Don’t move on, but accept the current reality
Analysis and Opinion
By JoeAm
I will be taking a month off from the blog other than occasional spot checks. We will take a local trip and I’ll set politics aside. Well, the timing is good. President Marcos can have a freebie from my observations as he gets settled in.
As a foreigner, it is my obligation to respect voter choices and government, even if I don’t like them. Citizens are not held to such constraints.
I’d imagine President Marcos would want citizens to move on from his family history and help him get some good works done. Well, I think one should not “move on” from historical facts into some surreal world of deceit and fantasy. But one need not introduce uncomfortable facts into every argument as a fallacious reason to undermine everything. A certain acceptance attaches to recognizing the outcome of the election.
We also should not become Trumpsters repeating a big lie that the vote was stolen because we don’t like the result. Charges of fraud are speculation, conspiracy theories, unless proven factual. That’s a very hard proof. If the Robredo camp can’t do it, it is not going to get done. And it seems to me that it is destructive to attach words and deeds to apparent fictions.
We should be realists, not bitter souls, and figure out how to build, not destroy. That’s just my opinion. You can figure out your own.
Cheers! Stay well.
Joe
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Have fun in Mindanao, Joe! 😉 take pics of foods there. lol.
😂🤣😂👍
Stay well Joe.
Thanks. Will do my best. 🙂
Thanks Joe. The title of the blog is sound advice. So is the advice not to succumb to the same fanaticism that hardcore loyalists had from 1986 onwards. It is a rabbit hole of distorted perception. Keeps one blind from seeing the possible reasons the other side has for its beliefs.
One recent event made me ponder. Nora Aunor finally got the National Artist award. She definitely deserves it given the wide range of roles she has portrayed as an actress. PNoy refused her the award on grounds of her having been involved in drugs. I don’t see that as a valid reason as she went to therapy and became “clean” and wasn’t hurting anyone else directly.
Recent comments by the Pink side that “she’s an addict, besides she supports BBM!” made me think that some on the other side could justifiably see that – and PNoy refusing to give her the title (and yes she was a loyalist all her life so one could accuse him of latent bias) as bigotry, as sanctimonious moralizing just because someone is from the other camp.
Realizing I haven’t even scratched the surface of the years I have been away. With time a lot more will reveal, I am sure. The minor hurts and aggravations that have festered into grievance and paranoia even. Exacerbated by the heated discourse of these days in the madness of socmed.
And travel is good at this time. Pinks I know in Munich have been to Andalusia, Norway and Italy, I was on Rügen just near the Polish border end of May, VP Robredo and her daughters as we know were in NY. Things and people all show their true nature with time and if our minds are relaxed and ready we will see correctly.
Nice comment, supplementary to Joe’s current blog topic.
I see your wide knowledge of world history and your distance from the Philippines, in addition to your continuing interest in the country from your having lived in it, as a good position to comment on the country’s ups and (mostly) downs.
Hahaha, I did one over you, Joe. I am on a vacation with my daughter’s family on the northern and the other side of our precious planet — traveling about 15 hours non-stop three weeks ago.
That’s a lonnnngggg flight, for sure. But worth it when you get back on ground. Wonderful that you are there, to enjoy your family face to face.
Yes indeed, Joe — I and the wife are glad to converse with our daughter and her family face to face instead of through the ether. And you, too: enjoy the much-needed vacation with family to parts unknown.
Terrific perspective, Irineo. Thank you.
May try to indulge in leisure, to get away from the chaos and the despair, but should still never forget and thus keep one’s powder dry.
Gloria Arroyo is a cancer that keeps on metastasizing in the Philippine body politic. Started out as one of the pillars of the yellow movement under the tutelage of Ramos and de Venecia, she soon transformed as a power hungry mongrel perverting the mores of political decency.
Reports of her having a major role in engineering the Marcos-Duterte tandem meant she could also have a major influence in crafting policies for the incoming administration.
She’s more likely to succeed Enrile as the “mastermind”.
She already faked a long healed neck injury among others, she could easily fake an ambush. If she even outlives Enrile then she is the succeesor.
And surprise!
She is Robin Padilla’s secret weapon.
https://politics.com.ph/2022/06/19/watch-my-secret-weapon-robin-padilla-thanks-gloria-mike-arroyo-for-campaign-support/
here’s hoping goring has kept her wheelchair and neckbrace for robin, he may need those, lol! be prepared, ika.
anyhow, I’ve been wondering kung bakit ang junior ni makoy appointed himself sec of agriculture. rhetoric aside, the blahs of food security et al, I’ve been wondering what’s in agri that so attracted junior’s behemothic attention. sagot ng cyber gods, the coco levy fund! yay! there are billions there, sa apak ng tatay aapak din ang anak.
ang tatay ay ang orihinal na signatory ng coco fund at ngayon, kung ano man ang tira-tira, kay junior mapupunta. kaso, ang laki ng tira-tira, bilyones! many have been trying to cash the fund, bigo sila. allegedly, there is nasty clause kasi na signatory lang ang pwedeng magdisburse, and since the signatory is long dead, the heir presumptive is beneficiary.
question: what’s bbm’s 1st inauguration gift to the nation?
ans: the closure of independent news rappler.
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/834054/robin-thanks-kris-aquino-for-helping-him-win-in-eleksyon-2022/story/
aside from gma, kris aquino also helped robin padilla get senate seat.
I am still not expecting so much form Robin and I also do not expect the coco levy fund being returned to the coconut farmers by Marcos.
Rappler ‘s closure maybe a gift of Duterte to BBM and Sara so they would not be bothered for the next 12 years. They are expecting to go 12 years and beyond.
ayay, I watched his inauguration and closed in on his raised palm and take note of the lines therein. he has a fleshy mount of venus and that could mean a few things. my kainuman ask for me honest opinion, I have none to give. so they asked for my dishonest opinion and I gave it by the shovels, lol!
anyhow, medyo tama kayo, pero baka hindi lang 12yrs ang intention. the intention behind the intention is staggering to me, lol! I saw it in his palm. I alleged, pinag-aralan talaga ng husto ang dating mga speeches ng ama at ginaya ang mannerism pati inflection. if this man is actor, dadaigin si robin padilla!
anyhow again, the farmers had long given up hope of getting their coco fund. kasi, when docus were 1st drafted nearly half a century ago, the farmers didnt have their own lawyer who’d look after their own interest. ginatasan lang at naging lost cause tuloy sila. if the farmers were trying to save money and refused to hire their own lawyer thinking it was costly, they ended up losing billions and consigned themselves and their children to perpetual poverty.
I’m waiting what committee on appointments will say about junior appointing himself agri secretary on top of being president. whether the committee will accept or not a accept junior’s own appointment.
maybe this is just the begin again, lol! if indeed his being agri secretary is accepted, what’s stopping junior from appointing himself the new foreign sec?
with no guns were blazing, no exchange of bullets, and with us none too wise, minarshal law ni junior ang agriculture right under our noses!
I fear for the policy direction this Marcos-Arroyo-Duterte triumvirate is going to take. I’m seeing an ‘invigorated’ police and military arm twisting on the populace in general but especially those who would dare dissent and protest.
There is going to be a top-down wealth windfall for cronies and sycophant’s and the already entrenched oligarchs but majority of those 30 million voters they’ve managed to convince will be largely disappointed as they continue the grotesque neoliberal project of economic (mal)development.
