Austin Bay reminds his audience that the real danger is not attacking a gun free gay bar (or even Disneyland) but the several Army bases nearby. And then essentially says what is being argued back and forth is nonsense. The problem is "lone wolfs" who are often known to the FBI but are still running around.
hmmm.. a couple of years ago, a sheriff arrested two Muslim kids with explosives on a road to an army base in one of the Carolinas, but the kids were left go. Any follow up of that incident?
But this was for terrorizing civilians. The result will be a President Trump, of course. which is why the press is pushing the danger of extremists white Christian homophobes and that the Trumpettes are no longer coming to his rallies.
And the "1968 is back" article of the day is Guccifer's hacking of the DNC's files with dirt on the Donald. Poor Nixon only had a couple of burglars to try to find these files, and got impeached.
Which
today, of course, not only do the Chinese have my personnel files, thanks to a hack of the federal gov't,, but Putin probably has Hillary's secret State Dept files (and maybe some personal stuff she would like to keep hidden).
On the other hand, the hackers are keeping track of the terrorist stuff too: There is a headsup there about an up and coming European attack
I won't comment on American politics, because I only read what others in the media are saying, not what is going on. That will give you a distorted picture..... I remember when Reagan was running, and all the shortwave European news media was predicting he was crazy, and would start World War III...
--------
the teerrorist of Orlando appeared in a documentary on the oil spill. Uh, wasn't that outside his area of expertise? So why did the leftists/ environmentalist ask his opinion? Because he was paranoid and angry, and they needed a paranoid angry "man on the street" comment? And why was he, as a "security guard" posted on a beach being cleaned up? Someone trying to steal oil residue?
----------------
LAPD on how to survive a terrorist shooter:
headsup SenseofEvents
te problem is, of course, that people freeze in emergencies. That is why Medical personnel constatntly train for CPR, and the military drills people to shoot. Unless you are trained, you have to "think" on what to do, and you can't really think straight due to fear/shock. But trained people respond automatically.
Again, I refer you to the previous post with the video of Lt Joe Kenda on why this makes "eye witness" testimony unreliable...
====================
The most important link of the day: How to take a perfect selfie
==============
Update: Ruby loved DisneyTokyo, and said it was much nicer than Disney Hong Kong.
Lots of stuff about the opening of Disney Shanghai but I almost missed this one: a couple of days ago, the LATimes reported two bombs at the airport in Shanghai, after which the bomber slit his own throat. more HERE
these things happen all the time, say the articles, and are usually locals protesting something, so no problem here, folks just move along.
FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Podcast of the week
InOurTime podcast this week: The Bronze Age Collapse
1600 years before Rome fell, there was a previous collapse of Bronze age civilizations.
Climate change? Barbarian invasion? Earthquakes? Rebellions?
The history behind the Iliad, Odyssey, Exodus, and the lost empire of the Hittites.
1600 years before Rome fell, there was a previous collapse of Bronze age civilizations.
Climate change? Barbarian invasion? Earthquakes? Rebellions?
The history behind the Iliad, Odyssey, Exodus, and the lost empire of the Hittites.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Stories below the fold: multiculturalism matters
StrategyPage has an article on how political correctness ignores reality, making many in the US (especially in academia) unable to recognize how cultures differ and how religion matters. So they fail to see the real enemy. Quoting SunTzu.
the dirty little secret is that people in different cultures think differently, and when we docs deal with patients, we have to be sensitive to this.
Modern multiculturalism just pretends everyone is the same logical secular mindset, ignoring religion (including secular Confucian values) or painting religion as the enemy, as I see all the time in the two minute hate on facebook.
--------------------
Related item: Even clerics can't stop "honor killings" in Pakistan.
the "liberation" of women due to modernity (and cellphones) clashes with the old fashioned values of the family oriented society.
like FGM, these customs predate Islam, and are found in the other religions of the area, and have to do with the control of the family's wealth: Defying marriage rules could lead to the disintegration of the rest of the family.
In a culture of poverty, the threat of starvation is more important than free love.
We saw this in the arranged marriage when I lived in (a traditional) Africa. On the other hand, some girls objected and ran away... most missions had a few of these girls working for them to keep them safe until things could be worked out. (the alternative was to run away to the city to become a prostitute).
"Fiddler on the Roof" is actually a good place to start to understand the clash of modernity with the customs that keep people safe.
-------------------------
The liberals decry American troops all over the place, but as StrategyPage points out, they often are requested to be there as a "trip wire" to protect these countries from their neighbors, and the US is less likely to take over the place than these enemies.
yeah. The left/nationalists here insisted the US leave, and now they have China taking over our fishing grounds. Way to go fellahs.
Like Lolo's family, who like many here opposed the Spanish and then the Americans, realized that the Yanks were not the worst case scenerio, and joined the anti Japanese guerillas.
Alas, many of the elite families (like PNoy's grandfather) made nice with the Japanese, so the real stories of what went on is often ignored.
-----------------
speaking of elite families: They don't approve of Duterte. But he might let China "help" the Philippines get the gas out of the Spratlys area, like Arroyo had planned to do (after she was bribed).
given China's economic threats that silence the latest ASEAN complaints, the area is up for grabs right now.
Rappler has more on Duterte's background. Meme vs reality.
the dirty little secret is that people in different cultures think differently, and when we docs deal with patients, we have to be sensitive to this.
Modern multiculturalism just pretends everyone is the same logical secular mindset, ignoring religion (including secular Confucian values) or painting religion as the enemy, as I see all the time in the two minute hate on facebook.
--------------------
Related item: Even clerics can't stop "honor killings" in Pakistan.
the "liberation" of women due to modernity (and cellphones) clashes with the old fashioned values of the family oriented society.
like FGM, these customs predate Islam, and are found in the other religions of the area, and have to do with the control of the family's wealth: Defying marriage rules could lead to the disintegration of the rest of the family.
In a culture of poverty, the threat of starvation is more important than free love.
We saw this in the arranged marriage when I lived in (a traditional) Africa. On the other hand, some girls objected and ran away... most missions had a few of these girls working for them to keep them safe until things could be worked out. (the alternative was to run away to the city to become a prostitute).
"Fiddler on the Roof" is actually a good place to start to understand the clash of modernity with the customs that keep people safe.
-------------------------
The liberals decry American troops all over the place, but as StrategyPage points out, they often are requested to be there as a "trip wire" to protect these countries from their neighbors, and the US is less likely to take over the place than these enemies.
yeah. The left/nationalists here insisted the US leave, and now they have China taking over our fishing grounds. Way to go fellahs.
Like Lolo's family, who like many here opposed the Spanish and then the Americans, realized that the Yanks were not the worst case scenerio, and joined the anti Japanese guerillas.
Alas, many of the elite families (like PNoy's grandfather) made nice with the Japanese, so the real stories of what went on is often ignored.
-----------------
speaking of elite families: They don't approve of Duterte. But he might let China "help" the Philippines get the gas out of the Spratlys area, like Arroyo had planned to do (after she was bribed).
given China's economic threats that silence the latest ASEAN complaints, the area is up for grabs right now.
Rappler has more on Duterte's background. Meme vs reality.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Soft targets, we haz that
Here in the Philippines, when I go to the mall, I get my bag/backpack checked by a security guard, and I've seen Kuya get the small of his back patted down (to check for a hidden gun).
Banks and shops have "no guns" signs, and if you carry one, you have to leave it with the security guard at the door. To get in our bank, there is a guard outside and one inside who unlocks the door for you.
There is also a sign at the bank "no cellphones". There is also a "no cellphones" sign at church, to stop the ringing etc from disturbing people, but I suspect the one at the bank is there to stop someone from setting off a bomb.
However, we are not patted down at church, and there are only cops wandering around the Palenke. Once I saw a psychotic man shouting in the Palenke parking lot, and told the cops who just shrugged (he was a regular and harmless). Don't know if they removed him.
The thing is that we have a lot of security here, mainly against local thieves and gangs.
when people in the US insist on gun control, I laugh: Marcos confiscated all the guns in the Philippines and they have strict laws. Of course, most locals still use machetes in fights, but we had a nephew kill his drunken brother who attacked him, with an illegal shotgun he used with birdshot to scare away thieves.... birdshot is not usually fatal at a distance, so probably he would have scared away the brother if some of it hadn't hit his femoral artery at 3 feet away.
So why did he have a gun? He lived on a farm and it was for safety.
