family news

 Joy is now back from Hong Kong.

She was with a delegation from the Dept of Agriculture that sent a group to China, Hong Kong and Macau to discuss organic food exports. But at the last minute, the Chinese part of the trip was canceled. Hmm... wonder if China is mad at the Philippines again.

Well, on the way home she ran into a British lady who had worked as a medical missionary to the Philippines years ago and had adopted a daughter here, so she was visiting friends and family here. And since her plane trip back to the UK was via Doha, alas her plane trip was canceled. Presumably the airports are closed due to drone strikes, and will reopen soon.. If she was rich she could reschedule via North America but she isn't rich and the airlines just say wait.

So she is staying in the guest room.

Luckily she is a dog person and the dogs are letting her alone (we have five watchdogs who we leave outside to roam at night to guard the house and business compound).

Don't ask me what is going on with the war.

Much of the news ignores that Iran has had proxies making war against lots of folk in the Middle East: Syria's civil war comes to mind, and their proxy Hezbollah put thousands of rockets in civilian areas of Lebanon, but if Israel takes them out, the news merely says Israel is attacking another country.

Sigh.

Sometimes I think that I know more about the military than a lot of these reporters. And of course there is a lot of propaganda out there: From China or the extreme left. 

Trumpie boy finally called out someone named Tucker Carlson for being an anti Jewish bigot, and some of the anti Jewish stuff out there is so ignorant that one wonders if they are reading the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was a Russian disinformation book put out by the Czar's version of the KGB... I even read that some  politician posting a recipe that includes Jewish blood as an ingredient.

But hey, the press won't notice this because he is a Kennedy 

In the meanwhile, the Pope has his knickers in a knot about trumpieboy on many levels. 

Of course, he was quiet about the Syrian civil war with Iranian mercenaries who helped support the Assads in a war that killed half a million people. For that matter, he didn't notice or the fact that Iran's proxies shot rockets went against Israel and a lot of innocent ships in the Red Sea.

,,. Heck, the Pope can't even criticize China for sentencing Jimmy Lai for daring to say Hong Kong should have freedom of speech (under legal agreement after Chinese takeover of Hong Kong the British law was supposed to stay there). Instead, the Chinese govt imported their patsies to run the place, something most folks there know (because they speak a different dialect).

In the meanwhile, it is the start of summer here: Hot and dry season that will last until the monsoon arrives in June.

It is of course Lent, and last evening, during mass, a bunch of people came into the parking lot in a bus all with similar tee shirts;;They didn't come into church but went to the nearby open shrine to Mary across the parking lot.

. It is a fiesta celebration for Mama Mary, and the Church  has the Divina Pastora shrine here (translation: Holy Shepherdess). When we went home, there were five other buses parked in the street, and the maid said they were doing a pilgrimage to various shrines for some feast day this weekend.

As a Yank I am not up to date on all the feast days here. The city church honors the Three Kings so we have that fiesta, and the Divina Pastora shrine is there because the Spanish gave a statue of this Spanish madonna to a local family and it saved them from a flood, and then we also have barangay (Neighborhood) fiestas: ours is San Lorenzo, St Lawrence, the patron saint of bakers (don't ask) and the next neighborhood is St Vincent (the Spanish one), and this week another neighborhood where the mayor lives is having a fiesta (non saint) and then there is the Sandal fiesta (one of the local businesses run by a previous mayor, so not celebrated with this mayor). There are also federal holidays for various heroes, and then there is Ramadan, and of course Chinese New Year, The big fiesta here is May 1, a feast of Mama Mary, when lots of local people travel home for family reunions

but the big celebration is Christmas season lasts from Sept to the end of January and again it is a reason for traveling home for family reunions.

I mentioned I was in church yesterday, i.e. Saturday...I should note that since Vatican II, Catholics recognize the ancient practice of starting the sabbath on the evening.

If you have Jewish neighbors you would be familiar with this, since many Jewish families dress up and do a formal dinner on Friday night. This is best known to gentiles via the scene in Fiddler on the roof, but many Jewish families continue this practice (I had a Jewish roommate in Medical school whose mother kept kosher).

Well, anyway, here in the Philippines we have all the holidays off: Including the Muslim ones. Even though we are in a rural area, we do have a halal butcher down the street and several of the kiosks at the palenke are run by Muslim women. I am not sure if they are from Mindanao or were reverts after working in the Middle East.

there are a million Filipinos in the Middle East, so here people worry about war there. 

But I have to shake my head in wonder when the US MSM breathlessly say 1000 Yanks out of 100 thousand living there want to go home because they are in danger. Well, the Phil gov't also say 1000 people want to return home too. But the other million are staying put for now.

Sigh.

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.

another earthquake in Cebu area

Magnitude 6.0 quake shakes Cebuhttps://t.co/4A7klKQl17

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) October 12, 2025

not as strong as the Davao quake but the one in last Sept was more deadly.

Politicians getting rich

A total of 60 flood-control projects are currently under scrutiny, as they seem to fit into the category of “ghost projects,” Senate Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta said.

READ MORE: https://t.co/kdWzureFuH pic.twitter.com/iXGly1RLjc

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) September 6, 2025

,,,

 

Bully gets a small pushback

 I have mentioned Chinese aggression and shenanigans against the Philippines in past posts (building artificial islands, attacking Philippine fishermen and more recentl Coast Guard ships, even within the 200 mile economic zone, the Chinese casinos with many military age men working there, the Chinese mayor who pretended she was Filipino, and all those Chinese students who instead of studying at major universities just happen to be studying in a minor college in the north of Luzon, near to military bases that are protecting the strait between the Philippines and Taiwan).

