behind the headlines

for watching later on my tablet

 

...

Family news

It is still hot season but the monsoon rains have started so the extreme heat should go down a bit: From 100F to 90. 

 The city water is still off, and last night after a big thunderstorm, water leaked into a electric wire to our water pump, so no bath again today, not even with a bucket (thank God for hanidwipes).

the problem? The same wire kept the pump to aerate our fish pond, so this morning all the fish were at the surface trying to breathe. In the hot weather, we often lose fish from stress, so we were facing a fish die off.

We got our handiman to come and connect the wire to the fishpond pump, so now we are hoping that the fish recover.

The female dog was in heat, so the male dogs were fighting all night, so I have not had a good night's sleep for a few days. Sigh. She is now out of heat, and the neighbor's dog, who she usually mates with when we take her for a walk, came over to look for her when we opened the garage door. Luckily our male dogs were in the garden or it could have been a major fight.

We try to let her mate outside since previous puppies from her brother were beautiful but two had hip dysplasia.

The Baptist church that meets in our meeting room had an anniversary party yesterday: Yum. Filipino food. Actually we eat Filipino food all the time, but our cook is getting old so the recipes are limited, and not always well cooked. Sigh. 

Lots of people sick (blood pressure and diabetes) and a few have died. 

Our next door neighbor's daughter in law was buried after five days wake. The wake included music until midnight. A sad case: In her mid 40s and diabetic and died of sepsis. She was a tomboy, and lived in Manila, but no kids or family there so was buried here.

family news

 Update: Our pump is working: Slow but working. So we have running water. Good. I can take a shower.

Kuya is busy panning for gold in the fields, and also preparing other fields to plant rice.

It is still hot season: Hitting 100 degrees F every day. But we are starting thunderstorm warning for the late afternoon, meaning that the monsoon is starting.

The secretary and her husband who helped at the farm etc. have left for another job after eight years here. So we have several women coming to do various jobs around the place, and have just hired another live in couple so that there is a man here at night for security purposes.

My asthmatic bronchitis is better, but U tend to stay in the airconditioned bedroom during the day because of the heat.

 

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.

Pearl Harbor

You know, I wonder when all the conspiracy types are going around saying FDR knew there was going to be an attack and he left it happen so the US could enter the war.

These conspiracy theorists seem to thinking Japan only attacked Pearl Harbor, but they ignore the attacks in Malaysia and the Philippines happened at the same time, and even if Japan had not hit Pearl Harbor, the US would still be at war because the Philippines was a US territory.

in the Philippines it was Dec 8. And although a lot of blog posts say MacArthur was not prepared, they forget he was in charge of the Philippine military... and since he anticipated an air attack he asked for the New Mexico Nat Guard for help. 

These units were brought over to man anti aircraft guns, but were not in the Philippines very long before the attack, and often the guns and ammunition were lacking.

And many of them ended up in Bataan and were in the death march, which is why every year they hold a memorial in New Mexico to remember them, and our Catholic church had a Bataan memorial in the back: four local Apache were in the NG there, and the local priest volunteered to go with them.

from the Taos historical society link:

The infamous Bataan Death March was one of the greatest atrocities of World War II.Death March Route. Approximately 1,800 men from the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery Regiment – also known as the “New Mexico Brigade” deployed to the Philippines in September 1941, during World War II.

I should note that most of those in Bataan and who were in the Death march were local Filipinos: Somethning often left out of the American stories. 

 

When the Regiment reached the Philippines they immediately moved to Fort Stotsenberg, 75 miles north of Manila. Over the coming months, they would train under simulated war conditions. By December things would change drastically.

On December 8, 1941 Japanese bombers made their appearance and the war was on. It was the 200th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) — the original full Regiment — who is credited as being the “First to Fire” on December 8, 1941. That night, the 515th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) was formed from the ranks of the 200th. The Japanese landings on Luzon began on December 10, 1941, with more Japanese forces landing on December 12, 1941.

The 200th and later the 515th could not do much damage as their powder train fuses only had a range of 20,000 feet and the bombers were flying at 23,000 feet. The main Japanese invasion forces landed December 22, 1941 and the decision was made to withdraw the forces into Bataan.