Despite seemingly they have the advantage and the spoils of war waiting for them, we can only wait and see how this regime plays out, given that of late “SWOH” (Sara WithOut Honesty) wants her own security retinue, a growing sign that “unity” is but a sham.
A colleague says it’s going to be a fight among hyenas over the carcass.
My duty isn’t going to end there. I’ll be here while I’m breathing. I want to be here when they are toppled down very hard.
One cannot be complacent with this people capturing state power – there’s a history and a predisposition to abuse and be addicted to it.
Pres. Marcos, as much as he wants to, knows ‘moving on’ from his family history would be impossible to achieve given the fact that half of the country will not allow it to pass. Be that as it may, I’m pretty sure he will not stop trying.
On another issue, the perceived post election political stability brought about by all parties, headed by VP Leni, in acknowledging and accepting the results of the elections is a fresh start that may heal some wounds and pacify some nerves. That and the on-going honeymoon period between media and the incoming administration appears to be a good starting point for the government to capitalize on. I’m also surmising a lot of people, including in the opposition, particularly the ‘impartial’ ones, will give him the benefit of the doubt as he take control in running the government. Enough of the ‘moving on’ part.
With regard to accepting reality, like night follows day, critics, detractors and plain observers will be around and, this time, ready to poke and attack at a drop of a hat because Pres. Marcos, like the rest that preceded him, will be fair game to media. Although he might find the environment this time to be a lot different from his experience watching his father run the country with a gagged press.
I say, good luck and be careful.
Here is US Senator Rev Raphael Warnock’s view of “moving on,” in a transcript of his conversation with NYT’s Kara Swisher who has a regular such conversation with interesting personalities on her show “Sway.” I find it an interesting read. Warnock answers intelligently the questions posed by Swisher.
A challenge to American democracy , when main political parties can’t agree on election rules just like in Georgia .
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/21/voting-is-surging-georgia-despite-controversial-new-election-law/
I’m making gifs now!!!
YES!
Nice gif work, Lance.
Haha, I hope you’re not too heavily invested in that crypto trading rout corporal.
Micha, I was gonna make a gif out of this chart, but alas my skills are still limited, let me play around bit more with this (Krita animation), but expect more gifs.
I’ll say i told you so when it goes up, but I’m fine w/ you saying I told you so today, Micha. up and down, up and down… Lol!
NH, you gotta get into to this gif stuff !!!
That wild volatility is telling you to get out of that scam while you still can corporal.
“The cryptocurrencies themselves (sometimes called “coins”) are just the mechanism the cryptocurrency cartel uses to extract capital from people who are gambling. The coins have no other purpose and are basically totally unimportant to this or any other story about cryptocurrencies. Coins come with names like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Avalanche, MagicalInternetMoney, Ripple, and Dogecoin. There are some 1,723 of these in circulation. Most of them are commonly known as “shitcoins.” There is sometimes truth in advertising.
I don’t think calling cryptocurrencies “demonic” is much of an overstatement. Cryptocurrencies are not currencies. There is some cryptography involved but there is also cryptography involved in sending your mother a text message on your iPhone. The places these cryptocurrencies are sold are not “markets”. They are gambling platforms that are preying on and destroying (mostly) young people’s lives financially and psychologically. Underhanded tactics are constantly deployed to get these young people to bet more in riskier ways. The businesses profit by financially and psychologically breaking the players. They cheat their customers with the numbers (as of last December, 90% (!) or more of listed trades are fake according to Nasdaq) and even more so they cheat them with psychological pressure tactics. And then there’s the billions of dollars lost to just outright theft…
Let me interject that I only really consume media about how humanity is a train wreck. Documentaries about wars, manias, the mentally ill, financial fraud, serial killers, non-serial killers, prisons — that’s my jam. Which is to say I have a pretty high tolerance for Darkness. And yet when I took a dive into the world of cryptocurrencies, I felt like I was looking at a kind of darkness humanity hasn’t encountered before… a kind of amoral cyborg monstrosity, made out of computers and greed, rising from the internet…”
View at Medium.com
Okay okay, blah blah blah… when it goes up again, I’ll post articles too, but for now we should be talking about abortion in the philippines. and the US. ABORTION. today is about abortion.
I’m saying before egg and sperm come together to make the miracle of life you can effectively mass murder sperms via neuterings , so why not make that policy, thus no need for abortions.
As for rape and incest, make Morning After pills available. like free candy! no need for abortions, i hear those things are really effective.
Yeah, deep dive your head in the sand and talk about the moon instead.
This abortion thing is the PTB’s bait to get you distracted from inflation, shortages, and the forever proxy war.
That’s a good point about distraction and slight of hand, Micha, I’m paying thru my nose in gas here and I’m suppose to worry about some chic wanting abortion so she can fuck around some more. who cares, right?
I do sense that the Dems are gonna use this post- Roe v Wade stuff to rally women power for 2022 and then 2024, the thing is, most are just worried about gas and food these days, which really leaves no room for caring about the unborn (dead or alive). So for sure Trump will get elected again, if the Dems just wanna do post-Roe v. Wade.
Now i ask you how are China and Russia floating thru all this, while the West (Germany is actually these days wanting to just suck on Russia’s teets at this point) is suffering needlessly, and no matter how you cut it its China CBDC that’s floating them, US can’t touch ’em anymore with their fiat mumbo jumbo.
https://coingeek.com/russia-sber-bank-first-digital-assets-transaction-scheduled-for-july/
“In fact, the far more powerful move, as the US is doing, is to block Russian banks from the Federal Reserve’s clearing service, shutting them out of payment rails. That means that alternative payment messaging systems like China’s Cross-Border International Payment System or Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages won’t allow Russian counterparties to clear dollar transactions.
The power of this move is only undercut by the carved-out exemptions for energy, since without Russian exports, gas prices around the world would skyrocket — an eventuality that western authorities grappling with inflation are keen to avoid.
Even though these sanctions will not come into force until 26 March, they have already exacted a heavy toll on Russian asset prices.
Russia, along with China, has been attempting to reduce its reliance on the dollar, both in payments and in debt markets, but international trade is extremely difficult without access to the greenback. Only the largest currencies have liquid cross-currency swap markets with their most frequent pairs. Everyone else takes a route through the dollar.
But the power of these sanctions as an economic weapon will not last for ever. Cross-border central bank digital currency networks are in development across Asia (like the mCBDC Bridge, which involves Thailand, Hong Kong, China and the United Arab Emirates). Russia’s central bank is working on a digital rouble and Governor Elvira Nabiullina has expressed interest in its value as a means of facilitating cross-border payments, particularly with China.”
And guess what else is able to by pass? Bitcoin.
Weaponizing economic and financial sanction is abusive of the privilege accorded to the dollar. In many instances it’s an outright theft of bank assets of those sanctioned countries.
If Russia and China and others are able to make an alternative payment system that will undermine the status of the dollar, it’s a self-inflicted harm on the part of the US.
Having said that, bitcoin is (still) not ever going to fill in the void from that loss.
GALLUP POLL ON ABORTION OVER THE YEARS
Note particularly the chart line “legal only under certain circumstances.”
Considering previous SC decision as a precedent and the concept of vox populi … I will go for “legal only under certain circumstances.” But then I am not Gorsuch or Kavanaugh — who, if reports are correct, answered Senator Susan Collins that they will put weight or some such statement on SCOTUS decision precedent on Roe and Wade.
