the tip of the iceburg

solar flares affecting flights?

 

from Phil Inquirer; 

PAL, Cebu Pacific cancel domestic flights after Airbus technical advisory....

In a statement, Airbus said its advisory stemmed from an analysis of a recent incident involving an A320 Family aircraft, which revealed that “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.”

from CNN:

Thousands of passenger planes need to be fixed to avoid pilots losing control during a solar storm...Thousands of the most popular passenger aircraft in the world need immediate maintenance to protect from a problem that injured passengers and caused an emergency landing last month...

.“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” Airbus said in a statement.

so sort of a Carrington event?

and what about modern weapons that could do this?

paranoia post of the week

;;;;;;

"People need to understand that if this operation succeeds, things will move quickly - Trump would be removed from the scene almost immediately. Elite defection isn't an early warning sign of an overthrow; it's the final stage before one," DataRepublican told us, adding, "This is… https://t.co/0SdluU9w2Y

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) November 27, 2025

......

'Seditious Six' Scripted Video Appears To Be Part

 Of Left's Broader Color Revolution Against Trump https://t.co/aKe1sdbxjY

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 27, 2

Also check legalinsurection.

 

None of this is a coincidence, and the message being sent could not be any clearer. The left is sending a warning to members of the military. You can obey Trump if you want, just know that you could end up being judged just like the Nazis at Nuremberg....

"I think Mark Kelly should specify what he believes these illegal orders to be.....This is not funny. This is civil war talk. This is civil war adjacent talk. They are fomenting something.... But I think he hasn't been called out strongly enough.... " @walterkirn on America This… pic.twitter.com/D6CSgRDvTk

— Ellie A (@EllieGAnders) November 25, 2025

.............

......

more here. It is a coordinated attack to destroy Trump.And they note an actual article about the smuggling boats are smuggling boats.

Happy Thanksgiving

Family news

 Lots of rain but since they are preparing the fields for the winter rice crop that is a good thing.

Blogging is light: For some reason after the latest updates, my Opera browser won't work. So I took it off and tried to download and run it, and windows refuses. Since all my bookmarks are on my opera browser, it may take time to change them to Chrome (which Joy uses so I don't want to mess up her bookmarkes with mine) or Brave. I might even have to use (uggh) Edge... 

Sigh.

The drug raid that didn't make headlines

 I thought this was fake news about a drug raid but Reuters has a full report here.about the group, which is also branching out into illegal diesel and oil smuggling into Mexico etc.and Global Guardian has a summary of this criminal cartel and tips for travelers to stay safe.

 Fake news?

from Reuters  

How a ‘dark fleet’ of tankers helped a Mexican cartel build a fuel-smuggling empire The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has mastered the use of tankers to smuggle fuel to Mexico. U.S. oil players are helping them. Reuters traces one ship's brazen journey.

also involved with smuggling oil etc.

Narcotics remain the principal money-maker for Mexico’s cartels. But illegal fuel and stolen crude oil have become the largest non-drug revenue source for these criminals, the U.S. Treasury Department says. Narcos have built this lucrative sideline by effectively embedding themselves inside North America’s vast energy sector and mastering the logistics of moving petroleum products by truck, rail and most recently tanker.

WASHINGTON – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a week-long operational surge aimed at dismantling the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world. Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February by the Trump Administration, CJNG is a significant threat to public safety, public health, and national security. CJNG is responsible for flooding the United States with deadly fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin to fuel addiction, overdoses, and violence in communities across the United States.

 DEA report here. 

,

,,,,,

....

This explains why the bots (see below about bot manipulation) have been busy trying to destroy Kash Patel and why too many in congress are pushing Epstein story which is a decade old. 

this was from last week: So where were the headlines?

Now do the cocaine stash in the white house....

Bots manipulating you. Who wudda guess?

X revealed the places where people were posting, and a lot of the anti Israel stuff is bots or fake news by folk claiming they were suffering in Gaza but they were actually posting from far away.

heh Who wudda thot?

If you don't have X here is an alternative site:

LINK

and of course a lot of similar fake stuff is going on about covid and the vaccines, about the Ukraine,  or fake Republicans who changed their mind and now hate Trumpiboy, 

did you ever notice all those anti Trump  protests that are supposed to be grass roots,   have pre printed signs that are identical (Printed signs cost money and take time to print and distribute.)

a lot of the fake bots are behind the push to get MAGA Republicans to fight among each other and to desert Trump.

given the amount of manipulation about covid, why should one think this is new?

 

from Instapundit: 

 SHINE ON LITTLE LIGHT, SHINE ON: 

from X: or alternative site. 

 Seeing the sheer number of people on the ‘American online right’ exposed to be foreigners is frankly relieving. Given many of these accounts have been actively stoking the flames of the little civil war we are having on the right at the moment, their locations being posted is huge.

Go into any hot topic political conversation on twitter right now. Go into the comments. Find the most inflammatory comments pushing the hardest and the strongest on the most radical position. You’ll find them filled with people from Europe. India. The Philippines. The Middle East. Australia. Nigeria. Malaysia. I’m batting about 75% in being able to guess who is American and who is not.

well duh. But What about VPN? Does X register the VPN address or the real address?

Just wondering. 

there is going to be a party tonite

 

they already are putting up signs for traffic. There are a few celebrties coming to help us celebrate.

Christmas season is here.

the Sudan war needs to get into the headlines.

from AlJezeerah:

Sudan has vast oil, gold and agricultural resources. Who controls them? Sudan’s conflict continues to reshape the nation of 50 million amid widespread displacement and a fight for resources.

Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, has pitted the army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a devastating struggle for power. The conflict has unleashed the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 9.5 million people forced from their homes across Sudan’s 18 states and millions facing starvation.

follow the money. It is about gold (one reason the Wagner group mercenaries from Russia were there) and petroleum. 

Oil exports are Sudan’s primary source of revenue. Production expanded between 2001 and 2010, from 200,000 barrels per day to nearly 500,000bpd. In 2011, it collapsed when South Sudan seceded, taking 75 percent of Sudan’s oil reserves with it.

Sudan is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, with deposits across the northeast, centre and the south. Most of the deposits in eastern Sudan are controlled by the Sudanese army, while the central and southwestern goldfields are largely under RSF control.

StrateyPage has an essay from March about the war there, giving background on the war, but it is a bit out of date since the atrocities have gotten worse.

Seeking hackers, AI robots, and farmers

I just finished reading the Widow, a best selling crime novel where a lawyer hires some criminal hackers to find who poisoned his client.

 The irony is that there are supposed to be a lot of privacy laws that would stop a legal search for such things: But hey Comey and Biden and Obama and Hillary all managed to get around these legal barriers to spy on Trumpieboy's campaign to get information on what he was planning to do (similar to the Watergate burglers, but on steroids). And of course we know that these people will never be prosecuted. 

 Well anyway it's not just campaign stuff: The coverup of a Trump assassin's presence on line is being found and that is what this is

 about: 

I had to laugh at the part where they say Trumpieboy didn't seem upset about it. I doubt that, but maybe he's too busy saving the world. Sort of like the same reason he's ignoring the psy op on Epstein files.

As for Trump's latest: Making pals with the Saudis etc will help make peace in Gaza, but the speech by Musk scares me:

 

 I doubt his robots will replace the farmers. We are only partly mechanized, but if you watch Clarkson's farm you can see the complications of being a farmer.

And all it would take is a solar flare or a minor problem with the internet or electrical grid to make the world fall apart.

Sort of like how Cloudflare crashed X and a lot of other sites yesterday.

Speaking of farmers: One of our farmér's daughters just died of bone cancer. A sad case.

Give Peace a chance, take eight.

🚨 United Nations Security Council acknowledges and endorses President Trump's BOARD OF PEACE. pic.twitter.com/Qam0XpkLqx

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 17, 2025

You would think that the UN resolution  to make peace in Gaza would get headlines, but in most of the news is is the second or third headline.

BBC puts it below two posts on AI stuff.

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of a US-drafted resolution that endorses US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza.

Included in the plan is the establishment of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF), to which, the US says, multiple unnamed countries have offered to contribute.

The resolution was backed by 13 countries - including the UK, France and Somalia - with none voting against the proposal. Russia and China abstained. Adopting it was an "important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire", a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Hamas has rejected the resolution, saying it fails to meet Palestinians' rights and demands.

Hamas said that assigning an international force to disarm groups fighting Israeli occupation in Gaza “strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation.”

🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/F3sMhzpuSZ pic.twitter.com/5B2YXMew7B

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 18, 2025

....... Bit Hamas of course doesn't want peace: They want their soldiers to stay in charge. And ironically the usually pro Hamas AlJ posted a photo of their thugs to emphasize the story.

HotAir, a right wing opinion site, explains:

What this vote really sets up the next part of this plan, which is the creation of a security force designed to enter Gaza and disarm Hamas. but Israel has also complained about some of the language in the framework adopted today.

well, they have been trying to make peace in the areas for 70 years, and it always fell apart because of the extremists. Heck, even Netanyahu is trying to stop his rabid settlers from burning down mosques and terrorizing folk in the West Bank, so not all of Israel's arrests and violence are self defense.

But hey, maybe this time it will work. But I won't hold my breath...

Bias? Moi? Yes but sorry don't sue

 The conservative Sky News in Australia are a bit cynical about the BBC's apology.

fast forward to 3 minutes in when Liz Truss notes a lot of Brits are aware of the problem and hope Trump's lawsuit helps the BBC reform.

then they allow the media's point of view: i.e bad Trump bullying the media. Unlike too many other media sites, they push back on this: They point out it is about truth vs the narrative of the elite.

and then they put up a CNN narrative which clarifies one of the charges that in the past would have been merely a talking point ignoring the full story.

Why is the truth important?

Covid lies anyone?

Musical Interlude of the week

the under publicized story of La Diabla

 I had posted about China's use of newborns for transplants, and the story was unclear if they were just using brain dead children to save lives. 

But then I found this in my X feed:

Our mission is to keep the American people safe, stopping terrorists and criminals from entering our country, and taking down people like “La Diabla” who kidnapped pregnant women and cut them open to sell their organs and their babies to fund her criminal enterprise.

Today,… https://t.co/YACTGQ84rh

— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) November 14, 2025

,,,,,,

La Diabla who kidnapped pregnant women to sell organs and babies?

the story is from late September, and since then... nothing.

Tulsi Gabbard is of course a Democrat who ran against Biden and Kamela in the primaries a few years ago, and is also a veteran. So she is hated by partisan media operatives of both sides. 

So presumably she is trustworthy. So what is the story and why has the press ignored it?

there are only a few stories about it on Google'search. Here is one from CBS NEWS from September.

