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Calendar of Events - FilAmNation.com
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008 9:29PM / Standard Entry
Nurses Making a Difference Everyday Barsamian Auditorium The Philippine Nurses Association of Ame... West Roxbury, MA Mon, Aug 25 - 7:30 AM
National Heroes Day Flag Ceremony Rizal Hall of the Philippine Consulate General The Philippine Consulate General in Los ... Los Angeles, CA Tue, Aug 26 - 8:45 AM
Member's Night Valley Corporate Community Center Zoe Venture Inc. presents "Member's N... Sherman Oaks, CA Wed, Aug 27 - 5:00 PM
Sinehan sa Summer - Maalaala Mo Kaya Philippine Center - Kalayaan Hall “Sinehan sa Summer," a Filipino Film Fes... New York, NY Thu, Aug 28 - 6:30 PM
Fil-Am program meeting presenting EQ in Investing for Members and Guests Max's Restaurant FIL-AM Glendale Liwanis Foundation prese... Glendale, CA Thu, Aug 28 - 6:30 PM
Filipino WWII Veterans Public Forum Philippine Consulate General The Philippine Consulate General in Los ... Los Angeles, CA Thu, Aug 28 - 6:30 PM
Katrina Halili Live Empire Theatre Fans of Vixen Katrina Halili will be thr... Stockton, CA Fri, Aug 29 - 12:00 AM
A Little Night Music Concert Pechanga Resort & Casino For the first time, this summer of 2008,... Temecula, CA Fri, Aug 29 - 9:00 PM
The Greatest Hitmakers Live at Reno Grand Sierra Resort and Casino The Greatest Hitmakers Reno, NV Sat, Aug 30 - 8:00 PM
Katrina Halili in Fantasies at San Francisco South San Francisco High School Auditorium Featuring Jonalyn Viray, Kris Lawrence, ... South San Francisco, CA Sat, Aug 30 - 6:00 PM
The Greatest Hitmakers Live at The Grand Grand Theater of Grand Sierra Resort Casino Anticipation is just around the corner. ... Reno, NV Sat, Aug 30 - 8:00 PM
Just Because Party Dance Studio World USA Studio Dance World USA will be holding a "JUST ... Las Vegas, NV Sat, Aug 30 - 8:00 PM
FAL Children’s Reading Program --- Aug. 30 in Montebello & Sep. 6 in San Pedro Asian Pacific Resource Center Everyone, please forward this email to f... Montebello, CA Sat, Aug 30 - 2:00 PM
Philippine American Press Club Quarterly Kapihan West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center Philippine American Press Club USA
P...San Francisco, CA Sat, Aug 30 - 11:00 AM
A Little Night Music Concert Cashman Center For the first time, this summer of 2008,... Las Vegas, NV Sun, Aug 31 - 7:30 PM 
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The Philippine Flag: Manny Pacquiao
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008 9:35AM / Standard Entry
This video was made to honor the selection of Manny Pacquiao as the flag bearer for the Philippines during the walk of nations ceremony and the 15 athletes from the Philippines are participating in the games.
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http://www . FilipinoPeople . com -- Vision
FilipinoPeople . com's vision is to unite the Filipino community from all over the world to one online destination, where we can help each other grow and succeed as Filipino People in a social networking online environment. Together, the Filipino culture will prosper and be recognized within the mainstream society. Together, our voices are louder and hopes of change are heard. Together as a Filipino Community, we can make a difference in our community and in the society that we live in.
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A PhotoBen750 production done the Studio-Way.
http://www . studio-way . com
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http://www . bengreer . com
ben@studio-way . com
benm . greer@gmail . com
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http://www . SuperPinoyTV . com
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http://www . PinoyPipeline . com Link
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FILIPINA IMMIGRANT WORKER SUES FORMER UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR FROM THE PHILIPPINES FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING VIOLATIONS
Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 4:34AM / Standard Entry
New York, NY � The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) announced that it has filed a complaint in New York federal court on behalf of a Filipina immigrant worker against a former United Nations ambassador from the Philippines, his family, and his wife�s travel agency, for violating federal laws against human trafficking.
At the press conference today, Marichu Suarez Baoanan, a citizen from the Philippines, described how she paid $5,000 to the Bajas and Labaire International Travel, in return for transportation, a visa, a work permit, and job placement services in the United States. Ms. Baoanan arrived in New York in early 2006, believing that she would receive assistance to find employment as a nurse. Instead, former UN ambassador Lauro Baja, Jr., his wife Norma Baja (an owner of Labaire International Travel), and the Bajas� adult daughter, Maria Elizabeth Facundo, alleged a substantial debt against Ms. Baoanan and subjected her for three months to involuntary servitude, forced labor, peonage, debt bondage, and slavery as a domestic worker in their home on Manhattan�s Upper East Side.
�Human trafficking is far more complex than many people realize,� said AALDEF Staff Attorney Ivy Suriyopas, who leads the Anti-Trafficking Initiative. �It can involve domestic workers that cook food for, clean the house of, and take care of the children of your next-door neighbor. Trafficking involves the severe exploitation of workers regardless of the industry of the worker or the reputation of the trafficker.�
Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), individuals can sue their former traffickers and also legalize their immigration status. "T" visas are available to sex and labor trafficking survivors who have been subjected to force, fraud, or coercion.
