civility or sarcasm: we haz that

I just got another notice that one of my tweets was asking for violence so would be limited.(but not removed) WTF? 

What happened is that someone said Iran was the good guy, and I commented that  Iran should just nuke Tel Aviv. This was sarcasm of course. I should have written the thought more clear: That it looks like they thought it would be fine if Iran nuked Tel Aviv.

 but I forgot to add the sarcasm to it so the computers tagged it as I was suggesting violence instead of that I was being sarcastic in telling someone that their tweet was approving of a regime that would do such things if allowed to continue to process uranium etc.

The tweet was limited and since I don't know how to remove it or change it I guess I will have to let things go. But that shows that I really really shouldn't tweet early in the morning before my second cup of coffee.

But accidental sarcasm is not the problem:

 The paranoid media narrative is out there, but it is being pushed not just by the fringe types but by the media, and by those who are leaders in the Democratic party, which is my party.

How bad is it?

It is so bad the Barney Frank, who represented an area that included Brookline where I used to live, is now in hospice, and is publishing a book saying the Democratic party lost it's way: 

From Politico

The former Massachusetts lawmaker says progressives in his party have “embraced an agenda that goes beyond what’s politically acceptable.”...                   

He’s hoping “to use my reputation and my record of being on the left to give courage to many of my colleagues who I know agree with me but are inhibited from saying so.”

this is good: Someone is able to push back on the radicals because he is dying. 

He insists some of their policies against the police etc are not popular so should not be pushed because it is not a good policy and might lose them votes. But what he doesn't say is that some of what the party is pushing is venomous.

Frank knows about such venom since he was a  target of aa lot of criticism when he came out as gay years ago. But that criticism was a lot less than what I read every day from his party.

And until the dehumanization stops, the spiral into violence will not be stopped.

Here is the  Body Language guy who brings it up:

I think this might have been inspired by people mocking her because when she evacuated the meeting that was attacked, that she looked upset.

WTF?

She should look upset. So why are they mocking her?

Not my party, but the personal attacks on her seem almost diabolical. Why?

The murder of Charlie Kirk is similarly being distorted far beyond a criticism of his opinions. Again diabolical.

what was his sin? That he dared to bring conservative opinions to college campuses, openly debating those who disagreed with him.

and beyond politics: He dared to promote Christianity and emphasized the need to take responsibility, and emphasized the importance of marriage.

One wishes a couple of the PC bishops would do such things, which they won't (with one or two exceptions).

You know what would happen:

  Jordan Peterson's talks were openly attacked by mobs trying to shut him down, and nearly every day one reads about other conservative voices who discuss traditional values who are openly attacked by mobs, and no one says anything. 

Mocking and dehumanization.

the social media makes these voices louder, and this goes beyond politics.

My sister in law refused to let her daughter from using facebook because she was on a skating team and was getting people mocking her for being fat posted on her facebook page (she wasn't fat: She was wearing a back brace for her scoliosis). 

I stopped Facebook because nearly every day I received posts on my page mocking Christians and Christianity.

And that was 15 years ago: I understand things are now worse.

Twitter is in danger of becoming another pest hole full of people tweeting talking points that are lies or distortions.

Sigh.

One is reminded of Yeat's poem:

Come let us mock at the great

Come let us mock at the great

That had such burdens on the mind

And toiled so hard and late

To leave some monument behind,

Nor thought of the levelling wind.

 

Come let us mock at the wise;

With all those calendars whereon

They fixed old aching eyes,

They never saw how seasons run,

And now but gape at the sun.

 

Come let us mock at the good

That fancied goodness might be gay,

And sick of solitude

Might proclaim a holiday:

Wind shrieked—and where are they?

 

Mock mockers after that

That would not lift a hand maybe

To help good, wise or great

To bar that foul storm out, for we

Traffic in mockery. 

musical interlude of the day

 

Family news

We all have a nasty cough, probably a virus.. Not too sick and a low fever so not influenza. But it has exacerbated my asthma so the medicines make my mind too fuzzy to do much.

this weekend is that City fiesta: the city's patron is Mama Maray, the holy shepherdess (in Spanish La Divina Pastora). May 1 is the feast day, but the parade is the day before.

