Slip sliding away: the Duterte Administration as a naked banana
Reuter’s counts Hong Kong marchers
By JoeAm
“You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away…”
Slip slidin’ away. Paul Simon wrote this classic. It’s about giving up, about seeing your passions erode when faced with the hard realities of life. He gives three examples within the lyrics.
The song might be a right proper anthem to Filipinos of good principle. You know, the yellows who think the Constitution is the nation’s best hope for harmony and progress in the modern world. The yellows who see their dreams of civility and compassion fade as a senator describes a three-year old’s death as “shit happens”. Or yet another humiliating bow is given to China by leaders of no constitutional fiber whatsoever.
But slip slidin’ can cut both ways, and it certainly appears that the Duterte Administration is facing headwinds that weren’t there three years ago. Headwinds of their own choices, gone bad. A deadly drug war that has increased the supply of drugs and dropped prices. A friendship with China that is costing Filipinos jobs and fish. An economic plan that is haphazard and ill-formed, one that sees the nation’s opportunities for growth floundering as neighbors take advantage of the US-China trade spat and the Philippines does nothing. The Administration’s ‘best and brightest’ leadership features agency heads who are corrupt and inept. Once the incompetence is recognized, they are merely transferred to another agency to plague the career workers there.
A lot of pushback is happening.
Well, in desperation, the Administration has doubled down on thuggery, seeking to reduce the age of criminal liablity to 12 and add the death penalty, ostensibly for drug manufacturing and trafficking . . . but we see how abusive justice can be under Duterte if we recognize that Senator De Lima is in jail for drug charges, on the evidence of testimony of convicts in jail for . . . drug charges. And they tried to jail Senator Trillanes because the government could not find his application for amnesty.
Duterte justice certainly seems like untrustworthy justice, to me.
The President has recently threatened to jail anyone who files impeachment charges, his acolytes explaining that filing impeachment complaint would be a violation of sections of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) pertaining to sedition. The RPC has a whole elaborate section dedicated to suppression of “disloyalty”:
Title Three: CRIMES PUBLIC ORDER
Chapter One: REBELLION, SEDITION AND DISLOYALTY
Article 139 defines “Sedition; how committed” and Article 142 extends it to “Inciting to Sedition”. Both articles are broad and strong enough to allow an untrustworthy justice department to jail any critic of the President on a whim, no Martial Law required, thank you.
Get sedition added to the death penalty bill and all that is missing is the train cars leading critics to the extermination camps.
Well, I exaggerate . . . I think . . .
But clearly, arguing for impeachment, or taking any other acts deemed an attack on the President, is risky business.
On the other hand, policies are not personal. They can be attacked at will.
So it would not surprise me to see “peoples actions” emerging during the next few years that do not focus on the President specifically, but on his policies.
- Fishermen and farmers protesting their shabby treatment.
- Communists protesting anything under their strange “US-Philippine” confabulation.
- Catholics protesting the death penalty.
- Patriots protesting loss of sovereignty to China.
- Almost everyone objecting to the deadly drug war.
Taken as a whole, these initiatives would become a domestic version of China’s cabbage strategy, peeling away the Administration’s core initiatives one leaf at a time.
Enough of that and the elaborate efforts now underway to stop impeachment and label criticism as “seditious” would tend to slip slide away.
Put all the protests together at one time, and Manila would be shut down as Hong Kong was shut down.
This is not my urging. I merely observe. It is my projection of what will happen if Filipino opposition is forced to slip slide away from impeachment, sedition, and the death penalty to join loud, hard policy protests that strip the Administration like a naked banana.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
We are tamer than the rest.
When we protest we never enter congress or the palace and vandalize the place.
We only burn efegies not assasinate a president.
We only cause gridlocks both in legislation and traffic flows which may cause fist fights on the road but never in the halls of congress.
And suicide bombers are mere allegations.(hopefully)
Well, there is little rage. Hong Kong citizens know what China is trying to do. Headlines here are akin to nightly TV drama, good for gossip but not really something to attach one’s life to.
Spouses are often jealous of the TV, phone, laptop and other gossipers.
“Well, there is little rage. Hong Kong citizens know what China is trying to do.”
HK citizens don’t wanna get sent to mainland China. there’s a sense that it’s gonna affect them too, hence the outcry.
Filipinos don’t wanna get shot in EJKs. but there’s no sense that it’ll happen to them personally, hence zero outcry.
it all goes back to personal stories, or the notion that Hey this could definitely happen to me too!!! HK you have it; P.I. you don’t. there’s the rub.
why the rush po? if pinoys goes on culling spree, they would on their own good time. no amount of are we there yet, are we, are we, are we gonna make deadline. else military and kapolisan shoot them one by one.
and what zero outcry you yabbing about, man! duterte et al is being dragged to ICC from crime vs humanity hence ejks. that not the biggest outcry ever! blinkered are we? must be all those gifts, the houses, the excess overseas travels, the cellphones, the rapes allowed per soldiers, etc. their pensions paid going stratospheric, even the dead in the military are still collecting pension long after they’re dead!
zero outcry kuno, and yet 14 countries voted for the wheel of justice to start turning. at nag-“zero outcr” tuloy si duterte and is all for cutting ties with iceland na, may fear of ice yata. also, news online and in daily papers carry news of those killed, with many commenters voicing concerns kontra ejks. to my opinion, that is certainly not zero outcry.
someone got their heads stuck in the sand, lol! playing deaf to the cries of anguish and lament.
out·cry
/ˈoutˌkrī/
noun
noun: outcry; plural noun: outcries
1. an exclamation or shout.