Martha Alicia Mendez Aguilar, known as "La Diabla," was captured on Sept. 2 after officials say the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, referred to by the U.S. as CJNG, lured a handful of pregnant women — often in vulnerable or impoverished circumstances — to remote areas. Once there, CJNG traffickers allegedly performed illegal cesarean operations on the women, killing the mothers and allegedly harvesting their organs postmortem, and placing newborns into illicit markets, according to senior intelligence officials. The infants were then sold to couples in the United States for as much as 250,000 pesos or roughly $14,000 each, according to the senior intelligence officials.

The rumors of killing people for organs is widespread, and often just hysterical propaganda, but in this case apparently it is true, with authorities from two governments verifying it.

So where are the reporters covering the story? 

the few stories I found just paraphrased the US Govt oress release from late September. and this video is one of a very few on the youtube site:.......

.........................................

so what has happened since then? are there no investigative reporters checking who in the US sold the babies or where they were?

So I asked Grok who answered: 

  

 

Tulsi Gabbard broke La Diabla story so who bought the babies Searched for ""La Diabla" Tulsi Gabbard babies OR trafficking OR bought" 15 results Show All (5) Tulsi Gabbard, as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the second Trump administration, publicly highlighted the case of "La Diabla" (real name Martha Alicia Méndez Aguilar) during an October 2025 White House roundtable on border security and human trafficking. She credited U.S. intelligence sharing—via a new National Intelligence Fusion Cell and the National Counterterrorism Center—with enabling Mexican authorities to arrest her in Juárez, Mexico, on September 2, 2025.

Gabbard described the operation as one of the "most insidious" cartel crimes, involving luring vulnerable pregnant women (often with fake job offers or aid promises), performing forced illegal C-sections, killing the mothers, harvesting their organs for sale, and trafficking the newborns.

The babies were reportedly sold for around 250,000 Mexican pesos each (roughly $13,000–$14,000 USD at the time), primarily to couples in the United States seeking infants through illicit channels. This crossed into U.S. jurisdiction because the sales targeted American buyers, which is why U.S. intelligence got involved.

As of November 2025, no specific buyers have been publicly identified or charged. One report from One America News Network (OANN) in late October 2025 stated that the joint U.S.-Mexico investigation "remains active while authorities search for past buyers," indicating efforts to trace and prosecute those who purchased the infants are ongoing, but no names or arrests on the buyer side have been announced.

The focus so far has been on dismantling the cartel network and arresting operators like La Diabla (affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG).

And then I asked Grok for more information on US Mexican human trafficking investigations.

Here are some notable recent US-Mexico joint or bilateral human trafficking and smuggling busts (focusing on 2024–2025), excluding the "La Diabla" case involving forced C-sections and baby sales. These primarily involve sex trafficking, forced labor, child smuggling (often for exploitation or adoption fraud), and migrant smuggling networks that frequently overlap with trafficking. Many are coordinated through the DOJ's Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) or ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

 

Date Operation/Case Key Details Arrests/Outcomes

November 2024 Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization Long-running (2004–2014, but indicted/unsealed in 2024) family-run ring forcing Mexican women and girls into prostitution in New York, Atlanta, and Alabama.

Coordinated arrests in Mexico and Queens, NY. 8 arrested (5 in Mexico, 3 in US); 27-count indictment for sex trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering.

September 2025 Guadian-Valenzuela Child Smuggling Conspiracy (El Paso/Juárez) Alien smuggling organization trafficking unaccompanied children aged 5–13 from Juárez, Mexico, into Texas for exploitation (often handed to unvetted sponsors). Part of expanded JTFA efforts. 4 charged (including Dianne Guadian and Manuel Valenzuela arrested in El Paso); ongoing investigation into network.

July 2024 Abdul Karim Conteh Smuggling Network Sierra Leone national leading organization smuggling thousands of migrants (many vulnerable to trafficking) through Mexico into the US; arrested in Tijuana at US request. 1 key leader arrested and sanctioned; extradition pending; organization designated for Treasury sanctions. March 2025 (older network, fugitive captured)

Granados/Ramirez-Granados Sex Trafficking Ring Tenancingo, Mexico-based family network romancing/coercing women into prostitution in Mexico and US; one of ICE's top 10 most wanted captured after years on the run. Key fugitive Paulino Ramirez-Granados arrested in Mexico; prior related convictions.

Ongoing 2024–2025 Lopez Human Smuggling Organization (Guatemala-Mexico-US) Guatemala-based ring (with Sinaloa Cartel ties in some ops) smuggling migrants through Mexico to US states like New Mexico, Arizona, and California; often leads to debt bondage/trafficking.

Multiple indictments/arrests in 2023–2024; leader sanctioned by Treasury in 2025; thousands of victims affected.

November 2025 Bhardwaj Human Trafficking Organization (BHTO) Mexico-based transnational network (Sinaloa Cartel links) smuggling migrants from Europe, Middle East, Asia, and South America through Mexico into US for profit/exploitation.Network sanctioned by US Treasury; ongoing disruptions (no specific arrest counts public yet).

 

Additional ContextChild-focused cases are rising but rare in public busts compared to the La Diabla horror; most involve smuggling unaccompanied minors who end up in forced labor (e.g., agriculture, factories) or sex trafficking after poor sponsor vetting by HHS. Mexico reported 661 new trafficking investigations in 2024 (many cross-border), but convictions remain low due to corruption and impunity.

US efforts (via JTFA, expanded in 2025) have led to hundreds of arrests annually, but cartels like CJNG and Sinaloa dominate the trade, blending migrant smuggling with outright trafficking.