Commenting on the news from my current perch — vacationing abroad with my daughter’s family.
oooops, that should’ve been up above. sorry.
Well, Da Junior overall made a good inaugural speech. Of course full of rhetoric but that’s how inaugural speeches are usually made of and it still remains to be seen if the speech matches the policies to be rolled out in the next few months.
I just hope he drafted the speech himself and not ghost written by a curmudgeon like Teodoro Locsin as was the case in the Estrada inaugural which made a byline about walang barka-barkada at kamag-anak only to see his short reign stocked with barkadas and kamag-anaks.
This time it was “pangarap nyo, pangarap ko”. A weird way of saying, “I can screw you now because you are all too naïve for believing what I’ve said”.
All the post EDSA presidents were in attendance except for the two departed Aquinos and it was a horrible sight. A roster of crooks and traitors to what they’ve pledged in their inaugurals – arms raised and left palm on a creaking bible.
Tells you why we’ve come to this point.
ang iniibig mo ay iniibig ko rin . . . best seller na awit in imelda papin years ago, binago at recycled ngayon. must be toni gonzaga’s input, lol!
junior’s ang pangarap nyo, pangarap ko rin, maybe that is why his 1st lady ay nandila sa public right at the inauguration. not a nice sight that one, old woman wagging her tongue maybe to goad audience: you are down there and I am up here, see who is in a much better place?
ang pangarap ko? I had always wanted to rob a bank! and walk in there in my high heels and fake louis vutton bag, but I’ll settle for byente pesos isang salop na bigas as promised.
the gathering of vultures and all their posturings, and filipinos have stared down vultures before, one bigger than the other. ang pangarap ng mga journalists ngayon is to be able to write the truth about the business of the day without undue harassment and intimidation, and maybe without junior’s press secretary breathing down their necks and threatening to sanction journalists if they so mention events that proved to be unpleasant and embarrassing to her boss.
ang panagarap ng workers is to have decent wage, dyahi naman kung indecent ang wage ni junior, he’ll be earning as president and then earning again as agri secretary. in doing two full time jobs, one job is likely to suffer and treated as parttime, then conflict of interest plus unmet expectation is result.
anyhow, I am being condescended, lol! pangarap pala ni junior and pangarap ko. as president, I thought his pangarap should be higher than mine, more sound, astute and universal, he has all those very smart, literate, utterly accomplished and highly paid executives around him to support him 24/7. samantalang ako, I have only my lowly erratic self, and of course, suntory.
I need your help, sabi ni junior to his inauguration audience. among his audience present were gloria arroyo, duterte clan, erap estrada et al. and they all smiled widely, such vips and what help the could all give him! help me! of course they would! 30million voters had all helped to put him in office!
me? I dont think junior needs my help. I cannot go within arm’s length of him without being search thoroughly by his multitudes security, and might even be asked to strip! help me! I’m not going to give him my kidney if that’s what he wants.
I hope junior is not being so uberly greedy for help, help, help! and then helping himself to the kaban ng bayan, lol!
I hope junior is not being so uberly greedy for help, help, help! and then helping himself to the kaban ng bayan.
I very much hope so, too, kb.
> This time it was “pangarap nyo, pangarap ko”. A weird way of saying, “I can screw you now because you are all too naïve for believing what I’ve said”.
That phrase. As if he and his clan finally claim conquest on everyone and everything, even the future.
As I have assumed that we are living in a state of occupation by an enemy power, I’m bracing myself for their orgy of exacting vengeance and persecution, as well as rewarding other crooks and thugs, the present-day Makapili, the spoils and trappings of office in the weeks to come.
It’s the power dynamics behind the throne that is more dangerous and worrisome, imo.
It could cripple whatever earnest initiative Da Junior may have.
Yes. The whole clan will be literally doing the backseat driving, plus Arroyo and other powerful puppeteers.
The dire speculations may be accurate, and there certainly is a lot to not like about that family. I’m not going to prejudge his administration because I think he knows that if he botches it, he’ll confirm what the critics have been saying and he doesn’t want to go there. So I just look at his choices and policies and weigh them. His cabinet is pretty conventional mixed with toadies in Audit and DBM where the money is controlled. Defense is good, DFA good, NEDA good. Decisions are starting to roll through already with his veto of a bill creating a free trade zone at the new San Mig airport. This is consistent with his stated policy to consolidate the scattered free trade zones. Sara in education. Blech. His wife is a nut case but that’s irrelevant. He speaks well, an upgrade from Duterte. He’s running a B- at this point, Calida killing a chance for a higher grade.
Manolo Quezon observed quite early that he seems to pattern his way of doing things on the way his father did things so his rhetoric and his appointments aren’t surprising. Even as he isn’t the rousing orator and debater his father was.
His father also had topnotch people like Foreign Minister Romulo and PM Virata the brillant economist. At least with Virata it did happen that he ignored his advice at times. The feudal – at most country club management – mentality that experts are there to do the job and the boss shouldn’t be bothered with much details was the style of his father according to sources like Mijares, I can imagine that was the cause of things finally falling apart with Senior, let’s see how Junior does the job.
authority can be delegated but not responsibility, I hope junior fully understands that. he has gotten his father’s template, oright. maybe, that is why junior got the covid na pinagmalaki niya sa inauguration speech, being covid survivor. kaso he got the covid while partying hard in spain! away from prying eyes of filipinos and had to come home in all haste, traveling by medical flight. spain is also arroyo’s to go place. wala tayong extradition treaty with spain and any absolutes they do in spain, stay in spain.
with journalists being muzzled, we can only hear great and wonderful things from junior! all hail!
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/04/22/palace-says-marcos-vetoed-bulacan-ecozone-to-cure-defects
ayan, reason given why veto. kulang pala ng insertions, lol! return to sender, no such number, thus went elvis presley’s song.
the bill may yet have a life, after ‘retoke’ and makeover, ibabalik muli sa office of the president for his approval.
Marcos Jr. said something like your dreams are my dream, in English, on June 30.
No wonder I couldn’t find my dream when I woke up yesterday. He stole it and millions of other dreams!
Now I know. They melted all the dreams into gold. The Marcos Jr. coin was given to banquet guests.
https://m.facebook.com/100076534883976/posts/pfbid02B4ouGpVRsD39XsYkqoejp2HST1aFFdpURh9pVu1DD5EGyZvRtMxJppz1s7tXhWFgl/
We’ll be seeing more of those triumphalist spectacles designed to infuriate and cause utter disgust.
The program and some attendees of the banquet are listed below:
https://mobile.twitter.com/NCorralesINQ/status/1543380220505632768
Lots of oligarchs of course.
And of course with disco music and colorful lights at the end for truly Imeldific style.
https://mobile.twitter.com/joeytrenas77/status/1543158868884070400
I have not seen imee marcos disco dancing, mukhang nagmukmuk yata. junior kasi vetoed the bill that imee authored creating free trade zone sa bulakan.
Probably some tables in Malacañan now have holes. Natusok ng baba ni Imee habang nagtatampo siya.