“an outcry of spontaneous passion”
synonyms: shout, exclamation, cry, yell, howl, whoop, roar, scream, shriek, screech; informal holler
“an outcry of spontaneous passion”
2. a strong expression of public disapproval or anger.
“the public outcry over the bombing”
synonyms: protest(s), protestation(s), complaints, howls of protest, objections, indignation, furor, clamor, clamoring, fuss, commotion, uproar, hue and cry, row, outbursts, tumult, opposition, dissent, vociferation; More
antonyms: indifference
=====
I say zero, Joe says little, tepid at best. Where is your 100% outcry??? at the malls shopping?
what 100%? even the best insurance policy can only give 99% guarantee. it’s the 1% that cannot be guaranteed that you should worry about. the devil in the detail.
not on the quantity yan, but on the quality.
then 90%, 80%, 70%… 20% , where is your outcry, kasambahay??? Even People Power 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6… there’s no outcry.
Let’s use Joe’s word, rage.
Where’s the rage over EJKs???
social media rage/outcry does not count. Let’s see people, storming the streets. Where is it happening???
better yet, WHY isn’t it happening??? hmmmm….
If you won’t stop with your gymnastics I will hulk up!
Peasants and serfs do not protest the injustice being done to them. Their protests will be muted, suppressed, tamed.
If, on the other hand, ejk victims are drug addicts from gated communities or from de buena familias then you can bet their kind will enlist the peasants to join in their movements expressing anguish and outrage and outcry.
It’s a war on drugs superimposed in a class war.
Micha,
that’s not entirely true. Marawi was brought down because of this drug war, so they are also targeting narco-politicians too the types that roll around in up armored SUVs (i’d agree DU30 should focus more on these dudes).
And no shabu is not just a poor person’s drug. BPOs take ’em as well as taxi drivers there, even teachers. shabu permeates the whole of society. granted if you’re a drug addict or even just a user, it helps to cover it if you’ve got means,
meaning if you’re poor you’ll have to resort to burglary or robbery to get your fix. but this notion that only poor people use shabu is wrong. now if you’re saying the poor are easily victimized by the rich, what’s new?
From all indications, DU30’s drug war seems very democrat, he’s targeting dirrrty politicians, dirrrty cops, i’m sure middle class dealers and addicts as well, along with the poor. Maybe the media’s just focusing on the poor, because it’s more obvious, more accessible,
ie. respectable families whose drug addicted daughter just got offed will not readily share their story. Will sully their good names.
Oh, Micha OT but still on topic, just saw a movie i d recommend to you,
* seems very democratic
Hmmn, Arbitrage…another one of your favorite Machiavellian plot in a movie, evil justified in pursuit of some esoteric good.
What’s the ultimate objective of the war on drugs? Better yet, how can you conceive of an ultimate objective in a war that is acknowledged in the first place as unwinnable?
Here’s a sizzling news earlier this month that didn’t quite made it to the headlines of MSM :
“Cargo Ship Owned By JPMorgan Chase Containing 20 Tons Of Cocaine Worth $1.3 Billion Seized By Federal Agents”
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2019/07/with-three-felony-counts-already-did-jpmorgan-chase-really-need-to-own-a-ship-containing-20-tons-of-cocaine/
How will Jamie Dimon justify that?
“Arbitrage…another one of your favorite Machiavellian plot in a movie, evil justified in pursuit of some esoteric good.”
I never thought of it that way, Micha. But Richard Gere does seem to be reprising his roll in Pretty Woman, that of a rich something or other. the esoteric good here is in the title, that you leverage everything at your disposal to save your behind— that is the only good.
I’ll have to read more on this JPMorgan stuff, but seems like some middle manager from within , ie. working inside JPMorgan , is simply taking advantage of his position and the wider organization in which he works, common in the military and gov’t work as well. and criminal.
But I do know media companies like AT&T early on invested heavily on the porn industry, under indirect subsidiaries, same with marijuana 10 years or so ago (maybe earlier). I can understand big companies hedging their investments like so, but smuggling cocaine,
from a cost/benefit angle just doesn’t make sense, hence it has to be some dude who works in the company, and not corporate strategy. Don’t get me wrong, profit is their end goal; but something like this just doesn’t strike me a fiscally wise.
Weren’t there kilos of cocaine found thru out eastern coasts in the Philippines recently, wonder if that’s JPMorgan ships as well. 😉
“What’s the ultimate objective of the war on drugs? Better yet, how can you conceive of an ultimate objective in a war that is acknowledged in the first place as unwinnable?”
ideally to stop all drugs, but realistically simply to put a dent at an outbreak of drug use.
as far as winnable, those prosecuting will say its winnable; those doing the criticizing will say it’s unwinnable. all propaganda; but from my experience, once the full force, commitment of any organization, whether private or public , is brought to bear on a problem,
given consensus, they’ll usually win.
no consensus, no win.
Ask how committed is DU30, that’s the questionable.
Hahaha, 20 tons of cocaine tucked in a JPMorgan ship is the work of a middle manager? Come on Lance, you can do better than that naive guess I would suppose.
CIA’s involvement in international drug trade basically started when they enlisted the help of Latino drug mafia in their attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. Then it spun towards supporting the Contras in Nicaragua.
In the words of a former CIA operative Lindsay Moran, “the agency is elbow deep with drug traffickers.”
