FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
the men behind King Tut
This article is about Howard Carter, the Egyptologist who found the tomb of King Tut.
actually, it understates his background: He was working class, but a good artist trained by his father who painted people's pets (of all things) and so when someone wanted an artist to copy the paintings inside the tombs, he was hired because they didn't have to pay him very much...another fact to remember: He was not independently wealthy, so when he was fired for taking the side of the workmen against some VIP tourists, it was a financial disaster for him. He had to support himself by painting pictures for tourists.
History Blog has more about Carter's career as an artist.
Librivox has an audio book about the discovery of Tut's Tomb LINK
as for the nobleman who paid Carter to excavate, that was Lord Carnarvan.
If you watched Downton Abbey, you are seeing his house.
Carnavan married a French heiress but wrecked a car and spent winters in Egypt to avoid the unhealthy air of an English winter.
his death shortly after the tomb was opened (from an infected mosquito bite) is the source of the legend of King Tut's curse.
actually, it understates his background: He was working class, but a good artist trained by his father who painted people's pets (of all things) and so when someone wanted an artist to copy the paintings inside the tombs, he was hired because they didn't have to pay him very much...another fact to remember: He was not independently wealthy, so when he was fired for taking the side of the workmen against some VIP tourists, it was a financial disaster for him. He had to support himself by painting pictures for tourists.
History Blog has more about Carter's career as an artist.
Librivox has an audio book about the discovery of Tut's Tomb LINK
as for the nobleman who paid Carter to excavate, that was Lord Carnarvan.
If you watched Downton Abbey, you are seeing his house.
Carnavan married a French heiress but wrecked a car and spent winters in Egypt to avoid the unhealthy air of an English winter.
his death shortly after the tomb was opened (from an infected mosquito bite) is the source of the legend of King Tut's curse.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
family news
I spent several hours at the vet yesterday after the small dog's incision broke open.
No, not malpractice: We had the same problem with other dogs. It is due to the low protein diet of the dogs who we adopted from the farm etc where they got little protein in their diets.
Whenever I read about vegan etc. meaning fewer heart attacks, I just roll my eyes, because low protein diets mean "piss poor protoplasm", aka mild protein malnutrition aka mild kwashiorkor, where the muscles and connective tissue are weak... so you get poor healing and low resistance to infections.
Sigh.
No, not malpractice: We had the same problem with other dogs. It is due to the low protein diet of the dogs who we adopted from the farm etc where they got little protein in their diets.
Whenever I read about vegan etc. meaning fewer heart attacks, I just roll my eyes, because low protein diets mean "piss poor protoplasm", aka mild protein malnutrition aka mild kwashiorkor, where the muscles and connective tissue are weak... so you get poor healing and low resistance to infections.
Sigh.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
BBC reports on buying babies
A BBC report on surrogacy, which essentially is a way to buy a baby you want.
so what happens if the kid isn't perfect, or you change your mind?
and who screens the parents ordering the kid?
from the report:
italics mine.
and who is screening the parents?
UKMail article about a mom who discovered the father of the couple who were paying her to carry the baby had a history of violence against his wife, and won a court case not to give up her child.
a woman offering to bear a child for a relative could be deemed a gift of love, but the dirty little secret is that many of these mothers in overseas surrogacy situations are very poor, and this is essentially exploiting them. They may express satisfaction that carrying a baby let them buy a house or pay off their debts, but one does wonder if they are keeping their sorrow to themselves.
read discussion here:
I remember an article about this in the Philippines, where a tricycle taxi driver said he would have no problem if his girlfriend (i.e. common law wife) wanted to bear such a child for foreigners.
She, however, objected: I get attached to my cellphone and would be upset if I was forced to give it up. Imagine how I would feel about giving up a child who I carried in my womb for nine months.
so what happens if the kid isn't perfect, or you change your mind?
and who screens the parents ordering the kid?
from the report:
For example, the case of baby Gammy shocked the world, when it was alleged the commissioning parents had intentionally left Gammy, who has Down's syndrome, in Thailand, while taking his non-disabled twin sister Pipah home to Australia. A court later ruled he had not been abandoned, although it emerged the commissioning father had previous convictions for child sex offences, playing into wider concerns regarding the welfare of surrogate children.
italics mine.
and who is screening the parents?
UKMail article about a mom who discovered the father of the couple who were paying her to carry the baby had a history of violence against his wife, and won a court case not to give up her child.
...(the judge) criticised all three adults in the case, but judged it was in the baby’s best interests to remain with her mother. In a powerful warning to other prospective parents considering surrogacy, he said they faced ‘very considerable’ risks.
‘In particular, the natural process of carrying and giving birth to a baby creates an attachment which may be so strong that the surrogate mother finds herself unable to give up the child,’ he said.ah, but this case was a western mom. What about third world mothers?
a woman offering to bear a child for a relative could be deemed a gift of love, but the dirty little secret is that many of these mothers in overseas surrogacy situations are very poor, and this is essentially exploiting them. They may express satisfaction that carrying a baby let them buy a house or pay off their debts, but one does wonder if they are keeping their sorrow to themselves.
read discussion here:
From the perspective of a cultural critic, functioning both as an insider and as an observer, it is concerning that there is a huge possibility for the poor women involved that serve as surrogates to be exploited.
This happens in mainly two ways: first, by treating them as if they were providing cheap labor instead of helping in the creation of a human life. This is exacerbated by the unfortunate fact that many of these women are illiterate and do not really understand ahead of time what it takes to be a surrogate mother. As mentioned above, from their perspective, it is often seen as an opportunity to earn some income to satisfy their needs.
Second, given the oppressed status that women suffer in Indian patriarchal society, these women may be forced into surrogate motherhood against their own choice, and moreover, may not even have the opportunity to be the decision makers on how to use the money that they receive from their work as surrogates,.
I remember an article about this in the Philippines, where a tricycle taxi driver said he would have no problem if his girlfriend (i.e. common law wife) wanted to bear such a child for foreigners.
She, however, objected: I get attached to my cellphone and would be upset if I was forced to give it up. Imagine how I would feel about giving up a child who I carried in my womb for nine months.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Haruki Murakami
Haruki Marakami's books are high on the list of books for intelligent people, but awhile back I tried to read Norwegian Wood and gave up.
I guess I'm going to have to try reading him again (see previous blogpost with quote from AnnAlthouse).
Norwegian Wood. can be downloaded at internet archive (LINK)
Then there is this: What I talk about while running EBOOK
here's another one on youtube...
It starts with a lady ridiculing him for cooking spaghetti in the morning... uh, here in Asia we eat noodles for breakfast. But never mind. no one says this in the book...
And he irons when he is stressed, just like Stephanie Plum's mother.(you can see the intellectual level of books I like).
