A man whose parents fought for the country’s democracy and now running the entire country Philippines as president, Benigno S. Aquino III has reached the age 52.

Normally, 52 is an age of a married man but President “Noy” Aquino is a bachelor to behold. Some are saying he chose to become one when he won the presidency and rather concentrated on how he would govern the entire nation.

President Noy is the third of five children of the martyred Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. After the death of his mom, he took over the presidential candidacy and gained the votes of the people.

His love life has been one of the most talked about topics since he stepped into office as the nation has been looking forward who’s going to be the lucky first lady.

His sister Kris Aquino who happens to be a media personality begged to the public to just spare the president from these things but she just can’t control it. Being the president of the country, having a private life is very impossible. People nowadays are well equipped with the technology that even cellphones can capture candid pictures and immediately share it to the social networking sites. The press are also utilizing multimedia reporting for faster transmission of news. Some are even looking for multimedia training school Philippines online for further studies. That’s why, every move of the President has been monitored.

The following are the significant legislation that he signed as listed by Manila Bulletins’s website.

1. Republic Act (RA) 10149, GOCC Governance Act of 2011, which seeks to curb abuses in government firms.

2. RA 10150, amending the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

3. RA 10151, allowing the employment of night workers.

4. RA 10152, providing for mandatory basic immunization services for infants and children.

5. RA 10153, synchronizing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s election with national and local polls.

6. RA 10154, to ensure the early release of retirement pay, pensions, gratuities of retiring government employees.

7. RA 10157, institutionalizing the Kindergarten education into the Basic Education System.

“The worst drought in 60 years has thrown some 13 million people across the Horn of Africa into crisis. In Somalia, ravaged by two decades of conflict, the consequences have been disastrous. We ask if aid in this region of the world has become politicised? And has Washington’s pre-occupation with terrorism in the Horn of Africa contributed to the deadly consequences of this disaster?”

-Al Jazeera English

Photo courtesy of David Axe.

The answer to the first question is, “Duh.”

Aid work in Africa has been tied to politics since the first time outside governments decided to step in. I think the grassroots Christian groups and other non-profit organizations (like Doctors Without Borders) do a better job at maintaining aid. OK, so there are some bible-thumping on the part of the Christian groups and the other NPOs tend to lean left, but this does not affect the fact that they are helping out in practical terms. When it’s a government involve, not just Washington in this example, the rice and anti-malaria kits come with diplomats. Famine should never be used as a pawn in a political chess game. The only benefit of a government body bringing aid is that they are backed up by millions of tax payer money and logistical resources.

Now, this goes deeper than that. In the book “Dead Aid”, which I read a while back and is a book worth checking out at your local library, the author, economist Dambisa Moyo, states that aid actually harms Africa more than it helps them. What you get (and this is obvious) is a system of dependence. Dependence on outsiders is what set Africa back to begin with, like colonialism for instance, in which they had no choice but to depend on their European colonizers. You see, food is politics. Famine is one of the best ways to gain power over a region politically.

On to the second question. Pirates, Muslim militants and warlords have been conducting a bloody orgy in the Horn for some time now. It doesn’t help that western-made guns end up there either. The U.S., I think, still remembers the Blackhawk incident in Somalia. But if top officials are found in the Horn, the U.S. will go there and destroy them. And it has been conducting operations there, even if just intelligence gathering.

So, what you have now is an imbalance of priorities. Do we go after terrorists or aid the civilians? There are really no one-way options here. It’s like a branch with an intricate set of twigs protruding out. You can’t have access to the civilians without dealing with the political elements of the country. In this case, before you can even bring aid you need to do some politicizing, which may contradict with my first argument, but in this circumstance you have no choice but to give in to the push-pull mechanism of political bargaining.

