Kasal (2018 film)

As the summer season in the Philippines is drawing nearer to its end, Star Cinema presents moviegoers this month's offering in the form in a very though-provoking drama film that stars three of the most highly respected stars in Philippine showbizness.

Kasal

Directed by Ruel S. Bayani and it stars, Bea Alonzo, Paulo Avelino, and Derek Ramsay, Kasal is a film about a young woman set to marry Cebu's most eligible bachelor and mayoral candidate until her ex-boyfriend works for a project that will help him win the elections. Torn between two men, how can a woman like choose which destiny she'll end up with?

As the film points out, it really is a thought-provoking film that blurs the line between relationships and politics as pointed out by the characters and the storyline and while it seems average by such standards, moviegoers can really hang themselves to this film until the bitter end to witness the intense drama that really grips them like a primetime teleserye in so many ways and as the film progresses, the drama gets intense by the minute until how the film unfolds in a way too hard to describe.

Gripping it maybe, this film, despite being too average, is definitely a must watch for the tearjerkers in them and one of the ideal ways to spend the last days of your summer vacation by watching this film.

My rating: 3.5 out 5.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Trump seeks to placate North Korea’s Kim over uncertain summit

US President Donald Trump sought to placate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un after Pyongyang threatened to scrap an unprecedented summit, saying Kim’s security would be guaranteed in any deal and his country would not suffer the fate of Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, unless that could not be reached.

In rambling remarks in the White House’s Oval Office in which he also sharply criticized China over trade, Trump said that as far as he knew the meeting with Kim was still on track, but that the North Korean leader was possibly being influenced by Beijing after two recent visits he made there.

Trump distanced himself from comments by his national security adviser John Bolton that North Korea angrily denounced when casting doubt on the summit, which is planned for June 12 in Singapore.

“North Korea is actually talking to us about times and everything else as though nothing happened,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Trump said he was not pursuing the “Libya model” in getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Bolton has repeatedly suggested the Libya model of unilateral disarmament for North Korea, most recently on Sunday.

Gaddafi was deposed and killed after Libyans joined the 2011 Arab Spring protests, aided by NATO allies who had encouraged him to give up his banned weapons of mass destruction under a 2003 deal.

In a statement on Wednesday that threatened withdrawal from the summit, North Korea’s first vice minister of foreign affairs, Kim Kye Gwan, derided as “absurd” Bolton’s suggestion of a deal similar to that under which components of Libya’s nuclear program were shipped to the United States.

“(The) world knows too well that our country is neither Libya nor Iraq which have met miserable fate,” he said in apparent reference to the demises of Gaddafi and Iraq’s former president Saddam Hussein.

Trump said the deal he was looking at would give Kim – a hereditary ruler who presides over a state widely criticized for serious human rights abuses – “protections that will be very strong.”

“He would be there, he would be running his country, his country would be very rich,” Trump said.

“The Libya model was a much different model. We decimated that country,” he said, adding that it would only come into play “most likely” if a deal could not be reached with North Korea.

Trump stressed that North Korea would have to abandon its nuclear weapons.

“We cannot let that country have nukes. We just can’t do it,” he said of North Korea, which has been working on missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The United States has demanded the “complete, verifiable, and irreversible” dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Pyongyang has rejected unilateral disarmament and given no indication that it is willing to go beyond statements of broad support for the concept of universal denuclearization.

It has said in previous, failed talks that it could consider giving up its arsenal if the United States provided security guarantees by removing its troops from South Korea and withdrew its so-called nuclear umbrella of deterrence from South Korea and Japan.

Source: Reuters

Let's Do The News! (May 18, 2018)

- Task Force Bangon Marawi, its member line agencies, and LGUS launched yesterday the "Marawi Week of Peace" to commemorate the heroism and unity displayed during last year's siege. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), said the week-long commemoration, which coincides with the start of holy month of Ramadan this year, will be celebrated on May 17 to May 23 every year.

- The Department of Education officially announced that classes for the SY 2018-2019 will begin on the 4th of June.

- Lawmakers have demanded that Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Martin Diño personally present to the House of Representatives the list of 100 congressmen allegedly involved in vote-buying during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections and explain how he arrived at this conclusion.

- SM opened their fourth Pampanga mall today.

- A friend of the man who carried out a deadly knife attack in Paris was charged Thursday with “associating with criminal terrorists” while two women were detained for questioning as the investigation gathers speed. Khamzat Azimov, a 20-year-old naturalised Frenchman of Chechen origin, killed one man and injured five others in the busy Opera district of the French capital on Saturday night before being shot dead by police. The Islamic State group has claimed the attack.

