Meanwhile in the Philippines.....According to a April 30, interaksyon.com survey conducted by the Father Saturnino Urios University in Butuan City, 8 out of 10 respondents in Butuan City are willing to sell their votes. Seven out of 10 knew somebody who will do the same.

Why....perhaps poverty of the poor majority....the government’s National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) [read as ridiculously low poverty threshold]....reported July 2012 poverty rate of 27.9 percent

For comparison

Malaysia 4%
Indonesia 13%
Thailand 8%

I think being fighter pilot you can have some room for error and correct....driving fast car less room for error...my opinion only...i m not a pilot

According to Wiki:

Hisham Abd Majid, the director of Vita Berapi in 2006, said that the rifle is designed by Vyktar Prykhodeka, a Russian residing in Malaysia.

Five A400M test aircraft complete a formation flight


As the next-generation A400M continues its certification evaluations, all five of the programme's flight test aircraft took to the sky this week for a unique formation flight performed by the Airbus Flight Test teams.


The video is here http://www.airforce-technology.com/videos/2368611151001.html

US refuses to condemn shooting of fisherman


The US has refused to condemn the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard.

Asked directly during the US Department of State’s daily press briefing if the US condemned “this brutal attack,” acting deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell would not.

“The United States is aware of the incident between a Philippine law enforcement vessel and one or more Taiwan fishing boats that resulted in the death of one Taiwan fisherman,” he said. “We welcome the Philippine government’s pledge to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the incident and to work with the Taiwan authorities to establish what transpired.”

He said that Washington urged all parties to ensure maritime safety and to refrain from actions that could escalate tensions in the region and undermine the prospects for a diplomatic or other peaceful resolution of differences.

A journalist then pressed Ventrell, asking: “So, you’re not condemning the Filipino government for this attack?”

Ventrell replied: “Well, we said that they’re going to conduct an investigation, and what we want is a full and transparent investigation into the specifics of the incident.”

The acting deputy spokesman was asked if the Philippines should apologize.

“Well, again, let’s see what the investigation says before we make a further judgement,” Ventrell said.

Asked if the incident had occurred in Philippine waters or in disputed waters, Ventrell said that he was “not aware” where the incident actually occurred.

“I don’t know if we have a definitive understanding — this is, again, one of the things we hope that the investigation can clarify,” he said.

Ventrell said that he was “not aware” that either Taiwan or the Philippines had been in contact with the US about the shooting.

“We maintain contact with both parties,” he said.

Source: The Taipei Times

14 May 2013| last updated at 07:11PM
Taiwan threatens to hold naval drill near Philippines

TAIPEI: Taiwan stepped up pressure on Manila Tuesday, saying it would conduct a naval drill in waters near the Philippines if Manila did not officially apologise for the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman.

Taiwan has demanded the Philippines apologise by midnight Tuesday (1600 GMT) over the killing of the 65-year-old fisherman by coastguards last week or face a potential freeze in sending workers to the island.

The defence ministry said the military was prepared to conduct an exercise in the waters where Hung Shih-cheng of the 15-tonne Guang Ta Hsin 28 was shot Thursday.

“We’ve prepared ourselves and staging an exercise in the Bashi Channel is one of the military’s options,” defence ministry spokesman David Lo told AFP.

“Whether or not to conduct the drill would be up to the reaction of the Philippine government.” Taiwan has also asked the Philippines to bring to justice the coastguards responsible and start negotiating a fisheries agreement.

Lo declined to provide details but the state Central News Agency said the exercise would be held Thursday and involved a Kidd-class destroyer, a Perry-class frigate and three coastguard frigates.

A number of fighter jets would also be involved in the drill which would for the first time target the Philippines as the enemy, it said.

The incident has sparked public outrage in Taiwan, where hundreds of angry fishermen burned Philippine flags and hurled eggs at Manila’s de facto embassy in Taipei Monday.

Taiwan at the weekend sent four coastguard and naval vessels to protect its fishermen in waters near the Philippines.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has urged all sides “to refrain from provocative actions” while Philippine President Benigno Aquino called for calm and guaranteed an in-depth investigation into the incident.

The Philippine coastguard has admitted firing at one of four Taiwanese fishing vessels it said had strayed into its waters, allegations denied by the victim’s son who was with his father and two other sailors on the boat at the time.

Taiwan prosecutor Liu Chia-kai described the incident as “nothing but a slaughter”, after examining the boat which he said was hit by more than 50 bullets.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions around the region over rival claims to the nearby South China Sea.

China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims to parts of the sea.-- AFP

Source: The New Straits Times

Partly to please their citizen's call for hard action

Gun ammunition loading system

Taiwan freezes hiring of Philippine workers over death
AFP Updated May 15, 2013, 11:06 am


TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday froze the hiring of Philippine workers to express "strong dissatisfaction" over Manila's handling of the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman, his spokeswoman said.

The 65-year-old fisherman was shot dead by Filipino coastguards last week after they said his boat had strayed into Philippine waters.

"President Ma expressed his strong dissatisfaction over the Philippines' lack of sincerity and its shifting attitude," Lee Chia-fei told reporters, adding that Ma had decided to recall Taipei's envoy to Manila.

Antonio Basilio, the Philippines' de facto ambassador, had also been asked to return to Manila to "help properly handle" the case, she said.

