“The heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon!”
AFP Photo by Neil Celis, via Yahoo News
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by Wilfredo G. Villanueva
Swirling events. Corpses everywhere. A discombobulated populace. No public outcry. Democrats speaking to one another, preaching to the choir. In the meantime, bodies continue to pile up. Is anyone out there?
God is.
I have taken to waking up early, around 3:30, to read the Catholic mass readings, and pray the Holy Rosary. Time to call for spiritual nourishment and reinforcement, like a boxer trains for a fight.
Today, Friday August the 5th, the following Mass readings:
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 411
Reading 1
Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7
See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob, the pride of Israel, Though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined the tendrils.
Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops! The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding, Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon! I will cast filth upon you, disgrace you and put you to shame; Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, “Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?”
Responsorial Psalm
Deuteronomy 32:35; 35-36, 39, 41
R. (39c) It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“Learn then that I, I alone, am God,
and there is no god besides me.
It is I who bring both death and life,
I who inflict wounds and heal them.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
“With vengeance I will repay my foes
and requite those who hate me.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
AlleluiaMT 5:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.” (End of Mass readings)
I understand that The Society of Honor is a non-religious group dedicated to help shape a better Philippines, but you can take the Philippines out of God but you can’t take God from the Philippines. He is present everywhere. From the boxer who used to make the sign of the cross before he fights, to the devotee who wipes her hankie on Mother Mary’s pic in Redemptorist church in Baclaran, to the bus driver who makes the sign of the cross before he beats the red light.
We take sinning and God’s forgiveness too literally, thinking one follows the other in a never-ending cycle of cleansing and corruption.
Which brings me to point. I was witness to great rejoicing when we expelled the Marcoses. The chapels in Makati offices from where I come were always filled lunchtime before Ninoy Aquino was shot, after he was shot, before Cory Aquino was cheated of victory in 1986, when the Marcoses fled. Oh yes, churches are always full, ordinary days, Sundays, holy days. If mass attendance were the only metric of saintliness, the Philippines would be top one among all the peoples of the world who are heavenbound.
But wait, sometimes, with what’s happening in the country, I can’t help thinking that majority of the the poor souls in hell are Filipinos.
We are probably the most spiritually-conflicted people in history.
And so, I keep trying to keep in step with God, even if my soiled nature still makes me curse the cutting driver, the one who doesn’t let a pedestrian pass, or when my favorite pair of athletic socks are not where it is supposed to be. Ah, sin!
Nahum lived at the time when Assyria held sway in the Near East, 612 B.C. Assyria is known for its savage cruelty. Its city, Nineveh, was to fall, and Nahum was not one to hide his repugnance for the bloody city. “In the wake of their conquests,” the introduction to Nahum in The New American Bible said, “mounds of heads, impaled bodies, enslaved citizens, and avaricious looters testified to the ruthlessness of the Assyrians.”
Cut to present-day Philippines.
What’s happening? EJK is the soup of the day. (As of this editing, the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Libingan ng mga Bayani—Heroes’ Cemetery—seems to have eclipsed EJK in the news.) Extrajudicial killings. Why no public outcry, says Vice President Leni Robredo, herself the subject of a complaint of a strange electoral fraud case lodged by her defeated adversary Bongbong Marcos.
Only Senators Leila de Lima and Ping Lacson have spoken out.
Have we been invaded by Assyrians, making Metro Manila as Nineveh, the bloody city, with endless bodies to stumble upon?
On one hand, President Duterte is really the action man, a product sold and bought as advertised. His emergency number 911 is spot on, something every citizen can possibly rely upon. “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?” the voice at the other end of the line speaks in a voice of authority. Very good. Excellent. Keeps citizen and government in contact at moment’s notice.
China is confused. Probably President Duterte is the best negotiator because the Chinese use smoke and mirrors in times of peace or to wage cold or hot war. Our president is also slippery and unpredictable as well, to confound the enemy? Friend one day, enemy the next. Yes, we may have good reason to take comfort in such a man who will not hesitate to kill if it is to protect the citizens he is sworn to protect.
But blood on the streets? Innocents gunned down together with suspects? Day in and day out, with no relief in sight, no investigation forthcoming.
When will this end? How will this end?
Senator Leila: “What will we say, when future generations ask us? That is, when our grandchildren ask, what did you do in the time of the killings, what do we say? Do we say we cheered the hundreds killed, because thousands of self-described drug addicts had surrendered and, without any program of rehabilitation, are thereby classified as ‘saved’? Do we say, well, we made the sign of the cross every time we saw a dead body on the streets? Do we say, we campaigned against the killing spree by clicking on a button on Facebook?”
We are being called. We are being watched. What shall we do, go to our churches to pray some more and ask for deliverance, in passive resistance? Or shall we rant and rave just like when PDAF hit our senses, strolling in Quirino grandstand, talking to one another, building a force that will say in a loud and clear voice:
“Enough. Stop the killings. We are a civilized race. Everyone deserves a day in court. Turn your bullets into chairs so we can sit down and talk person-to-person, find out what’s wrong, how society and government can help. We need to overcome the drug problem, yes. President Duterte is right in addressing the problem. But do it in a humane way. If people are killed like rats, we are solving the problem by creating another problem. Replace it with something that guarantees humane treatment and counselling. Kill them like rats, and rats will evolve into bigger rats. That will indeed by a drug war, with the other side moving for a balance of forces, with their own firepower. And the innocents will be caught in the crossfire.”
Enough. No more EJK. Unless we are to Nineveh born.
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[…] Bonifacio’s brother/sisterhood or Will’s love mightbe too idealistic, but the other extreme is awful. What is realizable is the idea of “damayan”, the kind of mutual respect and consideration that […]
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Oh, and no one was killed during BS Aquino’s administration? Think again. The original text of the 6th commandment was “Thought shalt not murder.” The Catholic Church changed it to suit their agenda. It’s their country and they elected this guy, because they got tired of the bullshit.
700 people were killed in two months under President Aquino? Source please?
So you are okay with the killings that are going on now, Jimmy? You think that is the best way?
As near as I can tell, you are another flame-throwing troll, as anyone who calls the former President of their nation “BS” has no class or patriotic spirit whatsoever.
Jimmy, do you have any incidents to cite accurately where and when the police and military forces were convened by President Aquino to jointly eradicate one segment of the Filipino population, as the current president has?
Fact check for Jimmy:
Exodus 20: 13
Vulgate: “Non occides” = thou shalt not kill
King James Version: “Thou shalt not kill”
What Bible are you using?
Tanakh: “Thou shalt not murder”
I will find explanation.
sonny, this might help…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou_shalt_not_kill#Retzach
It’s a very specific type of killing/murder…
I guess mayhem (and murder) would be the closest in modern criminal usage,
The common law crime of mayhem is defined as an act of maliciously disabling or disfiguring the victim. This is essentially the modern definition as well. The actus reus for mayhem is that the defendant must commit an act that causes the victim an injury that either permanently disfigures him or disables him.