“The MSC Gayane, which is owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and chartered to MSC, the world’s second-biggest container ship operator by capacity, is “subject to possible forfeiture,” U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a statement.
Built in 2018, the ship has capacity for around 10,000 containers and is worth about $90 million. It is anchored at the Delaware River near the Philadelphia port and is expected to stay there for an extended period, according to people involved in the matter.
The Gayane was raided on June 17 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who found about 20 tons of cocaine with a street value of $1.3 billion stashed in several containers. The ship had sailed from Freeport in the Bahamas and before that it called in Panama and Peru after starting its voyage in Chile. It was due to sail on to Europe after the U.S. stop.” https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-10/jpmorgan-might-lose-a-drug-ship
Micha, I thought JPMorgan ship meant their own private ship (like Scientology owns a cruise ship). But MSC is a container ship, surely not every cargo will be in the up and up. if they are complicit they are complicit but they are a cargo company.
this is routine drug trade stuff, Micha!!! the carrier is the carrier, maybe the carrier is in cahoots, but JPMorgan’s part in this is simply on paper.
In the words of a former CIA operative Lindsay Moran, “the agency is elbow deep with drug traffickers.”
I’ve read about the Iran/Contra stuff, have you seen “Kill the Messenger” w/ Hawkeye??? but i’d like to read the context of that quote, Micha. elbow deep??? i’ve never even heard of that expression, knee deep, neck deep, maybe…
Let’s just say that the web the agency weave is quite intricate.
Larger point :
So called war on drugs is a futile unwinnable war.
Lindsay Moran from Wiki
worked Europe, then was assigned the Iraq desk, she spent 5 years only. I’m still suspicious as to the veracity of said quote, as well as its context. I’m not saying they’re clean but if there is dabbling in illicit drugs, for sure it’ll be justified & documented within bureaucratic channels.
that’s the book to read on the subject,
as for “winnable” you’re viewing it as either/or, Micha, the drug war (any war for that matter) is not binary black & white, there’s a lot of grey, and where you place within the grey more towards the black or the white side of the spectrum counts,
then there’s the whole defining and redefinition of said concept, winning.
For me, just focus on consensus, if the populace is still for it, then by definition DU30 is winning. that’s all that really matters, really. the moment its not popular anymore, where
kasambahay‘s non-zero outcry comes to play, and Joe’s rage, then DU30 has lost. til then he’s winning.
may suicide bombers na po ngayon, happening na sa mindanaw under martial law with added bonus pa naman of bangsamoro organic law. peace for mindanaw overall, and they got suicide bombers, lol! I should not laugh, but nervous laughter yan, ugaling pinoy e.
I dont want to compare pinoys with hongkongers, each to their own way po. but, many pinoys in hongkong did join the bloody protest!
I was hoping against hope that the AFP spokesman’s declaration was just a hypothesis.
jokingly and hoping din po ako afp is keeping eye on misuari, traveling overseas na po siya and god knows what he brings back, terrorists? suicide bombers? lol! sometimes, I’m scared of my own joke! phew.
confirmed na po a pinoy was one of suicide bombers in jolo, his dna that was compared to that of his mum proved positive. mum was stunned. 1st identified son by shirt worn and was asked to provide dna for comparison, positive ang result.
if I was the mum, I would have asked for 2nd dna test in case may contamination at compromised ang 1st finding. the result of the 2nd dna test would have quashed all doubts.
This government claims that drugs only came from Taiwan, Mexico,South America, Africa,but never from the Mainland because the fallguy importer and customs official is already in jail, while the commissioners get promoted.
You are so right Joem, when it does not conform to what he wants, he is like a kid with a lost candy. Everyone who opposes him is his enemy. Will we ever win? Sometimes I think, those in the government are afraid of the guy for fear of retribution.
Oh, they are, for sure.
ha, ha, the kid with lost candy is asking america’s 7th fleet to come and fight off the chinese. I’d rather he resign, his rehimon not prolonged. save us all the bother.
One more awful law they are planning is by Sotto, against misinformation. I can imagine it used to shut down social media opposition.
Yes, I suspect that will be the drift.
ha, ha, if social media is closed, I’ll use smoke signal, good din po ako with using mirrors, bleep, bleep, bleep. also good ako with lip reading, it’s the hand signals I have yet to master. so many people raise their middle finger!
Our leaders today are a national disgrace! But we must never lose hope! — there are those among us who remain steadfast on justice and human rights. We shall overcome! — that day will come sooner than later.
Yes on both points. I hope you are right.
Impeachment, as we are now also learning over here is a political process more so than a legal one. And why Nancy Pelosi is hesitant.
Nixon had no friends, he lived his entire life leveraging people, so when it came time to impeach him, he was quickly booted out.
Trump has support, no not by the populace but by the Senate and apparently in the House of Representatives (given all the bickering). More importantly, SCOTUS is his (having placed 2 justices there already).
if DU30 still enjoys basically the same, similar, support as Trump has, why this push for impeachment over there. Follow the US re impeachment closely, folks. 😉 it’s not legal it’s political.
Pelosi is hesitant to impeach because, one, it’s just 476 days before general elections and, two, she is a centrist Democrat whose allies and donors include the parasitic bankers and Wall Street oligarchs – the same constituency that’s enamored by Don Donald’s tax cutting extravaganza.
if the Squad had their way, and Pelosi got on board, you think they’d get an impeachment, Micha??? there are calculations being made here, and most in DC have concluded impeachment is just not likely. Thus, the process of impeachment (when there’s nothing really really there), is political and not legal.
with that said, I’m a big fan of the Squad, Micha.