Meanwhile it looks like Imelda had a great 93th (sic) birthday celebration, “home” again!
https://mobile.twitter.com/jcpunongbayan/status/1543442443470655488
at one stage takot ako na baka magturo na naman ang lola, maraming iconic fine arts display duon sa museum where junior was inaugurated, and lola taking home a souvenir, lol! good thing sa disco, lola did not start singing ‘peelings’.
junior is so in love with his own image, he had it immortalized in gold! feet of clay.
his mother once gave signed and glossy pictures of herself when on motorcade. the poor were supposed feel uberly blessed to be given the pics, and to be happy and content just looking at it and forget all about being homeless, hungry and malnourished.
ahem, I hope junior’s banquet guests have teeth of steel! it’s not easy eating gold coin, lol!
🤣
Joe, as a former banker could you vouch for the authenticity of this 2012 document? :
Click to access The%20World%20Bank%20Group%20USA%202012%20Final%20Audited%20Statements.pdf
These are the alleged bank accounts of Marcos Senior scattered in major international banks kept in perpetuity and in trust to the Philippine government – or at least that’s how I, a layperson when it comes to banking language, understood it.
No. Looks fake to me. “The Committee of 300, also known as The Olympians, is a conspiracy theory[1] that claims a powerful group was founded by the British aristocracy in 1727 and rules the world.[2] Proponents of the theory alleging the Committee’s existence believe it to be an international council that organizes politics, commerce, banking, media, and the military for centralized global efforts.” Wiki
Well gee, thanks, that’s what I suspected too.
Loyalists are brandishing this “fake” document as proof that the still unaccounted ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses has already been turned over to the care of Philippine gov’t such that they’re all too willing to give his Junior a clean slate and at the same time pacify their moral souls for giving him their votes.
Some obsessed soul put in a lot of work on that paper.
Exactly. 130 pages and Pope Benedict was a signatory but not a single representative of the Philippine gov’t. The amounts were conveniently deleted. Highly dubious.
As very much a layman too in this matter — I quickly scanned the link — this is made out (with many pages and many highfalutin names) to seem, in scientific parlance, as a complicated scientific theory vouched for by equally highfalutin science gurus. 🤣
Never a shortage of conspiracy theorists believing the Marcoses have infinite ancient wealth.
I’ve bought two properties in the Philippines, and Yamashita’s gold was rumored to be on both.
may predisposition ang mga marcoses to gold. president for less than one week and already junior has his image in gold coin sovereign to commemorate his win. I really hope the overall cost of the gold coins was not charged to his govt as miscellaneous expenses.
if ever lucky me receives junior’s gold coin, itatakbo ko kaagad yan sa pawn shop and have it valued, lol!
Stephen Cuunjieng, a Manila Times columnist, investment banker, and advisor to Lopez Group Holdings Company, Aboitiz, and SM Investment among others, has been giving good advice on our agriculture policy – a rare twist in advocacy given his career background.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/06/10/opinion/columns/small-thoughts-on-big-issues-agriculture-and-nuclear-power/1846802
That Marcos Junior picked up that advice and took the agri department himself with a view of expanding local rice production signals that maybe we are starting to come to our senses in giving priority to the basics even if it means jettisoning the globalized economic order.
But what about palm oil, Micha?!!!
https://ourworldindata.org/exports/land-use-for-vegetable-oil-crops-f374e2ae454b64c766cac9c04d16d3db_v2_850x600.svg
It’s not a staple food. Filipinos can live without palm oil. There’d be food riots if rice become scarce or prohibitively expensive.
There were lots of heads nodding when Da Junior decided to take the helm at the agri department, afterall we have a supply chain crisis and food security needs to be prioritized. The caveat here is that as in most major gov’t programs that require urgency, profiteers in and out of gov’t also swoop in.
That has been the case with the build build build project of the outgoing admin – it embarked on a frenzy of projects alright but with very little public scrutiny on the details and funding scheme. San Miguel cashed in with their favorite public-private partnership which is a high cost-high interest scheme and the public return on investment is significantly lower than that is being collected by the private contractor (SMC).
No wonder San Miguel is all over the place with this scheme from airports to highways across the country. They’ve made public infrastructures their milking cow which will enrich only the oligarchs who own SMC.
Gotta love those ubiquitous electronic toll gates on our expressways.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/05/22/marcos-disagrees-with-61-percent-inflation-rate
imported pala ang inflation rate natin at 6.1% sabi ni junior. maybe he ought to un-import inflation rate and make it imperative for his economic advisers to lower the rate, or heads will roll, lol!
what is scary is when as agri secretary, junior will start jettisoning maybe like selling govt properties to make up for the shortfall, so basics like food can be given priority spending. kaso, baka mga cronies ang niya ang pwedeng bumili ang govt properties at discount prices. else he’ll jettison properties of those hindi niya kasundo and impoverish them. and who’ll fire agri sec in the event of treason and maleficence?
Wow! There are too many applicants pala.
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/06/02/marcos-scrutinizing-qualifications-of-candidates-for-next-agri-chief/
marcos cannot be dragging his feet for too long, and ought to hire ka leody as agri chief and put him in probation for 6months, see how well ka leody resuscitate agri and local food production.
If Marcos does not care at all about the constitutione will appoint the losers in the last election right away.
This article from NYT is along the theme of the current blog topic, “DON’T MOVE ON, BUT ACCEPT THE CURRENT REALITY.”
Oops, sorry, there is a paywall to NYT.
Here are excerpts from the article:
*****
Forty-one years ago, on a cold, drizzly day in Washington, four people were shot by a young man who had concealed a gun in his jacket. This was long before mass shootings became a frequent reality of our lives. It was long before semiautomatic weapons became commonplace. There were many “good people with guns” there that day. It made no difference. Four men were shot in a matter of seconds. I am the daughter of one of those men, Ronald Reagan, who came incredibly close to losing his life because the bullets John Hinckley loaded into his gun were devastator bullets, meant to fragment. Meant to kill more efficiently. One of those bullets blew apart James Brady’s head; he was never the same.
…
Years ago, someone quoted to me a statement they attributed — probably apocryphally — to the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The quote was, “You can do whatever you want if you keep the people frightened enough.” There are people in America who know this and are counting on it. And to have a country in which everyone is scared of who might be legally carrying a gun as they walk through their daily lives means we have a weakened country in which anything is possible. Fear is a breeding ground for autocracy, and history shows us that every democracy that has crumbled did so in an atmosphere of fear.
But fear is not one-dimensional. There is a healthy version in which we learn caution; we learn what to stay away from.
…
Before I was born, my father obtained a permit to carry a concealed gun. It was 1947; he was the head of the Screen Actors Guild and it was a time of anti-Communist fervor and intense labor disputes. He had gotten threats that acid would be thrown in his face. His tires were slashed on one occasion. He said he wore the gun in a shoulder holster and it was a horrible time in his life. It was necessary, he said, but it didn’t really make him feel safer. It was a constant reminder of how life can take a frightening turn, and he didn’t like living in fear. He knew how corrosive it is.
On the day my father was released from the hospital after John Hinckley nearly killed him, my mother and I escorted him out. The world saw him confident, unafraid. What you didn’t see was the Secret Service putting a bulletproof vest on him in the hospital room, carefully strapping it over the long incision on his chest. That evening at dinner I asked him if he would now endorse stricter gun control legislation. My father had a stubborn streak, and he answered no, that stricter laws wouldn’t have prevented what happened. By 1991 he had changed his mind, supporting the Brady Bill and writing an Opinion essay for The New York Times saying, “This level of violence must be stopped.”