But the Arabic meaning I think is where we can glean some more meaning of essentially the same word (both Semitic languages):
رضخ RaZeKh
1 رَضَخَ ذ , (S, A, Msb, K,) aor. رَضَخَ (A, Msb, K) and رَضِخَ , (K,) inf. n. رَضْخٌ, (JK, S, Msb,) He broke, (JK, S, Msb, K,) and bruised, brayed, or crushed, (Msb, TA,) pebbles, (S, K,) and date-stones, (S, Msb, TA,) and a bone, (TA,) and other things, (Msb, TA,) of such as were dry, (TA,) or datestones and the like; (JK;) like رَضَحَ; (S Msb;) as also ↓ رضّخ [app. in an intensive sense]. (A.) He broke (S A, Mgh, Msb) another’s head, (Mgh, Msb,) or the head of a serpent, (S, TA,) &c., (TA,) with stones; (S, TA;) as also ↓ رضّخ [app. in an intensive sense]. (A.) And رَضَخَتِ التُّيُوسُ The he-goats betook themselves to striking one another with their horns, (JK, K, TA,) so that some of them broke the heads of others. (TA.) And رَأَيْتُهُمْ يَرْضَخُونَ الخُبْزَ and ↓ يُرَضِّخُونَهُ I saw them breaking in pieces the bread and eating it: (A:) and ↓ ظَلُّوا يَتَرَضَّخُونَ [i. e. They passed the time, or the day-time,] breaking in pieces bread and eating it and taking it with their hands
Remember the Bible uses different Hebrew verbs for kill, murder, sacrifice, etc. and Retzach appears I believe only 1 or 2 other times in the Old Testament (this I’m not so sure of, I read of this awhile back—- but I’m thinking it’s about mutilation).
Thou shall not mutilate
In biblical Hebrew, as in English, killing (harag) and murder (ratzah) are two different words with two very different moral connotations, and the commandment uses the Hebrew word ratzah, which means that the proper translation of the commandment from Hebrew into English is, “Thou shalt not murder.” The difference is crucial. That is correct translation of the 6th commandment.
Killing is taking a life. Murder is taking a life with no moral justification. Murder is morally wrong, but there is wide moral agreement (not complete agreement) that some forms of killing are morally just, and killing an enemy combatant during wartime is one of them. (Source: G. Laurie, got question.org)
For more of this, may I refer to: http://www.gotquestions.org/you-shall-not-murder.html
Very enlightening link, Mvon. I think I know why Jerome and KJV prefer ‘killing.’ I, too, prefer it. It’s closer to God’s mind as Creator of all life and ultimate Lawgiver.
sonny,
I think this was the blog I read that analysis on Retzach: https://abnormalanabaptist.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/retzach-analyzed/ (but it’s set to private now)
I agree w/ you re ‘killing’ vs. ‘murder’. In the military the chaplains prefer ‘murder’— I guess it makes their jobs easier. But for those poor souls that have committed both, ‘killing’ & ‘murder’, it doesn’t really make things easier.
Modern laws differentiate similarly:
So if that “Thou shall not kill” under Jerome is closer to a Jain monk’s absolute non-violence, then like you, I’m totally on board…
but I think knowing the culture in the desert, that’s wishful thinking on both our parts (ie. they have tons of words for killing, slaying, murder, etc.),
though non-ascetic Jains (the regular folks, laypeople) are afforded categories of violence:
Intentional violence – Intentional violence knowingly done is the worst form of violence and is a transgression of the layperson’s vow of nonviolence. Examples of sankalpinī hiṃsā are killing for hunting, amusement or decoration, or butchering for food or sacrifice or killing or hurting out of enmity, malice or mischief. sankalpinī hiṃsā has to be totally renounced by a householder.
Self-defence – One is allowed to practice self-defense against a robber, murderer, or any other criminal. This self-defense is necessary when evil attacks.
Domestic or household violence – This violence is unavoidably committed in the course of preparing food, household cleanliness, washing, construction of houses, wells, etc.
Occupational Violence – This violence is connected to occupational undertakings like agriculture, building and operating industries, etc.
While intentional violence has to be avoided at all costs, the other three types of hiṃsā (violence), although unavoidable in some cases, should not exceed the strict requirements of fulfilling the duties of a householder. Furthermore, they should not be influenced by passions such as anger, greed, pride and deceit or they take the character of intentional violence. (from Wiki)
Back to Wil’s article, I think if DU30 were a Jain layperson, he’d justify his violence as “Occupational Violence” 😉 . LOL!
by ‘murder’ , I meant state sanctioned murder (still murder, but in this case okayed by ROEs, Geneva Convention, UCMJ, etc. )
I like the graphic because the breakdown is done from the view that man is THE arbiter of life. The Christian view may subsume the same view but transcends it in favor of GOD as the ultimate arbiter of life such as Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 32 ff (as Wil’s responsorial song has it) and as St Paul reiterates “Vengeance is mine.”
*******
Sonny, LCpl_X, et al,
The dictionary definitions in descending order of restrictiveness seems to be:
o Killing is taking a life intentionally or unintentionally
o Murder is taking a life intentionally
o Mutilate is inflicting damage or disfiguring injury on [a body]
According to the dictionary definitions, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is broader in application than “Thou shalt not murder.”
Translated in this manner, the biblical precept is closer to the Hindu, Buddhist and Jainist concept of ahimsa: “Do no harm.” Ahimsa is expressing “respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others.”
In Tagalog, the translation of the commandment is: “Huwag kang papatay.”
Again, “papatay” is broader than the specific “papatay ng tao” which is murder.
Duterte has been using “papatay” in various forms: “pumatay” or “patayin.”
During the campaign, he said: “Kung hindi ka handang pumatay o mamatay, hindi ka puwedeng mag-presidente!” He also said, “Papatayin ko talaga kayo.”
So Duterte was intent not only on killing but on murder.
It may be argued that Duterte has not directly committed any killing. He has “only” incited or commissioned killing.
His acts are classifiable as crimes against humanity.
From Wikipedia: “The Rome Statute Explanatory Memorandum states that crimes against humanity are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. However, murder, extermination, torture, rape, political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice.”
The threshold has been passed. As of this morning, the death toll of the anti-drug policy stands at 972 in the ABS-CBN tally.
*****
*******
MILESTONE IN DEATH TOLL EX ABS-CBN NEWS
Tonight, August 12, 2016, marks the milestone of 1,000 deaths in the number of drug-related fatalities.
We are just 43 days into the reign of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
*****
Here is hoping we will not experience what Mexico has been undergoing through for quite sometime now, with the drug wars among drug lords and authorities.
Now they are showing police officers in a coffin and in ICU confinement. Fighting back, aren’t they? The drug users/pushers, I mean.