- US President Donald Trump refers to criminal gangs when he called some illegal immigrants "animals", which outraged the Mexican government and which drew rebukes on social media. Trump made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting with California municipal leaders who support his goal of making the US border impervious to illegal immigration.

- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be the first stop for the next season of the ABB FIA Formula E championship.

- Following Stan Lee's lawsuit filed against Pow! Entertainment for using his image, Pow!'s parent company Camsing International issued a statement regarding Stan Lee's lawsuit.

- The Metal Gear orchestra concert will have new performances in Tokyo on the 7th of July, Los Angeles on October 10, New York on the 13th of October, and Paris on the 28th of October.

- Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch will star in a political drama about the lead-up to the UK's Brexit vote.

TTFN!!!

Honda Jade (2019 Minor Change)

The Honda Jade MPV has been on the road for three years now and with the latest facelift, there's a lot of catching up to do with this Fit-based questionable MPV that was criticized for being less spacious with third-row seats present at the back. Anyway, what's new on this 2019 minor change Honda Jade, you may ask?

2019 Honda Jade

For the 2019 minor change, the Honda Jade now boasts a new front grille, new front lamps, and new front bumpers as well as updated rear lamps and redesigned wheels. In the RS version, now available in both turbo and hybrid variants, you can see only the RS badge on the front black side mirrors, black rear wing, darker metallic details, and some sporty 18-inch 5-spoke aluminum wheels.

2019 Honda Jade interior

2019 Honda Jade interior

The interior of the Jade's almost untouched, meaning there's still the same cubby holes to store stuff, the same choice of five or six seats, where the latter has two on the back that eats away boot space, a big problem for the Jade, the same digital instrumental panel, and so on, meaning there's no slight changes around here.

2019 Honda Jade

On the driving side, the 2019MY Jade still retains the choice of a 1.5L VTEC TURBO engine mated to a CVT and a hybrid with a 1.5L petrol engine connected to an electric motor and lithium-ion battery while mated with a seven-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox. Turbo variants have a JC08 Mode-calculated fuel economy of less than 18kmpl while hybrid variants get 24.2kmpl. Honest but irrelevant in today's trends where WLTC Mode is soon becoming a thing on Japanese roads. Apart from that, handling's refined with the addition of double wishbone suspension at the back while RS variants get sporty front and rear dampers. Plus, on the turbocharged RS variants, they made it more responsive with the addition of a fully open acceleration step-up shift control that allows drivers to feel direct acceleration by letting the engine reach high rpm earlier with the smoothness of its CVT. Then, there's the brake-operated step-down shift control which increases the deceleration by applying the engine brake according to the brake above a certain level, which is handy while going downhill, and lastly, the Agile Handling Assist that promises smooth running with less steering operation while driving through curves.

Promising to be the safest MPV in its class, the 2019 Jade's advanced types of Honda SENSING suite of safety tech are now standard such as CMBS, false start suppression function, pedestrian accident reduction steering, out-of-road departure suppression function, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, front car departure notice function, and road sign recognition, making it a certified "Safety Support Car S Basic+" for use on Japanese public roads.

The 2019 Honda Jade now starts at 2,398,680 Japanese Yen (around $24,000 or 1,200,000Php) for turbo variants with hybrid variants start at 2,898,720 Yen (around $29,000 or 1,540,000Php).

Photo: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Seoul pushes for successful Trump-Kim talks as North warns

South Korea said it's pushing to reset high-level talks with North Korea and will communicate closely with Washington and Pyongyang to increase the chances of a successful summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on resolving the standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons.

The announcement by Seoul’s presidential National Security Council came a day after North Korea threatened to scrap next month’s historic meeting between Trump and Kim, saying it has no interest in a “one-sided” affair meant to pressure the North to abandon its nukes. The North also broke off a high-level meeting with South Korea to protest the U.S.-South Korean military exercises the North has long claimed are an invasion rehearsal.

The North’s surprise announcement seemed to cool what had been an unusual flurry of outreach from a country that last year conducted a provocative series of weapons tests that had many fearing the region was on the edge of war. Analysts said it’s unlikely that North Korea intends to scuttle all diplomacy. More likely, they said, is that it wants to gain leverage ahead of the talks between Kim and Trump, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.

South Korea, which brokered the talks between Kim and Trump, will “closely mediate using multiple communication channels with the United States and with North Korea so that the North Korea-U.S. summit can proceed successfully,” said the NSC after a meeting chaired by Chung Eui-yong, the top security adviser of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The NSC also urged the North to faithfully abide by the agreements reached between Moon and Kim in their summit last month, where they issued a vague vow on the “complete denuclearization” of their peninsula and pledged permanent peace. Senior officials from the two Koreas were to sit down at a border village on Wednesday to discuss how to implement their leaders’ agreements to reduce military tensions along their heavily fortified border and improve overall ties before the North canceled the meeting.