So maybe I'll give it a try.
there are a couple more books at youtube and archive.org if you want to check them out.
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Speaking of Stephanie Plum: the Plum books are on youtube at present (they tend to be removed quickly for copyright problems, so listen quickly).
very non PC, but hey, very very funny.
I guess I'm going to have to try reading him again (see previous blogpost with quote from AnnAlthouse).
Norwegian Wood. can be downloaded at internet archive (LINK)
Then there is this: What I talk about while running EBOOK
here's another one on youtube...
It starts with a lady ridiculing him for cooking spaghetti in the morning... uh, here in Asia we eat noodles for breakfast. But never mind. no one says this in the book...
And he irons when he is stressed, just like Stephanie Plum's mother.(you can see the intellectual level of books I like).
So maybe I'll give it a try.
there are a couple more books at youtube and archive.org if you want to check them out.
-----------------------
Speaking of Stephanie Plum: the Plum books are on youtube at present (they tend to be removed quickly for copyright problems, so listen quickly).
very non PC, but hey, very very funny.
Normal Joe vs the Radical chic
Ann Althouse has a couple of posts and comments about Joe Biden's announcement that he will enter the race for president.
his biggest strength is that he seems normal and full of common sense, even when he stumbles, is too touchy feely, or puts his shoe in his mouth: Because no one thinks his affectionate hugs are from lust or his gaffes are from malice.
His biggest weakness? If he tries to push the radical agenda that the left has pushed on the Democrats that is unpopular with the working class base but pushed by the elites in the Democratic leadership and their minions in the MSM.
Ironically it is Trumpieboy who points this out.
so what are the crazy ideas that he needs to avoid?
The new green deal, which would make housing even more expensive and rural living difficult, not to mention destroy agriculture by eliminating petroleum before there is a real alternative;
shouldn't someone be pushing printing of cheap houses so ordinary folks could afford to live in the big cities?
Or really discussing the alternatives of GM food without chemicals vs organic farming with high food prices?
Or discuss if eliminating petroleum would lead to high transportation prices would mean even higher prices for fresh produce in the inner city?
or the pushing of the culture of death as normal and good, from aborting your child to killing grandmom: both of which are because they stand in the way of your career...
30 million caretakers should be getting subsidies or help by paying for caretakers and adult day care: many of us quit work to care for loved ones... and most ordinary Americans, especially ethnic and Hispanics, see this as part of our family obligations and won't like it when doctors start pushing us to eliminate grandmom or medical rationing denies her ordinary care.
I have no answer to cheap medical care except to get rid of a lot of the paper work... that bimbo who loves the VA thinks all hospitals should be organized that way: well I didn't work at the VA but maybe someone should ask a real AmerIndian about the IHS, because single payer leads to rationing of medicine, as we had to do in the federally run IHS.
Again, free medical care without co pay means that the spoiled will come in for vanity problems, the poor will come in for colds that don't need to be seen but because it's the only way for them to get free medicine, and the wait to be seen will discourage a lot of ordinary folks from seeing the strange doctor at the local clinic (whereas in the past they'd just telephone the doc they knew who would work them in if it was really needed or call in a prescription).
reparations sounds nice. But why should Hispanic, Asian, or ethnic immigrants pay a lump sum to blacks for slavery when they weren't even in the country back then? And remember: a lot of ethnics, Asians and Hispanics are considered "white" so lose out in the affirmative action lottery.
Or what about having public schools teach hatred of western culture without positing an alternative? Do you prefer Confucian ethics? China is taking over the world. Right now, multiculturalism means nihilism and the destruction of culture without an alternative, but no one wants to discuss this.
as for paying off the college loans: this translates to paying of the loans of upper middle class students who got vanity masters degrees at private colleges in areas where there are no jobs.
Maybe this should be changed to loan pay offs in exchange for working in Americorps as did my son, or by working in areas of need as I did, or joining the military, or forgiveness for those who went to state colleges or community colleges.
I probably left some out. Like the right to privacy in bathrooms so perverts pretending to be trans can't leer at you.
Or the homosexual vs churches quandary that ignores the elephant in the room: It's about pushing an agenda to destroy churches who hold the line on the ten commandments. All ten of them.
We all have an inborn tendency to sin: and in Catholic churches, it's "here comes everybody": no one cares who you are because it's more about worshipping God than about "fellowship", at least in the traditional churches..But asking for churches to approve of behavior when folks flaunt their sins is a bit different.
But what I am discussing goes beyond politics: It is a collapse of western civilization.
AnnAlthouse in another post has this quote:
She talks so fast I'm going to have to slow it down and listen to it again.
But anyway, Trumpieboy is so crazy and uncooth that a normal gaffe prone Biden could win.
Too bad he is too old for the job.
his biggest strength is that he seems normal and full of common sense, even when he stumbles, is too touchy feely, or puts his shoe in his mouth: Because no one thinks his affectionate hugs are from lust or his gaffes are from malice.
His biggest weakness? If he tries to push the radical agenda that the left has pushed on the Democrats that is unpopular with the working class base but pushed by the elites in the Democratic leadership and their minions in the MSM.
Ironically it is Trumpieboy who points this out.
so what are the crazy ideas that he needs to avoid?
The new green deal, which would make housing even more expensive and rural living difficult, not to mention destroy agriculture by eliminating petroleum before there is a real alternative;
shouldn't someone be pushing printing of cheap houses so ordinary folks could afford to live in the big cities?
Or really discussing the alternatives of GM food without chemicals vs organic farming with high food prices?
Or discuss if eliminating petroleum would lead to high transportation prices would mean even higher prices for fresh produce in the inner city?
or the pushing of the culture of death as normal and good, from aborting your child to killing grandmom: both of which are because they stand in the way of your career...
30 million caretakers should be getting subsidies or help by paying for caretakers and adult day care: many of us quit work to care for loved ones... and most ordinary Americans, especially ethnic and Hispanics, see this as part of our family obligations and won't like it when doctors start pushing us to eliminate grandmom or medical rationing denies her ordinary care.
I have no answer to cheap medical care except to get rid of a lot of the paper work... that bimbo who loves the VA thinks all hospitals should be organized that way: well I didn't work at the VA but maybe someone should ask a real AmerIndian about the IHS, because single payer leads to rationing of medicine, as we had to do in the federally run IHS.
Again, free medical care without co pay means that the spoiled will come in for vanity problems, the poor will come in for colds that don't need to be seen but because it's the only way for them to get free medicine, and the wait to be seen will discourage a lot of ordinary folks from seeing the strange doctor at the local clinic (whereas in the past they'd just telephone the doc they knew who would work them in if it was really needed or call in a prescription).
reparations sounds nice. But why should Hispanic, Asian, or ethnic immigrants pay a lump sum to blacks for slavery when they weren't even in the country back then? And remember: a lot of ethnics, Asians and Hispanics are considered "white" so lose out in the affirmative action lottery.