Lots of people return home for the fiesta, so the relatives will probably visit, and lots of parties.

Killer Lakes, methane for electricity and other central African stories not in the news

 Last Year, Rubio and Qatar got Rwanda and the DRC to sign a peace plan. 

A lot of this has to do with local tribal issues and the city of Goma. Of course the peace has since been broken by a Rwandan rebel group, but they are still talking so maybe things will settle down again.

 but hey it's hard to find out what is going on there in the English media but luckily Al Jazeerah covers it (Note they are from Qatar, and Qatar worked with Rubio for the original peace plan).

Well, anyway, I am familiar with the Rwanda refugees, the minerals in the area, and the danger of nearby volcanoes to the city of Goma because I try to keep an eye on African news and sometimes place these stories on my Mugabe Blog..

what I was not aware of was that in addition to the problems of disease, Volcanos, rebel attacks, and refugees, there is another problem: Lake Kiva has the potential to be a killer lake: 

but it also has the potential to provide electricity via methane extraction to the entire region:

He discusses the problem of CO2 release in smaller lakes but notes it is a danger in Lake Kiva, near the city of Goma, as he explains at the end of the video.

But the solution? 

As he explains, the project to harvest Methane for energy also releases the CO2 safely,

from the company's website:

Since 2016, our Kivuwatt facility has been safely and sustainably extracting this biomethane gas, converting it into electricity in our 26 MW plant. This significant contribution represents approximately 30% of Rwanda’s current energy capacity and an accumulated generation of almost 2 TWh since COD. To put it in context, KivuWatt’s electricity production has avoided the emission of 1.1 million tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere, making a real positive environmental contribution while, at the same time, reducing the risk of uncontrolled methane release to the environment.

this is from four years ago: 

politics in the Vatican

 

The Japanese are back

For the first time since World War II, Japanese soldiers will be training in the Philippines in the yearly Balikatan exercize with the US military and the Philippine Armed forces

LINK

A reciprocal access agreement between Manila and Tokyo, which took effect in September 2025, allows JSDF and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel to operate in each other’s territory for exercises and other missions.

so far I haven't seen helicopters, Warthogs or other planes going over us: We are near to FtMagsaysay, where usually the AFP teach jungle warfare and survival techniuest to the visiting iliatry.

the Far Side prophecy

Earlier today, a convoy of 4 cruise ships ran the Strait of Hormuz at full speed, sailing under fire through the Iranian-declared minefield. pic.twitter.com/5fYSqEYcLr

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 19, 2026

the covid kerfuffle

 Posted so i can watch it later on my tablet.

the covid was a man made virus that escaped a Chinese lab that was doing gain of function research that was forbidden in the USA by Obama.

But the WHO overreacted: and what is not in this video is how it harmed poorer countries like the Philippines.

we had to pay for a thirty dollar test for our drivers to deliver our rice to Manila. And the town mayor had to hand out rice to our poorer neighborhoods because a lot of folks couldn't work, and many OFW etc. came home.

philippine news

prices here are going up for everything,

and many local farmers are digging for gold instead of preparing their fields for rice, because the imported rice undercuts the selling price and because the price of diesel and fertilizer makes it more expensive to grow and harvest.

We are green and sell organic rice, but since we no longer have waterbuffalo and use a harvester thresher instead of harvesting by hand and then using our small thresher, you can see the problem: Modern agriculture needs oil.

well, anyway, last year there were reports about economic zones and investment in Luzon. Clark and Subic are two areas this is being done.

from last year:

from today:

the full US announcement is HERE. 

Excerpt:

 Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg today announced the United States’ and the Philippines’ plans to establish a 4,000-acre industrial hub to secure inputs vital to American and global supply chains. The site is located in the Luzon Economic Corridor of the Philippines. The site—the first of its kind—is being designated by the Philippines as an Economic Security Zone, a new model for AI-native investment acceleration hubs being developed under the Pax Silica Initiative.