StrategyPage has a summary of their spying here. 

May 24, 2025: In January Filipino security forces arrested about a dozen Chinese and Filipino citizens and charged them all with spying for China. Some of the accused had been caught while using drones, cameras and other electronic instruments to survey Filipino infrastructure and military installations. The alleged Chinese spies were particularly eager to study bases and areas that American forces would use when they regularly visited to train with their Filipino counterparts.

Read the whole thing for more details.

One problem is that there are thousands of Filipinos working in China; Most of them are in Macao or in Hong Kong, not the mainland, and most (including some of our relatives/friends) are caregivers, nurses, teachers, etc. So these people are open to being arrested or used for human hostages if war happens against Taiwan

Please also note what this article says about Chinese spies, and all the Chinese gangsters, many smuggling or in the drug trade:

The Chinese gangs conceal their illegal operations among the legitimate ones. The Philippines has long had a major corruption problem and the Chinese took advantage of that to pay off the right people in areas where they operated. Since none of the victims were Filipino, the Chinese operations were seen has beneficial to the Philippines and Filipinos. It required federal Filipino intervention.

These actions have been more frequent as allies of the Philippines complain that Chinese espionage operations are regularly traced back to the Philippines.

There have been several crackdowns, but the Chinese gangs were prepared for this and sacrificed some portions of their operations while the majority went silent and unseen.. The Chinese government assists the gangs as long as the gangsters provide support for Chinese espionage efforts. This is a problem that has defied numerous efforts to eliminate it. Now you know why...

I wonder if one of the reasons that the internationalist elites and CIA hated Duterte was because he was going after the drug gangs,

,,,,,

And this essay discusses the Chinese Coast Guard.

Coast guard ships are not usually heavily armed but the Chinese ships are increasingly being seen equipped with water cannons, extra searchlights and equipment for grappling with other ships. These tools are used to interfere with foreign fishing ships and transports that go to parts of the South China Sea that China has declared Chinese territory, even though other nations have a stronger legal claim.

Using water cannons, bright searchlights to blind the crews of other ships and aggressive maneuvering to include grappling with smaller foreign ships and forcibly moving them the foreign ships are persuaded to back off.

The Chinese coast guard vessels also use these tactics against foreign warships and if the foreigners shoot back the Chinese can declare themselves the victims of an unprovoked attack and call in more fire power.

,,,,,

in other words, they are practicing on how to block shipping through the area, which is a vital shipping route from the Indian Ocean to East Asian countries.

and of course control of this sea lane can let them block supplies going to Taiwan.

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

in other news, China vs the Catholic church is heating up again.

China used bribes to crooked Cardinals in the Vatican to let them take over the underground Catholic church there. 

But the agreement is up for renewal, and everyone is hoping that the new pope will refuse to extend the agreement, especially since of course China has been breaking the agreement.

From AlJazeerah:

Pope Leo will have to decide whether to continue renewing the accord. There have been some apparent violations on the Beijing side, with some unilateral appointments that occurred without papal consent.

The issue came to a head just before the conclave that elected Leo, when the Chinese church proceeded with the preliminary election of two bishops, a step that comes before official consecration.

...Relations had long been fraught over China’s insistence on its exclusive right to name bishops as a matter of national sovereignty, while the Vatican insisted on the pope’s exclusive right to name the successors of the original Apostles.

the argument about secular authorities appointing bishops essentially is about if the state controls the church, or is the church separate from the state. This argument goes back to the early church, and came to a head in the early middle ages: Wikipedia article

why is this important? Well, if you remember back to the days of the fall of communism, many of these revolutions were led by or inspired by the churches. Here in the Philippines, the People Power/EDSA revolution against Marcos I was led by our Cardinal.

So the church as an independent institution is dangerous to tyrants.

So maybe Pope Leo is sending a signal that he won't bot to tyrants?

Thomas a Becket  and Thomas More  call your office. The church vs state fights are back....

Philippine news: Rain Rain Rain

 two tropical low pressure areas nearby have sucked the monsoon rains to cover the Philippines, and Manila (whose sewer/drainage system is suboptimal) is flooding a bit. 

so Manila has to shut schools and government businesses.

For us this is good, since maybe the rice paddies will be flooded enough to plant the rice (the irrigation has stopped due to the gov't deciding to clean up the canal).

the news also is mentioning that the POGOs, casinos, might be shut down because they are enabling drugs and crime. (read Chinese mob related crime). When PNoy allowed these, it was done with the idea that it would attract money and jobs but the Catholic bishops pointed out that it would attract crime etc. and according to the Inquirer article all these problems got worse under Duterte. Well, duh. 

covid update: Superspreader in the Philippines

covid deaths per million here in the Philippines is 24, which is lower than the 400-500 rate in the US and Europe and Latin America. Ah, but do you believe it? that is the problem, especially in rural areas of third world countries.

He gets into the super spreader problem, which I mentioned in my previous post since a mutated Covid virus found in QC has increased spreading ability.


the lack of ventillation is a big deal here: only the high end shops , and restaurants have air conditioning, ditto for the malls but ordinary shops often only have ventillation through the open door with fans to spread around the air, or a small airconditioner in the window that helps only a little.

the buses are air conditioned,

but when we were in shutdown, not only the shops were closed (some going broke and many employees left without an income) but the tricycle drivers who make a living taking people to the market and to school were essentially out of work, causing a lot of hardship.

 and the tricycles are of course open to the air, but the jeepneys used for short trips only ventillate through the open back door and windows and many jeepney drivers are going broke.



