Maniolas

With the two musical acts today, the word electric can be taken literally, via the instrumentation and metaphorically, given the “hotness” the two possess and how they connect with their audiences. Dutchman Afrojack (due to visit Manila soon) has consistently rated among the Top 10 DJs over more than five years and he’s done collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé. Moody, smoky and atmospheric are just some of the ways Lana Del Rey’s music has been described. On her new CD, she proves her first album was no fluke. Afrojack — Forget the World (Def Jam/Universal Music). On his first full album, Afrojack (Nick van de Wall) shows why he’s such a favorite as a DJ and producer across various musical genres. While classified as dance electronica, there really is so much more in the album that sees collaborations from all over the musical spectrum. While Ten Feet Tall, which features Wrabel, is the carrier single, my personal favorites are Too Wild, where Wiz Khalifa and Devin Cruise partner with Afrojack, and We’ll Be OK, wherein Sting makes a surprise appearance. Afrojack also takes on songs from 30 Seconds to Mars and Keane, and I grinned seeing how they’re listed as Afrojack versus the band in question. Consistent on each number is his stellar production touch — bombastic and heavy on the bass. Lana Del Rey — Ultraviolence (Polydor/Universal Music). Ever since she burst into the music scene, Lana has been difficult to ignore. You either love her or hate her. Read More …

Limiting the judiciary’s reach on the executive and the legislative branches will only upset the government’s system of accountability, former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Christian Monsod said Friday. “‘Pag binawasan mo ‘yon, mag-iiba ‘yung checks and balances system natin,” he said in an interview with GMA News TV’s “News To Go.” “It’s a very delicate balance and once you upset one part of it, mag-iiba ‘yung accountability system.” Monsod—a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission—said the judicial overreach that President Benigno Aquino III is referring to is only based on the Supreme Court decision declaring parts of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) as unconstitutional. He added that out of the four acts pointed out by the SC, only one—cross-border use of savings—is considered a constitutional issue, while the other three are “all in the Appropriations Act” and “can be solved by ordinary legislation.” Acts deemed unconstitutional by the SC inlude: – the withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies;– the declaration of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the General Appropriations Act; and– the funding of projects, activities and programs that were not covered by any appropriation in the GAA. Monsod said Aquino’s remarks against the high court came at an “unfortunate” time, when his allies are lobbying to amend the Constitution to allow him to seek for a second term. “Isinabay niya ‘yon sa opening Read More …

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine police said Wednesday they had arrested a Filipino Islamic militant suspected of taking part in at least one deadly kidnapping raid on a Malaysian diving resort island. Hundreds of members of a police special force unit were deployed to arrest Abu Sayyaf member Mobin Hailil at a remote village in the Tawi-Tawi archipelago near the Malaysian sea border on Tuesday, they said. “When local police located him we were called in because they knew members of his clan would fight back,” Filipino police special forces director Getulio Napenas told AFP. The suspect, a Tawi-Tawi native and a “leader” of Abu Sayyaf members based on the island, did not resist arrest but a loaded handgun and a grenade were seized from him, Napenas added. A Filipino police statement said Hailil, also known as Kahumbo, was “involved in kidnapping and killings” on the Malaysian resort island of Mabul, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Hailil’s Tawi-Tawi home. However, it did not provide details of his alleged crimes. National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. A policeman was killed and a second officer kidnapped by heavily armed men in the diving resort, off Borneo island, on July 12, Malaysian security officials have reported. The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, on Wednesday quoted unnamed Malaysian intelligence sources as saying Hailil might have been responsible for that attack, as well as other kidnappings in the area. The July shooting was the latest in a spate of Read More …

Officials of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) on Tuesday received a scolding from the Senate committee on finance following the huge number of bills vetoed by President Benigno Aquino III during the 15th Congress. The PLLO, an attached agency in the Palace, is tasked to promote the legislative agenda of the executive department. “Alam ninyo mahabang proseso po ang ginugugol ng both houses of Congress sa pagpapasa ng mga bill na yan, tapos in the end mave-veto lang pala,” committee member Sen. Nancy Binay said before the officials of the PLLO during the hearing of the agency’s P38.4-million proposed budget for 2015. During the hearing, PLLO Undersecretary Antonio Gallardo admitted that 78 bills were vetoed by Aquino during the 15th Congress, but was quick to add that 56 of those were just bills pertaining to road conversions. “Most of them are road conversions. They were basically vetoed because the technical descriptions were wrong,” Gallardo explained. But committee chairman Sen. Francis Escudero did not buy Gallardo’s reasoning. “This is the first time that this is happening. In the past kapag sinabi ng Palasyo na hindi namin aaprobahan yan, hindi na itutuloy ng Kongreso,” Escudero said. “And with Senator Franklin Drilon as Senate President and with Rep. Sonny Belmonte as House Speaker, there should be no hardship dealing with either chamber of Congress,” Escudero said. “Maybe the problem is the lack of coordination of the PLLO with us and with the concerned government agencies.” Both Drilon and Belmonte are members of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – A recent study at Michigan State University found out that reading ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ an erotic romantic novel by E.L. James, puts women at more risk of succumbing to eating disorders, binge drinking and abusive relationships. The findings of the scientists claim that they are not endorsing the ban for the novel, but are merely stating the risks of reading the book. There have been previous studies relating the effects of watching violent films to the behavior of the person who watches it, but this research is among the first to analyze the relationship between health risks and popular fiction depicting violence against women. Fifty Shades of Grey is about the deepening relationship between a literature graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business tycoon, Christian Grey. The predicament of the story lies on the extreme fondness of Christian Grey to sadism and masochism, resulting to physical violence and emotional torture of Anastasia Steele. Related: Quotes from Mr. Grey’s sexy mouth It should be noted that the study, which appears in the Journal of Women’s Health, was not able to prove causation. According to the lead researcher and family expert Professor Amy Bonomi,  “it doesn’t show whether reading ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ causes the behaviors, or whether exhibiting the behaviors cause you to read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.” The link is problematic either way. Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: Bonomi said, “If women experienced adverse health behaviors such as disordered eating first, reading Fifty Read More …