Superpowers and smaller nations or the Philippines.

Facebook Homepage Response.

SUPERPOWERS gobbling up smaller nations is a global reflex or universal deduction. The West devoured the world for centuries before the 21st. When China's trade dragon was essentially asleep, and Beijing's state owned industries were basically dealing business selectively, we Filipinos were protesting America. All Philippine presidents were controlled by Washington, we cried. “Sabwatang U.S. Marcos!”

       Meanwhile, when Cold War was focused between the United States and Russia, China was quietly buying acres and acres of lands in 4 corners of the earth. That was Deng Xiaoping's plan–per "Four Modernizations" to open door policy–after Mao Zedong died in 1976 and went full-blast after Tiananmen revolt in 1989. So when China entered World Trade Organization in 2001, after a trade pact with the US in 2000 (signed by Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin), Beijing was set and ready for trade expansionism. 

       Meanwhile, Russia entered WTO in 2012 as friendship with China was apparently revived through the years. In 1992, the two countries declared that they were pursuing a "constructive partnership.” In 1996, they progressed toward a "strategic partnership.” And in 2001, they signed a treaty of "friendship and cooperation.” Anyhow, Beijing state-owned banks advised Moscow’s Central Bank  to diversify per oil/natural gas anchor and ease up the apparatchik mojo. Do West-styled capitalism. Etc etcetera. 

       And so as President Biden works per beck and call of America’s 1 Percent which lost clout and juice vs the East, Russia, and Gulf's oil sheikhs--to regain power pedestal-- here we go, Filipinos, throwing darts at China. Consider this fact: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr got quid pro quo, decades overdue, to deliver to Uncle Sam. But remember, China got together 14 economies in the region via the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as the Democratic Party was rejoicing Joe's win in Nov 2020. 

       My point. It is not about China or the United States. It all boils down to how the Philippines negotiates on the trade table. Singapore is friends to both but it is rich with no natural resource but its people. Vietnam is a recent example of a country or leadership that plays the West/East card so well. Cambodia is also surging. 

       But here we are. Blaming China as we blamed the U.S. before, during Marcos dictatorship. We blamed China as well during Rodrigo Duterte’s time. Yet we are within top 5 producer/exporter of sugar cane, banana, mangoes, coconut, rice as well as "climate change" industry minerals such as cobalt -- plus a strong labor manufacturing force -- but we never really used our leverage to the max. 

       Meantime, our strategic position in South China Sea is like Oman or Iran in Strait of Hormuz but again we up the China bully narrative out there than play the political or economics tactics better. 🇨🇳🇵🇭🇺🇸

The Politics of our Lives

Posted on Facebook years ago.

IT is always tempting to say something about presidential elections (both here in the US and in the Philippines, the country of my birth). I'd be excited to say one or two “contrapuntos” in regards matters back home but I'm not as exposed to current events there than before—and I don't like to say something sans documented facts (apart from historical info). I've been reading Facebook posts and comments related to elections—and I must say, I am astounded by the degree of cluelessness that some people spew, especially those that pertain to America's global relationships. 

       Some glimpses... 

       One, the oil producing universe is controlled by essentially Muslim nations. What if they bonded and insist on solely dictating crude oil prices irrelevant of the West's pressures? Are we going to invade another country for oil? I bet the Koch brothers will accede to that. Not counting that those anti-Muslim darts are endangering Americans scattered all over the globe. Two, China controls factories (eg Foxconn) that supply our electronic lives, not counting almost 90 percent of retail shelves in the heartland.  

       Computer companies' R and D budget totals beyond $5 billion each fiscal year. Also, take note South China Sea—which is currently an object of maneuverings between Beijing and US-allied countries in the region. This sealane is an important trade route east to west, teeming with natural oil, and America's security bulwark (that is why US bases in the Philippines that were evicted in early 1990s are back). Three, Mexico isn't an “illegal immigration” rostrum bait. 

       Mexico is a next-door neighbor of the US, and historically—an important trade buddy. The country has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest GDP by purchasing power parity. The Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, especially the US. By 2050, Mexico could become the world's fifth or seventh largest economy.

       Voters should look beyond partyline partisanship and study political platforms and campaign promises vis a vis what's going on. President Obama isn't ridiculing so-called spike in auto industry's growth. He is telling us a stark truth. Spare parts that are assembled (at least partly) in Detroit are procured by China, Brazil, Russia and India—countries that boast of humongous workforce. Enough of one-line potshots and see within. And then vote sensibly, sensitively—but with utmost practical sense. 