No other 2024–2025 case matches the exact brutality of harvesting/selling newborns, though child smuggling networks often feed into illegal adoptions or exploitation in the US. Investigations into buyers/sponsors in child cases are typically slower and less publicized than operator arrests. Details on JTFA operations CJNG cartel trafficking role  

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

related video

another related video:

....

this video which is one month old says La Diabla has been released.

 but Grok says no: apparently she was released after her September arrest but then arrested again.

No, "La Diabla" (full name Martha Alicia Méndez Aguilar) has not been released as of November 15, 2025.She was arrested on September 2, 2025, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in a joint U.S.-Mexican operation supported by U.S. intelligence from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). She is accused of leading a horrific infant trafficking ring affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), involving luring pregnant women, performing illegal cesareans, harvesting organs from the mothers (often killing them), and selling the newborns (for up to ~$14,000 USD each, primarily to couples in the U.S.).

There were earlier reports in early September 2025 suggesting she was briefly released or not formally charged in one initial hearing due to alleged judicial corruption.

However, she was immediately re-arrested on escalated charges including femicide (feminicidio agravado), attempted homicide, human trafficking, and organized crime. She remains in custody in a Mexican prison (Cereso Femenil in Chihuahua), with the investigation ongoing and additional charges possible. Recent updates as late as October 2025 confirm the case is active, and she is still detained.

Sources include official U.S. government releases (ODNI/NCTC), CBS News, Border Report, and Mexican outlets like Milenio and Infobae, with no credible reports of release after the September re-arrest.

send money says the climate change meeting

I am reading how the climate change meeting in Brazil is insisting that rich countries pay oodles of money to poor countries over climate change...

Dirty little secret? Much of it will be diverted into the pockets of crooked politicians and/or businessmen, and of course even the non stolen money won't help people at the grass roots level as much as it will pay the salaries of people working in NGOs.

Corruption is a big issue world wide, but here in the Philippines the big scandal  for the last few months is the diversion of money for flood control projects which were either not done, not finished, or done with shoddy materials.

this is actually business as usual: this story is about corruption in the Arroyo administration, and the Aquino administration, and the Duterte administration.....and now under Marcos.

Wikipedia summary 

What is unusual is that it is being exposed in Congressional hearings that have been on going for the last month or so, and that the public is doing demonstrations against the fraud. Will actual punishment follow? 

And yes, the failure to build flood control projects contributed to the damage from the latest typhoons.

the latest  big rally against corruption is led by a local church, the INC.

LOOK: The QCPD and the United People's Initiative do a walkthrough of the People Power Monument and White Plains Avenue ahead of the group's rally there to be simultaneously held with the INC's rally at Luneta Park starting on Sunday.

The NCRPO previously said it will deploy… pic.twitter.com/Ks8bguB9t1

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) November 14, 2025

.......since the story on local TV is in Tagalog, I will post some videos from other source:

...

this is from one month ago:

...

,,,,

for. later listening

https://youtu.be/mLB0kZ5uw9Q?si=fL79_FFDfYk7-A7i

well you believed the BBC?

 

Now do the lies to paint Israel as evil, believing Hamas lies....

Why did it accidentally have a documentary on Gaza narrated by the son of a Hamas official ?

 Why did it accidentally broadcast an apparent Hamas rally live from the West Holts stage of Glastonbury? Well now we know. They were all in on it. Mission accomplished. Bob Vylan has pulled off the unthinkable.

am interview with the UKTelegraph reporter:

the Edmund Fitzgerald

The reason we remember this shipwreck is that a songwriter made a ballad about the tragedy.

which says a lot about how artists frame the way we remember our history

,,,,

Smithsonian Magazine has an essay on the ship, the shipwreck and why we remember it.

Half a century ago, on an unseasonably warm fall day, the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald set off from the western edge of Lake Superior with a cargo full of iron ore. Within hours, a ferocious storm gathered in strength, ultimately producing 60-foot waves and sinking the prized vessel. There were no survivors. The exact cause of its demise remains unknown.

Over the decades, many ships have faced a similar fate on the Great Lakes, a part of the world that some say is more dangerous than the open ocean. But the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald looms the largest in our collective national memory—and it led to changes in the maritime industry that dramatically improved the safety of shipping.

 there is a podcast with the author of a book about the tragedy at the link

In this episode, host Ari Daniel speaks with author John U. Bacon about what made the Edmund Fitzgerald famous even before it sank, what we know and don’t know about the crew’s final moments, and the ship’s lasting legacy.

Bacon: Commercial sailors will tell you that the Great Lakes are actually more dangerous than the ocean, which seems, to me, crazy. Daniel: To jump in for context here, these lakes are just enormous. Lake Superior alone is about half the size of Florida. Even so, you might not guess that navigating these waters could be more perilous than sailing on the ocean. Bacon: So the salties, the guys in the oceans, they all laugh about the Great Lakes until they’re on them. And they stop laughing pretty quickly. When it’s smooth, it’s gorgeous and it’s pretty simple. But when it’s not, it gets ugly very fast for a lot of reasons. One, the salt on the oceans squashes down the points of the waves. It weighs them down and it also spreads them out. So you get these big but smooth roller coasters—still not fun and still can be dangerous. But by and large, you’re probably going to get over it. It’s not going to be pleasant, but you’ll get there. On the Great Lakes, there are peaks like mountaintops, and they’re twice as close together. Daniel: Which means that during a bad storm, waves the size of a four-story building can come at you every four to eight seconds. Bacon: And that’s how ships crack. They actually crack. And this has happened many times in the Great Lakes.

