Maniolas

He is a maverick and a rock star, according to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York.    

In this Sept. 21, 2014 file photo, Chris Brown arrives at the iHeartRadio Music Festival, at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. A judge has revoked Brown’s probation on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, but allowed him to remain free for now after the R&B singer traveled without approval for a concert and failed to complete community service on time. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin allowed Brown to remain free until a March 20 hearing when the judge will receive an update from probation officials. AP, File/Photo by Andrew Estey/Invision LOS ANGELES — A judge has revoked Chris Brown’s probation but allowed him to remain free for now after the R&B singer traveled without approval for a concert and failed to complete community service on time. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin allowed Brown to remain free until a March 20 hearing when the judge will receive an update from probation officials. Brown was ordered by probation officials in December not to leave Los Angeles County without permission. The Grammy-winning singer performed in San Jose recently without obtaining permission to travel. Attorney Mark Geragos told Brandlin that his office incorrectly advised Brown he didn’t need permission. Brown has been on probation for his 2009 attack on pop singer Rihanna, then his girlfriend. Brown was supposed to complete 1,000 hours of community labor by the end of January, but he still has roughly 200 hours to complete. The judge said Brown had been making steady Read More …

The invitations to Heart Evangelista and Chiz Escudero wedding are out!

President Benigno S. Aquino III inspects the security preparations at Villamor Air Base, the Apostolic Nunciature and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 Quirino Station during the dry run on Tuesday night (January 13) of the Papal convoy for the pastoral visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines. With the President is Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II. (Photo by Gil Nartea / Malacañang Photo Bureau) MANILA, Jan 14 (Mabuhay) – The World Bank further cut its growth projection in 2014 for the Philippine economy that it said was weighed down by the slow government spending,the Washington-based multilateral lender said on Wednesday. But the local economy is expected to rebound in the next two years, thanks to the realization that government has to spend more for infrastructure, the WB added. In its latest Global Economic Prospects released Wednesday, the agency said the Philippine economy likely grew by six percent last year, less than one percent lower than the earlier forecast of 6.4 percent. Lead economist Rogier van den Brink said this was due to “the slowdown in government spending in the third quarter and limited opportunities to raise government spending in the fourth quarter.” “However, growth is expected to rebound this year and also in 2016… primarily hinged on the ability of the government to fully implement the budget and the Yolanda master plan,” he told reporters in a briefing in Taguig. The World Bank forecasts a 6.5 percent growth in 2015—lower from the earlier projection of 6.7 Read More …

© Pressmaster/shutterstock.com (Miami–AFP) – Plenty of research has shown that learning a second language can boost brainpower, but a new study out Monday suggests that the effects extend to those who begin in middle childhood. The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that people who began learning English around age 10 and were immersed in the language, meaning they heard and used it in daily life, showed improvements in the structure of the brain’s white matter compared to people who grew up speaking only English and did not learn a second language. These “higher levels of structural integrity” were in areas responsible for language learning and semantic processing. The findings mirror observations from previous studies that found these improvements in people who learned a second language at a much earlier age. Researchers studied brain scans from 20 people, all around the age of 30, who had lived in Britain for at least 13 months. They had all started learning English as a second language around age 10. Their imaging analyses were compared to 25 people of similar age who spoke only English. “Everyday handling of more than one language functions as an intensive cognitive stimulation that benefits specific language-related brain structures by preserving their integrity, and therefore it protects them against deterioration in older age,” said the study led by Christos Pliatsikas of the University of Kent School of Psychology. Since previous studies had predominantly relied on people who learned two or more languages beginning Read More …