FREEDOM
of Religion? Many years before Donald Trump came to power and "travel
ban" got into the heartland like the plague, I have read and
heard about a lot of slurs--and namecalling and dissing--of the
Christian faith. I myself has been told many times that Merry
Christmas! is politically incorrect and culturally insensitive. A
friend's child came home once weeping and wouldn't want to go back to
school because she said she was bullied by schoomates for handing a
Christmas card to another pupil, and was told by the teacher that it
is not "correct" to greet Merry Christmas at all. Then
these days, I hear of many Muslim people being stopped or questioned
for their faith. Recently, children of Muhammad Ali were detained in
a Florida airport and asked, "What is your religion?" Is it
unconstitutional to make a Catholic or Baptist or Mormon or Seventh
Day Adventist etc uncomfortable or awkward or is it unlawful for a
police officer or airport staff to stop someone who may be Muslim? Is
the word "unconstitutional" or "constitutional"
the key? Let's see.
The
First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the
making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, ensuring
that there is no prohibition on the free exercise of religion,
abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the
press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or
prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
More
than that, America tells the world that this country is where utmost
tolerance of Faith happens. I came from a country that is 80.5
percent Catholic Christian yet I see an active co-existence of
religions. Almost all summer feasts are a melding of Christian and
tribal/indigenous peoples rites. Non-Catholic or non-Christian
students are allowed non-adherence to flag ceremony or wearing of
ROTC/military uniform, some girls are okay not to wear pants or
sports shorts on Physical Education drills etc. No problem. Not even
up for discussion. Muslim traders freely and peaceably engage
Christians in commerce in open markets. A vocalist for my band years
ago who is half-Muslim sings rock `n roll on a usual rocker outfit
and then wears burqa when she worships in a Muslim mosque. It is
common disrespect to even ask her why. My family and clan have been
dealing business with upland tribes (who are not necessarily
Christian) for many many years; some ended in intermarriages as well.
Muslim Mindanao island has been granted autonomy as a people. (You
may google ARMM for more info.) There may have been some pronounced
insensitivities leveled at other religions (beyond Catholicism) but
those are kept within one's private enclave. In other words, those
are not tolerated by community and society and government.
America
is 70.6 percent Christian. In a 2013 survey, 56 percent of Americans
said that religion played a "very important role in their
lives," a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy
nation. Yet recent surveys say the US is becoming less religious.
Irreligion is growing rapidly among Americans under 30, says a 2012
study. This is another aspect of people sentiment that, I believe,
played a huge part in current election behavior in America. While
half of the citizenry profess religion (and/or Christianity) the
other half, doesn't. And since only 50 percent of Americans vote,
that'd mean the 70.6 percent Christian fraction do matter in terms of
voter-groundworking. That'd mean, election advocacy should focus on
that cultural data. America cringes over economic woes, irrelevant of
adherence or non-adherence to a church. That is a fact. Hence people
could come together as one community for common benefits, beyond
religion or irreligion. Mutual goodness.
What's
going on these days with Muslim nationals in America should be a
wake-up call for the entire nation. We are guilty. As a cop stops a
motorist who looks like Arab (hence Muslim?) then lets him go--a
neighbor complains about Christmas decors in a family's own backyard
then goes back to work. It is not really a question whether it is
constitutional or unconstitutional, lawful or unlawful. I believe,
making someone feel like an outcast or outsider due to his/her
religion is downright inhuman.
SPYING
ACCORDING to MR JULIAN. First, I am not saying that Julian Assange's
WikiLeaks leaks are untrue. Of course those are SO TRUE. It is as
clear as daylight, as clear as a zombie walker's bite off a Walking
Dead cast's butt on Sunday AMC. But don't we know all these already?
Especially in this era of "internetting”? I am not even
talking about Homeland Security's "warrantless" cellphone
searches or Mr Snowden's supposed bombshell years ago--and how about
going back to McCarthyism and/or the Red Scare from 1947 to 1956,
characterized by heightened political repression as well as a
campaign spreading fear of influence on American institutions and of
espionage by Soviet Union's agents. In fact, surveillances and spying
on citizens is a global thingy since way back when. But let's
time-machine our app to the year 1947, when president Harry S. Truman
took steps to counter the Soviets' influence in Europe via a program
called "Containment."