Ms. Baoanan sought assistance in 2006 from DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association, a Filipino labor rights group, and lawyers at AALDEF. AALDEF helped to secure a T visa for Ms. Baoanan and Derivative T visas for her family members, with case management assistance provided by New York Association for New Americans (NYANA). Ms. Baoanan was reunited with her family in April 2008.
�It is an honor to work with AALDEF on behalf of Ms. Baoanan and other women and youth like her to meet the humanitarian needs of trafficking victims and their families, and to preserve the rule of law and the values that we cherish in our lives and our society,� said Aaron Mendelsohn, an associate at Troutman Sanders LLP in New York, the law firm which is serving as pro bono co-counsel on this case.
AALDEF�s Anti-Trafficking Initiative provides free legal representation to trafficked women and youth to apply for immigration relief, facilitate survivors� access to human services, and represent them in civil litigation. AALDEF�s anti-trafficking efforts also include community education, outreach, and advocacy.# # #
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By combining litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.For more information:
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Determination to Dream
Friday, Aug 22, 2008 6:52AM / Standard Entry
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Why... PhotoBen750?
Friday, Jul 25, 2008 3:56AM / Standard Entry
Why… PhotoBen750?
by: Ben GreerThis is just the beginning… For many of you my passion for photography may be new to you, but I have been in love with the camera for the longest time. Growing up I would usually prefer to be the one taking the pictures rather than having my picture taken. 
From THE CAMERAAs a young child I did not have much money so I was limited to basic bottom barrel point and shoots and disposable cameras. Not having much money this also made the process of getting my picture developed difficult. For many years I just kept the spent film in hopes that one day, before it went bad that, I would get it developed. A major turning point in my life that sent me down this road of photo passion was the day my uncle Dennis Baunach gave me his old Pentax K1000. This was around the end of my sophomore 
From FRIENDS and F...year in high school just before we took a family trip to Europe. At that time I did not realize what importance this camera might play in the development of my talent. Even though my uncle had owned this camera for about 25 years prior to him giving it to me the Pentax K1000 is a classic camera that is still used by many photogs. 
From THE CAMERAThe Pentax was my first real SLR camera. It had all the manual features a beginner could want and a few auto function that were new back when the camera was originally purchased. It came with a black leather caring case designed to hold the camera, film, filter, lenses, flash, and a battery operated auto shooter. Back then I had little knowledge on how any of it worked or what it meant to adjust shutter and aperture settings. To get me started my uncle showed me how to read the built in light meter, focus the camera and basic adjustment to the shutter and 
From THE CAMERAaperture. Off I went to discover the world through its glass eye interpretation. I would go to all kinds of places taking picture of just about anything. I even got into taking black and white images with the Kodak Tmax film. At the time black and white was not easy for me to get developed. Unless you knew how to it yourself you had 
From THE CAMERAto find a shop that worked with black and white. You couldn’t just drop it off at Costco or any old photo store and it was also twice as expensive to develop. I would often just take the pictures and keep the undeveloped film. For years I continued taking pictures some film would get developed but most would just get added to the collection. In 1999 when I was preparing to move to California Anselmo Villinueva, a good friend of mine, discover that I had all this undeveloped film saved up. He said that I should think about getting it developed before it goes bad. I told him that I could not really afford to do it, but I really wanted to see what picture I had taken. He offered to drop it off to Costco for me and pay for the development. I could not believe it. There were over 20 roles of film. This was a good chunk of change that I will forever be thankful 
From FRIENDS and F...for. Once they were developed I began to see all the moments from the past come to life. It was like opening a time capsule. The subject matter was so varied and spanned over many, many years. It brought back lots of great memories. 
From ARTMany of the pictures were poor in quality and not as nice as I would have hoped, but the real excitement came when I would find the outstanding shots. I did not know much about photography when I started, but I had an eye to appreciate what I saw. Many of my first images may not have been in focus or the shutter stayed open too long, but the picture would have a story. I am not sure who coined the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but I see the art in this statement. When I take a photo it is almost like I am writing a poem. When you write a poem you are using words to 
From Flowers / Sun... express ideas that may not exist in the tangible world. To do this, you must attempt to capture as much of that idea and express it words that best represent your thought as a vision understandable in another persons mind. From Architecture ... Seeing still images like poetry allows me to expand the context for which an image has meaning to me. Much like the ability to express a complex story with the added ability to stretch time and partially recreate a moment of the past. Using imagery of elements that all real tangible existence has long left the present. Some time in early 2003 I got my first digital camera. A Nikon CoolPix 4300 with a 4.1 megapixel CCD. 
From THE CAMERAWith the new found freedom of not needing to go anywhere special or wait for development I began to rediscover my photo passion. I must have taken several thousand images before I upgraded to my current camera in the spring of 2004. 
From THE CAMERAA Fuji Finepix S7000 6.2 megapixel SuperCCD with the ability to interpolate up to 12.3 megapixel. This camera has been very reliable and has many great features. My digital image collection is now in the range of 15-20 thousand high resolution images. That would be the equivalent of about 470-625 rolls of film, 32 exposures each. 
From Philippines 2008http://www.PhotoBen750.com
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http://www.BenGreer.comTake Care,
Ben
(PhotoBen750)
Stats
- I am Benjamin M. Greer. I am only in my early 30’s, but I have seen enough in my life at this time to fill the lives of several individuals...
- Age: 34
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 14,640
