Blogger Ella is harassed by DSWD

I believe Mon Tulfo. He has been targeted by several entities including Panfilo Lacson and Mike Arroyo for his honest and sometimes brutal opinion on wayward things public officials do to pursue their beliefs. Sometimes these beliefs were not for the common good but for personal vendettas.

Here I am quoting in toto Mr Tulfo's account on the harassment done by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to Ella , the blogger who claimed that goods were stored at DSWD warehouse despite of the fact that people suffering from the recent typhoons needed them badly.

Shortly after Tropical Storm “Ondoy” and Typhoon “Pepeng,” a blogger, identified as Ella de los Santos aka Ellaganda, wrote in her blog about a DSWD warehouse overflowing with relief goods sent by Good Samaritans, both here and abroad.

The goods, which should have been distributed to thousands of calamity victims who needed food, water and clothing, were reportedly gathering dust in the warehouse.

The blog showed photos of a warehouse filled to the brim with all sorts of relief goods.

Media picked up the story from the blog. As a result, the news became not only a national but also an international issue.

This angered Cabral who accused the blogger of being a “publicity-hungry bimbo” in a press statement.

Ella’s blog received insults and threats, many of which could be traced to the DSWD website.

An agent of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), accompanied by three burly men identified as DSWD employees, went to Tahanan Publishing in Legaspi Village, Makati City, the publisher of a book allegedly written by Ella.

The same group also allegedly went to the Parañnaque residence of the Dolor family, as Cabral was reportedly convinced that Ella was a member of that family.

Cabral would also announce in a news conference that the blogger had taken back her words in a subsequent blog, which was tantamount to a public apology, the DSWD website said.

It was a lie since Ella never did that.

Last week, the NBI announced it was filing a libel case against the blogger on instructions of Secretary Cabral.

The lawsuit has a chilling effect on the blogging community.

It sends the message that online writers and commentators cannot exercise their right to free speech.

What does Cabral stand to gain by harassing the blogger who, I’m told, is 28 years old and about to get married?

The marriage is being put on hold because the family is scared of Cabral.

Photo grabbed from gmanews.tv.

Serious News

Host: How important is it for us to relax these days?

Guest: Oh, so important, because of the faster ups and downs of life.

Host: So, what works for you?

Guest: For one thing, I don’t watch newscasts anymore, because of the serious of the news.

(from inquirer.net; pic from meapcareers.com.au)

Booboos

HOST: When will your regional conference be held?
Guest: It will be on the second year of January.

*
Host: What will you be sharing with our viewers in this portion of our show?
Guest: For the store owners out there, we have tips on how to attack your customers.

*
Host: What do you like to do to relax?
Guest: I like to go to the beach, listening while relaxing to the wiping of the water.

*

Host: What is your order to your people during this military mission?
Guest: If they fire us, we will fire them!
(Fire away!)

*
Host: How was your last concert—was it successful?
Guest: More than! All the people watching, their faces were clapping!

*
Host: Why did you choose her for your model?
Guest: To showcase my hairstyle, she’s the best, because kanyang personality, napaka-humane and simplicity.


Compilation grabbed from Inquirer.net

May tama ang nanay ko

My mom wasn't able to finish her elementary. Obviously, she has no doctorate, no knowledge of scientific data. She doesn't know how to use the technologies being introduced now.

And yet she has used practical things in life long before scientific studies came out.

Colds, for example.

We were always being nagged when we were late to bed. My mom would always tell us we would be prone to colds when we lacked sleep. I always laughed at her. Who told you? would be my usual answer. I just know, she would retort.

After 35 years, my mother finally has a scientific proof. May tama si Mama! Why do mothers are always in the know?

Lack of sleep raises common cold risk

Agence France-Presse

First Posted 08:31:00 01/13/2009

WASHINGTON -- People who get less than seven hours of sleep at night have a three times higher risk of catching a cold than people who sleep eight hours or more, according to a study released Monday.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania studied 153 people by documenting their sleep habits for two weeks and then administered nasal drops that contained the cold-causing rhinovirus.

"Participants were interviewed daily over a two-week period, reporting how many hours they slept per night, what percentage of their time in bed was spent asleep (sleep efficiency) and whether they felt rested," said the study.

"The less an individual slept, the more likely he or she was to develop a cold," said the findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine's January 12 issue.

People who reported poorer quality of sleep had an increased likelihood of catching a cold, it said.

"Lower sleep efficiency was also associated with developing a cold -- participants who spent less than 92 percent of their time in bed asleep were five and a half times more likely to become ill than those whose efficiency was 98 percent or more. Feeling rested was not associated with colds."

The subjects were all in good health and their average age was 37.

A possible explanation for the link between sleep and cold susceptibility was "that sleep disturbance influences the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, histamines and other symptom mediators that are released in response to infection," the study authors wrote.

Previous research has linked sleep deprivation to reduced immune function, but there has been limited evidence that lack of sleep increased the risk of catching the common cold.

The study was led by Carnegie Mellon University's Sheldon Cohen between 2000 and 2004.

Cartoon from hubpages.com/ News from INQUIRER.net

"Even coffee, biscuits overpriced"

This is still too early to whine. My gosh, at 7 in the morning? Excuse me for being bitter and weak, but when I opened my news feed, this headline caught my attention- "EVEN COFFEE, BISCUITS OVERPRICED."

That was how Lani Abarquez, the vice mayor of Talisay City in Cebu reacted as she was made to sign purchases from equipments down to biscuits, ALL OF THEM OVERPRICED! I don't know the political career of Ms Abarquez, but knowing all these and made them publicly  just now is quite amusing if not sarcastic.

I've been working with the provincial government of Bohol for ten long years, and overpricing everything the government purchases is not alien to me and even to laborers and down to contractual workers of that institution.The Commission on Audit turns its ugly face on the other side when doing so-called audits.

Why whine?

My theory- Ms Abarquez did not get anything from these overpriced items.

But it is still a beautiful morning though.

INQUIRER goes to Bohol to see the dolphins