Even
during the Chinese Civil War in 1949 when the United States backed
Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang against Mao Zedong's People's Liberation
Army, spying was a strategic weapon. US involvement was a focal
issue. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) sliced down Truman's defense
budget, yet he continued fighting the Cold War (against the Reds)
albeit effectively. Spying were all over in ensuing years as the US
and allies battled Communism's growing influence: Cuban Revolution of
1959, Berlin Crisis of 1961, conflicts in the Third World (1953
Iranian coup d'état, 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, Congo Crisis,
Vietnam War, coup d'etats in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Operation
Condor, Six-Day War, Task Force 74, War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War,
Ogaden War, Angolan Civil War, Indonesian invasion of East Timor etc
etcetera). I can go on and on and on and cite Washington
involvement/s which Mr Assange supposedly leaked as well, right?
Damn, don't we know all these already?
Then
there was the so-called "Second Cold War" from 1979– 1985.
Then the supposed end of the "War" when Mikhail Gorbachev
and Ronald Reagan signed the INF Treaty at the White House in 1987.
Those were the years when the Soviet economy was stagnant and faced a
sharp fall in foreign currency earnings as a result of the downward
slide in oil prices in the 1980s. What is the common denominator in
those spying years? USSR/Russia and the United States. Julian
Assange? Tell me what is the connection. And then he threw another
diversionary bone. And damn some of us just bit it. And how Kremlin
loves this! Expect some oil treaty singing soon.
BTW
Russia isn't as "poor" anymore as the time of Perestroika
and Glasnost. Yet still Vladimir Putin and his cohorts don't know how
to diversify. The Chinese helped them out but hey they want to up
their game some more. Maybe he needs the art of the deal? I
digress. Back to my NBA game. Warning: You ain't going to distract me
starting March 14. March Madness, ha! Spying on my ceviche and Blue
Moon is fine though. Whatsoever. Whatsover.
IT
saddens me to think that some (or a lot of) people aren't aware that
when a superpower aids a smaller nation—it is not one-way dole-out
system. Such a thing never happened in the history of humankind. The
aid comes with certain conditions that are forged via bilateral
agreements, summit conferences, and treaties. Nothing is free or “I
will rescue you like I am Super Mother Teresa!” in this world.
Hence, no nation should exert power over the other just because the
former is perceived as “super” against the latter which is seen
as “weaker.”
There are always negotiations, compromises, then
agreements for mutual benefits. Some people need to put more
attention to historical data and current events more than the
crisscrossing strobe lights of Facebook walls and billboards. Read
and find out. Ask and listen. Life isn't a set program. It is a
continuum. Years ago, the silent smiley dude from Guangzhou was just
handing out Lo Meins somewhere in Haight-Ashbury. Now he's the big
boss at Bank of China that just bought out your favorite 5-star
hotel. The tiny nation that used to beg money from the IMF recently
loaned millions of moolah to the same lending organization. There's
no more Cold War, only WikiLeaks. Times change. Powers tilt. And now
there are gluten-free ramens.
I
WANNA say this again. If I criticize your candidate, that doesn't
automatically mean I am for the other candidate. And if I say
something good about another candidate, that doesn't follow that I am
about to say a bad thing about your bet. I could reverse the equation
next. The world doesn't always involve polar extremes. That just
happens in election time--because the social order calls for votation
of leadership/governance or pertinent issues. But humans are not
black and white. We compromise. We negotiate. Then we agree, 4 or 7
out of 10. Then we live our life on our side of the fence—and come
out on fiesta time or Super Bowl and enjoy. Enjoy!
