Friday, June 29, 2018

West Philippine sea grab by China

StrategyPage Podcast mp3

this was openly stolen because President Obama pressured our then president PNoy not to fight them.

PNoy, a liberal, gave in. Sigh.

Now Duterte is stuck with them there, and knows we are too weak to throw them out.

Family news

Joy had the stomach flu a few days ago, and now I have it.

Blogging will be light.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Family news

Our golden lab is very sick: He was tested awhile back and is developing renal failure, and has been going downhill.

Sigh.

That means I am not getting exercize walking him twice a day.

Ruby is busy with her friends: Going to Manila to go to a Christian music concert this afternoon with a cousin.

Joy is at meetings, as usual. Chano is supervising a late harvest/ rice planting on various fields.

The mayor is putting in new sewers to keep the streets from flooding: But that means more traffic detouring around our house, making it noisy here.

And every afternoon, we have a thuderstorm... the roof is finally fixed so the leaks are gone...so far.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Comfort food

The CSMonitor has an article with recipes for comfort food.

Yes, TEOTWAWKI is nigh, but AHHH... Macaroni and Cheese...

this is the delicious recipe on how to make it from scratch.

Alas, when I make it here, I use macaroni, butter, and the local soft Eden cheese.

and here is the local commercial for this cheese to celebrate Father's day:


Potato cam

------------

more at BoingBoing: the more detailed DIY:




 headsup Improbable Research.

Political correctness as tribal war

interesting theory: That Political correctness essentially is devolving into a tribal war.



like most of his stuff, he is subtle and often I need to listen a couple of times to grasp the many concepts he discusses.

Another sign TEOTWAWKI is nigh

HelloKitty Bullet Train.



Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Migrants and refugees and minions, oh my

Migrant Rights site continues to post articles on the plight of people seeking to work in another country to support their families.

here is their latest three part series on the problems they face.

read it: it puts into perspective all those western rich folks who see these countries as paradise, see only romanctic village when they see people living a "traditional lifestyle", and who oppose modernization for these people. But the dirty little secret is that they are so poor that often they need the wages from their children to survive...


Alok Pandey and Sanjay Sharma are grassroots social workers with Grameen Development Services who try to educate these communities on safe migration. ... the pradhan (head) of Sirori village was complaining that families pull children as young as 10 and 12 out of schools and make them work. Because that means Rs3,000 more a month.” Education is not seen as an escape from poverty. Especially when families keep growing, the older children have no choice but to drop out and work.

 But some seek a better life, and often use their savings to help one of their members to migrate and work overseas, mainly in the Middle East but also in nearby countries.

one of the big problems they face is illegal recruiters:


Sharma says there are three main ways in which unauthorised agents function, bypassing the e-Migrate system and other checks and balance that are in place. “They charge the worker and then send him to an agent; or they do an individual application because they understand the process. Individuals can apply for jobs too, but the employer has to be registered on the system, visas and contract attested by the embassy in the destination.”
 The third - and ‘real fraud’ according to Sharma - is sending workers on the wrong visas. “Tourist visas… forcing workers to work in captive environments because they are illegal there, too.”
Stories of those workers HERE. Mainly from India to Middle Eastern countries.

but it's not just to the Middle East (or Europe or to the USA).

China has an estimated 200 thousand Filipinos working there illegally, often entering by using "visitor visas".

Here in the Philippines, ten percent of our population works elsewhere, either immigrating, as temporary workers, on as seamen.

Rappler: DeGuzman


most of our extended family either works/lives overseas, or has worked overseas in the past.

They usually have an education to get a legal job, but Rappler article on illegal recruiters here shows that those seeking less skilled jobs from poorer areas are vulnerable to being defrauded.
An estimated 6,000 Filipinos leave to work overseas every single day – fathers, mothers, siblings, or even an entire family. (INFOGRAPHIC: Getting to know the OFWs)
To secure a job overseas, OFWs and their families spend large amounts of time and money to pay for fees, paperwork, as well as trips to and from hometowns and cities.
But in many instances, prospective workers can be scammed by illegal recruitment schemes. According to government data, migrant workers continue to be victims of illegal recruitment despite laws against it. A total of 1,567 illegal recruitment cases were reported to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2016. But this excludes cases that have either been dropped or not reported at all.
Sigh.