But the real danger is for people who live in extended families in close quarters.

and it makes one worry about inside church services and reopening schools.

Our schools are due to reopen next week: but it is unclear how much will be inside class rooms and how much  will be at home via wifi and tv classes (we have an educational tv station here).

we have limited numbers allowed into stores and church services, and funerals (which usually include several days of visiting the dead in the family's home) is now not being done.

and the mandate to wear masks is getting stricter: even our old cook is wearing one, saying she doesn't want to pay 2500 peso fine when she shops at the open air market/palenke

Philippines to the rescue

It is not just in the US...two of our relatives in the UK have contacted the virus. both recovered, but one was very sick with it.

And ignore the spin that these nurses should stay here in the Philippines.

Many go to nursing school in order to work overseas because the pay here is low, and the jobs may not be near your family even if you are willing to work in the Philippines.

The dirty little secret is that, to get out of poverty, working class and middle class people often work overseas. To go to the US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK is the highest goal, since those countries will let you become citizens and then you can bring your children and family over to join you.

the nursing schools here advertise that if you attend them, you can get a job in the US/UK/Australia. About half of the nurses pass their exams, and then are recruited for jobs.

But some can't pass the exam for overseas nursing jobs, but might instead work as a skilled caregiver.

The AlJ film points out the risk to the Filipino nurses in NYC, but that is not the only place that Filipino nurses, caregivers etc are at risk...it also ignores that the covid virus is here, and we have had several doctors and nurses die here.

the culture of the Philippines stresses caretaking of family members, and of course has a Catholic stress on caring for the poor and sick.

This Catholic ethic also is seen in the US, where a large percentage of nurse are Catholic.

 in the USA, those who aren't willing to get their hands dirty are looked down on. But of course, even those doing lowly jobs provide a service to their families so are actually helping people.

So if I am sarcastic anbout upper class white folks who are feeding their egos destroying things instead of doing the hard work of helping and building up civil society, it is because I am comparing them to those in our family who migrated overseas to work in the caring professions, so they could support their extended family back here, so that elders could live more comfortably at home, but more importantly to pay the school fees of their extended family so they too can find decent jobs.

family news: still partly shut down

we are still in partial lockdown: Still new cases in some cities so they couldn't lift it yet, although things have partly opened.

Manila and our area will continue the partial lockdown through June 30.
they are worried about a second wave, especially with a lot of people returning from overseas.

there are a lot more people on the streets, and with more people are going outside, there will be more checks that you are wearing a mask, and fined if you fail to wear one.



a lot of Filipino health care workers have gotten sick, including those working overseas.

A lot of our relatives are medical workers, either here or overseas. Nickey, who works in the UK, is especially at risk since she does intubations in ICU, but so far has tested negative.

Keep them in your prayers.

Sigh.

and hunger season is starting, and how will folks eat if they lost their jobs, either here or as OFW? (many families depend on the money sent to them from their relatives who work in other countries or on ships).

with all the anger in the US news, maybe what you need is to watch a Filipino commercial:



-------------------
the Rappler is in the news again: No, not for being partly funded by a CIA front, but because the main reporter was convicted of libel

The libel law here is strict, and now they have extended it to the internet pages. 

This is partly to save the innocent from deliberate lies, but alas it also protects the guilty who can pretend they are innocent and since it's easy to postpone the case for years, or persuade the court you did nothing wrong (often after witnesses withdraw their evidence or just disappear), it means one cannot discuss things that everyone knows is true but you don't have anyone on the record to prove it, hence you can be attacked or convicted for libel.

So for us, it meant I couldn't blog about the mayor who ordered the hit on his rival ten years back, that killed several bystanders including our nephew, until the courts actually indicted him. Nor can I write why he stayed out of jail so long, nor where he got the money to enable him to do so, because I have no solid proof.

The world press is spinning this to harm Duterte, but he remains popular because, for better or worse, he is doing a good job lin keeping us safe against drug related crime and now against the virus, despite all the problems here.

our mayor is big on the social media: To find out what is going on, we just check his facebook page.

The latest: 
he will subsidize internet connections (there is a question about doing classes over the internet if the epidemic continues)/



and in other news: we are getting a dialysis center that will treat the poor.



due to diabetes and high blood pressure, we have a lot of people who need dialysis. 

Our cousin Emie was on dialysis when she died recently, but she could afford the fee.

But the cook's son died of renal failure last year.

Yes, I know: The elderly who have diabetes and renal failure have a limited prognosis, but you know it's hard for families to just watch their loved ones die when they know that dialysis will prolong their lives for months or for a few years.

Sigh.

Opening up a bit, just in time for the typhoon

We were in lockdown for a month, then in a very strict lockdown for 2 weeks, but today we are scheduled to open up a bit.

The neighborhoods, especially in Manila, which have cases will remain on strict lockdown I understand.

this is good for the local folks, many of whom work in shops or run small shop/kiosks or tricycles or do other blue collar work in areas that have been shut down. Hmmm... maybe I can even get my hair cut soon.

the other good news: The bank said they can start processing checks from the USA, so that I can deposit money from my US bank which gets my pension. Hopefully the check will clear before I run out of savings here.

