everyone has a different point of view, but the truth is real

 Dilbert/Scott adams said that in today's world, everyone views the news in their own  bubble: Interpreting what is going on in the world not as it is actually happening but as reinterpreted by our brain based on our own culture, biases, and preconceived opinions

 Traditionally, great books (and nowadays Great films) are the way that teaches us these lessons.

One of my favorite films is Rashomon: And this film analysis explains why

the four stories:

The robber sexually assaults the woman and in his mind he is so sexually wonderful that  she begs him to take her along with him. And that is why he had to kill her husband.

The husband sees the woman as immoral and has a need to justify her being evil so he can so rejects her...so he claims she kills him.

The wife? She also says she killed her husband when he rejected her.

But the one relating the court to the priest notes that the police say his wounds are that of a sword fight, not being killed with a woman's small dagger.

But the woodcutter saw it from the distance and has another story of what really happened

 Essentially both men reject her: The bandit because he just wanted to get his pleasure and had no need of her, and her husband, it was because he saw her are tarnished and so he neither wanted her nor would fight for her.

and then comes what makes this a feminist drama: The woman accuses both of them of hypocracy.

 the woman gets angry and tells them: You want a beautiful doll, not a woman, a full woman, a woman of passion: a woman that is worth fighting for. And goads them into the fight that kills her husband.

That is why her story and that of her husband is that she killed her husband (which the court rejects because the wounds are that of combat, not the wounds of a woman's small daggar).

and this is what I as a feminist take from the movie: not the question of what is truth, but the importance of those who are helpless. The woman was being thrown away by the men but fights back, and then because in Confucian society she is not allowed full personhood, she essentially accuses herself of murder out of guilt.

and the modern world uses the term the Rashomon effect to insist there is no truth. 

Ah, but the film shows there is truth, as revealed by the woodcutter's story. Each person interprets it differently through the eyes of their own needs, but the story is real and is true.

And the ending? 

The frame of the story is three people at the temple listening to the story of the crime. plus an abandoned baby.

The first man leaves afterward, stealing the money left with the abandoned baby, saying we need to put ourselves first....

and the priest is so demoralized at the story that he doesn't stop him.

but it is the third, a passing woodcutter who revealed the true story to them,  who takes pity on  the abandoned child and takes him home to raise.

and that small act of compassion not only saves the baby's life but gives hope to the priest and the demoralized audience.

Can you speak Whale?

 

Some good news.

“Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS…” -… pic.twitter.com/KF8MYet9CB

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 16, 2026

The western press tends to ignore such deaths because the victims are CHristians and moderate Muslims, and it is not just the radical Islamic types trying to impose a radical Islamic govt but some of the atrocities are tribal feuds between Islamic herders and local farmers, and these tribes are now embracing Islamic extremism to recruit and justify their aggression.

from EWTN:

 56,000 killed in Nigeria’s ethnic and religious violence; Christians disproportionately affected 56,000 killed in Nigeria’s ethnic and religious violence; Christians disproportionately affected

  and that article is in 2024

the Independent Sentinal has a more recent article:

As of August, 2025, 185,000 have been slaughtered by radical Islamists. It includes 125,000 Christians and 60,000 ‘liberal’ Muslims. Those are the tolerant, peace-loving Muslims.

 and more die because they fled and are refugees, and those who stay often can't plant food because they fear being kidnapped.

no water now brownouts

The city is fixing the water supply so no city water. 

Our water pump is working weakly but last night we had a brownout for 3 hours and it was  so hot I couldn't sleep

The maid was in the ER with the same bronchitis I had last week and she is diabetic and they added another medicine to try to control her sugar.

She is too sick to work

so my room isn't being cleaned. I can do a light dusting etc but she will send her sister to do the wash tomorrow if there is enough water 

It is still hot season so I stay in my air conditioned room with the dogs

update

the maid came in to say she is out of the hospital (She had IV for dehydration)  and to get money to buy her new medicines.

She also said five nearby houses burnt down from using candles. No one hurt but the families are now homeless.