Lee reiterated Ma's demands that Manila issue a "formal apology," compensate the victim's family, apprehend the killer and start fishing talks between the two sides soon.

"If the Philippine government cannot satisfy our side's four demands by 6:00 pm (1000 GMT) today, our government will adopt a second wave of sanctions," Lee said.

Taipei made the decision despite an apology by Basilio after a closed-door meeting with Foreign Minister David Lin on Tuesday.

The Philippines will send special envoy Amadeo Perez to repeat his "deep regret and apology from the people of the Philippines" to the people of Taiwan and the fisherman's family, according to Basilio.

However, Taiwan's Premier Jiang Yi-huah said it was unacceptable that the apology comes from the "people of the Philippines" rather than the government as it was the coastguard that shot the fisherman.

Perez is chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) that represents the Philippines' interest in Taiwan.

The incident sparked outrage in Taiwan and comes at a time of heightened tensions around the region over rival claims to the nearby South China Sea.
Taiwan has threatened to conduct a naval exercise in waters near the Philippines.

Ban on Filipino workers could take effect May 15: official
Central News Agency


Taipei, May 13 (CNA) Government departments were busy Monday drafting and evaluating punitive measures that could be used against the Philippines over the May 9 shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman, with "a complete ban on Filipino labor" likely to take effect within two days. Unless Taiwan's demands are met by the end of Tuesday, the ban will go into immediate effect, said an official of the Cabinet's Council of Labor Affairs (CLA), calling it "the most severe measure" of its kind.

According to the official, no new applications on behalf of Filipino workers for employment in Taiwan will be processed and those who have obtained permits to work in Taiwan will not be granted a visa if they have not yet entered the country. Those who are required to leave Taiwan after their three-year work permits expire will not be allowed to re-enter as before, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

There are about 87,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan, mainly employed in the electronics sector, which is expected to bear the brunt of any ban on Philippine labor. Officials tried to play down any such impact, however, with Economics Minister Chang Chia-Juch saying that migrant workers are available from other sources. The number of Filipino workers in Taiwan is low compared with those from other countries, he added.

As of the end of March, the Philippines was the third-largest source of migrant workers in Taiwan, next to Indonesia with more than 198,000 workers and Vietnam with nearly 102,000.

Meanwhile, two of the main employers of Filipino workers in Taiwan said they will make necessary arrangements in line with the proposed ban. Innolux Corp. and AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), both major manufacturers of LCD panels, said they will comply with the government's policy on hiring foreign workers.

For its part, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said it would postpone or suspend bilateral economic exchanges, including annual vice ministerial talks in July or August and a ministerial meeting scheduled for before the end of the year, said Chang. The Taiwan government made four demands May 11 and gave the Philippine government 72 hours to respond after a fisherman was killed at sea by Philippine law enforcement personnel. Unless the demands are met by midnight May 14, Taiwan will recall its representative to Manila, in addition to imposing the ban on Filipino workers. Taiwan's demands include an official apology, compensation for the victim's family, punishment of those responsible for the death of the fisherman and talks on a bilateral fishery agreement.

Source: Taiwan News

The 10 percent of Pinoy GDP sent back home consistently year-in and year-out for the past six years from overseas is key to the health of the Philippines economy. That means a considerable portion of the Philippines' economy comes from remittances.

This post has been edited by noavatar: May 15 2013, 01:29 PM

For those interested in sniping

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
Field Manual
No. 23-10

SNIPER TRAINING

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1zB8QQ/:T-Em.../23-10/toc.htm/

or

Miscellaneous Firearms Technical and Training Manuals
http://www.biggerhammer.net/manuals/




This post has been edited by noavatar: May 15 2013, 01:52 PM

Spratly Islands







This post has been edited by noavatar: May 15 2013, 03:17 PM

get more subs

Without any intention of disrespect to Philippine people :



MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has been named as Time’s “Most STUPID Country to Elect a 20-Year OJT as a Senator”.

“The overwhelming victory of a self-professed on-the-job trainee-cum-Senator in the recently held election in the Philippines cemented the country’s fate,” wrote Time’s news director Marilou C. Martin.

She added, “Falling for the diversionary tactics of an inexperienced candidate that saw her steer the issue away from her credibility to her skin complexion to make herself look like the underdog; gave us no choice but to bestow such title to a country, who was destined for greatness before the elections.”

“And yes, we intentionally all-capped the word stupid for added emphasis,” according to Martin.


Source

and here she is (the Senator referred to in the TIME magazine):



This post has been edited by noavatar: May 15 2013, 05:15 PM

yup

ID the following planes....top to bottom

P-51 Mustang,
F-4 Phantom,
A-10 Warthog,
F-22 Raptor

Azerbaijan Toyota Hilux Conversion



Azerbaijan introduced the special operations forces and law enforcement patrol vehicle called the “Gyurza” at the International Defence Exhibition IDEF-2013 in Istanbul.

“Gyurza” made on the basis of the 12-th model Toyota Hilux, a 4×4 all-wheel drive and is able to afford to carry 2500 kg of cargo. At the top of the machine is one machine gun 12.7 mm caliber, capable of hitting the target, rotating 360 degrees and fire at an angle of 45 degrees. On each side there are 2 machine gun 7.62 mm with a great capacity. Armament car can also recharge automatic grenade launcher and other means. The machine is equipped with a powerful motor-road – 114 horsepower.

The crew are 5 people including the driver and commander.