Most middle class people here have guns (often illegal). Until Lolo had his stroke in the early 1990's, he had a hand gun and his WWII Machine gun in the closet. He gave them away after his stroke, so when we moved here we had only dogs for protection. Back then, most of the criminals would hesitate to attack you (although we did have an airconditioner stolen from our window... but it was old and they couldn't carry it to get away) and the store next door had a thief hide in the back and steal stuff after hours: He got out via the aircon room, then dropped onto the storage shed in the yard, and then over the wall.... the cops investigated and found his footprints and lots of dog footprints and laughed.
But in the past two years, we have had two neighbors killed in robberies, both elderly (one a FilAm) plus the danger of political violence (see previous post about the ex mayor's family attempts to kill her rival... who is a friend of Lolo's family... the last hit was when he was on they way home from our cousin's funeral, killing his body guard and 3 bystanders)... then there are kidnap gangs. So I rarely go out alone: No, the cook is 70 years old and 90 pounds, but she is related to half the tricycle drivers in town, (and probably the NPA who are now in retirement). So don't mess with her.
there are also reports about bodies being found: Drug reprisals? but presumably drug related. The Philippines is a major center for shipping out drugs, but like a lot of places, they are now selling it locally, and crime has gone up.
Are there sermons in the churches against such things? I have no idea (Mass is in Tagalog, and presumably the drug users don't go to church).
So anyway, when the Human rights folks complain about Duterte, you have to remember that violence is already around, and it takes years to get justice if the person has connections. The ex mayor, the father of the later ex mayor, died in bed despite being behind a hit that killed five people. The rumor was that he paid 20 thousand pesos a month to someone to stop from being indicted, but when Pnoy got in, the person he was bribing got honest, so he was indicted and "disappeared". (He fled to QC, where he was found three years later on dialysis).
Pnoy tried to stop the high level corruption but it is endemic. Sigh. Duterte has a lot of folks scared: Maybe they won't pay for their crimes if they go honest, so we are hoping things will change.
So anyway, soft targets and crime are as big a problem as terrorism here, and the money spent on security is huge.
Remember that the next time you read nonsense about terrorism.
-----------------
How closely are folks checked when they go into malls etc in the USA? my last visit was three years ago, but I wasn't checked then...
related item: Disneyland Orlando was a possible target, but the FBI ignored their complaints he was checking out the place in a suspicious manner.
Duh.
His second wife knew about the planned attack: and only asked him not to do it. She is a US citizen. She is "cooperating" now... but don't expect people to forgive her from not reporting him.
Michael Totten has a take on the stupidity of politicians shouting about "banning guns" and "banning Muslims".
Banks and shops have "no guns" signs, and if you carry one, you have to leave it with the security guard at the door. To get in our bank, there is a guard outside and one inside who unlocks the door for you.
There is also a sign at the bank "no cellphones". There is also a "no cellphones" sign at church, to stop the ringing etc from disturbing people, but I suspect the one at the bank is there to stop someone from setting off a bomb.
However, we are not patted down at church, and there are only cops wandering around the Palenke. Once I saw a psychotic man shouting in the Palenke parking lot, and told the cops who just shrugged (he was a regular and harmless). Don't know if they removed him.
The thing is that we have a lot of security here, mainly against local thieves and gangs.
when people in the US insist on gun control, I laugh: Marcos confiscated all the guns in the Philippines and they have strict laws. Of course, most locals still use machetes in fights, but we had a nephew kill his drunken brother who attacked him, with an illegal shotgun he used with birdshot to scare away thieves.... birdshot is not usually fatal at a distance, so probably he would have scared away the brother if some of it hadn't hit his femoral artery at 3 feet away.
So why did he have a gun? He lived on a farm and it was for safety.
Most middle class people here have guns (often illegal). Until Lolo had his stroke in the early 1990's, he had a hand gun and his WWII Machine gun in the closet. He gave them away after his stroke, so when we moved here we had only dogs for protection. Back then, most of the criminals would hesitate to attack you (although we did have an airconditioner stolen from our window... but it was old and they couldn't carry it to get away) and the store next door had a thief hide in the back and steal stuff after hours: He got out via the aircon room, then dropped onto the storage shed in the yard, and then over the wall.... the cops investigated and found his footprints and lots of dog footprints and laughed.
But in the past two years, we have had two neighbors killed in robberies, both elderly (one a FilAm) plus the danger of political violence (see previous post about the ex mayor's family attempts to kill her rival... who is a friend of Lolo's family... the last hit was when he was on they way home from our cousin's funeral, killing his body guard and 3 bystanders)... then there are kidnap gangs. So I rarely go out alone: No, the cook is 70 years old and 90 pounds, but she is related to half the tricycle drivers in town, (and probably the NPA who are now in retirement). So don't mess with her.
there are also reports about bodies being found: Drug reprisals? but presumably drug related. The Philippines is a major center for shipping out drugs, but like a lot of places, they are now selling it locally, and crime has gone up.
Are there sermons in the churches against such things? I have no idea (Mass is in Tagalog, and presumably the drug users don't go to church).
So anyway, when the Human rights folks complain about Duterte, you have to remember that violence is already around, and it takes years to get justice if the person has connections. The ex mayor, the father of the later ex mayor, died in bed despite being behind a hit that killed five people. The rumor was that he paid 20 thousand pesos a month to someone to stop from being indicted, but when Pnoy got in, the person he was bribing got honest, so he was indicted and "disappeared". (He fled to QC, where he was found three years later on dialysis).
Pnoy tried to stop the high level corruption but it is endemic. Sigh. Duterte has a lot of folks scared: Maybe they won't pay for their crimes if they go honest, so we are hoping things will change.
So anyway, soft targets and crime are as big a problem as terrorism here, and the money spent on security is huge.
Remember that the next time you read nonsense about terrorism.
-----------------
How closely are folks checked when they go into malls etc in the USA? my last visit was three years ago, but I wasn't checked then...
related item: Disneyland Orlando was a possible target, but the FBI ignored their complaints he was checking out the place in a suspicious manner.
Duh.
His second wife knew about the planned attack: and only asked him not to do it. She is a US citizen. She is "cooperating" now... but don't expect people to forgive her from not reporting him.
Michael Totten has a take on the stupidity of politicians shouting about "banning guns" and "banning Muslims".
Family news
Ruby and Joy got back from Tokyo last night. They had a wonderful time.
She put a couple hundred photos on Facebook.
And she met her "team" for the first time: some were from Singapore...
nowadays they do projects via computers, whereas in my day we just wrote on paper.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Conspiracy theory of the day
Who was that bozo who locked the door to keep people from fleeing the Orlando night club?
Lots of other conspiracy theories out there that this was a "wag the dog" type plan to ......(fill in blanks).
Expect a lot of "second shooter" type stories.
But as Lt Kenda (see earlier post) points out, "eye witnesses" are often unreliable. So ignore the call of many shooters until the story is clear.
and no, President Obama is a klutz but he is rightly worried about Anti Islam backlash, so will play the story up as domestic terrorism.
Lots of other conspiracy theories out there that this was a "wag the dog" type plan to ......(fill in blanks).
Expect a lot of "second shooter" type stories.
But as Lt Kenda (see earlier post) points out, "eye witnesses" are often unreliable. So ignore the call of many shooters until the story is clear.
and no, President Obama is a klutz but he is rightly worried about Anti Islam backlash, so will play the story up as domestic terrorism.
Rejecting the inferior
via LesFemmes
the famous essay on this is HERE: welcome to Holland:
All things work out for the best for those who love God... because there is a reason behind everything.
Monday, June 13, 2016
They said it in court
The news is bad...time for a joke.
The latest email of the day from TiaMaria
The latest email of the day from TiaMaria
COURT RECORDERS KEEP STRAIGHT FACES????
These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ.
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid
____________________________________________ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
___________________________________________ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral...
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?______________________________________
And last:ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
Don't overreact
A lot of the anti Catholic black legends is still believed, never mind it is exaggerated to say the least (see this BBC program about the Inquisition).
But even when religious persecution might have inspired some toward real terrorism, it doesn't mean that all the hysterical accusations should be believed.
podcast of the week IOT BBC on TitusOates and his papist plot.
But even when religious persecution might have inspired some toward real terrorism, it doesn't mean that all the hysterical accusations should be believed.
podcast of the week IOT BBC on TitusOates and his papist plot.
An eye for an eye?
Since it is early morning and I live in the Philippines, my readers probably know more about the terrible murders in Florida than I do.