Or what about having public schools teach hatred of western culture without positing an alternative? Do you prefer Confucian ethics? China is taking over the world. Right now, multiculturalism means nihilism and the destruction of culture without an alternative, but no one wants to discuss this.
as for paying off the college loans: this translates to paying of the loans of upper middle class students who got vanity masters degrees at private colleges in areas where there are no jobs.
Maybe this should be changed to loan pay offs in exchange for working in Americorps as did my son, or by working in areas of need as I did, or joining the military, or forgiveness for those who went to state colleges or community colleges.
I probably left some out. Like the right to privacy in bathrooms so perverts pretending to be trans can't leer at you.
Or the homosexual vs churches quandary that ignores the elephant in the room: It's about pushing an agenda to destroy churches who hold the line on the ten commandments. All ten of them.
We all have an inborn tendency to sin: and in Catholic churches, it's "here comes everybody": no one cares who you are because it's more about worshipping God than about "fellowship", at least in the traditional churches..But asking for churches to approve of behavior when folks flaunt their sins is a bit different.
But what I am discussing goes beyond politics: It is a collapse of western civilization.
AnnAlthouse in another post has this quote:
"Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideals, inflexible systems."
"Those are the things that really frighten me. What I absolutely fear and loathe. Of course it’s important to know what’s right and what’s wrong. Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected. As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around.
But intolerant, narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They’re a lost cause, and I don’t want anyone like that coming in here.”
That's a passage from Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" that came up today in my relistening to the audiobook. It jumped out at me because it resonated with "America is an idea," Biden's new campaign slogan.in a related post: Jordan Peterson and Camille Paglia discuss post modernism.
She talks so fast I'm going to have to slow it down and listen to it again.
But anyway, Trumpieboy is so crazy and uncooth that a normal gaffe prone Biden could win.
Too bad he is too old for the job.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Family news
Joy was at a seminar about finances to her farmers, and today she had a class for caretaking. She keeps busy.
Ruby is accepted and has a scholarship to St Olaf's College in Minnesota, and I think she will be accepting it and paying the entrance fee next week.
Chano is busy doing the rice harvest in our fields. Alas, the price of rice is low right not, so not much profit. It is the end of "tag init" or summer, and the fields will have to be prepared as soon as the rains come next month.
The town fiesta is next week (April30/May1) so lots of folks will be visiting, including some of the relatives.
We had our small dog Gigi fixed: She had developed a hernia during her last pregnancy and that needed to be fixed, but it would simply rebreak if she got pregnant again. So she is home with a "cone" around her head to stop her from licking her wounds.
George, our old Labrador, is now completely blind except for light vision. He fell into the empty fishpond next to the living room last night. (we used to have in our house, until we built one outside instead: now it is empty, and does have a fence around it, but I guess he didn't realize it and slipped through. This usually happens to our dogs when they chase the cats, who can easily jump out, but usually the dogs can't figure out how to jump 3 feet and get stuck inside... So when I went out to check on him in the middle of the night, I found him down there and had to give him a lift.
one of these days we will have to fill it in. Right now, we use the space to hang our wet clothing inside in the rainy season.
Ruby is accepted and has a scholarship to St Olaf's College in Minnesota, and I think she will be accepting it and paying the entrance fee next week.
Chano is busy doing the rice harvest in our fields. Alas, the price of rice is low right not, so not much profit. It is the end of "tag init" or summer, and the fields will have to be prepared as soon as the rains come next month.
The town fiesta is next week (April30/May1) so lots of folks will be visiting, including some of the relatives.
We had our small dog Gigi fixed: She had developed a hernia during her last pregnancy and that needed to be fixed, but it would simply rebreak if she got pregnant again. So she is home with a "cone" around her head to stop her from licking her wounds.
George, our old Labrador, is now completely blind except for light vision. He fell into the empty fishpond next to the living room last night. (we used to have in our house, until we built one outside instead: now it is empty, and does have a fence around it, but I guess he didn't realize it and slipped through. This usually happens to our dogs when they chase the cats, who can easily jump out, but usually the dogs can't figure out how to jump 3 feet and get stuck inside... So when I went out to check on him in the middle of the night, I found him down there and had to give him a lift.
one of these days we will have to fill it in. Right now, we use the space to hang our wet clothing inside in the rainy season.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Who weeps for the children? (US MSM spins the deaths in SriLanka)
A liberal friend of mine who was born in India (but is a US Navy Veteran) put up a sarcastic post on her facebook page two days ago on why the "white people" lamented the destruction of a church, (i.e. Notre Dame fire) which was only stones, but remained silent over the deaths of "brown people".
Baldilocks, an AirForce vet, is even more sarcastic.
Baldilocks adds:
it isn't much better today, when the WAPO laments "Christian Muslim Violence".
the article is by "religious reporters", yet it is clueless when it comes to Asia.
For example, they write that there is no religious violence in Sri Lanka (ignore last year's Sinhalese Buddhists who staged anti Tamil Muslim riots after Muslims desecrated Buddhist Temples), and completely ignores that recent reports are that there is ISIS infiltration into local militant Islamic groups in SEAsia, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
Instead of seeing this as an organized plan of a world wide terrorist network inspired by a rigid 8th century version of Islam, they equate it to the individual crazies attacking churches etc. in the USA, and part of a war "between Christians and Muslims". Just ignore the militants who attack those Muslim Mosques which they deem heretical, or when they attack Han Chinese atheists, Buddhist temples, or Hindu shrines, because these attacks don't fit the narrative either.
Check below video.
At 18.00 they discuss ISIS being behind the attacks, something the official gov't denies. He notes that such a sophisticated attack could not be mounted so quickly after the New Zealand attack.
Most Muslims don't support such violence, of course, but those who protest are in danger of being killed as "infidels" or heretics. Nevertheless, some have raised their voices.
----------------
update: Austin Bay discusses the background of previous conflicts between the various ethnic groups in SriLanka, and explains why the attack was probably jihadis, not the (mainly Hindu) Tamil Tigers who waged a civil war for independence in the past. There is a worry this attack might reignite the ethnic conflicts, which is why the gov't is keeping the blame about who caused of the attack low key, but he also notes a lot of anger against the gov't, who had been warned by both India and the US that such an attack might be coming.
 |
| https://voxcantor.blogspot.com/2019/04/little-sri-lankan-martyrs-intercedite.html |
Baldilocks, an AirForce vet, is even more sarcastic.