We have a good mayor: two days ago the maid was missing... apparently she was making sure her family (son, cousins, counsins/ kids and grandkids) got the rice and cash help that they were giving out in the poorer neighborhoods.



We now have a rapid testing station in town.



No, I won't get a test unless I come down with symptoms.

this is all good news.

The bad news? We have a typhoon/tropical storm heading here today and tomorrow Right now it's signal 2, which isn't too bad, but it means lots of rain and maybe flooding for the folks who live near the river.

but the storm is headed up the western coast of the Philippines: if it stays there we'll be okay but if it heads closer to land we could have a signal 3, which is a mess, or even signal 4 (it's not up to signal 5 right now).

The bad news? the roof to our house has been leaking, so if it gets bad we could have dripping all over (right now it's just in my bathroom).
But so far we still have electricity,, water, and internet, all of which will go off if the winds get bad. Hopefully the fact that they have replaced a lot of the dangly wires that always got broken from rice trucks snagging them, so hopefully they won't fall down if a neraaby palm or banana trees falls down. we now have heavier cables/wires, concrete poles, higher wires, and tranaformers  will mean fallen electric wires will be less likely.

News update: disease could lead to famine

where did the smart phones go?


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

hmm.. the Wuhan flu conspiracy theory is slowly being noticed outside of conspiracy sites.

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

Professor Podles thoughts in quarantine. there are good medical reasons that the churches are shut, but they are doing a lousy job at explaining why such evil occurs in the world:

I do not want the churches to say we are being afflicted for specific sins, whether abortion or racism. But we should be gently but firmly reminded that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that our life is short, and ways of life can be gone with the wind, and we can be one with Nineveh and Tyre. Such sobriety makes us humble, and God does not despise the humble.

But is Pope Francis doing this? He has an idée fixe about the environment, and says Nature is mad at us and has sent the virus. This is not the response of a Christian, and is also nonsense, because the virus has nothing to do with climate change or environmental damage.

Catholicism, following the advice of Paul to accept anything that is good, has "baptized" or revised many pagan practices to make them compatible with Christianity, but the deification of nature as if nature was a vengeful being is pantheism, not Christian,

The Pope pushes pagan eco theology, ignoring the presence of Jesus who understands our sufferings and allows evil to push us to reexamine our lives and repent.

Is he pagan? well, including the black bowl of pagan worship during his mass suggests maybe.

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

StragegyPage discusses the impact of the Wuhanvirus on the US military and on the various wars around the world.

=============

Trump and the reporters yesterday were sparring if he had authority over the governors. This puzzled me because earlier they were criticizing him for letting the governors decide what to do, and now they are criticizing him  for saying he is in charge of the reopening of the country.

So now the NYTimes reports the governors will oppose Trumpieboy here and do what they feel is right.

hmm...sounds like the " don't throw me into the briar patch" strategy of negotiations aka the art of the deal.

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

in the Philippines, we are supposed to stay locked down until May 15.

But Sy insists that a partial opening of the economy is needed if they want to save jobs.

The danger is that hunger will kill more people than the virus: 

and for us, usually the farmers start preparing the fields for planting in June when the monsoon rains start, but if there is a lockdown, how will they get hold of the needed insecticide/ fertilizer etc.?

another problem: Many of our OFW are caregivers, working on ships, or in the health care field and quite a few have died. Some of these businesses will shut down, meaning fewer wages to be sent home.

health care workers are in danger: in the Philippines, ten percent of cases are in these workers,

One of my nieces in the UK works anesthesia and intubates patients for ventillators, but has tested negative, thank God. But I worry about her parents, (an my other relatives) who work in hospitals or are caregivers for the elderly, 

sigh

no, I am not working as a doctor here: I simply do not have the physical stamina to work as a physician anymore, although I do order simple medicines for staff when they are sick.

-------------------------------------
I mentioned UV light, an old practice we used to use in hospitals, could be used to stop the virus, especially on surfaces.

LATimes article on this. Heh. someone finally noticed.

blame China

Duterte puts his VP in charge of the drug war (she is from a different party and would become president if they get rid of him).

So today we read she's pointing the finger at China as being responsible for the drug problem here.

Not exactly a big secret.

Part of this is to shame Duterte,who has tried to make nice with China who is threatening war against us in order to take over our fishing grounds/oil in the West Philippine sea.

but then there is this:

She said the US officials, including representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), shared with her information on drug syndicates operating in the Philippines, as well as information on transnational crime.
Some of the details they provided were already known to the Philippine government, Robredo said.

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1190149/leni-check-china-as-top-drug-source#ixzz65JsjJuuaFollow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

------------
the bad news: she's so naive that she thinks talking about it with China will fix things up.

and no, the problem here is not fentanyl, but meth (shabu).

A report from American think-tank group Rand Corp. said that the Asian superpower is becoming a leading source for methamphetamine chemicals — which are being used to make methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, a cheap drug usually consumed by people in poor sectors.
Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1189850/fwd-robredo-on-chinese-nationals-involvement-in-drugs-its-something-we-should-look-into#ixzz65JtiLHWeFollow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

according to the WAPO, China is going after those making Fentanyl and other opioids. They actually sentenced 9 people to jail.

The timing of the highly publicized sentencing appeared propitious: 

timing was "propitious"? Ya think? why?

Negotiators from Washington and Beijing this week are working toward a “phase one” trade deal that could forestall or reverse tariff increases.

more at the BBC.

and they explain the backstory of why China is behind pushing dangerous drugs: Money.