 

well we survived the typhoon

the city turned off the electricity last evening at 6 pm, and we ran the generator to watch TV and lights until 9pm. Then it was candles. 

Our four watch dogs fled into my bedroom to hide under the bed and it was a struggle to keep the latest puppy out (he is not house trained), so he was crying all night. The dog who guards the kitchen fled into Joy's room. And since the wind wasn't too strong, the dog that guards the business office just fled to the porch next to the apartment next door.

But despite very heavy rain, the wind was only moderate and I didn't hear the banging of trees and debris falling and blowing around. 

Apparently the typhoon went through quickly and hit north of here, and the mountains weakened the storm.

 I do have an old am/fm/sw but forgot to get batteries. So I listened to mp3s on my tablet but had to use my cellphone to check the weather.

 All night there was heavy rain and wind, but not severe wind like we have had in past typhoons, and indeed, this morning there is not a lot of damage on site. Apparently the typhoon went north and hit the mountains which slowed the winds down And it went through quickly, meaning less time to dump rain etc. 

 It is still gusty outside, but no rain and partly cloudy. Now it is time to clean up. No electricity yet (until they check all the electric lines) but we have a generator. We are lacking water but still have some in our overhead tank.

waiting for the typhoon

 sorry about the spelling/typing mistakes in my last post: I have since corrected them. I was up during the night to check on the typhoon and ran across the story on youtube,

But anyway, right now it is overcast and quiet. The calm before the storm... The deacon came early with communion for me, since I have been unable to sit through the full mass service for over a year, not to mention the inability to walk more than half a city block at a time. He sees me chasing the dogs back into the room so they don't bite him and I know they are wondering why I just don't go to mass, but it is the ability to sit for an hour and a half without fainting from the heat, plus the problem of walking to and from the parking lot. 

Sigh.

Oh well: I read David Warren's post about his problems walking and I said same here.

Among the pleasures of old age — a physical condition I had the honour of entering into, during February of 2021 — is that one is given the opportunity to give up several of one’s pleasures. This isn’t offered as a choice, however. One simply cannot do what one was, perhaps habitually, doing before; although in some cases an old pleasure is replaced by a new one. I used to love long walks, for instance. Now I do short walks, followed by a fall, and then, all the excitement of getting up again. Since my son got me a “walker” — or “stroller” as I call it — this pleasure, too, has almost departed. But one gets used to not falling over, as I have now discovered.

I haven't fallen a lot so I have that to be thankful for. But I do miss shopping and church. 

Sigh.

In the meanwhile, the dogs will go for a walk as long as I start the walk with them, and then they follow the maid around the block while I go back to sit and enjoy the sun.

We have had a lot of typhoons, so we know what to expect: The danger of flooding is low (the most we flooded was six inches since Lolo built us above street level). Will we lose water and electricity? Alas unlike the last time, we don't have a pump working, so maybe we need to fill buckets etc. 

My window is protected by the wall, so probably all the dogs will migrate into my room for safety. Sigh.  

organ donor infant

 NTD is associated with the FalunGang religious group which is illegal in China and their is a scandal that some were political prisoners who were killed to sell their organs. LINK

;;;before you point fingers at China, remember when Project Veritas found that Planned Parenthood was getting organs from late term abortions (and the local Dcmocrats  in California made sure that PV was sued).

I am so old that I remember when the AMA and their ethicists backed  the idea of getting organs from Anencephalic babies 40 years ago: The problem? These kids have a brain stem, so it means they don't meet the brain dead criteria, and if allowed, it is a quick ethical slide into using people in comas for organs (something the ethicists have also been trying to push for 30 years) as one can see from this proposal in Lancet in Nov 1997. This met opposition as this letter from Lancet in 1998 shows:

The announcement on television and radio by J Radcliffe-Richards on behalf of the International Forum for Transplant Ethics (preceding the group's Lancet paper ), suggesting that patients in permanent vegetative state (PVS), in whom a court had given consent to withdrawal of treatment, could be given a lethal injection to expedite death so that their organs can be removed for transplantation must be challenged

The use of a lethal injection to terminate the life of an individual who is clearly alive although without cognitive brain function and in whom established brain death criteria are not fulfilled is to be deplored, however well meant. The proposal suggests euthanasia and, even worse, smacks of the activities of totalitarian regimes.

waiting for the typhoon

 Due to hit tomorrow night, but it is huge so we should start getting rain tomorrow. In the Visayas, they are already being hit.

Everyone is preparing for thr the typhoon:, we are signal 2.

Alas, one of the workers cutting down tree limbs in our area was electrocuted when the falling branch hit a live electric wire. He has three school age kids. 

Sigh.

growing rice vs green electricity

 

this series of films is about Filipino culture.

They get  some things correct and some things wrong. 

This vido is about growing rice in a sustainable fashion instead of using chemicals, consolidating farms and displacing small farmers, etc.

When I first moved here, the planting was by hand (it still is) using a water buffalo, and the harvesting was done by hand, (our staff would take off to help their relatives harvest). We had a portable thresher however, to separate the grain from the chaff. And we still tend to dry the  rice on a flat surface 

But the government encourages sustainable non chemical farming, and the Philippine rice institute provides grain and seedlings that are hybrid for better crop yields.

That said, a lot of this is still true:

the bad news A lot of the fields are now being sold or rented out to solar panels to supply electricity to Manila.