Baldilocks adds:
It’s interesting to note how often most of the American mainstream media has ignored the Islamist mass murders of dark-skinned Christians just in the past few years. Examples: Nigeria and Egypt.
it isn't much better today, when the WAPO laments "Christian Muslim Violence".
the article is by "religious reporters", yet it is clueless when it comes to Asia.
For example, they write that there is no religious violence in Sri Lanka (ignore last year's Sinhalese Buddhists who staged anti Tamil Muslim riots after Muslims desecrated Buddhist Temples), and completely ignores that recent reports are that there is ISIS infiltration into local militant Islamic groups in SEAsia, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
Instead of seeing this as an organized plan of a world wide terrorist network inspired by a rigid 8th century version of Islam, they equate it to the individual crazies attacking churches etc. in the USA, and part of a war "between Christians and Muslims". Just ignore the militants who attack those Muslim Mosques which they deem heretical, or when they attack Han Chinese atheists, Buddhist temples, or Hindu shrines, because these attacks don't fit the narrative either.
Check below video.
At 18.00 they discuss ISIS being behind the attacks, something the official gov't denies. He notes that such a sophisticated attack could not be mounted so quickly after the New Zealand attack.
Most Muslims don't support such violence, of course, but those who protest are in danger of being killed as "infidels" or heretics. Nevertheless, some have raised their voices.
- Imam Mohamad Tawhidi RetweetedCompare the level of outrage with what happened in Sri Lanka with Christchurch, NZ. Triple the amount of casualties and triple the amount of injured people. It offends me and other likeminded Muslims that we get special treatment and other equal humans don’t. #SriLanka
----------------
update: Austin Bay discusses the background of previous conflicts between the various ethnic groups in SriLanka, and explains why the attack was probably jihadis, not the (mainly Hindu) Tamil Tigers who waged a civil war for independence in the past. There is a worry this attack might reignite the ethnic conflicts, which is why the gov't is keeping the blame about who caused of the attack low key, but he also notes a lot of anger against the gov't, who had been warned by both India and the US that such an attack might be coming.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Family News: Earthquake nearby
There was an earthquake SW of here. We felt it but the shaking was not bad here and we had no damage.
A market fell down in Pampanga and some people were killed when a supermarket collapsed/
There were some power outages west of here, and Clark Airport was shut down for awhile to check for damage of the terminal building.
A market fell down in Pampanga and some people were killed when a supermarket collapsed/
There were some power outages west of here, and Clark Airport was shut down for awhile to check for damage of the terminal building.
Remembering the Aztec Eagles
remembering the Aztec Eagles, the 201st Fighter Squadron: when the Mexican Air Force helped to liberate the Philippines.
the flew support missions in the dangerous mountains of northern Luzon, to help the guerrillas and regular troops who were fighting the Japanese soldiers who had fled there.
LINK:
Wikipedia link
LINK
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the flew support missions in the dangerous mountains of northern Luzon, to help the guerrillas and regular troops who were fighting the Japanese soldiers who had fled there.
LINK:
"Only 10 of us are still alive," Garduno said sadly during an interview at the Hyatt Regency Orange County Hotel here during DoD's Hispanic American Heritage Month observance (in 2003)
The Mexican war hero said the Mexican Fighter Squadron 201, "El Escuadron 201," was composed of more than 300 volunteers – 36 experienced pilots and the rest ground crewmen. The ground crewmen were electricians, mechanics, radiomen, and armament – "all the specialties that are required for a typical fighter squadron," the colonel said.
The Aztec Eagles were attached to the U.S. Army Air Forces 5th Air Force's 58th Fighter Group during the liberation of the main Philippine island of Luzon in the summer of 1945.
The pilots flew P-47D "Thunderbolt" single-seat fighter aircraft carrying out tactical air support missions. "We flew close air support missions for American and Filipino infantry troops on the ground, and had to hit where we saw a smoke bomb go off," Garduno said. "Otherwise, we could have hit friendly troops, because the difference in distance was about 300 yards between the enemy and the friendly troops.
Wikipedia link
LINK
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Monday, April 22, 2019
In our prayers: Iran's massive floods
AlJ has a report on the recent flooding in Iran.
which hasn't gotten a lot of headlines in the west.
the BBC report on flooding started on March 25; an April 2 report discusses evacuation from a "third flood".
The environmentalists blame "global warming", as does the Iranian government, which of course can blame the US for climate change so their neglect of the environment can be ignored. And of course "US Sanctions" are being blamed for problems in getting relief supplies.
the problem seems to be the sanctions stopping the banking system from allowing them to get aid money or to buy medicine... but of course I suspect that if the sanctions are lifted, a lot of this "aid" will go to Iranian war terrorists in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, not to mention being diverted into their nuclear program.
StrategyPage has a long essay about the problem here.
But the NYTimes admits that foreign journalists aren't allowed in to assess the damage, maybe because they might notice folks mad at the bungled gov't response.
It should be noted that Saudi and the UAE have sent aid to help flood victims, as are other countries.
Long analysis at Futuredirections website.
which hasn't gotten a lot of headlines in the west.
the BBC report on flooding started on March 25; an April 2 report discusses evacuation from a "third flood".
The environmentalists blame "global warming", as does the Iranian government, which of course can blame the US for climate change so their neglect of the environment can be ignored. And of course "US Sanctions" are being blamed for problems in getting relief supplies.
the problem seems to be the sanctions stopping the banking system from allowing them to get aid money or to buy medicine... but of course I suspect that if the sanctions are lifted, a lot of this "aid" will go to Iranian war terrorists in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, not to mention being diverted into their nuclear program.
StrategyPage has a long essay about the problem here.
It should be noted that Saudi and the UAE have sent aid to help flood victims, as are other countries.
In the midst of the spat, Iran has received aid from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Kuwait, as well as from Germany, France and Japan. The move by Saudi Arabia and the UAE came despite the long-standing rivalry with Shia-majority Iran, which is based as much on geostrategic interests as religious differences.
Facing off across the Gulf, the major oil producers have taken opposing sides for decades in conflicts across the Middle East.Iran, like Syria, is in the midst of a dry spell (blamed on "global warming" of course: which is why President Obama blame global warming for the civil war in Syria).
Long analysis at Futuredirections website.
The Islamic Republic’s approach to water management has been less than successful, dismissing proposed sustainable water management policies, in favour of building infrastructure, including wells and dams. This approach has led to the over-exploitation of aquifers and has prevented water from reaching lakes and rivers.
Flood management policies are significantly lacking and there is little to mitigate the impact of rural land use, which contribute significantly to flooding. Over 2,000 hectares of forest has been cut down in a 25-year period in northern Iran, which has increased surface runoff and, in turn, increased its susceptibility to flooding.