Drugs policy expert at the Rand Corporation in the US, Bryce Pardo, describes their regulatory capacity as "limited". "Gaps in regulatory design, the division of responsibility between provincial and central governments, and lack of oversight and government and corporate accountability, increase opportunities for corruption," he says.

translation: Rule of Law is not strong in China, so just a little gift will make it okay.

some of this is the backstory about Hong Kong, where rule of law makes it a safe area for investment etc.

China is right now blaming the protesters for the violence: 

One problem is that their disrupters speak a different Chinese language than the people of Hong Kong, so locals know what is going on.

So tell me why my TSP retirement account is now being invested in Chinese banks?

not only is this investing in risky companies, but it is worse than that:

Many Chinese companies included in MSCI indexes are state-owned or state-directed enterprises Beijing uses to undermine American workers. They are also involved in China’s military, espionage, human rights abuses, and “Made in China 2025” industrial policy.

TSP website here. 

DaveRamsey explains how the TSP works here:

and more stuff about TSP investments here.

not a lot of information there (and no, the TSP hasn't asked me if I want my money invested in China). But apparently Congressfolk on both sides of the aisle are trying to stop them from doing it.

So what is going on here? Don't ask me: I'm a physician not an investment banker, and a lot of this is written in financial jargon/gobblygook.

 But when Gillibrand, Rubio and Romeny agree on something, maybe someone should notice that there may be a problem.

So let's go to the fake news/right wing outlet, the Epoch times for background:

The TSB met on Oct. 28 and opted to continue as planned as a result of its decision to move its International Fund Index to the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Investable Market Index. That index includes multiple Chinese companies currently subject to multiple U.S. sanctions and export bans. As much $50 billion could be headed to China as a result of the TSB decision...

Putting TSB funds with the new index would directly benefit “military contractors to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), such as the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and China Unicom, which supply military aircraft and telecommunications support to militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea,” the senators told the TSB in the letter.

So when China uses the islands to take over our resources, block the sea routes to Japan/Korea, and take over the economy (or more) in Luzon, I will have the knowledge they did it with my money.... 

“It also includes firms like Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, which was recently added to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List and produces surveillance equipment the Chinese government currently uses to oppress and detain approximately one million Uighur Muslims and other religious minorities.”

and if you read the entire article the authors point out that dirty little secret about China's funny business practices that make investment risky. 

Hey, Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown, so what could go wrong?

update: I finally found who is doing this: and the article names names: LINK

ETAC Chairman Clifford Bailey said that both the council members and their constituencies have discussed the controversy over broadening the I Fund index, and that they developed a consensus that federal employees should have the same 401(k)-style investment opportunities as their private sector counterparts. All 10 of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies include access to the Chinese investment market in their 401(k) packages, and the same is true for the 10 top awarded federal contractors, as well as the 20 largest public sector pension programs.

their "constituencies"? Moi? No, I've never been asked about it.

Hong Kong demonstrations and Ramming fishing boats

I don't know if these are being covered in the US MSM (I've been too busy to watch tv), but the ongoing demonstrations against China trying to bully Hong Kong (and in the long term take over her institutions) are huge:


////

GetReligion blog has this post about the movement, and refers to the blog Shanghai list who notes that this hymn is the anthem for many of the protesters, that that the local churches are involved, including Cardinal Zen who said a mass for them,

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


the Inquirer editorial discusses the protest and compares it to the "People power" demonstrations here that threw out Marcos.

he notes that although the bill was being pushed as a way to extradite criminals and pointed to a murderer as an example, the ordinary folks know it is about more than that.

Today the people of Hong Kong have come out in the millions to make their government heedful of their sentiments. They are resisting the measure that will allow the arrest and extradition of dissenters and others who refuse to toe Beijing’s line; by their great numbers they are voicing objection and, at the same time, fighting for the civil rights to which they are entitled as residents of the semiautonomous territory. They are struggling against Beijing’s encroachments and are determined to hold it to its promise of “one country, two systems.”

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/122070/power-of-the-people#ixzz5rFS5yYe5 Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

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

in other news, Duterte is trying to quiet the anger of locals after a Chinese boat deliberately rammed and sank a Filipino fishing boat. 

Inquirer story here tells of how the fishermen were rescued, not by the Chinese boat who rammed them and left them clinging to wreckage and didn't try to help them, but  fishermen from VietNam who were nearby rescued them:

 The Chinese vessel that rammed and sank the Filipino fishing boat abandoned 22 fishermen who had to hold on for dear life in the open sea while waiting for help.

Based on reported accounts of Filipino fishermen, two of their boats approached the Vietnamese vessel spotted about 5 nautical miles away from the incident. This was confirmed by the Vietnamese captain. “At around 1 a.m. on June 10, the Vietnamese fishing boat was anchored and all of its crew fast asleep when they were awakened by the voices of foreigners. Using a flashlight, the captain made out two small boats without lights approaching his. Two men speaking a foreign language waved their hands, requesting help,” the report said.

The Vietnamese captain was cautious at first because he “feared” that those asking for help could be pirates. But it turned out that the two fishermen were soaking wet and shivering, which led them to think that there might have been an accident at sea.