The West is good at setting up sanctions and that may work well for countries like Iran and North Korea, because they’re major players in the global stage, but a nation in the Horn won’t flinch a nerve over threats of sanction. To them this is nothing new. When was the last time anyone had truly done anything in Africa that affected the region? Oh, right, Libya. But when it comes to sub-Saharan Africa, it’s as if these government suits show a kind of guilt. Oh dear, we made a mess of that continent. Let’s just throw them money from afar. Stepping into a sub-Saharan African country is like stepping back into your own crime scene.

Quelling terrorism anywhere is an important priority, but the local governments in that area need to step their game up as well. American/NATO operations are still in Af-Pak. We don’t need another front. We just pulled our troops out of Iraq; Let’s give them a rest. Washington should focus more on humanitarian efforts (with as less politics involved if possible) and diplomatic missions than military actions. This can be done by taking a more regulatory role, in that making sure aid money and supplies actually get into the hands of civilians and the non-profit organizations already working there. The U.S. and the EU needs to make sure that medicine and canned foods don’t end up being filtered through local governments and are used for their personal profit. Helping with economic programs might also work. Tell the local government to either get with the program or face a larger crisis. If aid—medical, food and educational—isn’t put to use properly, the country could sink deeper into a death pit. The links between terrorism and poverty has been well-studied in developing countries. I’d rather see people being fed than being blown up in a guerrilla war between western forces and militants.

OccupyHouston launched its silent protest coincidentally the same day as the corporate-sponsored Energy Day in downtown’s Tranquility Park, which is down the street from Enron’s former headquarters. A protester told me that the two events “just happened to have coincided”. It was a peaceful protest, with only occasional remarks from motorists, telling the protesters “to get a job”. Overall, there seemed to be more support from the passers-by than conflict.

The organizers had spoken with a police officer after a couple of laps around the park. A high ranking officer told the organizers that they were allowed to walk through the Energy Day event. This took place amid curious onlookers attending the Energy Day event, which had tents on the park premises where vendors and sales reps were handing out pamphlets and brochures regarding sustainable energy products. With kids both in the protest and corporate-sponsored event, it seemed like a typical and pleasant weekend in downtown Houston—of course with a dash of politics.

Reading the signs that the protesters carried, you can tell that there wasn’t a centralized focus in their message, but rather a smorgasbord of issues ranging from human rights and the environment, to calls for President Obama’s impeachment and demanding that corporations be left out of politics. The size of the protest wasn’t as big as the Occupy Wall Street protests going on in New York City, but they got their message across, at least in the midtown area.

The protest was launched in synchronicity with at least 400 others around the nation.

On Friday, the U.S. embassy in Harare voiced its concern over the failings of Zimbabwe’s police in reducing political violence in the country. Though it recognized the efforts of police officers, prosecutors and other court officials who have worked hard in eradicating corruption and crime, the U.S. embassy is becoming more worried about the officials who exercise political bias.

On September 23, four individuals were allegedly beaten to death by police officers after they were transported from their village by private security guards. There have also been reports by human rights groups that local activists are being harassed and targeted by officers, such as leaders of the group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). Extortion and intimidation tactics by politically aligned gangs also seem to be prevalent in Harare.

All of these reports and allegations have caused a stir within the U.S. embassy, who emphasized that such level of corruption will only perpetuate further violence in the country.

The Government of Zimbabwe has made a pledge to uphold and protect human rights and, to show its commitment, it is to appear before the Human Rights Council’s Universal Period Review on October 13. The U.S. embassy states that it wishes for the government to fulfill these promises and show more effort in exercising human rights principles.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it will close several of its facilities in Germany and return them to their host-nation. This is part of a cost-cutting initiative taken by the U.S. European Command; shutting down “non-enduring sites” and installations throughout the continent.

Facilities that are being removed from the DoD’s property inventory include:  the Oberweis Annex warehouse, which will save the federal government about $1.24 million; communication sites at Pruem Air Station, Hahn Communication Station and ARFT radio relay station, which will vanquish over half a million dollars from the budget; an ammunition storage facility in Hochspeyer; and Bitburg Storage Annex No.2, which will save $1.5 million.