       People should not just believe and share political memes on social media. We must keep on reading, educating ourselves—beyond the internet. 🙂🏛🙃

Anti-China and Stuff.

THE hatred for China. Let’s go back in history. <1>1899 to 1901, an 8-nation alliance forced China to open its trade ports to the West. <2>2000, U.S. and China trade pact. China’s expansionism is all trade, unlike Europe and America’s military conquests. Beijing works its leverage shrewdly: Pertinent minerals, raw materials, and labor force. We need those. So they sell and we buy. Business, economics. We hate them because they outsmarted us on the trade table? 

       <1>1899 to 1901 a.k.a. Boxer Rebellion. An Eight-Nation Alliance of American, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Russian troops moved into China to quell the anti-colonial uprising of the Yihetuan Movement, towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. <2>2000, U.S. and China trade pact, signed by Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin, which paved the way for Beijing to enter WTO the following year. From that point China emerged as a global economic power. Why are we pushing China to a war, what is the point? Because we don’t what them to be #1? I don’t think that China wants that stature though. 

       China works around economics beyond Western models but still within WTO regulations. Through provision of direct support to Chinese industries through state funding or subsidies and tax breaks, the CCP controls industries and centralizes profit. Russia, which entered WTO in 2012, pretty much employed the same system via its oil/natural gas, which are also state-owned. India is the same. All three powers are members of BRICS, the counterweight to G7. 👲🇨🇳👲

TOMS, founded by Blake Mycoskie in 2006, is a tiny business that grew big because it chose to work with the Chinese, than compete with them. Toms is all about hip shoes, eyewear, coffee, apparel, and handbags. The company became famous for its “one for one” program. For each pair of shoes sold, they give away a pair to charity. Toms president Laurent Potdevin: “Toms would not be what it is today without China.” 

       Thousands of American companies are active in China. For a reason or two, or more. China wasn’t Toms first choice though; it was Argentina. But it didn’t work so Toms flew East. And so on and so forth. Now what about U.S. giants in China? Apple, General Motors, Ford, Starbucks, Boeing. Etc etcetera. By comparison, you may google Chinese FDIs in the U.S. Not even in the Top 10. 👲🇨🇳👲

<>Facebook Posts and Letters to the Editor. <>Rich and Poor.

A FEW of my responses to discussions/posts in Friends’ Facebook page, slightly edited. 

<>Facebook Posts and Letters to the Editor.

BEFORE the advent of the internet, letters to newspapers were carefully screened. Identities checked, edited for space and brevity. Lengthier insight landed on op-ed as essay etcetera but from those who knew what they're talking about. 

       These days on Social Media, people write inane stuff and punkish one-liners as a cover for cluelessness, boredom, and idiocy. Yet in past informal public gatherings, such as in barber shops and town plazas, those who disagreed were not banished but reminded of civility and coolness. If rabblerousers failed to comply, they were barred. 

       Social media is weird. Many don't want to be told they are wrong. Everybody is a genius. I am cool with that as long as I am presented with insight per their own words and not nasty slogans and dismissive self-righteousness. And “newslinks” as response to a conversation is simply irritating. 🗣👤👥

<>Rich and Poor.

LIFE. There are rich and there are poor. There are bad people and poor people. But rich doesn't automatically make you bad or good; poor, the same. But, yes it is true, the eerie space of convenience and comfort between rich and poor drive people to sadness, anger and grief. But that is not the fault per se of the rich just because we the poor don't have wealth to pay $thousands to frolic for an hour in the Milky Way in Jeff's spaceship or chill (and die) in a sub down the sea to ogle at a historical relic. 

       Mostly, the social divide is caused or ushered or enabled by a government that is tasked to lessen agony of the poor and distribute more richness to the impoverished in an equal manner, somehow. But if our government tosses billions$ (such as $113 billion) of taxpayer money to a war that feeds the corporate rich than works ways to negotiate peace, then this displeasure continues to exist. 

       The rich in general becomes open target and we the poor stay wanting. Because we are so divided and our energy so spread out that we lose the power to reform a leadership or correct an inept and weak governance. Why don't we just let the rich bury their dead, allow them to grieve in private. and live their life. And we the poor enjoy the little blessings that we get here in America where, many times, our relatively cool endowments and entitlements blind us from a quiet pursuit of our own respective happiness. Cool? 😒😔🤨

<>The Fascination for Chuck Bukowski.