Thanks, LC & Mvon. I wish I took Hebrew & Greek enough so I could understand why Jerome wrote the Vulgate the way he did. Vergil’s Latin I barely understood. Or at least spent time to scratch Aramaic and gotten me a lifetime job at Vatican Pontifical Biblical Institute. Even an apprentice job among the Codices would have been the beginning of heaven. Pax vobis! 🙂
LC, from what I gather about Arabic and the Greek of the Septuagint, the latter can more easily translate the Hebrew of the Tanakh while the former can only communicate the limited sense and context at the time of writing. Hence, the impermeability of the Arabic of the Qur’an to modern languages as the Moslems claim. I might add, behavior also. Just my opinion.
1 Samuel Chapter 15 שְׁמוּאֵל א
א וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל, אֶל-שָׁאוּל, אֹתִי שָׁלַח יְהוָה לִמְשָׁחֳךָ לְמֶלֶךְ, עַל-עַמּוֹ עַל-יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְעַתָּה שְׁמַע, לְקוֹל דִּבְרֵי יְהוָה. 1 And Samuel said unto Saul: ‘The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
ב כֹּה אָמַר, יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, פָּקַדְתִּי, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה עֲמָלֵק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל–אֲשֶׁר-שָׂם לוֹ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, בַּעֲלֹתוֹ מִמִּצְרָיִם. 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
ג עַתָּה לֵךְ וְהִכִּיתָה אֶת-עֲמָלֵק, וְהַחֲרַמְתֶּם אֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ, וְלֹא תַחְמֹל, עָלָיו; וְהֵמַתָּה מֵאִישׁ עַד-אִשָּׁה, מֵעֹלֵל וְעַד-יוֹנֵק, מִשּׁוֹר וְעַד-שֶׂה, מִגָּמָל וְעַד-חֲמוֹר. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.’
smite= וְהִכִּֽיתָ֜ה wə·hik·kî·ṯāh
destroy= וְהַֽחֲרַמְתֶּם֙ wə·ha·ḥă·ram·tem
slay= וְהֵמַתָּ֞ה wə·hê·mat·tāh
sonny,
Qur’anic Arabic I’m less familiar with, but RaZeKh in Arabic still means to lay waste in pieces, pulverize (though no connotation of killing or murder);
I was trying to find that article I read on how specific that word Retzach is in ancient Hebrew (let me keep on looking, by the way mutilate is my own interpretation of it), but thought I’d share this 1 Samuel 15 with the Hebrew, of the three words the one most recognizable, is mattah (slay) since it ‘s the same mata for Matador, which is also from the Arabic, mata.
The question essentially, is what other context is Retzach used in the Bible?
“Hence, the impermeability of the Arabic of the Qur’an to modern languages as the Moslems claim.”
sonny,
There’s two assumptions that I’m making here— and remember I’m no anthropologist.
1. That Arabic and Hebrew (Semitic languages) are more related than Greek, especially with the word/verb in question.
2. Though I’m not sure ReZeKh appears in the Qur’an… if it does, I’m also assuming this guy’s theory, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Luxenberg that the Qur’an is heavily influenced by Syro-Aramaic.
But in this case, I’m not talking general, but specific, only focused on this one verb.
Here’s another use of Retsach which prove more similar with the Arabic usage , found in Psalm 42:11, http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2642.htm
יא בְּרֶצַח, בְּעַצְמוֹתַי– חֵרְפוּנִי צוֹרְרָי;
בְּאָמְרָם אֵלַי כָּל-הַיּוֹם, אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ. 11 As with a crushing in my bones, mine adversaries taunt me;
while they say unto me all the day: ‘Where is thy God?’
crushing = בְּ רֶ֤צַח bə·re·ṣaḥ
לֹ֥֖א תִּֿ רְצָֽ֖ח lō trə-ṣāḥ “Thou shalt not murder” (mutilate) (From Exodus 20)
I can’t seem to bold the Hebrew, the formatting gets all screwy, but the verb used, is the 3-character Hebrew string, same with the Psalm 3-character Hebrew— Retsach. This 3-character/letter root, occurs throughout Numbers and Deuteronomy, with no other translation but “manslayer”, so Psalms above offers us a bit more, than just the generic “slay”.
Basically, I’m making a case here for “Thou shalt not mutilate”… have I done so? Have I convinced anyone?
the Philippines is not only a product of SE Asian mores (where non-violence is foreign), but also of Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman traditions, and those traditions are not Jainist (non-violence absolutists…. I think if you limit your readings of Jesus w/in the 4 Gospels, he’s weirdly more Jainist, than Jew) ,
there’s plenty of loopholes when it comes to ‘killing’ and ‘murder’, but I think no matter how you rationalize ‘killing’ and ‘murder’, mutilation is most abhorrent —- and maybe God (of the Old Testament) only meant this, nothing more.
Strange there no Catholics in the room. The interpretation of the 5e (not 6e as for Jewish and Reformed Christians) is interpreted by Christian and Catholic scholars since the first century. Shouldn’t we first look how it is translated in official Catholic Bibles? How it is interpret in the Catechism? Consult Catholic experts in the field before listening to lay, Muslim, Jewish or Protestant interpretations?
By the way the Pope is also asking to suspend of the death penalty for the duration of the Holy Year “because modern means existed to ‘efficiently repress crime without definitively denying the person who committed it the possibility of rehabilitating themselves.”
The difference, Jimmy is that today, murder is state sanctioned, or to put it bluntly, Duterte sanctioned. Yes, there maybe murders in previous admin after Marcos, but it’s not sanctioned by the respective government.
And it appears that you agree with the current President and his EJKs, his style of shock and awe, collateral damage be damned, and the selective application of due process.
Mary Grace, thank you for bringing civility back to the discussion. I was on the edge of losing it. It seems today we have moralists preaching, and no new students arriving, with open ears.
The trolls keep on coming, I notice, Joe. And I feel you being tested to your utmost limits. You have a fruitful blog, so stones are raining. Now, you were on the edge of losing it, they will keep trying, the social media are full of them. Let’s not lose it, or they may think they have won. As you often advise us, let’s smell the flowers.
and your latest gem: “It’s a gorgeous day. The wind is blowing cool, the sun is poking through the clouds after a refreshing rain, the Duterte thugs are out thugging, the nation is crashing and burning in surreal incivility and idiocy.”
Surreal incivility and idiocy – true.
It is amazing the consistency of the line the trolls arrive with. “You are American, so you cannot understand.”
My acerbic response to a twitter troll was something like “Right. I’m unteachable. Only Filipinos can be taught why it is okay to kill poor Filipinos.”
But, clearly, they have been given a “talking point” as to how to demean and diminish the voice of Joe America, and perhaps all foreigners. I appreciate that you respect that voice, even if the “neo-nationalists” will not.
Am a confirmed old school, Joe. A 6-oz bottle of US Sixth Army Coca-Cola did me in. 🙂
Joe, as Chief Troll let me make my first pronouncement:
“Whosoever gets smart and/or cheeky with Mary, from here on out will get the boot with no warning!”
