http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?artic...bCategoryId=200

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - In the serious business of battling the insurgents and poverty that plague the southern Philippine islands, the United States is in part measuring success by a far more whimsical standard: Jollibees.

A US State Department official said yesterday that the Philippine fast-food chain has become a symbol of economic and military security in Mindanao region, where 70 percent of Muslims in some areas live below the poverty line. Multiple extremist organizations, including one linked to al-Qaida, have infiltrated Mindanao, where US Special Forces are training the Filipino military to root out and eliminate terrorists _ not only by traditional warfare, but with also financial and community development.

It's similar to the counterinsurgency strategy the US has been pushing in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, so far with much less luck.

That's where the Jollibees come in. Jon Lindborg, mission director for the US Agency for International Development in the Philippines, said he maps where Jollibees open in Mindanao as "one of the best indicators of success."

"Where you find a Jollibee, you find enough security, you find enough risk appetite by the private sector to begin to invest and create jobs," Lindborg told reporters Monday. "Because ultimately, the issues in Mindanao are not just about security, but they're also about development."

The Pentagon cites Mindanao as an example of where US efforts to train and advise other nations' militaries work well.

At a Monday news conference in Manila, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he's asked for hundreds of millions of dollars in the Pentagon's 2010 budget to build similar so-called military-to-military alliances around the world.

"We have to be very sensitive of their sovereignty and their domestic politics," Gates said in the first visit to the Philippines by a US defense secretary in nearly a decade. "And so we will move with these various counties at a pace that is comfortable for them. We have to look at this I think in the long term, and the stronger the foundation we can build under these relationships the longer they are likely to last and the more effective they will be."

Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. agreed.

"For me it is the range and scope of our relationship which is more important than the amount of assistance given by one government or the other," Teodoro said at the news conference.

The United States has pumped about $7 billion in economic assistance into its former colony since 1946, Lindborg said.

Neither Gates nor Teodoro spoke to the issue of whether the US plans to cut its troop levels in the Philippines, as is speculated. An estimated 600 US troops are currently stationed in the Philippines, mostly in the south.

Asked about future US assistance, Teodoro merely said he planned to "fill in gaps as they come." A senior US defense official said Gates and Teodoro did not discuss troop levels in closed-door meetings during the three hours the Pentagon chief was in the Philippines.

While in Manila, Gates also confirmed that North Korea appears to be ramping up its military activity with potential long-range missiles tests in coming weeks. It would be the second long-range launch since April after a flurry of short-range missile tests over the last week.

"We have seen some signs that they may be doing something with another Taepodong missile," Gates said, referring to the type of long-range weapon that North Korea uses. "But at this point it's not clear what they're going to do."

Most of Gates' short and rushed trip, however, focused on the Philippine-US counterinsurgency efforts against al-Qaida linked Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah and other extremists.

American officials said they initially faced many of the same suspicions from Filipinos that the US military is now dealing with in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We've been able to show them through our actions over the years that we don't have any ulterior motives and that our whole purpose (in Mindanao) is to assist them," said Army Col. Bill Coultrup, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines. "It's their fight. ... And that's how we've been able to show the people that there's nothing undue."

Much of the military mission has dealt with training and sharing intelligence, Coultrup said. He said one major difference between the counterinsurgency efforts in Philippines and those in Iraq and Afghanistan is that local Filipino leaders have been far more aggressive about trying to make their communities safe.

"I think with combined efforts with development and security-related cooperation, we are making a difference," Lindborg said.

Jollibees aside, the fight remains far from over.

"Serious challenges remain," he said.

jolibee and mcdo makes me puke

You don't like burgers?

Burger king rules!

Hamburger Harley, the Hamburglar's getaway vehicle



http://dvice.com/archives/2008/05/hamburger_harle.php

Hamburger enthusiast Harry Sperl of Daytona Beach, Florida took a look at his Harley-Davidson and his collection of burger odds and ends — over 1,000 pieces strong — and wondered how he could merge the two. Well, you're looking at the answer: the Hamburger Harley.

This delicious trike is stacked high with all the fixings, and its melted cheese, lettuce, tomato, buns and patty were airbrushed to perfection by Chris Cruz. The top bun flips up for easy access to the seat, and the handlebars have a tray paying tribute to the all-American meal of a burger and fries.

Think Sperl's a little obsessed with hamburgers? He's tricked out a car to turn it into the "Good Burger Mobile," and has been collecting burger related items for nearly a decade.