Today they fixed the pump so I could shower, but then I went outside and found water cascading from the third floor. We thought it was a leak in the water storage tank, but apparently someone was watering the plants and after they ran out of water, didn't recognize that they hadn't turned off the water.

another fake epidemic caused by not following simple rules

 quarantine has been used for hundreds of years to stop the spread of disease.\

But someone left a lot of infectious people off of the Hanta virus ship to go home and spread it to other countries.

UKGuardian says:

The complex operation to repatriate passengers and crew of the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, the MV Hondius, is almost complete. Up to 150 people have started flying home aboard military and government planes from Spain’s Canary Islands, and the World Health Organization has recommended, but not mandated, a 42-day quarantine once they have landed.

Why

using quarantine to stop the spread of an infectious disease has been around for hundreds of years, but instead of using this policy, someone decided it's okay to let them go home and now we have a lot of hysteria on line.

Theory one: These passengers are rich 

Two: it allows the WHO to complain that Trump cut their funding and if the epidemic spreads, blame him, not the fact that basic public health policy was ignored.

Three: Vaccines already are in the pipeline to be made.

Four: Expensive medicines will be pushes to treat it.

(will Ivermectin work? Some sites say maybe. And ivermectin has few side effects. So why not treat before symptoms start?)

CDC says they will let people self monitor their health. WTF?

they are insisting there is no risk, but this policy is based on the US version that does not spread person to person.

WTF? 

Hey RFK Jr, maybe tell the CDC to check on the reality that unlike the Hanta virus we had in New Mexico etc a few years back, this one spreads person to person so they need to update their rules.

update

stories below the fold: Conspiracy theories again

 

 the Catholic church is imploding but the press loves Pope Leo for being obedient to the fads of the global elite. 

Global warming for example. 

Here in the Philippines for example, the church is backing no investment in fossil fuels at a time when people are hurting from the high price of Diesel and they now found a natural gas field that could help the Philippines. 

But the bishops are pushing solar panels all over the place.

I haven't heard if they have approved of the valuable rice land in our area being diverted into solar farms to supply electricity to Manila   ... And of course no one wants to ask what will happen when a typhoon hits (they will just blame it on global warming of course). 

but the main problem is the synodality scam is the blurring of the importance of chastity. Pope Leo already has said he wants to decrease the emphasis on sexual sin (never mind that the sexual revolution has led to the breakdown of families with the resulting drug use, depression and abortion).

 So how will he do this? Quote scripture? Stay true to the traditional teachings of two millenia?

Nope. Let the synods do it and then claim that they are the voice of the people and therefore the voice of God.

Synodality is of course a scam. 

 Supposedly the parishes met with people who were asked what they wanted the church to do: 

but this ignored that such meetings tended to be hijacked by  those who have time to be involved political activism, which results in normal folks being silenced or just not coming to the meetings.

This remind me of the encounter groups we were forced to attend in medical school: at the start of the first session we were always asked personal questions supposedly to enhance trust but in reality   they would remember what we said and would bring it up later.  In other words, it was not helping us to communicate as much as to intimidate those of us who tended to be disagreeable and of course it was a warning to the  quiet to remain silent.  

Me? I always arranged to get an emergency call from the nurses during the meeting so I could leave.

But once  my roommate's group met in our apartment, and when she objected they all attacked her. 

Although it was not my group, I came over and pointed out they had their facts wrong and since unlike my group, who could use the embarrassing information we gave at the start of the meeting, they didn't have any way to destroy me and of course they didn't use things like facts to disagree with me, so voila, they then shut down  the meeting.

But you can see how easily such meetings can be manipulated.

To make things worse:

quiet believers and those busy with their families and those like me who are essentially home bound were not involved, 

hence the data base they are using is not an accurate survey, so the reports will not represent the actual opinion of the average practicing Catholic. 

In other words, the reports of these synods are:

GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out. 

Father Murray, best known from the Prayerful posse with Raymone Arroyo, has several essays pointing out some of the other problems: they are being used to destroy the sexual ethics in the church.

