Maniolas

By Abner Galino Lakers Hall of Fame Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to the crowd as the team’s “Every Second Is An Adventure” float rolls along Colorado Boulevard. Photo: Odette Galino First, the news: Skywriters benefitted from a cloudless blue sky off the scenic town of Pasadena to trash Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Five planes circled the skies and wrote: America is great. Trump is disgusting. Anybody but Trump. The letters that formed out of white smoke spewed out from the planes frittered away almost as fast they were written in the sky. But the buzz that was created by the messages lingered in all of social media channels. It turned out that the skywriters were paid by someone from Alabama who was identified by mainstream news sources as Stan Pate. The same sources disclosed that Pate was actually someone who has a lot of similarities with Trump, among them: he is also a Republican, also a millionaire (or a billionaire), also involved in real estate business, also active in politics and also somewhat raucous. Apparently, the skywriting was meant for the Iowans – who were from a state that conducts its party candidates’ nominations ahead of the other US states – who flew in to Los Angeles in droves to support their football team known as the Hawkeyes. The Iowa Hawkeyes were routed by the Stanford Cardinals in a subsequent football showdown in a related event known as the Rose Bowl to a blowout score of 45-16. A lost that Read More …

A Porsche 911 S 2,7 from 1974©Porsche (Relaxnews) – In recent years the classic car market has gone into overdrive to the point where a classic Ferrari built between 1955 and 1965 is literally worth more than its weight in gold. But while vintage cars with a prancing horse on their hoods continue to command the highest premiums at public and private sales, trends and tastes are starting to change. According to US-based classic car valuations and insurance company Hagerty, the market is starting to slow down, but that’s hardly surprising. In the US alone, a new record — $1.45 billion—for classic car spending was set over the course of 2015. And, $28,050,000 of that was spent on just one car, a 1956 Ferrari 290 MM Spider. That made it the most expensive car to fall under the hammer this calendar year, and the entire top 10 for 2015 are also classic Ferraris, accounting for over 10% of all money paid for classics and collectables over the period. The world is running out of Ferraris to sell, and as a new generation of car collector comes of age, a noticeable change is starting to occur. “The market is still growing, but at a slower rate than we have witnessed in the past three years,” said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty. “The notable exception is rapid growth among younger buyers who have entered the market and are exercising their buying power by spending on the poster cars of their youth.” As Read More …

President Benigno S. Aquino III inspects the facilities of the temporary shelter at the Cogon Relocation Site in Barangay Cogon, Guiuan during the visit to the province of Eastern Samar on Friday (November 07). More than 200 Yolanda survivors will benefit from the 133 housing units. It was in Guiuan where super typhoon Yolanda, the strongest typhoon ever recorded, made its first landfall on November 08, 2013. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – More than two years after super typhoon Yolanda ripped through the Visayas region, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday said the implementation of projects, programs, and activities (PPAs) envisioned to bring forth rehabilitation and recovery to the devastated areas is nearing completion. In a press statement, NEDA said the overall weighted physical accomplishment (OWPA) of completed and ongoing Yolanda PPAs now stands at 63.2 percent – 30.3 percent completed and 33.1 percent ongoing. NEDA said most of the ongoing projects are scheduled to be completed by 2016. In October 2014, weeks before the first anniversary of Yolanda, President Benigno Aquino III signed the “Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan” or CRRP which identified a total of 18,400 projects, programs, and activities (PPAs) to be implemented in 171 cities and municipalities in 14 provinces in Visayas affected by super typhoon Yolanda. The total funding requirement for the CRRP’s implementation is P167.86 billion ($4 billion), which the government said will be primarily sourced from the national budget. In April this year, Aquino through Memorandum Order No. 79, transferred the Read More …

Pope Francis acknowledges the people who came in droves at Quirino Avenue to say goodbye to the him on Monday. The leader of the Roman Catholic church capped a five-day visit that showed the intensity of the devotion of the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP |  – The Philippine Catholic Church has apologised after a priest was filmed riding a hoverboard in church while celebrating Christmas Eve Mass. In clips that have gone viral on YouTube and social media sites, a middle-aged man in a white cassock sings a Christmas song while riding a self-balancing electric scooter between packed pews. The diocese of San Pablo said the priest rode the hoverboard inside his Miraculous Medal church in the town of Binan, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Manila, “as a way of greeting his parishioners”. “That was wrong. The Eucharist demands utmost respect and reverence… it is the Church’s highest form of worship,” the diocese said. Its statement was released to AFP on Wednesday by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, which named the priest as Father Albert San Jose. “Consequently, it is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of the people,” the statement added. “The priest said that it was a wake-up call for him; he acknowledged that his action was not right and promised that it will not happen again. “He will be out of the parish and will spend some time to reflect on Read More …

Rizal Day in Carson: Commemorating the third annual Rizal Day and the 119th death anniversary and martyrdom of the Philippines national hero. From left are Aaliya Mariah Magcasi, who sang the Star Spangled Banner, poet Tony Berango, Kalayaan Incorporated president Josie E. de Jesus, Carson City Clerk Jim Dear, Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim, Bellflower Mayor Sonny Sta. Ines, Carson Mayor Pro Tem Elito M. Santarina, MC Lydia V. Solis, Monchito Mandap, chair of the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Monument Movement, and Sam Santiago, who sang Lupang Hinirang and Ang Bayan Kong Mahal.Photo: Joe Cobilla Wreath-laying was led by Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim and the Philippine Consulate General Los Angeles staff; Carson City Council,  City Clerk and Commissioners led by Mayor Pro Tem Elito M. Santarina; Bellflower Mayor Sonny Sta. Ines, and Knights of Rizal. On December 17, 2013, the Carson City Council unanimously voted to establish December 30 of each year as Dr. Jose P. Rizal Day—a unique gift from Mayor Jim Dear, Mayor Pro Tem Elito M. Santarina, Councilmembers Mike A. Gipson, Albert Robles, and Eula Davis-Holmes. Maria Sereno Diokno, chairperson of the National Historical Commission, attended the inauguration of the Rizal monument on September 29, 2012. The 7 ½-foot statue of Dr. Rizal is the only life-sized statue in California. The erection of the 15-foot monument was a journey of more than 10 years by the Jose P. Rizal Monument Movement, chaired by Monchito Mandap, Western USA Area Commander, Knights of Rizal California. It is the first and the only monument in the Read More …