…
You are never the same after gun violence has touched your life. You are never the same after gun violence has touched your life. From the deepest wounds of those who have lost children, loved ones, friends — most recently in Uvalde and Buffalo — to the survivors, like the kids from Parkland whose lives have been changed forever, lives are never the same. You wonder when it will happen again; there is a part of you that’s always watchful, always suspicious of strangers. You get jumpy when someone reaches into a backpack. Increasingly, because shootings have become so common in America, almost all people carry around that fear, even if their own life hasn’t (yet) been touched by gun violence.
Democracy thrives when citizens feel emboldened by their country, when they feel confident in their freedoms and in a government that exists to make their lives safer, not more at risk. Democracy dies in the dark waters of fear, and that’s where we are — swimming for our lives, wondering why a strident minority wants us to drown.
*****
There was an article about how the Philippines has similar ratio of people to guns (similar source of gun culture), but not too many mass shootings.
Though running amok is a common occurrence there (which is somewheres between mental illness and having a tantrum). so the knife culture which is absent in the US, but similar in Western EU (but due to not having guns, than endemic), is where we converge and diverge. IMHO.
less people dying from knives (or BBQ sticks). just simple logistics here.
The article goes on to say its because of Filipino culture of shame, and lack of anonymity. And I was reading it, and thought especially having spent more than 5 years now reading thru Joe’s blog, having now reframed my own experiences in the Philippines, and Filipino culture,
I came to a different conclusion. not too many mass shootings in the Philippines by guns because bullets are expensive!!! Lives for sure are cheap. EJKs was in fact one big state sponsored mass shooting.
So the solution is economics, up the prices of bullets, and arms, via specific tax and you’ll lower mass shootings. then there was another article, I’m just reading thru these as they pop so I didn’t get to save urls, but article was of a study of mass shooters, and the conclusion
was that mass shootings is simply a form of suicide albeit thru killing others, like running amok (or juramentado which the Spaniards called it when facing Muslim Filipinos). and in all suicides
there are obvious tells. Just keep an eye on these tells and have some sort of public service tip line. We have algorithms and metadata capture that allows for processing these tells. tho’ the end result will be panopticon. a place we’d rather not go.
So probably just start with upping prices via taxation, NH.
Thanks. You have a point there, Lance — upping prices and taxes on arms and bullets. But in the US, among others, I believe you will have the messy details and obstacles of implementing that from interest groups. Let me not count the ways.
They did it for tobacco and for gasoline here in California, NH (even car industry with low emissions). and those industries were too big to fail. I don’t smoke anymore mostly because of the price, i think now like 7 bucks a pack, same with gas 7 bucks for a gallon.
its affected behavior for sure.
Now as for ramifications and unintended consequences, for sure people will be making their own bullets now, so in a way every bullet will be bespoke. You’ll know the guy that’ll make your bullet. underground economy will flourish for bullets, speak easy.
But unlike temperance days no alcohol , bullets going underground will be more open to sabotage, NPA in the Philippines was kept at bay precisely because Philippines and USA were supplying them with every third or so bullets that wouldn’t fire, thus
jamming when shooting at gov’t forces. Sabotage will capture the imagination of underground as well as industry bullets, and it’ll be a mess. Just like for the NPA.
Remember the 2nd Amend. did not say anything about bullets, just arms. And the right to bear it.
And I disagree with Juan below, militia and arming the citizenry are two separate clauses. Thus wrong reading. Read here for the best elaboration on the basis of it all (Thomas Paine):
https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/paine-the-writings-of-thomas-paine-vol-i-1774-1779
For having the right to bear guns imbedded in their constitution, one would think the United States is the most mature, enlightened and disciplined country on earth when it comes to maintaining and control of bearing and possessing arms and munitions. They would be the world’s experts when it comes to gun ownership, right?
Unfortunately, they are not and worse they look amateurs, inept and simply dumb as to how to protect and enhance their right under the constitution. Sure, they know how to go about mouthing how to protect the right to bear arms, etc. but they don’t know how to go about maintaining accountability and responsibility behind it. Never mind the non-existence of ‘a well regulated militia’ in the provision and ignore, too, how fossilized Amendment 2 compare with the current situation. You just don’t mess with their right to guns.
We see gun owners, for fear of ‘losing’ the right to their guns go against those who calls for gun reform and accuse them of salivating to take their rights away. Never mind the children, women, elderly and anybody who get cuts down every time there is a mass shooting, nobody touches amendment 2. See how dumb that stand is?
Every mass shooting speaks of how dull-witted Americans are, or at least those people in a position to make a difference but do not. Surveys consistently showed majority of Americans favors some kind of reform, but it looks like their officials knew better than them when it comes to guns. If mass killings and shootings are a sport in the Olympics, the US would have dominated the league and would have possess and hoarded all the gold medals distributed.
The silvers and bronzes, too!
I know you are just exaggerating but Norway would get the gold medal of ever Shootings were an Olympic sport.(FWIW)
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/mass-shootings-by-country
* if
Agree. Another information I got is, there are only 3 countries that have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms: Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.
https://www.businessinsider.com/2nd-amendment-countries-constitutional-right-bear-arms-2017-10#only-15-constitutions-in-nine-countries-ever-included-an-explicit-right-to-bear-arms-according-to-the-new-york-times-1
And I disagree with Juan below, militia and arming the citizenry are two separate clauses. – LCpl_X (@LCpl_X)
——
I agree, they are two clauses but primarily anchored on guns or arms possession.
I stand corrected on “A well regulated Militia” (by definition the National Guard) by referring to it as non-existent.
arming filipinos will only see more guns in pawnshops, lol! ex president aquino tried to modernise kapolisan by giving them new glocks. only for those glocks to be reported lost, stolen, and location unknown. many of those glocks ended up sold to 3rd parties to gun toting rebels and armed terrorists, pawnshops aside.
filipinos are not good in holding alcohol and being inebriated, take the slightest of slight to dangerous level and shot to kill perceived offender. drunk police officer off duty shooting and killing unarmed civilians and though remorseful, ended up in prison but with lesser sentence.
being territorial and who is greater between the two, police vs armies do exchange live ammunition with resultant loss of lives and then blamed flawed intel for the mishap.
as for citizens arming themselves, yes they do but mostly now in social media and trolling in grand scale. methink, more damage is done that way, some longer lasting and driven to suicide.
Thanks JL for the link.
The last three standing. The others rescinded the right to bear arms.
Btw sad news:
Former PM Abe got shot.
Rest in Peace Shinzo Abe
Yes. Quite tragic. Our world has gone off its rails.
Dull witted. I read in cruising fast that a large part of the population (30%?) operates at the level of a sixth grader. Seems reasonable from what I see.
Many folks blame the media, saying around the time of Monica Lewinsky when the big news channel (big and new cable news) opted to go for gotcha and reactive journalism (kinda like Rappler there now).
I for sure blame CNN and MSNBC for getting Trump elected in 2016, now 2024, due to free advertising. but the core of it all, the core…
I’m thinking its infiltration of Intelligent Design which happened around the 90s, then gained traction in school districts by the 2000s, then finally the overturning of Roe v. Wade, cuz fetuses are babies line of argument thus a values call thus something that should be decided by states (closer to the people).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design <<< which chempo and I had a long discussion here awhile back on this. He just willy nilly talking about it w/out the view of said ramifications in schools, how Darwin was wrong because of this new understanding of genetic/genes called epigenetic (which scientists are now seriously studying, weirdly taking the quantum physics route instead of biology), etc. etc…
So the moment, academics ceded to Intelligent Design, dull wittedness became a fixture here, ya know because false equivalency is now the norm…. and ironically Intelligent Design as a movement was so easy to sabotage, just insert Aliens, instead of Jesus. and there! Intelligent Design.
but IMHO that’s where it started, Joe.