I mostly agree with you there but I kind of squirm when you say it’s not legal.
Impeachment is a legal and constitutional means to remove a crook in high office. The proceedings might reek with partisanship most of the time but it’s nonetheless perfectly legal.
Also, Pelosi’s hesitancy stems from the unfortunate fact that the Senate is under McConnell’s sway who is married to Transportation Secretary Chao, a daughter of Chinese shipping oligarchs.
Trump’s swamp are still full of crocodiles.
Let’s say then, if you are shy with not legal…
it necessitates consensus. Agree now???
In much the same way that a jury trial depends on jury consensus for a verdict, yes.
12 jurors tightly controlled by the judge to get consensus.
100s of senators and congressmen, vying and leveraging each other, horse trading and black mailing, to get consensus.
which one is legal, which one’s not legal, Micha???
In a rules based lawfully abiding forum the consensus will be determined by evidence.
Trump is overflowing with shitful of lies, bigotry, tax evasion, nepotism, and corruption there’s no shred of doubt a conviction will be imminent if and only if (and here I completely agree with you) the juries are not themselves corruptible bastards.
We have consensus , Micha. 😉
Duterte and family including all his minions and retarded followers should be made to face the same consequences in much the same way what happened to the The Russian Imperial Romanov family. The Tsars of Russia were executed by the people for their one-sided and self-centered interests leaving the people in hardship.
It took lots of organizing, mobilizations, and ideological overhauling to stage the October Revolution. Do we have enough revolutionaries who will be similarly prepared to mobilize?
If so, it’s not just this sick perverted administration that needs to be overhauled; it will have to be the entire neoliberal socio-economic order which, in the first place, paved the way for the coming into power of this criminally deranged idiot of a president.
Joke of the year?
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/15/19/duterte-signs-bawal-bastos-law-that-punishes-sexist-remarks
According to the law, these crimes are “committed through any unwanted and uninvited sexual actions or remarks against any person regardless of the motive for committing such action or remarks.”
Among these acts are:
– cursing
– wolf-whistling
– catcalling
– leering and intrusive gazing
– taunting
– unwanted invitations
– misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and sexist slurs
– persistent unwanted comments on one’s appearance
– relentless requests for one’s personal details such as name, contact and social media details or destination
– use of words, gestures or actions that ridicule on the basis of sex gender or sexual orientation, identity and/or expression.
hey Sup, who’s that Cebu PNP colonel gunned down in broad daylight in Cebu??? you posted it awhile back. Google’s not hitting with search “Cebu PNP colonel gunned down during day”, I remember the article had his daughter crying over his body.
This one i believe?\
Police Capt. Delfin Bontuyan
https://www.manilatimes.net/police-official-gunned-down-in-cebu-city/557966/
I suspect Google did block you because you ”overused” it? hahahahahaha 🙂
“Bontuyan, who was assigned at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7), was relieved and assigned to Mindanao at the start of the Duterte administration.”
hahahaha… Google just wanted me to ask Sup maybe.
But yeah, this is it. The clue is reassigned to shitty post; that’s a cop-on-cop EJK right there. compile a larger list, and you should see patterns.
Hahaha, everything about this administration is a joke. Every mistake, every exposed lie, every major bobo is being passed on as a joke.
“The president is only joking”, says the reptilian press secretary.
Somehow, I couldn’t get which part of the joke is funny.
2e joke of the year nomination: The whole PCOO will be in jail within minutes.
MANILA — Senate President Vicente Sotto III has filed a bill that would penalize the spread of false information in websites and social media platforms.
Senate Bill No. 9 seeks to impose penalties of up to P2 million or imprisonment for violators.
“Filipinos have fallen prey to believing most of the click-baits, made up quotes attributed to prominent figures and digitally altered photos. This bill seeks to protect the public from the adverse effects of false and deceiving content online,” Sotto said in a statement.
Sotto also said the bill seeks to promote responsible use of the internet.
Under the bill, anyone found guilty of knowingly creating or publishing false information shall be punished with imprisonment and/or a fine of not more than P300,000, or both.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/14/19/sotto-files-bill-vs-fake-news-disinformation
what sotto has to understand is dat pinoys loved receiving deceiving info lalo na kapag coming from govt officials, loved and followed to de hilt po. and sotto being sotto ay hindi po yata naintindihan how duplicitous ang kabayan.
ayan, may dengue outbreak na tuloy. thanks to govt’s deceiving info, lot of kids are not vaccinated vs measles, dengue, etc. vaccinations kills kuno!
if sotto is really for responsible use of internet, he’ll limit gambling online. marami na po ang online gambling addicts, gambling even family heirlooms, lupa, bahay at their grandmothers kung pwede lang po. online gambling leads to other crimes as kidnapping, people borrowing money they have no chance of repaying. online gambling destroys lives.