Life imitates Spaceballs

 

....

The password to the Louvre museum’s video surveillance system was “Louvre.” Thieves recently made away with over $100m in irreplaceable Crown Jewels in the center of Paris. https://t.co/eWa78Wbo0F

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) November 6, 2025

the Visayas recovering from last typhoon

 Most of the reports were from outsiders or in Tagalog, but this one is from a local news outlet:

,,,,,

,,,,

the anger is strong because right now the big scandal is the corruption of the flood control projects, where money was appropriated for flood control but either nothing was done or shoddy and incomplete flood control projects were happening.

We are sending money to our staff's families to help, and this is multipplied by many people sending help to relativves.

And the bad news: Another storm headed here this weekend: It should hit furthur north (i.e. hit us and maybe destroy the rice crop that hasn't yet been harvested and dried).

wikipedia page here, but as the summary notes; the scandal is ongoing.

the dirty little secret is that a lot of aid is diverted, or misused, not just in the Philppines but all over the world: We are waiting for the Pope to say hey don't steal the money from the poor, but instead too oftne we see only stuff about love and give more to charity/development projects.

mmmm

update: I went out to get extra money in case the banks are closed on Monday. Also some extra supplies. I may check the spare generator tomorrow just in case we go off line for a few days. Depends how bad are the winds.

m

another day another storm

 the typhoon that hit the central Philippines has left the area, but another one is due Sunday... and could hit us.

Here it is mainly cloudy with rain showers.

BBC Bias: nothing new. Now try Lancet

 

when I lived in Africa, our only source of news was the BBC via shortwave. And they lied about Reagan all the time. Supposedly Reagan was a cowboy who was going to start World War III...

well nothing seems to have changed:

As for Lancet: Remember when they posted a letter by a bunch of experts saying Covid did not come from WUhan: written by the head of Ecohealth, the organization that gave Wuhan labs the money to do gain of function research?

the MSM ignored Asian casualties of Hamas: It wasn't just Israelis

I sort o found this story when some were finally released but the MSM never mentioned it. 

I am not up to writing and researching it again, So I asked Grok: ,,,,,posted here for my own information

 

### The Story of Thai Farm Workers in the October 7, 2023, Hamas Attack on Israel

In the early morning hours of October 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched a massive surprise assault on southern Israel, breaching the border fence with Gaza in multiple locations. What began as a barrage of thousands of rockets was followed by ground incursions involving gunmen on motorcycles, paragliders, and trucks. The attacks targeted civilian communities, including kibbutzim (collective farms) and agricultural sites near the border—areas where thousands of migrant workers from Thailand were employed. These Thai laborers, drawn to Israel by promises of steady wages far exceeding what they could earn at home, suddenly found themselves in the crosshairs of a conflict they had no part in. Their stories highlight the vulnerability of low-wage migrant workers, who were neither soldiers nor settlers but essential cogs in Israel's agricultural machine.

#### Why Were So Many Thai Workers There? Thailand has been Israel's largest source of foreign agricultural labor since a 2012 bilateral agreement eased visa processes for Thai migrants. Prior to the attacks, around 30,000 Thai men—mostly from impoverished rural regions in northeastern Thailand—worked on farms across Israel, with thousands stationed in high-risk border areas near Gaza. These workers, often in their 20s and 30s, picked crops like avocados, strawberries, pineapples, and peppers under grueling conditions: long hours in the heat, low pay (about $1,300 a month, or five times Thailand's average rural wage), and inadequate shelter from rocket threats. Many lived in basic barracks or trailers on remote kibbutzim, far from bomb shelters, and their remote locations made them easy targets when Hamas fighters stormed in. Families back home depended on their remittances for basics like food and education; one worker's wife described their dream of building a house as shattered in an instant.

It remains unclear if Thai workers were deliberately targeted—Hamas claimed the assault was against Israeli military and settlers—but their proximity to the border and lack of security made them collateral victims in a war not their own. Other Asian migrants, including Nepalese students and Filipino caregivers, suffered too, but Thais bore the brunt as the largest group.

#### The Horror of October 7: Attacks on the Farms As dawn broke, Hamas gunmen infiltrated kibbutzim like Alumim, Be'eri, and Nir Oz—agricultural havens turned killing fields. Thai workers, many off-duty and relaxing in shared quarters, had little chance. In Kibbutz Alumim, militants hurled grenades and fired into a shelter housing Thai farmhands and Nepalese students; 12 Thais and 10 Nepalis were slaughtered, while four Thais were dragged away captive. At a poultry farm near the border, 30-year-old Withawat Kunwong fought hand-to-hand with an attacker who slashed his throat, leaving him for dead in a pool of blood; he survived only by playing possum until rescuers arrived, his scars a lifelong reminder.

Elsewhere, workers like Ubon Namsan, 27, watched rockets streak overhead from his strawberry fields, initially dismissing the alerts as routine—Gaza barrages had been sporadic for months. But then came the gunfire. In one avocado grove, 26-year-old Kong Saelao was picking fruit when militants arrived; he was shot and killed, his last selfies amid green trees a heartbreaking contrast to the violence. Katchakon Pudtason, chased across dusty roads, took a bullet to the knee while fleeing on foot; his colleague remains in a coma from head wounds.