Hahaha, if it was ID in the 90’s it’s the crypto scam in the 2020’s.
How’s your crypto investment going, corporal?
Ask me again when crypto spikes up, Micha. LOL! I’ll only entertain your prognostications 1) if you can find the flaw in the blockchain itself; or 2) if you can forecast Bitcoin going totally zero. How’s Mr. Lira doing? lol…
Hahaha, I’m just relishing and gloating. My news feed is littered with crypto bankruptcies and bubble bursting right now. Huge number of gullible have been scammed. Hope you’re able to take out your money before you got locked out.
The stupid it hurts.
I’d reckon Mr. Lira is doing just fine. Russia is winning; Ukraine is losing.
The stupid western alliance is losing too.
Which means Rule of Law in Ukraine is protecting his life then, Micha. 😉 As for Russia winning, Ukraine will be in NATO— and Sweden/Norway already pretty much are. Russia lost. Though CBDC is winning re Russia and China’s new monetary system. And rememb er CBDC is Bitcoin just centralized under the state.
SO…
My tally:
Bitcoin is ascendant.
Russia is descendant.
NATO/EU ascendant.
Fiat system descendant.
China ascendant, thanks to CBDC.
Biden descendant; Trump ascendant (thanks to Roe v. Wade ruling, dude’s still delivering like a mofo ).
BBM ascendant— still hugely due to Inday Sara , but once Marcoses attempt to neuter the DU30s, BBM will be descendant.
Rappler for sure is descendant. I say they switch to small town newspaper model and just focus on local individuals making a difference— those typa stories. Leave the NYTimes stuff to NYTimes.
Hahaha, keep the denial mode and delusion to yourself.
A partitioned Ukraine is the least you could hope for.
And crypto is being uncovered for the scam that it is.
1. Partition (Russia gets eastern Ukraine); NATO (gets Ukraine, and Finland/Sweden), Russia gets eastern Ukraine (not a very good trade, Micha), China gets Russia (ouch!!! Putin’s ass is hurting). Putin lost.
2. Bitcoin, still not zeroing out. As a matter of fact its rallying the past week, Micha. Show me zero first, LOL! Bitcoin still not zeroed.
3. China now has Russia. win-win-win. NATO-Bitcoin/CBDC-China.
If i were Russian, i’d start moving to the Far East of Russia now, anywhere near the China-Russia border. No more EU and Europe, bye-bye; Hello , China!!! thanks, Putin. Now we gotta learn Chinese.
It’s the US hegemon that is now over. We’re back to a multi polar world.
If there are adults in the room in the western alliance, they’d work to end this war by negotiating a partitioning of Ukraine and end the sanctions which fuel inflation and shortages across Europe and the US.
I can agree with US hegemony being over— but monetarily, not militarily.
NATO is ascendant now; while China is too, and Putin ended up inside China (which I’m sure wasn’t his grand strategy).
Saudi Arabia’s got a big role to play, oil/gas to Europe, but not beholden to America anymore, especially not the dollar. So if MBS is as smart as they say, he’ll play both against the other. US vs. Xi.
But MBS is more familiar with the West’s weaknesses, and not China’s. so he’ll hedge towards the US. but with Chinese CBDC if its really that much better, he’ll drop everything to go CBDC.
Because he’s gotta big vision… that’ll require him to take out two theocracies, his and his neighbor’s, so Iran watch out!!! lol.
There were a bunch of Saudi’s here that went to school, that never returned, either went the “Filipino TNT” route and/or married US citizens. But MBS’s gov’t is enticing and inviting them back to the Kingdom. they have a big role to play in oustering Saudi Arabia’s theocracy.
What use are your fancy military hardware if you can’t use it against an arch nemesis like Russia? There is going to be no conventional military confrontation between US and Russia because it will eventually come down to a nuclear exchange unless both decides to become suicidal and bring in the Armageddon. So yes, this stance of hostility towards Russia and the attendant imposition of economic sanctions is backfiring on the west (in the form of shortages and higher inflation) and the US in particular is just shooting itself in the foot.
Biden doesn’t wanna use nukes; Putin it seems doesn’t want to either.
NATO and EU certainly don’t.
But everyone involved seem to be having a great time with their drones, tanks, planes, ships, missiles, and artillery , Micha. Which means military hardware is still very relevant.
The point is , NATO and EU are expanding, and expanding means ascendant.
Whereas Putin is expanding towards eastern Ukraine, but every where else contracting, especially economically, and is now dependent on Xi’s China. So Putin for sure shot himself in the foot.
Whether the US or China wins remains to be seen.
But for sure Putin is now the purview of Xi and the Chinese system. Even DU30 (and BBM/Inday Sara i hope) was able to escape Xi’s grasp. Putin went to the Olympics, asked permission from Xi and Xi said sure go ahead, knowing full well Putin will come crawling back to China. genius!!! Now Putin is his.
Xi outplayed Putin, Micha. I’m sorry but your boy lost.
https://i.insider.com/5cfa21d411e2051ac04a09c3?width=1090&format=jpeg
You really seriously think that a conventional war with Russia isn’t going to eventually involve the use of nukes?
The only thing that’s ascendant in the west is its irreversible deterioration.
Germany is already rationing gas and electricity and winter is coming and economic and political spasm due to high prices and shortages take hold in much of the western world.
“You really seriously think that a conventional war with Russia isn’t going to eventually involve the use of nukes?”
Both sides don’t want to, Micha. otherwise we’d seen it already. So Putin’s just wanting to get a small little bit of Ukraine now, but his extricating from Xi will be the hattrick of the century!!! LOL! what’s he gonna do use nukes on China?!!! LOL!!!
As for gas/oil for Europe, that’s why I’ve mentioned Saudi Arabia. Problem solved, but glutonny its not. not no more.
Germany’s not laughing now, are they , Micha (but grovel to Putin I think not gonna happen now, that ship has long sailed):
There’s no “both sides” in this present conflict, corporal. There’s just Russia vs Ukraine. There are no active US troops or regiment shooting it out with Russian soldiers.
Who’s supplying Ukraine, Micha? Why has Ukraine been able to go toe to toe with Russia?
It’s NATO vs. Russia. Ukraine is their proxy. And they are winning. And Putin’s now with China 100%.
The US also supplied arms to the Taliban in Russian occupied Afghanistan, corporal, and that was still a phase of the cold war so, no, there’s no direct confrontation, direct conflict between US and Russia that involve deployment of troops by both sides shooting it out and drawing their swords, and the reason why that is so is the presence of nuclear deterrence.
Nukes made conventional war impossible.
Exactly, my point, Micha. Nukes are there yes, but both sides (with nukes) aren’t allowing it to get any further.
Hence why Putin will get his “eastern Ukraine”, but Ukraine (and Finland and Sweden) go to NATO, see how that’s a lost for Putin?
The war is winding down. Lines are being redrawn.
But Putin is now inside China, thats for sure. The question now is can Putin escape Xi’s purview? Because NATO and EU will block Russia into Europe now, which means Putin has to expand into Vladivostok region, eastward ho!