🙂 We’ll see, but I like your spirit!
LCpl_X (@LCpl_X)
Re your first pronouncement, I think you got it wrong. Joe reacted to Will’s articles being unfairly lambasted, not to my puny attempt of defending Will. There was an earlier thread where Joe’s limit was severely tested, on top of those hit and run trolls er, at least one troll stayed and engaged our host by insisting on her defense of this admin’s EJK (not Micha, and not on Will’s article).
The only proper response those who say, “You’re a foreigner, you don’t understand, so let me teach you” is, “You’re a Filipino. You’re unteachable.”
They have swallowed PDu30’s mantra and whoever disagrees is considered unteachable, hence these hit and run trolls. Well, I’d rather be an unteachable Filipino if what they will teach me is that it’s ok to kill fellow Filipinos without due process, that more than 900 killed is an acceptable collateral damage in exchange for hundreds of thousands who are surrendering, only to be tagged later or included in a list to be killed later. No, no..that is the Honasan and Enrile style in their days of their numerous coups. Now, even the innocents are fearing the police, the vigilantes, (who salivate for the millions of reward money for every drug pusher killed) or being caught in wars between drug lords and their assassins.
I can’t understand their blind support for EJKs. God help us if we reach the stage in Poland during the Hitler days when citizens refused to speak up when others are being killed. The irony is that they turn their hatred on those speaking up like Sen De Lima, Cynthia Patag, CJ Sereno and now, instead of appreciating a sympathetic American blogger who has nothing but the welfare of our country in his mind and heart, they visit this site with their poison.
Others who have voted for Du30 have become victims, too but still….sigh!
Duterte is slowly but steadily advancing towards his goal: creating a Society of Horror.
Grand-nephews and -nieces may someday ask me, “Where were you when the drug war happened?”
I say “In that New Order, I do not let my guard down. I do not participate in this self-righteous madness of this Talibanic blood sacrifice, which promoted fear and calamity more than security and confidence. I resist without giving myself away. I am part of the opposition who wanted a better solution for everyone than depreciating the gift of life or the opportunity to start anew.”
A painting by a Christian painter if you like. But definitely a painting with a powerful message to everyone with conscience and not just to those who makes the sign of the cross “before beating the red light.” Thanks very much Wilfredo.
Mene, Mene Tekel Upharsin. Peeked at the Facebook wall of a known educated Duterte supporter – not one my Pisay friends – and saw a posting calling Leila de Lima’s speech on human rights “hypocritical” and “pretentious”. Some commenters hoped to hang her by her scarf one day.
That same Duterte supporter is against Marcos’ burial at LNMB. But also posted that EJKs also happened before – which is true, but like LCPL_X mentioned they were decentral, not central then. And not as many as now. Some commenters wrote they are 50:50 on the EJK, meaning it is bad that they are there, but is is “good” that they are “more transparent now as opposed to previous administrations”. Other Duterte supporters write that “the results cannot be argued with”. Just so that the crowd here knows the “confirmation bias” which a large number of Filipinos now go by.
They will have to learn the hard way. The problem is many innocents will die.
Irineo, you posted an ad on the Angelina Jolie 2011 directed film in the previous blog: “In the Land of Blood and Honey. Apropos to our land — Blood to those with conscience; and Honey to the Admin’s supporters.
“which is true, but like LCPL_X mentioned they were decentral, not central then.”
State sanctioned, i believe is the fancy phrase 😉
The Philippines is rapidly moving to dictatorship. If anything, this blog has under estimated what a tyrant this president is. The chances are not trivial that he dismembers the country or gets it involved in a war it cannot win.
> this blog has under estimated
Long *before* he was elected, and with his propaganda machine talking of swift action and feeding on popular online hatred, we were already alarmed at what sort of dark possibilities he could bring upon being sworn to power, and what consequences! How some of our predictions came true!
This blog has been a source of rational discourse and has expressed well the risks of President Duterte. You are a newcomer and ought at least read a while and respect the work that has been done here. This blog will not shape the Philippines. It will make readers more intelligent.
Finding the good things that Duterte does, which happens here, is like talking about Hitler building the Autobahn.
Joe, how many cases have you filed with HRC ? How many times have you gone to the local precinct to file an abuse case, as cops stare you down and threaten murder ? And them call your relatives and threaten to murder them ? How many family members have you had gunned down by police assassins on motorcycles ? And that was in the ‘good times’ of Aquino.
Maybe it’s you who need to learn, not “me”. But ban away.
What in the world are you talking about, Jeff? I write a blog and provide a forum for teaching and learning and ideas. I’ve been diligently learning for six years now, and for sure, you have not been among the teachers. I’ve been thanked by the President and a LOT of Filipinos of good mind and character. As far as I can tell, you are just one more moralizing thug, pretending your way is the only way.
I would add that the article that appears to have been inspired your obnoxious rant by was written by a Filipino of lifelong history with the real Philippines. Who are you to question his . . . or my . . . allegiance?
Where in the world do you get your arrogance? Does it run in the family or did you learn it all by yourself?
slowly so… the mind bending is daily happening. cult following has been formed and multiplying.
If there’s anything that will weaken the case against the Duterte instigated bloodbath, nothing beats religious appeals such as this one. Murder is murder and violence is violence and is universally offensive to human nature whether you believe God exist or not.
What kind of a maniac is this who says that “with vengeance I will repay my foes and it is I who deal death and give life”?
Is that God talking?
Or Duterte’s berdugo?
Micha
Please, let’s not turn this into one grand religious debate. In our desperation, we seek solace in our faith, and as Will has explained, that faith helped us in Edsa 1 when brave Filipinos were faced with the dictator/plunderer’s tanks and his other military might.
Let him be, let us be. I’m a born again Christian, Will is a Roman Catholic, we worship the same God.
If you have decided that there is no God, we will let you be and pray for you.
In our belief, God is the giver of life, he should be the one to take it away, but he also gave us the freedom, the will to choose and bear the consequence of our choice, thus, there are thieves, murderers, plunderers and dictators.
Because you do not need to be reminded of religious crap and piety to be offended by Rodrigo and his berdugo’s method of summary executions.
Last warning. Get off your moralistic high horse and deal with issues.
I’ve put you in moderation. I have to deal with moralizing Duterte trolls and your offensive manner and don’t have a lot of patience today.
Awesome article, Wil. It reminded me of this, one of my favorite, Bible story:
Numbers 22:21-39King James Version (KJV)
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
23 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
26 And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, Nay.
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
32 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:
33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.
34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.
35 And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.
37 And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?
38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.
Lance, I say unto thee, thou art wicked.:-)
It’s pretty accurate no? Balaam’s DU30 and his ass is the Philippines 😉 . His ass brought him that far, now can this same ass prevent DU30 from moving forward, even if he whips them (wishing he had a sword)?
Many a Catholic school kid had been chastised for uncontrollable giggling upon hearing the Bible story of the “smiting of the ass.” 🙂
More smart-alecky thoughts are bubbling in my mind as an answer to your question.