His latest from the Catholic thing:

The latest imposition of the Synod is the recently published full-fledged endorsement of the homosexual lifestyle in the Final Report of Study Group Number 9 “Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues.”

This report attempts to dismiss Catholic teaching on the inherent immorality of homosexual acts – and the disordered nature of the homosexual inclination – by stigmatizing that teaching as the expression of an obsolete “paradigm” that no longer can be relied upon to communicate God’s will to His people. Even worse, Report Number 9 considers all Catholic teaching as subject to change...

The Synod has become the Holy See’s officially sponsored agent of destruction of Catholic doctrine, which is disparaged and dismissed.........

He then gives this example: 

The Synod office has decided to publish the claim of a lobbyist for the homosexual lifestyle that, “I know of many priests who have been attacked because of their support for LGBTQ folks. . . .they get hit by the hateful arrows of homophobia.’

Then Father dares to sardonically point out 

Is this claim an example of the “sense of faith of the faithful”? Or a repudiation of the Faith of Christ on behalf of immorality?

He summarizes that this won't stop with this report: 

This Vatican-sponsored destructive subversion must come to an end now. Souls are endangered by the scandalous false teachings being propagated by the Synod. Pope Leo needs to strengthen the brethren in the Faith by putting an end to this poisonous betrayal of God’s truth.

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

sigh.

happy mother's day

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

,,,,,,

family news

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

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

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

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

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

 

hot season: So turn off the city water

it is the end of the hot season (monsoon and typhoons should be starting any time). So there is the normal water shortage, which the press is crying global warming but it is actully normal this time of year.

So the city has announced that they are turning off the water for a week.

Probably checking for broken pipes etc. 

But very inconvenient. 

Lolo put in a water pump, but it needs fixing and although Kuya is fixing a lot of stuff right now, the pump is not a priority.

I had our main handiman fix it but it may or may not be pumping enough. Kuya filled the overhead tank but we empties it  to do the wash today.We usually do it on Saturday, but decided to do it early.

So now there is the question if the old water pump can supply us water, or will we have to get containers and fill it at the farm where we have another pump for clean water

Spit baths for the next week.

Oh the joys of living in a tropical paradise.

The hidden woman behind the dictionary man

I knew nothing about Dr Johnson before hearing this podcast, and it is fascinating

But what interested me more than this intellectual is his relationship with Mrs Thrale, the wife of Mr Thrale who took in Johnson as a houseguest.

But what caught my eye is Mrs Thrale: an arranged marriage, an unfaithful husband, and constantly pregnant, and losing many of her children, including her beloved sons.

But once she and her husband had invited the chronically ill Dr. Johnson to supper, he became friends with both of them, and when he had a nervous breakdown, they invited him into their home, where he loved the food, the suppers with his literary friends the care by Mrs Thrale, the friendship of her husband, and the fact her kids would play with him.

But what was interesting: After the husband died, she closed up his business and the house, essentially leaving Johnson on nis own, and he died soon afterward, so maybe she is to blame, but then why should she spend her time and money on a house guest that she essentially cared for in the same way she cared for her children, as a nanny not a lover, making sure he was comortable and fed and entertained.

He did have other friends and he was the one who broke the friendship.

A more serious charge is that she also left her children behind, although the older girls  who were teenagers  in school also condemned her marriage (but one book notes she took the youngest one with her to live).

  after she turned him down for a year, she was into a deep depression and the doctor told her oldest bossy daughter she would die if this continued, so the daughter gave her permission. So she married an Italian musician (who was condemned as marrying her for her money, but actually he was from a good family and independently wealthy).