Putin is done.
US and NATO will have to consolidate into Asia, but NATO is not a Pacific organization. And China will focus into going to space. Won’t make the same mistakes as Putin. Space expansion is safer with more ROI for Xi.
Xi is ascendant.
Putin lost his little gambit.
Russians with means have escaped.
No Corporal D, the point of contention is whether there’s an active war between archrivals Russia and the US right now. I maintained no such thing exist because no troop deployment and no official declaration of war. You were maintaining (erroneously) that supplying weapons to Ukraine is tantamount to war.
As to your assessment as to who has gained what and where, you’re just regurgitating the propaganda coming from your western mainstream media, credibility of which is bonkers in as far as this conflict is concerned.
Russia has far in advance calculated the consequences of this invasion, got past the economic sanctions, took out the Azov neo-Nazis in Mariupol, and has now gained full control in much of the eastern region.
You have then purposely and disingenuously contracted eg. minimized your definition of war then, Micha.
Ukraine is fighting with US/NATO weapons and US/NATO intel, and benefiting from US/NATO financial-economic sabotage, thus US/NATO is warring with Russia, indirectly only in your minimize/contracted definition of this war, Micha. please!!!
Putin of course can make a case that US/NATO is directly waging war against her inside Ukraine given all the above mentioned, and could play his nukes card— but he hasn’t, and after 6 months or so of this, means he will not. Which means he is still calculating a way out.
Your scenario of a bigger nuclear war, that window has closed. all parties involved are seeing the light at the end of tunnel– at least in Ukraine. just mopping up now, lines are pretty much now redrawn.
I agree with you that Putin will take eastern Ukraine, but at what cost? that’s my point, with Ukraine-Finland-Sweden in NATO, with the rest of EU turning its back on Russia, that means Putin lost this wager, Micha,
Putin lost because now he has to go all in with Xi and with China, whether a China-Russia alliance will win in the longer term remains to be seen, but Putin lost because in this new China-Russia pact, both Xi and Putin are not equal partners, Micha. NOT EQUAL. hence Putin lost.
And Europe will get its oil/gas else where. bye bye Russia.
Putin got eastern Ukraine, but at what cost to Putin? that’s the question you’re not asking, or afraid to answer, Micha. NATO just gained 3 countries, and EU will bend overbackwards now to help Ukraine, remember Germany after WWII, did eastern Germany prosper, NOPE!!!
Ergo Putin lost. but won eastern Ukraine. big wow!!! Don’t spin this as a win, Micha. Disingenuous that is, that’s Putin’s propaganda. And Mr. Lira’s , LOL!!!!!!! you see you were wrong from the git-go, Micha. WRONG. All because you chose to buy hookline&sinker Mr. Lira’s crap. sorry.
You’re still not getting the concept of a multi-polar world now, Corporal D.
Russia could give a rat’s ass for your NATO expansion. It will get what it needs from its own sphere of influence and even partly becoming an economic autarky.
It’s only the profiteers in the military industrial complex that’s gaining from this continued belligerence and NATO expansionism – a sad story for humanity as a whole who somehow managed to breathe a sigh of relief after the end of cold war. This dinosaur of an alliance kept mankind from coming together in peace and unity. The forever stance of extended hostility was enabled by both Bush Jr. and Bill Clinton even after their designated agents from Wall Street ransacked Russia’s crown jewels as their inebriated boy Yeltsin looked on.
Now Russia is recovering and is starting to re-build its muscle and power ready to confront the war freaks and war profiteers in the west who worship only the god of mammon.
It’s this profiteering scheme from NATO war freaks that drove Russia into forming alliance with China. And that’s a formidable equal partnership alliance. You’re only deluding yourself into always thinking in terms of what Putin might have lost.
He, in all likelihood, does not give a rat’s ass what you think.
Leave mamon out of this , Micha.
What is Russia’s sphere of influence now, Micha???!!! Belarus?!!! On the contrary, Russia has none now, whereas before his invading Ukraine, Putin still had a chance at becoming greater. Now Russia is under the sphere of influence of China. Russia now can only sell oil/gas to China. Russia will now be the Saudi Arabia of China. like a dumb gas station in the Arctic.
It’s a partnership Corporal D, not a vertical relations, so stop thinking in your stupid pauper-master terms.
Hahahahahahahahaaaaaa….
Did you just say Putin and Xi are partners, LOL!
HAHAhahahahahahhahahahahaha…
You should be a comedian, Micha!!!
LOL! Lol… lol… oh, my stomach hurts from laughing so much, Micha. thank you for that.
US President Joe Biden said he will be the first American president to fly from Israel directly to Saudi Arabia this week when he is set to visit those countries on an official trip to the region, in a “small symbol” of the warming ties between Israel and the Arab world and “steps toward normalization.”
In a Washington Post opinion article on Saturday titled “Why I’m Going To Saudi Arabia,” Biden said he will make the trip from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where “leaders from across the region will gather, pointing to the possibility of a more stable and integrated Middle East, with the United States playing a vital leadership role.”
The US leader said he will be “the first president to fly from Israel to Jiddah [Jeddah]… [in] a small symbol of the budding relations and steps toward normalization between Israel and the Arab world, which my administration is working to deepen and expand.” (from Al-Jazeera)
Stupid Biden being played by the Saudi prince.
MBS just got lucky because Putin screwed up, and i agree Biden got outplayed, not by MBS tho’ but by Germany, scaring Biden that they’ll buy more Russian oil/gas come winter. Biden should play hardball, and say, Fuck y’all then You can deal with Putin by your lonesome.
Instead Biden’s gonna beg, borrow and steal for Germany. Let those EU countries that have become beholden to Russian oil/gas extricate themselves from the mess theyve created. Germans will eventually see the flaw , pro-Ukraine but pro-Russian oil/gas , not very tenable.
But make no mistake Biden is grovelling on behalf of Western Europe. MBS just stood to benefit. Thanks to Putin.
Again, Putin couldn’t give a rat’s ass for what you think, corporal.
I am sure, very confident , that Putin is reading all this and crying now, Micha.
“LCPL_X is correct, I’ll be Xi’s bottom bitch now!”
You can keep your dumb delusion going.
LOL! “a partnership”. Whose delusion is dumb really?
OT
Jamie Raskin, a member of the January 6 US House Committee, said:
“When you look at it historically, liberal and progressive parties generally don’t defeat authoritarian and fascist assaults on democracy by themselves,” Mr. Raskin said. “Where democracy survives, it’s because the center-right and the center-left come together to defend it.”
Here’s a quick reminder on Active Shooter tactics. Since Columbine over here, regular patrol police have been instructed not to wait for SWAT, nor special breaching tools, or other instruments. Just go in with what you’ve got on you. radio is most important, to communicate.
If you’re only one, you go in.
If two officers present, you go in.
And so on and so forth. you go in.
There is no stopping and waiting, because the assumption is that the Active Shooter is there to actively shoot victims, hence the name.
Initiative and momentum is the officer’s. Not to be surrendered to the assailant. Fear has to be controlled.
But most importantly , the essence of active shooting training, and they drill this over and over you see, is Self Sacrifice. So the media needs to interview the active shooting trainer/s and figure out what was missed. They’ll have notes on who attended training , when, and who were at the school.
Active Shooter scenario is Hero Time— why cops and soldiers join and take up arms. Well, at least most. 😦 RIP , kids; good guys with guns also get scared i suppose.
