Democracy in the Philippines will be run by power families forever

Posted by JoeAm on October 7, 2019 · 194 Comments 

By JoeAm I ran a little poll on Twitter to get a sense of how those who inhabit the place and follow me, generally well-read people, see the Philippines developing in the future. There were four choices as shown in the results profile to the right. The fourth choice, translated, read “A Chinese Province”. The … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Culture and Arts, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

“Good bye, Hong Kong. It was good to know you.”

Posted by JoeAm on September 4, 2019 · 292 Comments 

By JoeAm Those of us who have been around a long time can tell of huge changes in the way we were until now. Black and white television is now streamed Netflix. The farm where I grew up is now city, so congested that I have trouble finding my way back home again for lack … Continue reading →

Category China, Culture and Arts

Self-dealing defeats humanity

Posted by JoeAm on September 2, 2019 · 51 Comments 

By JoeAm Democracy has proved to be rough going. It is a political process. Politics is agenda pushing, agenda-pushing becomes self-dealing, and self-dealing defeats democratic values. Human rights then get in the way. We see it in the US and UK. We are living it in the Philippines. Actually, the Philippines has had a self-dealing … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Culture and Arts, Ecology/Global Warming, Economy, Philippine Government

Bully Boys in the West Pacific

Posted by JoeAm on July 1, 2019 · 47 Comments 

By JoeAm Democracy is an idealized form of government that has proved hard to manage because most ‘leaders’ are inept or crooked. Dictatorships or other forms of authoritarian rule are better understood by people who are not educated or who are lazy, crooked, or brutal themselves. They can’t conceptualize freedom and link it to inspiration. … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Culture and Arts, Philippine Government

The Philippines under China’s authority

Posted by JoeAm on April 29, 2019 · 73 Comments 

By JoeAm The past is dead. Those good old Western-inspired ideals featuring freedom and fairness, truth, compassion and honor have been supplanted by Chinese-inspired ideals featuring control and favor, lies, brutality and utility. This is not speculation. This is the real world in the Philippines, today. Press freedom? Dead. Freedom of speech? Dead. Fairness under … Continue reading →

Category Blogging/Journalism, China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Culture and Arts, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, Technology/Internet