Families watched the chaos unfold in real-time via Facebook Live. Suntharee Saelee saw her husband Gong's posts from his day off at an avocado farm: rockets arcing toward distant cities, intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome. Then silence—he was among those kidnapped, his wife raging at Hamas for turning "innocent workers" into pawns. By day's end, the toll was staggering: at least 39 Thai workers killed (later revised to 46 including war-related deaths), 31 abducted (the second-largest foreign group after Israelis), and 19 injured. Hamas fighters even sabotaged irrigation systems, dooming crops in a calculated blow to Israel's "desert bloom" economy.

#### Kidnappings and the Agony of Uncertainty The abductions were brutal and opportunistic. Workers were bound, beaten, and herded into Gaza on makeshift vehicles, their fates unknown for weeks. Natthaporn On-kaew, a 26-year-old, was one of the first confirmed Thai hostages, his parents clutching his photo in despair. Families in Thailand, often in one-room homes with dirt floors, bombarded embassies with pleas but received little clarity—many couldn't even confirm if loved ones were dead or captive due to bureaucratic fog. One father learned of his son's kidnapping from a grainy video circulating online.

Of the 31 taken, 23 were released in phases: 17 in November 2023 during initial truce talks, and five more—Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Saethao, and Surasak Lamnao—on January 30, 2025, amid a fragile ceasefire. These men, farmhands from quiet villages, endured 15 months in tunnels and cells, emerging gaunt and traumatized to emotional reunions at Bangkok's airport. Two died in captivity, and one—Nattapong Pinta—remains missing as of early 2025. Their release wasn't tied to major deals but leveraged diplomatic pressure from Thailand, which condemned the attacks while aiding evacuations.

#### Aftermath: Exodus, Trauma, and Resilience The attacks triggered a mass exodus: over 7,000 Thai workers fled on government-chartered flights, leaving coffins draped in flags at Ben-Gurion Airport and farms crippled by labor shortages. Israel, expelling Palestinian laborers and losing Thais, scrambled for replacements from Sri Lanka and elsewhere, while offering bonuses to lure workers back—despite ongoing rocket fire.

Survivors like Jakkrit Noiphoothorn ("Thon") and Korawit Kaeokoed ("Kuay") returned to Alumim's fields in 2024, tending cowsheds amid nightmares: "It's always in my mind. No matter what I do, it won’t go away." Withawat, now home, touches his neck scars gingerly, vowing never to return. Advocacy groups decried the "business as usual" pressure on workers to resume amid peril, and Israel pledged more shelters and €4.7 million in border-area compensation.

Thailand provided 50,000 baht ($1,400) in aid per returnee, but the human cost lingers: shattered families, PTSD, and a stark reminder of migrant workers' invisibility in global conflicts. As one relative put it, "We have nothing to do with their war." By 2025, with a ceasefire in place, the released hostages began rebuilding, but the scars—of body and soul—endure.

.....

So what about Filipinos?

Again from Grok

### The Plight of Filipino Caregivers in the October 7, 2023, Hamas Attack on Israel

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants breached Israel's border with Gaza in a coordinated assault, firing thousands of rockets and storming southern communities, including kibbutzim (collective farms) and residential areas. While the primary targets were Israeli civilians and military sites, the violence ensnared vulnerable migrant workers, including Filipino caregivers who formed the backbone of elderly and disabled care in the region. These women—predominantly from rural Philippines—had migrated to Israel seeking stable wages (around $1,500 monthly, triple what they earned at home) to support families through remittances. Stationed in border-adjacent kibbutzim like Be'eri, Nir Oz, and Nirim, they lived with their employers, often in modest homes lacking robust defenses. Their proximity to the Gaza envelope made them unintended casualties in a war zone, exposing the fragility of migrant labor in conflict areas. Unlike Thai farm workers, who faced mass killings in fields, Filipinos endured targeted home invasions, their loyalty to patients turning heroic acts into tragedies.

#### The Role and Vulnerabilities of Filipino Caregivers Israel hosts about 30,000 Filipinos, 90% as caregivers for the elderly, disabled, or infirm—roles formalized through bilateral agreements since 2013. These workers, mostly women aged 30-50, provide round-the-clock care: bathing, feeding, medicating, and emotional support. Many resided in southern kibbutzim, drawn by employer-provided housing and salaries that funded homes, education, and debts back in provinces like Pangasinan and Pampanga. However, their isolation—far from urban shelters in Tel Aviv or Haifa—left them exposed. Homes had basic safe rooms, but not all were fortified against armed intruders. Caregivers often prioritized patients over flight, bound by duty and contracts, only to face gunmen who viewed foreigners as collateral.

Initial chaos amplified fears: Families in the Philippines tracked loved ones via WhatsApp, only to encounter silence amid rocket sirens. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) scrambled to account for all, but unverified social media reports of kidnappings sowed panic. By October 8, over 2,000 Filipinos had marked themselves safe online, yet a "handful"—fewer than 10—remained untraced in the south.

#### The Attacks: Stories of Loyalty and Loss As militants rampaged through kibbutzim, caregivers sheltered with charges, barricading doors against AK-47 fire and grenades. Their decisions echoed a cultural ethos of "utang na loob" (debt of gratitude), but at fatal cost.

- **Angelyn Peralta Aguirre, 33, from Pangasinan**: A newlywed on her first contract, Angelyn had worked six years in Israel, sending money for her family's farm. On October 7, Hamas gunmen stormed her kibbutz home near Gaza. She refused to flee, staying with 73-year-old employer Nira—locking them in a safe room. Militants blasted through, killing both. Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum hailed her "unimaginable honor in the face of evil," noting Angelyn's chance to escape but choice to protect. Her body was recovered days later; her husband learned via embassy calls, clutching her last voice note: "I love you."