The Ubercatholic site, LesFemmes, note that Orlando is a gay friendly town. The only comment is from a grandmother who is praying for their souls, which is the Christian response to such a horror.
Early reports of a mosque near the nightclub was squelched when it was noted the place seen on google maps was a well known Christian church. And another comment somewhere noted that a lot of non gay women go there just to enjoy the music and dance.
In other words, all types were in the town.
ISIS will brag about this, but one monster does not a jihad make.
The real danger is copy cat shooters, a perennial problem with flashy crimes of any sort.
The Ubercatholic site, LesFemmes, note that Orlando is a gay friendly town. The only comment is from a grandmother who is praying for their souls, which is the Christian response to such a horror.
Early reports of a mosque near the nightclub was squelched when it was noted the place seen on google maps was a well known Christian church. And another comment somewhere noted that a lot of non gay women go there just to enjoy the music and dance.
In other words, all types were in the town.
ISIS will brag about this, but one monster does not a jihad make.
The real danger is copy cat shooters, a perennial problem with flashy crimes of any sort.
Pope blasts politically correct murders
While you were busy watching the reports on a terrible massacre by a known ISIS supporter who legally owned a gun, the real danger of murder is right in front of your eyes, disguised as "choice" in California and Canada.
Drudge includes a link to the Pope's comments:
The joke is that "Women and minorities are affected the most", but alas, in this case, it is true.
The Disability group "Not Dead Yet" has an essay by one of their black members, who notes that the black community are not involved in this, since they see it as a "white" problem...
an example is when one of our nursing home patients aspirated a piece of food, partially blocking her trachea. An immediate bronchoscopy would have saved her life, but since she had a "DNR" order she was allowed to die. After that, no one would sign a DNR order....
Then we had a stroke patient who was confused and transferred back to the IHS hospital so the nurses could communicate in Lakota while she recovered. Because of a (usually temporary) disability in swallowing, the attending doc put in a feeding tube and asked the ER doc, a moonlighting resident from Baltimore, to check the position of the tube after the X ray was done.
The temporary doc said: Why not just give her morphine, haha. And repeated the comment when the doctor asked what he meant (he meant to sedate her and let her starve to death, or maybe just to "accidentally" overdose her on morphine).
The doc said wryly that "we don't do things like that here", and told the nurse he'd be back in a few hours to check the X ray. (I was an observer, and did not interfere with the conversation: My next door neighbor was an AIM activist, so I planned to notify her if this had been done).
now, this was 20 years ago. How many minority patients in Baltimore have been given "morphine, haha" by this physician?
-----------------
Related item: AlJ article on hospice nurses and those they serve.
Drudge includes a link to the Pope's comments:
sounds like he is criticizing the latest disability snuff film, me against you, where a guy can't live his affluent lifestyle so offs himself.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis scathingly decried the pursuit for perfect bodies on Sunday, saying such obsession leads to society hiding away the disabled to avoid offending sensibilities of what he termed "the privileged few."
In St. Peter's Square, Francis celebrated Mass dedicated to disabled people and their caregivers, then spent time chatting with and hugging many of them at the end of the service. "It is thought that sick or disabled persons cannot be happy, since they cannot live the lifestyle held up by the culture of pleasure and entertainment," Francis said in his homily.
"In an age when care for one's body has become an obsession and a big business, anything that is imperfect has to be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model."
... Francis has used his papacy to champion the cause of those marginalized in societies where wealth and other financial achievements are prized over inner worth.If you are not worried about this trend, you should be, because behind this propaganda campaign is the idea that the old, the disabled, or the poor are inferior and should have their "medical treatment" limited by futile care ideas or by QALY criteria.
The joke is that "Women and minorities are affected the most", but alas, in this case, it is true.
The Disability group "Not Dead Yet" has an essay by one of their black members, who notes that the black community are not involved in this, since they see it as a "white" problem...
Many Black folks who I talk to about the anti assisted suicide movement say “that’s a White thing, we don’t do that stuff”. They ask me why have I devoted myself to a predominantly White issue....
Physician assisted suicide and euthanasia of people with disabilities is a deadly form of discrimination resulting from the fact that doctors and others do not see the lives of people with disabilities as valuable. This mirrors society’s beliefs that our lives are not worth living and that it is better to be dead than disabled...
Blacks will get caught up because due to medical racism, the lives of Blacks are already seen as less worthy than Whites. That’s even more so with Blacks with disabilities. Our families are pressured to withdraw life support for loved ones or we fall under state’s futility laws....As a physician I have seen medical bias against my AmerIndian patients, especially when they were old or handicapped: but it backfired: the reason so many of our patients chose "futile" treatments was because they suspected they would be denied care that would prolong their lives...
an example is when one of our nursing home patients aspirated a piece of food, partially blocking her trachea. An immediate bronchoscopy would have saved her life, but since she had a "DNR" order she was allowed to die. After that, no one would sign a DNR order....
Then we had a stroke patient who was confused and transferred back to the IHS hospital so the nurses could communicate in Lakota while she recovered. Because of a (usually temporary) disability in swallowing, the attending doc put in a feeding tube and asked the ER doc, a moonlighting resident from Baltimore, to check the position of the tube after the X ray was done.
The temporary doc said: Why not just give her morphine, haha. And repeated the comment when the doctor asked what he meant (he meant to sedate her and let her starve to death, or maybe just to "accidentally" overdose her on morphine).
The doc said wryly that "we don't do things like that here", and told the nurse he'd be back in a few hours to check the X ray. (I was an observer, and did not interfere with the conversation: My next door neighbor was an AIM activist, so I planned to notify her if this had been done).
now, this was 20 years ago. How many minority patients in Baltimore have been given "morphine, haha" by this physician?
-----------------
Related item: AlJ article on hospice nurses and those they serve.
China destroys reefs, anyone object?
I have frequently note that few "green" types seem to be worried about China's destruction of the reefs and fishing grounds in the West Philippine Sea (compare and contrast to the on line hysteria over dead lions or gorillas).
That is not exactly true.
NYTimes article a year ago did notice it. Actually they didn't notice it, they just quoted a local official who complained
The rest of the article is about the yearly PhilAm military exercizes that are now upsetting China, even though they have gone on every year since I have lived here (11 years).
local environmentalists have complained and demonstrated, as have local fishermen. Also from last year:
That is not exactly true.
NYTimes article a year ago did notice it. Actually they didn't notice it, they just quoted a local official who complained
He said China’s neighbors in the South China Sea could lose up to $100 million a year because of the loss of the coral reefs, which are breeding grounds for high-value fish harvested by countries surrounding the sea.
Land "reclamation"? That implies that these places were once islands and are being restored. HELLO. They are shoals and never were islands, and the "reclamation" is destroying the ecology of the region.
China has been undertaking land reclamation projects on the sand spits, islets and submerged reefs of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, according to satellite images
The rest of the article is about the yearly PhilAm military exercizes that are now upsetting China, even though they have gone on every year since I have lived here (11 years).
local environmentalists have complained and demonstrated, as have local fishermen. Also from last year:
The environmental group said that China’s military activities in the disputed area will ”increase the risk of coral reef destruction, toxic and hazardous waste dumping, and the depletion of fisheries.”
Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/122754/environmentalists-demand-china-to-stop-ecological-destruction-in-west-ph-sea#ixzz4BKiHyrdG Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Destroying Land's End?
I usually have to get my land's end pants via the relatives who bring them here. It is almost impossible to find clothing or shoes that fit me in the Philippines, where most of the stuff is petit.
Usually I can usually find some if I look in the used clothing stuff, where often I find JCPenney cast offs (I even found a LLBean and Cherokee the other day). But pants are a problem, as are dresses.
Usually I can usually find some if I look in the used clothing stuff, where often I find JCPenney cast offs (I even found a LLBean and Cherokee the other day). But pants are a problem, as are dresses.
My LandsEnd is a lot more expensive, but the stuff lasts for years, despite the careless laundress and cheap soap.
Ah, but now they have a CEO who wants to make it PC more "fashionable". And guess what? The company is now losing money.
More HERE.
and as Faustina at DaTechGuy points out: Not only do the clothes last forever, they have sizes that fit you. She is thin but needs Women's tall, and I use women's XL, and sometimes XL short. They even will cuff the pants for you if you are shorter than the usual length...
so I guess for now I'll stick with whatever is in the UkayUkay clothing kiosks.
Marchionni fundamentally misunderstands the company, and maybe the republic for which it stands.