Although building dams had mitigated flooding to some degree, the extent of the rainfall Iran has received has meant that the dams are no longer able to prevent floods. Currently, many dams are more than 95 per cent full, risking more downstream flooding.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
In our prayers: Church bombings in SriLanka
three churches (two Catholic and one Protestant) and two hotels were bombed by terrorists in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The churches were targeted during Easter Services. Over 200 dead, including a few foreigners (but no Filipinos).
BBC report talks with locals and witnesses.
There had been a wicked civil war between ethnic groups (locals, who are mainly Buddhists, vs Tamils, who are Hindu, Christian, and Muslim) until about ten years ago, but things have been peaceful since then.
UKMail has the background of religious tensions there, including that there were warnings of a coming attack from Islamic extremist groups, but apparently no security was done.
of course, with the large crowds, security is difficult.
more at AlJ, including the story that last year there were anti Muslim attacks after rumors on social media reported Buddhist shrines being attacked.
wikipedia has more on the anti Muslim riots by militant Buddhists/
If this was payback for the anti Muslim attacks, then why were churches and tourism centers/hotels attacked?
and if this was related to the ethnic civil war of the past, then why target Christian churches, which include both ethnic groups? (or do they have separate services with different languages, as we had in the USA for immigrants, allowing them to target a certain ethnic group of Christians?)
One suspects this is more metastases from the ISIS types in the Middle east coming home to spread terror, but I have no evidence for this: however, we are worried about these types here in the Philippines causing problems and paying local militants to do their dirty work.
Here in the Philippines, when you enter the mall, you are screened: wanded down with a metal detectors, and sometimes even frisked, and your bags are checked. But protecting crowds at church is more difficult.
We had a cathedral bombed in the Southern Philippines awhile back,
but locally the main reason we have cops or security personnel, including the military, in our churches or on the street is because of threats of violence between political clans in election year.
----------------
update: The UK SUN (tabloid) also suspects returning ISIS types behind the bombing
BBC report talks with locals and witnesses.
There had been a wicked civil war between ethnic groups (locals, who are mainly Buddhists, vs Tamils, who are Hindu, Christian, and Muslim) until about ten years ago, but things have been peaceful since then.
UKMail has the background of religious tensions there, including that there were warnings of a coming attack from Islamic extremist groups, but apparently no security was done.
of course, with the large crowds, security is difficult.
more at AlJ, including the story that last year there were anti Muslim attacks after rumors on social media reported Buddhist shrines being attacked.
wikipedia has more on the anti Muslim riots by militant Buddhists/
If this was payback for the anti Muslim attacks, then why were churches and tourism centers/hotels attacked?
and if this was related to the ethnic civil war of the past, then why target Christian churches, which include both ethnic groups? (or do they have separate services with different languages, as we had in the USA for immigrants, allowing them to target a certain ethnic group of Christians?)
One suspects this is more metastases from the ISIS types in the Middle east coming home to spread terror, but I have no evidence for this: however, we are worried about these types here in the Philippines causing problems and paying local militants to do their dirty work.
Here in the Philippines, when you enter the mall, you are screened: wanded down with a metal detectors, and sometimes even frisked, and your bags are checked. But protecting crowds at church is more difficult.
We had a cathedral bombed in the Southern Philippines awhile back,
but locally the main reason we have cops or security personnel, including the military, in our churches or on the street is because of threats of violence between political clans in election year.
----------------
update: The UK SUN (tabloid) also suspects returning ISIS types behind the bombing
Fighters from Sri Lanka have been mentioned in ISIS ranks and the country would be “easily accessible” for its supporters in the region, Ms Katz said. Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia, have “seen a surge of central-coordinated ISIS activity” in what it dubs its “East Asia Province.”
Notre Dame Bees are okay
The bees seem to be okay.
PARIS - Hunkered down in their hives and drunk on smoke, Notre Dame’s smallest official residents - some 180,000 bees - somehow managed to survive the inferno that consumed the cathedral’s ancient wooden roof.... Notre Dame officials saw the bees on top of the sacristy Friday, buzzing in and out of their hives. “I wouldn’t call it a miracle, but I’m very, very happy,” Geant added.
Saturday, April 20, 2019
The French reaction to the fire of Notre Dame: Singing hymns
The intellectuals don't seem to be mourning: indeed, some hated the cathedral and seem to be happy it was destroyed; others want to rebuild it as a multicultural shrine, bringing to mind the time when the French revolution remade it into a Temple of Reason with a harlot on the altar, presaging not a utopia of reason but the reign of terror and religious persecution, including the first modern genocide of the Vendee.
the assumption seemed to assume the French people were now secular and didn't care to rebuild a church as a church, i.e. a place to worship God.
But the spontaneous reaction of the French people was different: They sang hymns in mourning. And most of those singing the hymns were young people.
..
....and later, there was this gathering
: ......
history lesson:===============
This made the news, but it is not the first Cathedral that has been destroyed by fire. And yes, these churches can be restored.
this old film is about the restoration of Reims cathedral, destroyed by a war related fire during WWI...
and the Cologne cathedral, located near the rail yards, was similarly destroyed during World War II.
so people managed to repair and restore these cathedrals, so there is hope that Notre Dame could quickly be restored.
This BBC article discusses the technical details of restoration with one man who helped rebuild York Cathedral, which was destroyed in a 1984 fire.
the assumption seemed to assume the French people were now secular and didn't care to rebuild a church as a church, i.e. a place to worship God.
But the spontaneous reaction of the French people was different: They sang hymns in mourning. And most of those singing the hymns were young people.
..
....and later, there was this gathering
: ......
history lesson:===============
This made the news, but it is not the first Cathedral that has been destroyed by fire. And yes, these churches can be restored.
this old film is about the restoration of Reims cathedral, destroyed by a war related fire during WWI...
and the Cologne cathedral, located near the rail yards, was similarly destroyed during World War II.
so people managed to repair and restore these cathedrals, so there is hope that Notre Dame could quickly be restored.
This BBC article discusses the technical details of restoration with one man who helped rebuild York Cathedral, which was destroyed in a 1984 fire.
and a voice from the past reminds us:
A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Friday, April 19, 2019
The Chinook in the Shogun's Japan
I ran across this book, about a Metis Chinook who became curious about Japan after some Japanese fishermen landed in Washington State, and later arranged to go there (which was illegal), and taught English to the Samurai before he left. Those Samurai were able to translate when Admiral Perry forced Japan to open their ports to foreigners.
Amazon link
the book is a bit disjointed: the author is so busy checking the "facts" and dates that the actual story is hard to pick out of these superficial details.
Wikipedia page on Ranald MacDonald.
what I found interesting was that part about stranded fishermen. Apparently both Chinese and Japanese fishermen were known to have been stranded in that area in the past.