Gambling.
https://pcij.org/article/1665/inside-a-chinese-gambling-entity-br-what-happens-who-works-how
interesting read..salamat…
👍🏻
salamat sa link. iba po ang ‘nabasa’ ko. china is doing it again, the thing done to tibet. started po with influx of chinese workers, then the workers bring their families via tourist visas, and once they have the majority, they took over tibet, dictating the economy, politics, etc. the tibetan dalai lama fled to india and china put in a chinese dalai lama who travels the world promoting peace, chinese style. the chinese dalai lama smiles broadly while tibetans burn themselves in protest. tibet is not rich country and yet the chinese dalai lama travels freely complete with entourage.
sa opinion ko lang po, the article is propaganda humanizing chinese workers, how very much like pinoys kuno sila. with both chinese and pinoys similarly loving their families.
tsinoys got it right, suspicious and wary of the mainlander chinese. alam ng mga tsinoys how mainlanders operate and how they warp the system.
give jobs to pinoys.
I don’t want to hate but they don’t respect us.
That MRT incident,Chinese only restos and now this.
https://tonite.abante.com.ph/paranaque-village-sinakop-ng-mga-chinese.htm
deport them. guests of our country are supposed to behave and not cause trouble.
those chinese renters po, I’m presuming the home owners have vetted renters’ eligibility. aside from able to pay rent, renters must also observe peace and order and not compromise the peace of the community. nasa tenant/landhord agreement po yan sa tenancy contract.
sa mga pagkukulang ng renters, may pananagutan din po ang landlord and can kick out renters.
👍🏻
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
The stunning secret story of the war on drugs :
https://static.theintercept.com/amp/the-history-channel-is-finally-telling-the-stunning-secret-story-of-the-war-on-drugs.html
To its credit, the series makes clear that this is not part of a secret government plot to turn Americans into drug addicts. But, as Moran puts it, “When the CIA is focused on a mission, on a particular end, they’re not going to sit down and pontificate about ‘What are the long-term, global consequences of our actions going to be?’” Winning their secret wars will always be their top priority, and if that requires cooperation with drug cartels that are flooding the U.S. with their product, so be it. “A lot of these patterns that have their origins in the 1960s become cyclical,” Moran adds. “Those relationships develop again and again throughout the war on drugs.”
This makes for sense, Micha, and is a far cry from your… In the words of a former CIA operative Lindsay Moran, “the agency is elbow deep with drug traffickers.”
but my advise, read Duane Clarridge’s take on this, basically similar to Moran’s statement above, and he was in the middle of it all.
Clarridge worked Latin America, while Moran worked Europe, she’s private enterprise now so will obviously fluff her credentials.
I doubt she really knows a lot about the Latin America operations, such are bureaucracies, Micha. when entertaining conspiracy theories, always keep in mind that bureaucracies tend to not be conspiratorial, meaning it’ll be compartmented.
Moran will not have known Clarridge’s work. only what Clarridge wrote about in his book above.
Who’s talking conspiracy?
You’re equating your JPMorgan coke to CIA coke. conflating two conspiracies 1) the rich and 2) intelligence agencies (two favorite conspiracy topics, aliens make up the 3rd) are out to get you.
1). JPMorgan coke cost/benefit analysis= bad for business, they make more money w/out getting involved in Latin American drug trade.
2). CIA coke cost/benefit analysis= funds one party against another, illicit activity overlook, since source activity is already illicit, covert. good for business.
3). Aliens coke cost/benefit analysis= good for business, makes humans happy, thus easier to control.
Hahaha, can’t believe you do really seem behind the curb on this one.
Those are not JPMorgan coke. Their ship was merely used to facilitate the 20 ton transaction between the supplier(s) and the buyer(s).
As you very well know from any old school traditional banker, they would always say they are merely playing the role of a middleman between the savers and borrowers.
The 20 ton cocaine transaction was not a banking transaction per se. Jamie Dimon’s bank’s diversified market role was to be the middleman facilitator of the trade. And they happen to own (how convenient) a cargo ship capable of transporting that much weight from sea to shining sea.
J.P. Morgan does not own the ship outright, but holds it as an asset in a client’s account.
https://www.rt.com/business/464303-jp-morgan-ship-cocaine/
Suggesting they are running drugs seems malicious to me, an example of how loose and ultimately destructive social media discourse has become.
@joeam
This incident highlights the importance to bring back the spirit of Glass-Steagall banking regulation. Too much diversified investments that has nothing to do with banking is direct invitation to corrupt the traditional role of banks – all in the pursuit of ever larger profits.
Those 20 tons of cocaine could just as well be replaced by 20 tons of coffee or bananas. The question you should be asking is, why is Jamie Dimon’s bank involved in a shipping business? They will be paying hefty fines as a result of this illegal activity in addition to other malpractices in the past which endangers the stability of the bank and, ultimately, the well being of their clients, customers and depositors.
Unregulated banking pose destructive risks to the general public.
Banks are heavily regulated. If a loan goes bad, it is outside the bank’s control, but regulations require prudent reserves to cover the loss. I’m not familiar with the bank’s asset management services, but I’m quite confident the bank will argue the cocaine was outside their control and regulators will see if that is true or not, and will impose regulations if they deem a bank should be more involved in supervising the cargo loaded on the assets they manage.
@joeam
You are very well aware, I’d suppose, that JPMorgan has had a string of violations, scandals, and illegal activities tucked in its corporate belt, no?
It ranged from their complicity in the Madoff scheme to speculative trading, Enron bankruptcy, MBS, derivatives, aiding US sanctioned enemies, fraudulent mortgages, etcetera, etcetera.
That behavior predates the 2008 financial crisis of which they were also one of the major contributing culprits.
One would have thought that having been a beneficiary of a massive publicly funded bailout, they would have at least acquired a sense of chastisement from their past mistakes and malpractices. But no, far from it, Dimon and company are doubling down on those criminal behavior and are precipitating the stage for the next financial crisis.