When protesters stormed into the Israel Embassy in Cairo last Friday, it became increasingly obvious to the Israeli government that the few allies they have left in the Middle East are dwindling. Egypt has had good relations with Israel since they signed The Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty on March 26, 1979. The treaty was a diplomatic band-aid after the Yom Kippur War. Egypt was the first Arab nation to extend a hand to Tel Aviv, which led to them being booted out of the Arab League. The late President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin were both given the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in establishing the treaty, but Sadat was later assassinated as a result. For all the oppression Hosni Mubarak has bestowed upon his own people, he had at least maintained the peaceful relations between his country and Israel. And now he’s out the picture.

Israelis are not only worried about post-Mubarak Egypt, but the “Arab Spring” in general. There are concerns, both in Israel and in the U.S., that anti-Israeli Islamic fundamentalists will swoop in to perch themselves on newly vacant thrones. I had read a comment on a forum about how Al Qaeda, or less extreme entities like the Muslim Brotherhood, wouldn’t dare hijack the Arab revolution and so far he’s been correct, but you cannot deny that there are racist elements within some of the Middle Eastern countries. Those who are viciously anti-Israeli may be in the minority, but as we all know it only takes a minority with a great strategy to “capture hearts and minds” to put their own agenda into effect.

Take Hitler’s Nazi Party, for example. Though there were anti-Semitic feelings in Germany at the time—mostly due to the pressures of job competition in a bad economy—no one ever thought of electing a leader who believed in systematically eradicating “the problem” (Jews) in order to elevate the nation back to its glory days. But that’s what happened—though it wasn’t much of an election but more of a gradual takeover through strong-arming and political assassinations.

I wouldn’t say that this sort of thing will repeat itself (fingers crossed), and disregarding the fact that Iran’s president fantasizes about wiping Israel off the map, which may or may not mean warfare, but if the protesters throughout the Spring have one thing in common, it’s that they’re inspired by a new sense of fierce nationality. Revolutions create an overwhelming sense of unity, because you suffered through the dictatorship together and, in the end, pushed the dictator out together. Storm the palace, wave the flag, hugs and kisses all around. The war-cry is, “For the people, by the people.” And what if the majority of the people suddenly want to cut ties with Israel, or even take on a more aggressive approach towards them?

Turkey, another Tel Aviv ally, has also recently began voicing discontent over its relations with Israel, downshifting diplomatic and economic ties with the country. This all stemmed from Israel’s refusal to apologize for raiding a flotilla last year, in which eight Turks were killed. The UN said that, though excessive in force, the armed raid was legal. Turkey doesn’t care about the legality, but just wants Israel to apologize. Replace the words ‘Turkey’ and ‘Israel’ with ‘Mister’ and ‘Missus’, and it’ll sound like a marriage rapidly falling apart.

Oh, and who can forget about the Palestinian issue? The Palestinian Authority is looking to get a vote from the U.N.’s General Assembly on the possibility of statehood, specifically comprising the areas of Gaza Strip, West Bank and parts of Jerusalem. If passed, and it looks like it might, this will not officially give Palestinians their own country, but it will legitimize their fight for independence and maybe pressure Israel in withdrawing from occupied territories. China and France stated they would support the proposal. This will certainly be a milestone for the Palestinians if granted. After intifadas; suicide bombings; bloody counter-attacks by Israel; and a long track-record of broken promises, we’ve come to this point in the current chapter of the Palestinian-Israeli saga.

Last, but not least, but may also be the last of Israel’s Arab allies: Jordan. King Abdullah had recently highlighted the fact that Israel is deep in the mud and that as Jordan and the Palestinians are on the rise, so are Israel’s problems.