Seriously, PH had proven it again and again that it can take care of itself when it is necessary. There are still a lot of Filipinos left who will fight for what is right. It is just a matter of time before they reach the boiling point…
Thanks, Lance.
I remember Kuya Will’s Aldub series to make the case for Mar Roxas candidacy and it was as ineffectual and baduy as can be.
In the same vein, please avoid the mistake of summoning God to deal with Rodrigo’s drug paranoia because the guy could then always invoke the plentiful murder and violence done in the name of God or, if the biblical narrative is to be believed, the plentiful murder and violence instigated by God himself.
Who are you to judge the works of people who take the effort to write a blog and have the courage to lay their thinking on the line? The purpose of this blog is to teach and learn. Will has a broad readership, generally bigger than mine, and you are obviously not in the target audience.
Kindly respect the works of people who volunteer their writing, at no gain except the fulfillment of being a contributor in some way.
Thanks.
Along with the effort and the courage to write and lay his thinking on the line, Kuya Will also has the responsibility to defend his approach – his thinking, his idea – because this is afterall a social forum and we are instinctively forming, shaping, developing ideas here we could hopefully agree upon.
One is likely to do that more successfully by being curious as opposed to hitting someone upside the head and then expecting a forthright reply.
I would further recommend you speak directly to Will rather than talk about him.
Got it. I apologize for the baduy part. All the rest of my posts is directly addressed to Kuya Will albeit in a third person form.
Thanks.
To @cha3d: “… the themes in the poem in And Still I Rise, as the title of the volume suggests, focus on a hopeful determination to rise above difficulty and discouragement.”
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Still_I_Rise
Hi Micha! Apology accepted. But are you taking back baduy? Don’t! It’s the best compliment anyone has given me. I like to be baduy because we are swimming in kabaduyan and I want to communicate on the same plane as my targets. I define baduy as inelegant in an endearing way. I don’t know how you define it. About AlDub: I loved the movie Imagine You and Me. It celebrates not only our OFW heroes, but also the Filipino as a whole. And my writeups weren’t an AlDub series, but a series on different kinds of love. Love can be jarring to some, I know. Above article is about God’s love. Thanks, Micha, for your support. It does not sound like support, but every little bit of reaction makes me a better writer and communicator. Keep it coming, but please observe decorum. Our host gets hives from trolls. Go easy on negativity. It harms the source more than it does the recipient.
Bravo! So brilliant and classy. That’s our Will.
You may try to shoot him down with cynicism,
You may try to cut him down to size,
You may try to kill his spirit with unkindness,
But our Will, above all these, he’ll rise.
With thanks to the great Maya Angelou for the inspiration of her own indomitable will.
Hives lol
!!!
Kuya Will,
We could get more tangible results if we organize a peaceful march, a peaceful rally in front of the headquarters of Chief Berdugo Bato in Crame or at the gates of Malacanang instead of just hoping for some godly intervention which is most likely not going to happen.
That’s not negativity, that’s positive action.
Stop deluding yourself.
Micha
If I may say so, Will is a multitasker patriot. Name any organized peaceful rally, Will And Baby are there, he contributes articles here in this blog, actively posts reactions and commentaries on FB and last but not the least, he prays that all his effort will be rewarded by positive results. That was evident in his fight against the Marcos dictatorship, active protests against Ninoy’s assassination, the snap election fraud, culminating in EDSA 1, all the while imploring the aid of God.
Who would have thought that with all the support of his cronies, his billions, all the print and broadcast media, military power and all his personal billions stolen from the country, still the people successfully drove away the Marcoses? That was faith in action, God’s power and people power combining to show the world how to fight a dictator without a single drop of blood poured in the street.
He is not like all the other nitpickers and whiners who do nothing but complain and criticize all the others’ efforts but not doing any positive action, whether by using his keyboard or his feet.
He is not deluding himself.
“Innocents gunned down along with suspects?” I’m sorry. All this time I sought suspects were innocent. Or at least presumed to be such. Until proven guilty.
How can one know that his friends could be into some business he has NO IDEA about, like sleeping over innocently because there weren’t any other place to sleep, only to become a damn nightmare for his bereaved family because the cops tagged him as an, um, “accomplice”, guns and sachets and all.
Exactly. Armed with a list from barangay chair, vigilantes or police proceed to serve chaos.
The putative chaos that the older Marcos presumed to head off at the pass is upon us again. Mr Marcos was felled by sickness before losing control of the dictatorship he had his reins on. I pray PDu30 shall have put enough ballast of good sense into his “mandate” before his own hubris does him and the country in.
“In the beginning was the word
And the word was with God
And the word was God”
John 1:1
If eyes are the window into the soul, then words are the door to the mind. You are what you say.
Words matter, – they can inspire, or destroy, – and the choice of words of a leader are insightful, and shouldn’t need an ‘interpreter’ to constantly explain what was really meant.
Even for a provincial lawyer, Duterte’s ability to speak clearly and concisely is limited, and his own words betray his obvious deficiencies.
Nor does a psychologist need a language analysis program to understand his underlying motivations and core character.
There is a conscious choice of words which aim to divide, destroy, and incite anger/violence.
Destructive, not constructive, negative not positive, and depressing not uplifting, and devoid of balance. Life is seen in black and white, not in color.
The profanities, insults, and verbal diarrhea reflect a disturbed mind, and an angry, bitter old man.
Duyerte needs to taste his words before he spits them out.
His words are not those of a christian, or compassionate individual. Nor are they the choice of a unifying leader, simply a bully in a china shop.
Duterte seemingly wants to create/provoke an environment/excuse for emergency powers/martial law. Authoritarian rule is all he has ever known in his family fiefdom where cults and clans readily thrive and where opinion/criticism is discouraged.
The constant reference to ‘clear and present danger’, ‘national threat’, ‘kill’, ‘destroy’, ‘war”, and now the sudden rise of ‘ISIS’, and even ‘assassination’ plots, all demonstrate a pattern of conditioning, and a one plan president.
Duterte’s vulgar mouth makes it abundantly clear that he is narcissistic, anti-social, self-loathing, and likes to dominate women, bully the weak, and craves adulation. A streak of sadism is also very apparent.
Calling 911.
Man with inflated ego about to implode.
His language, and attitude, is a throwback to the 1970’s, as are his old age pensioner cronies being revived and recycled.
The language of millenials is not one of division and conflict, but of diversity and inclusion.
Duterte’s despotic delusions, authoritarian ambitions, and parochial thinking demonstrate the naivete of a little fish out of its depth in the big league. Calling a senior diplomat “a son of a whore”, is so crass it even exceeds stupidity, but that is duterte holding up a mirror to himself.
Calling Dr Freud.
An idi-ot is on the loose impersonating ‘His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British
Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular’, – and a role model for wannabe dictators everywhere.
The final word – surreal.
