A second look at the Vizconde Massacre

December 15, 2010 – Philippines, After two decades of seeking for justice, the Vizconde Massacre still has a tight emotional grip on Filipinos. After the Supreme Court upturned the murder conviction of Hubert Webb and six others on December 14 and the world witnessed a weak and inconsolable Lauro Vizconde.

Many Filipino gave their insights on the case result; some of them aired their support for Vizconde and his continuing quest for justice. While some opinion is divided over Webb’s innocence, many agreed that 15 years in jail is too short for a guilty man — and too long for an innocent man.

If we will do a records search on this case, the said massacre happened on June 30, 1991 at their house in BF Homes, Parañaque City, Philippines. It was a multiple homicide of the Vizconde Family.

Findings:

Estrellita (47 years old) - suffered thirteen stab wounds

Carmela (18 years old) - seventeen stab wounds and had been raped before she was
killed

Jennifer (7 years old) - nineteen stab wounds.

Mr. Lauro Vizconde the father was in the United States by that time when the murder took place. It was a sensational story and the media had a field day. An anti-crime group was formed which launched a media barrage and the public lapped it up. Background checking the accused persons, they all came in a popular and influential families. Suspects are Hubert Webb, Antonio Lejano II, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian and Miguel Rodriguez. The case was unsolved for almost four years until a witness Jessica Alfaro appeared and testified against these persons. They were convicted by a lower court and the Philippine Court of Appeals but now acquitted by the Philippine Supreme Court.

Still with all the people affected it is more painful for Mr. Vizconde who says that he was “puzzled” and “disgusted” at how the Supreme Court reversed a ruling that has been affirmed by a local court and the Court of Appeals. He also said that now that the Supreme Court acquitted all the accused in this case, they should do their part to help him find the real killers to prove that the people they had acquitted were really innocent.

“I no longer expect justice in the laws of man. But I believe that in the end God will judge those who are lying and those who are saying the truth.” He wished the Webb family luck, saying Hubert and the six others were “fortunate" that “circumstances favored them."

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Pride of Alaska: Story of Caleb Aronson

Caleb Aronson was a singer-songwriter, unlike usual artist he was raised in North Pole. All of his song writing reflects a uniquely Alaska background.Linvengood(2005) was his first solo double album recorded entirely in Alaska which consist a lot of songs about Alaska history. His second album, From the Next Town was released in 2008.

Aronson began playing music around 15, this just happen when he borrowed a guitar to his dad and started to listen to his Dad’s record collections. He says “Looking at music was eye opening”, as he describes studying the written Harvest sheet music while listening to the album and learning to play the songs. His focus on songwriting over the years has led to recognitions from the Rasmuson Foundation (Aronson received an Individual Artist’s Award) and American Songwriter Magazine.

After three years living in Boston, Aronson returned to Alaska in 2009. He says it feels great to be back! If we will do a background check about Caleb Aronson, with his success outside Alaska still he didn’t forgot where he really came from. He is really an artist to be idolized and Alaska to be proud of!

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Vietnam takes action: The Police Shooting Prostitution

December 07, 2010 – Vietnam authorities demoted five police officers because of the accusation of filming the arrest of two prostitutes after the video was posted in the internet.

According to Vietnam press the said incident occurred around mid-November in which a man wearing blue shirt and yelling repeatedly used of vulgar words against two girls. It is said that the two girls tried to cover themselves but it was the duty to stand up and raised their hands to their capture.

People find it easy to search it on the internet after it was posted and being spread which made public discontent. In this act a police spokesman said that the Quang Ninh provincial police officers were disciplined for ethical violations. Three of them were down two levels; two were down a level and a person that transferred.

Colonel Nguyen Quoc Tien, chief police Cam Pha town, Quang Ninh said that the officers were seriously violated in the process work. Field recording can be used as evidence to investigate, but police have vulgar words, arrested prostitutes arms do not stand clothes to take pictures as "behavior is unacceptable." This was the words quoted by the Press which will serve as a warning to many police officers who misused their authority power.

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DPR fails to conduct Background Checks

December 1, 2010 - The D.C Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) which no longer operates child care centers under the program, failed to meet basic background check requirements.

A D.C government agency which received $1 million a year which is use to provide child care services under the federal head program failed to conduct background checks on its employees which includes workers who has previous cases of drug and other felony offenses. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Investigators said that a total of 43 employees failed to meet basic background check.

