 seconds after the take off. Both engines failed and the other was on fire after it hitting a flock of geese.

An air incident investigator, David Gleave, told the BBC that the incident was "quite remarkable, but not unique". He said if both engines of the plane had failed, the aircraft would become like a "glider".

Another hero is the crew and the captain of Thomas Jefferson, a 95-foot long ferry. Their response time was 2 minutes.(News here from NJ.com )

For more details about the crash - http://www.guardian.co.uk

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Sin taxes: Will it help our economy?

Sin taxes: Will it help or worsen our economy?

According to ABS-CBN news,

Teves said the administration is looking to raise P10 billion from the first measure while looking at “initially a low of P12 billion or high of P25 billion” from higher taxes on tobacco and liquor.

If you look at it in a general point of view, you might think that this will help improve our economy at the same time, save those people from the sickness caused by drinking too much or smoking too much. This will give you the impression that the government is health concious.

But, will adding additional taxes really help mutually?

It's human nature that when craving for a particular product, for example beer, increase in price, they, the consumers will just divert to cheaper alcoholic beverages to satisfy their urges. For example, if beer price increases, they will resort to just buying gin beverages because if you need around 5 bottles of beer to satisfy your urges, half a bottle of gin would already do. In cigarettes, they would just buy the cheaper brand of cigs.

In short, it won't help their health at all and all this would just lure illegal importers and red tape in the government to get their products going at a lower price. This will also cost the poor / needy people more money. No mutual benefit from sin taxes, in short.

Government and Filipino peoples health and the economy
If they are really concerned about the health of the Filipino people, why don't they just ban the said products? The printing of horrific materials in the cigarette packs might help a bit but, at the end of the day, its the discipline of the consumer that matters, not the sin taxes applied.

They are planning to impose additional sin taxes because according to ABS-CBN news,

Recto said the proposal to increase public spending, especially in infrastructure, as well as increasing agricultural productivity would rein in inflation and mitigate the effects of the US financial crisis.

Here's the logic. We, the citizens are directly affected if a financial crisis will arise. In other countries like the United States, they provide PRO-people solutions and plans. Here, they plan to add taxes? Isn't that double jeopardy for us? We suffer from financial crisis and yet, the government takes more money from out pocket. It's like saying, "give me more money first so you can benefit from it in the near future."

I don't think it's the governments way of helping us. They do that so the president of the country would have more money to spend. There are other ways to do it other than taking money from the Filipino people. Our measly wages make us budget experts already in cost cutting and budgeting the daily expenditures and they still want to get some from it.

I am not pro-alcoholism or whatever sin products we have like gambling and cigarettes. In fact, I do not drink, smoke or gamble. I am anti those vices.

Anyway, here are some of the graphic images displayed in cigarette packs for sale:








This is a great awareness campaign for those individuals who still choose to smoke depsite of all the warnings from the government or the health department. If they choose to die that way, it's their choice because it's their life. We do not have the right to control them.

Just spread this and let people be aware of the negative effects of smoking. Drinking too much causes serious sickness too like:
- Fatty Liver (Steatosis)
- Hepatitis
- Cirrhosis

To know if you are drinking too much alcohol or in other words, an alcoholic, take this test.
http://www.alcoholscreening.org/


If I am just a Senator here in the Philippines, I disapprove the sin tax proposal!

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Manila Oceanarium - Bootleg Windows!

Hmmm... The photo below was sent to me via E-mail.

It was taken inside Manila Oceanarium.

Trial version or Bootleg version?

Gadget Lists and Reviews

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