Couldn’t have said it better. Except, of course, that I do believe we are somewhat more than what we write or say. At the end of the day, we are what we do.
On one hand, I’ve always wanted to be proud when I tell people what country I am from. One of the best feelings around is being proud of your origin. Right now, that dream is being set back a couple of decades.
On another hand, one should tell a certain someone that fire is not put out by adding more fire.
Or, as I warned not so long ago, before he was crowned… er, declared the winner, “what if the cure could kill the patient instead of the disease?”
Or tell him as we say, a hole in the hedge fence you cannot clip away.
I always find comfort in Tennyson’s words: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Good morning everyone, good morning Joe. What an enlightening piece of writing Wil. Keep them coming.
Thanks, Arlene. For God and country!
societal cleansing…bloodbath…murder…killing…is to ‘salvage’ the the good from the bad or \ the bad from the good. war is hell, and with war there will be collateral damage…but it is worth it?
the anti’s will call it murder to the death and destruction…the pro’s call it necessary offense/defense. but anyway it is the taking away of precious lives. peace be upon to all of us brothers and sisters.
Offtopic: just found this while lurking — Inquirer now takes the lead as it would soon become the voice of the opposition.
http://cmfr-phil.org/media-ethics-responsibility/journalism-review/taking-a-stand-journalism-for-humanity/
It is probably my computer again acting funny or from Word Press side. After sonny’s comment followed by LCpl_X graphics on killings and homicide, there is a big blank and then the text comes again. BTW, informative graphics on the various shades of killings, LCpl_X.
Thanks all for the discussion on killings, murder, mutilation, etc.
From edgar’s ABS-CBN data — 972 deaths — in 43 days, that comes to 23 deaths per day since July 1. An acceleration of sorts. This is reltated to what Wil writes about. But most probably met with loud applause from the Admin’s supporters — something like in Rome’s Coliseum when the Christians are feed to the lions.
Re the downloading problem I encountered above: I believe, it is because of my use of an old tablet earlier rather than the laptop I am using now. Not a techie but it seems the tablet takes sometime to download the 1.9MB graphics posted by LCpl-X, what takes little time for the laptop to download. I will be glad to be corrected on this.
Can you link me to that comment? I agree that size link would degrade site performance, and should not be posted. I’ll remove it. Thanks.
Joe,
It is the image on Homicide posted under
LCpl_X (@LCpl_X) says:
August 12, 2016 at 12:28 am
If one right click’s on the image and save the picture, it is a jpg file with the label:
storm-fig09_009
It does not cause delay in accessing if one is using a pc or laptop, but I encountered considerable delay on a tablet probably true also on a lesser capability smartphone. It is a 1.9MB capacity image.
Thanks.
Somewhat on-topic but nonetheless the competitors in the killing game have finally met in a blaze of bullets — Sicarios shot dead, intended target and placard found.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/577326/news/metro/riding-in-tandem-killed-in-pasay-city-shootout
The Inquirer wrote a pointed, nicely-worded editorial entitled “Losing It.”
Citing 7 factual items, Inquirer explained why PRD is “losing it” especially the statement on martial law after CJ Sereno wrote a letter to the President on the matter of seven judges included in a narco list, asking the judges to appear before the PNP.
Excerpts:
*****
One, the President included seven judges in his so-called “narco-list,” out of over 150 names.
Two, the Chief Justice observed that there were errors in the naming of the judges. One had already been dismissed (in 2007), one had been assassinated (in 2008), a third had just retired, and three (plus the one just retired) generally did “not have jurisdiction over drugs cases.”
Three, Sereno noted that, in sharing the public “consensus” on the dangers posed by drugs, the Supreme Court also abhorred the drug trade’s “ability to even destroy public institutions.” She also said, pointedly: “We are currently investigating a report on a judge who may be so involved. He is not on the … list.”
…..
Fact No. 7: Mr. Duterte saw Sereno’s letter as a form of obstructionism. Addressing her, he said, in a mix of Filipino and English: “You are the kingpin of the judiciary.” (A sexist metaphor from organized crime, but let’s let that slide.) “I’m the President. I have a job to do; this is not your job. No judges patrol the streets. None of your sheriffs make arrests. That is my heavy burden, which I inherited [from previous administrations], including the one that appointed you. Please, don’t even … I’m not a fool. If this continues, that you’ll stop me, then, all right. Anything goes. Or would you rather that I will declare martial law?”
*****
Inquirer editorialized:
Aside from the obvious, that the Constitution allows the President to declare martial law only in cases of invasion or rebellion, Mr. Duterte is demonstrating an inability to accept criticism if he perceives it to be directed at himself. It is all right, as he has himself said, for the public to gather en masse to protest his decision to bury the remains of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani; the criticism is aimed at an unrepentant Marcos family. But let the country’s top judge issue a diplomatic rejoinder reminding him of the rule of law, and suddenly he’s talking martial law.
In debates, that’s called losing the argument.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/96445/losing-it
The heat is on. The only way Duterds can make significant headway in this senseless war he incorrectly wages is to be more cruel and more authoritarian.
But even if you look today countries that have strong emphasis in the rule of law are more richer, progressive & advance than contries that don’t. I really don’t like people that base their decision without using facts, science, history but instead in their emotion.
If you ask anyone here why is it the rule of law was created above the government itself I think the answer will be common sense. The richer & the powerful can always manipulate the government & create loopholes.
So the establishment of a society which emphasise on the rule of law main objective is to protect the weak & the ordinary people by creating a fair & level justice system.
By disregarding the rule of law you are doing the opposite which is you disregard the ordinary people & the powerful get away with everything.
Embrace mass murder to strengthen the rule of law? What in heaven’s name are you talking about?
Hopefully not off-topic:
My father once told me that everyone has convictions. Until the time comes to pay for them. Such a time is upon us. How much are we prepared to risk or lose will soon define virtually all Filipinos. Well, at least those who proclaim loyalty to justice, equality, and freedom.
Can you pls. Read my comment again David.
A grim prediction for PH :
“The lesson of the drug wars in Latin America, and of previous dirty wars, is that extrajudicial violence resolves nothing and makes everything worse. Innocent people will be killed; and denunciations will also be used to settle scores and exploited by gangs to wipe out rivals. Filipinos’ desire for instant retribution will, surely, turn to horror, hatred and revenge. The rule of law will erode. Investors, who have made the Philippines one of globalisation’s winners in recent years, will flee. The only winners will be the still-lurking insurgents. Mr Duterte’s ill-conceived war on drugs will make the Philippines poorer and more violent.”
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21704793-rodrigo-duterte-living-up-his-promise-fight-crime-shooting-first-and-asking-questions
To be blunt—and to paraphrase Bill Clinton, “It’s the economy, stupid!”
If the jobs/welfare don’t go rushing in, the fall will be steep and hard.