According to the report, the workers includes six DPR drivers who have been disqualified from working with children because of their past offenses like kidnapping, assault with deadly weapon and possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute. According to a Security Expert conducting background and criminal check on employees is not a problem to the city agency. All they have to do is to submit the names of their employees with their social security number to a background check company out there which is not a problem because of dozens of companies which offers the same service.

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EU Antitrust Probe targeting Google

November 30, 2010 - Last Tuesday the European Commission announced that they are investigating allegations that Google has abused its dominant position in online search to promote its other services.

The European Commission said that they will do some questions on PC manufacturers and software developers to see whether they were pressured by Google to make its search service the default in their products. The investigation was launched following a preliminary examination of complaints received by the Commission from a French legal search engine, and by two price comparators, Foundem of the U.K. and Ciao of Germany.

The Companies claim that their services were treated by Google unfavorably. The Commission was concerned that Google may have lowered the ranking result of its rival providers in order to promote similar service of its own.

Google Spokesman responded to the allegation saying that some restrictions are design especially to advertisers who are placing ads across several search engines; it doesn't play to the lowest common denominator -- which would hamper any new innovations in AdWords. They also hit back the complainants saying that background checking their international rival Microsoft they found out that Microsoft has a hand in two of the complainants. They stated that Microsoft owns Ciao and assisted Foundem to lobby in multiple cities around the world through an organization called ICOMP.

Still the Commission said that opening the investigation does not imply that it has been proven to any infringements. They said that the length of the investigation will depend on the company’s cooperation.

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A year after the Maguindano Massacre

November 23, 2010 – The first anniversary of Ampatuan Massacre, one of the unsolved crimes in the Philippines which involve a popular and powerful clan in Maguindano, Philippines named Ampatuan.

On November 23rd, 2009, 58 people traveling in a convoy to register a political candidate were ambushed and massacred. Andal Ampatuan Jr. the main suspect was accused of ordering his private militia to carry out the killings. He is one of the 197 people charge in the crime, but only half of them are in the custody.
According to the victim’s relatives they are flying to manila just to attend the hearing but until now the proceeding was still ongoing. There are also reported incidents that the Ampatuan tried to bribe the family members into silence and some witnesses have been killed. Some organization like IFJ is now pushing actions against the Ampatuan.

The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and the National Union of the Philippines (NUJP) calls the attention of all journalists, media workers and their colleagues to prepare for Global Day that marks the 1st Anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre. They are pushing to have coordination on all international organization including Online Social Medias such as Facebook and Twitter.

Let’s just hope that the Philippine Government will continue to dig more evidences to help the victims to have their justice.

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Pope Benedict’s Condom Remarks

“Evolution not Revolution”

Catholic world was now confused about the recent statement of Pope Benedict XVI, while many catholic organizations are opposing the use of any artificial method which is said to be against the rule of God, The Pope give his opinion about the use of condom. Pope Benedict XVI was actually saying that using condoms is “acceptable” to male to male sexual activity. And now the catholic people are divided on what to believe about the use of contraceptives.

If we will do a background search on catholic organizations they are extremely opposing the use of any artificial method that will prevent the possibility of conception resulting in grievous sin. But the statement of the Pope gives great opportunity to some organization which are favor of the use of any artificial methods. They are actually confident that the statement given by the Pope will awaken the mind of the people to be more open about the use of contraceptives.

The Roman Catholic Church’s position on condoms has not changed! They said that the Pope is not, and was not speaking in the exercise of using condoms. He actually gives this as an alternative to male prostitutes on male to male sexual activity. They said that this is not a grievous sin (mortal) but a venial sin. The basis of this information was the rapid number of people having sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDs in many countries which are found in males who had a sexual contact to same sex.

I think the Pope has its clear reason why he stated the use of condom, all we need to do is give him space and time.

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TSA: full-body scanning or path-down inspection?

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is now requiring all passengers at some U.S. airports either to pass through a full-body scanning device which reveals everything beneath their clothing, or to submit to a thorough path-down inspection – a choice that some travelers livid about their loss of privacy.

This safety measures are have been a touchy issue in the U.S. because of the alarming detection of illegal or dangerous items . TSA said that keeping passenger safe is their top priority that why this new measure is necessary. They actually give supporting evidence that because of these advance imaging technology, detection of over 130 prohibited, illegal and dangerous item had been done. That’s why passengers should be aware of this new safety measures that will actually made you think of your choice to undergo full-body scanning or pat-down inspection.