There is a lot of stuff about Chinese "discovering" the Americas, but the dirty little secret is that a lot of people went back and forth, and ended up stranded in the western hemisphere, from the Vikings to the Basque fishermen, to the Mali naval ships, to the Chinese and Japanese fishermen whose boats were taken there by winds and currents. The book even mentions medieval Japanese pottery in a ruined village in that area, suggesting some had landed a couple centuries earlier.
The reason I bring up the Basque fishermen was that this is probably why England had a "syphilis" epidemic before the time when Columbus brought that disease to Europe, and is the probable origin of the Maine Coon Cats too...
LOL the book sounds familiar
Librivox:
1900 or The Last President Ingersoll LOCKWOOD (1841 - 1918)
The year is 1896. The United States is rocked by the election of an unlikely president. On election night, riots broke out in the streets of New York. The city was paralyzed with dread. Mobs organized under the lead of Anarchists and Socialists. Farther South, people celebrated.
This was a President elected by the working class and he was a President who followed through with his commitment to fight for the rights of the people. This president would fight to end the enslavement of the people by money lenders, big bankers, corporations and government overtax. But can he be successful in a society that is rapidly absorbing socialist ideologies? -and also by the same author:
Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey Ingersoll LOCKWOOD (1841 - 1918)
Latina values
so anyone who thinks traditional marriage is good and that we need to protect the idea is a bigot according to the MSM and their latest hearthrob running for the presidency.
but people who come from traditional cultures are more likely to know that a strong family life is important, not just for children but for the well being of society.
and the problem of "gay marriage" and "transgender rights" is not that this is about accepting such people: heck, we don't have a problem with them here in the Philippines: they are part of the extended family and accepted because of the strong family ties in the Philippine family.
But even here, in Manila, we are seeing the "gay lifestyle" of promiscuity, drug abuse, and sex tourism that is foreign to our culture. This is fueling the HIV epidemic, and the increase in HIV is being used by international agencies to push promiscuity as sex ed in our schools (an agenda that is also pushed in the movies and TV programs).
But in the USA it is worse: What is going on in the USA is not about acceptance, but about pushing a aggressive agenda of free love and destruction of the family that has roots in Marxism.
Nor is this about "multiculturalism", since the emphasis on strong family ties is found in most non PC cultures. This is by a Latina mother, but it could have been written by an Arab, Filipino, or Chinese.
LINK
but people who come from traditional cultures are more likely to know that a strong family life is important, not just for children but for the well being of society.
and the problem of "gay marriage" and "transgender rights" is not that this is about accepting such people: heck, we don't have a problem with them here in the Philippines: they are part of the extended family and accepted because of the strong family ties in the Philippine family.
But even here, in Manila, we are seeing the "gay lifestyle" of promiscuity, drug abuse, and sex tourism that is foreign to our culture. This is fueling the HIV epidemic, and the increase in HIV is being used by international agencies to push promiscuity as sex ed in our schools (an agenda that is also pushed in the movies and TV programs).
But in the USA it is worse: What is going on in the USA is not about acceptance, but about pushing a aggressive agenda of free love and destruction of the family that has roots in Marxism.
Nor is this about "multiculturalism", since the emphasis on strong family ties is found in most non PC cultures. This is by a Latina mother, but it could have been written by an Arab, Filipino, or Chinese.
LINK
Mayor Pete, it cuts both ways. As a Latina mama in touch with a number of other Latinas with traditional family values, I can tell you we are faced every day with people who are "polite to us in person" but who advance and execute policies that assault our values, harm our families, and hurt our children.
Enough Is Enough
I'm talking about policies that undermine our parental rights and duties by seeking to indoctrinate our children in progressive sexual ideology without our consent and sometimes in spite of our explicit protest. Consider just a few examples:
• The public schools in my area where reading assignments from the Language Arts curriculum ask: "What is heteronormativity and how is it harmful?" (Mind you: this is a question from the school district's recommended language arts curriculum for eighth graders, not from a single health teacher or counselor. It is not unusual for the LGBT theme to find its way into history classes, foreign language studies, and even STEM courses. The explicit goal is to normalize LGBT lifestyles throughout curricula).
• Pediatricians who ask to see our teenagers alone and then push to prescribe them contraceptives or ask them about sexual behaviors that we find offensive. Our teens themselves bring these pediatricians' inappropriate behavior to our attention. (One OBGYN slipped a prescription for oral contraceptives stealthily to a 14-year-old daughter of a Mexican friend of mine, after she had explicitly stated to his face that she did not wish to see her daughter on oral contraceptives.)
• Sex education classes in which our kids are taught unproven Freudian-Kinseyan doctrines that "sexual repression" will cause neuroses ("express yourself, don't suppress yourself"), and which preach about topics like abortion, masturbation, condom use, sex toys, "outercourse," oral stimulation, and rectal intercourse, with all the humor and scientific grounding of a Saturday Night Live sketch, while refusing to seriously address the short and long-term medical and psychological health risks of those actions.
• Public library programming where unicorns, rainbows, gingerbread persons, drag-queen story hours, and other symbols of progressive sexual ideology make an appearance, so that we must regularly steer our toddlers clear of the propaganda. With our middle-school children, it's much harder to opt out. Trendy middle-school books (published after 2014) that appear to have fairly innocuous plots frequently feature an LGBT teen or gay couple, ever-so-gently normalizing the ideas that are so conflicting to our consciences. (Avoiding these storylines isn't easy, since book-review websites regularly delete or block parents' reviews that warn of LGBT elements, so we cannot even alert other parents of the real content within these books.)
• And last but not least, the latest round of violence against children: efforts to entice children to question the reality of their sex through school gender-transitioning ceremonies, pronoun-sensitivity training, and other transgender propaganda. Parents have historically enjoyed the right to direct the education and upbringing of their children, under the correct presumption that parents--rather than school counselors, psychiatrists, teachers, government bureaucrats, or any other persons--are best able to act in their children's best interests. Now, activists are pushing courts to allow minors to receive puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones against their parents' objections.
• Mr. Mayor, it is hypocritical for you to cry foul about policies that "harm you and your family" while your side pushes for government intrusions into the parent-child relationship at the most fundamental levels.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Under reported history of US Eugenics
from the website:
...................................
It is a story with many villains, from the superintendent of the Dickensian Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded who chose Carrie for sterilization to the former Missouri agriculture professor and Nazi sympathizer who was the nation's leading advocate for eugenic sterilization. But the most troubling actors of all were the eight Supreme Court justices who were in the majority - including William Howard Taft, the former president; Louis Brandeis, the legendary progressive; and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., America's most esteemed justice, who wrote the decision urging the nation to embark on a program of mass eugenic sterilization. Exposing this tremendous injustice - which led to the sterilization of 70,000 Americans ...
...................................