In the Philippines’ re introduction of ROTC, they need to at least instill Self Sacrifice. maybe from the lives of Catholic saints, or maybe stories like below, but for sure they also need to ridicule incidents like Uvalde.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nairobi_DusitD2_complex_attack
“Members of private security forces and unarmed individuals along with some off duty police officers were first to respond. A masked (wearing balaclava) member of the British SAS (Christian Craighead), who was in the country to conduct training, accompanied by a member of the Diplomatic Protective Services Tactical Response Unit (DPS-TRU) (Dan J. Prastalo) indicating “Agent” sign and a shield badge on his tactical vest, started clearing floor by floor of the office and car park buildings. They were heard shouting call sign “Eagle Eagle Security Forces” as they tried to call out hostages that were hiding. Both individuals were seen on the mainstream media clips escorting groups of hostages and carrying wounded ones, before running back into the complex while the attackers were shooting down on them. Australian High Commission security detail also exchanged fire with the terrorists as they made their way into the complex, injuring one attacker. While it had been thought that the attack had been neutralized after a few hours, gunfire and explosions were again heard early on 16 January. Christian Craighead shot and killed two of the attackers and is currently being awarded Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his extreme bravery.”
Sunday reflection.
Will humanity and the modern civilizations it spawned be able to unite, shoot for the stars of immense fulfillment and be reconciled with the God (whatever that might be) that created it; or will it instead be pulled down by the oppressive weight of its entrenched oligarchy, atomized and disintegrated, obscure creatures to be buried in the dust of geographical history.
Any human attempt to colonize space is going to fail without first addressing the varied problems it’s facing here on earth, big part of which is the grotesque economic injustice created and perpetuated by the oligarchic class in which Elon Musk is an unrepentant exclusive card carrying member.
If James Webb telescope is correct, there will be a perfect little planet for each and every single one of us, Micha.
(i got dibs on planet f 😉 , karl can take e , so we can be neighbors ).
Tell us how you’re going to get there.
Simple:
I hope karl bakes mamon! my favorite.
I didn’t know you’re into physics now. So if the mechanics is feasible, why are you not on the way out there yet, Corporal D?
The mechanics is feasible, they’ve used it in the 60s, Micha. but I have to wait for Elon Musk to build my rocket ship so i can visit karl and eat some homemade mamons.
Cuz no proletariats gonna do that for us. Only Elon Musk.
All bullshit of course because even the low hanging fruit that is Mars is decades away from being habitable, if at all.
Carl Sagan is an accomplished physicist and astronomer but he has the humility to recognize the present human limitations of conquering/colonizing space.
Elon Musk is more of an entrepreneur, not a physicist, but he is infected with hubris and delusions of grandeur. I’d reckon he won’t even get past the moon.
How are you going to upend the oligarchs if you’re always saying never this, and never that, Micha. Such a Debbie downer. Nothing big happens when all you’re doing is complaining and saying never gonna happen this, never gonna happen that. a true revolutionary and visionary , you are not, Micha.
But they in fact are testing the limits of Mars habitation, and underground is the key it seems (& guess who has a Boring company –Elon Musk , again), here : https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92630/living-the-mars-life-on-mauna-loa
How is conquering space gonna upend the oligarchs, Corporal D? It’s the oligarchs themselves who are so gung-ho to conquer space because they’ve recognized the hell they’ve created for everyone else here on earth isn’t going to be sustainable for their lifestyle.
I’d say, bring out the pitchforks first then feed them to the sharks. When they’re gone, we can create a more just and equitable society and only then will humanity be able to make cohesive explorations for reaching the stars.
There’s always gonna be oligarchs, Micha. oligarchs isn’t a species you can dispatch and cull. its people who by virtue of imagination and /or smarts, and- or daddy’s or granddaddy’s money, get to make decisions that affect others with lesser means.
So you “escape” these “oligarchs” by escaping the very decisions they make, and that’s by colonization and by leaving. and finding new places where you yourself can be oligarch. and rule others. that’s how the world works.
Leaving is the start, and the timeline Elon Musk says is 2029.
Otherwise your pitchforks idea will just lead to this:
Well then, fuck Elon Musk. Let him be on the first flight to Mars and his other oligarchic buddies. Maybe he’ll get you a complimentary ticket too Corporal D. You going?
We cannot export the virus of oligarchy into space. It will be a sick society we’ll be creating there. Unsustainable. Doomed to fail.
Firstly , its not a virus, its human nature. Look at primatology and look at history. and Anthropology. so you’re wrong, Micha.
And I’m not going to Mars, Elon Musk has staked his claim on that planet, I’ve staked my claim on planet f.
I’ve studied the Prince and all sorts of gov’t and societal stuff mostly form YouTube. and I’ve come to the conclusion that monarchy is best for humans (you can opt for democracy, or whateves… its all theory and pract app in the end), but for me, if you immigrate to planet f there will be mandatory castration for all men, and prima nocta rights only reserved for me. but you can do whateves. like a cross between Disneyland and Vegas.
The constitution for planet f will stipulate that I will be cloned, and that there will always be an old me, a young me, and a me in my 30s— that’s from Apple TV’s “Foundation”.
There are plenty of government models :
Democracy
Communism
Socialism
Oligarchy
Aristocracy
Monarchy
Theocracy
Colonialism
Totalitarianism
Military Dictatorship
And i’m sure plenty still that we’ve not thought up yet.
But for my planet f, tentatively which I’ll call LCPL_X’s planet (LCPL_Xers its inhabitants), it’ll be clone monarchy in perpetuity. from Apple TV’s series.
And as always, you’re free to keep your dumb delusions going.
“When they’re gone, we can create a more just and equitable society and only then will humanity be able to make cohesive explorations for reaching the stars.”
Delusion. Big one.
Breaking news now : Another mass shooting in an Indiana mall.
This is what I meant by sick society Corporal D. An epidemic of suffering hateful individuals training their guns on innocent defenseless victims.
A sick society created by and in the service of the oligarchs.
I was here typing with you, Micha!!! I had nothing to do with it!
karl,
If we comb Joe’s many blog articles, we can extract for fun reading or whatever the anthology or compendium of Micha-LCpl_X exchanges. Never a dull moment — at least for me. 🤣
I agree NH.
Poor driver.
Green & red shorts, could be interpreted as BBM and Inday Sara , karl, and the jeepney is the Philippines.
Or the jeepney is Philippine oligarchy and the two boys are the Filipinos creating ” a more just and equitable society”, thus heroes.
But it looks like the stop to go into UP Diliman.
The one who went down first followed the lines.
Hehe.
I concluded wrongly that they stole from the driver
MAGNUS CARLSEN — WORLD CHESS CHAMPION
Magnus Carlsen moves out of defending the world chess champion title he has held since he won it in 2013 at age 22, accepting the current reality of his lack of normal motivation to continue playing the championship game.
He is a five-time world chess champion and by acclamation one of the very best players in history. [Ref: NYT July 20, 2022 article by Victor Mather.]
This is a great contrast to many who are motivated or aspire for high political positions but who lack the skills or motivation to do well in the positions once elected or at least abide by the rules of the game — in this latter case, the country’s Constitution. I can cite my “favorite,” Trump; you can cite your own favorite.
NH, speaking of rules changes and your “favorite”, here…
Thanks, Lance