 

So a woman who for 20 years obeyed her husband and spent her time running his home and having guests and having children, once free, she married for love, and happy.

and Johnson? Died of dropsy without her loving care for him. Would her care have lengthened his life? Maybe not (a rich diet similar to what he ate at her house would have made his dropsy worse at an earlier date)

There are lots of books about Johnson on line, and ironically her books are also on line for example Thraliana, a book of anecdotes. The Book Dr Johnson and Mrs Thrale is on line, and gives the back story of the dictionary man and the woman whose hospitality kept him comfortable for nearly 20 years. LINK

longer version here.

another day another volcano

south of Manila, not near us. But hard for people in the area. https://t.co/Lf7ydvSs7b

— tioedong (@tioedong) May 3, 2026

King Charles attends a pot luck

The @RoyalFamily decision to celebrate Appalachia & placing it equal in importance with visiting New York City tells you how much our culture has shifted towards the middle of the country. And let's be honest few things are as American as a potluck dinner during a block party🇺🇸 https://t.co/349XPWRP1G

— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) April 30, 2026

 

so how do you make coronation quiche?

well it could be worse.

FDR served the King hot dogs:

civility or sarcasm: we haz that

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

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

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

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

But accidental sarcasm is not the problem:

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

How bad is it?

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

From Politico

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is the  Body Language guy who brings it up:

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

WTF?

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

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

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

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

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

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

You know what would happen:

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

Mocking and dehumanization.

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

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

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

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

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

Sigh.

One is reminded of Yeat's poem:

Come let us mock at the great

Come let us mock at the great

That had such burdens on the mind

And toiled so hard and late

To leave some monument behind,

Nor thought of the levelling wind.

 

Come let us mock at the wise;

With all those calendars whereon

They fixed old aching eyes,

They never saw how seasons run,

And now but gape at the sun.

 

Come let us mock at the good

That fancied goodness might be gay,

And sick of solitude

Might proclaim a holiday:

Wind shrieked—and where are they?

 

Mock mockers after that

That would not lift a hand maybe

To help good, wise or great

To bar that foul storm out, for we

Traffic in mockery. 

musical interlude of the day

 

Family news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But the solution? 

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

from the company's website:

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

this is from four years ago: 

politics in the Vatican

 

The Japanese are back

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

LINK

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

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

the Far Side prophecy

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

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 19, 2026

the covid kerfuffle

 Posted so i can watch it later on my tablet.

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

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

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

philippine news

prices here are going up for everything,

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

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

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

from last year:

from today:

the full US announcement is HERE. 

Excerpt:

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

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

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

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

,,,,

the problem is corruption. 

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

(sorry, Three Hail Marys for my snide remarks)

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

and this story says: Watch where you invest.

...

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

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

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

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

What's going on? Peace?

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

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

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

.....

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

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

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

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

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

Good news for the farmers.

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

and organ harvesting is the next big thing.

Euthanasia and Organ Harvesting Reveal Western Medicine’s Utilitarian Drift

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

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

...

Organ harvesting in the Philippines:. From last year.

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

read the whole article.

Then there is this: 

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

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

Blasphemy!

Why does this sound familiar?

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

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

Heh.

There was even a blog: Is Barack Obama the Messiah

Is Barack Obama the Messiah?

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

a typical example:

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

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

 

who could be against world peace!

   

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

Really? Tell Catherine of Sienna that.  

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

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

  

 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

yup. World Peace.

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

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

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

ah but don't we all want WORLD PEACE?

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

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

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 14, 2026

the church as NGO:

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

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

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

Or Flnnery O Connor's  book Wise Blood:

 

the future of transplants with killing

 

explaining how shipping works

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

A video about the logistics:

I only know a little about all of this. 

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

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

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

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

But the back sory of this? China.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sigh.

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

The Dictionary man

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

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

what started me on this was this podcast series:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome home

The Astronauts returned back safely.

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

Good news for a change.

Typhus in LA

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

......

The internet: A summary

 

planting rice? Nope. Making electricity in Luzon

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

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

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

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

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

propaganda: It is not just the west doing this

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

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

the rescue

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Start at page 78.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praise the Lord He is risen

 

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

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

and equal time for Filipinos.

The Japanese are back and other local news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hmm...

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

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

The Bodylanguage Venezuean guy explains what is going on.

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

So what is happening to our area?

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

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

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

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

There is a local gold rush.

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

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

----------

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

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

  

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

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

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

Spring harvest time