How can Israel mend ties and take themselves out from a vulnerable spot? Prime Minister Netanyahu can try to alleviate the problem by being more open to options presented to him by the international community. I like that he’s malleable enough to at least consider a two-state solution, but he had set so many conditions in his proposal that it makes a book contract look like a piece of flash fiction. I get that he wants the Arab states, and especially the Palestinians, to recognize Israel as the Jewish state, but Israel has to see them as equals in the peace process negotiations. What happens when you instruct two architects with two different styles to design a house, but only give one of them the majority of the power in making decisions? Probably something Gaudi-esque, but with less pizzazz and eccentric charm.

Another thing that Israel can do is start fresh with the new government in Cairo and, in this case, Egypt has to show that it truly wants to maintain its peaceful relationship with its neighbor across the Sinai Peninsula, by securing the said peninsula and making sure extremists can’t operate there. The embassy break-in was a response to the inadvertent killing of three Egyptian security officers after a firefight between Israeli forces and the terrorists who initiated the whole thing by killing eight Israelis in an attack. Weapons trafficking and the smuggling of terrorists in the Sinai have also increased since Mubarak was ousted. It is Cairo’s responsiblity to keep this happening since the Sinai Peninsula is their territory. If not, they’ll expect a swift response from Israel militarily every time a terrorist attack was traced back to Egypt, which will only strain their relations even more.

In this long, winding road to harmonious relations between Israel and the Arab states, it’s safe to say that the Arab Spring is sowing landmines along the way, even if unintentionally, despite the good things that the wave of revolutions stand for.

As Nepal is making little headway on ongoing peace process that has begun since end of 2006, the visiting UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe called upon political parties here to demonstrate a political will and readiness to compromise to resolve the issue of integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants before the term of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) expires in Mid-January.

“From UNMIN’s perspective for the next 100 days, the priority for the parties should be resolution of the issue of integration and rehabilitation,” Pascoe told a press conference before wrapping up his two-day visit on Thursday.

He urged the parties to view the remaining 100 days for the closure of UNMIN as an opportunity to complete the peace process. Pascoe was in Nepal for two days to assess the progress made on ongoing peace process of Nepal where UN’s political mission is carrying the monitoring task of Nepal Army and Maoist combatants languishing in different satellite camps across the country.

After waging the arms for one decade, in 2006, Nepal’s UCPN (Maoist) had decided to join the mainstream politics, shunning all kind of violence.

Then the Nepal’s mainstream political parties and UCPN (Maoist) jointly begun the peace process and requested UN to monitor and supervise the 19,000 Maoist ex-combatants. The UN had established its special political mission in support the peace process in Nepal in Jan. 2007. UNMIN is mandated to stay in Nepal till 15 January 2011 and UN pledges to complete the peace process by Jan. 14. Pascoe was in Kathmandu for making preparation for a smooth exit of UNMIN and transition after the UNMIN role is over.

In a meeting with Pascoe, Nepal’ Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has sought support of the UN for the rehabilitation of the ex-Maoists combatants saying that,” We will accomplish the integration of the combatants of our own but we have expected support for the rehabilitation of the combatants.” Nepal has sought direct financial assistance and other expertise of UN during the rehabilitation of the process. Since the establishment of the UNMIN, and through peace fund, millions of dollars have been spending each month under different entitlement.   

International donor communities and UN, UN agencies have been providing the financial assistance to support UNMIN, to carry our the monitoring and supervision works, salaries to the cantoned Maoists combatants and their lodging and fooding facilities.  
During discussions with the government, party leaders and members of the Special Committee overseeing the Maoist combatants, Pascoe encouraged all to forge consensus on the modality of integration and rehabilitation.

“Everyone that I talked to in the last day-and-a-half has made it clear that, yes, they could complete it between now and January 15th,” Pascoe said. “All that is needed is for all the sides to get together and to push the process forward,” he added.

Pascoe arrived on Tuesday to assess the progress in the implementation of the four-point agreement between the government and the Maoists signed on Sept. 13 and preparation for the post-UNMIN phase. He will brief the UN Security Council on the findings on Wednesday.