It is a worldwide problem, and the criminals see in this desperate search for a decent job as a way to make money.

and although the above articles are about democratic countries with where people seek to emigrate legally, and are scammed by criminals, those from less honest countries are even more vulnerable to be scammed or exploited by the ruthless criminals who prey on those displaced by war, poverty, or violence.

(FilAm) blogger Belmont Club points out that the real crisis is in countries imploding from local wars, open crime and bad governments: and that the crisis is huge, but underreported:

Yet the biggest aspect of the crisis, even though it is underreported, is in countries close to where 22.5 million have fled imploding societies -- the biggest such tide of displacement since WWII. The numbers are staggering: Turkey has 3.5 million Syrian refugees, tiny Lebanon a million; 1.5 million Afghans are camped in Pakistan; more than a million Sudanese are cooling their heels in Uganda. In South America, one million Venezuelans fleeing Bolivarian socialism have lodged in Colombia. In Central America, multitudes of "families and unaccompanied children" daily flee their own crime-ridden societies for the U.S.:
and this doesn't include the one million Afghans in Iran, who fled the Taliban before the US intervened there, or the "internally displaced" people fleeing the civil wars in Central Africa and Nigeria.

the UN center for refugees (UNHCR) estimate 25 million "refugees" but 68 million people "displaced".

The "migrant" crisis to Europe is only the tip of the iceburg, but as StrategyPage points out, the criminal smugglers are getting rich off of them:

These outlaws are key movers of illegal money and goods (people, weapons, oil and so on). Italy has been particularly effective here because many of the European criminals (working with Libyan outlaws) are Italian.
Italy is trying to crack down on the rampant people smuggling carried out by criminal gangs and Islamic terrorist groups in Libya. A new Italian government got elected recently by promising to address the continuing movement of illegal migrants from Libya to Italy and now Italy is refusing to let the people smuggler ships land in Italy and is going after the NGO (non-governmental organizations) rescue ships that work with the smugglers.
Italics mine. in other words, the NGO's are actually making things worse.

It has gotten to the point where the NGO rescue ships will take up position just outside (or even inside) Libyan territorial waters. The smuggler boats head right for the NGO ships and then any smugglers on board return to Libya while the NGOs see that the illegal migrants reach Italy.
It sounds cruel to stop these "refugees" (actually many of them men looking for work), but you know, that is how Bill Clinton stopped the illegal ships from leaving Haiti, after a couple hundred people drowned by trying to migrate on overloaded unsafe ships. He even sent thousands of them to Guantanemo bay to keep them from landing in the US so they could claim asylum, where the courts would take forever to send them back.

But never mind.

what does this have to do with the US crisis on the border?

NPR article from 2016 notes how criminals are fueling immigration from Central America by recruiting people to go. In this story it is about human trafficking.

CBC (Canada) article (2014) on the criminals encouraging people in Central America to migrate. It is a 6.6 billion dollar business, and business is booming.

BBC: the problem under Obama (2014)was massive, but his compassion resulted in a lot of folks thinking they could migrate without bothering to do paper work.

 lengthy deportation processes, especially when children are sent to wait with relatives already in the US, have contributed to the belief that some are being allowed to stay permanently.The White House has argued those who transport children across the border for a fee have abused such misunderstandings to drum up business.
 Mother Jones article (also from 2014) discusses the problem of trying to resettle these kids (usually boys in their mid or late teens) who come without parents.

NPR article noting a lot of them are wating in Mexico, and upset that the "get into the US free" card is now being threatened: and notes that Mexico is deporting a lot of them back:

Luna and other migration experts estimate that 400,000 Central Americans enter Mexico as migrants or refugees each year and that as many as half of them are detained by Mexican authorities.

this is the backstory of the Mexican presidencial candidate threatening to let anyone who wants to go into the US to get help going there: they are being stuck in the middle of this essentially man made crisis, and he doesn't want to keep paying for these folks to stay in Mexico

  (Strategy Page has an essay on the criminal gangs and the local corrupt cops and politicians who get rich off of corruption, kickbacks, Money laudering, drugs and people smuggling).