LOW
intensity conflict or LIC is the use of military forces applied
selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with the
policies or objectives of the political body controlling the military
force. The term can be used to describe conflicts where at least one
or both of the opposing parties operate along such lines. As those
who are informed would certainly concur, the 1 Percent is the
“political body” that excises compliance. Such subliminal trick
in the shadows (sic) is more accentuated by “divide et impera” or
Divide and Rule—or gaining and maintaining power by breaking up
larger concentrations of power into pieces that individually have
less power than the one implementing the strategy. The concept refers
to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures, and
especially prevents smaller power groups from linking up, causing
rivalries and fomenting discord among the people. Then zoom in on
Social Media and how it worked toward that end before election day.
Remember The Matrix? The plug at the back of our neck has taken over
smart-sense.
I
HAVE been receiving press feeds from the office of Narendra Modi,
prime minister of India. He is an interesting leader. His policy
initiative for "inclusive development" is praised by many
financial analysts. "The Indian stock market's greatest hope!"
says one. He is also adept at using social media. The
second-most-followed leader in the world (with over 17.9 million
followers on Twitter as of February 2016), behind only Barack Obama.
And ranked #2 behind Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a list of 30
top-performing world leaders by a Japanese market research firm.
Meantime,
look out for India. The long-term growth prospective of the Indian
economy is positive due to its young population, corresponding low
dependency ratio, healthy savings and investment rates, and
increasing integration into the global economy. The Indian economy
has the potential to become the world's 3rd-largest economy by the
next decade, and one of the two largest economies by mid-century.
BTW,
India is the 3rd largest producer of crude steel. It also has one of
the fastest growing service sectors in the world with annual growth
rate of above 9 percent since 2001, which contributed to 57 percent
of GDP in 2012-13. The IT industry continues to be the largest
private sector employer in India. India is also the third largest
start-up hub in the world with over 3,100 technology start-ups in
2014-15. India ranks second worldwide in farm output. The Indian auto
mobile industry is one of the largest in the world with an annual
production of 21.48 million vehicles (mostly two and three wheelers)
in FY 2013-14.
FACTS.
Or facts to ponder. In re recent Berlin market attack. A
record-setting 1.2 million first-time asylum seekers applied for
international protection in the 28 member states of the European
Union in 2015. That's more than double the previous year. Three main
countries of origin for asylum-seekers in 2016: Syria, Afghanistan
and Iraq. Compared with the previous year, the number of Syrians
seeking protection doubled to 362,800, the number of Afghans nearly
quadrupled to 178,200 and the number of Iraqis multiplied by seven to
121,500.
According
to Pew Research, Germany has been the primary destination for
asylum-seekers since 2012 — a position it previously held in the
late 1980s and 1990s when it received nearly half of Europe’s
asylum applications. Over the past 30 years, at least 3.6 million
applications were filed in Germany. That’s nearly one-third of
applications in Europe for that time frame.
In
2015, the highest number of first-time applications for asylum was
registered at 441,800 in Germany. After Germany, the other top
nations for accepting refugees were Hungary (174,400, or 14 percent),
Sweden (156,100 or 12 percent), Austria (85,500 or 7 percent), Italy
(83,200 or 7 percent) and France (70,600 or 6 percent).
OIL/GASOLINE
TALK. America will not run out of gasoline. Never. Just a little bit
of “Hey, easy up on driving to here and there, okay?” Even if
Saudi Arabia dries up—Texas, California, Alaska and North Dakota
etc still have so much reserves, most of them inactive due to
environmental lobbying. The United States is the world's
third-largest producer of crude oil—behind Saudi Arabia and Russia.
For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the US was the largest oil
producing country in the world, following oil discovery at Oil Creek
Pennsylvania in 1859. America rose to power due to oil that kicked up
industrialization many years ago. Oil is power. It's just that we
consume oil so much! Americans rank #1 globally in oil consumption.
We consume approximately 19 million barrels on a daily basis, or 6.9
billion barrels per year. President Obama mobilized some oil fields
in the West Coast on his first term to slow down a bit importation
but faced massive protest from people who love to drive that vehicle
but are against diggings. From being a major exporter, the US turned
into importer of large-scale products (from oil). That, I believe, is
one major reason why Washington let China at WTO (2001) and Russia
(2012)--making globalization the name of the 1 Percenter game. China
is 4th behind the US in oil production. Canada is 5th—remember the
Keystone pipeline issue?