Source: Associated Press

Forza Motorsport 7: Indy Jaws

Having Indy hangovers, I went back to the racing capital of the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and drive cars that possess the same potential as IndyCars of today. From Chevrolet side, I summoned the Corvette Z06, and on Honda/Acura side, I summoned the NSX. Both these sportscars possess some motorsport pedigree it delivers and while these cars are a direct representation of the past and the present, well, that's what I'm here to find out.



I am already familiar with the Corvette C7 Z06 since me and the car first met with some untapped impressions that got me away with it. Although it's now a middle child of the range, its supercharged V8 engine is too much to ignore as well as C7.R-inspired aerodynamics, making it a race car built for the road and track, a best for both worlds. True to my experience, the Corvette C7 Z06 is the kind of car you won't get out until you're fully satisfied with its performance but even if you're happy with it, you still want to keep driving with this Corvette for more.



As a representation of today's world, the NSX hybrid supercar is a very clever masterpiece that shouldn't be overlooked upon. Although it's not as fast as its Euro rivals but such performance and intelligence really made this hybrid worth enjoyable to drive non-stop and while this is all's fair in love and war, the NSX is all about shuffling drivers with its own whim of stroke. Like the original, the NSX really is the king of Hondas, leaving the Civic Type R its own prince and such hierarchy is what made Honda a favorite among speedo boys worldwide.





Chevrolet and Honda have always been longtime rivals in the world of IndyCar, the two opposite sides of the same coin, a little reminiscent of the time the Japanese blown Pearl Harbor and start the war and ended with the Americans dropped a big bomb to Hiroshima. With its road-going equivalents deployed, the American-Japanese rivalry rages on the track and like all good IndyCar drivers, it's not just about impressing their bosses after the race, it's about how good a Chevy or Honda-powered one can do and for the Corvette and the NSX, we're now on a different kind of ballgame.

Ball game aside, it's time to see with the help of these road-going equivalents, it's time to see how the rivalry between Chevrolet and Honda payed off with a quick lap round the GP portion of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Time to show the world how these cars can do and which one packs the hardest bite out of their Indy jaws.



With their laps done, it's time to see the results...

C7 Z06 - 1:35.064
NSX NC1 - 1:35.831

By such result, seems that the gap between the past and the present are a .8 of a second apart and because this is an American motorsport, Chevrolet packs the biggest bite than Honda. Homegrown advantage, huh? I'm not surprised by this. I mean come on, this new NSX is made in the USA but in the end, the American has beaten the Asian-American by such margin. Man, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for this.




The Corvette and the NSX are representatives of longtime rivals in the world of IndyCar and no matter the result, this different kind of American-Japanese war will go on and with a plethora of world-class drivers in store, choosing the side between the Americans and the Japanese is all about playing Game of the Generals.

Of course, I still had my Indy hangovers after this run but like all good heroes and icons, I'll be back and looks like I'll be bringing my snacks for the biggest race ever to happened in the final week of this month. Are you excited for Indy 500? Me too.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: US moving ahead with N. Korea summit prep

The United States said it was moving ahead with preparations for a much-anticipated summit next month between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after Pyongyang appeared to cast doubt over the event.

“We will continue to plan the meeting,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters, adding that Washington had received “no notification” of a position change by North Korea.

“We have not heard anything from that government or the government of South Korea to indicate we would not continue conducting these exercises or would not continue planning for our meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un next month.”

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that Pyongyang had called the June 12 summit into question over the “Max Thunder” joint military exercises between the US and the South.

The US will “have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-US summit in light of this provocative military ruckus,” Yonhap quoted the North’s official news agency KCNA as saying.

Nauert denied that the exercises were provocative, saying: “Kim Jong Un has said he understands the importance to the United States that we conduct these joint exercises. They continue to go on.”

The annual Max Thunder air exercises are running from May 14-25.

The Pentagon said the drills enhance the US-Korean alliance’s ability to defend South Korea and boost interoperability and readiness between the two militaries.

“While we will not discuss specifics, the defensive nature of these combined exercises has been clear for many decades and has not changed,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Source: AFP

Let's Do The News! (May 16, 2018)

- Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa said whatever he said in the Senate cannot be used against him in the absence of any other evidence. With that, Espinosa asked the Department of Justice to dismiss the drug complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s Major Crimes Investigation Unit against him and his co-respondents who include alleged drug lord Peter Lim.

- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources seeks to establish officers in every tourist destination to effectively restore, preserve and protect the country’s rich environment and vast natural resources. DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu cited as an example the establishment of a DENR office in Boracay that will handle the environmental concerns in the island.

- The FDA advised the public not to buy specific products of Belgian beer Stella Artois because some might contain fragments of glass. In an advisory, the FDA stated that specific batches of 330-milliliter bottles of Stella Artois beer are being recalled by its manufacturer due to the possibility that it may contain “small glass particles that may have leaked from the bottles.”

- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended a hiring freeze that contributed to the unpopularity of his dismissed predecessor. Pompeo sent a message announcing the decision to his staff, with whom he was set to hold a closed-door meeting Wednesday.

- Ecuador spent millions on a spy ops to defend Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in its central London embassy, employing an international security company and undercover agents to monitor his visitors, embassy staff and even the British police, according to reports.

- Jailed Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim has now pardoned and walked out of a hospital in Kuala Lumpur just a week after his alliance scored a shock victory in a general election.

- The Trump administration is preparing to shelter children of deported illegal immigrants in military bases. Under family separation rules, parents go to immigrant jails, children to foster care.

- BMW to unveil the 8-Series on the 15th of June, the day before Le Mans.

- Audi teases the upcoming Q8 crossover before next month's premiere.



- Former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa is now joining the Venturi Formula E team for next season.

- Actress Yasmien Kurdi surprises her husband with a brand new car on his birthday.

- Christian Pasno, the former TVK Season 2 semifinalist, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

TTFN!!!

GT SPORT: That Bushido feeling

Like all good samurais in the pasts, even a hi-powered JDM car must respect the way of the Bushido and they live to fight for their honor and dignity, no matter how rough it can be. What I have here today are two of the most high-powered sportscars ever to emerged from the Land of the Rising Sun.



These are the cars in question; the V8-powered Lexus RC F and the hardcore Nissan GT-R NISMO, and today in GT SPORT, I'm going to drive them both to see which one has that Bushido feeling. But first, let's begin with Godzilla.



When I first tried the GT-R NISMO in the previous installment, I have strong belief that it's ready to take on the world because it is the pride of Nissan. However, due to the advancement of today's sportscars, feels like its days are numbered. Now, the GT-R NISMO's back in its updated version and although its 600PS VR38DETT V6 Twin Turbo engine remains unchanged, it now features turbines sourced from its GT3 racing machine as well as other improvements to make it more responsive and apart from the engine, it has structural adhesives to make it more tougher. Plus, the addition of a rear wing and a front under spoiler and bumper with canard shaped fins allows this car to produce more downforce than the standard GT-R at high speeds. There's so much more to explain about the improved version of the GT-R NISMO but let's leave it here.



Like a Family Guy joke, the RC F is basically a mirage when you see cars like the BMW M4 because it's easy to be ridiculed by such performance. That said, while it has more than the M4, the RC F cannot possibly outgun the M4 in such purposes because while the M4's turbocharged, the RC F is stuck with the old-fashioned, naturally aspirated 5.0L V8 engine mated to an 8-speed AT. It maybe as old-school as an 80's rock band and it maybe as terrifying to handle as an American muscle car but for purity, it almost never fails to impress drivers looking for such a sportscar that tickle their fancies. Yes, the 8-speed AT is a bit of an issue but it's still a purist's Lexus by a long shot and while it was not made to make fast lap times, the RC F is all about bringing smiles to drivers setting foot on it. Such honorable it is but now it's time to check how are these cars are doing with a trip round Tsukuba.



In true F spirit, the RC F really is out of character for a Lexus and while all good Lexuses are made for trips to the country club, this isn't because the RC F is all about brute force only a brave young man can handle due to its dynamic character it possesses. When you try to squeeze this car round the corner, that ferocious firepower really kicks the drivers hard like drinking a whole bottle of Red Horse Beer. It really is like Visual Kei with a dab of Heavy Metal and although unforgiving, it's worth addicting to drive.



The GT-R NISMO maybe as serious as a stern Dietman but as an all-rounder that was made to set fast laps, it takes a little effort to push its pace to get the most out of this hardcore GT-R. Although fast on the straights, it sometimes has the tendency to understeer, even with the traction control off, but it takes time to getting used to its mild and tangy dynamics.

Anyway, after some sighting laps, I decided to find out which one is the best with some proper timed laps and with that, roll the tape.