the dirty little secret is that these people are not "refugees", i.e. fleeing a tyrannical government, as much as people seeking entry to a country where they can live freely and support their families.

most would enter legally if they could, but let's be realistic: do you really want to resettle the 25 milion refugees, the 68 million people displaced in their own countries by war and terror? And if you open the doors, remember: lots of other people who aren't really in danger will decide to migrate to get a better paying job.(like the mom with the crying child on TIME Magazine's cover).

and awaiting in the wings: more "refugees" from the socialist paradises in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The policies of President Obama made things worse, because instead of finding legal ways for folks to migrate , he decided to ignore the laws, which sent a message they could enter the US without the hassle of bothering to do the paperwork.

so essentially, when Trump decided to actually follow the law,  word is getting around:

so what is the answer?

1.Build the wall.

2. Screen people in other countries before they enter the US (or Canada, or Europe)...if they fail screening, put their name in a computer.

If they arrive without being screened from a country where this is available, or if they failed the screening test, deport immediately, not after three months waiting for a court case and often disappearing and not showing up.

3. Amnesty for those who are in the USA and have a job.

and then comes the hard part:

4. prosecute the drug cartels and criminals who are making these countries unstable. That is what Colombia did, and that is what Duterte is doing here (to the despair of the left and the NWO).

 The CIA used to do things like this, but the NGO's would go hysterical if they tried this again. Maybe hire Blackwater or another mercenary group to help them train local police to be honest and lethal against the bad guys, like they are doing against the terrorists/criminals in Africa. where mercenaries trained Nigerian soldiers to fight the Bokoharum and rescue the girls that Michelle Obama cried over. LINK2

And enlist the churches: Tell the churches in the USA to start preaching morality instead of the importance to vote for Democrats: being faithful to a spouse, not using illegal drugs, and being honest is one place to start.

if even half of those using illicit drugs stopped using them it would help.

Oh yes: And tell those who exploit workers without papers to work for them so they can make a larger profit that this is a sin.

as for the activists: stop protesting and go to work. Change diapers. Tutor students. Run a food bank. You can go to your nearest Catholic church for advice how to help.

But of course, excuse my cynicism:  the latest kerfuffle is not about mirgants: it is is merely another Alinsky tactic to use as an excuse to riot against Trump (riots scheduled the end of the month by the way). 

If it wasn't immigrants, it would be something else.

But things have escalated: they aren't just going after Trumpie boy: They now have started harassing people who work for the government.

This is 1968 redux: You know, when the radicals rioted in Chicago and the press did their best to blacken the name of Chicago and their cops, but the result was only to destroy Humprhey's candidacy because most normal people who saw the riots voted for Nixon.

so yes, I take it seriously when a Congresswoman threatens anyone who works for the government and urges her minions to do the same.


and that is the best case scenerio: on radical (and now some not so radical) right wing sites, some of the evil minions are discussing if they should fight back.


evil Minion

Mayor Daley call your  office...


Sunday, June 24, 2018

Satire of the day

on AnnAlthouse via twitter:

it's Tracy Ullman...

When you so woke, you asleep. 😜


sorry go to the link: I haven't figured how to post the video

an all purpose insulter.








It's a bird! it's a plane! It's a Black Hornet




no, not a joke:

StrategyPage has a long post on how this could be used by soldiers and cops, mainly to check out where the bad guy is hiding.


related item: How to make your own DIY drone. 


sorry, perverts: They will only sell it to governments, but hey, you can probably make one by yourself.

Mimic not speech

Koko the "talking gorilla" is mourned by his "trainer".

But what is worse is that a lot of sceptics think it is a fraud.

We simply cannot know whether a particular utterance is grammatical or not just by looking at the words used. We have to see the context.
Terrace and his team had collected videotapes of Nim with his trainers and proceeded to analyze these frame by frame, looking not just at what signs Nim used, but at the exact context — everything that was going on before and after Nim’s utterances.
Terrace released his results in November 1979. Dava Sobel in the New York Times summarized Terrace’s new position thus: “Herbert S. Terrace … now asserts that the success of his own and related efforts can be explained as mere prompting on the part of the experimenters and mistakes in reporting the data. ‘Much of the apes’ behavior is pure drill,’ he said. ‘Language still stands as an important definition of the human species.’”
BBC discussion:


It might appear that Koko has mastered the ability to communicate a complex message using signs. But as the article below explains, she has been trained well to make certain sounds and gestures.