@Micha, Well, that is the scourge of mankind, isn’t it? Greed? Any political system is prone to it, and capitalism uses the stuff to incent high levels of productivity which gives us innovation and wealth and toys and stylish clothes. I’m not excusing J.P. Morgan, just correcting the idea that banks are unregulated and explaining that some of the activities that may seem to be of their doing are outside their control. They do the financial matters and others run the businesses. The cocaine shipment to me seems outside their control, as I understand asset management.
The development of such activities arose from banks’ handling of estates and trusts, and the assorted activities dead people leave behind, which includes businesses and big wads of cash. Then, to make a fairly boring and unprofitable business more valuable to shareholders, the bankers began selling their asset management capabilities to people who are still alive . . . and generally rich . . . so the rich people could be relieved of headaches and be free to go make even more money elsewhere. To get rid of the cheats and crooks in business, you have to find them, not try to regulate businesses and shut down productive work because there are foxes in the henhouse. Just shoot the foxes and leave the hens to their good work.
@joeam
There is a whale of difference between investment banking and traditional banking and that is exactly what the Glass-Steagall Act and its watered down version, the Dodd-Frank, seeks to separate because the former carries with it huge amount of risky inducements which will, if left unchecked, also threaten the stability of the latter and the economy at large.
Strictly speaking, banks do not create value. They rather suck out value from the productive part of the economy through fees collection, commissions, and interests payments. That they should be compensated for the services they provide is understandable. The key word is proportionality. We have in fact already identified the faces of corruption and greed in the aftermath of the last great recession. The pitchforks should have been brought out but Obummer stood between the mob and the crooks. That great betrayal resulted in the coming into power of our bigoted orange man currently in the WH and the capitalism train wreck he commanders is pulling full speed towards civilizational suicide.
We’ve been down this road before and disagree. Banks play a vital role in production. Barter is inefficient. My purpose in commenting is to not allow untruthful slanders to gain a foothold here. It’s like fake news, these over emotionalized charges. I’ve come to hate the stuff because it is so mainstream these days. Both you and Trump do it. J.P. Morgan is likely not in the business of shipping drugs. Asset management is a bank service to clients. It is not evil. Most bankers are not malicious or evil. They are people with jobs.
@joeam
What’s the slander going mainstream?
Namecalling or generalizing maliciously. The dialogue today is poisonous. It is hard to find sense and earnest intent among the hard opinions, name-calling, generalizations, moralizing, and fallacious reasoning going on. I think it is one of the burdens we are passing on to the youth, this style of debate where knowledge is not needed if the opinions are hard enough. I’m guilty of it from time to time. It is common in Philippine social media whether one is DDS or yellow or any other descriptor. We ought to be developing better framing for discussions that young people can perfect and use to correct the mess we are delivering to them.
The allocation of responsibility to vessel owner is a knee jerk reaction that looks silly if one understands how shipping business is conducted. In this particular incident I see 3 parties, owner, lessee and charterer. Both JP Morgan and MSC as owner and lessee has no legal issues to answer unless it can be pinned on them they are party to the drug shipment or they are aware of it.
It is the charterer to whom one seeks the answer. But media has been silent on this.
In illegal trades, the seized hardwares are often confiscated. Will the bank loose the vessel? I’m sure there are laws that protects the owners under such circumstances. To deny such protection would have made chartering shipping business un-insurable and thus impossible.
“Those are not JPMorgan coke. Their ship was merely used to facilitate the 20 ton transaction between the supplier(s) and the buyer(s).”
Micha, you should’ve lead with that. That’s less conspiracy theory stuff, and more in line to your favorite topic MMT, which I’ll gladly bow out of and let Joe and/or chemp take over (beyond my pay grade).
But my description of how bureaucracies operate stand. Welcome back MMT talk. 😉
as an aside, those guys that move your luggage around in airplanes, mostly high school graduate level only (many have been to jail), mininum wage— called disparagingly Ramp Rats. those dudes move around three times or more in a year.
No ones blaming American Airlines or Southwest airlines for drug running. before you say unrelated, Ramp Rat equivalents are Longshoremen (unionized usually) who’s offloading said 20 tons??? same-same just smaller scale in airports than regular ship ports.
The Wire Season 2 shows unionized longshoremen in Baltimore harbor working with a syndicate to smuggle drugs and even people..
Pretty intense. In the end the union locale is closed for criminal connections.
this makes *more sense, Micha
The quote, “the agency is elbow deep with drug traffickers.” is also in the article. Read up.
Got it. makes sense with the above quote, re cooperating with drug lords, for sources and funding. Originally, with JPMorgan ship, it read like the CIA were the ones running drugs, like JPMorgan’s running drugs— both theories unsound.
I consider Teddy Boy Locsin’s theory that drug syndicates are behind all the human rights stuff at the UN against Duterte similarly unsound.
Not just that, very illogical. Duterte does not threaten their main markets, I guess.
That theme is central to the Administration’s justification of shooting the poor and holding yellows as the scourge of the Philippines. Locsin suggests journalists are paid to write critical stories, or are drug runners themselves. Given that he is a journalist, that makes him a betrayer of his profession, at best, or a person who did journalism for cash, at worst. Or maybe he is into drugs, which could explain some of his incoherent messaging. I dunno. When such lunatic ideas emerge from intelligent minds, it is easy to be suspicious.
