Family news

It's Holy week, so the country is now shutting down so everyone can travel home for the holidays.

Our fiesta is May1, so Florinda is here and I hear Chona will arrive tomorrow. Everyone in the Philippines who work overseas come home when they can at the time of the local fiestas, many of which are now, between the winter harvest and the start of the monsoon when people start the next planting.

Ruby had her friends from the church youth groups over for an all nighter party: I downloaded loads of "Christian" movies, old fashioned Hollywood films, etc. in case they get tired of talking over their troubles with their parents, friends, and school.

They were fairly quiet, so I guess everything went okay. I am happy that she finally has some local friends: she homeschools and up to now mainly socialized with her cousins.

to keep them safe, Chano locked the "white"dogs in the side garden, behind our bedroom (three house dogs, which are smaller than our watch dogs). At midnight, I got tired of them whining so left them out. Maybe the reason for the whining was that the small white dog Sophie was in labour: She had two puppies this morning. One was still born. Alas, she is not a healthy dog, partly because she got pregnant under one year, and partly because her mother steals all her food if we don't watch out. I give her extra food, but she is still very thin.

Sigh. I plan to get her fixed, but we were short money after the typhoon. Now, with my social security etc. finally coming, I am buying stuff left and right that I put off for the last year or two.

youtube downloads?

On youtube, I just found you can "rent" movies for 500 pesos (about ten dollars).

I'll have to try it one of these days. Not sure how to do it, and I hate to use my credit card on line.

Stuff below the fold

Belmont Club on corruption and why it is ignored by the press: fear of the mighty who are only trying to do good things so must be given a pass. /s

part of it is about the pedophile scandals in the UK Labour party.

Best quote:
Harman’s answer in the video was ‘My job was to protect human rights. How could I have known that the Pedophile Information Exchange represented pedophiles’?

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The UKMail summarizes the scandal of using the tax laws to stop conservative groups from raising money.

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the next scandal: Teachers preying on students?

a lot of them seem to be women...wonder if there is a cover up of male predators, or if fear of feminist students reporting them makes them more cautious.


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Father L notes that the "jesus wife" parchment is being spun by the press, and notes the academic arguments are a bit more subtle. The carbon dating of the parchment is 700 AD, but the writings suggest a 4th century gnostic sect commentary on the gospel.

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Top Gun manuveurs help flies from being swatted.

For later reading

Capone at AICN review of Noah.

A nation rejoices

Pacquiao beat Bradley.

A lot of us thought he won the first fight with Bradley too, and the judges were wrong.

Pacquiao's performance righted one of the biggest perceived wrongs in recent boxing history. Pacquiao was an eight-division world champion on 15-fight winning streak when Bradley was awarded a split decision in their last bout.

A hobbit fan on late night TV?

Not that we get any of the late night US tv shows here, but I  am happy that Stephen Colbert got a niche to replace Letterman.

and some feminists are complaining that he got the job due to his talents, not his sex, sexual orientation or skin colour.

Sheesh.

And if I remember to way back when I actually watched such shows, they do tend to be inteview shows, not comedy shows and not single acts of monologue... and those the article mentions (except for Ellen) are comedians, not the guy/gal who stands back and lets those he/she interviews shine.

more HERE.

and if you are a Tolkien geek, you probably know he had a cameo in Hobbit 2...and instructed Martin Freedman when he visited his show.

and how many TV comedians have pushed the space program so much that they named their treadmill for him?

in other words, a comedian for geekdom.

And for geekcatholics, this is the dance that made him famous.

Civility in politics? We needz that

Now a nut case has thrown an orange shoe at Hillary, with something about Operation Cynthia in it.

Presumably Hillary was in charge of the CIA when the Bolivians took down Che with the help of a lot of disgusted peasants.

Or, if you are into conspiracy theories, the orange sneaker is a symbol of either Northern Ireland, that get the bad end of the deal when Bill made peace there, or the orange revolution in the Ukraine, or maybe she just thinks OJ is innocent.

Supposedly she also had an upside down trident in the message, meaning either she is a worshipper of Poisiden, a Percy Jackson fan, a devil worshiper and can't draw well, she was trying to make a peace symbol and can't draw well, she is a wiccan and inviting Hillary to the local sex orgy, it refers to the coat of arms of the Ukraine, and the "Rapid Trident"  NATO group, who might help the Ukraine.

Of course, that trident on the coat of arms may not be a trident, but a falcon. 

Take your pick.

Sounds crazy...suspect the woman is schizophrenic or has fried her brains on drugs.

Video stuff for the day

Via Gloria TV:

The Robe. Yup. that old melodrama starring Richard Burton overacting.

and you can watch it's sequel:

 Demetrius and the Gladiators on youtube...

actually you could find a worse way to waste your time.

Family news

Hot season, so on and off brownouts messes up the internet. Ruby's router which I get in my room was full of fleas, so Chano cleaned it out and now I can post stuff from my room instead of the office or outside in the garden (sounds nice, but not when it's 90 degrees outside)

I have a new Samsung tablet 10 inch and can use it for reading books, movies, and internet stuff, but not to post on line.