“The developments in the last month represent encouraging progress after a year marked mostly by stagnation. The renewed effort by the Special Committee and the establishment of Secretariat are important developments in this context,” Pascoe said.

Pascoe said all political leaders, whom he met during the visit, reaffirmed their commitment to complete the integration and rehabilitation on time.

“While these positive indications and promising signs of progress are good, they depend on the political will to break the political impasse and build consensus.”

The senior diplomat from the UN Headquarters also reiterated that the Security Council holds the position that UNMIN will left last Jan. 15, 2011.

He stressed the need of using the remaining months productively and stated that UNMIN is ready to lend its expertise and support to meet the deadline.

The USDA commissioned, published and even praised a review that it made available on its National Agricultural Library website last June. As of last Friday, the document is gone and no explanations were provided. The only way to get a copy is from a cached version provided by the Union of Concerned Scientist.

So why was the document removed? The report was assembled by Vaishali Dharmarha, a research assistant at the University of Maryland. It is a summary of research from 63 academic papers and government studies.

The following are just a few of the findings:

• “Use and misuse of antimicrobial drugs in food animal production and human medicine is the main factor accelerating antimicrobial resistance.”
• “[F]ood animals, when exposed to antimicrobial agents, may serve as a significant reservoir of resistant bacteria that can transmit to humans through the food supply.”
• “Several studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella showed that [antibiotic resistance] in Salmonella strains was most likely due to the antimicrobial use in food animals, and that most infections caused by resistant strains are acquired from the consumption of contaminated food.”
• “Farmers and farm workers may get exposed to resistant bacteria by handling animals, feed, and manure. These exposures are of significant concern to public health, as they can transfer the resistant bacteria to family and community members, particularly through person-to-person contacts.”
• “Resistant bacteria can also spread from intensive food animal production area to outside boundaries through contact between food animals and animals in the external environment. Insects, flies, houseflies, rodents, and wild birds play an important role in this mode of transmission. They are particularly attracted to animal wastes and feed sources from where they carry the resistant bacteria to several locations outside the animal production facility.”

Amidst debate of increasing the debt ceiling, the value of the US dollar has continued to decrease against it foreign counterparts. Just last week, the US dollar fell to $1.4465 against the euro, and down to $1.6391 against the UK pound.

If a deal to increase the borrowing limit is not made by August 2, the US risks defaulting on its debt.

Meanwhile, fear continues to escalate at the prospect of more debt, causing stock prices to fall.

In Europe, countries are being forced to borrow at higher interest rates. This is despite reaching a deal last week to help solve their debt crisis.

Spain paid an interest rate of 2.519% for a 2.9bn euro short term debt of six months. For the same amount of time, Italy incurred a 2.269% interest.

The US has accumulated a national debt amounting to $14.3tn yet President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner continues to blame each other about not reaching a deal.

It was usually a routine in Congress to vote on increasing debt limits. But without any significant decrease on the budget deficit, Republicans refuse to reach a deal about the debt.

After its criticism of a draft anti-terror law, the website of Amnesty International has been blocked in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The blockage is independently confirmed by activists and journalists stationed in Saudi Arabia, saying they are unable to access the www.amnesty.org domain.

This is what users see when accessing the website from inside the country.

The organization obtained a copy of the draft from a leak. Based on the draft law, detainees can be held for extended periods of time without being charged or going to trial. It contains no wording prohibiting the use of torture or other maltreatment and it casts harsh punishments even for peaceful demonstrations.

In the analysis published in its website, Amnesty International mentions that the proposed law stifles dissent, treats peaceful protests as “terrorist crimes” and grants broad powers to the Minister of Interior without any oversight, accountability, or judicial authorization.

Speaking for the organization, Malcolm Smart, Director for Amnesty International Middle East andNorth Africa said, “Instead of attacking those raising concerns and attempting to block debate, the Saudi Arabian government should amend the draft law to ensure that it does not muzzle dissent and deny basic rights.”