... Enhanced Operational Certainty: The Economic Security Zone is intended to fuse American expertise in institutions and legal regimes – internationally enforceable contracts, transparent regulatory standards, and expert dispute resolution – with enhanced access to the Philippines’ outstanding workforce and talent, mineral endowments, energy resources, and strategic position at the crossroads of Indo-Pacific trade.

...more at thee Pax Silica website of the US State Dept:

If the 20th century ran on oil and steel, the 21st century runs on compute and the minerals that feed it. This historic declaration hails a new economic security consensus ensuring aligned partners build the AI ecosystem of tomorrow—from energy and critical minerals to high-end manufacturing and models.

,,,,

the problem is corruption. 

Don't tell the Chicago style pope that he needs to preach thou shalt not steal, not vote Democrat so we can keep our pedophile protecting bishops rich.

(sorry, Three Hail Marys for my snide remarks)

Of course the problem is the IMF is threatening the Philippines because they have a big debt.

and this story says: Watch where you invest.

...

StrategyPage has a summary of what's happening in the PHilippines LINK 

 Major events last year include improvements in infrastructure with many new roads and upgrades to airports and shipping facilities. This comes after years of little improvement. The difference has been noticeable to most Filipinos. Problems remain including high unemployment, escalating inflation, the local currency, the peso losing more value versus the dollar and general economic stagnation.

this video explains what is going on (is it accurate? I don't know, but we are seeinng Japan moving businesses into the Philippines.

And remember: China and Chinoy families run the economy here. Second thing to remember: Taiwan was once Japanese.

What's going on? Peace?

 So while checking local headlines (still trying to impeach Sarah, an ongoing story), I saw this story:

US President Donald Trump said Thursday Washington and Tehran were “very close” to a peace deal and insisted that Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a key sticking point in negotiations....

At the same time, a ceasefire came into effect between Israel and Lebanon — a 10-day truce — with Trump saying he expected the two countries’ leaders at the White House within “four or five days.”

.....

on the other hand, the Inquirer has an editorial that is happy that Filipinos lowered their birth rate:: 

Among poorer families, the fertility rate translates to 2.8 children per woman, compared to those from richer households, with a rate of only 1.1 child. The highest fertility rate of 3.1 children is seen among those with lower education levels, the same situation in adolescent girls who become mothers at ages 15 to 19.

so most of the lower birth rate is among the growing middle class: But the poor are still having fewer children (3 instead of seven as in the past).

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in other local news, the cost of gasoline/diesel is going down.

Good news for the farmers.

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

and organ harvesting is the next big thing.

Euthanasia and Organ Harvesting Reveal Western Medicine’s Utilitarian Drift

"The clear message sent by conjoining euthanasia and organ harvesting—with the active support of organ transplant medical associations, I am sorry to report—is that the deaths of the sick, disabled, and…

— Epoch Times Opinion (@EpochOpinion) April 16, 2026

...

Organ harvesting in the Philippines:. From last year.

In a harrowing turn of events, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has unveiled a chilling network of organ traffickers operating in Bulacan. The alleged leader, still at large, is reportedly a head nurse at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI)

read the whole article.

Then there is this: 

If you thought Trumpieboy was blasphemous, what about Obama the Messiah?

since the Obama/Axelrod types are manipulating the media complaining that a tweet showing Trumpieboy as faithhealer to the world is blasphemy because he is posting a meme showing him as Jesus, well, you know. all the good Catholic reporters and followers on Twitter are busy echoing the same line...,

Blasphemy!

Why does this sound familiar?

it isn't as if it hasn't been done before: except not as a criticism but to praise their messiah:

Politico article from 2007 discusses the adoration of Obama as the Messiah.

Heh.

There was even a blog: Is Barack Obama the Messiah

Is Barack Obama the Messiah?

"... a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany ... and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama" - Barack Obama Lebanon, New Hampshire.
January 7, 2008.

a typical example:

President Barack Obama pause as he speaks at the close of the Fiscal Responsibility Summit, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009, in the Old Executive Office. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Leo is only doing his job, saying peace peace peace!