Tomas Gomez III added 3 more B’s to Joma’s “Butangero” in encapsulating PRD’s behavior:
http://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/08/11/16/opinion-mr-president-please-behave-like-one
Well, VACC is egging SAF44 relatives to sue the ex-President for supposed “command responsibility”.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/805577/mom-of-slain-saf-cop-in-viral-video-sues-aquino-over-mamasapano
1.) VACC is headed by none other than Martin Diño, who also proxied (or egged) Duterte to run for office by naming him as substitute.
2.) Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, whose business is to offer legal assistance, is of course, counsel for the Arroyos.
3.) VACC, which is supposed to mean against Crime and Corruption, is ironically silent about EJKs and increasingly vocal in its support for right-wingers like this regime and that of Marcos.
Which leaves me wondering who is Diño’s masters, since this is more of an attempt to complete a somewhat diabolical master plan by not one but two parties with vested interests.
Congrats to Liza Dino, daughter of Martin Dino for bagging an appointed government position somewhere in the films government agency just this week. Also to her partner Aiza Seguerra for her appointment as head of National Youth Commission.
Two birds in one shot!
Control the police, the military, the legislature, most of the Cabinet, half the press, entertainment (the circuses), and the internet (social media), all the while Arroyos and Marcoses run scot-free, and the Maoists get betrayed, and we all have the ingredients of a Second New Society.
Gonna buy more facepalms for the next six years.
Sent you an email, Joe.
I had a career in which ethics and morals were a continuous and permanent part of SOP. In college the professors would create fictional or non fictional situations to ask us…”what would we do” to create artistic discussion. Discussing point and counterpoint sharpens our perspective and lights the fuse that burns toward wisdom. Discussing philosophy does not solve problems but it does sharpen the tools we use to solve them. Does evil exist? Permanent evil? I have witnessed permanent evil. I have also made mistakes. I have viewed what I believed to be permanent evil, the type of evil that needs death to cleanse it, that did awaken to the sunlight of the spirit. The lesson I learned was that the vetting is an impossible task.
From my brain, I do not think it is a woman’s right to have an abortion. Here in the states, women say, “I have the right to do what I want with my own body”. I have absolutely no idea how or where women got the notion that they are allowed to do whatever they want with their own bodies. Men cannot do whatever they want with their own bodies…why would a woman. I can give a dozen examples of how people cannot do what they want with their own bodies, but the easiest is to simply say, my fist is part of my own body and I’m certainly not allowed to break your nose with it. And women respond, that is because you are involving someone elses nose. And my response is that when you get an abortion, you involve the father, who actually is, someone else. So until a woman can create a baby by herself, I will believe abortion to be wrong. If you dont want a child growing in your body, dont get pregnant.
If you think that last paragraph was about abortion, I fooled you. In the USA abortion is a legal issue. So if ever there was a referendum on abortion, I would vote YES, keep abortion legal. Are you surprised? I just stated my beliefs on the issue and I’m against it. However, rather than vote to impose my will on women, I would much rather have each woman choose to either practice birth control, or choose adaption, or another way to avoid abortion. I prefer people to be responsible rather than flippant. So despite my thought process concluding that abortion is wrong, I would never vote to stop a woman from doing it….that is what the paragraph is about.
So how does that translate to the killing of hundreds of drug addicts? It may surprise you that I’m not totally against it. But I’m not totally for it either. The key word is totally. The bible might say thou shall not kill…but never? Are there not circumstances in which killing is acceptable? I just think that if you are going to kill, you better be right. I am 100% convinced that 100s of addicts were murdered unnecessarily. I have have known evil human beings. Men/women who have committed the most heinous crimes against humanity and lose not one moments sleep at their death. But my sleep “is” disrupted when I learn that a simple drug dealer, just trying to keep his nose above water while living in a cesspool of societies contradictions, was gunned down in the street like a dog w rabies. The sociopathic, criminally insane, sadist might serve the public better by getting their head blown off by a shotgun, because they never choose to change. But most of the ones getting killed do have the power to choose if given the right options.
So how do we vett? How do we tell the difference between a criminal that can change and one that cannot? WE CANT….So, to begin with, we develop and follow a set of laws. We cannot make up the rules as we go along. Even a blanket statement like “thou shall not kill” will backfire in some circumstances, so throw away the blankets and work harder because justice is not for the faint hearted.
Du30 is taking the easy way out…Killing is easy, but in the end, it wont get you to where you really want to be, and the price is too high. Stop the killing.
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/235248/ex-addict-gives-other-side-of-drug-problem
Mandatory reading for everyone who want to participate in the drug debate, the inside of a decade long user turned counselor.
Sounds also like the foundation for the Swiss and Dutch approach of supplying drugs or surrogate drugs to addicts as a way to make contact and start organizing their lives.
But negating evidence and just shooting from the hip looks so much more macho, so much easier.
It all makes sense if we understand the purpose of the war on drugs is not to end drugs or take care of people who are hooked, but to form the basis for ignoring laws and civil processes. It is the “reason for being” for a strong man who also gains power from the following of those without much reason to hope.
There shall be no quiet this time.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/96479/see-you-at-rizal-park/amp
NO FLASH IN THE PAN
SWS rated the Overall performance of the Presidents from C Aquino to B Aquino based on
– Fighting inflation
– Eradicating graft and corruption
– Helping the poor
– Foreign relations
– Fighting crime
The overall score:
C Aquino ….. +5 ……. Neutral
Ramos ……… +14 ….. Moderate
Estrada …….. +15 ….. Moderate
EstradaArroyo (ed) …….. -2 ……. NeutralB Aquino ….. +47 ….. Good
With B Aquino getting the rating of +46 Good on the category Helping the Poor.
SWS titles the article — The best rated administration yet.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/96464/the-best-rated-administration-yet
*******
Two Estrada’s and no Arroyo? This should be reposted in one of the PNoy blogs.
*****
Thanks for the correction on the post Ed: Joe.
Ladies and Gentlemen and of course to you Joe, I think this is what Jefferson had in mind. When to cleanse the tree of freedom, there will be pile of corpses and this is just a grain of salt when America cleansed its tree of freedom during the revolution and the civil war.
I think it is high time to do so in the Philippines.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants — Thomas Jefferson
That quote must have inspired your post.
What tree of freedom in the Philippines do we need cleansing? And this is to be done with extra judicial killings of druggies including drug users? And why bring the American Revolution into the picture. You conclude by saying, it is high time to do so in the Philippines.
I am trying to understand but the way you put it, you added 2 and 2, and came out with 5. Will you kindly explain your inspired thoughts.
I’m w/ you, HNerrera. I think Jack’s simply succumbed to a meme he found in fb or twitter. 😉
But here’s the full letter (pay attention to the first couple of sentences I’ve bolded, then the quote in question—- what Jefferson is talking about is bottom-up, ie. people killing tyrants, not tyrants (in this case DU30) killing people, so I’ll go further with your 2 + 2 = 5, and say Jack’s just shot himself in the foot with this Jefferson quote 😉 , lesson here is to fact check your memes , OR maybe Jack is actually an anti-DU30? 😉 LOL!) :
TO WILLIAM STEPHENS SMITH↩
Paris. Nov 13, 1787.
