Looking at the SONA through its different audiences

Posted by JoeAm on July 25, 2017 · 73 Comments 

By Joe America President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) meant different things to different audiences. Let’s reflect on them. These are my guesses, and you can add your own interpretations in the discussion that follows the article. The Congressional majority and even some minority members who do not want to be seen as … Continue reading →

Category Blogging/Journalism, China, Economy, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, USA/Americans

Absurdistan: the Philippines under Duterte

Posted by JoeAm on June 14, 2017 · 57 Comments 

By Joe America My thanks to contributor and blogging colleague Irineo B. R. Salazar (Filipino-German Learning Center) for the perfect characterization of the Philippines in 2017. Absurdistan It is absurd when killing is adopted as a state-enterprise, in the guise of fighting drugs . . . without the compassion that recognizes drugs are a symptom of the … Continue reading →

Category China, Economy, Family/Parenting/Children, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, USA/Americans

China’s stealth invasion of the Philippines

Posted by JoeAm on June 2, 2017 · 106 Comments 

By Joe America This article is a hypothesis, unproven. It is not fake news. It is real thinking. Hard data on the subject are impossible to get. I mean, do you think Beijing would invite JoeAm into the power halls to brief him on the most secret of China’s plans? No, no. Beijing would not. So … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Economy, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Philippine Government

AFP: Running dogs of the Chinese master?

Posted by JoeAm on May 29, 2017 · 126 Comments 

By Joe America President Duterte is a man of action, a risk taker, a gambler, a man who sets aside civility, laws, and tradition to uproot convention. He encourages . . . nay, demands . . . that we take up the Eastern mindset and set aside the Western. In the Eastern mindset, laws are … Continue reading →

Category China, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

Open Discussion #1: Who is the enemy?

Posted by JoeAm on April 27, 2017 · 133 Comments 

Open discussion blogs can address any subject, even the clientèle of Donald Trump’s hairdresser.  But let me kick this one off with a starter conversation: * * * * * Traditionally, the enemies of the Philippines have been: (P1) Islamic terrorists: Abu Sayaff, BIFF and other splinter groups, and recently ISIS (P2) Communist groups seeking … Continue reading →

Category China, Crime/Corruption, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Philippine Government, USA/Americans