Slate discussion here.

just over look his history of sexual harassment of course.

but never mind: The Bonobos are the next frontier.

one is reminded of the handlers who interpret the "speech" of profoundly retarded children aka "facilitated communication".

Hmm... my cats talk to their kittens and to me, and my dogs request food and push it away when they don't want it.

So yes, animals can communicate.



I love animals.

The problem with this is that it is a cult: not the idea to take care of animals but the subtle ideological argument that humans aren't unique and no better than animals

In Africa and in parts of Asia, we get these types who essentially say: the locals shouldn't be allowed to farm land they desperatly need to feed their families because hey, a rich outside group with loads of money from animal lovers wants to stop them and preserve the land for keep for animals.

These folks are not trying to care for their families, they are
destroying the habitat/ So screw the locals: let'm starve.

this is usually put in more polite language of course.


The relationship between humans and wildlife is a challenging one. While people place boundaries around their homes, communities, and countries, wildlife doesn’t recognize it. It often roams outside park boundaries and onto land owned by communities. When this happens, wildlife causes substantial damage to fields as well as eating the communities’ crops.
This naturally can create tension, which can quickly turn into human or wildlife injuries, even death. As people and wildlife increasingly find themselves living alongside one another, there continues to be a struggle for resources and human-wildlife conflict.
Black lives matter, anyone?

even the idea that we shouldn't kill or eat animals has it's dark side:

we are allowed to legally kill sick/vicious/unwanted animals
humans are no better than animals.
Therefore we can kill humans who are sick/vicious/unwanted.

no, I am not joking about this.

this sounds nice. What's wrong with stopping animal suffering?


until you read more stuff this bozo has written:

Killing a defective infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Sometimes it is not wrong at all.
or this one:
The traditional view of the sanctity of human life will collapse under pressure from scientific, technological and demographic developments.

and yes, the usual suspects are the problem

Christianity is our foe. If animal rights is to succeed, we must destroy the Judeo-Christian religious tradition.
Walker Percy, call your office. Flannery is on line.

He who must not be named

No, not Voldemort, but JC, the superstar.

A big Hollywood star gave a talk on MTV, and instead of pushing hedonism or psychobabble did a good imitation of a certain professor who is channeling Marcus Aurelius by advising Nine Rules for Living.

and the press? Anyone? Anyone? the link above is from GetReligion, but they noticed that only few of the MSM bothered to cover the speech: but never mind.

But in today's GetReligion post, they noted an "infowars" (the notorious conspiracy site) had said a certain name was censored from his speech.

Ah, conspiracy theories. Or is it?

But then they scrutinized the speech.


 Thus, this Infowars.com (yes, I know) clip argues that something interesting may have happened right in the middle of this statement in rule No. 9 – after the word "way."
Look at the position of Pratt's hands before and after the editing cut from a camera on the left and then a camera on the right.
Did MTV leaders remove the typical Pratt reference to "Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior"? Was that language too offensive for this audience?
You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace.

Remember: This was MTV, and a couple years ago at an awards show. A couple years ago, Conan O'Brien joked about it being "the Satanic awards show".

the phrase: Speaking truth to power comes to mind.

---------------------

In other religion news: The elites of Ireland have been demonizing the Catholic church there for many years, and their bad bishops make it easy for them.

The "abortion" law was passed after a propaganda deluge lamenting the death of a woman who died after an abortion, and the press did a propaganda deluge about it, insisting that the abortion law killed her. .