The 200th covered the retreat of the Northern Luzon Force into Bataan and the 515th for the South Luzon Force. They were able to hold the Japanese air and ground attacks back, thus saving the bridges – and the North and South Luzon Forces found a clear, safe passage to the Bataan peninsula.

 More here

The 200th Coast Artillery (AA) has a distinguished military legacy. The unit was established in 1939 from elements of the 111th Cavalry, New Mexico National Guard. The 111th Cavalry had its origin in the territorial militias of the 1850s and fought in the U.S. Civil War, in the Spanish-American War as “Rough Riders,” and in World War I.

 

After the 200th was inducted into federal service, recruits joined from all walks of New Mexican life. They enlisted in centers in Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Gallup, Santa Fe, Silver City and Taos. Many young men deferred going to college. Many chose to leave their small towns and rural villages for the first time in their lives.

On January 6, 1941, the 200th was sent to the Anti-Aircraft Training Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, where draftees augmented its ranks. At the end of the training, the 200th was cited as the best anti-aircraft unit in the U.S. Armed Forces. In August, General George C. Marshall's action letter ordered the immediate dispatch of the 200th to the Philippines. By the end of the month, the 200th set sail from San Francisco, California.

 One webpage noted they were sent to the Philippines because many spoke Spanish. Another trivia not noted: their ranks included Anglos, Americans of Mexican heritage, and from various AmerIndian tribes. 

The attack on Manila came when people were in church for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec 8. 

Lolo was at home with his family, and helped his mom and small cousin walk to our nearby farm, about 4 miles north of town, where they stayed until they knew it was safe. His older brother and cousin joined the anti Japanese guerillas... his cousin was captured and died in the notorious Red House, but Lolo was too young to join until the end of the war, when Mac Arthur returned, and then he joined his brother but mainly to patrol to keep the streets safe. 

All Decorated for CHristmas

 fast forward to five minutes:

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.

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.  

Family news

 the typhoon has passed and no damage in our area.

But we have had troubles: a puppy disaster: 

The young black dog went into labor under my bed, and I woke up when I heard her fighting with her (pregnant) mother, who had taken the puppy away from her and was licking it.

I moved the black dog into the hall closet, where she ended up having eight puppies... all small, which was not a good sign.

one tiny one died quickly, but the disaster was that on day two, the grandmother got in and killed four if the puppies. Sigh. And then over the next few days, two of the puppies died from weakness: stopped nursing and died. So we are left with one puppy.

In the meanwhile, Kuya is cleaning out the boxes from the side bedroom to use it again as a guest bedroom: my granddaughter is coming next week (school break) and can stay there instead of upstairs in the guest room there. 

They will have to get an airconditioner and fix up the bathroom too.

In other news, lots of local folk are working at the solar panel project, meaning the men we usually use to fix things are not available. I am sceptical about the solar panels because they are placing it on good rice growing land, but for locals it is a job so they can stay home and not have to migrate to Manila or overseas to find a good paying job.

 

the rain the rain

typhoon Paolo is going through Luzon north of us: we are signal 2.

Typhoon Paolo slightly weakens while crossing Northern Luzon https://t.co/6HPVbuK5Hu

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) October 3, 2025

,,,

But the main problem is heavy rains.

Central Luzon placed on red alert for Typhoon Paolo https://t.co/oDCoz1vW2a

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) October 3, 2025

there is light wind and heavy rain on and off right now, but it is going to get worse tonite. Hopefully the wind won't be strong enough to rip off the roof or destroy the rice crop. 

Our house is on high ground so we should be okay with flooding. But we are downstream from the mountains so that water will be going through tonite and tomorrow which puts pressure on the irrigation dams. If they open the irrigation dam gate and increase the water in the nearby river we could flood.

We have a second floor and the business offices are up there with the computers etc. but if it is too high the cars could flood. Last time this happened, we have six inches of water in our first floor...we opened the gate to the meeting hall so our neighbors could put their cars there, about 18 inches higher than street level, so the engines were safe from being flooded.

So a mess but not dangerous for us. However, the poorer neighborhoods near the river might have to be evacuated: most will go to friends or relatives but the city Gym, down the street near us, is the formal evaculation center.

The maid asked for extra money to get in extra food just in case. And we sent extra money to the cook's family in the Visayas to repair their house after the earthquake. 

Sigh.

Batten down the hatches

 

...