A FEW of my responses to discussions/posts in Friends’ Facebook page, slightly edited. 

I READ and wallowed on Chuck Bukowski when I was in college. Great mind. But that's what to cultivate in/from him. His work. His life was an orgy of drinking, chain-smoking, dalliances with hookers (or sex workers) and other inebriated walks on the wild side. Sadly, that "life" of toxic excess made him more "cool" than the brilliance of his writings. Of course, he was late to bed and late to rise. LOL!

       But Mr Bukowski isn’t alone in this deadend gig. The list is endless: Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Jack London, William Faulkner, Eugene O'Neill, John Steinbeck, Dylan Thomas, Hunter S. Thompson, Thomas Pynchon, etc etcetera. Many died via suicide caused by severe depression but not necessarily alcoholism or substance abuse (but often they came together): David Foster Wallace, Virginia Woolf, Anne Sexton, John Berryman, Sylvia Plath, and of course, Hemingway and Thompson. 

       Although alcoholism is a constant, "perverted" (to describe these literary geniuses) is a matter of opinion. Meanwhile, there are also many who are relatively sober or spot-clean such as Isaac Asimov, Patricia Highsmith, Philip K. Dick, James Baldwin, L. Frank Baum, Pearl S. Buck, Michael Crichton, and more. Some kicked the bottle and drugs and continued on in prolific spree such as Stephen King or Bob Dylan. 

       Bottomline, I focus on the work and not the person. And for me, substance intoxication ain't cool. Drugs and alcohol don't make or unmake a great person or writer/artist. It is circumstantial or a matter of access and availability. Such as addiction. And alcohol and drugs got more addictive in time due to commercial bombast or sociocultural pitch as cool. 

       Going deeper and wider, I am against "canceling out" great writers or their work due to their personalities or way of life and that of course including the "perverted" ones which are also many. It's the work, not the writer. The product, not the producer. Anyhow, from George Harrison: "It's all within ourselves. No one will make us change. Within you, without you." 🍻🥃🍻

Compilation of short morning thoughts on Facebook.

Cancelled! A form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles because of what they said, did, or ate. News: “'Wonder Woman 3' scrapped a day after Gal Gadot's tweet.” The deal seems like: In case you are a celebrity or a known personality, don’t tweet whatever you think. Just act in your movie or play ball. If you are a boss in a company, don’t post your thoughts. You should know by now what’d cancel you out, don’t you? (Sarcasm.) 🤨🗣👥

Switzerland slows down on electric cars as the country’s emergency energy use braces up for winter—as energy crisis stays. A huge 60 percent of the Swiss energy supply depends on hydroelectric power, which relies on falling water to turn turbine blades. Others, coal is used. Etcetera. My thought: Over-consumption is our #1 problem. No matter how we use/dispose, if we don’t lessen manufacturing stuff and things to obtain, we’ll still heighten environmental ruin. ?⛽️🔌

Whatever it takes to end a war, especially that your people are dying. That’s what Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichu should be doing per her calling. Not to enflame more animosity. Recently, she has called for the arrest of Vladimir Putin for war crimes. What about Poroshenko/Zalensky’s army that brutally bombed Donbas for years, at least from 2014? Otherwise, Ms Matviichu should just shut her mouth so as not to help derail ongoing negotiations.☮️☮️☮️

The release of Brittney Griner is a start. Let them keep on talking. Paul Phelan is still in prison in Russia… I will repeat again why Volodymyr Zelensky favors a continuing war, as 4.5 million Ukrainians refugees are now scattered in Europe, awaiting asylum or just wandering. What, he’d probably ask for more money from the U.S. and Europe to add to the $95 billion already given to Kyiv? I insist that when fighting stops, an international body investigates Zelensky in re his offshore holdings in British Virgin Islands, Belize and Cyprus. And how he spent aid that were given him since start of war this year. 