 

who could be against world peace!

   

and the Catholic trad and others trying to curry favor are busy telling Catholics it is a sin to criticize the Pope.

Really? Tell Catherine of Sienna that.  

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

Seriously: The Language guy who is from Venezuela and knows a little about South American left wing Catholics connects the dots.

  

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But for myself, the reason I am so sarcastic about this is that the Pope is saying we love people and we want to stop the killing, but in the meanwhile he appoints a pro euthanasia bioethicist to the Prolife board in the Vatican.

In a second incident, also that year, Pegoraro appeared to support two members of the academy who publicly favored assisted suicide as a tactic to prevent the legalization of voluntary euthanasia in Italy. “We are in a specific context, with a choice to be made between two options, neither of which — assisted suicide or euthanasia — represents the Catholic position,” Pegoraro told the French Catholic newspaper La Croix. But stating that he believed some kind of law was a foregone conclusion, he said that of the two possibilities, “assisted suicide is the one that most restricts abuses because it would be accompanied by four strict conditions: the person asking for help must be conscious and able to express it freely, have an irreversible illness, experience unbearable suffering, and depend on life-sustaining treatment such as a respirator.”

 

 That last part is a lie. Respirators are extraordinary treatment, and under Catholic moral laws since Pius XII time you can stop or refuse extraordinary treatment. But in today's bioethics, it means you can starve a person to death by calling feeding a medical treatment. 

As for guidelines meaning safety, anyone familiar with the literature knows that is a lie. 

This is not a complicated matter, and Europe and now the US is sliding into a Brave New World of eugenics and euthanasia. But the Pope's appointed expert isn't bothered by that. And of course, the Democratic party in the US is busy supporting politicians who will pass these laws. But don't condemn murdering grandmom (or your grandkid) because if you don't go along with the entire seamless garment political agenda of what is now the Democratic party, you aren't allowed to say you are Catholic.

Bishop VonGalen call your office: The Pope needs a talking to.

 

 

yup. World Peace.

so the Pope meets with Obama strategist Axelrod, then we see a fake story that the Pentagon pressured a Catholic bishops, then we see the Pope pretending he isn't criticizing Trumpieboy but only wants world peace.

Then we see some of the worst liberal bishops who covered up sexual abuse going on sixty minutes pretending they are shocked shocked. Then Trumpieboy puts up a meme with him as an healer, and voila, the chorus is all blasphemy.

But the worse is those who shuld know better insisting that a Pope who has ignored the Iranian support of the Syrian Genocide, the Hebolaah take over of southern Lebanon putting missiles into civilian areas, and of course the Gaza attack (which the propaganda insists resulted in genocide but no one notices that the Israelis would not have attacked if Gaza had given up those who committed atrocities)

ah but don't we all want WORLD PEACE?

It's fascinating to see what social media reveals about a person before they become the Pope.

Before he became Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost was on Twitter trashing Trump, criticizing Vance, calling for open borders, promoting COVID vaccines, endorsing stricter gun… pic.twitter.com/B60TqSYk7O

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 14, 2026

the church as NGO:

 Cardinal Sarah points out the trends of the church to become an NGo and forget Jesus.:

In an interview given to the program Le Club Le Figaro Idées, Cardinal Robert Sarah has offered an uncompromising diagnosis of the situation of the Church and the West. The African cardinal warns of a deep crisis of faith in Europe, denounces the reduction of the Church to a social organization, and emphasizes that without God, Western societies are doomed to disappear.

reminds one of Flip Wilson's Chruch of what's happening now.

Or Flnnery O Connor's  book Wise Blood:

 

the future of transplants with killing

 

explaining how shipping works

 what does it mean to the world (and to us in SE Asia) to have Iran block shipping of oil?

A video about the logistics:

I only know a little about all of this. 