(actually the doctors treated her as a spontaneously ruptured membranes at 17 weeks and missed that there might be a risk of sepsis...The problem? Anyone working in Asia could have warned the docs that this probably wasn't "spontaneous". hmm...)

but after the abortion law passed with a suspiciously high percentage of yes votes, the full court press by the Irish gov't to punish believing catholics, by ordering doctors and hospitals to "provide the service"

And now, the pro abort pro gay ex president is going around saying that baptizing babies is wrong.

headup AnnAlthouse who comments:

The idea that adults should refrain from making decisions for a child isn't even coherent. To hold back from imposing any values is itself a decision. You might think it is best for a child to maintain a religion-free environment, but you could be wrong about that and why not go hysterical and call that too a violation of fundamental human rights?

a major persecution is about to happen, but hey, the bishops in Ireland are too busy promoting their gay friendly "family conference" to notice.

hell, they even invited this bigot to speak at their upcoming gay friendly divorce friendly francis mercy family meeting this August, at least until someone in the Vatican noticed it and stopped it.

who wudda thot? speaking truth to power in the Vatican? Wonder how long before that bozo in the Vatican finds he is demoted.

sorry, I am being sarcastic.

Related item about the crisis of faith at this Anglican site.

read the whole thing.

cultural marxism that twists the meaning of words and replaces holiness with the idea of political correctness.

The author suggests the Benedict option, of leaving the corrupt institutions to the catacombs and keeping the faith in stead of compromising, is now seen by him as an option.

Ah, but in the US, there is a danger that the less passive Christians fight back, and the long term predictions are not good.

sigh.


Megamaid to the rescue

David Reneke has a post about the Remove Debris spacecraft which is due to start cleaning up space junk in September





classic reference is to this:

Saturday, June 23, 2018

WHat is behind the migrant crisis?

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

this can be fought (as did Colombia, or how they eradicated it from the Golden Triangle) but the will is not there: if you fight it, it moves elsewhere.

But it gives you an idea why Dueterte is willing to risk the wrath of the NWO Elites to fight the drug war: So our country, doesn't evolve into a narco state, because our geographic position would allow us to become a huge transit area (and a drug growing area in our remote areas).

the reason behind this is greed and corruption, and the willingness to kill to get power.

and the selfishness of those using recreational drugs, or by those who have empty lives.

The Mexican bishops actually did an exorcism ceremony for the entire country, but hey, the Pope is busy telling us to not use airconditioners because hey, must have priorities.

The Narrative is changing

The BBC reports that the propaganda posters in North Korea have stopped pushing war with evil Americans and replaced them with posters pushing the idea of peace and prosperity and making nice with the South.


keep your fingers crossed: It might not last.

Friday, June 22, 2018

God is in the coincidences

I sometimes relate the story that I would feel guilty leaving my hospital in Africa because I worried something might go wrong because I wasn't there.

But the nuns (these were hard eyed practical German nuns, not the mushy pious types you usually see portrayed in films) always assured me: Look, God knows you will be away, and he is in charge, so if anything happens it's his fault will, not your fault.

And you know, during those three years, we had emergencies two minutes before I was scheduled to leave, or five minutes after I got back, but only one fatal emergency when I was missing, and that case would probably had died (of septic shock) even if I had been present at the hospital to operate.

The idea that god is in the coincidences is also a theme of Tolkien:
There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."
--Tolkien, FotR, The Shadow of the Past

so today's coincidence is from Buzzfeed, via Get Religion:

one year ago, a terrorist shot up some congressmen at a baseball session, and what could have been a major massacre was not, because...


If you ask the people who survived, a series of miracles took place that morning, which Roger Williams considers “angels,” and Rep. Jeff Duncan, “God winks.”
That the shooter never got a good shot into the dugout.
That his first shot hit the fence, diverting the bullet’s path away from Rep. Trent Kelly who was standing directly in front of him, at third base.
That he never thought to climb the announcer’s booth.
That the pitchers weren’t there that day, instead of trapped in a batting cage.
That Matt Mika was turning his body when the first bullet struck him, so it didn’t hit his heart.
That Zack Barth could still run.
That Dr. Brad Wenstrup didn’t leave early.
That Richard Krimmer’s ambulance hit green lights the entire way to the field.
that the gate next to third base — through which the shooter could’ve walked through right onto the field — was locked, another fact nearly everyone on the team credits with saving their lives.
"If it was just one thing, you could maybe call it a coincidence, but when you add them all up together, the only way you can explain it is that they were all miracles,” Scalise says.
...The irony is because Steve Scalise was there,” Rodney Davis says, “we all survived.” Because he is the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, Scalise has a security detail — on that morning, US Capitol Police special agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey.
They put themselves directly in harm’s way, engaging the shooter so he started firing back at them, instead of at everyone else....
“If Steve’s not there, he doesn’t get hit,” Wenstrup says. “But if Steve’s not there, there’s no one firing back. And you could have seen about 20 people laying on the field.” ...
Clockwise from top left: Donald Trump presents the Medal of Valor to Capitol Hill Police Officers David Bailey and Crystal Griner, and Kevin Jobe and Nicole Battaglia of the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department. GettyImages
I post this today not merely to preach, but because yesterday Rush Limbaugh warned that the crescendo of hysteria we are seeing is going to get someone killed.