And now, the results...
\
GT-R NISMO - 1:03:630
RC F - 1:06.817

A near three-second gap showcases a clear difference between a serious car that is serious enough to do quick laps and a bewildering car that wants to enslave the driver to have some more until they had enough and the serious one wins, although I had high respects about the RC F enslaving drivers to never stop driving until it calls it quits.



Cars like these do live with the code of honor and like the way of the samurai, the GT-R NISMO and the RC F never lost their Bushido ways but after a trip to Tsukuba, turns out that Godzilla has the Bushido it deserves because it really is one of the most respected cars of all time. Sure, the GT-R is now on its twilight years but as long as this car keeps on fighting, it will keep on fighting until its last drop of petrol.

I believe most of you live by the code of honor so you better keep playing GT SPORT some more and by the time you're back for more Sport Mode, let's see how much Bushido coursing within you. If you live by the code of honor like the way of the samurai, prove it. See you again.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Dismantling of N. Korea nuclear site ‘well under way’

Satellite photos indicate North Korea has begun dismantling its nuclear test site ahead of a historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, according to a US monitor.

In a move welcomed by Washington and Seoul, North Korea said at the weekend it will “completely” destroy the Punggye-ri test site, in a ceremony scheduled between May 23-25 in front of invited foreign media.

But no observers from international atomic monitoring agencies have been invited, raising concerns over the openness of the process.

Punggye-ri, in the northeast of the country, has been the site of all six of the North’s nuclear tests, the latest and by far the most powerful in September last year, which Pyongyang said was an H-bomb.

North Korea pledged to close the testing ground after Kim last month declared the country’s nuclear force complete and said it had no further need for the complex.

Source: AFP

Let's Do The News! (May 15, 2018)

- President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to 'to erase the suspicion' from his candidate-friends on whether he voted for them in yesterday's barangay elections. The President said he skipped the elections for "purely political" reasons.

- Bernadette Romulo yesterday has sworn in as the new Department of Tourism Secretary. Prior to her appointment in the position, Puyat was an Undersecretary for Administration, Agribusiness and Marketing, and Regional Engagement since July 2017 at the Department of Agriculture. She also served as an Undersecretary for Special Concerns at the Agriculture Department during the Aquino administration.

- The Philippine government temporarily lifted the deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait following a landmark labor protection signed between the two countries. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced that around 20,000 skilled and semi-skilled workers are now allowed to travel to Kuwait amid the normalizing ties with the Gulf state.

- Amid violence in Gaza, the US Embassy in Jerusalem has been opened on Monday afternoon, fueling global concern that U.S. policies are tipping the broader Middle East into deeper, intractable conflict. The embassy move, which Trump hailed a “great day” for Israel even as dozens of Palestinians were killed in Gaza, damaged Washington’s stature as a mediator between those parties. And it’s but the latest in a series of U.S. decisions that may have set off a domino effect of unpredictable consequences.

- The Facebook scandal has laid bare the urgency of protecting personal information in a digital “jungle,” the EU’s justice minister said before new European data rules become law.

- A former New York nanny was sentenced to life behind bars Monday for murdering two young children in her care five years ago in a case that tormented parents worldwide. Yoselyn Ortega, 56, killed six-year-old Lucia and two-year-old Leo with a kitchen knife in the bathroom of their affluent Upper West Side apartment on October 25, 2012.

- The new Honda Civic Type R has crushed the Magny-Cours GP Circuit's front-wheel drive record in 2:01.51.



- Bethesda announced Rage 2, the long-awaited sequel to the hit first-person post-apocalyptic open-world shooter game. Now developed by the studio behind the 2015 Mad Max game, the sequel will soon be released on the PlayStation4, XBOX One, and PC.

- Bandai Namco Entertainment will launch a new Network Service subsidiary in October.

- Margot Kidder, the actress known for being Lois Lane in the Superman films, passed away at the age of 69.

- Jake Zyrus celebrates his birthday and 10 years in showbizness with a concert at the SM Norht Skydome on the 25th of May.

TTFN!!!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: N. Korea will never fully give up nuclear weapons - top defector

North Korea will never completely give up its nuclear weapons, a top defector said ahead of leader Kim Jong Un’s landmark summit with US President Donald Trump next month.

The current whirlwind of diplomacy and negotiations will not end with “a sincere and complete disarmament” but with “a reduced North Korean nuclear threat”, said Thae Yong-ho, who fled his post as the North’s deputy ambassador to Britain in August 2016.

“In the end, North Korea will remain ‘a nuclear power packaged as a non-nuclear state’,” Thae told the South’s Newsis news agency.

His remarks come ahead of an unprecedented summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore on June 12 where North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes are expected to dominate the agenda.

Source: AFP