Do Locsin, et al want this guy dead too? Duterte said they are not human.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/30/16/pacquiao-not-sorry-for-drug-use
ON THE USE OF LOGIC
I used to think that Filipinos need a good lesson on the basics of logic to set their thinking and statements right. I am wrong.
Lawyers, I believe are trained during their school days in the concepts and use of logic. But as it turns out the practice after school is something else. They use logical fallacies and a lot of non sequiturs instead. The reason I believe is the lack of expression of displeasure or disapproval among the peers.
In the Scientific Community, even in the Philippines, illogical arguments or statements on scientific matters will not go far. Traditional peer disapproval of such arguments offer a good constraint against such behavior.
“Palusot” is the norm and admired hereabouts.
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
“If you please, Reb Tevye…”
“Pardon me, Reb Tevye…”
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi’s eyes!
And it won’t make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you’re rich, they think you really know!
If I were rich, I’d have the time that I lack
To sit in the synagogue and pray.
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall.
And I’d discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day.
That would be the sweetest thing of all.
If I were a rich man,
Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum.
All day long I’d biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn’t have to work hard.
Idle-diddle-daidle-daidle man.
==================================
NH,
Reb Tevye’s got it right.
Yep. I have watched Fiddler on the Roof many times. Loved the characters, loved the songs, and the Fiddler.
Banana gym…
Taguig judge loses 40K cash, other valuables while working out in Pasay gym
Police: among the lost items included his wallet, a diamond ring worth P275,000, the P40,000 cash, his driver’s license, a credit card; and his Integrated Bar of the Philippines card.
Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1142651/taguig-judge-loses-40k-cash-other-valuables-while-working-out-in-pasay-gym#ixzz5ttrW6apY
Oh boy. What is the lesson here? Do not go to the gym? Hire a bodyguard to watch over the valuables while exercising — but can he trust the bodyguard? Bring the wife to guard the valuables? Have the mistress watch over them? Install a home gym — most judge [tell me I am wrong] have a big house and the money to install a gym.
The lesson here is please do understand why judges need greasy hands.
But i have to give it to NHerrera…His story telling is worth reading.. 🙂
TSH Tweet:
What nations actually TRUST Philippine leadership, do you think? I can think of some who maintain pretenses for their own advantage. But I can’t think of any that would actually risk their future by relying on the Philippines. Not even China. [Bolding, mine.]
I love that tweet.
UTTER LACK OF SELF-RESPECT
Q: When does one display a disgusting lack of self-respect?
A: When one becomes an Alan Cayetano
John Nery comments on Cayetano’s extreme “mano” to Duterte, seen in a video, after the latter ok’d Cayetano’s House Speakership — the first part of a Term-Sharing Arrangement with Velasco.
Nery writes:
The images were distasteful. They showed Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano bowing low before President Duterte, who had just anointed him Speaker of the House of Representatives. He is doing the “mano,” the Filipino ritual of respect, but something is wrong. He is bowing too low, and the President does not seem to like it. In the way the President angles his body, which suggests that he is taking away his hand, and in the way his face is set, the President seems to be expressing his own distaste.
Even the act or concept of mano — usually done by a child to his parents or grandparents or uncles, aunts as a show of respect — has been corrupted by this “Honorable.” He, that was, who did a “fire and brimstone” on Gloria Arroyo’s corruption. What irony.
History will remember these two: Trillanes and Cayetano. It will not be kind to the latter.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/122636/after-duterte-a-preview#ixzz5tzD2iYqI
THE DRUG TRAFFICKING MAP BELOW IS INTERESTING
The map came with the following Note:
According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), arrows represent the general direction of trafficking and do not coincide with precise sources of production or manufacture, are not actual routes, and are not weighted for significance/scale. Boundaries, names and designations used do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. [Sources: UNODC, maps4news.com/©HERE Graphic: Jason Kwok, CNN]
The source of the map and note is the CNN article: “Asia’s meth trade is worth an estimated $61B as region becomes ‘playground’ for drug gangs.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/18/asia/asia-methamphetamine-intl-hnk/index.html
THE QUESTIONS
I am focusing only on part of the picture. Looking at the flow lines to and from China the questions I want to ask are,
1. Are the drugs only re-exported for greater profit from such places as Myanmar by the unscrupulous drug organizations in China?
2. Are the drugs themselves manufactured in China and to what scale relative to the ones coming from Myanmar, etc.
3. A question borne out of a conjecture: how come an authoritarian country such as China with vast financial and police resources cannot control, to an acceptable minimum, the traffic to and from there — especially the ones manufactured in China, if they are — to other countries such as the Philippines? It certainly will help its relation with and interests in the Philippines. Or am I being naïve about this game or the associated geopolitical strategy?
Nice map, NH.
1. Making money’s part of it , I’m sure; but I’m sure also they are copying the Opium Wars– that’s the larger strategic picture. Similar stuff Micha’s talking about above, and what Jesus said, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:3–4)
2. For sure, Myanmar’s not originating anything (the lines don’t indicate it, but much of it should come from the frontier region at the borders). like i’ve been hammering here since, it’s all about synthetics now, which China’s monopolized, scale up.
3. Police resources are working for China, they are sending their drug addicts/dealers to the Philippines, away from China. eventually, they too will have to prosecute a drug war themselves, but they are already veterans at population culling thanks to Mao.
Unintended consequences abound for all 1-3, NH. 😉
https://time.com/5530597/trump-china-drug-problem/
Death penalty did not stop the use and export of synthetic drugs.