TSA also said that in the future they would “stop looking for bad thing and start looking for bad people.” They said that government has a lot of information on everyone who gets on plane that will soon have intelligence into a checkpoint. "Today the checkpoint is just looking for bad objects, but the agent doesn’t know anything about the traveler." With a quick background check, agents could assess the risk associated with each traveler, then use things like scanners and path-downs to further analyze those deemed high risk.

TSA says that they are always looking for ways to improve, but for now the scanners and the path-down are the best way to keep people safe in the sky.

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Pacquiao vs. Margarito: Intrigues and Victory

This is the most anticipated fight of the year the Pacquiao | Margarito fight! WBO welter weight champion Many Pacquiao will pursue an eight divisional title by rising to 150-pounds to face Antonio Margarito.

This fight would make the lives of these two fighters to be change as they are the intriguing fighters of the year. Let’s take a background check on these two fighters and how their stories become intriguing. Many Pacquiao who has a record of 7th weight title will now pursue to have the record of 8th weight division and will attempt to secure his 13th straight victory and the ninth knockout of his run. Currently he is now a member of the Filipino Congress yet he still want to fight for another victory.

Negative Headlines and controversies are also following the name of now fighting for his pride Antonio Margarito. As we all know Margarito was once or still didn’t get relicensed in California because he was tainted from his “illegal hand wrapping scandal” and coming off a knockout loss to Shane Mosley in his last meaningful contest 18 months ago. This is why California as well as Nevada wouldn't give him a license. That’s why the fight was moved to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

But even if this fight is full of controversy, many people were still anticipating for a good fight. Who’s your bet?? This is a must seen fight!

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Case of a Missing Girl in North Carolina

Investigators are now collecting evidences about the missing 10-year-old girl in North Carolina; it is then stated that the girl may possibly dead because of some remains they got. The girl named Zahra Baker was reported to be missing since October 8 by her father, Adam Baker. Authorities believe that the girl was dead because of a human remain which was more likely to be Zahra because of the prosthetic leg they found and bones which are now sent to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's lab for confirmation.

By records search, Zahra was a bone cancer survivor who used a prosthetic leg and hearing aids. She live with her father and her step mother Elisa Baker which was now jailed because of obstruction of justice charge. It was stated that Elisa admitted writing bogus ransom note found at a scene of a fire in their backyard on the day Zahra was reported missing. A Catawba County grand jury indicted her on the charge last week.

Zahra’s biological mother Emily Dietrich is now in route from Australia to North Carolina. She said she has no contact with her child since she gave birth on her. "I felt robbed before she was taken. Now I just feel broken," Dietrich reportedly told Australia's Channel 7 News.

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For more information about this story visit News Highlights.

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Brian David Mitchell’s Case of 2002

"I was still a person of worth ... I decided to live." After eight years traumatic experience this was the statement of Elizabeth Smart in the proceeding of her case against Brian David Mitchell at the court in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Brian David Mitchell is accused of abducting the then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart in 2002. Smart says that the accused Mitchell told her that he really loves her the moment he first saw her. She said that it was in the fall of 2001 with her mother, they saw Mitchell outside the mall and her mother gave him five bucks and hired him to do simple house repair. But then Brian David kidnapped Elizabeth Smart for nine months, "sealed" her to him as his wife and raped her.

To do a background check on Brian David Mitchell he had his wife Wanda Barzee which was also became part of abducting Elizabeth which was a minor on her age. Elizabeth stated what these two did to her, she stated that she was being raped “daily at a very least” tethered between two trees "like an animal," and forced to watch and participate in sex acts of this two. She said she was forced to smoke cigarettes and drink wine and "hard liquor." Mitchell’s attorney Parker Douglas appealed on the jury that his client was not responsible for what he did but say that his client was insane at the time of the alleged abduction, and therefore not responsible for his actions. He also described his client as a “crazy person who comes in the middle of the night" -- exactly what we are taught to fear as children, he said.

But the evidences was strong enough to plead the accused as guilty, and then Barzee, 64, pleaded guilty in November 2009 to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor in federal court and was sentenced in May to 15 years in federal prison. As part her plea agreement she agreed to cooperate in the state and federal cases against her husband.

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