You see, I remember the 1960's and shudder, for the warning signs are out there.

or, as Buzzfeed writes:


There’s been a lot of discussion the past year about where this broader moment fits in American history, which past era it might resemble. Are we living in 1968, on the precipice of more violence, assassinations, disruption, unrest? ...
  What is certain is the disquieting way June 14 slipped beneath the news so quickly. ...Two dozen members of Congress were nearly killed one morning last year, and the country didn’t change very much at all.
Many lawmakers talk about the need for greater security, their leeriness about divulging too many details about public appearances, the fleeting worry when someone asks them if they are members of Congress, the precautions that started years ago, when former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot at a routine event in Arizona. With this talk of security, there is an implicit acceptance of some darker reality. Whatever it is that’s wrong, it might just be too complicated to fix.
Yes, it can be fixed, but it's easier and more fun to join the two minute hates.

they found the lost matter of the universe

scitechdaily article says they found all that missing matter in the universe.

they are not talking about dark matter, but ordinary matter that seemed to be missing.



In the new research, an international team pinned down the missing third, finding it in the space between galaxies. That lost matter exists as filaments of oxygen gas at temperatures of around 1 million degrees Celsius, said CU Boulder’s Michael Shull, a co-author of the study.


Narco states we haz them (or would if the SJW had their way)

Ruby said one of the students gave a talk in her (Canadian) school about her home country, Mexico, and she told the student not to take drugs because that was the reason for the chaos and violence there.

Yes, that and corruption.

And that is the reason behind the chaos causing Central Americans to flee to the USA too.

So maybe get to the root causes?

Quick: When was the last time you heard a sermon against using illegal drugs in your church? (nah, too specific and might get people mad and they won't attend church and give money... Just ignore the problems that are actually destroying the families that attend church, while feeling morally superior by condemning stuff that has little or nothing to do with the daily lives of your congregation.... This is the moral equivalence of the "Bloomsberg" syndrome, where local politicians make pious pronouncements on federal or international problems while ignoring the problems going on in their own front yard).


FYI: when the Pope and the US Catholic bishops lament Trump, maybe it is to distract you from the fact that another bishop has been outed for abuse that occurred in plain site of not only the bishops bu the US MSM).

 For that matter, the Pope rarely speaks about this, and even told the government in Colombia to "make peace" with FARC, who are more of a criminal organization than a "liberation" one, but hey, they spout communist propaganda so who do you believe? Their rhetoric or your lying eyes?

Hell, he even comforted an ex FARC drug lord when he visited Colombia, because the guy asked for "forgiveness" (but didn't offer to give back some of his ill gotten loot: FARC is estimated to be worth 10.5 billion dollars... indeed, one way the gov't helped encourage them to give in and Strategy page noted one way they pressured them to stop terrorizing folks was that they took their assets away from them.)

But we were told they were penniless revolutionary heroes! (/S). Sure. and if you believe that there is a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. From SP:


The FARC peace deal is supposed to deal with the many rural victims of FARC. These people are not all that concerned about the cash the leftist rebels made from drug operations. That was largely foreign money. But in many parts of the countryside FARC members were unwilling to give up billions of dollars in property stolen over decades of controlling vast rural areas. A lot of the stolen property was subsequently sold by FARC. The original owners want their assets back, as well as cash for damage done to structures and improvements. The FARC leaders (of all levels) who got rich on these deals don’t want to become poor again.
and although the Pope similarly did condemned generic "violence" by cartels in Mexico, essentially he is giving out "get out of jail free" cards to bad guys under the guise of "compassion"...and alas, this cluelessness is not new, as Niehbur pointed out years ago in his classic essay.