No church today: Lolo wheezes outside (he is ok in the room with the aircon on, even if it's just on filter, so it may be allergy). And because of the heat and the long service, including a procession, for Palm Sunday, I didn't think I could make it without fainting in the heat either. Oh Well.

Pacquiao is fighting Bradley again so Lolo is busy watching the fight.

Ruby is having friends from church for a stay over so I am downloading classic films and Christian films for them to watch. They probably will be up all night talking, but if they get bored, they can chose between China Cries and How Green was my Valley...and if they get bored, I included Warm Bodies, about a vampire cured by falling in love. Ha.

But since she homeschools and no longer has much in common with the few kids around here, I am happy she now has a church group to go to for meeting friends.

Exercize advice for senior citizens

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.    

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can.

                                                                                                                                                                         

Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.         

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags  .  

Then  try 50-lb potato bags and

eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand

and  hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. 

(I'm at this level).

 After you feel confident at that level .............

Put a potato in each bag!        

Family news

It is very hot right now. They are blaming "global warming" but it IS "tagInit", hot season, and it is usually hot and dry until the monsoon comes.

I bought a new tablet computer yesterday: My old tablet that I use mainly for music and book reading is on it's last legs, and I needed one a bit larger so I could read easier. So I got a ten inch screen Samsung...presumably I will be able to surf the net with it too, so don't need the bigger (new) laptop as much except to type my blog or download my podcasts.

My old laptop needs a new battery and since I am getting the "blue screen of death", probably another hard drive. It tends to get damaged from all the brownouts and power surges.

The two half grown kittens in the back room are getting out: they are getting out via the top window that I keep open for ventillation. So either they will learn to avoid the dogs or they will end up dead. Sigh.

The Fiesta is at the end of the month, so relatives will be arriving any time now.

the Greatest Generation

Today is a holiday here: The Day of Valor.

The Day of Valor, also known as Araw ng Kagitingan, commemorates the heroism of Filipinos and American Soldiers when the Japanese occupied the Philippines during World War II. Major General Edward P. King, of the United States Army, was forced to surrender more than 76,000 Filipinos, Chinese and American soldiers to the Japanese at dawn on April 9, 1942. The soldiers were forced to take a 90-mile (about 145 kilometers) hike to Camp O’Donnell in San Fernando. Thousands of prisoners died during the hike (also known as the Bataan Death March) due to starvation, dehydration and diseases before they could reach the camp.
Despite the trials of defeat, the captured soldiers stood strong and heroes emerged from the event. The surrender of Bataan hastened the fall of Corregidor. However, without this stand, the Japanese might have quickly overrun all of the US bases in the Pacific. Bataan forced them to slow down, giving the allies valuable time to prepare for conflicts such as the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, which followed closely thereafter. American and Filipino liberation forces eventually retook the Bataan peninsula on February 8, 1945.
The Day of Valor was a national observance until a Letter of Instruction No. 1087, dated on November 26, 1980, made “Araw ng Kagitingan” a national public holiday to honor the people who helped bring democracy and freedom in the Philippines during the World War II era. Executive Order No. 203, dated on June 30, 1987, further proclaimed April 9 as “Araw Ng Kagitingan” to pay tribute to the heroes of Bataan, Corregidor and Bessang.

More Chinese problems for Malaysia

Some Abus kidnapped a bunch of Chinese tourists from a resort in Malaysia.

This AFP story says it was one Chinese tourist, whose family has already been contacted, and one Pinay resort worker. Presumably they have been taken to the nearby Philippines where the Abus have a hide out.

Ironically, this only got in a small local news column in our paper: Here in the Philippines, they tend to play down these things for two reasons:

One, to discourage copycats

Two: because most of them are just business as usual to get money...

But since this could be the Abus, the US types in the shadows are probably keeping an eye out for them...wonder if that telephone call got intercepted?

Stuff on my other blog

DRUGS IN WARs — StrategyPage article on using drugs to enhance soldiers in war. and yes, terrorists use them too.

 Vegetarians less healthy? —

 The Giants are REAL — Anyone listening to Art bell type radio knows about those terrible giants who lived in the past. Now, Western Digs confirms: At least one of these giants existed.

 Butter is back — IT's official: In the NYTimes....

Stuff below the fold

Dr E from PersianParadox visits Japan and sign a cooperation paper for Iran on the environment

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An argument on how theologians don't understand economics.

no kidding.
maybe it's because, like too many elites in the Obama administration, they've never started or run a business?

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savageminds book report on the Anthropology of Anime.

From the birth of an idea to committee meetings and deadlines Condry looks at the creative process behind anime, what the people involved value and why. The “soul” of creativity is the tension between collaborative social networks and the media objects they fashion. Condry thinks small and local, focuses on working groups, the act of creativity within the context of the group, and the influence of relationships within that social network. Collaborative creativity defines the social network in terms of what it accomplishes, which makes this markedly different than a study of group identity.