Hittint far north of Luzon, not in our area, we are only signal one: 

Pagasa added that the southwest monsoon and the trough of Nando will bring strong to gale-force gusts to Metro Manila, Central Luzon (areas not under wind signals), Calabarzon, and the Bicol Region.

TROPICAL CYCLONE BULLETIN NR. 23
Super Typhoon #NandoPH (RAGASA)
Issued at 2:00 PM, 22 September 2025
Valid for broadcast until the next bulletin at 5:00 PM today.

LIFE-THREATENING CONDITIONS PERSIST OVER THE NORTHERN PORTION OF NORTHERN LUZON AS “NANDO” PASSES VERY CLOSE TO… pic.twitter.com/cQGdpcfSz3

— PAGASA-DOST (@dost_pagasa) September 22, 2025

dark clouds here, moderate rain and gusty winds. 

Probably will not destroy things here. But the storm is sucking the monsoon rains here, so there is a danger of floods especially in places like Manila, where drainage is poor and there are a lot of demonstrations against corruption going on.

Joy due to fly back from Thailand tomorrow. No reports if the floods etc will delay flights, but the truck delivering rice to Manila (and picking her up) might have problems if the streets flood badly.

protesting corruption

and no, I haven't heard of any demonstrations here in the Philippines for Cnarlie Kirk. 

Here the left defends the working class and farmers and the right means the corrupt oligarchy who runs the country whereas in the USA, the right defends the working class and farmers, and the left is full of elite white folks who run the country and have little contact with those of us who got our fingers dirty working.

 Right now the demonstrations in Manila are agaist corruption in the flood control projects. 

NOW: Various groups hold a press conference for the Trillion Peso March Against Corruption on September 21; demands immediate publication of SALNs from all branches of govt as a first step commitment to transparency and accountability among others. | via @raphbosano pic.twitter.com/tLRfHwE5GF

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) September 15, 2025

Corruption steals millions of pesos that are supposed to help the public, and alas corruption is the norm. Will this investigation stop it?

well, as my husband Lolo used to remind me: They're all crooks. But that never stopped him from watching attempted impeachments against our lovely ex president for corruption.

And the monsoon rains are heavy, which means flooding of streets in Manila, so schools are shut down again today.

Joy is flying out today to attend an agriculture conference in Thailand, and will spend the rest of the week visiting her daughter who teaches English there in an international school.

 

still raining

happy time dining

another day another typhoon

 

......

Typhoon Emong makes landfall in Pangasinan https://t.co/J8fYT9pf5v

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) July 24, 2025

Rain rain go away

 

this is partly from a low pressure area that is now flooding south China, and partly because the low pressure area is pulling in more monsoon rain.

the rai is worse south of us, as the map shows.

Both LPAs have a “medium” likelihood of intensifying into a tropical depression, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

READ MORE: https://t.co/31RXt1yg0P pic.twitter.com/6c1WqfPCXb

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) July 21, 2025

Family news

 heavy rain from thunderstorms every afternoon/evenning.

The problem? The heavy rain has washed away the recently planted rice, so Kuya and his contract farmers will have to replant it.

No floods in this area yet. It is not a typhoon as much as heavy monsoon rains, which are also behind reports of floods in China, Indian, Texas and New Mexico.

I put that last part in because I once owned a house in Ruidoso, on a slope, and there was a creek ten feet lower than the house. But on inspecting the house, I found dried mud almost at the top of the foundation, so I actually bought flood insurance just in case.

My area of Ruidoso was in the pine woods area, but upstream a fire years before had denuded the mountains so that meant the rain might run off in stead of being absorbed.

Here, the river is not near, and our house is on high ground, but even we were under two feet of water after an irrigation dam ruptured after one typhoon. I should explain, the flood is not just when it rains here, but from rain water in the mountains not too far north of here which drains south through our area on the way to the coast.

I also lived in the Johnstown PA area, and although that was years after the 1977 flood,  and  the city garage near the creek had a line 9 foot up saying: Flood level 1977. 

People simply don't recognize how dangerous such floods are, or how vulnerable they are if they walk or drive in what would usually be seen as shallow water (i.e. 3 feet deep).

Rescue stories coming out of there show a lot of local heroes risking their lives to save others, but probably won't get much publicity.

 Sigh... instead the MSM will politicize it to criticize Trump for cutting funds from the government weather organizations, cuts which won't go into effect until the next fiscal year in October, but hey since when does truth matter?