So how naive are they? Remember, a dozen Mexican priests have been killed by drug cartels, but it is the victims who have to forgive: true. But the problem is the subcontext that the victims are bad if they don't forgive, but for the perpetrator? no repentance needed.: from Time.

The Church in Mexico also ran one video campaign called “Hermano Narco” or “Brother Narco” which encourages forgiveness as a pass to peace. One such episode shows a 13-year old girl cowering under her bed as gunmen brutally murder her parents. But later in church, the orphan walks up to the sombrero-clad head of one of the killers and gave him a hug. “Many say you’re bad and you should be killed,” the girl tells him. “But maybe they did the same thing to your parents, or they never hugged you.” The film was played in Mexico City’s metropolitan cathedral and on TV as well as the Internet.

Italics mine:  Uh fellas: thugs don't attend church... and it's not about not being hugged. It's about sin, and greed, and the fun of taking drugs and having the power to push people around.

(Thugs don't attend church, but crooked politicians do, but telling them off will get priests killed, as both the Philippines and Mexican bishops very well know).

the dirty little secret is that Colombia has essentially won their drug war, but if you google it, all the newspapers stories are two to four years old and insist the war was a failure.

No, actually it is pretty well won, partly because after trying to make nice, they got in a president willing to fight them, a population that demonstrated in the millions against FARC's crimes. and a little help from a "friend" who had drones and smart bombs.

and the result? The country is prospering, (while the Socialist paradise next door, which was praised to high heaven by Hollywood and the left, is imploding).

a similar tactic is happening here: The Muslim and communist insurgencies are involved in the drug trade, but mainly it is run by Chinese gangsters.

a combination of Duterte's drug war (with some help from Xi, who is also fighting corruption) and war against corruption is lowering crime rates (a lot of the low levels are spilling the beans on the corrupt big shots who are the main ones profiting from drugs, either by selling them here or more commonly by using the Philippines as a hub to ship drugs to SEAsian countries.) Along with offers of negotiations and amnesties of course... (most low level druggies surrendered, were detoxed and left back into the community).

what works is not just a mushy "compassionate" approach, but tough love, a carrot and a stick approach.

Whether or not it will work here, who knows? But things are slowly improving, and the economy is taking off in the hopes things will continue to improve.

But the dirty little secret is some of them only pretend to give up crime,  and so the violence will spring up again as soon as pressure is stopped...

and then there is the problem of payback:

I'll give an example. A relative in Colombia's common law husband came in from FARC in a previous amnesty, but later was shot dead after leaving a bar late at night. The family assumes it was a government hit squad, meaning the "dirty Harry" type cops didn't believe he was peaceful but faking, or maybe it was "dirty Harry" type cops killing him in retaliation for his killing a cop or a family member. Or maybe it was a killing by FARC guys for leaving them, either as a warning to stop others from leaving or because they thought he might have snitched on them.

Sigh. Too bad, He had two kids and his death is one reason my oldest son went back there, to help his sister raise them.

Sigh.

Which is why I note that the sweetness and light folks see every murder as Duterte's fault, as if all the victims were government victims, not pay back for crimes, or execution for drug dealing.

But the dirty little secret is that Duterte may not succeed, but people hope he will.

But in the meanwhile, all the SJW hate him, and one suspects they are egged on because the CIA/Deepstate/Nwo wanted the American girl to win.

so here the hysterical SJW are constantly complaining about Duterte. Who wudda thot?

Hmm... wonder how many of these affluent SJW take drugs, or their families are rich thanks to gifts/ kickbacks/ bribes etc.?

think I am being cynical?

Notice the hysteria against Trump ignores that this is a longstanding problem, but it was just noticed now....because? Uh, maybe because Trump just stopped the Korean war, and the midterm elections are coming.

Why do I say this is a long standing problem? From the ACLU site explaining why they finally got around to suing the government for mistreatment of "children" (teenagers including gang members)

Last week, the ACLU’s Border Litigation Project and University of Chicago Law’s International Human Rights Clinic published a report detailing child abuse by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The report, based on a portion of the more than 30,000 pages of government records we obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, identifies numerous cases of serious alleged misconduct by CBP officials between 2009 and 2014
Gee, I wonder who was President between 2009 and 2014? Anyone?