Lands’ End is about America. It’s not for walking the runway, it’s for walking the dog. It isn’t for pickup bars, it’s for picking up the kids. It isn’t about the sizzle, it’s about the steak, or maybe even the Ball Park Frank. Lands’ End is small-d democratic: It is a declaration of independence sent to the fashion aristocrats and autocrats who would dictate terms to the citizens. We the people, not the editors of Vogue, will decide what we like to wear.
By contrast, Marchionni seems to have a vision of fanciful high-cheekboned swells in a Fellini movie wearing Lands’ End jackets loosely draped over their shoulders while sipping Campari and plucking imaginary grapes out of the air as they speak, but the vision is not, to Lands’ End customers, aspirational. It’s insulting.
and as Faustina at DaTechGuy points out: Not only do the clothes last forever, they have sizes that fit you. She is thin but needs Women's tall, and I use women's XL, and sometimes XL short. They even will cuff the pants for you if you are shorter than the usual length...
so I guess for now I'll stick with whatever is in the UkayUkay clothing kiosks.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Tinfoil hat news of the day
The Bilderbergers are meeting.
UKIndependent report includes the background of a few of the big shots who are attending.
and Inforwars has the real backstory (if it's true...)
oh well. We peons are not part of the picture...
UKIndependent report includes the background of a few of the big shots who are attending.
and Inforwars has the real backstory (if it's true...)
oh well. We peons are not part of the picture...
Family news
Ruby is off to Japan with her JrAchievement team (she won a contest).
Her mom is going with her (she is underage) but the parents won't be running around with the kids, who mostly want to visit Disneyland Tokyo.
The final will meeting was yesterday, but Nanette didn't show up. So the next step is the court to devise who will do the probate.
This will cause a family fight since Kuya said he wants to change stuff and control Ruby's property (i.e. the house Lolo granted to his daughter independently to make sure she had a place to stay when she went to college in Manila).
If we're lucky we won't be throw out of the place by that time.
Her mom is going with her (she is underage) but the parents won't be running around with the kids, who mostly want to visit Disneyland Tokyo.
The final will meeting was yesterday, but Nanette didn't show up. So the next step is the court to devise who will do the probate.
This will cause a family fight since Kuya said he wants to change stuff and control Ruby's property (i.e. the house Lolo granted to his daughter independently to make sure she had a place to stay when she went to college in Manila).
If we're lucky we won't be throw out of the place by that time.
Pedophilia or at risk behavior?
CDC new report on youth risk behavior has good news and bad news.
The survey is about everything: Do you drink milk? Alcohol? drugs? seatbelt use? are you overweight? Smoke cigarettes? Been bullied or threatened? Carry a gun to school?
About 10 percent of the kids are at risk for everything, (the same kids or different kids?)
But deep in the report is this fact:
but the numbers are lower than in 2001, which is good news.
The survey is about everything: Do you drink milk? Alcohol? drugs? seatbelt use? are you overweight? Smoke cigarettes? Been bullied or threatened? Carry a gun to school?
About 10 percent of the kids are at risk for everything, (the same kids or different kids?)
But deep in the report is this fact:
not clarified: if the girls are having sex with their 14 yo boyfriend or exploited by an older man, or if the boys are just making out with the girl next door or are seduced by an older male.
Nationwide, 3.9% of students had had sexual intercourse for the first time before age 13 years (Table 69). The prevalence of having had sexual intercourse before age 13 years was higher among male (5.6%) than female (2.2%) students; higher among white male (3.5%), black male (12.1%), and Hispanic male (6.8%) than white female (1.6%), black female (4.3%), and Hispanic female (3.1%) students, respectively;
but the numbers are lower than in 2001, which is good news.
Chickens? Why not?
AnnAlthouse links to a post about Bill Gates promoting chickens in Africa.
My comment (since most of her comments are from the clueless):
My comment (since most of her comments are from the clueless):
Let me give you some background.
40 years ago, I worked in rural Africa as a doc, and we had a nutrition village to feed up malnourished kids and teach moms to supplement their diets. Part of the outreach was selling baby chicks...
Local chickens were mean, laid eggs in the bushes, and had few eggs. We imported hybrid chickens, to be kept in a cage so the eggs didn't get broken by predators. One egg a day would keep the 3 year old from dying of kwashiorkor. And we gave classes how to do this.
We got our funds from Oxfam.
He is funding something that will help, as long as the money goes to organizations that already do this work.
One problem: In Asia, backyard chickens have been banned due to Birdflu. Other "backyard" protein sources include rabbits (which we also used) or Cuys, aka guinea pigs, which a Colombian charity is promoting in the Congo. These are raised indoors as a protein source in the Andes.
Thursday, June 09, 2016
Family news
Brownout scheduled today.
The new fishpump is a bit too strong: sprays 3 feet in the air. But the fish are happy.
We are due again to go to court about Lolo's will. Sigh.
The new fishpump is a bit too strong: sprays 3 feet in the air. But the fish are happy.
We are due again to go to court about Lolo's will. Sigh.
Philippine news
StrategyPage on the Philippines, on the various "insurgent" groups, and on the Chinese war to take over our fishing grounds (and the sea lanes to Japan)
key quote:
More from SP: Austin Bay HERE.
hear the protests of the green/environmentalists over the destruction of the ecology! (anyone? anyone?). Nah, because the greens are essentially leftists who only hate the west...and are too busy parroting China's green claims to notice (and ignoring their pollution, contaminated food, and counterfeit goods).
----
that part about corruption? all the low levelcrooks politicians are worried... The rumor here is that the new mayor got a photo of the previous mayor buying votes and may prosecute her for corruption.
the joke is that everyone buys votes here... and the poor figure they all are crooks so why not take the money and run?
There is sort of a feud between the clans behind the local elections, since her father ordered a hit on his family that killed several of them (and killed our nephew in the crossfire).
key quote:
the background of that part about bribery is HERE.
Duterte has said he will follow an independent policy with regard Chinese aggression but is not cancelling previous deals that have American and other friendly nations sending more armed forces to the Philippines to help their Filipino counterparts and get in the way of Chinese aggression. China also has to be careful because Duterte is apparently incorruptible so their usual “how much do you want” tactics would probably backfire with Duterte who is willing to consider other options in the South China Sea as long as they are legal and do not harm Filipino interests. That is not good news for the Chinese.
There were allegations that the Arroyo government’s sell-out of Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea was connected to a number of multi-million dollar Chinese loans for projects that became riddled with graft and corruption.- See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/223510/opinion/china-s-spratlys-intrusions-connected-to-gloria-arroyo-deal#sthash.MryV8BsX.dpuf
More from SP: Austin Bay HERE.
Beijing's audacious island manufacturing strategy in the South China Sea has provoked fierce Vietnamese and Filipino resistance. China creates artificial islands then says they are Chinese territory. The larger pseudo-islets now have air bases capable of handling jet fighter-bombers.
hear the protests of the green/environmentalists over the destruction of the ecology! (anyone? anyone?). Nah, because the greens are essentially leftists who only hate the west...and are too busy parroting China's green claims to notice (and ignoring their pollution, contaminated food, and counterfeit goods).
----
that part about corruption? all the low level
the joke is that everyone buys votes here... and the poor figure they all are crooks so why not take the money and run?
There is sort of a feud between the clans behind the local elections, since her father ordered a hit on his family that killed several of them (and killed our nephew in the crossfire).
Wednesday, June 08, 2016
Family news
I am starting to get my energy back.
The fish pump broke (shorted out because the connection to the plug got wet). So I had to buy a new sumppump today.
The fish are still alive, but it will take a few hours to get the oxygen level higher.
We have a fountain in between the business center and the house. In there, we have koi.
Here is Lolo sitting there, although you can't see the cascade of water well in the photo.
the thing is that I usually clean it, since the men on the staff are always around (they work at the farm etc) and the maids help but don't do a good job.
School starts next week, so lots of extra gifts to the usual staff...
Ruby is packing for the Japan trip, leaving in the early AM on Friday.
The fish pump broke (shorted out because the connection to the plug got wet). So I had to buy a new sumppump today.
The fish are still alive, but it will take a few hours to get the oxygen level higher.
We have a fountain in between the business center and the house. In there, we have koi.
Here is Lolo sitting there, although you can't see the cascade of water well in the photo.
the thing is that I usually clean it, since the men on the staff are always around (they work at the farm etc) and the maids help but don't do a good job.
School starts next week, so lots of extra gifts to the usual staff...
Ruby is packing for the Japan trip, leaving in the early AM on Friday.