No, I'm not a fan (mainly because it's hard to follow when you watch TV on and off) but we have a TV channel that only shows anime...and my grandson is a big fan.

One of the things I liked in "Saving MrBanks" was the emphasis on group creativity in making the movie Mary Poppins.

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The Bronze age collapse is still a big mystery: Was it invasion (maybe due to drought) or ecological disaster or did their water systems collapse leading to economic refugees, a collapse of the population numbers, and a new dark age? (Hint: The evil Philistines of the Bible are now thought to be Myceneans who tried to invade Egypt, and the Pharoah moved the survivors to Gaza).


Archeoblog notes a new book out about the subject and notes this fancy video to promote it.

 

alas, unless it ends up in our used book kiosk in a couple of years I probably won't read it. Yet a lot of good "trade" books do end up there......

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The far right in France is trying to outlaw school lunches for Muslims.

I'm old enough to remember when lots of cafeterias had fish for Catholics on Friday, and we had lots of kosher groceries/butcher shops.


But then, we took our own lunches to school back then too...
Maybe the French Muslims need to do their own PR campaign...

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Comment of the day

a comment on American thinker:

I worked for a Fortune 10 manufacturing corp in the late 90s. Our CEO at the time instituted full benefits for domestic partners, even though he personally found homosexuality immoral. I heard him speak about this at a retreat once. He said that this had been difficult for him. Born in the early '40s and raised as a Catholic it took him a long time to understand this issue. Ultimately, however, he said that he did not want to run an organization in which any employee existed who didn't feel comfortable putting a photo of his/her significant other on the desk for all to see. And he would not tolerate any employees who failed to separate their personal views from what was necessary to create an inclusive professional environment where such issues are irrelevant.
This was nearly 20 years ago, mind you, in an industry known for conservative norms. The CEO was mature and liberal (though he was politically conservative) enough to live with the discomfort of his own personal opposition to same-sex intimate relationships while simultaneously running an organization that made it clear that such relationships were welcomed among staff.
This is what people like you, Geo, apparently don't understand. It is possible to separate personal preferences from corporate policies. It is possible to tolerate that which you find intolerable within a system that protects the rights of individuals to argue persuasively for and against laws and norms. It is not only possible; it is imperative in a liberal society.

For later reading

WaPost article about that raid I posted about a day or two ago: on the raid of a private museum...
Sheesh. I wonder if I can prove I got all my "artifacts" legally (mainly gifts from my Indian patients) ? one doc who was arrested in Utah got a lot of his from his patients, and the trauma of the arrest etc led to his suicide...

Hope my storage area in the US doesn't get raided.

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Tech republic names five alternative web browsers. (via Instapundit)

I use Opera (not on their list) and have for awhile, mainly because firefox was freezing all the time when I went to youtube, a problem that got even worse with my new computer...

Of course, given the state of the world, maybe I should switch to Tor, the favorite web browser of insurgencies and perverts.

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Maria Elena at TeaAtTrianon reviews Noah, and liked it. Hmm...maybe I will see it after all.

Or maybe not: Lolo no longer hears well enough to go to films, and often Ruby sees them with friends. If she knows I am a big fan, I go with her, however.

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Mummies had heart disease too..
and these are 4000 year old mummies, not those from Roman times.

Last year, CT scans of 137 mummies showed evidence of atherosclerosis, or hardened arteries, in one third of those examined - including those from ancient people believed to have healthy lifestyles.

'Heart disease has been stalking mankind for over 4,000 years all over the globe,' said Dr Randall Thompson, a cardiologist at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City and the 2013 paper's lead author.

Dr Thompson said he was surprised to see hardened arteries even in people like the ancient Aleutians who were presumed to have a healthy lifestyle as hunter-gatherers.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2596856/Mummies-heart-disease-CT-scans-ancient-Egyptians-reveal-clogged-arteries-just-like-people-today.html#ixzz2y6maMhOK
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Guess too many McDonalds in AlAmarna.
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Mozilla: Breaking the law?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Law of 1995:

SEC. 2000e-2. [Section 703]

(a) Employer practices

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer -

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

(b) Employment agency practices

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

(c) Labor organization practices

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization-

(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership or applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this section.

So where is Mozilla's EEOC counseler?

Craft item of the day

coconut oil soap

Why save?

TeaAtTrianon links to an article complaining (again) that Americans don't save enough.

I remember reading similar things in the 1980's that lauded the high savings rate by the Japanese, who promptly lost their savings in a housing bubble.

I tend to save, but not a lot: Why?

Because when I went to Africa, I left enough money to live for a year in the bank.

Thanks to Jimmy Carter and a 17percent inflation rate, my money was worth half of that when I returned home five years later. Despite high interest rates, my savings had been "stolen" by inflation.

Same thing now. So if you save, you lose the money to inflation (and get taxed on your high 1 percent interest income).