Audiobook of the week
......
part 2 part 3 part 4
full of bodice ripping sex, naked ambition, and melodrama. Usually I don't enjoy this type of book/ film (e.g. Game of Thrones, the White Queen) because everyone is nasty and hateful.
But here, the character of the older sister, Mary, is sympathetic: and despite rumors in history that she did more sleeping around than her younger sister, nevertheless, she did make a love match and stood up to her family's ambitions after Anne became queen....and was essentially exiled from court for doing so (you go, girl)... which is ironically one reason she survived the blood bath of her sister and her brother and many of Anne's friends...
yes, the historians said the author got it all wrong: Anne Boleyn was a nice girl, and a virgin. But unlike the stories she "never had sex" before she married Henry, this book brings up that this is true if you accept the Clinton definition of sex, which is a lot more believable than earlier books.
Another controversial point is that their family was using the girls to get power by pressuring them to become mistresses or wives of important men. But this was the way a lot of families manipulated their girls back then, so it is believable. So again it is about raw power.
And of course the ending is sad, but hints that Anne was reaping what she had sowed:
One reason Anne couldn't get justice in court was because during her quest to become queen, she encouraged the king to destroy the civil law and the church's power, both of which stood in the way of the king's divorce and being able to marry her. And the result was that Henry became power hungry and a tyrant who thought his desire was God's will, so those who stood in the way could just be killed (and not just of VIP's, but of ordinary folk including those who protested the destruction of their churches and the monasteries that helped the poor: Things usually left out of the history books of course).
So when Anne was the innocent victim of a absurd and unproven crime, because of the king's whim that he needed to marry again, she could not rely on the law to protect her.
which reminds me of this warning by Thomas More: (go to minute 6.00)
hmm... sound familiar?
part 2 part 3 part 4
full of bodice ripping sex, naked ambition, and melodrama. Usually I don't enjoy this type of book/ film (e.g. Game of Thrones, the White Queen) because everyone is nasty and hateful.
But here, the character of the older sister, Mary, is sympathetic: and despite rumors in history that she did more sleeping around than her younger sister, nevertheless, she did make a love match and stood up to her family's ambitions after Anne became queen....and was essentially exiled from court for doing so (you go, girl)... which is ironically one reason she survived the blood bath of her sister and her brother and many of Anne's friends...
yes, the historians said the author got it all wrong: Anne Boleyn was a nice girl, and a virgin. But unlike the stories she "never had sex" before she married Henry, this book brings up that this is true if you accept the Clinton definition of sex, which is a lot more believable than earlier books.
Another controversial point is that their family was using the girls to get power by pressuring them to become mistresses or wives of important men. But this was the way a lot of families manipulated their girls back then, so it is believable. So again it is about raw power.
And of course the ending is sad, but hints that Anne was reaping what she had sowed:
One reason Anne couldn't get justice in court was because during her quest to become queen, she encouraged the king to destroy the civil law and the church's power, both of which stood in the way of the king's divorce and being able to marry her. And the result was that Henry became power hungry and a tyrant who thought his desire was God's will, so those who stood in the way could just be killed (and not just of VIP's, but of ordinary folk including those who protested the destruction of their churches and the monasteries that helped the poor: Things usually left out of the history books of course).
So when Anne was the innocent victim of a absurd and unproven crime, because of the king's whim that he needed to marry again, she could not rely on the law to protect her.
which reminds me of this warning by Thomas More: (go to minute 6.00)
Roper: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast- man's laws, not God's- and if you cut them down-and you're just the man to do it-do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.
hmm... sound familiar?
No news and bad news
Dilbert a couple days ago noted there was no "new" news, and in politics, he's right.
The political hysteria in the USA is now a broken record.
So Muller said no collusion and now the big question if the FBI did "Watergate 2", i.e. using federal government to spy on the opposition party for political reasons. So now the call is to drop the subject, even though this has "yuge" political ramifications about "big brother" being able to get you convicted for anything by snooping on you and finding a crime.
The response of the Democrats, however, is not to call for an investigation of illegal snooping, but to double down and ask for Trumpieboy's complicated tax records: which looks like another way to try to find a crime.
Isn't there an amendment in the Bill of Rights about the right to privacy? (it's the 4th one).
Senator Markey introduced a bill about social media privacy, and he's a Democrat, but it's a bit late.
it won't do us much good if a political justice department weaponize the IRS against groups representing the party out of power but no one holds the employees who did this to account.
and of course, that won't stop Chinese hackers from using the information of our personnel files that they hacked a couple years back. and I suspect they have a data base on those who interest them by simply checking out their Facebook information.
However it hasn't stopped the anti Trumpieboy hysteria, with a Boston Globe columnist encouraging waiters to contaminate the food of anyone who worked for the present US administration, and subtle calls for assassination continue.
the latest hate wave against Trumpieboy tweets is because he dared to remind a beautiful Muslim congresslady that it wasn't "someone who did something" but that it was terrorists deliberately killing Americans under the guise of a rabid form of their religion.
Shouldn't she be doing the opposite? Stressing the good Muslims fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, with the help of the US?
During World War I, Germans like my grandfather, were under suspicion because the family would sang German songs, so were investigated by the cops. (this was not an over reach by the cops: the only successful modern biowarfare incident happened during that war so embedded agents were a worry: LINK ). But it didn't mean he ridiculed the war effort: Indeed, his oldest son joined the military.
During World War II, the Japanese Americans fought for their adopted country.
So one would expect that the Muslim Congressladies would be defending America and their own communities against the crazies who hide behind religion, but no: instead they hate Israel and America and are acting to take over the party to push this agenda.
And it gets worse:
When a Navy Seal who was wounded and now is in Congress criticized her remark, he was ridiculed because he wears an eyepatch (he lost the eye from an explosive device).
And when Trumpie boy pointed out a lot of innocent people died from a terrorist attack, and that it was wrong to minimize that problem, he was also criticized by the Democrats and the MSM, in almost identical terms, i.e. that criticizing a person is inciting violence.
and I thought that Journolist coordination was a thing of the past. /s
The reason the Democrats won back Congress in the last election is because they ran moderates: From the Clinton/BlueDog wing of the party, many of whom are veterans. Yet we don't hear of them, for some reason.
Unless they are given a voice in the party, Trumpie boy will win, and bring a lot of new Congress folk with him.
so who will oppose him? The geriatric set or the metrosexual candidates, or the women who slept their way into power?
Biden would be a good choice, and Biden's son fought for the USA in Iraq, but hey, the PC in the party are trying to destroy him by pushing the fact that he is touchy feely and sympathetic, something that was considered "good" until a few years ago.
and the "Bernie boys" are in the media, but one of these days someone will notice that a lot of ordinary folks are not Bernie boys either, and that Bernie is... old....(and rich).
another Democratic problem no one in the MSM wants to talk about:
the "abortion until full term birth" is not really a popular item for ordinary folks, and could backfire, except of course the MSM and the wimpy churches won't make an issue about it, or note that most of the Democrats in Congress voted against a bill that mandated giving medical care to the babies who survived. Sigh.