Stories behind the headlines
for later reading:
StrategyPage has a report on Woundstat and other ways that are now used in combat to stop people from bleeding to death.
---------------
Alice in Amoris Letitia land.
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saying the obvious: If you don't want to read white writers don't major in English.
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David Warren on Ali the great
StrategyPage has a report on Woundstat and other ways that are now used in combat to stop people from bleeding to death.
---------------
Alice in Amoris Letitia land.
------------
saying the obvious: If you don't want to read white writers don't major in English.
-------------
David Warren on Ali the great
What hath Anne Rice Wrought?
I downloaded the Young Messiah to watch, and...
WTF? Everyone acted like ordinary human beings. I liked them... Mary was not the ethereal lady of many films but a believable housewife, and the Joseph character was especially a nice surprise, since he is usually overlooked or made grumpy in "religious" films.
The problem with most religious movies is that people act like they are cult figures spouting "religious" stuff they have memorized. You see the "schizophrenia" or "true believer" blank stare in believers. I mean, another recent "religious" film, Risen, got good reviews by some, but no one except the main character seemed to be real.
Here, people are people: good people, down to earth people trying to do their best in a world of chaos and cruelty and revolution.
For "believers", it might cause a problem: Much of it was based on the ancient stories left out of the bible, but stories that most Catholics learn as the charming stories of Jesus' boyhood but as stories, not as real...
and a lot of the blanks were filled in by adding historical data of what was going on back then.
and it does bring up a point: If God humbled himself to be a true man, it mean his intellect was limited by his neurological cognitive abilities of a child.
So did Jesus know he was God? Or did he sense it and sort of know? I figure the first, but Rice takes the second position. Class, discuss.
and I had to look up if the son of Herod the Great who ruled Judea was as crazy as he was portrayed: Yup he was.
The movie is based on Anne Rice's book. Yes, that Anne Rice, of the Vampire books, who found Jesus for awhile and did some exploring of his life and decided to write a book about it.
I remember reading one interview with her, where she mentioned that after reading many of the "modern" biblical scholars, she was aghast, because they seemed to hate Jesus. How could a person spend his academic life exploring a person they hated, she wondered, be it Jesus or Shakespeare?
But I suspect she might have hit on something there...
So anyway, a nice movie that strict believers might hate (because it is "non biblical"), but as a film it works. A bit slow in these days of X men, but worth watching when it hits HBO. (It hasn't been in theatres here yet).
WTF? Everyone acted like ordinary human beings. I liked them... Mary was not the ethereal lady of many films but a believable housewife, and the Joseph character was especially a nice surprise, since he is usually overlooked or made grumpy in "religious" films.
The problem with most religious movies is that people act like they are cult figures spouting "religious" stuff they have memorized. You see the "schizophrenia" or "true believer" blank stare in believers. I mean, another recent "religious" film, Risen, got good reviews by some, but no one except the main character seemed to be real.
Here, people are people: good people, down to earth people trying to do their best in a world of chaos and cruelty and revolution.
For "believers", it might cause a problem: Much of it was based on the ancient stories left out of the bible, but stories that most Catholics learn as the charming stories of Jesus' boyhood but as stories, not as real...
and a lot of the blanks were filled in by adding historical data of what was going on back then.
and it does bring up a point: If God humbled himself to be a true man, it mean his intellect was limited by his neurological cognitive abilities of a child.
So did Jesus know he was God? Or did he sense it and sort of know? I figure the first, but Rice takes the second position. Class, discuss.
and I had to look up if the son of Herod the Great who ruled Judea was as crazy as he was portrayed: Yup he was.
The movie is based on Anne Rice's book. Yes, that Anne Rice, of the Vampire books, who found Jesus for awhile and did some exploring of his life and decided to write a book about it.
I remember reading one interview with her, where she mentioned that after reading many of the "modern" biblical scholars, she was aghast, because they seemed to hate Jesus. How could a person spend his academic life exploring a person they hated, she wondered, be it Jesus or Shakespeare?
But I suspect she might have hit on something there...
So anyway, a nice movie that strict believers might hate (because it is "non biblical"), but as a film it works. A bit slow in these days of X men, but worth watching when it hits HBO. (It hasn't been in theatres here yet).
Stonehenge wasn't built in a day
but maybe it wasn't as hard to move those stones as the "experts" said it was.
From the UKTelegraph: they used sleds, probably over logs:
From the UKTelegraph: they used sleds, probably over logs:
“We know that pre-industrialised societies like the Maram Naga in India still use this kind of sledge to construct huge stone monuments. And similar y-shaped sleighs have been found dating back to 2000BC in Japan which we know were used to move megaliths. “The Chinese also used sleighs to build the Forbidden City and some of those blocks are 123 tonnes. So in comparison, these are blocks are quite small.
 |
| Volunteers many of whom were undergraduate archaeology students take part in an attempt CREDIT: TELEGRAPH |
headsup Archeoblog
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
The Shrine of Las Lajas, Ipiales Colombia
An article about the famous shrine for the Virgin Mary in southern Colombia
an Indian lady was carrying her deaf mute child nearby and suddenly the child saw a beautiful "metzisa" lady and told her mom about it. Soon locals were visiting it as a shrine, and it does date back that far, because a Spanish friar mentions it's presence in one of his diaries.
They were walking on a path halfway up a deep gorge, so the shrine is built on that level.
the UKTelegraph lists it as one of the most beautiful churches in the world, and I'd have to agree...
It is a big pilgrimage site for Colombianos and Ecuadorians (it is near the border). It is quite impressive. We approached it from the Colombian side, hiking through fields on a dirt road and then going across the bridge, but most of the Pilgrims arrive on the side of the church, where the walk way is larger.
And yes, many climb to the stream below to bathe etc. I didn't go down: the area is high in altitude and I didn't think I could climb back up.
Like many many similar shrines, locals believed in the vision and made a shrine there: it was not a Spanish conspiracy to make people believe, as is the usual cynical take on such shrines (and there are many). Like Guadalupe, the point was that the Virgin was not "European" but looked like a local lady, and she appeared to the poorest of the poor... and helped her.
wikipedia page here
local webpage HERE. with lots of Spanish language links.
an Indian lady was carrying her deaf mute child nearby and suddenly the child saw a beautiful "metzisa" lady and told her mom about it. Soon locals were visiting it as a shrine, and it does date back that far, because a Spanish friar mentions it's presence in one of his diaries.
They were walking on a path halfway up a deep gorge, so the shrine is built on that level.
 |
| http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/arts-and-culture/The-worlds-most-beautiful-churches/ |
It is a big pilgrimage site for Colombianos and Ecuadorians (it is near the border). It is quite impressive. We approached it from the Colombian side, hiking through fields on a dirt road and then going across the bridge, but most of the Pilgrims arrive on the side of the church, where the walk way is larger.
And yes, many climb to the stream below to bathe etc. I didn't go down: the area is high in altitude and I didn't think I could climb back up.
Like many many similar shrines, locals believed in the vision and made a shrine there: it was not a Spanish conspiracy to make people believe, as is the usual cynical take on such shrines (and there are many). Like Guadalupe, the point was that the Virgin was not "European" but looked like a local lady, and she appeared to the poorest of the poor... and helped her.
wikipedia page here
local webpage HERE. with lots of Spanish language links.
Stories below the fold
Headlines tend to be bunk, but the stories explaining what is going on are there if you look for them.
Remember the bank heist that sent Bangladesh's money to the Philippines then to Chinese gamblers then probably to China? Why did the Federal Bank in NYC allow it to be sent?
Reuters Story hints many of the tries were stopped but no one figured out it the repeated requests might have been criminals, not mistyped requests.
I wonder if anyone is checking where the money went after it left the Philippines?
related story for later reading: NYTimes article on the Panama papers.
------------------
StrategyPage summarizes the history of militant Islam, which alas goes back to it's founder, and the present day Jihad that owes it's life to Saudi oil money.
Islam has variations, and the more benign forms i.e. Sufiism, picked up the "personal relationship with the deity" idea from Hinduism, but the "rule oriented" stuff from Saudi that includes killing infidels is tainting the religion as a whole.... and will continue to do so until there is a reformation.
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Didn't Nixon get into trouble for this?
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Damian Thompson asks: Is the Pope Catholic? Father Z discusses.
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none of these stories are new, of course: I've posted about them before.
But it's better than reading the latest fiction about Hillary vs Bernie or how Trump will destroy the world.