The two Filipino fishermen used hand signals to ask for help and pointed towards Recto Bank. It took about an hour to get to the site of the incident because of poor visibility. When they got there, they found 20 Filipino fishermen trying to survive. Read more: https://globalnation.inquirer.net/176548/vietnamese-boat-captain-details-rescue-of-ph-fishermen#ixzz5rFTo9zRq 

Duterte is pushing for a joint Philippine/Chinese probe of the incident to calm down local anger. He has been trying to make friends with China, but China keeps playing tricks to destroy trust in their promises, something they are doing to a lot of countries in SE Asia and elsewhere. (e.g. investing in companies or projects to help the local economy, but instead giving jobs to illegal Chinese when locals could do the job, militarizing artificial islands in our economic zone, and "giving" money for development projects, which if not paid back will let them take over our resources).

so why didn't the Chinese rescue the fishermen? They claim they were afraid of being "beseiged". Huh?

Here Duterte is going against popular opinion (whereas the drug war, hated by the SJW types, is popular), and his opposition is pushing him to do something.

the Chinese have been threatening Philippine fishermen from their traditional fishing areas in the West Philippine sea, both by coming near to them and by roping off the area (underwater shoals, which sometimes later they convert to artificial islands by digging up the sea bed).

This is the first confirmed sinking incident, but the Chinese military has proposed doing the same thing to American ships who pass nearby in international waters that they are claiming in recent years.

StrategyPage had a long article discussing this last month: LINK

China created the current crisis over who controls Pagasa Island and nearby sandbars. The Chinese have put a record number of ships around the island, most of them Chinese fishing boats pretending to be fishing but in reality members of the Chinese naval militia which is being used in unprecedented numbers here. China insists it has not ordered its naval militia fishing boats to physically block Filipino commercial or military ship from getting to Pagasa. But it has become more difficult for Filipino fishing boats to operate in areas they had long worked.

and notice the huge protests by ecology loving green organizations against Chinese destruction of the coral reefs and ecosystem: (/s)

Uh, anyone? Anyone?

the untold story about immigration: harming the family ties

Cardinal Sarah has been quoted on a lot of right wing blogs for being critical of the Pope's pro migration policies, but what he actually said is quite nuanced: 

“All migrants who arrive in Europe are penniless, without work, without dignity...This is what the Church wants?” he asked. “The Church can not cooperate with this new form of slavery that has become mass migration.

Yes, slavery.

It is "voluntary" slavery, but poverty is the cause of many of those trying to migrate.

And the good Cardinal points out that the solution is not encouraging individuals to migrate as a cheap source of labor (which break up the family structure) but to improve the country of origin by making the place safe, by eliminating corruption, and by encouraging local jobs as an alternative.

He says a lot more in this interview, which is long and nuanced as to the root of the crisis in the west that puts banks and profits over families and communities, and how the stress on individuals being free to make their own reality, rejecting the wisdom of the past, is based on a rejection of God and ultimately is destroying the family as the main pillar of human existence.

In Europe, the "refugees" tend to be young men, who don't speak the language and have problems assimilating (not to mention the universal problem of men without women, causing frustration, often resulting in turning to religion, sometimes the jihad type of religion, or sometimes turning to crime). But no one seems to be asking why they migrate.

In the USA, policies that insist migrants with children can't be jailed, led to migrants bringing vulnerable children along as a way  to guarantee they won't be deported, putting the children at risk.

Yet even legal migration is a type of slavery: because often there is little help for those who are exploited by employers, either monetarily, by overwork, or sexual exploitation.

MigrantRights Org has a lot of stories about migration: why people migrate, what they work at, and the problems they run into in their new jobs.

Immigrants work hard and often at lower wages: And this is a problem not just for the country that sends them but for the host country. For example, Saudi deported a lot of legal immigrants because their own youth had a high unemployment rate. But of course their own men don't want to work as hard for such low wages... Why not just raise wages? Ah, because capitalism...

(nor is this problem limited to Saudi: why all those guys in their parents basement instead of working in construction or doing farm work, or all those snowflake feminists complaining they owe thousands of dollars for a useless degree when a short caregiver course or two years in a community college will get them a well paying nursing job?... here, people become nurses to work overseas: and if they can't pass the RN exam, often they can get a well paying job as a super nanny in nearby Asian countries.)

in the Philippines, our 11 million Overseas Foreign workers (and those who work on ships) keep the economy going, and support much of the families left behind. But at what cost?

Men working overseas leave wives and children behind, often leading to broken families when they find a new common law spouse... women work as nurses or nannies or maids, often risking mistreatment and sometimes sexual exploitation. And then, who cares for the children?

But what is the alternative? These commercials show the family member giving "stuff" to the kids, but actually the wages sent home often is used to buy a better home, decent food, and especially school fees. And education is seen as the way out of poverty. But without local jobs, the cycle repeats itself.

one alternative is to get local jobs, e.g. invest in factories etc. in the home countries. And to do this, you have to get rid of the culture of corruption. The Catholics, alas, are pushing the green agenda and socialism, with little clue about economics or human nature. Which is why so many turn to more rigid religions such as Evangelical protestantism or fundamentalist Islam, since both these religions stress strict rule following when it comes to lying, stealing or taking bribes.

Yet even supplying local jobs this can lead to family breakup, with both parents working all day in a city without extended family to watch the children, who are left on their own, which for poor children means often ending up as street children seduced by petty crime and drugs.

So the alternative is to let the children in the provinces to be raised by grandparents.

Even in China there is  major worry about the "left behind" children raised in the home villages when their parents move to the cities but cannot bring the children (or bring their parents to babysit).

So modern capitalism and globalism and modernity results in stresses for families: But what is the alternative? Living the traditional life is hard and won't support the growing population.