- **Paul Vincent Castelvi, 42, from Pampanga**: A male caregiver (rare in the field), Paul planned a holiday surprise for his mother. At Kibbutz Nir Oz, he herded his elderly patient into a bomb shelter as gunmen approached. Shots rang out; both died in the barrage. His sister identified him via photos from community leaders. Paul, a father of three, had scrimped for his kids' tuition.

- **Loreta Villarin Alacre, 49, from Negros Occidental**: Loreta, a veteran caregiver, attended the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im for a rare break—her first since arriving years prior. Hamas militants massacred 260 attendees; she was among them, shot fleeing the stage. Initially misidentified as a kibbutz worker, DNA confirmed her death on October 13. Her Cadiz City family, in a one-room home, mourned via Facebook tributes, her remittances their lifeline now severed.

- **Grace (Mary Grace) Prodigo-Cabrera, from an unspecified province**: The fourth confirmed victim, Grace died in her kibbutz residence during the incursion. Details emerged slowly; her sister Mary June repatriated her remains in November 2023. Like others, she embodied quiet sacrifice—caring for the vulnerable while far from her own.

These four were among six initially missing Filipinos; their deaths brought the toll to four by late October, all caregivers. One injured worker, shot in the arm, was treated and repatriated. No abductions were confirmed—unlike Thais, only one Filipino hostage overall, released in the 2023 ceasefire.

#### Aftermath: Grief, Repatriation, and Enduring Bonds News hit Philippine shores like aftershocks. Families in shanties and provinces gathered at DFA offices, demanding answers amid bureaucratic delays. Vigils in Manila's Christ the King Church and tributes at the Philippine Embassy drew crowds; on November 28, 2023, relatives of the four convened for a memorial, sharing photos and sobs. The DFA condemned the attacks as "barbaric," raising Israel to Alert Level 2, urging voluntary returns.

Over 100 Filipinos repatriated via chartered flights by November, debts (up to $3,500 for recruitment fees) chaining some to stay. Israel offered lifetime benefits to victims' kin—pensions, therapy, honors—declaring them "part of our family." Ambassador Ilan Fluss praised their heroism: "They run the lives of our elderly... full trust." A fifth death, a festival-goer, was verified in November, but caregivers bore the brunt.

Survivors like Lourdes Levi, a 20-year veteran in Tel Aviv, stayed despite sirens: "It's my duty—no one else to care for them." In Kibbutz Nirim, caregiver Camille (surname withheld) faced a gunman at the safe room window, pleading, "Take our money, not us." She hugged 95-year-old Nitza for 2.5 hours until rescuers came; both survived, her 1,500 shekels ($370) savings spared.

By November 2025, with ceasefires holding, repatriations continue—over 200 total. Families receive 200,000 pesos ($3,500) aid from OWWA, but trauma lingers: PTSD, lost breadwinners, shattered dreams. As one widow said, "She went for us, died for them." Their plight underscores migrant invisibility—heroes in hostels, footnotes in wars.

family news

a typhoon is going through the Visayas, meaning relatives of Joy and the staff are in the danger area. No reports yet. Here it is dark and overcast.

Downtown, they are putting up the Christmas lights near the plaza, so the electricity is going on and of to keep their workers safe (a few years ago, one man was electrocuted when one of the ligts he was putting up connected to a live wire.

Sigh. Reminds me of a guy who put up a TV antenna and the wind knocked it over and electrocuted him. We did CPR for over an hour, and got him back once but then his heart stopped again. Sigh.

One of the problems of retirement is that with leisure a lot of little things bring back memories of terrible things. I was a doctor for 36 years and saved many lives but it is the failures that come back to haunt me.

Sigh.

gee it was worse than the MSM reported

 

Stories under the fold

 

,,,,,,

more on my Makaipablog. And strategy page has a summary of Islamic and tribal terrorism (which often is now being influenced by ISIS etc) in Africa. Note: You don't need ISIS: The Rwanda massacres were done by Christian and and tribal religion believers, and indeed many who were followers of Islam refused to cooperate with the massacres.

...

and the podcast from yesterday that is burning up the internet,,, 2,978,141 views  so far

,,,

a completely uncovered story: The US lost their ability to build ships 

family news

Undas: Time to honor our dead

 

here, everyone visits their dead loved ones in the cemetaries, which often means travling to the home village. So the country is essentially shut down for business and the roads are packed.

You visit the graves, clean them up (from leaves and dirt), put candles and flowers on the grave, and then stay for awhile and have a picnic and socilaize. There are vendors in the cemetary who will sell you candles in case you forgot to bring them, and also snacks and bottled water (beer is forbidden but they used to sell that too). And they also have toys for the kids in case they get bored.

IN the richer areas, we have small houses for the dead where the family is buried but in the older parts, it is merely a tiny plot where the boxes up to three deep are there. Lolo's mom is buried in one of these, and he wanted to be buried there, but two other relatives died in recent years, so there was no room... so I bought a small plot that can be used for us and the next generation.

We went THrusday to clean up the grave and put flowers, and might visit today to light a cancle if it is not too hot...but Kuya and Joy are Protestant so don't celebrate such things anymore. Sigh.,

All Saints day (and Nov2, all Souls day) is to remember the dead, and in Catholic countries, our dead in heaven keep an eye on us and we remember them too.

the above video is in Tagalog, but here is an explanation by an ex pat of how we celebrate Undas