Monday, June 06, 2016
Law and order stuff
How do you keep track of a couple million immigrants, including a lot of illegals?
Have them register with the cops and then go get them.
At least this is what China is doing:
headsup Weibo
presumably this is not aimed at tourists, who will be registered by their hotel clerks, but at Vietnamese and others who work there illegally.
Reuters article on Vietnamese workers in Chinese factories.
It mentions factory workers can get $250 a month pay...
Compare to our maids, 6-8 dollars a day (or our cook, 20 dollars a week and all the extra money/food she can steal/divert).
PhilSun article on a female Pinoy OFW who legally works there by using "temporary" tourist visas...
A similar story is in most countries, not just in the USA...
--------------------
India has 650 thousand people working in the Middle East, some of them second generation. Discussion here.
this film tells the little known story about what happened when war broke out after Saddam invaded Kuwait...
--------------
StrategyPage: Farmers in Colombia are angry at cheap food imports. A report on that country, where one of my sons lives.
again, globalization is the problem, or maybe the solution?
---------------
So a tell all book on the Clintons hit the best seller page and Drudge?
Hiding in plain sight, of course. It's just that no one wanted to connect the dots...
reminds me of the quip in "Men In Black" where they pulled the tabloids to see what was really going on....
-------------------
If you haven't gone there, check out Scott Adams, AKA Dilbert: the funniest commentator on the US election.Today he endorses Hillary, but I'm not sure she would be happy at his reason....
------------------
FYI: That story about a drunken priest yelling he was from the Vatican? He is a CofE vicar, not a Catholic priest, but unless you read beyond the headline you might be confused.
Presumably he found an easy con to earn money Jesus and now wants to spread the word among the street people (just ignore his alcohol problem).
Have them register with the cops and then go get them.
At least this is what China is doing:
presumably this is not aimed at tourists, who will be registered by their hotel clerks, but at Vietnamese and others who work there illegally.
Reuters article on Vietnamese workers in Chinese factories.
It mentions factory workers can get $250 a month pay...
Compare to our maids, 6-8 dollars a day (or our cook, 20 dollars a week and all the extra money/food she can steal/divert).
PhilSun article on a female Pinoy OFW who legally works there by using "temporary" tourist visas...
A similar story is in most countries, not just in the USA...
--------------------
India has 650 thousand people working in the Middle East, some of them second generation. Discussion here.
this film tells the little known story about what happened when war broke out after Saddam invaded Kuwait...
--------------
StrategyPage: Farmers in Colombia are angry at cheap food imports. A report on that country, where one of my sons lives.
The main reason for the continued unrest is the government not keeping its promises, especially those regarding investing in rural areas to make life easier, and more profitable, for millions of poor farmers. The farmers also want more government subsidies (especially for fuel and farm supplies) and a curb on cheaper foreign food imports. But this would result in Colombian exports being blocked as the countries barred from selling to Colombia strike back. This would put a lot of Colombians out of work, but the farmers are not concerned about that.
again, globalization is the problem, or maybe the solution?
---------------
So a tell all book on the Clintons hit the best seller page and Drudge?
Hiding in plain sight, of course. It's just that no one wanted to connect the dots...
reminds me of the quip in "Men In Black" where they pulled the tabloids to see what was really going on....
-------------------
If you haven't gone there, check out Scott Adams, AKA Dilbert: the funniest commentator on the US election.Today he endorses Hillary, but I'm not sure she would be happy at his reason....
------------------
FYI: That story about a drunken priest yelling he was from the Vatican? He is a CofE vicar, not a Catholic priest, but unless you read beyond the headline you might be confused.
Presumably he found
Kenda speech
someone posted a speech by Homicide Hunter Joe Kenda on line.
Just a "fyi" if you are a fan. A show that remembers the victim...
We had the series here, along with various CSI and Law and Order type shows. But since Lolo preferred nature shows, I didn't watch it until last year's season.
Just a "fyi" if you are a fan. A show that remembers the victim...
We had the series here, along with various CSI and Law and Order type shows. But since Lolo preferred nature shows, I didn't watch it until last year's season.
Sunday, June 05, 2016
Family news
I am still low with a bad chest cold.
Ruby and Joy got back from Manila last night.
They did get the visa papers done so Ruby will be going to Japan.
Here, we let a church hold meetings in our meeting room in the business side of the compound...
School starts next week, so the church outreach is to give gift bags to the poor children in the neighborhood. Along with a service of preaching and happy singing (the churches give a pentecostal type service). They are good people and the kids can use the help.
We live inside town, not in a gated community, athough Lolo did buy a plot to build a house in a gated community outside of town so that they could convert this compound for business, but things went bad so I am still here.
The dogs are upset at all the noisy kids, so I have them here in my room to keep them from biting.
Ruby and Joy got back from Manila last night.
They did get the visa papers done so Ruby will be going to Japan.
Here, we let a church hold meetings in our meeting room in the business side of the compound...
School starts next week, so the church outreach is to give gift bags to the poor children in the neighborhood. Along with a service of preaching and happy singing (the churches give a pentecostal type service). They are good people and the kids can use the help.
We live inside town, not in a gated community, athough Lolo did buy a plot to build a house in a gated community outside of town so that they could convert this compound for business, but things went bad so I am still here.
The dogs are upset at all the noisy kids, so I have them here in my room to keep them from biting.
For later reading: philosophy as science
the restaurant at the end of the universe (which postulated a bouncing yoyo). Or is the latest theory an explosion that peters out in nothing?
Discussion here at MomJones....
like the earlier one on consciousness, it is more philosophy than science, but bookmarked for later reading.
the only taboo subject is if there is someone behind this: God made the universe and is "the love that moves the sun and other stars".
Of course, it is now PC to say we live in a Matrix made by ET's, so I guess that is sort of a dark image of God and his angels....
Discussion here at MomJones....
like the earlier one on consciousness, it is more philosophy than science, but bookmarked for later reading.
the only taboo subject is if there is someone behind this: God made the universe and is "the love that moves the sun and other stars".
Of course, it is now PC to say we live in a Matrix made by ET's, so I guess that is sort of a dark image of God and his angels....
Saturday, June 04, 2016
Mandarin anyone?
good article in the LATimes about Madarin.
No, not everyone in China speaks the same language: A lot speak other dialects, (not just the Turkish and Tibetan minorities: many in the south speak Cantonese or Hokkiense, including many in the Chinese diaspora) but to unify the country the gov't is promoting Madarin.Fair enough.
Tsinoys in the Philippines are mostly Hokkiense.
But this part is interesting:
so the gov't is pushing the idea it is easy to learn: Chineasy
for the written language, there’s been a digital revolution, which has totally changed the way we write Chinese. There are a lot of aspects to talk about, but the long and short of it is, the new technology in our smartphones and computers means the writing of Chinese by hand is no longer an important, or I’d argue even a basic, skill anymore. That used to be one of the big stumbling blocks, learning to write these characters so you could communicate. Now we have gthese smartphones — you can talk into them, you can use [phonetic] entry. You really don’t have to bother yourself with the complexity of memorizing three or four thousand characters. That has been a hugeer to write me out something by hand, she throws up her hands and says, “Get me a computer; I can’t write anything by hand anymore.”
TED TALK here.
as if memorizing 3000 symbols is easier than memorizing 26 letters.
How to chat in Chinese
my grandson Dane took Madarin in college and hopes to visit China one of these days
And Ruby has a mandatory course in Madarin in her 10th grade.
podcast of the week
Saga thing is starting a podcast on Njal's Saga.
mp3 ink
I always thought it would make a good western film...but one of the subtexts is that in the middle, everyone decides to become Christians. It doesn't stop the cycle of revenge and violence, but it does give an alternative way to respond.
---------------
and if you like Marie Antoinette, try TeaAtTrianon's podcast here.
mp3 ink
I always thought it would make a good western film...but one of the subtexts is that in the middle, everyone decides to become Christians. It doesn't stop the cycle of revenge and violence, but it does give an alternative way to respond.
---------------
and if you like Marie Antoinette, try TeaAtTrianon's podcast here.
Here Fishy fishy fishy
Mom Jones has an article for US readers on the lack of inspections on imported fish.
No, not my expertise: We eat local fish, usually freshwater fish that are farmed locally, and also dried seafish and fresh shell fish.
But note this:
and StrategyPage note: China is flouting the laws of the sea by illegal fishing, and they often use their navy in cooperation to chase locals out of fishing grounds for locals, not just here in the West Philippine sea:
No, not my expertise: We eat local fish, usually freshwater fish that are farmed locally, and also dried seafish and fresh shell fish.