Baoizi burgers: Another thing for SJW to get their knickers in a knot over

Weibo has an article about the fake controversy over "bazoizi burgers" in China, stirred up by various expat bloggers there.

ABS CBN article on the trend here.

Apparently someone decided to combine "pizza" stuffing with Baozi, i.e. Chinese steamed buns, which are called Siomai here in the Philippines,



this just sounds like of a variation of Stromboli.

But you know, Stromboli was invented by Italian Americans, and the modern day Pizza only dates back to 1889....

and has anyone noticed that Tomatoes came from the Americas (as did hot chili peppers, that are widely used in Sichuan cuisine).
what will they complain about next? General Tso's Chicken (invented in NYC) or Chop Suey (an American dish), or Hawaiian pizza with pineapple (invented in Canada)?


as to the crazy SJW bloggers (all of whom seem to have western names) who complain about this trend: Could I advise them to mind their own business?



Thursday, June 21, 2018

From my medical blog

stuff and rants on my medical blog

The Gosport scandal. 

Terminal sedation/heavy doses of opiods are sometimes needed for pain relief.

The problem is when opioids are used on folks who don't need them and they end up dead, and no one asks why.
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Materialism kills

when folks think their worth depends on being strong and productive, what happens to the rest of us?
Journal article worries about pushing grandmom to think she is worthless to the world, so should kill herself.
Rant.
Sigh. I wish I was a better writer, but this is an important subject.

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 Mosquito control. Disney shows how to do it.

Yes, it can be done. And remember the Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793 before you post a rant about global warming.

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rant about "clinical trials". 

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Brain dead? Moi?

the protocol to diagnose brain death is strict, so why do laypeople hear about so many cases of people waking up after their relatives are told they are dead so donate their organs...

link


Trenton McKinley, 13, suffered severe brain trauma two months ago from a dune buggy accident. "I hit the concrete, and the trailer landed on top of my head. After that, I don't remember anything," Trenton told FOX10 News....
For the next several days, Trenton was brain dead and barely breathing, according to reports.... "Five kids needed organs that matched him,” said his mother, Jennifer Reindl. “It was unfair to keep bringing him back because it was just damaging his organs even more."
notice the argument? He has to die so others can get his organs.

and the dirty little secret: some docs are taking organs from live patients, or want to change the criteria to include people who are not really dead, because hey, they don't have "meaningful" life so hey, they are better off dead:
They “propose that sometimes the harm of dying is sufficiently small that patients should be allowed to voluntarily accept that harm if it makes organ donation possible”.
It would be permissible to use as donors at least two classes of patients who had given prior consent: the “permanently unconscious” and the “imminently dying”.1 Ultimately, it would be up to “society” to determine the minimal threshold of lively existence below which donation would be permitted. They suggest that organ donation from the “permanently unconscious” be limited to patients declared “brain dead” by current standards, because of uncertainty about the “capacity for consciousness” in patients in a persistent vegetative state or in anencephalic newborns.

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Marijuana in workers. 

Why is no body wondering why this study in the use of marijuana by workers, just happends to show many marijuana users are unemployed.

dirty little secret no one is discussing: Alcohol gets you high, but is quickly metabolized (one ounce per hour). So you can drink it in the evening and you are sober in the morning.

Marijuana has a long half life, so doses accumulate if you use it daily or several times a day... the doses then add on top of one another. this is why drug tests stay positive so long, but since it is lipophilic, it also means it accumulates in the brain heart and liver.

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Feel good art

Dark Roasted Blend has lots of interesting stuff, and here is a list of their "feel good" issues.


this one includes the art work of Ted Nesmith inspired by the Simarillion.



he also links to this website about (fake) self help books, although the way things are going in the world, maybe they aren't so fake:




Emily of New Moon

APilgrimInNarnia has an article about Emily of New Moon, by LMMontgomery.


Ebook at Project Guternburg Australia.

they have most of LMMontgomery's books there LINK

there was a series based on the book at you tube: LINK



however, I haven't seen this series yet.