THE
JAPANESE. Yes, the Japanese. Their work ethic and fun madness. When I
say Work, I am talking about the #3 economy of the world—for a
country that is smaller than California. And for a people that are
planet earth's top 3 in life longevity. Facts. Do I know Japan that
much? I don't pretend I do know a lot beyond fillet'ing a tuna for
sushi or “Watashi wa, anata o aishiteimasu!” But I spent some
time in Japan in the `90s and I have quite a number of relatives
there who intermarried with the Japanese--like my Aunt Connie, sister
of my dad. “Kon'nichiwa, oba?” Japan also occupied us in World
War II—but that's the past. We forgave and forgot. In fact, Japan
is on top 3 of aid givers to the Philippines these days, especially
at a time of typhoon calamities. And well, Japan is near where my
islands are—we shop, we frolic, we work out there.
Yes,
the Japanese are earnest at work and chill at leisure! Do you know
that the fun TV shows “Wipe Out” and “Iron Chef America” were
all original Japanese? “Takeshi Castle” and “Iron Chef.”
Hello Kitty is Japanese. “Haro, Kiti?” Many favorite Hollywood
movies are remakes of mostly Akira Kurosawa gems like “Seven
Samurai” and “Yojimbo.” His Kagemusha” and “Ran” also
influenced a lot of those gigantic CGI battle scenes. Horrors like
“The Ring” (Ringu) as well. My daughter Donna loves Japanese movies. My son Duane's many creative madnesses is shibari contemporary art. Etc etcetera. Do
you know that elderly porn is a bestselling UG business out there as
well? Who says the Japanese are all work and ninja? An 87-year active
fisherman that I met in Shukunegi revealed to me the Secret of Life:
“Sake in the morning. Sushi in the afternoon. Sex in the evening.”
Anata wa watashi o rikai shite imasu ka? Hontoni? Shinken ni? Dig?
Dig.
EVIL
HAS NO COLOR. G7 or Third World. Left or Right. Evil Has No Nametag.
Evil is Evil. News. The Republican Party's office in Hillsborough NC
has been firebombed. As expected, Social Media blared with vitriol,
accusations, analysis, theories and stuff. Public opinion is always
good in the long run albeit annoying at times. But what irks me, and
I say this with due respect to some good friends of mine, who
probably said words out of disgust and sadness—is when we
categorically single out or liken such darkness to certain groups of
people or ideology or even economic standing. I just read some people
post that such an evil act (GOP bombing) is synonymous to a Third
World mindset. That a poor country is automatically connected to a
gruesome display of political (if it is) mindlessness and violence.
Which is of course historically inaccurate.
While election-related chaos and killings do happen in impoverished
nations, it doesn't mean they have monopoly of this evil. America has
its own share of internal mayhem perpetrated by groups like Weather
Underground and Symbionese Liberation Army, Japan has the Red Army
and Germany, Baader-Meinhof etc etcetera. If we want to stretch that
further, small underdeveloped countries don't or never invaded
another country to excise pain and misery upon the vanquished—as
the case with superpowers. Makes me expound deeper why at the recent
Asean summit, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte presented a visual
recitation of the Bud Dajo massacre during the American colonization
of the islands in late 1890s/early 1900s when US media went to town
criticizing him for killings in his Drug War campaign. It's a simple
case of look at yourself in the mirror first before you look at me.
Bilateral (friendly) agreements don't bear mutual gains if we start
things off with accusations—more than we discuss how to jointly
solve problems. Evil
is evil. It has no skin color or social standing et al. Yet it lurks
in the shadows of humanity's smiley-faced front office. We can
minimize or slow its onslaught down by at least being sensitive
enough not to point fingers at others who happen to be different from
us. Peace!
[Religious art by Sanjay Patel and Frederic Clay Bartlett]
[Religious art by Sanjay Patel and Frederic Clay Bartlett]