But note this:
can you say: China, children? article from Epochtimes notes the problem: Pollution and dangerous germs in the fish farms, not to mention lots of antibiotics trying to keep the fish alive..
Though fish farming historically has a bad rap—mostly based on mistakes made by massive unregulated fish farms in Asia—aquaculture is undergoing something of a renaissance in the United States. Fish farmers control every step of the growing process, which makes it easier for interested farmers to raise food in an environmentally friendly fashion.
and StrategyPage note: China is flouting the laws of the sea by illegal fishing, and they often use their navy in cooperation to chase locals out of fishing grounds for locals, not just here in the West Philippine sea:
This sort of illegal fishing is a worldwide problem and Chinese trawlers are probably the biggest offenders. In waters closer to China there will often be Chinese warships near areas where Chinese trawlers fish illegally. This sometimes becomes a problem as Chinese warships will often try to rescue Chinese trawlers seized for illegal fishing. This doesn’t always work but it sets a scary y . This has happened several times in Indonesian waters, even in areas where China does not dispute ownership. China justifies their armed intervention because the Chinese trawlers were in “traditional Chinese fishing grounds.”
Friday, June 03, 2016
Saudi Arabia invests in Uber
Women in Saudi are not allowed to drive, and not allowed in a car with a stranger who is not a relative or an official driver.
But Uber, which has been in that country for 3 years, is making it easier for some.
Will uber make it easier for them to get around? yes, but mostly for the more sophisticated among them....80percent of uber users are women....
I read an article years ago how this lack of transportation frustrated the middle class, since rich women had personal drivers and the middle class had to wait for their husbands to get home to drive them around to shop/visit or force the husbands to shop after a full day's work.
Interesting article from AlJ...
But Uber, which has been in that country for 3 years, is making it easier for some.
Will uber make it easier for them to get around? yes, but mostly for the more sophisticated among them....80percent of uber users are women....
I read an article years ago how this lack of transportation frustrated the middle class, since rich women had personal drivers and the middle class had to wait for their husbands to get home to drive them around to shop/visit or force the husbands to shop after a full day's work.
Interesting article from AlJ...
PaleoIndians traveled down the seacoast
From WesternDigs:
-----------------
link2
The artifacts are traces of what’s known as the Island Paleocoastal culture, descendants of migrants who moved south from Alaska along the Pacific at the end of the last Ice Age. These ancient seafaring people were some of the earliest inhabitants of California’s southern coast, said Dr. Jon Erlandson, an archaeologist with the University of Oregon who reported the new finds.
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So what's under the kilt?
English Historical fiction blog has an article on kilt, which was not quite the same as one sees nowadays.
the "Mantle was a long cloth wrapped around the top and bottom, sort of like some saris are done today in India.
ok: altogether now:
It appears that the main source of covering was the mantle and the shirt and even later, in the 1570s, Lindsay of Piscottie referred to the‘Reidschankis, or wyld Scottis...cloathed with ane mantle, with ane schirt saffroned after the Irisch maner, going bair legged to the knie.’
the "Mantle was a long cloth wrapped around the top and bottom, sort of like some saris are done today in India.
ok: altogether now:
Thursday, June 02, 2016
commercial of the day
headsup Weibo which discusses why these Thai commericals are so popular.
Both Thai and Chinese traditions put much emphasis on the importance of family relations and filial piety, which is as important in the Buddhist tradition as it is in Confucianism (Kapur-Fic 1998, 390). Although Thailand’s ‘sadvertising’ uses themes that are universal, they especially strike a chord for those valuing respect, obedience, and care for one’s parents or elderly family members. Although the noodle shop ad is about succeeding in business, it is also about honoring tradition and listening to your parents. A 2014 Thai commercial about donating hair for the National Cancer Institute also emphasizes the importance of family and taking care of each other.
Audiobook download of the week
Enid Blyton's famous Five books are for free download at internet archives. Wikipedia description HERE.
I also ran across some of them posted on youtube.
-------------
or if you prefer serious "MEGO" type audiobooks, try this treatise on African Sleeping sickness. at Librivox.
I also ran across some of them posted on youtube.
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or if you prefer serious "MEGO" type audiobooks, try this treatise on African Sleeping sickness. at Librivox.
Live not by lies
So in our timidity, let each of us make a choice: Whether consciously, to remain a servant of falsehood—of course, it is not out of inclination, but to feed one's family, that one raises his children in the spirit of lies—or to shrug off the lies and become an honest man worthy of respect both by one's children and contemporaries....Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
================
Black lives matter? Not if you are a kid getting into mischief and in danger of being crushed to death by an 800 pound gorilla.
The cuddly gorilla was a testosterone enhanced alpha male, and these suckers can and do kill other monkeys and even humans.
Some of these hyperventillating activists need to get a grip and get a life.
But the background is that "animal rights"agenda that sees an animal as just as valuable as a human.
------------------------
Catholic bishop of Edmonton throws down the gauntlet: Catholic hospitals are no killing zones.
Activists lament they are tax supported so should not be able to do so. Sound familiar? Last week I noted how Obamacare regulations are trying to push abortion and sex change operations on hospitals that get "tax payer money"... so I predict the USA will see government regulations pushing murder in the next few years too, probably via the courts, as is being done in Canada...
John Paul II wrote an encyclical warning about this agenda in the early 1990's...
This will be pushed as "compassion", but the ultimate aim is to save money by rationing health care by QALY criteria, (where minorities will be overrepresented...) but offering "self deliverance" as an alternative. But for the independent upper class folks, there are already "discussions on death" that subtly use social pressure to encourage the "useless eaters" to get themselves dead one way or another....
--------------------
It's not about gay rights: The agenda is a de-sexed society, imposed by public opinion and laws.
and that idea has consequences.
And yes, Pope Francis warned about this as a major problem in his long letter about marriage.... you know, the 360 page letter the press is ignoring, except when they find a catholic dissadent to interpret an ambiguous footnote to push their progressive agenda?
headsup TeaAtTrianon
update: Several other bishops have recently joined in warning about the dangerous trend to deconstruct sexuality in the name of PC, including:
Pope Francis (link2)
The US Catholic bishops
Cardinal Sarah
Bishop Canizares
the Polish Bishops
probably more but I'm too lazy to google more.
CWReport had this warning article in 2013.
and then there is this 2015 article:
These warnings will not get publicity in the MSM any more than John Paul II;s warnings about medicalized killing....
----------------
================
Black lives matter? Not if you are a kid getting into mischief and in danger of being crushed to death by an 800 pound gorilla.
The cuddly gorilla was a testosterone enhanced alpha male, and these suckers can and do kill other monkeys and even humans.
Some of these hyperventillating activists need to get a grip and get a life.
But the background is that "animal rights"agenda that sees an animal as just as valuable as a human.
------------------------
Catholic bishop of Edmonton throws down the gauntlet: Catholic hospitals are no killing zones.
Activists lament they are tax supported so should not be able to do so. Sound familiar? Last week I noted how Obamacare regulations are trying to push abortion and sex change operations on hospitals that get "tax payer money"... so I predict the USA will see government regulations pushing murder in the next few years too, probably via the courts, as is being done in Canada...
John Paul II wrote an encyclical warning about this agenda in the early 1990's...
This will be pushed as "compassion", but the ultimate aim is to save money by rationing health care by QALY criteria, (where minorities will be overrepresented...) but offering "self deliverance" as an alternative. But for the independent upper class folks, there are already "discussions on death" that subtly use social pressure to encourage the "useless eaters" to get themselves dead one way or another....
--------------------
It's not about gay rights: The agenda is a de-sexed society, imposed by public opinion and laws.
Physical reality exists independent of “gender identity non-discrimination” law—or any man-made law. Laws have no power to make reality go away, but they can change how people behave in response to reality. They can enforcedisregard for reality through speech protocols, social and economic pressures, invasions of privacy, and thought policing. And that is what the effect of Obama’s executive order is all about.
and that idea has consequences.
And yes, Pope Francis warned about this as a major problem in his long letter about marriage.... you know, the 360 page letter the press is ignoring, except when they find a catholic dissadent to interpret an ambiguous footnote to push their progressive agenda?
headsup TeaAtTrianon
update: Several other bishops have recently joined in warning about the dangerous trend to deconstruct sexuality in the name of PC, including:
Pope Francis (link2)
The US Catholic bishops
Cardinal Sarah
Bishop Canizares
the Polish Bishops
probably more but I'm too lazy to google more.