I was about to go to bed when I saw this photo and video. A child named Leo, son of Croatian winger Ivan Perisic, ran over to give a message to his father's opponent, the tearful Neymar. The kid was initially stopped by security but was let through by Neymar for a handshake and a hug. THAT, dear grownups, is the moment that we all need. Ah. A beautiful moment… Amidst all the hate and darkness, a boy showed the world what love and friendship are all about.☮️⚽️💝

Negativity of News. Because today’s journalism is essentially peopled by younger reporters who didn’t experience the raw hardship of pursuing sources, or they haven’t really experienced the worst of life per se? Romanticize the little wins, bloat the tiniest speck of dirt, and politicize all angles and anglings? I couldn’t relate anymore. The lead line of a News report is pretty much the writer’s opinion before the “Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How” are explored. ✍️📹✍️

Humanity is selective when it comes to who/what to demonize. Prejudice, I guess. When Jeff Bezos was the world’s richest, he was a loud object of internet disdain. The “new kid in town” is Elon Musk. The immaculates insult, lambaste, and shame Walmart, Starbucks, McDonald's, or any huge company that are #1. Yet seldom ExxonMobil, JPMorgan Chase, or Lockheed Martin are dissed as loud. The pure are selective who/what to hate. And feel cool about it. 🗣👥🗣

I simply ignore people (those that I only “met” on Faceboook) who unfriended me. But it is sad that I had to unfriend/block friends that I knew for many years before there was internet. Differences in politics are fine. `Been on political discourse since those days. Not an issue to lose friends. But I couldn’t tolerate immature, nasty language. A year ago, I unfriended a good, relatively quiet friend. I simply couldn’t stand his foul, know-it-all online crassness anymore. 🤨🗣👥

Watching a lot of historical/period TV series and movies, I am fascinated with fashion in the past, mostly before the 2000s. Kickass capes and snazzy suits and elegant hats for men; elaborate gowns and stylish dresses and grand hats as well for women. When people went out, they looked chic and sophisticated. I’d like to go back to those days. These days, yardwork get-up for men and bedroom clothes for women are also worn in the grocery, party, or public park. 🎩👑👘

Society is so loud against anti-semitism or “hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people.” Yet anti-Christianity is a popular pop culture fodder. The shaming of Christians can be really low and dirty. All over social media, undeterred. Political cool? Celebrities speak vs. anti-semitism and they are praised. Yet known adherents to Christianity prefer to hush. Denzel Washington, basketball pro Al Horford, and rock star Bono are religious Christians.✝️☮️🕎

“Coolness” online: Drinking is fine if it is wine, not whiskey. Weed is awesome. Breaking rules means you are kickass. Christianity is the root of all evil. Unity in diversity if it conforms with my prejudice. I am rude because I am depressed. Blame China for consumerism. Blame Russia for high cost of gasoline. Blame Trump for the bad-hair day. Blame mom and dad for our failures. Blame the other political party for Mercury Retrograde. Agree with me or I will unfriend you. 🙂🤨😒

News: “This 8-Year-Old Boy Became the Youngest Person to Ascend El Capitan.” Are we obsessed with (world) records! NBA: First to record a triple-double by a non-American before he reaches age of 20 who is single and a Catholic. Cinema: First woman of color who wins an Oscar who is not from the U.S. before she reaches age of (alcohol) drinking. My record: First Asian man who wore double-layer pairs of socks from age 7 to 109. Makes us feel good, I guess. 🧐🤓😎

A smiley “How are you?” from a stranger is a sweet American culture. Back home in the Philippines, it is inappropriate to greet anyone, lest a woman, that you are not formally introduced to. Here, humanity is so friendly. Or maybe social media is different? I seldom greet “friends” via IM anymore because I usually get ignored. I don’t know why. Honestly, I just want to say hello to someone that I knew then but haven’t seen in years. Will never try again, sorry. LOL! 🙂🤨😒

I think some people are getting mentally disturbed because of Trump. Because of their hatred for Trump. All they see is Trump. They parallel anything that they dislike with Trump. All they post are Trump. One day there will be a psychological disorder named after Trump and meds named after Trump. Of course, Trump will charge royalty for use of his name and likelihood. A pill that is shaped like Trump's face or hairdo. I don't think Big Pharma will mind. It's profit. 😒😏💊

A huge contradiction in life these days: Many are so unrealistically “careful” not to hurt feelings. And so when voices are raised in a workplace setting or sports team huddle, or an “inappropriate” term emerges on your FB post or a known person said a harsh word—they are cancelled outright, lose their job, and shamed no end in Social Media. Yet the “ordinary” language that are said here are cuss words and rude remarks. We police words but not attitudes. 🗣👥🤨

Some of the awesome dog/cat Facebook “Reels” are not showing on my Page as frequent as they used to. No problem, I can find them. But I also get nostalgic cool “Groups” from my native Philippines. “Baul ni Juan” is about old movies. Fun titles like “Kumander Mameng,” “Hayok,” and “Kulog at Kidlat.” Basketball of the 1960s to 1980s. And “Kusinela,” cooking videos, old-school on firewood and outdoors. How I wish I’d be transported back in time. 👍🤝👍