Some of our Filipino relatives work on ships. And when I worked in Liberia, a previous war shut the Suez canal so our hospital had the contract to treat the sailors on ships and  tankers that had to go around Africa, 

and although I never had to get a sailor off of a tanker, I did have to g go out past the port to evacuate a sick officer who had a stroke. On a tug boat at night. With all the guys teasing me (local Kru sailors and two of our nurses) if I was afraid of the water.

A son in law ran a helicopter mine sweeper years ago, around the time of the first Gulf war, and he showed us his copter after they came home. 

So I only have snippets of knowledge, and much of it 40 years out of date, which is why I posted the video.

But the back sory of this? China.

there is a major danger of economic depression here in Asia if the price of oil stays high.

 the prices of oil/disel and LPG for cooking has skyrocketed.

LPG for cooking used to be 600 per tank but recently it went up to 800... and yesterday it was 1400 pesos (30 dollars).

We can afford it but that means a lot of poorer folk will just go back to cooking with wood, which is a danger for housefires, asthma in kids, and destroying local trees.

then you have the problem of getting diesel for handplows to prepare the rice paddies for the main rice crop when the monsoon arrives.

Alas, we no longer have and waterbuffalo to plow the fields. And then there is the question if fertilizer, which is already high from the Ukraine war potash problem, will also go too high to buy.

We are organic, but when fertilizer goes up, ordinary farmers will be buying organic sources (e.g. chicken manure from the local chicken farms) so that price goes up too.

What this means is more older small farmers will be selling the fields to companies putting up solar panels (see previous post), and of course, more farmers digging their fields looking to find gold...

Sigh.

Could the oil crisis lead to Famine in the near future?

The Dictionary man

Right now, I am investigating Samual Johnson, the dictionary man: 

 Dr. Johnson wrote it. And his life is known also because James Boswell wrote his biography.

what started me on this was this podcast series:

It will take awhile to read or listen to the various books on the subject but hey it keeps me busy.

But one side issue: In his middle age, Johnson spent a lot of time dining with and even living with the Thrale family.

Since Boswell didn't like her, it takes a bit to find little things about her life, such as her husband cheated on her and she had many many pregnancies (10 or 12) of which only four lived to adulthood.

Feminist history might revive her place, and how her life echoes the limitations of women's choices in Georgian England.

Ironically, she escaped from the straight jacket of expectations after her husband died and she married for love: That was bad enough, but her choice was an Italian musician who had taught her children. She later moved to Italy etc. and yes she did write both a history of Johnson and books of travel. 

However she was condemned for this marriage by society, mainly because it meant she no longer was essentially a nursemaid to Johnson, but also because it meant she deserted her daughters.

Welcome home

The Astronauts returned back safely.

The real news is that this is more a reset than a pioneering mission: To remind Yanks of their past so they can get proper backing to NASA to embrace the future. The article at the link explains why.

Good news for a change.

Typhus in LA

 LegalInsurrection blog reports an outbreak of typhus in LA: Caused by not bathing and having body lice.

......

The internet: A summary

 

planting rice? Nope. Making electricity in Luzon

Putting solar panels on rich paddies to generate electricity for Manila.

Lots of local folk are working there, and many farmers (many of whom are aging and their kids don't want to be farmers) are renting out or selling their fields to these guys.

in other news, the price of diesel and LPG and gasoline has skyrocketed thanks to the Iran kerfuffle. This is affecting everyone here in Asia, including China,  

another thing going on: Lots of people are digging and panning for gold.

The fields are standing idle until the monsoon hits and the fields can be prepared to plant rice, so why not.

propaganda: It is not just the west doing this

 this guy is all over the internet, and no one ever heard about him.

Hmm... maybe Chinese propaganda? Who wudda guess?

the rescue

 

It’s a testament to the U.S. military that no amount of equipment is more valuable than a single airman’s life. https://t.co/nAuwzovtnK

— Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 (@ArmchairAdml) April 5, 2026

all of this reminds me of the story in Michener's Tale of the South Pacific, about a rescue of a pilot

the effort to save a downed pilot (or 2 downed pilots) is not new. 