Dear Sir,
—I am now to acknoledge the receipt of your favors of October the 4th, 8th, & 26th. In the last you apologise for your letters of introduction to Americans coming here. It is so far from needing apology on your part, that it calls for thanks on mine. I endeavor to shew civilities to all the Americans who come here, & will give me opportunities of doing it: and it is a matter of comfort to know from a good quarter what they are, & how far I may go in my attentions to them. Can you send me Woodmason’s bills for the two copying presses for the M. de la Fayette, & the M. de Chastellux? The latter makes one article in a considerable account, of old standing, and which I cannot present for want of this article.
—I do not know whether it is to yourself or Mr. Adams I am to give my thanks for the copy of the new constitution. I beg leave through you to place them where due. It will be yet three weeks before I shall receive them from America. There are very good articles in it: & very bad. I do not know which preponderate. What we have lately read in the history of Holland, in the chapter on the Stadtholder, would have sufficed to set me against a chief magistrate eligible for a long duration, if I had ever been disposed towards one: & what we have always read of the elections of Polish kings should have forever excluded the idea of one continuable for life. Wonderful is the effect of impudent & persevering lying.
The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, & what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of Massachusetts? And can history produce an instance of rebellion so honourably conducted? I say nothing of it’s motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, & always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. We have had 13. states independent 11. years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in a century & a half for each state. What country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it’s natural manure. Our Convention has been too much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts: and in the spur of the moment they are setting up a kite to keep the hen-yard in order. I hope in God this article will be rectified before the new constitution is accepted.
—You ask me if any thing transpires here on the subject of S. America? Not a word. I know that there are combustible materials there, and that they wait the torch only. But this country probably will join the extinguishers.—The want of facts worth communicating to you has occasioned me to give a little loose to dissertation. We must be contented to amuse, when we cannot inform. — Thomas Jefferson http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/The_tree_of_liberty…(Quotation)
As Chief Troll, I’d also want to highlight the last sentence of that letter 😉 ,
“We must be contented to amuse, when we cannot inform.” — Thomas Jefferson
Careful Cpl, you are talking to a US Navy Chief. Chiefs know how to put two and two together and doesnt come up with 5.
A cook or corpsman? 😉
I don’t think you appreciate the concept Jefferson’s talking about, Jack. He’s talking about having a belligerent citizenry that will always speak truth to power, and not give their gov’t (especially politicians) undue deference …
Jefferson’s encouraging citizens to fight for their rights, not to hide behind a strongman. ‘splain to me, how the citizens are taking action in the Philippines, Jack?
Chief Storekeeper.
I think I understand the concept perfectly in my point of view that it applies in the Philippines. I know it because I am a Filipino (thirty years in America, thirty four in the Philippines where I am currently residing). Are you a Filipino American? If not, you will never understand it. Yours is different perhaps, but being a reasonable chief it is open to one’s interpretation called Freedom of Speech.
Well, did you know that currently the President (a brave man) has 91% approval rating. That is self explanatory and need no explanation. I have to tell you that 100% of filipinos I speak with about President Duterte’s policy especially the war against drugs and corruption support the president.
When POTUS declared that “The United is the most powerful country in the world,” it is an insult when a foreigner asks me to explain it.
Hey, did you served in Iraq? I was there twice and thank you for your service to the country.
Let is be fair Cpl. Labeling the president as a “strongman” is uncalled for.
“I think I understand the concept perfectly in my point of view that it applies in the Philippines.” Jack, then explain how Jefferson’s quote applies in the Philippines, how are Filipinos taking action themselves?
No I’m not Filipino. and Yes, I’ve been to the Middle-East and SE Asia, so I ‘m familiar how these cult of personality-type politics works.
“Chief Storekeeper.” So, you were also in-charge of the ATMs on ship right?
“Well, did you know that currently the President (a brave man) has 91% approval rating. “ This 91% approval rating I wasn’t aware of, can you provide a link to this?
“Labeling the president as a “strongman” is uncalled for.” You’re right. DU30 was duly elected and had a 40% mandate per the election out of a 5 person presidential race (that’s a mandate in my book).
Maybe strongman doesn’t quite fit right now, and we’ll see… but cult of personality this early on definitely does fit, Jack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality
Also I’m not the Chief Troll because I’m anti-DU30, I’ve defended DU30 on here quite a bit— see other articles , but read this one first: https://joeam.com/2016/07/01/marriage-on-the-rocks/#comment-185255
But, Jack, answer my first question: explain how Jefferson’s quote applies in the Philippines, how are Filipinos taking action themselves?
It seems Hitler at one time had approval ratings of 93%. It depends on which way the war was going. Irineo may have better info.
Bush senior had approval ratings of 90%+ immediately after Gulf War1, but plummeted later on.
Moral of the ratings? — “It ain’t mean nothing”..(This is the quote of black US servicemen in Vietnam on what the Vietnam War meant to them — from the movie Platoon).
Well, NHerrera, I know you are a big boy already and I have no doubt that you will find a way to understand my thoughts. Your problem not mine.
Flagrant corruptions in all level of the governernment agencies inspired me to express my mind. There shall be no freedom under such conditions, so cleaning it up make sense doesnt it? Wouldnt you clean you house?
I post my thoughts with JoeAm when his readers was barely up to maybe be thirty or more. So, I have been around bro when my name was “Jackass”, and mind you I could count properly. More power to JoeAm; a Cool dude, huh?
I thought the tree of liberty was to be nourished. But heck, if you really want to “cleanse” it, a garden hose won’t do. You’ll need a fire truck.
Well, David a garden hose is a good start, much better than brave men doing nothing. I am thinking of Edmund Burke this time. Perhaps through his kindness, NHerrera would like to write down the full text of the quote.
True; nourish the tree, but doing both with cleansing is most effective and effeciently kills the bastards.
It’s difficult to exceed the depths of Roman depravity when they threw helpless enemies of the empire, or at least those it demonized and deemed disposable, before starving lions. But, viewing that blood-soaked aberrance of long ago from our own bloody streets today, I cannot help but note that at the very least the carnage was performed in full public view. Indeed, that was the whole point of the exceedingly popular “today – gladiators, tomorrow – Christians” extravaganza. Everyone saw and knew, deservedly, exactly who the executioners were. Duterte’s assassins, whether publicly empowered or privately encouraged, perform their sinister duties in anonymity. Because our Emperor has deviously chosen to marry color of law with cover of night.
Of course it is difficult beyond comprehension, but let me remind you that the Roman emperors did it for fun/entertainment, heck; this Emperor is doing for the people and for the good of the country and that is not too difficult to comprehend.
Do we have two opposing views?
Bread and Circuses. This is what’s going on.
Here’s my tiny contribution to Duterte revolution. The enemies armed themselves with human rights weapon. Time to closely examine their arguments. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M02BmRE7r24