This resembles how the radicals tried to take over the party in the past, and ended up losing elections.
I'm too lazy to post links, but never mind.
the tax reform meant we paid fewer taxes, but since this meant less estimated money was taken from the paycheck, the NYTimes is echoing the Democratic meme that people are paying more taxes.
Isn't politics wonderful?
By the way, I go my refund already: Thank you Turbotax. I used to file with Lolo's accountant, but since I started Social Security and after Lolo got too sick and his son took over his money (our finances were separate), I started filing on my own, using the on line program.
===============
In the meanwhile, China is busy manipulating genes, first in making superkids, and now there are reports about putting human genes into monkeys to make them smarter.
ethics? Anyone? Anyone?
this has huge implications.
Putting a gene or two into an animal is not a problem, but if a preponderance of genes are put into the animal, or the ones that control the growth of the brain are manipulated, it brings up dystopian sci fi scenerios like HGWells Island of Dr Moreau or Cordwainer Smith's "underpeople", who are used as slaves by the "real" humans. One of the themes of the "underpeople" series is their quest for full human rights.
Indeed, when the Brits were threatening to do this a couple years ago, the Catholic bishops said that if this happens, the offspring should be considered human and cared for, not discarded as animals.
Finally, there are reports that the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is burning down: initial reports say it was due to an accident by those repairing the roof.
The entire structure is destroyed, but some of the art and relics inside were rescued. This is a major disaster for not just the Catholic world but for the world because of it's place in history.
if one is superstitious, this is a bad omen for France.
The political hysteria in the USA is now a broken record.
So Muller said no collusion and now the big question if the FBI did "Watergate 2", i.e. using federal government to spy on the opposition party for political reasons. So now the call is to drop the subject, even though this has "yuge" political ramifications about "big brother" being able to get you convicted for anything by snooping on you and finding a crime.
The response of the Democrats, however, is not to call for an investigation of illegal snooping, but to double down and ask for Trumpieboy's complicated tax records: which looks like another way to try to find a crime.
Isn't there an amendment in the Bill of Rights about the right to privacy? (it's the 4th one).
Senator Markey introduced a bill about social media privacy, and he's a Democrat, but it's a bit late.
it won't do us much good if a political justice department weaponize the IRS against groups representing the party out of power but no one holds the employees who did this to account.
and of course, that won't stop Chinese hackers from using the information of our personnel files that they hacked a couple years back. and I suspect they have a data base on those who interest them by simply checking out their Facebook information.
However it hasn't stopped the anti Trumpieboy hysteria, with a Boston Globe columnist encouraging waiters to contaminate the food of anyone who worked for the present US administration, and subtle calls for assassination continue.
the latest hate wave against Trumpieboy tweets is because he dared to remind a beautiful Muslim congresslady that it wasn't "someone who did something" but that it was terrorists deliberately killing Americans under the guise of a rabid form of their religion.
Shouldn't she be doing the opposite? Stressing the good Muslims fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, with the help of the US?
During World War I, Germans like my grandfather, were under suspicion because the family would sang German songs, so were investigated by the cops. (this was not an over reach by the cops: the only successful modern biowarfare incident happened during that war so embedded agents were a worry: LINK ). But it didn't mean he ridiculed the war effort: Indeed, his oldest son joined the military.
During World War II, the Japanese Americans fought for their adopted country.
So one would expect that the Muslim Congressladies would be defending America and their own communities against the crazies who hide behind religion, but no: instead they hate Israel and America and are acting to take over the party to push this agenda.
And it gets worse:
When a Navy Seal who was wounded and now is in Congress criticized her remark, he was ridiculed because he wears an eyepatch (he lost the eye from an explosive device).
And when Trumpie boy pointed out a lot of innocent people died from a terrorist attack, and that it was wrong to minimize that problem, he was also criticized by the Democrats and the MSM, in almost identical terms, i.e. that criticizing a person is inciting violence.
and I thought that Journolist coordination was a thing of the past. /s
The reason the Democrats won back Congress in the last election is because they ran moderates: From the Clinton/BlueDog wing of the party, many of whom are veterans. Yet we don't hear of them, for some reason.
Unless they are given a voice in the party, Trumpie boy will win, and bring a lot of new Congress folk with him.
so who will oppose him? The geriatric set or the metrosexual candidates, or the women who slept their way into power?
Biden would be a good choice, and Biden's son fought for the USA in Iraq, but hey, the PC in the party are trying to destroy him by pushing the fact that he is touchy feely and sympathetic, something that was considered "good" until a few years ago.
and the "Bernie boys" are in the media, but one of these days someone will notice that a lot of ordinary folks are not Bernie boys either, and that Bernie is... old....(and rich).
another Democratic problem no one in the MSM wants to talk about:
the "abortion until full term birth" is not really a popular item for ordinary folks, and could backfire, except of course the MSM and the wimpy churches won't make an issue about it, or note that most of the Democrats in Congress voted against a bill that mandated giving medical care to the babies who survived. Sigh.
This resembles how the radicals tried to take over the party in the past, and ended up losing elections.
I'm too lazy to post links, but never mind.
the tax reform meant we paid fewer taxes, but since this meant less estimated money was taken from the paycheck, the NYTimes is echoing the Democratic meme that people are paying more taxes.
Isn't politics wonderful?
By the way, I go my refund already: Thank you Turbotax. I used to file with Lolo's accountant, but since I started Social Security and after Lolo got too sick and his son took over his money (our finances were separate), I started filing on my own, using the on line program.
===============
In the meanwhile, China is busy manipulating genes, first in making superkids, and now there are reports about putting human genes into monkeys to make them smarter.
ethics? Anyone? Anyone?
this has huge implications.
Putting a gene or two into an animal is not a problem, but if a preponderance of genes are put into the animal, or the ones that control the growth of the brain are manipulated, it brings up dystopian sci fi scenerios like HGWells Island of Dr Moreau or Cordwainer Smith's "underpeople", who are used as slaves by the "real" humans. One of the themes of the "underpeople" series is their quest for full human rights.
Indeed, when the Brits were threatening to do this a couple years ago, the Catholic bishops said that if this happens, the offspring should be considered human and cared for, not discarded as animals.
Finally, there are reports that the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is burning down: initial reports say it was due to an accident by those repairing the roof.
The entire structure is destroyed, but some of the art and relics inside were rescued. This is a major disaster for not just the Catholic world but for the world because of it's place in history.
if one is superstitious, this is a bad omen for France.
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