In Tales of the South Pacific, James Mitchener has a short story, the Milk Run, about a similar rescue effort in World War II: 

 We wasted the flying time of P-4o s, F4U s, and F6F s like it was dirt. We figured the entire mission cost not less than $600,000. Just to save one guy in the water off Munda. I wonder what the Japs left to rot on Munda thought of that? $600,000 for one pilot. Bus Adams took a healthy swig of whiskey. He lolled back in the tail-killing chair of the Hotel De Gink. But it s sure worth every cent of the money. If you happen to be that pilot.

 

Start at page 78.

 the story vaguely resembles this real life rescue of a downed pilot, where air support kept him safe until a submarine arrived to rescue him.

as for those who are against the war: Think of the alternative.

Even the Iraq war's alternative history is horrifying to anyone who unlike CNN knew the murderous Saddam who killed his own people would quickly re purpose his factories for WMD and get back those he sent to Syria.

It is like Gaza: weaponizing compassion so you let those who plan to kill you survive. And deliberately putting missiles and weapons in civilian areas so that civilian casualties can be blamed on those trying to destroy munitions. And of course don't forget all those reporters who are members of Hamas get their stories published as if they were true.

Pretending that Iran would not use a bomb against their enemies might be correct, except that they have spent billions to arm militias in Yemen, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq to destablize the Middle East, and having a bomb would stop anyone from stopping them.

Up to now, the threat of blocking oil kept the west from stopping them.

we won't see anyone bothering to note that removing the US acting as the world police will result in a lot of bad things happening.

Praise the Lord He is risen

 

Igbo, probably from Nigeria. We had many refugees of that tribe in Liberia because of the civil war back then.

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

and equal time for Filipinos.

The Japanese are back and other local news

In recent days, I have seen a few Apache helicopters going over and yes, it is time for the joint Philippine military/US military exercizes, the Balikatan 2026. 

Usually this helps practice coordination for disasters etc. and usually includes not just the US training the Philippines for cyberwar and fancy stuff, but the Philippines special forces train the US troops in jungle warfare.

But this time there is a difference: Japan, who in the past has sent only observers, is now sending in soldiers to join the exercize:

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in other news, the big story of the day is the shortage of oil based products, needed for transportation and in the near future to plant the yearly rice crop.

But oil is coming from an unlikely source: the Philippines is one of several Asian nations buying that oil from Russia. Apparently, Russia was stopped from selling oil etc to Europe via pipeline, so stored it in ships and storage areas.

a behind paywall article notes that Trumpieboy sort of ignored this issue with China last year

And now is saying wink wink it's okay for Russia to sell this oil to Asia.

Hmm...

Dumb Trumpieboy or knowing what is coming and winking at Russia so they will be there to help Asian allies and China?

so anyway we have enough fuel for a month or so...but the price will go up which is bad news.

The Bodylanguage Venezuean guy explains what is going on.

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

So what is happening to our area?

Well, Kuya just harveted the last field with our winter rice crop, but is having trouble finding people to dry it (usually we use sun drying, meaning put it on a flat surface such as a road, and then turn it periodically until it is dry enough to store..

But the reason he is having trouble finding someone to do this is twofold:

One, a lot of local folks are working to build the solar panel project here. this is a commercial of course, but gives you an idea of what is going on:

but this is not the only place our farmers are working:

There is a local gold rush.

People are renting back hoes to dig up the fields and then panning for gold.

I asked Kuya if they are finding gold, and he said enough to cover their expenses.

----------

One more item: the country is shut down for the Easter weekend, with folks headed to their home villages, and lots of processions and visita Iglesia and singing the Pasyon.

often people build small chapels for this: Emy used to do it up the street before she died, and one could hear the chant in similar small chapels constructed in side streets all over town. This expat explains it for you:

  

since covid it has not revived, maybe because the elders are dead ant the younger folks have work to do: I only heard singing from one such chapel this year.

Our barangay holds it in the local neighborhood chapel, and I donated a little money for food to feed the chanters and all the neighbors who came to the chapel to pray and get a free meal of course.

but today is Holy Thursday, so that singing is ending and today we visit the churches 

Spring harvest time