The groundless sedition charge against prominent opposition figures is a manifestion of paranoia common among medieval and contemporary tyrants.
More likely a confident, Chinese inspired run at total takeover.
previously, it was coup he was – fearful? even challenged armed personnel to coup him time and again, no takers though. he must have been disappointed he was not worth a coup, lol!
and higher than usual approval rating only netted him paranoia. maybe he ought to have lower rating.
even cory had plotters aplenty, coup here and there marked her presidency. same with arroyo, her presidency was not peaceful. noynoy was ridiculed and made to appear inept. yet they all survived presidencies.
this sedition charges, must be peace offering, ill thought and adding fuel to paranoia of he who is already paranoid, lol! if paranoia man thinks this is the end all, he does not know pinoys.
sedition as chinese run? that, too. they’re rammers after all. if they can ram a bangka, they can ram a nation.
and where would paranoia man be? in chinese prison and out of the way! I really must stop eating chinese food, I’m starting to think like a chinese, lol!
anyhow, that bikoy is some tikoy. if he’s indeed the hooded man, where’s his black hoodie now? vital that bikoy can describe its size and make, whether polar fleece of not. the black hoodie may fetch a price at auction! and may even be tested for dna? see if dna can be matched to other crimes committed.
pnp should think broadly, instead of just filing sedition charges vs opposition.
Hahaha, go get a good hamburger. 🙂
thanks for the advice. I’m going to be a western gourmand.
Google dr. dayan independent.co.uk. If you guys have personally met and interacted with a bipolar person with ASPD for a period of time, you would understand the situation we are in.
as long as the person is on medication po and continues to take medication, he’s functional, hopefully oriented and can hold down a job. the medication to be updated and reviewed regularly. and he’s not the only one in the nation with that condition po, and they dont go on killing spree.
there are those with bipolar that harm themselves and commit suicide, reality is hard to cope, let alone process. not him though, he’s being lulled and indulged, fed both false info and reality. and many are taking advantage of his condition, enriching themselves and influencing his decision, etc. they live off him and are totally protective of him too. it’s their best interest to prop him up no matter what.
All true.
I guess Hitler missed all his medications then, and went on to pursue his sociopathic ways. YT: Hitler: The Leader as Sociopath by AmericanForum. I wasn’t talking about bipolar alone.
Funny. I googled what I’ve entered above, and it doesn’t direct you to it anymore. You have to add Natividad.
I guess I was as confused as others as to what your point was. I think maybe being mysterious has its disadvantages.
I was adding an idea to what Micha said in the thread about tyrants. For me it is about “his” mental health condition or diagnosis that was recorded in court, as written in the article you will find if you google independent.co.uk+dr+dayan+natividad. There are other similar articles out there to find. Now add what “he” said on tv that he is a “bipolar”, which was not mentioned in the article.
Now in my own experience, I have dealt with a person that is medically diagnosed as bipolar AND…AND sociopath (medically known as Anti Social Personality Disorder). I had the worst experience in my life and I still feel the effects up to now. I did not mention bipolar as the SOLE culprit (review my entry). One of my points is, IF you have dealt with such a person, you would know the situation we are in now.
Ms. Monsod also wrote about it in the papers, but it does not seem to penetrate the minds of people, maybe because they haven’t been in the worst situation with these kinds of people, or they are one. Weren’t Hitler and FM enough for us not to elect the same dark and destructive leaders? I presume we now have several in the world like in Russia, China, Venezuela, Syria, and the US, who have sociopathic tendencies.
We do not look at the core, if its rotten or not, of the set of leaders we are giving power to. We vote for promises of greatness and prosperity; never mind values and human rights–who needs them, right?. We do not like sacrifices and martyrs; who needs them, right? We look to strongmen as heroes. Hitler almost made Germany great again after their “humiliation” from WW1. Who would love Hitler but somebody who shares his ideas? Now CCP’s ego dictates that they have been great since ancient times, if not prehistoric, therefore, they should control and dominate.
Really, we could just dismiss this kind of mental disorder, socio/psychopathy, as insignificant if you’d like. Maybe sociopathy wasn’t Hitler’s core character that went out of hand. If they get medication and get well, well and good. But in my opinion, the psychiatrists and psychologists have discovered and identified the seeds of evil, and politics is their theater, and sadly we are not paying attention.
@ 1:20
Thanks for the elaboration. I think generalizing about physical or emotional health issues is unfair and dangerous and those psychologists you mention would make this clear. Many people deal with depression, bipolar conditions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and just plain anger. Just as they deal with blood pressure, headaches, hearth conditions, lost limbs, and other physical issues. Indeed, “normal” is probably the abnormal. Tyrants may have common conditions or more serious conditions. Let the professionals deal with it. But leave it to the tyrants and not wipe the stains on regular people just dealing with the conditions they were gifted.
I am bipolar, and your point being? Einstein had Aspergers.
People should have more compassion!!!!😠😠😠
I allowed my nerve to be pinched, my bad for taking it more than statemrment of facts.
You have so many credits to your account that an occasional debit is no problem whatsoever. I find I have little patience for trolls these days, or advocates of this cause or that who will simply not speak truths in earnest. And appear to have no ears with which to listen or eyes with which to read. But their mouths are rattling away without restraint.
After the announcement that Duterte did not ”own” the south China sea the DDS trolls are all over Heydarian….He has a hard time now on Twitter….
Nah, he is used to it by now.