Sigh.

This is a local Filipino commercial.



the company describes the scene:

Joy, the country’s most beloved dishwashing brand, celebrates the self-sacrificing love that Filipino parents have for their children. This is especially true in the case of OFW parents who constantly struggle with having to spend most of their time away from their loved ones – in the hopes of giving them a better future.

the better future is shown as a middle class existence, but also the chances of an education so one's children do not have to live in dire poverty and working so hard that you are old and arthritic by age 50.

So running water (not getting it from the community pump and hauling it back to wash dishes and clothes and yourself, and less danger of diarrhea and other water borne illnesses that are a common cause of children dying). Electric lights, a TV to watch in the evening, fans (and maybe even an air conditioner), a decent bed, and maybe even a bedroom without ten people sleeping with you. Instead of walking you have a motorcycle or tricycle to get around to shop or visit friends. 

And the house is now made from concrete, so fewer bugs (less danger of dengue). and a decent roof that keeps you dry in monsoon season (and will probably survive the periodic typhoons we have here).

what makes this work is the presence of the extended family: but modernity stresses individual freedom over responsibility, so what comes next?



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

Dogs and kittens and rabies oh my

the Small dog is pregnant and has been hiding in the hole under the front porch, which seems to be a favorite site for a birthing den on our dogs.

But last night the half grown dogs from her previous litter found here there, and since two of them are also small, she left her hiding place and disappeared.

This morning we looked everywhere for her for about an hour (our compound is one house, two apartments, two offices a meeting room and various storage areas, quite large and plenty of places to hide.

No luck, but then suddenly she came home and is now hiding under my bed. She had her previous litter there, and will stay as long as I keep Lolo's ancient female dog out of the room. Sigh.

we need to get her fixed, but our vet was too busy and we don't know where to get it done: we have had two of our dogs fixed who continued to have litters, probably because the surgery was faked. Sigh.

We now have 7 dogs here on our side, where the house is (three very old and not much good for watch dogs anymore and three half grown puppies, two of whom are too small to be frightening but are very noisy if strangers come around), and there are four dogs on the office/storage room/help apartment side (two are puppies). And that doesn't include all the feral cats having litters in our ceiling and bodegas.

Dogs tend not to live that long here: many die as young puppies and we have lost adult dogs from distemper, heat stroke, and pneumonia. 

as for cats: loads of feral cats in our bodegas and the ceiling of our house. They keep the mice away and we feed them scraps and they eat the dog food when the dogs are looking the other way. Alas, they have kittens all the time, and we only find out when a new kitten shows up to eat, or more commonly, when we find a dead kitten that the dogs killed. 

If you are an animal lover, don't come to the Philippines: here dogs are not petted but kept in yards etc and fed but not given attention. This is now changing, however, because we now see small dogs (they even sell doggie diapers in the mall). Our vet will shave and groom these small dogs, usually shitsu but also poodles and terriers. 

Rabies is an ongoing problem here with feral dogs, and the city now has free rabies shots for you if you are bitten by one. 

But the city clinic runs out periodically so we still have one or two people coming for help to pay for the shots, which coast 7 dollars a shot and three are needed. (more if it is high risk and you get the antibody shot). This is cheap, but not when the minimum wage is 7 dollars a day and farmers make less in cash income (i.e. they eat their own food but have little extra cash).

Rabies is a big worry here: the Dept of Health estimates 200 people die every year of rabies.

ironically, I have never treated a case, although I have ordered quite a few shots to prevent rabies in my patients, including one girl who was bitten by a bat. In Africa, the government sent people out to rural areas and gave all the dogs their injections and painted their backs. A week later they sent in snipers who set out food and shot any dog that wasn't painted. 

I am not sure how it is done here: There was a major outcry by animal lovers about killing stray dogs in the Philippines a couple years ago, so presumably they either stopped doing it or they are keeping quiet about it. But it's not their kids dying of rabies, so although I love animals, in this I believe the kids should have priority, not the strays.

We see stray dogs here quite a bit, because the Palenke and food kiosks at the town Plaza mean lots of places for them to find food/garbage.

I was bit by one of our young dogs who had run away a few times and hadn't had her shot and died showing neurological symptoms (probably from distemper, but who wanted to take a chance).

the city sponsors free rabies clinics, including out in the farm area to give rabies vaccine to the dogs, but not everyone bothers to get their dogs a shot.

It's not just dogs of course: Right now there is a measles epidemic in the poorer areas of Luzon, 

At the San Lazaro Hospital, one of the DOH’s referral centers for infectious diseases, an average of 48 measles cases are registered every day. As of Feb. 5, San Lazaro has seen 1,355 cases. Of these, 1,240 patients were admitted in January, including 1,114 pediatric patients. Forty-seven of the children died. This month, San Lazaro has admitted at least 264 cases, including 241 children, eight of whom have died. Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/02/07/1891623/measles-outbreak-declared-metro-manila-central-luzon#soPso1lXcQveBsZU.99 

and the government is holding clinics to have the children get the vaccine. Most of the parents are just too busy to get their kids a shot (measles is given at 18 months), but there is a worry that the Dengvaxia scandal might be scaring parents away from getting their kids all their shots.

I usually fight the crazy anti vax types, and the anti big pharm types, but the problem with the Dengue vaccine was suspected before it was given, and there was a big push to give it even though it was a very expensive vaccine, making some wonder if small gifts had changed hands.