Sigh.

Well, anyway, since all our cats died a few years ago we have mice (and rats), and the mice get into the bedroom to eat clothing: They seem to like cotton, either to eat or to make a nest inside our clothing drawers.

We put out traps, and filled the small holes they use but the last mouse I saw crept thorugh the small hole where the internet cable came through the ceiling. So it's an ongoing problem.

Today's mouse problem? Two days ago, when Joy came back from a meeting, she turned on her air conditioner and a horrible odor came out: a dead mouse was inside, but we couldn't find it. So today we got three men to fix it, but they had to take the airconditioner apart to find it, and so while they were at it, they suggested we pay a little more, and they are cleaning it.

In the meanwhile, the female dogs are getting out at night looking for other dogs. They aren't yet in heat, but merely checking out the neighbor's dogs. But one of the neighbors complained to me that they were too noisy so please keep the dogs inside. Since the dogs on the living area of our compound tend to sleep in my house, I guess I'll have to try to keep the door (and window) closed.... 

Actually this is good: Our mama dog mates with her brother here, but some of his puppies have suffered from hip dysplasia. So we are hoping she mate with the black dog across the street who seems to be courting her when we take her for a walk. She has mated with him before.

Finally, Joy has gotten an award for her work with organic rice business.

Congratulations.

Family news: Good election news

 The local elections put back the family who has been good running our city, so that is good news. 

Dr Angie and the family were over at his house celebrating last night...the opposition was the family whose late mayor was behind the hit that killed our nephew, and who were behind the hit that tried to kill the next mayor on the way home from our nephew's funeral several years later. 

the clans run the place, so when the murderous mayor couldn't run, he ran his daughter, and the opposition won, but when he went to Congress, his sister is running the place now.

The idea is that even if they are incompetent, their relatives will help them run the place.

As I said: Politics here is a blood sport, and our province is known as the wild west of the Philippines (not as bad as the Muslim areas, but violence alas is still part of the system).

I think I wrote about this incident before but it gives you an idea of how things work.

After our nephew and the family of the opposing candidate was shot, that mayor won the election, so during the fiesta he sat in the front of church during the fiesta mass, which was said by the local bishop.

Here, they collect money but the custom is that larger amounts be put in an envelope and taken to the front of the church to put the offering in the basket there ...

so when our cousin Chona was taking up her offering, she had to pass the mayor behind the murder of her brother, and it was too much for her (she lives in Chicago after all)...so in passing the mayor she shook her fist at him and said "You, YOU!" 

The bishop must have noticed because he held a mass and had all the local politicians come and pledge they would do no violence during the election cycle.

And voila, no violence: the next shooting was a few days after the election. 

It took ten years to get the mayor indicted for murder, but he died before trial, and of course he had a full Catholic funeral including a  KofC bodyguard.

So anyway, the streets were quiet when I went to the bank: Just a regular level of security.

family news

Very hot outside so I am staying inside with an air conditioner set at 80 degrees. 

 It is Palm Sunday so there will be a parade with everyone singing hymns, bands, and of course carrying palm branches. 

 Next week, they will be singing the Pasyon prayers. We will have it in the neighborhood chapel (where I usually donate money for refreshment for the singers).

 People often make a small chapel in the garden or in the side streets: Our niece always sponsored one up the street, but alas she passed away, so we don't have a makeshift chapel up the street. Since the traffic is too heavy (the main street is one way, so our street is for the other way, and when traffic is heavy, the locals scoot up the side streets to avoid the traffic at the nearby palenke). 

 our wash machine shorted out and there was a small fire: (the rats had eaten the electric wire covering) so we had to replace the motor so we can do the wash again tomorrow. 

 Ruby was here last weekend for a cousin's wedding shower, and this week, her cousins from the USA will be visiting her in Thailand. 

 I am fine. I do worry about my social security for two reasons: One, the SS won't let me use my local address so I had to change it to my US address. 

Hope I don't get it canceled for that since they are clamping down on fraud. We elders have problems with all this paper work, but I am not ready to change to a power of attorney yet.

Sign

Family news

 Blogging is light because my son and his wife are visiting from Florida.

Since I am essentially home bound, Joy and Chano are taking them on day trips to farms and restaurants in the area.

Blogging will resume next week.