CWReport had this warning article in 2013.
and then there is this 2015 article:
“Gender ideology is demonic!” Pope Francis insists. He says that it militates against “the order of creation.” He sees it as so toxic, so destructive, that he has compared gender ideology to “the educational policies of Hitler.”
In Italy, Francis has become the spiritual inspiration for a nationwide movement to banish gender theory. This culminated in a huge demonstration in Rome this summer. As one article reported, “Hundreds of thousands of people from all over Italy responded to Pope Francis’ repeated warnings about gender ideology, by taking part in an enormous demonstration in the square of St. John Lateran in Rome on Saturday. The ‘Family Day’ was aimed at defending the traditional family and stopping the spread of gender ideology in schools.”
These warnings will not get publicity in the MSM any more than John Paul II;s warnings about medicalized killing....
----------------
Family News
Ruby now has her father's permission and signiture to go to Japan. (She won a free trip in a Jr Achiement contest). The problem is that it may be too late to get the visa paper through, but then that's how passive aggressive manipulation works.
And now he will be seen positive light when we go to the will probate next week.
I am staying inside as much as possible with a bad chest cold. One of the luxuries of being retired is that you are not forced to work while sick.
And now he will be seen positive light when we go to the will probate next week.
I am staying inside as much as possible with a bad chest cold. One of the luxuries of being retired is that you are not forced to work while sick.
Wednesday, June 01, 2016
Duterte Harry is scaring people?
My granddaughter reports that President Rody "the punisher" is scaring people, and that some of the mayors are cleaning up their act because he will make them responsible for what goes on in their districts. No more looking the other way for a small "gift"...
And she said when he gave his speech, it was full of jokes, which made everyone laugh. The teenagers were most upset about the curfew: but since he plans to arrest their parents, they just laughed about how this could be used for manipulating the parents.
It is hard to tell the grass roots opinions from the English language media here, although different points of view are found in different papers. You have to go to the Tagalog talk radio and/or scandal sheets, and alas my Taglog is limited.
the western press is in hysterics. They don't see past his crude jokes (which are culturally on the mark but non PC) and they don't sense the underlying messages is not that he will kill people, but that he will keep everyone's nose to the grindstone or they will be in trouble.
On the other hand, the mayor behind the hit that killed our nephew died in his bed and wasn't indicted until he was no longer mayor (and the rumor was he diverted city funds to stop the formal indictment). So excuse me for being cynical about "human rights" when a small gift will mean no justice for the little people.
as for shooting on sight: Well, they already do this.
the problem is that there are a lot of "drive by (motorcycle) murders that never get investigated, even though they are probably professional hits, not to mention in our area old people targeted and some killed in robberies, which have a professional tint to them.
Most of the US press coverage on him is off base: crude language and his jokes and hyperbole are taken at face value... seeing human rights violations of criminals but not how criminals and the culture of corruption keep ordinary people poor and in danger.
AlJ has a better summary here.
as does (of all places) this Pittsburgh newspaper.
These politically incorrect characteristics ended up serving him well, in fact, in his political campaign against establishment figures.Their spokespersons have already made haste to assure the world that they will keep Mr. Duterte under control. The Philippine establishment includes businesspeople and bankers, the military, traditional political families and the Catholic Church.
I am a Catholic, but don't get upset when he calls the SJW bishops "sons of bitches", when you see corrupt "catholic" politicians in photo ops with them.
as for the Pope and his "green agenda", the less said the better...Venezuela anyone?
The pope will be placing a green agenda course in seminaries, one report says. A better course would be a course in "thou shalt not steal" and study how Jeremiah and some of the other old testament prophets resonded to corruption....
no we don't think like a computer
Improbable research has an article where some geeks decided to use the techniques of cognitive neuroscience on a primitive microprocessor.
so what did they discover?
and IR links to a similar article on why the brain doesn't function like a computer.
Kurzweil is wrong?
I'll have to read this later and think about it.
False functional inference:what does it mean to understand the brain?A few days ago Eric Jonas andKonrad Kording [pictured here] (J&K) posted a thought-provoking paper on bioRxiv entitled “Could a neuroscientist understand a microprocessor?” It’s been circling round my head for most of the weekend, and prompted some soul searching about what we’re trying to achieve in cognitive neuroscience.
The paper reports on a mischievous set of experiments in which J&K took a simulation of the MOS 6502 microchip (which ran the Apple I computer, and which has been the subject of some fascinating digital archaeology by the http://www.visual6502.org/team), and then analysed the link between it’s function and behaviour much as we might do for the brain in cognitive and systems neuroscience. The chip’s “behaviour” was its ability to boot and run three different sets of instructions for different games:
so what did they discover?
By treating the chip like a mini-brain, albeit one in which the ground truth was fully known, J&K could apply some canonical analysis techniques and see what they revealed. The bottom line is that for most of these analyses, they were either downright misleading or ended up producing trivial results…
and IR links to a similar article on why the brain doesn't function like a computer.
the idea that humans must be information processors just because computers are information processors is just plain silly, and when, some day, the IP metaphor is finally abandoned, it will almost certainly be seen that way by historians, just as we now view the hydraulic and mechanical metaphors to be silly.
If the IP metaphor is so silly, why is it so sticky? What is stopping us from brushing it aside, just as we might brush aside a branch that was blocking our path? Is there a way to understand human intelligence without leaning on a flimsy intellectual crutch? And what price have we paid for leaning so heavily on this particular crutch for so long? The IP metaphor, after all, has been guiding the writing and thinking of a large number of researchers in multiple fields for decades. At what cost?
Kurzweil is wrong?
I'll have to read this later and think about it.
Yum! Talapia Ice cream
My daughter in law took her daughter with her to a local "food export" conference, where some local new foods were shown.
One was talapia ice cream.
If you prefer English, read this older article about this and other food specialties in our area from GMA:
You’ve heard of bacon flavored ice cream, but what about fish-flavored ice cream?
Central Luzon State University or CLSU in Nueva Ecija is known for coming up with tilapia ice cream. A lot of people might become skeptical about it at first, but it’s worth a try!
Once you taste this, you’d be surprise with how they were able to eliminate the fishy smell and taste of the tilapia. It’s just plain ice cream but made extra creamy because of the cheese that was mixed into it.
What’s distinct with it though is its texture since it’s topped off with some tilapia flakes and walnuts -
the article also mentions our growing local business of waterbuffalo milk related products.
Medical blog links
Recent rants on my medical blog:
cell phones and cancer of the brain?.
statistical question if headlines about mice was correct.
..The war against Zika doing it right
Mom Jones discusses how they are taking mosquito control so seriously they are breaking into houses for inspection.
On the other hand, poor countries often have low water pressure (or none at all part of the day) so everyone keeps an open bucket or two to use...and it only takes a day or two before the mosquito wrigglers are growing in the water.
The time of month in Africa
Our women used dirty rags in Africa. And in some countries they still do the Biblical thing (Rachel reference here) and stay in a separate house.
With numerous pregnancies and long breast feeding, the problem was not acute, but what about teenagers in school nowadays?
Dog delusions
The next delusion. Or is it a sexual fetish? MSM of course.
Herbs: popular and sometimes dangerous
it's the dosage problem: leaves grown in shade have less active ingredients (which is why your local marijuana is probably grown inside under artificial lighting), and of course, it's harder to get the recipe to mix things right.
The good news is that most herbs are weak, so they usually work by placebo effect.
cell phones and cancer of the brain?.
statistical question if headlines about mice was correct.
..The war against Zika doing it right
Mom Jones discusses how they are taking mosquito control so seriously they are breaking into houses for inspection.
On the other hand, poor countries often have low water pressure (or none at all part of the day) so everyone keeps an open bucket or two to use...and it only takes a day or two before the mosquito wrigglers are growing in the water.
The time of month in Africa
Our women used dirty rags in Africa. And in some countries they still do the Biblical thing (Rachel reference here) and stay in a separate house.
With numerous pregnancies and long breast feeding, the problem was not acute, but what about teenagers in school nowadays?
Dog delusions
The next delusion. Or is it a sexual fetish? MSM of course.
Herbs: popular and sometimes dangerous
it's the dosage problem: leaves grown in shade have less active ingredients (which is why your local marijuana is probably grown inside under artificial lighting), and of course, it's harder to get the recipe to mix things right.
The good news is that most herbs are weak, so they usually work by placebo effect.
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