Notice some of the movies/TV series these days have annoying dark or dim lighting? They say it is a “lighting technique,” a metaphor. Example: Woman brushes teeth, family dines, man buys cigarettes in a corner store on daytime, board meeting etcetera. Underexposed scenes make us miss important stuff. “Shot on green screen and rear projection,” whatever. Some say dark lighting has become a bit of a lost art. “Lost art,” they say? That’s “artistic masturbation” to me. 😠🎥😡

Social Media has popularized and glamourized invectives—cussing and cursing—that even those people (old as me) who didn’t spit out bad words unless intensely provoked, toss `em here like “f#@!k!” is obligatory in their daily language. A young person here even snarled at me: “How’d you know a word is a cuss word or not?!?” Many don’t know anymore, I guess. It’s just how they talk. Most likely, they'd ask a barista: "Can I have a fu##!!ing latte, dude?” I reckon. 🤨🗣👥

My accent gets me in awkward situations, or trouble. While living in Las Vegas, I was asked “Where you goin’, man?” / “I am going to look for a cheap slot and play!” (I didn’t mean “slut,” uh huh). In Los Angeles, “What do you think about Southern California?” / “I like the beaches…” (It sure came out as “bitches,” I guess). I once had a German friend in New York City named Gunter. For sure, I never yelled at him “Gunt!” after that weird incident on a crowded E train. 😅😂🤣

Our idiosyncrasies. Or a mode of peculiar behavior. Traits that can be weird or crazy without meaning to be part of the fringes or unordinary, because those seem “cool,” uh huh. Few of my “unnaturals,” aside from my OCD fix: I recycle my coffee. I brew a pot that I consume for a week, microwaving a cup each wake-up time. I wear two layers of socks, 24/7. I meticulously draft/file or organize my Facebook posts before I post them. Seldom I post on impulse. 🧐🤓😎

ONE More Time: You and Me and Children and Internet.

LIKE a frenzied, hyperactive AI, news sites these days proliferate with AI news and subjects that pertain to Internet and Kids. Samples: “Uncensored Chatbots Provoke a Fracas Over Free Speech.” / “States’ Push to Protect Kids Online Could Remake the Internet.” / “Echoes of History in New National Push to Shield Children Online.” And so on and so forth.

       And then we read these articles: “Almost a Third of High-School Girls Considered Suicide in 2021.” / And “Emergency Room Visits Have Risen Sharply for Young People in Mental Distress, Study Finds.” 

       So how do we tackle, confront, or work around this “future shock” that is already in our midst? Been reading past issues of business magazines and I am astounded by a flood of new gadgets and apps and related tech thingies that keep on coming. Pre-Covid, budgets of at least 3 Big Tech titans are already higher than at least 10 poor countries: Amazon, $42.74 billion; Alphabet/Google, $27.57 billion; Huawei, $22.04 billion. Apple Inc spent “only” $26.25 billion for R&D last year though. 

       And so by the time parents and tech and government discuss regulations and stuff, dozens of new comp inventions, AI-boosted or not, are already in the market.

       News adds: “A new generation of chatbots doesn’t have many of the guardrails put in place by companies like Google and OpenAI, presenting new possibilities — and risks.” But of course kids are not the only focal point of this “precaution.” There is no way that we could escape from technology; it’s all an individual response. 

       Other News: “New age restrictions for minors on sites like TikTok and Pornhub could also hinder adults’ access to online services.” Certainly, don’t forget, porn sites were already easily accessed by ten-year olds before AI came to the living room. 

HENCE, I concern myself more with personal safeguards. Primal sense. News: “In the 1990s, the U.S. government limited what young people could see online, but lost a court fight challenging those rules. Now it’s happening again.” And I don’t think that challenge will ever stop. 

       Meanwhile, from 2011 to 2020, the proportion of mental health-related visits to emergency rooms by young people roughly doubled, health experts report. You know as I know. That little gadget has a lot to say about all these. And what’s in there are all our doing. The coming of AI only gives Tech Gods a sure alibi to point blame to. 

       Complex, isn’t it? Indeed, more complex than what Alvin Toffler warned us in 1970 as “future shock,” or a state of distress or disorientation due to rapid social or technological change. 😒🤖🥹