West Philippine sea grab by China

StrategyPage Podcast mp3

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

PNoy, a liberal, gave in. Sigh.

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

Signs of hope

The Saudi prince has agreed to build churches in that country. Up to now, that was forbidden.

if this is true, it will allow the one million Christians there to worship legally, without fear that their worship services in private houses will be raided and the attendees deported.

Headsup Instapundit.

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

Boracay beach clean up

I may write against the religion of PC ecology, but it does not mean I oppose conservation and green measures to stop it.

here, corruption results in excess building, traffic congestion, contaminated water and dumping garbage into the ocean near the beachers. A small gift to the authorities will let you pollute (sound familiar, Chicago?), and is one reason Duterte is pushing to shut down Boracay.

one of Joy's relatives owns a small bed and breakfast there (she invested her savings as an OFW into the place) so we have visited Borachay.

So we are waiting to see what happens, and if our cousin Jordan will have to arrange his wedding here instead of at that resort.

The business community is upset, of course. Lots of money and a lot of people will lose their jobs if there is a complete shutdown.

But one suspects it was the usual Duterte hyperbole, but at least he is trying to clean the place up for future tourism before "developers" destroy that wonderful beach.

The Inquirer discusses the problem here, including compromise solutions which would work... if they are actually done.

the PhilStar calls the island a "ticking time bomb" that needs to be rehabilitated before the place is destroyed.

so what should you do if they actually shut the place down?

To minimize the adverse impact of the planned closure of Boracay to tourism, the Department of Tourism has requested airline companies, including Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, to allow those who have already booked flights to Boracay to cancel or rebook without fine or penalty. These airline companies were also asked to just divert their Boracay-bound flights to other tourist destinations in the country.
Once all the illegal structures are gone, plans are to possibly adopt a masterplan prepared for the DOT by top urban planner, architect Felino Palafox. Some of its features are a boardwalk and and a tram that will go around the island, which means that all other modes of transportation presently being used such as habal-habal and tricycles will be phased out.
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/03/18/1797722/ticking-time-bomb#SD42kC8PZvQCJFpF.99

to make things worse, a typhoon caused a lot of damage last December, and locals blamed the unregulated (and illegal) development for making the flooding worse.

here are several videos discussing the problem: All alas in Tagalog.






this is an ongoing problem: Here is a report about one such illegal resort that was taken down in 2014.



-----------------
so where else can you go if you are headed to the Philippines?

well, we don't have beaches, but our area is a prime destination for ecotourism:



I mean, what is more exciting that sitting around and watching the rice (and Onions) grow?

Stories below the fold

PhysOrg: the Dead Sea is dying: too much water is being diverted into irrigation etc. so it has been shrinking.

So now there is a plan to build a canal to divert sea water into that lake to restore it.

After years of studies, the $1.1 billion Red Sea "Peace Conduit" deal was signed by Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian authorities in 2013. The project, located entirely on Jordanian territory, includes a desalination plant near Aqaba. After producing drinking water, the remaining highly saline liquid will be sent by pipeline to fill the Dead Sea, powering two hydroelectric plants along the way.

Yes, you read that right: It is a deal between Israel, Jordan and Palestine.

paid for by the US and Japan and maybe EU loans to Jordan.

what is that saying? Dogs and cats living together?

---------------------------------------
(Italian) retired cop has vision of Mary in southern Germany. Hundreds due to attend to the next scheduled visit today.

These visions pop up all over the world: A few are genuine, some are "failed" (because the visionary gets proud, or because those around them are nuts). But from a Jungian standpoint, artists and sensitive people tend to "sense" something going on, and proclaim it... heck, you can hear these types nearly every night on Coast to Coast Am or similar programs about the weird.

or maybe it is Mama Mary giving the liberal German bishops, who seem to be more interested in making their church politically correct than preaching the gospel, a headsup that God, not they, are in charge.
-------------------

as I posted before: The Beeapocolypse is one of the latest "WAGD" scares.

But don't worry: you will still have tofu:
Monsanto announces self pollinating soy beans.

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

why hasn't anyone mentioned that the reason high school students are out marching against guns is not politics, but because marching and feeling self righteous is fun? And it gets you out of class...


-----

another Manila Casino/hotel fire.

the dead seem to be employees working in security... hmm...

in our prayers. A robbery cover up, carelessness, or terrorism? Developing...

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

Manila schools are shut today because of a transportation strike against laws "modernizing" (i.e. getting rid of) local jeepneys: i.e. small buses that carry people on short trips, because progressive leaders want to replace them with new "EJeepneys".

This will improve the air quality in Manila, but will mainly benefit the larger transportation businesses, and destroy a lot of small jeepney owners and hurt the Poor.

so what do you want: to be able to breathe, or to be able to afford to go to work?

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

not all space deaths are astonauts: Remembering the 1980 explosion in Russia that killed 48 near the launch pad.

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

a Conservative Blue Dog pro life Democrat got elected in western Pennsylvania, where people "cling to their guns and religion".

Is this a "headsup" to the establishment Republicans, who favor big business and the global agenda? Or is it a "headup" to the Democrats, who hate guns, love welfare (and taxing hard working stiffs) and celebrated abortion as the best thing invented since sliced bread?

A lot of pundits are saying it was anti Trumpyboy, but since his position is closer to Trump (or to Bill Clinton for that matter), I suspect the pundits are out of touch.

-------------------------------------
Attention Paddington Bear: The Penrith Marmalade festival celebrates this condiment.